A Firefly's Glow

Chapter Nine: Part Two

When Sora released her grip, I glanced at our surroundings. We were in one of the extra rooms concealed within the restaurant. It wasn’t a large room, but it didn’t fit with the rest of the restaurant. A pair of recliners sat against the walls. A few stray books were sprawled open and faced down on the carpeted floor. A fairly sized box sat in the middle of the room, and packing peanuts surrounded its base.

“Um . . .” I peered towards Sora in bemusement. “You brought me here because . . .”

“Because a customer ordered coffee and I can’t get this coffee maker out of its box.”

“Don’t we have like four or five coffee makers in the kitchen?”

“Those are dirty. I forgot to clean them—don’t tell Mikan!”

“Sora—“

“Plus I hate cleaning those contraptions of death! They smell funny!”

“Sora—“

“Why do people like coffee anyway? It stunts your growth and turns your teeth yellow—“

“Sora, what happened with Prince Bleached-Hair?”

Sora responded with a long stare. Her mouth remained open ajar. Her eyes were widened in mild surprise at what she believed to be a random change of subject.

As the thought ran through her mind, she slowly glanced towards the ceiling in daze.

“Friday,” she murmured dizzily, letting her voice trail off into uncertainty. “Friday . . .”

“Yes, what about Friday?”

“Friday . . . Friday . . .”

“What about it?”

“Friday . . .”

“I know about the Friday! What happened?!”

Sora’s dazed expression seemed to morph back into her mutual face. The memories seemed to return to her head, and she scrunched her eyebrows.

“What happened was that you didn’t show up for school and I had to go talk to the guy alone and—“

“Sora!”

“Alright, alright!” Sora released a deep exhale and she mildly shrugged her shoulders.

“I was heading around the school looking for you when I bumped into the guy. So he said, ‘Hey, Hinamori-san—was it?’.”

“Cool!” I cheered, clapping my hands together. “He called you by your name!”

“It’s not cool! It’s all Hachimitsu’s fault!” Sora brandished a firm fist into the air. As she relaxed it, she slowly continued.

“He asked me if I would like to come with him on a double date after school at the Orange Café. I thought it was kind of cool because I worked here and everything.”

“Did you say yes?”

“Of course not!” Sora’s cheeks immediately flustered into a dull shade of scarlet.

I raised a confused eyebrow. “Um, why not—“

“Because after he asked me, he said ‘I’ll be going with my girlfriend. You’re gonna be Hachimitsu’s date. Yesterday when I saw him talk to you, I figured that you’re already going together, right?’ WRONG!”

I let out a small, amused snort. But once I did, Sora aimed a piercing glare towards me. I covered my laugh with an invented cough.

“So he did think you were Yoru’s girlfriend?”

“Yes! I told you so, Hotaru!” Sora bared her teeth in vain. “’Hey’ does mean ‘Hello, girlfriend’.”

“Um—no I think I was right about that part.”

“Then why did he think Hachimitsu and I were dating?”

I almost uttered my opinion, but I had enough self control to seal my lips before I could utter anything. What I planned to utter still echoed through my head.

“Maybe it’s the fact that you and Yoru look good together.”

If I really had uttered something like that aloud, my head wouldn’t still be attached to my shoulders like it was right now.

I peered back at Sora’s blushing face. “Sorry, I—“

“It’s okay!” the redness that lingered in Sora’s cheeks immediately faded away. “I’m fine! Totally over it!”

Well, that was fast.

“You are?”

“Yup!” Sora’s smile widened across her face. “This has happened before, remember?”

“Oh—right.”

I didn’t quite understand Sora at all. She didn’t break down over anything—no matter how many times she’s been rejected. This has happened before—many, many times. And after every single time, she merely held up a smile just like she was doing right now, and she’d say “It’s okay! I’m over it!”

How did she do that?

My thoughts droned back onto Hinata and the situation he pondered about on the way to the café just a moment ago.

He claimed to be over his ex-girlfriend. But as I walked behind him and asked him a series of questions, he wasn’t able to explain as casually or lift a smile as wide and appreciated as Sora’s.

Perhaps this was because the way they both loved someone was different?

Sora flung an arm into the air in delight, and it directed my attention away from my thoughts.

“I’m going to find a guy that loves me more than any other girl! That’s the guy I’ll choose!” She jabbed a finger against my shoulder. “You’ll find one someday too, Hotaru!”

“Um, I’ll pass.”

“You can’t pass! Now I’m serious, help me get this monster out of its box.”

She nudged the box with the tip of her stained sneakers. “Come on, Hotaru!” she kneeled beside the box and dug her fingernails through the sea of packing peanuts. “Heave ho!”

Letting out an exhausted sigh, I kneeled beside her and slid my hands into the box. My fingers wrapped around cold, glossy edges that I inferred was the coffee maker itself.

“It’s more fun if you say ‘heave ho’.” Sora informed, tugging onto the glass.

“No way.”

Sora ignored my remark, brightening the grin that was spread upon her face. “On three! One—three!”

“Hey, you skipped ‘two’!” I began as Sora harshly lugged the metal out of the box. She cheered as she held the coffee maker before her. Once she noticed I wasn’t holding onto the metal as well, she gasped.

“You didn’t help, Hotaru! That’s a penalty!”

“But you skipped ‘two’! Don’t you know how to count?”

As we lugged the heavy contraption out of the room, I mustered a smile. Perhaps there was someone out there who wouldn’t reject me or leave me scars. But I didn’t think I was ready for any of that just yet.