The Second Chance I Wasted {k. bokuto x oc}

Ch. 3: Takara (16)

I sat down beside Tetsu, Lin and Kaemon sitting in front of me. Kenma, Kai and Yaku were also sat with us. This is how we had been spending lunch for the past two months. It was now June, summer quickly coming upon us.

School thus far had been pretty good. Each day got easier and fewer people became concerned about my return to Nekoma. Old 'friends' from middle school bugged me about the details of my life for the first few weeks, but that was over when I walked out of class after a day of people being particularly nosy.

The only people that knew the entirety of my situation were Dad, Tetsu and Kenma. Kae and Lin knew there was an ex involved, but I wasn't ready to just come out and explain everything. They fortunately never pushed the topic much, letting me share things at my own pace.

"What do you think, Taka?" Kaemon said, snapping me out of my trance.

"Sorry, I spaced. What do I think about what?" I said as I put my chopsticks down, giving my attention to the conversation.

"Karaoke, Friday after school. What do you think?" Tetsu said.

This was the third time they had tried to make this plan. Usually, I said no, and someone stayed behind with me while everyone else went out. I personally liked how that worked out, but I could tell everyone would be slightly disappointed at the loss of 2 of the group.

"I.. Well-"

"She has no choice but to go," Lin interrupted.

I gaped at them. "And hat if I had plans already?"

She squinted her eyes at me. "You? Have plans? Puh-lease."

Everyone began to laugh. I scoffed, "That was rude."

She leaned forward, resting their chin on their palm. "Babe, I love you, but we all know you don't talk to anyone else." The playful gaze they held changed for a split second. "It would be good to go out and find a new normal that isn't movie-slash-game night every weekend."

I pouted, considering her words. The others stared at anticipation, faces practically begging me to say yes.  "Fine, I give. Karaoke sounds good."

I collected everything from my desk, purposely ignoring Kaemon hovering over me. It was Friday, and the last class of the day had ended. The plan was to leave right after school all together. I was feeling nauseous thinking about going out tonight. I have yet to properly go out in the months living back home. The most I'd done was run the occasional errand with my brother or our friends, but that usually lasted 2 hours at max. Was that unhealthy? I'm almost absolutely sure. But I was scared. I had a fear of running into Emiko. Not too long ago, I thought I had seen her at the store and spent the whole weekend in my room with all the lights off. Tetsu and Kenma understood my fear, but that didn't stop them from occasionally suggesting a fun night out. Kaemon and Lin had somewhat of an idea that I was afraid to go out, but they didn't know why. And I didn't know how to tell them. I didn't know what they would think. Things felt so messy beneath the surface. I wanted the truth to be out, but it was too painful to retell. It would have been so much easier if I just hadn't gone to Joshibi.

I sighed, zipping up my bookbag. I stood up from my chair agonizingly slow, earning a groan from the boy behind me. I held back my laugh, going back to a normal speed and standing up. "You need to work on personal space, Kae."

"Personal space? What's that?" he joked, draping an arm over my shoulder and walking us out of the classroom. Kaemon was such a comforting person to be around. I felt guilt pang in my chest. It was around this time last year I'd stopped all contact with him and Lin. I was surprised they had yet to bring it up.