Is This Love? 「この愛はある?」

Chapter 2 - Smile

I really regretted leaving my house. Why did I even leave? It was my house anyways. I thought back about what the guy next door said. "I have a feeling you'll be a nuisance." My eyebrows furrowed thinking of it. I can't believe such a guy exists, he's nothing like Haru so I'm betting it isn't him. It has been a few hours already and it was getting dark, I couldn't go back to my house cause he'll be there, and I don't have that much money to rent a hotel. My stomach growled really loudly and I blushed. Luckily in front of me was a convenience store. There was a big sign on the roof with words in green and pink neon lights saying, "Saiku's Store open 24 hours." It bought back memories. This was the store my father would always bring me to on Sundays.

As I entered, there was a nice scent of bakery pastries I walked over to the register counter, "One red bun please."

The cashier, a woman with black hair pulled back in a ponytail got off of her phone and went over to me.

"Red bun right?" She asked.

"Yes." I answered.

"Alright, ninety six cents please."

I unzipped my bag and rummaged through my stuff to find my wallet.

"Umm. Where is it...?!" I checked my suitcase unzipping the pockets. I began to sweat, where is my wallet?

"I'll pay for her," said a familiar voice from behind. A hand stretched out and handed the annoyed cashier a dollar. I turned to see the guy from earlier in the train, the one that woke me up. He gave me warm smile, his eyes gleaming.

After that we walked out the convenience store, it was already night time and the moon was out.

"U-um, thanks for paying for me," I stammered, "I'll pay you back..um."

He looked at me for a bit and chuckled. "Nah, it's fine. You don't have to. By the way where are you headed? You still have your stuff from this morning. Don't you have a place to stay?" My footsteps stopped and I looked down.

" I don't have a place to stay in..."

His eyes looked at me sympathetically, "Oh, is that so." It was silent for a moment then he asked me, "How about you stay at my house? It's an apartment actually, but two people can fit."

I looked up, "No no! I can't, I don't want to cause any trouble." and I looked away.

"Hmm. If you want to pay me back for the bun, stay at my place." He said mischievously.

"B-but.."

"No buts. I don't like leaving a girl out in the dark at night. So come to my place okay? Okay!"

I was going to argue back but he turned and started walking with his groceries. I sighed and followed. He's such a nice person.

His apartment was small, but big enough. It had the restroom on the left and the closet on the right as we entered. His bed was in a corner and there was a balcony in the other corner. He had a shelf full of school books, manga, and a bit of games. He had a small tv on the floor next to the small shelf. There was also a small kitchen in his apartment. His room was quite nice, I've never been to a guy's room before in my life. Only Haru's and my father's.

"Go ahead and grab something from the fridge, I'll be in the shower." Then he went into the bathroom and for a second he poke his head back, "Make yourself at home."

I went to the fridge he had in the kitchen. It was a small fridge and contained vegetables, water bottles, and an egg carton with only an egg left. I grabbed a water bottle and sat on his comfy bed. I looked around the walls were painted a pale blue. It was a nice color like the sky. I got quite sleepy so I laid down and before knowing, I drifted off.