Inside Your Mind

39 - Hitoshi Shinsou

Wanna feel that stream of dopamine

Hitoshi Shinsou was ready to treat himself after the exams, but he wasn't quite ready to take a break from his workout regimen just yet. So when Kaori was finally back home, he figured that it still wasn't too late to head to the university to go and use the pool. It was a nice day and even though Hitoshi wasn't a fan of lying around in the sun doing nothing he did enjoy a nice swim on a hot day.

It took him a little while to finally persuade Kaori to drive them there, but now they were in the car and on their way. Kaori was bobbing her head along to the music in the car (she had insisted on listening to her music, since she was driving, but Hitoshi was allowed to queue songs - and he didn't mind her music that much anyway, he usually just protested as a matter of principle).

"Are we there yet?" Hitoshi asked with a grin, looking over at Kaori who was intently focussed on the road in front of her. He knew she was a really nervous driver, but for some reason he felt like talking to her. It had been a while since they had been on a road trip together (well, they never really had been on a proper road trip, more like half hour drives to some specialized store or to school).

"Oh my God, Toshi, I swear I'm gonna kill both of us, if you keep distracting me." she answered. Hitoshi rubbed the back of his neck.

"As if you'd have the heart to kill me." he replied with a smug grin. She stopped at a red light and looked over to him.

"If I wasn't too nervous to drive on my own, I'd make you get out and walk right about now." she said to him, shaking her head. He knew she wasn't serious, because there was a small smile forming on her face.

"Come on, you're secretly looking forward to this. I know you've been eyeing up the pool since the weather got better again." Hitoshi answered and leaned back in the seat, pushing it all the way back until he was in a lying position. He quickly grabbed his sunglasses out of his backpack and put them on.

"Perfect." he commented. Kaori laughed, focussing on the road again.

"You're such a dumbass sometimes, Toshi. Since when do you prefer the pool to heading outside of the city and swimming in the lake?" she wanted to know. Hitoshi shrugged nonchalantly and looked away from Kaori. Why did she always ask those kinds of questions that hit the nail on the head?

"I dunno, I haven't been there yet, maybe it's cool. Maybe there are some cool people there, who knows." he replied.

"Ah. So Kaminari's going there today?" she asked.

"How would I know that?" Hitoshi retorted, probably a little too fast, because he saw Kaori smiling to herself.

"Don't pretend you weren't smiling at your phone like an idiot while I was watching the movie you wanted to see."

Hitoshi pushed his sunglasses up into his hair and gave his sister a shocked look. She was still smiling to herself, obviously happy how she managed to trick Hitoshi into admitting that he was absolutely after Kaminari.

"You noticed that?" he asked, somewhat shocked. He knew how observant his sister was, but he had been extra careful. She probably secretly had eyes she could rotate around her head or something.

"Of course I did. You didn't hide it very well, even though you were trying. But I notice a lot of things." Kaori said, sounding like she was about to become one with the void and still maintaining that complacent smile.

"Sometimes you really fucking creep me out." Hitoshi mumbled and pushed his sunglasses back down over his eyes.

"Why are you so embarrassed? You know, Toshi, sometimes when you really, really like someone..." Kaori started, the grin on her face growing bigger and bigger, but Hitoshi stopped her by lightly punching her upper arm. She just laughed and turned around a corner.