Out of Count

I

"Mikoshiba, indeed, I can only depend on you," she trailed, leaning her head on his shoulder as she put the sake bottle down their table after she poured a decent amount of the liquor into her glass.

He was kind of taken back by her gesture, then he tried to maintain his composure (nothing had changed since then, he still wanted to be seen as the ever charming guy),

"Yeah, but after all the years of going MIA? Don't you think you should explain things first? We were quite the close friends and yet you decided to just vanish after graduation. Did you even tell Chiyo-chan or Seo?" there went his charming-guy façade for he unknowingly sulked at her while (also unknowingly) caressing her head, a habit he had gotten since his sophomore year in university for playing the cassanova role and she is still a close friend in a dire need of comforting.

Kashima trailed her index finger on the rim of her glass, after sighing she answered Mikoshiba's train of questions, "I did tell them-".

"And not me?!" he cut her off, trying his best not to slam the table which made him clench his fist tightly. For some reason he felt more irritated than he thought he should be.

"Well, I thought, you wouldn't mind... Besides, I had things to take care of. My parents applied me to the first batch of the scholarship, so..." she tried to find an excuse to tell him whilst pondering why Mikoshiba must responded in a quite unexpected manner.

"You still can told Chiyo-chan and Seo to relay the message to me." He dismissed her explanation. "It was still really unfair of you to just left me like that. You know that I was close to you and always talk about anything with you-"

"Not about the part where you assisted Nozaki," she cut him and refuted his statement.

"T-that's a different story!" Mikoshiba's cheeks turned beet red as he tried to get the conversation stay on the track. "And I can explain that later if you want. At least I didn't suddenly migrate. Anyway, I actually felt lonely without you..."

"Pft!" Kashima scoffed. "You thought I'd stay close to you in university? It was not like I was gonna go to the same university as you, Mikoshiba~"

"Were you really underestimating me that much..." Mikoshiba looked away to the distance, kind of having an impromptu evaluation of what he was when he was a raging high school student. Right, he spent most of his time trying to acomplish every ends possible from his games and maintaining his collection of waifu figurines. With that in mind, Mikoshiba sighed, admitting that he was indeed not the brightest one in academic.

"Underestimating? No! Never! It was because you were planning to go to the same university as Hori-senpai. And I would never try to crush myself like that, not after I knew that he already with his then girlfriend." her voice got fainter at the end.

"Ah, yes... I forgot you met them when you visited him. I get it," he patted her back gently. After that she raised her head off his shoulder and stared at him, "were you really lonely?"

"I was! I can even still say you're my best friend now, even after what you did!"

"Not even when you have Nozaki, or Chiyo, or Yuzuki?" Kashima leaned closer again to Mikoshiba, making their faces only inches away.

"Why do you have to put Seo in there," he shivered at the name as he retreated from her, trying to make a safe distance between them. After all, no matter how androgynous she looked, she was still a woman, an attractive one, and she had always been like that to him. Somehow their proximity gave him some tugging in his heart, maybe it was just the alcohol in his sytem messing around with his cognitive process or the karaage he had after the wedding party, he thought while glancing at her. Still in the process of gaining his composure back, he decided to state one thing he wouldn't have had mistaken as a romantic feeling,

"It was not the same without you and that was the harsh truth I had to learn," he looked down at his glimmering glass.

Silence then followed them.

"Mikoshiba," Kashima broke the heavy atmosphere between them. She did feel kind of guilty for leaving Mikoshiba without any explanation, he was still the good friend he ever was to her.

"Yes?" he responded, still looking down at his glass.

"Did you have a crush on me?"

His face turned crimson and hot, "N-no! It was not like that! I m-meant I-I missed you," he paused waiting for a response from her. But he only got a questioning look as an exchange, "as a good friend!"

"Or was it?" he thought.

She chuckled, "all right all right, I'm sorry, really sorry. It was because I thought no matter what, you're still a guy and won't understand a girl's heart."

"You think me as the model of a shoujo manga heroine couldn't understand the heart of a maiden? The heart of a maiden was shaped from my heart! And not to mention all those otome games where I encountered heartbreaking endings!" This time he finally slammed the table hard, thus spilling some of the liquor from their glasses. And by reflex Kashima tried to keep their drinks on the table even though she was surprised by Mikoshiba.

"Geez, okay, you're starting to make a scene here, Mamiko." she nudged him at the waist.

At the mention of that name, in a hurry Mikoshiba put his index finger onto Kashima's lips, "Be quiet!" he asked her.

Kashima cracked a laugh, "You really are drunk Mikoshiba~" she chimed while putting his hand away from her face, but she didn't let go of the respective hand. In fact after that she stared at his hand,

"You comfort me," she then made his hand cup her cheek as she closed her eyes and leaned on it. They stayed like that for quite a while. Mikoshiba's thoughts went into a halt, he wasn't sure whether it was the alcohol which slowed his cognitive process or it was because he actually liked the way Kashima acted. But one thing for sure, he wanted to bask in the presence of Kashima more after that. It was almost like he had the urgent desire to take her into his embrace.

She opened her eyes and was welcomed with a spaced out Mikoshiba. A smirk formed from her lips,

"And I think I am drunk too," she leaned closer to him and made their lips met in a soft kiss.