Ayano Aishi, the Emotionless Lover

Week Four, Saturday

Week Four, Saturday

Ayano wakes up to someone knocking on her door. She checks her phone, and is surprised to see that it's already ten in the morning. She never sleeps in.

Now aware of the time, Ayano rubs her eyes and heads to the door. She opens it to find Osano, who takes one look at her and snorts.

"Did you just wake up?" He asks, amused by her half-asleep state.

"Yeah. I slept in." She tries to comb through her hair with her fingers. It doesn't work very well.

"Go get dressed. I'll wait for you here," Osano says, and he leans on the doorway.

"You can come in." Ayano waves him in and shuts the door behind her, then trudges off to get ready for the day.

Fifteen minutes later, Ayano is ready for the day. Her hair is combed, she's dressed, and she's finally awake. She walks into the living room, expecting to find Osano sitting on one of the couches.

Instead, she spots him in the kitchen, cooking.

"Osano, what on Earth are you doing?" Ayano manages to get out.

"Making you breakfast. I didn't know how you like your eggs, so I'm making them scrambled," Osano replies, then turns off the stove. Quickly, he transfers her eggs to a plate, which he shoves in front of her. "Eat. The sooner you're done, the sooner we can head to my place."

Ayano thanks him and eats quickly. While she practically inhales the food in order to appease Osano, he cleans up from cooking. Less than fifteen minutes later, she's done eating and they're out of the door.

The walk is less than ten minutes away, which is nice. Ayano memorizes the route as they talk, and reminds herself that she should try to stop by sometime in the future. When they get to Osano's, he shoves the door straight open, the house already unlocked.

Ayano isn't sure what she expected before stepping in. Perhaps chaos? After all, she knows that Hanakō is here, and Osano has told her stories about what he's done. But walking in, it's actually calm. There's some mess, but that's just a couple of dishes in the sink that are waiting to be washed. It's normal.

Osano must see Ayano's confusion, because he laughs. "They're probably in my room. We try to keep the main house Hanakō free when they come over, because my parents are always annoyed with the aftermath. They love the Yamadas, just not the mess that comes with Hanakō."

Ayano giggles. "Well, I guess you should probably lead me to your room, then. I've been waiting to meet Taro's little brother for weeks now."

Osano smiles and takes her hand, walking further back into the house. Finally, he opens a door.

' Here's the chaos, ' Ayano thinks. She looks around the room.

It's very clear that Osano likes to keep his room neat. From the made-up bed to the clear desk, there's not an inch of mess on the floor.

But the sock on the ceiling is all the more obvious due to Osano's neatness.

Osano looks up right as she does, and he glares at the offending article of clothing.

"Hanakō?" He asks, still staring at the sock.

"Yes, Osano?" is the shaky reply.

Ayano blinks and looks away from the ceiling, instead looking at the boy. He looks the same as he did in the picture, and the heart barrette is still in his hair. Hanakō blushes when Ayano looks at him, embarrassed.

"How did this happen? I was gone for, what, half an hour at most?" He's looking at Hanakō now, and the displeasure is clear on his face.

"I..." Hanakō's blush gets worse. "I was bored, so,"

"So you managed to stick a sock to my ceiling." Osano looks exhausted, tired of Hanakō's...whatever this is. "Taro, explain."

Taro just shrugs. "He just took one of your socks and threw it at the ceiling. I'm really not sure how it stuck." He looks just as tired. "I've just been hoping that it'll fall down."

Ayano giggles. "Why didn't you guys try using a broom to knock it down?"

Hanakō gasps. "Why didn't we think of that?" He looks at her, wide-eyed. "You're a genius!"

Osano just sighs. "I'll go get the broom." He turns and walks out, done with his life for a moment.

Hanakō is still looking at Ayano, and he smiles happily. "I've never met you, what's your name?" He asks, straight to the point.

"I'm Ayano. And you're Hanakō, right? Osano and Taro have told me about you."

Hanakō giggles, then gasps. "Wait, you're Ayano? Osano talks about you all of the time!"

"No I don't," Osano says as he returns, broom in hand. He lifts the broom up and sweeps at the sock.

It falls onto Hanakō's head. Hanakō just sighs and puts it back with its matching sock.

Ayano can't help but laugh again, and the three boys all join in quickly. When they all calm down, Ayano and Osano sit down on the bed, with Hanakō on the floor.

Hanakō immediately asks Ayano a question. "So, you and Osano aren't dating, right?"

Osano blushes as Ayano shakes her head. "No, I'm not dating Osano." She's unsure of the reason that Hanakō asked, but he seems relieved to find out. Ayano wonders if Hanakō was worried that she'd take Osano away. After all, Osano had similar worries when Ayano befriended Amao.

Maybe there's something in the street.

Ayano lets her questions drift into the back of her mind as the topic switches to Akademi High. Hanakō has a never ending chain of questions about the school, and every answer he gets seems to invoke two more questions.

Ayano learns more about the younger boy as they all talk. He's sweet, but clingy. In the few hours they've known each other, Hanakō has started latching onto Ayano, as if he's afraid she'll disappear. Ayano allows him to do so, because at this point she has more affectionate friends than not.

She also learns that he's a smart boy. He's picking up facts quick at his school, and should be ready in time for the next entrance exam for Akademi, which is in a bit over a month. Hanakō seems excited, ready to go to the same school as his older brother.

Ayano looks forward to the day that Hanakō gets in, because there's no doubt that he's capable of it. She's sure that the younger boy will fit in, especially with Taro, Osano, and Ayano showing him around.

By the time Ayano leaves, many hours later, she's full of hope for the future.

She definitely needs to hang out with these three again.

Notes:

Bonjour, mes amants! I hope you enjoyed the early introduction of one of the rivals! I may introduce another rival ahead of their time, can you guess who it may be?

I hope you enjoyed meeting the infamous Hanakō, after so many mentions of him earlier in the story.

1178 words.