A Firefly's Glow: Deux

Chapter Twenty-Two: Part Seven

Liar.

He was such a liar.

He mashed the back of his hand to his eyes. That girl had woken him up and he still had crust in his eyes. He wandered back towards the bed with an idea of going back to bed, but he hesitated.

She was upset. No girl could waltz away from something like that without feeling even a little upset.

He didn’t something to her. He hurt her.

He walked towards his bedroom doors. He had to go after her. He couldn’t just let her walk away like that.

Once he whipped the doors open, the figure standing behind the doors squeaked.

Keita laid eyes on Kasumi. What was she doing here in the middle of the night?

“Kasumi,” Keita began.

“H-Hanabusa-sama,” she stuttered, nervously looking him in the eye. “I-I-It’s the middle of the night. I thought you’d be asleep.”

He should have been asleep. She was right.

“What about you?” he asked.

“I’m on a night shift, Hanabusa-sama.”

“Oh,” He stepped out of his room and closed the door behind him. “Take a break if you need one. You work all day too, don’t you?”

“It’s alright, sir.”

Keita turned down the hall. He figured that after he was out of Kasumi’s sight, he’d go upstairs to the girl’s room. He didn’t want anyone to know about this.

Unfortunately, Kasumi followed behind him. Perhaps she was heading to a place in the same direction. After a few turns in these complex hallways, they should both separate.

But even after wandering through several rooms and taking several turns over the next few minutes, he found himself having to turn around to face her and say—

“Why are you following me?”

“O-Oh,” Kasumi jumped once Keita turned around. “I-I-I was heading to . . . Hotaru Fujioka’s room.”

Great. He’d never be able to get to her room without anyone knowing about it like this.

“Why?” he asked.

“I figured you were headed to her room. I thought of coming to assist you.”

How on earth did she know?!

“How would you suggest that?”

“Just a guess, sir.”

He honestly wanted to visit the girl alone, with no one else around him.

“You shouldn’t come. She, uh, might be sleeping. There might be violence if you wake a sleeping girl up. Especially that one.”

“Actually, sir, that’s why I’m coming with you. I know more about the violence of sleepy girls. It takes one to know one, you know.”

“You suspect that I can’t defend myself?”

“Against a sleepy yet violent teenage girl? Not . . . likely, sir.”

Keita sighed. He really wanted to see the girl alone.

Now that he thought of it, wanting to see the girl alone seemed a little creepy.