Photo

Let's Make Memories Together

    It was meant to be a simple hang out at a friend's house. Len had gone into his room to retrieve his camera, which had been loading pictures into a computer. While waiting, Yuzuki had noticed a door hidden behind a dark oak wardrobe while leaning against the wall. Having always taken the phrase "Make yourself at home" to heart, being good friends with Len, and possessing an insatiable curiosity, she immediately set about moving it aside. Luckily it was fairly empty, and light enough for Yuzuki's small, skinny frame to move.
     And she opened the door.
     The wall was covered in pictures. Pictures of her. She saw her pink hair and pale skin at least a hundred times over, depicted on different days at different times.
She wasn't looking at the camera in any of them.
     "Y-you... weren't supposed to see that..." A shaking voice, as if it was on the verge of tears, rang out quietly behind her.
     Yuzuki turned around, slowly and cautiously. However, her words were not so cautious, instead sarcastic and dry. "Oh, by 'that', would you be talking about the evidence of your... questionable hobby?" Her jaw was set as she watched his every movement with half-lidded, now fierce, green eyes.
     The blonde boy fiddled with his ponytail nervously, taking a single step closer. "I k-know it doesn't l-look good but..." He lunged forward in his desperation to convey his feelings, reaching for her hands, but Yuzuki instead reared away and moved around him.
     "H-huh? Why are you looking at me like that? T-that's not right... you're supposed to grin like you always do! You always complimented my photography... supported me in it... why are you suddenly acting so distant...?" Big blue eyes pleaded with her, and if the pinkette had more sympathy in her nature, it would've brought up some kind of pity.
     Instead of answering, she took measured steps to put the small, wooden kitchen table between them. "Oh! Maybe I didn't do a good enough job? I'll admit some of those angles aren't my best, so you don't have to worry about hurting my feelings, we can just take more!" The younger boy's hopeful expression fell when he didn't get the response he wanted.
     "Why... in the hell are you stalking me? That's a crime, Len! You should know why I'm staying away from you. You know it's not right, even I know it's not right." She softened her gaze a bit, wanting to help her friend. "If you can tell me why, we can take care of this like grown-ups."
     Yellow nails dug into the table's surface, "What's there to fix?" He smiled charmingly, "Absolutely nothing's wrong. But please... I hate it when you treat me like a kid." His eyes became downcast, a blush dusting his cheeks as he prepared his confession. "I always loved you this much... but you never noticed. I always wished I could've been born before you. I always thought about it. Then this... 'thing' started. Once you fell asleep while we were at the park. I had been doing my homework and you ended up taking a nap on the ground. The lighting was perfect. Before I knew it, my camera was in my hands.
     I loved it. I thought that even if we weren't together, I could still witness these unguarded moments you never show anyone else. And I could keep them to myself. So, I started taking a few more pictures when you weren't looking. Then I wanted to see what you were like when you weren't with me. So I followed you." His fingers fisted in the fabric of his shirt where his heart lay.
"It hurt me when I saw you with other people. Other guys your age. It hurt so much."
     Yuzuki... was shocked. Her mind was usually too lost in her personal musings and her present reality that she never suspected any sort of... romantic feelings developing in her friend's head. However, she saw no need to dwell on it. It would be obvious to anyone that this was a dangerous situation. She soon decided she would get the hell out of this house, where her seemingly normal bestie wasn't gazing at her with largely dilated pupils, and regroup. With that thought in mind, she began to bolt for the exit.
     Noticing the shift in her stance, Len- with some exerted strength- moved his hands underneath the surface and flipped the table over. It worked well, the edge hitting his friend in the side and causing her to stumble a bit. Familiar with Yuzuki's knack for quick recoveries, he immediately took the opportunity to pull her backwards by her button-up's collar. Her back met the floor painfully and her breath forcefully escaped her body.
      Well aware of what could happen if she wasted time, she attempted to stand and dart away despite her dazed head, only making it a few steps away from him, and further into the living room, before stumbling back down with hacking coughs. She blindly kicked a chair in his general direction in her desperation to keep distance between them.
      He shoved it away full-force to his left.
      And it knocked into the empty wardrobe, which needed no more encouragement to to be sent falling down and landing on Yuzuki's waist, effectively pinning her.
Yuzuki felt a feeling she thought was impossible for her, as Len stared down in her in shock- mostly likely pleased he wouldn't have to chase her any longer. Vulnerability. Perhaps, if it wasn't Len standing there, but someone else, she wouldn't feel such a thing. However, it was, and he knew her well. Well enough to worm his way under her skin, now that he had her.
     The boy came closer to her fallen form, which was attempting to push the obstacle off, fearlessly. After all, in comparison to her kicks, Yuzuki's upper body strength and endurance didn't make for very strong punches. He was holding a frying pan in one hand, presumably to incapacitate her for a longer period of time.
     "...Hey, I've never seen you make that face before..."
     A camera was held up and obscured his face, a soft smile hidden underneath.
     Click.

                                                                                    -0-0-0-
Umm, I wrote this around midnight while I was working on the next chapter of Liberi. I was tired and not thinking right to be able to properly write a chapter for a larger story. Ended up doing this instead. Speaking of, sorry for the wait. I was taking care of 5 dogs (3 of which had parvo, including a puppy). For those of you who have dogs, you may know what a dangerous illness that is to them. But, not to fear, a large portion has been written for the next chapter. It's more a case of successfully bringing the chapter to an end, lol.
I don't know if I'll regret saying this in the morning/today(?) but if you'd like to see something else like this but characters that... aren't Len, feel free to make a request in the comments, 'cause if I recognize the character I'll probably consider it. (They don't necessarily have to be male either, or you can ask to me to... genderbend them or something. That's cool too.)