Obsession (Ayano x Budo)

Chapter 6

As the sound of chatting and footsteps started to echo through the passages, Budo slipped his phone, as well as the now crushed note, back into his pocket. His mind was buzzing, thoughts whirring in his head like a helicopter. He was filled with a mixture of confusion, suspicion and tiredness, and he felt as if these emotions would fill the brim of his capacity soon.

The agitation in his chest grew tighter as the increasingly loud laughter and noise of the crowds started to close in on him. All he wished for was to seek the quiet, beautiful relief in his Ayano.

Suddenly he recalled something Info-chan had told him: Ayano's class was 2-1.

Budo grabbed his lunch and shut his metal locker was a loud bang. He began moving against the tide of in-coming students, roughly shouldering past the bags of people all going to their lockers. None of them was the black-haired head he was searching for.

Class 2-1 was empty.

She wasn't in the cafeteria.

She wasn't by the roof.

She wasn't in the library, or computer lab, or the courtyard...

A sudden vibration trembled abruptly in his back pocket, followed by a soft "ding". Budo immediately knew who it must have been, and as he drew his phone out, his suspicions were confirmed.

She is behind the school at the fountain.

He wanted to ask Info-chan how she knew this, and why she was helping him, but in a way he already knew the answers. Info-chan wouldn't do favors free. She'd have people in her debt, people who acted as her ears and eyes. Which only made Budo wonder what kind of favors she would request of him.

Another vibration. Budo glanced at his screen, and ten his steps faltered as he considered the words.

Be fast. You don't want to miss it :)

For some reason, that smiley face made him nervous, but Budo decided to just press on, increasing his stride through the empty hallway leading outside.

Budo pushed open the doors to a mid-day icy blue sky, letting them swing shut behind him while he jogged forward, shoes munching on fallen petals and short-cut grass. A strong, sweet-smelling breeze pulled at his sleeves, like fingers dragging him backwards. He pushed through the current, and broke free of it as he rounded the corner of the school.

There! By the small fountain, framed by the old and twisting Sakura tree with its draping pinkness, she stood like an angel against the bright colors. Her hair shining like the darkest, most precious silk as it was caught in a beam of bright light, the bend of her legs, the curve of her back... Even when he couldn't see her face, his heart fluttered at the sight of her. She was so beautiful.

Maybe I can use this time to talk to her, he thought. Just as he took a step forward, his foot stepped on a piece of loose plastic, and a rustling crunch splinted trough the calm air.

Her head whipped back, revealing slated eyes that were huge with instant shock as they locked onto his, then flickered into something deadly. Those gorgeous predator eyes were something that filled Budo with a sliver of fear and awe.

And that was when he saw it.