𝐌𝐈𝐃𝐍𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓 𝐑𝐔𝐄𝐒 - 𝐒. 𝐊𝐈𝐓𝐀

𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐄𝐓𝐄𝐄𝐍

NINETEEN
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       Ever since that day, Sayo wondered why the Sun or even just the simple Wisteria tree brought comfort to her. Perhaps it was similar to those dark brown eyes that stared down at her gently and unmasked, filled with care that she only received from the limited amount of people that were involved in her life.

It had her heart racing even just by the mere thought of it as she sat down on the wooden bench where they usually hung out, the pad of her fingers running over the flat surface of the arm rest. She glanced up from the wooden rest and caught the sight of him, who was casually walking towards her with his lunch box slung over his shoulders, face maintaining a stoic expression.

But even as his face remained that way, Shinsuke himself could even tell how soft his features had contorted to – face relaxing down from its slightly aloof expression upon seeing the girl who sat just a few meters away from him as he walked. Once he reached the place, he took a seat right beside her, though this time, they were comfortable enough to not leave space of one foot between them.

Shinsuke nodded his head in greeting, "Hello, Sayo. How are you?" He pulled out the container from his bag as well as his chopsticks, opening the lid then started eating whilst Sayo brought up the piece of bread up to her lips.

"I- I'm fine, uh- sorry for crying on you the other day." Sayo mumbled the last part before taking a bite out of the bread, the sweet cream within its soft texture served as an object that she focused on to overlap the feeling of embarrassment welling up inside her gut.

"It's alright."

She remembered the night before so well – from the way his grip tightly held her small figure, as if piecing together a large piece of glass with so many cracks, trying to prevent it from falling apart. Her body felt warm when she stood so close and felt its soft heat seep into the core of her heart, affecting its whole muscle that caused her to go out of breath.

Sayo felt the place beneath the skin of her cheeks burn and she looked away to prevent him from seeing it, though she realized that it was already a bit too late when she heard his deep chuckle resounding right beside her.

"Are you feeling better, Sayo?"

His tone was flat, but it held the smallest amount of teasing right behind his words as he stated her name that seemed to roll out of his tongue so easily. Perhaps that was his purpose – to tease the hell out of her by stating her name, even when he could have just left it out.

He could have just stopped with the 'are you alright' but instead, he decided to add her first name because- stop.

Sayo unintentionally growled at her own thoughts, causing him to lean away slightly. He brought his chopsticks down and asked, "Am I making you angry again?"

       She jolted from her seat and snapped her head to look at his face that seemed to hold a slightly wide-eyed look. Ever since that day, it had seemed as if Shinsuke was more comfortable with presenting a few facial expressions, even if it was not quite obvious since his straight and deep voice sounded the same.

Sayo shook her head and she was completely sure by now that he saw how her cheeks were painted pink, then stuttered out, "N-No."

He tilted his head in confusion and pointed out, "Why are you being nervous around me?" His bottom lips jutted out slightly which made Sayo's eyes grow wider at how he appeared so innocent a little child-like. He then adds, "Is there a reason as to why you're staring at me that way?"