Sleepless Nights

Chapter Twenty-One: Deal with the Devil

Off balance from an inability to catch up and because I was still startled with his sudden appearance, I stumbled behind Hirose as he gripped my wrist in a harsh hold. I wasn't happy with how rude he was back at the restaurant, but I could tell he wasn't ready to discuss it yet by the impatient look on his face, despite how badly I wanted answers. So for once in my life, I held my tongue and tried to keep up the best I could. We marched down the streets in what seemed like whatever random direction he felt like, seeing as the path we were taking had no usual spots that we had been before. I wasn't too sure if he even realized, but chose not to say anything.

Finally once we were a good distance off course, Hirose's steps started to slow down and his grip slackened to where I could get blood flowing back to my numb fingers. I took this as a sign of him calming down and began speaking.

"Hey. How'd you know where we'd be?" I asked.

He never turned around or stopped walking, but he did reply curtly with, "Dumb question. I got a full report from Yudai earlier on the date plan." His voice was uncaring, but his posture didn't give off that vibe to me. I stared at the back of his head, noticing the tips of his ears were considerably redder than normal. It looked just like Yudai's when he was blushing earlier. I chopped it up to just be the cold weather's fault and ignored it. If memory serves me well, Yuzuki and Noel didn't have to give reports. I had to relay everything that happened to him once I got back after all. And a time limit? That sounds like something my dad would do when I first started dating. Hmm...

"And the whole four hour time limit? When was this established?"

"I made it up."

"...Because?" I trailed off.

Too fast for me to react, Hirose came to a sudden stop. I rammed my nose into his shoulder, staggering backwards with my hand covering my face. He glowered down at me, and I did my best to return the unwarranted look. "It looked like if you had stayed there with him, you wouldn't be back till morning," his smug voice replied, a smirk forming when he saw my surprise at his statement.

"Yudai isn't like that!" I defended, my cheeks burning at just the thought. I mean sure, Yudai is cute and all, but I've only ever seen him as a good friend. Sleeping with him has never crossed my mind.

"Really? It looked like the two of you were having a good time back there."

That only made me want to ask more questions. How long had he been watching us? Did he follow us this entire time? Was he stalking us during our date? Did he hear me talk about my ex or overhear the embarrassing stories Yudai and I shared? "That's because we were really close friends in college. Talking to him felt more like an extension of my college days rather than a date," I admitted.

"But still, he was opening his heart to you."

"That was..." I tried to argue but stopped to bite my lower lip. I guess that technically was a confession even if he never got to finish it. I considered the idea of thanking Hirose for coming in when he did, but decided against that. I still didn't approve of him doing what he did. I had no idea Yudai was in love with me since college. He never made it obvious or anything. He didn't want to ruin our friendship... Jeez, I'm either really oblivious or he's a good actor.

Hirose completely released my wrist to cross his arms. "Happy?"

"With what?"

"Knowing his feelings for you?"

"Well, I'm incredibly flattered and all but... Wait a second," I held my palm up as I stared curiously at the disgruntled author in front of me. His arms were still twisted in front of his broad chest and his raven hair looked a little unkempt as if his hands repeatedly combed through the strands like I've seen him do when aggravated. His eyebrows raised in apprehension when I felt a slow satisfied smile develop on face. He was wearing the same expression he had on when we first decided to have Yudai take me on this mock date. And it finally dawned on me just what kind of expression that was. "Were you jealous back there?" I emphasized a certain word in my sentence, copying his posture with confidence. A look of shock crossed his features for a brief second and he turned his head away to hide it. I chuckled softly. "I was only kidding, no need to get mad."