Control (Aphorism Fanfic) COMPLETED

Chapter 8

Misaki sat in her seat, looking out of the window while her sensei gave out their term results. The rest of her classmates chattered, comparing their results with each other, and waiting impatiently for the rest.

"Hinata, Sanjuurou."

Sanjuurou stood up, walking towards the sensei to receive his results.

At the mention of his name, Misaki turned, watching as he stood up from his seat at the aisle opposite her's.

The sight of his back triggered a memory.

The incident happened a few days ago. Upon realising that entrance results were released for middle schoolers, she went to pester Sanjuurou, borrowing his laptop to check her email. And then, there it was – a long awaited email from Mikio.

A smile played on her lips as she read about his stellar results and the excitement in his email. Her smile was immediately wiped away from she realized that her parents had allowed him to go to a special medical school in England, where he would be studying up until he graduates from college.

At once, she realized that it meant that she had next to no chances of seeing him. Tears sprang to her eyes, and she quickly tried to hide her face, ashamed at herself for being upset and not happy for him.

Through her teary mist, she spotted Sanjuurou's bright eyes looking at her, asking her what was wrong. Before she could even keep her emotions in check, she blubbered on, crying about how Mikio was enrolling in a school in England, how she would have lesser chances of seeing him, and how disgusted she was at herself for being upset instead of elated for him.

Somehow or another, she ended up burying her face in Sanjuurou's shoulder while he patted her back, reassuring her quietly that it was okay.

"It's only natural to feel this way, especially since you dote on him so much," he had remarked.

"Kanade, Misaki," the sensei called, bringing Misaki out of her thoughts.

She rose and collected her results, frowning at her papers while she made her way back to her seat. Her English and Math were fairly well, scoring nineties. But the rest of her subjects were only average, some reaching even below average.

Aira tugged at her arm as she walked past her table. "How did you do?"

Misaki stopped. "English and Math are fine. The others just average. Overall average."

"Ahh," Aira said, frowning at her results. "I'm just only average as well."

The two girls sighed in unison – Aira thinking of studying more with Rokudou, and Misaki contemplating if she should start paying more attention for the other subjects she found 'boring'.

Shortly afterwards, Noa was dismissed from her class, going over to Class 1 and joining the two at Aira's tables. After comparing results, they started chatting about lessons, senseis, and people they 'liked'.

"Well... I'm not sure if I like anyone, but I am close friends with all of you," Aira said, smiling.

Noa and Misaki thought of Rokudou, inwardly sighing in sympathy for the boy.

Noa smiled softly. "I am very fond of the friends I had for many years. But since we're friends, I like to keep it that way for a bit longer."

Misaki immediately thought of Sanjuurou and her chest tightened – a feeling she was slowly getting familiar with over the past few weeks.

"You are fond of Sanjuurou?" Misaki blurted out.

She quickly lowered her eyes.

Noa blinked before laughing. "Fond of him as a good friend, yes. But liking him in that sense? No thanks."