Distant

Chapter 6

Three more times.

They met up on that rooftop, three more times before...

-THE SECOND TIME-

"The sky is so blue...so beautiful."

Kiyoshi was laying down on top of one of the vents again, staring at the clouds that passed by. Hands behind his head, he closed his eyes.

'Sometimes, I wish I can just do that with life. Float by...'

That's when the door opened. He shifted his head to the side to look at the intruder. Running towards the railing was Hamasaki Natsuko. She held her hands up to her face, she obviously was sobbing but it was evident that she was trying to be quiet about it.

He jumped down and came up behind her. Kiyoshi felt awkward and didn't know what to do, he looked around a bit before putting his hands on her shoulders, "There there, you're okay."

She quickly turned and planted her face into his shoulder, wrapping her arms around him. Kiyoshi instantly blushed and his arms floated mid air, he didn't know what to do with them and she was sobbing loudly now. He decided on  wrapping his arms around her, she was crying so much that he was beginning to feel the dampness of it on his uniform shirt.

"What happened? Do you want to talk about it?" He tried to pull her away to look at her but that just made her hold on tighter.

"Don't...", she muffled out, "I look ugly."

He rested his chin on top of her head, "I honestly don't care."

"...but you said that it's not cute!" She said in a childish tone, finally looking up at him through teary eyes.

A few minutes passed by, she had stopped crying so he said, "You wanna join me up there? The view is beautiful."

"What view?" Natsuko asked, sniffing a few times as she let him go. She turned back towards the railing.

"Well...the sky", he said, a bit confused.

Natsuko looked up at the sky, not saying a thing for awhile before she narrowed her eyes, "Nothing beautiful about it...it's j-just the sky."

He shrugged, "Just trying to make you feel a little less lonlier..." He walked back towards the vent and got on.

Minutes passed by and he heard her huff out loud before the tapping of her shoes came closer to him, he turned his head to look at her, "Changed your mind?"

Kiyoshi sat up and stuck out his hand. She hesitated a bit but grabbed it and he helped lift her up on to the vent.

'Soft. Warm. Alive...' He quickly let go once she was on.

Natsuko laid down next to him, hands folded together on her stomach. He laid back down, hands returning to lock behind his head, "I think the both of us are similar."

"Why do you say that?" She asked, looking at him.

"Well, I think we just wanna live life simple. Without anyone else causing trouble for us, I think you and I feel like the only ones who are suffering and nobody understands us."

Natsuko looked back towards the sky, trying to not let the tears fall again. It was the first time someone actually tried to undestand her. Her father is always angry and won't listen to anyone. Her mother is too sad to wanna talk to her, she could relate to how lonely her mother feels but Natsuko can't help her if she won't talk. Riko is too young to talk to, she wouldn't know how to comfort Natsuko and so she doesn't even bother telling Riko how she feels. She could definitely talk with Sora but- what is it? Is it because she's too stubborn? Why does she keep it inside?

"It's okay to feel that way...I mean it too. I'm not gonna tell you bullshit just to try and make you feel better, if you just worry about youself then life will get better." He said to her.

"Thanks..." She said before closing her eyes.

There they laid, not saying a word afterwards. Just enjoying eachother's company. They were there so long that the bell rang, signaling the end of lunch. He sighed, sitting up and cracking his back. He looked over to Natsuko and was surprised to see her sleeping.

He scratched the back of his head, "...hey...hey." He said, lightly shaking her.

She turned on to her side, mumbling in her sleep.

'Heh...cute.' He smiled, tucking some strands of hair that fell to her face behind her ears but he quickly pulled his hand back.

'Dangerous...'

Taking a deep breath.

"...Natsuko-san...wake up", he said a little louder this time.

"Huh? What is it?" She finally said, rubbing her eyes and trying to blink away the blinding sunlight.

Kiyoshi smiled down at her, "You plan on sleeping here?"

"D...did I fall asleep?!"

She quickly got up, straightening her hair. He laughed at her before jumping off the vent, "Hurry, or you'll be late for class."

"The bell rang?!"

Kiyoshi waved as he walked away, "Don't be a stranger!"

'Hamasaki Natsuko, hopefully I'll see you again.'

-TBC-