The Other Half On The Second Floor

Chapter Eleven

I had spent the entire lunch talking with Akiyama. He had explained everything that was happening with Nanase up until the day he took his own life. I hadn't realized what was happening within himself. I was selfish to think that it was because of me. Akiyama was supportive however. There wasn't a hint of blame in his voice, maybe it was because he understood why his brother did what he did. And he also told me how he was the one who sent that message last week. His family had moved up to Tokyo after Akiyama finished middle school- sort of like Yui and I. And he had spent his entire first year of high school looking for me. He then revealed that the reason why he didn't attend the same school as Nanase was because at the time, he was in a private school. For some reason, he asked to be friends with me.

When I asked him why, his response was, "Well, Nanase obviously thought you were a good person. If a person like him thought that, maybe you're worth being friends with."

I didn't quite understand what he meant, and I still don't understand what he meant by "a person like him." But I was more than happy to be friends with him. He didn't seem like a bad person. As we walked back to class, we ran into Kaito.

"Oh, Kaito! This is-" I began, but Kaito formed a grip on my left arm, gently pulling me away from Akiyama.

"I don't know you, but if you hurt Eiichi in any way, you'll regret it." He says with anger in his eyes. I had never seen Kaito so angry at anyone like this before.

"What?" Akiyama asks confused, "I didn't even do anything."

"Yeah, yeah. Come on Eiichi, you'll be late to class." We started walking to the second floor where my class was. I wanted to pull my arm away and explain who Akiyama was, but in this state, Kaito wouldn't listen to me. So I stayed quiet. I look back to see the black-haired boy standing there, not knowing what was happening.

When we arrive at the front of my class, Kaito lets go of my arm finally. "Are you okay?" his voice is soft again.

"Yeah, I'm fine." I walk back without saying another word. I sit back down with a remaining two minutes before the bell rings once again. Kaito leaves silently and up to the third floor. Akiyama makes it back to the class and everyone starts bombarding him with questions again. Almost like a celebrity. After a bit, he excuses himself and walks back to his seat.

"Was that the new one?"

I open my bag in search of my textbooks, "Yeah." As I look for my textbooks, other books fall out as well, making a racket. One of the books that fell, was none other than Snow Country.

Akiyama picks up the book from the floor, "Snow Country. This was my brother's favorite book." He opens the book up and looks through it. He stops for a moment when he sees the page with the words "Belongs to Nanase Takahashi" written. His eyes had a lingering sadness to them.

"Have you ever read the book?"

"No, but Nanase would always tell me about it. He loved everything about it, from the style of writing, to the message behind the story." He closes the book, "I'm glad that I was finally able to find you."

I get flustered for a second, "I'm glad that you found me."