Love Fiction

Chapter 9

            After getting rid of Tadao, Hiro steered the four through the foyer, which was behind the door in front of them after entering the entrance. They didn’t have the time to take in the beauty of the foyer because Tadao wanted to prepare drinks and snacks for them and chat with them about trivial things. When they got through the foyer, the boys came before two black wooden doors.

            “This leads to…?” Christopher trailed off with a questioning look.

            Hiro put his hand on one of the black handles. “My room.” And he opened it.

            The room was simple except for a few details. Unlike the foyer, which had porcelain white tile for flooring, Hiro’s room had simple, white carpet, and the walls were pure white. The fibers of the carpet must have been high quality because the boys could feel the softness and comfortableness beneath their feet and between their toes, so much so that it almost tickled. Against the left wall was a queen-sized bed with a black comforter, white sheets, and a white pillow, all on a metal, black bed stand, and against the right wall was a white desk with a black lamp. What really stood out, however, was what stood in the corner of his room near the window: a great, black grand piano. And on the floor were sheets of music strewn upon the floor, some torn to shreds, some intact, along with yellow wooden pencils, again some broken in half, some still usable pencils.

            “Make yourself at home,” Hiro muttered. “Sorry for the mess.” He trudged over and flopped on the bed, facedown.

            “Black and white seems to be a common theme in this dwelling…” Prince Arion observed.

            “Whoaaaaa,” Quinn said in awe. “Do you compose music or something, Hiro?” An excited look came upon his face.

            “I dabble,” came a muffled voice.

            Christopher picked up one of the torn up pieces of sheet music and examined it. “This is pretty complex stuff. I wouldn’t call it dabbling-“

            And he came stomping over to Christopher and grabbed it, snarling, “It’s crap. All of it’s crap. Don’t look at it.” With a final glare, he broke off eye contact and walked away from Christopher. “And no one will touch any of the others on the floor. You can step on them. Just don’t touch them or try to look at them.”

            “Hey, stop being such an ass-“ Christopher started to retort, but Jim spoke up.

            “Hiro, it’s clear that you don’t like us. If that’s the case, why don’t you just turn us away?”

            He clenched his fist. Well, it wasn’t that he didn’t like them in particular; he supposed that he didn’t like how it was they who had always made her happy-

            What was he thinking? Was he jealous? What was there to be jealous of? And why?

            “Hiro?” Jim said, touching his shoulder.

            Hiro turned to him. His face felt hot. He was blushing, and touching his burning face, he knew it.

            “You took us in because Clara asked you to, right? What is your relationship with Clara?”

            What is your relationship with Clara? Hiro asked himself.

            “W-what the hell kind of question is that?” sputtered Hiro, swatting Jim’s hand away. “Clara is… I met her a few months ago when I transferred to her school from Japan. I didn’t really have anyone to hang out with until she became my friend. So, I guess she’s just someone to be with and stuff.”