Stormy Summer

A Rising Tension

"What are you doing?" I nearly jumped out of my skin when Anna suddenly spoke up from behind me, "Sorry," she laughed lightly at my reaction.

I looked at her over my shoulder and was greeted by a seemingly sweet smile.

"I'm not... sure..." I answered as I closed the closet again.

I had been looking through everything I have for the past ten minutes. Looking for something, but not sure what exactly.

"Okay then..." Anna trailed off, "we're going to the grocery store. Cat is buying me a new pudding," she growled that last part before switching back to her normal, sweet voice, "You coming, too?"

I nodded, turning to follow her out of the room, "sure. I have to make sure he buys the correct one, don't I?"

Anna nodded happily, "Good. Rose, Charlie, and Owl-kun are coming, too."

As soon as we arrived at the front door, we were met by one additional face. A face that didn't look happy to be anywhere near this place right now.

"When did you get here? I thought Kuro-chan said you didn't want to come?" Kenma met my eyes and sighed, mumbling something unintelligible under his breath before looking back down to his PSP.

I nodded, "Okay... You ready?" I was already out the door when I finished asking. Rose was next to me, almost in an instant, followed by Charlie.

I took a deep breath before turning to look at the remaining four. Anna was still busy tying her shoelaces. Bokuto and Kuro seemingly got into a wrestling battle on the front steps, Kenma quickly walking over to us to steer clear of his captain and Bokuto.

When I was about to step between them so that we could leave, a loud squeak sounded from behind them, before Kuro sprang back, holding his cheek.

"She's crazy!" he pointed his finger at Anna, who was smiling innocently next to Bokuto, who looked confused beyond belief.

I looked between Kuro and Anna before sighing, "She doesn't mean any harm," I defended her, "she just..." I paused, searching for the right words.

"She scratched me!" Kuro showed his cheek that, indeed, had red scratch marks.

I scratched the back of my head, "You nearly fell on her..." I reminded him.

He had indeed almost toppled over while ringing with Bokuto. In a way, I guess you could say Anna was only defending herself...

Kuro scoffed, glaring at Anna.

Great.

I let out a long sigh.

"Let's just go... We'll talk about this... Later..." I offered, reaching for his arm. Kuro met my eyes and sighed, "Alright..."

"Anna..." I sighed, walking next to her at the back, while Bokuto was walking at the front next to an upset Kuro and an annoyed Kenma.

"He started it!" she reasoned, and I nodded in understanding, "He took your pudding, I understand. But he apologized. And he said he was gonna buy you a new one, right?"

She turned her head toward me, frowning, "he didn't."

I raised an eyebrow, "He didn't what?"

"Apologize," Anna sent a weird look at the back of Kuro's head, and I frowned. I seem to remember him apologizing...

Maybe I'm wrong.

I sighed, "Okay, well... I know he didn't mean any harm..." I tried to reason with her. He was my cousin, after all. I'd hate for him not getting along with my friends, "he probably thought it was mine-"

"But it wasn't!" Anna interrupted me, "it was mine."

I nodded again, "I know... I'm sorry," I made direct eye contact with her as I continued, trying to get my message across, "I'm sure he is, too."

Anna let out a long sigh, "Okay..." she started playing with the strap of her bag as it got quiet for a few minutes.

"Look..." I started again, "Maybe... scratching his cheek was a little too much...?" it sounded more like a question than a statement.

Anna scoffed at me, "he nearly fell on top of me!" she argued, "It was self-defense!" I had to suppress a huffed laugh as I raised my eyebrow at her, "he should be glad I didn't stab him."

"You don't even have a knife," I remind her, making her glare at me playfully.

"Because you keep refusing me my right to defend myself," Anna sighed dramatically, "things like this keep happening."

I glanced at the back of Kuro's head, "Maybe... Just apologize?" when I felt her stare on the side of my head, I continued, "I mean, he didn't mean to steal your pudding. He agreed to buy you a new one, and then you slapped him..." she looked away from me as I turned to face her again.

"But it was his fault..." she kept insisting.

"I know, Anna... But if you don't talk to each other, picking out your pudding will be immensely awkward."

Anna was suddenly quiet, looking at Kuro as if considering her options, before letting out a long breath of air, glaring at me one last time and walking faster so that she could catch up with Kuro, Bokuto and Kenma.

"What's she doing?" Rose asked me from over her shoulder as she and Charlie slowed down so I could catch up with them.

"I think she might be apologizing for scratching Kuro-chan's cheek," I scratched the back of my head as we made our way into the store after them.

After Rose and Charlie run off somewhere, I went to skim through the new releases of manga chapters and volumes.

Anna was in the food aisle with Kuro and Bokuto while Kenma is... Probably somewhere around here.

I finally found the new volume of the manga I had been following for a while now, quickly taking it off the shelf when suddenly Bokuto spoke from next to me, "You read that, too?"

When I jumped and turned to look at him, he almost seemed to have stars in his eyes as he excitedly told me about how great the new volume is, "I already read it!"

"What're you two talkin' 'bout?" Kuro suddenly came out of nowhere, slinging his arm around my shoulders and looking over me to see what I was holding, "Hey! This one's pretty cool!" he said, snatching the volume from me before bouncing off to Anna, who was currently waiting in line for checkout.

I looked down at my now empty hands before turning to look at Bokuto, "What just happened?"

Bokuto shrugged, picking up a new volume before motioning for me to follow him to checkout.

Next Update: August 23rd 2020