Reality's Blade

Chapter 34: Confessions

"Yo." Naoki greeted, sauntering up to our desks.

I was sat with my face resting on my folded arms on the desk, Airi was reading another magazine.

"Hey." Airi responded without taking her eyes away from the article she was scanning.

"Where's Kazehiro?" Naoki questioned, looking around.

Airi shrugged.

"Will he be coming back?"

Airi shrugged again. Despite my best efforts I had failed to keep my mood from plummeting. Airi hadn't tried to push for a reason and dropped it after Kazehiro had disappeared as soon as the lunch bell rang without a word or glance in our direction.

"After your stunt yesterday I was left with his book, I was going to return it to him."

At this Airi finally stopped reading and looked at Naoki, a scheming glint in her eye as she realised the book was now unguarded. Naoki frowned at her, protectively clasping the sketchbook to his side away from her.

"Which desk is his?" He asked me.

I shifted my head to look over to where Kazehiro sat, and pointed. "That empty one by the window."

"Naoki you're no fun." Airi pouted as he stashed the sketchbook safely away in Kazehiro's desk. "Did you have a look through it?"

Naoki grabbed a chair and scraped it up to us so he could sit down.

"No... Although I unfolded the one Takeshi had screwed up..." He trailed off, looking uncomfortable.

"And? Was it juicy?" Airi pressed, sensing there was more to this one.

"No comment." Naoki obstinately looked away, folding his arms.

"Aaah I bet it was! A little peek won't hurt..."

Airi made to get up, but Naoki's restraining hand held her back.

"Just... Don't."

Naoki's troubled expression wiped the mischievous grin from Airi's face, she sat back down, the unusual pleading tone of Naoki's voice having halted her in her tracks, unsure of what to make of it. I was willing to bet she was more curious than ever as to what the mysterious drawing had been of, but she dropped it. There was a moment of awkward silence.

"So, no revising today? The moment of truth is next lesson isn't it?" Airi ventured, trying to lift the tension that had filled the air.

"I revised all night. I figured if I didn't know it by now, I would never know it. So I thought I'd relax with the happy crew here." He remarked sarcastically, taking in the sulking Airi and me slumped on the desk.

"Good luck." I murmured. "Don't waste all my hard work."

Naoki saluted. "I'll do my best."

With Naoki's revision over there was another friend who now no longer needed my help. The weight in my chest felt like it was pinning me to the desk. Why did everything remind me of Kazehiro and Hikage? That sketchbook was the last thing I had wanted to see, knowing it was full of all the highlights and low points of our adventures together.

As much as I didn't want to think about it, I couldn't stop my mild curiosity at the picture that had made Naoki so reserved. Was it a gory one? Like the sketch of Kaishin after he'd been slashed down by Hikage the first time. It was perhaps a bit unsettling but not enough for Naoki to be quite so perturbed, sword fights and blood were pretty normal in a boys comic. It must have been something Naoki really wasn't expecting to see.