Gimme Gimme - Tamaki Amajiki

eleven

Fly, dove! Sing, sparrow!
Gimme Cupid's famous arrow!
Gimme, gimme that thing called Love

┏━━                      ‍
BUTTERFLIES
     ‍      ‍         ━━┛

Morioka slipped her thumb underneath the strap of her handbag as she walked through the long halls of U.A. High. She was alone despite there being so many students around her, all heading to class like she was. The morning bell had just rang which was their warning to get to class or be marked late. However, people usually dragged on in the hallways until the very last minute to walk into their classrooms. They wanted to talk with their friends for as long as possible before they'd have to sit still and quiet in their classes.

The red haired student swiveled on her heel as she turned the corner, but she should've taken it a bit slower. She ran straight into another student, seeing only the familiar grey and red colors as she stumbled into her peer.

She yelped and dropped her bag strap, startled. "Ah! I'm so sorry!"

Morioka bowed her head before she even realized who she'd run into. She closed her eyes tight as she bowed, embarrassed. A light chuckle came from above her.

But it was a sound which she recognized...

Her head popped up to lock eyes with a pair of purple ones. She blushed but didn't smile. The only real change in her shocked expression was her eyes widening.

"Akibara..." Morioka mumbled.

The student with the purple hair gave her a small smile as he picked up her bag for her and handed it to her. She took it slowly but her eyes never left his face. It'd been nearly a week since she'd asked Akibara to the dance and they hadn't talked since then... nor had they seen each other. Morioka might've seen him from afar, but it wasn't enough to be able to study his expression or see him as clearly as she could now.

Her eyes drifted back and forth from his right to his left. She expected to see some sort of inkling of guilt in his eyes from giving her such a vague answer when she asked him to the dance. She expected him to remember why she was looking at him and give her a yes or no answer right now, on the spot. She wanted him to understand that she was confused and hurt and wanted a steady response. Not an 'idk.' She wanted solidarity.

But all he did was raise an eyebrow at her. "Hey Rio," he greeted casually.

"Hey..." she murmured back.

"How have you been? You haven't texted me in a while."

"It's been a busy week," she replied dryly.

Her usually happy and bubbly responses had suddenly disappeared. It was strange to hear her talking without that little pep in her voice. Her heart beat rapidly as she waited for him to say the words she so desperately longed for.

Maybe he forgot I asked him. I should ask him again now. I'll say 'So do you want to go to the dance with me or what?' Yeah, that will get his attention. Then he would give me a straight answer. No more idk! No more indecisiveness! I need an answer from you, Kyo Akibara!

Her inner monologue wouldn't shut up as she attempted to convince herself to ask him again rather than wait for him to give her an answer.

"So, Akibara—" she started, but didn't get the chance to finish.

"Oh yeah!" He interrupted, as if he'd suddenly remembered something. "I had something I wanted to tell you."

Morioka blinked, standing up straighter than she had before. "Oh?"

Akibara grinned. "Yeah. I actually asked this girl to go to the dance with me from the General Ed Course. You might know her—I think her name is Yokoyama? Yeah, she's sweet. She's been talking to me for a while now and she said that she wanted to go with a date so I asked her."

Morioka's heart dropped out of her body. She blinked at him, her mouth falling open the slightest bit. She couldn't move. She couldn't think. She wasn't even sure if she was breathing anymore. The air around her felt like it stiffened up and drew away from her, wanting to suffocate her.

In a hallway full of so many students, she couldn't feel more alone.

She coughed. "Y-you asked someone to the dance?"

Akibara smiled, as if he didn't have a clue what was wrong. "Yeah! I haven't talked to you in a while so I thought you'd want to know. I didn't get to update you when it happened."

Morioka's hands gripped tighter around her bag strap. "When did you ask her?"

"Oh just Wednesday."

That was two days ago... days after Morioka asked him.

"So who are you going with?"

She glanced up at him. Her eyes were suddenly dark. The color had drained from her face, that natural blush of hers was gone. But she narrowed her eyes, suddenly seeing something shocking within his magenta irises.

Guilt.

She was right to suspect to see that guilt in him before... but this was different. This wasn't guilt about not giving her an answer. This was the guilt that he knew he was going to say no to her, but instead gave her some stupid answer of an 'idk' to get out of having to reject her. He didn't want to bruise his reputation. He didn't want anything to do with her. Maybe this was his way of letting her down easy. Maybe saying 'idk' and then immediately asking another girl to go was him trying to send her the hint. Like he wanted her to figure it out on her own.

He felt guilty of rejecting her so harshly. But not really... He didn't care about her.

He didn't care.

Morioka took a slow deep breath. She pursed her lips and let her eyes fall away from his. She refused to look at him.

"No one," she replied.

Akibara nodded, flattening his mouth into a line and giving her a weird look. He glanced down at his watch and looked away from her. "Oh. Well, we should probably get to class now. I'll see you around, right Rio?"

Morioka nodded once, not bothering to say goodbye to him. Before she looked up again, he was already gone. He and every other student in the hallway had dispersed and disappeared behind the red doors of their classes. Little Kii Morioka stood alone in the expansive hallway.

Morioka stared forwards at the blank walls lined with red doors and signs just above them. Her bag fell from her grip with a light thud as it hit the slick ground. Her hands gravitated to her sides, balling her frail hands into fists.

She tried to take a deep breath, but couldn't bear it. Her chest quivered and heaved as she attempted but wouldn't let her. Her breath hitched and she clutched at her uniform top, letting the fabric crinkle between her fingers.

Her mouth quivered and her vision went blurry as tears leaked from the corners of her eyes. Her salty tears streamed down her cheeks and fell to the ground in little droplets. She looked confused and hurt and broken all at the same time. His words left an imprint on her brain that she couldn't smudge away. He'd asked someone else. He didn't care about Morioka.

Kyo Akibara... Aki

The sheer thought of his name used to make her stomach swarm with butterflies and feel so excited to talk to him, whether it be through the phone or in person. She'd never felt so in love before. But now all she felt was dread.

Remembering his name, the butterflies were gone. They're replaced with tears and the shattering sounds of her heart. That suffocating feeling of being alone. She's just broken and hurt.

The butterflies were dead...