Refresh [Izaya X OC ff]

Chapter 5

Some things changed ever since I joined the Biology club and befriended Shinra. I no longer hang out inside the library. Just as Izaya suggested, the laboratory was a perfect place to hide from the crowds. As far as I stayed there, no one bothered us (even the upperclassmen and school council who usually liked to check around clubs) and even the teachers didn't ask a lot. I heard our club counselor was our biology club, but so far he rarely came to the room as if he himself forgot about the club's existence. There was no rule there so I could do anything that I wanted. I could read my own novels, eat snacks there, or just try out every laboratory type of equipment despite I didn't know how to use it. As long as I didn't attract the teacher's and student council's attention. Now I understand the beauty of joining a club. 

Shinra also hanged out in there often. Just like me, he loved using some of the equipment for experiments that I didn't understand, but mostly he prefers to just sit in there while reading a book. A biology book. The difference was that he enjoyed experimenting while I tried them out to satisfy my curiosity and then got bored a minute later.

If there weren't anything to do, I usually spoke to Shinra. Out of my expectations, he could become a fun chat partner as long as you brought topics that he's interested in. He often talked about something related to idioms, and the human's body. I learned a lot from him.

On the other side, Izaya spent less time there, probably doing something else behind my back. Every time I tried to ask about that, he refused to tell me. I always know this side of him, but I thought he would be more open after I offered to become his listener. 

Hence, I spent more time with Shinra than him, although I was a bit more comfortable being with Izaya (but that doesn't mean I didn't like being with Shinra). Maybe it's because I'd been his close friend for days earlier than with Shinra? 

Oh well, I guess I should be more grateful to still has friends. 

I admit ever since Izaya zipped his mouth from me, I never brought up topics about him again. I just pretended that it was about his privacy stuff and I had no right to know about it. I wanted to be a respectful friend to him and I didn't want him to think of me as obnoxious. I never thought about his secret stuff again, until one day I found it out accidentally. 

I was in the laboratory, as usual, doing nothing in there but to kill time. I didn't like going home early with those massive students flooding down the schoolyard, so I insisted on staying in the club room until thirty minutes later. Eventually, Shinra and Izaya waited alongside me and we walked home together (though Shinra parted ways in the middle since his house was in opposite direction). I was reading my novel until Shinra interrupted me. 

"Keiko..." He called my first name, as I requested. "What do you think about love?"

"Love?" That was a sudden topic. I closed both of my eyes as I hummed, thinking hard about it. I was still young so I didn't really know about it. "I never fall in love before, so I can't talk about it. Why are you asking?"

"Ah, I thought you know quite well about it since you like reading novels."

"I may read romance novels, but that doesn't mean I know about it." I corrected. 

"Then, how does your novel describe the feeling?" Shinra asked again. 

I closed my book as I frowned on my forehead. My mind started to work again. "They always write love as a magical experience.  It can rush your adrenaline by just looking at each other but at the same time it can stress you out when you hurt each other or not seeing for a long time. It destroys your common sense, but it gives you hope and meaning in life. That's how I interpret it based on the books."