Stormy Summer

A Silent Notion

For a few minutes, we just stood there without saying anything. I didn't know what to tell her and she probably didn't even know what to ask.

Finally, after getting tired of this drawn-out silence, I answered the question she didn't know how to ask, "I'm fine, Rose, really. Kuro-chan and I just talked. I'm still sticking to what I told you before, okay?" I still didn't know how or what to say, but I was still planning on doing it. Even though every part of me wanted me to just let it be. All these 'what if's that would follow if I were to just leave it be would kill me.

Rose was about to say something but instead nearly jumped out of her skin as a bag was tossed at her from the side. She caught it. Barely. I had to hold in a laugh at her expense as I turned to see the source of her near-heart attack.

"Manju," he started, grinning at Rose as she glared at him, "What are you doing out here?" he then walked up to me, dropping another bag into my hands, "Nikuman," he just said.

"Thanks," I smiled up at him, "just talking" I suppressed a yawn as I handed Bokuto one of his own meat buns before taking one for myself, "Are the others going to come out any time soon?"

Bokuto and Rose just shrugged.

We didn't have to wait too long until Akaashi came out, Anna and Charlie trailing behind him, their bags full of new stuff. Charlie immediately walked up to Rose, handing her one of the bags without a word. Rose grimaced and tried to refuse taking it, "I told you, I can't afford this..." she tried to reason with Charlie who just gave her 'the look,' holding the bag toward Rose so she could take it.

I knew that look all too well: 'take it or I'll just throw it away,' with a mix of 'it'll be your fault that I wasted that money, then,' I could see Rose struggling. On the one hand, she didn't want Charlie to spend money on her, but on the other hand, she also didn't want to upset Charlie or be at fault for her wasting money, as Charlie normally didn't have that much money herself.

Charlie just wanted for Rose to be happy and if that meant spending money on things Rose liked, then so be it. Charlie didn't care much for it, anyways. Eventually, Rose bucked, taking the bag while muttering under her breath.

While this played out, Anna had started arguing with one of the boys on Kuro's team, 'Lev' I think his name was, about something. When did he come outside? I hadn't paid enough attention to tell what exactly they were talking about, "What are they arguing about?" it came from Rose as she suddenly stood next to me. I shrugged, "Dunno," I looked at what Anna was holding up. It was some sort of candy and she was pointing at it, frantically while glaring up at Lev, who was near twice her size. He, in turn, grinned down at her, shaking his head pointedly. It did look cute, somehow.

"What's going on out here?" Kuro glared at Lev as he came up from behind them, Kenma trailing behind him, seemingly bothered by the fact that Lev was being loud again. Kenma turned his head and our eyes met, he seemed to contemplate whether he should come to stand next to us, but then his eyes shifted to Bokuto and he seemed to have changed his mind as he trailed off to the side, playing some game on his GameBoy.

Okay... Thanks, Kenma...

'Bokuto isn't that bad though...' I thought, glancing up to him as he animatedly talked to Akaashi, 'A little loud maybe... but definitely not that bad...' Though I guess, I know why Kenma wouldn't feel comfortable around him. Sometimes, he's even too loud for me and that's coming from someone who should be used to loud people.

"I don't care. Just shut up, Lev," Kuro wasn't even shouting as he seethed with anger. Rose cleared her throat as she went up to Anna to give her one of the Manju. Anna took it and followed us over to where we stood across from them, but not without sending one last glare in Lev's direction. Rose handed the last Manju to Charlie and that's when I realized that I still had the Nikuman Bokuto gave me.

I hold the bag over to Akaashi, motioning for him to take one. Bokuto turned to look at me, "You don't like them? You haven't eaten any yet," hearing this, Akaashi wanted to give the bag back to me but I already started to walk back into the store, mumbling about having forgotten to buy something from the store before the sliding door closed behind me. I nodded at the cashier and went straight for the volume I saw earlier before being interrupted by Lev and the others.

I played with the little plush owl as I contemplated on buying something else, too, staring at the object in question. When I heard a ding behind me I just grabbed it and went to the cash register to pay for both items. I greeted the cashier-guy as I placed both items on the counter.

I could hear my heart hammering in my head as I mumbled a quiet goodbye to the cashier-guy and upon turning around, came face-to-face with none other than Kuro, who looked at me suspiciously, "What'd you buy?" he asked once we were outside. I pulled out the new volume I had planned on buying and showed him with a sheepish grin, "The reason I even got here today," he chuckled, "Of course," I intentionally left out the fact that I bought another item. To be honest, I feel kind of stupid about buying it now.

Bokuto frowned at me as he saw me walk out again. I pretended to not notice as I took the offered bag from Akaashi, taking out one of the last Nikuman before offering the bag back to Bokuto, "There's still some left," I mumbled without directly looking at his face, "and thanks, again," I added after he took the bag, taking a few steps back to stand next to Rose and the others who had started talking about something while I was inside the store.

"Oh, you're back," Rose noted, "sorry I dragged you out earlier... Did you get the volume or was it sold out already?" I grinned, holding the bag up.