Love and Hate ‒ ʰᶦᵗᵒˢʰᶦ ˢ.

twenty six

Twenty Six:
Hitoshi's Safe Haven

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THE CULTURAL FESTIVAL WAS HAPPENING IN LESS THAN A WEEK. You and Hitoshi haven't been hanging out a lot after that said movie date in his apartment. But whenever he had the time, he would try and spend the rest of his non busy minutes with you even if it meant just talking to you in the hallway after classes or when he walks with you to your place. Sometimes, he has to stay in school a little later too which makes you have no choice but to go home on your own. Today of all days, you decided to wait for him to finish up in the student council room and sat on one of the chairs as he continued to arrange the last bits of papers in front of him. Upon staring on his appearance, he had turned a bit muscly than before. The bags under his eyes were now a bit clearer and puffy. You furrowed your brows as you stared, thinking that maybe he had been crying because of how puffy his eyes were.

"The longer you stare, the more I'll melt inside, baby." He spoke causing you to snap out of your own thoughts. "Is there something on my face?" You chuckled at his question, your features glowing as he tilted his head to smile. "Nothing, nothing's on your face. I just thought you might be thinking of something and you're not telling me?" Hitoshi chuckled as he shook his head, taking steps closer to you. He fixed his hair and uniform before placing a hand on top of your head. "You always were worried about me, weren't you?"

You blushed, a smile plastered on his face as he saw your ears turn red. Hitoshi ruffled your hair as he leaned down to kiss your forehead. Groaning, you looked at him with a pout on your lips. "Why do you always want to make me feel embarrassed?"

"Embarrassed? I'm merely just showing you how much I love you, baby." Hitoshi chuckled as he walked back to his table and grabbed his bag. "Let's go?" You nodded, still unsure if he was telling you the truth about what he was thinking about. Hitoshi has not been feeling well lately especially after the news he had received a few days ago. He had been told both by Naomi and Yshi that he had been chosen as candidate for batch valedictorian along with you. Despite this being none of his concern, Yshi had mentioned that the school board was starting to favor him being the valedictorian because of what happened between you and your father. This had bothered him big time and as much as he wanted to tell you, he was afraid of how you'd react.

The walk to your home was slow and he had held your hand tightly, the type he does whenever he feels nervous about something. The damp feeling of his palm on your palm made you look at him with furrowed brows, his mind deep in thought. "Hitoshi, I'm still concerned about you. You're spacing out right now..." you waved your other hand in front of him, his eyebrows jolting upward as he now stared into your face, studying your expression as if he knows what's about to happen next.

"(Your name), you'll support me no matter what, right?"

The question came out shocking to the two of you, his eyes widening as he tried to stutter out an explanation only for you to shush him. He pursed his lips as he sucked in a breath, wanting to cry out of embarrassment or out of his own confused thoughts. "Hitoshi, you know I'm always here for you, right?" This was entirely true, you would always be there for him and seeing him succeed would mean a lot to you too. Your fingers twitching from his grasp made him gulp and your wide smile made his heart jump out of its cage every single time. "So, even if I made a decision that would probably disappoint you, you'd still be there for me?"

"Hitoshi, you've disappointed me quite a lot of times now and yet here I am holding your hand and dating you. If that doesn't answer your question then yes, I'd still be around." Rich, loud laughter echoed through the streets you were walking in as the purple-haired male gave you a small smile. The relief that washed over him as he heard you reassure him felt nice and warm. As you were closing in to your house, you once again felt his fingers clenching themselves on yours, making you look up to him again and tilt your head. "I'm really proud of you, (your name)."