The smile I've forgotten / Mitsukou

3 - An invitation

The muffled murmurs of students in the halls didn't really bother the blonde today. It was the end of classes for the day after all, but he wasn't planning to go home this time. Just as his eyes wandered the crowded streets, he finally found the person he was looking for. "Mitsuba!" He yelled as he sprinted to Mitsuba, smiling brightly as if he had discovered the greatest treasure of the sea.

When he stood next to Mitsuba's side, holding his raiteijou, he could see a tint of light red covering his pale face while adorning a flustered expression.

'How cute..' he thought to himself.

"It's nice to see you again, Kou.." Mitsuba said to the blonde while looking to the side. "We've been friends for some time now. Around nine days, right? Why do you look so uncomfy around me?" Kou asked as he scratched the tip of his his chin.

"Oh, it's nothing, really!" Mitsuba replied to him while holding the strap of his school bag. "It's just.. I haven't been friends with someone for this long... That's all."

"Ain't that a good thing?" Kou asked.
"It is! I guess I'm trying to get used to it? It's really fun to hang out with you, I admit."

The young photographer softly chuckled as he wore a wide close-eyed smile, an adorable little mole was on the side of his right cheek. Little by little, Kou saw Mitsuba become happier and happier each day. It was lovely..

However, something crept the back of Kou's mind. The Mitsuba he's talking to still isn't the true Mitsuba- he's still there somewhere.

'How can I make him act like himself again?'

That was the question he pondered much about. "Say, Kou.." Mitsuba asked the boy standing by his side, still keeping his smile. "Are you free right now? I wanna take you somewhere where we can take pictures!"

The smile on Mitsuba's face made Kou's heart patter once more. The blonde softly giggled for a quick second, his cheeks tinted in a soft pink. "I'd love to.." Kou said keeping his light-hearted smile for Mitsuba "We're friends after all!"

Suddenly, Kou's fingers were intertwined and locked onto Mitsuba's. Mitsuba's face heated as he covered his red face with his camera. Kou looked turned his head to Mitsuba and said the words he could've said from long before,

"We shouldn't separate from now on, alright?"

The pink haired male was a bit confused over what he said, but that didn't matter for him. He nodded his head and replied "Of course! That's what friends are supposed to do! A-Am I right..?"

Kou locked eyes onto the way Mitsuba's face dimmed down to a lonely look as he said that.

Was he ashamed over the fact that he doesn't truly know what friends are meant to do?

Kou lightly pinched Mitsuba's cheek and said to him in a teasing manner, "... Of course, you dummy.." Mitsuba furrowed his eyebrows and tugged his ear "But what about you and your stupid traffic earring, huh? HUH??"

It was obvious, Mitsuba seemed to be angered by Kou's teasing. However, he couldn't see that for Kou, this meant a bit more..

Mitsuba let go of his ear with a face full of fear when he realized what he had done. "Ah, I'm so sorry, Kou.." he shyly said as he started walking to the exit of the school with his hand back in Kou's warm grasp. "It's fine though. You can be mad at me however you want." Kou said "Even if it annoys me, we can still have moments, ya know?"

Mitsuba thought about it for a while. After some time, he replied "Yeah.. But for now, let's continue this chat at the park, alright? I wanna get there faster!"

Kou lightly giggled and said "Alright!" His eyes slowly drifted off onto scenery around them. The light red rays of sunlight showered beneath them as red maple leaves that came from the tall trees surrounded them fell down to the concrete path the two walked.

The season was wonderful but what Yookoo said to him haunted him deep within..

"It must've been sometime this last winter... He died in an accident or something."