Week Three, Thursday

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Week Three, Thursday

    The walk to school is pleasant. Birds are singing, the smell of flowers fill the air-

    And Osano and Amao are bickering.

    Ayano isn’t sure what they’re arguing about, but she’s ignoring it, talking to Taro instead. Which is, honestly, kind of awkward to do when she’s being tugged back and forth between Osano and Amao, each holding one of her hands. She’s used to this by now, which may be a bad sign, but oh well.

    Taro, on the other hand, decides to cut into the conversation. “Hey, um, what’s wrong, guys?”

    Osano scoffs. “Amao keeps trying to take Aya away from me!” He pulls her closer as he speaks.

    Amao huffs. “I would never! I see nothing wrong with both of us holding her hand.” He looks at Ayano. “You don’t have a problem with it, right, dear? You’ve never said anything.”

    Ayano just sighs. “Guys, I’ve never had a problem. I’m not being taken away from anyone. I get it, you both need affection. Just hold my hand and stop fighting.”

    Both of them blush and shut up. Taro just shakes his head and resumes their conversation. When they all get to school, they go to the fountain. Kokona arrives and starts talking to Amao about a recipe that she’d found.

    When Kizano arrives, he walks straight to Ayano, gait confident. “Darling, I’ve missed you!” He cries out, and pulls her into a hug. 

    Confused, Ayano replies, “But I just saw you yesterday?”

    Kizano laughs, then sits down next to Ayano, shoving Amao over. Amao turns to face him, and looks offended, but Kizano cuts him off. 

    With a smile still on his face, Kizano asks in a low voice, “Now, will someone please tell me why there’s a boy that’s been watching Ayano from the moment I stepped into this area?”

    Ayano glances up subtly, and sure enough, Otohiko is watching her from behind a tree. “Ah. He’s back.” She shrugs at Kizano. “He just shows up.”

    Kizano looks annoyed. “What do you mean, he just shows up? How long has he been doing this?”

    “Since Monday.” Amao shifts closer, leaning in so that everyone can hear him. “He introduced himself Monday morning, and we’ve seen him around a couple times.”

    “He’s a creep,” Osano states. “He just keeps staring at her!”

    Kizano’s angry when he replies. “So nobody has stopped him?”

    Ayano pipes up. “Well, he hasn’t really done anything? He runs off whenever he sees that I’m watching. He only said anything to me on Monday.”

    Kokona nods. “Yeah. Like yesterday, he just watched her until he saw I’d caught him!”

    Ayano blinks at that. “Yesterday?”

    Kokona nods again. “He followed us to the Drama Room, but I heard him when we were looking at the cast list. As soon as we locked eyes, he turned and darted off. You didn’t hear him?”

Ayano Aishi, the Emotionless Lover  Where stories live. Discover now