Hibiki

Chapter 6 | Heavier Memory

-The day before the last day of school-

Chatter.

It's pouring outside and the class is loud again. I look back at my unfinished assignment as I tried my best to remember what happened the past few days. I look back at Kaede's seat and he was there sleeping, probably planning to sleep through the whole lunch break.

"Kaede." I called out silently as I approach him. He doesn't respond as I sat beside him. " Are you really asleep or what?"

I rested my head beside him on the table. Looking at his face makes me remember Haru again, I guess I'll never forget about him this way. I held his hands and his fingers seems to have started callusing, probably from a guitar.

"Life is boring, for me that is. So why would you rather be with me?" I asked him as I close my eyes.

Starting from when I was a teen, I never really had friends. Kids of my age before thought that I was weird, all because I don't feel happy, excited or anything at all. That was when until he entered my life.. rather forcingly.

"Hiki!" a voice called out. I looked back to see Kaede running towards me. "Guess what I got today? Look!" He said excitedly as he brings me his teddy bear.

"You're too old to be playing with those." I coldly replied.

"Hey, don't say that. I'm only a year older than you."

It's another play date set by our parents. We sat there staring at each other, waiting for someone to say anything. "So uh." Kaede muttered. "You don't seem to be excited or happy about anything at all, what's up with that?" He asked as he started playing with his toy again.

I lied down the grass and looked at the sky as I touch my hair, long enough reaching my waist. "I don't know."

I looked back at the benches and saw my mother, talking to her friends. Laughing loudly with a beer in her hand, she didn't care about the world, she didn't care about anything but herself. I felt a piercing gaze behind, looking back I realized that she was pointing at me.

I accidentally overheard them as I was fixing my hair. "Oh, that one? that's my daughter."

Ting

A sudden notification woke me up. I opened my eyes, to see Kaede already awake staring at me. "You're finally up." He said in a soft voice. "Why are you here?" He asked as he also rested his head on the desk to look at me. My head is still resting on the desk and so I close my eye to avoid his gaze. "I was bored."

He suddenly pinched my cheek. "This doesn't feel like the Hibiki I know." He jokingly said as he caressed my face.

"And this doesn't feel like something Kaede would do." I lazily replied.

"Kaede?" someone called out. He quickly removed his hand from my face and ran towards the people that called, leaving the room soon enough. Though he's busy, as always, he hasn't been acting like himself these past few weeks, to me specifically. But maybe, this is actually him now that I may haven't been observing him much.

"Take care of Kaede for me, will you."

A sudden memory flashed into my mind again. I promised her but I'm not really doing a great job at it. Kaede and I have been friends since we were children, when Haru entered my life though, things changed. Me and Kaede barely talked anymore since I was always with Haru, Haru dislikes Kaede too so he does everything to get Kaede away from me. The two of them are like mortal enemies, it's as if they were fighting for me.

"Hello! Are you Hibiki?" A bubbly girl suddenly interrupted my thoughts. "I'm Asami if you still remember me, from the other class, does the nickname Ami make you remember?" She asked loudly as if she wasn't in front of me already.

"Hello then.. Ami" There was a brief silence as she waited for me, waiting for another answer. "What is it that you want from me?"

"Oh nothing really, it's just that it seems like you and Kaede are pretty close." She said as she checks her pink nails.

"Sorry, he's not really looking for a relationship right now." I responded almost instantly as I check my phone for the notification.

"Geez, he's hot and all but that's not the reason I'm asking, it's about you." She said annoyingly, reminding me of a certain someone.

"You look like someone I know from my childhood.. Ah sorry, never mind I gotta go." She said as she looks at the time extatically. "This might be really weird leaving you just after starting a conversation, but um here's my phone number, call me sometimes."

She hurriedly left the room while gesturing back at me to call her. I was left in the room all alone as the rain poured harder. I don't know about my childhood much, in truth I don't remember anything at all. Starting from that accident, but Kaede stayed in mind.

She seems to know something that I don't know, weirdly enough. I sat back at my seat again to look at my unfinished assignment, spacing out while trying to think about what just happened. Her eyes were familiar, and intense, everything about her were lively and cheerful but her eyes.. it's almost like mine.

We were walking down the hallway, going into the usual place as he talks nonstop. "Hehe, I'll show you something fun, you'll like it that's for sure." He said excitedly as we held hands walking. "Hibiki." I looked back at his face to see him, his face seemed shocked and scared. He covered me by pushing me back behind him. "Hibiki, I will just need to talk to my friends here for a bit. You should go back." He said in a soft voice, holding a smile that was obviously fake to me. "Why? Jus-" He removed his hand from mine as he looked back at his friends waiting for him. "I love you."

I love you.. his last words before I never got to see him again. That idiot, that selfish thing..

"You told me you would never leave me." The mirror shattered, and pieces of glass flew across my room as I smash my head the last time. Blood dripped from my head into my hands and I felt dizzy. I look at myself in the broken mirror, smiling while seeing the blood on myself. "Heh, In this way, would I meet you again? Dumbo."