Hardly Platonic

Chapter 2

Hanae was not unfriendly, nor was she a shy person. It was just that a person could change a lot in three years, which has made Hanae stupefied the moment she looked at him. Yahiro's face became sharper and more defined. Not to mention his broad shoulder and how tall he has grown. The way he wore a simple white shirt underneath his grey sweater with his straight slick-backed hair made him appear mature and calm.

"It's been a while. How have you been?" Yahiro broke the silence as his eyes crinkled, and a smile played at the corners of his mouth.

"All right. You?"

"Not bad, though I struggle to adjust to my life as a university student here. Probably because it's been a while."

"You'll get the hang of it, not like I can give you any tips since I'm having a hard time myself."

"Hahaha, no way, you have been brainy since high school."

"Right back at you."

Hanae could not believe that she could hold a normal conversation with Yahiro, even though it has been a while since they last met. No, but rather, he has become friendlier now. Before, whenever they talked, the conversation would die quickly and only last longer when there was Natsuki around to be the connector. She thought that maybe now they could genuinely become friends after years of an awkward relationship.

"Asahina, do you have any-"

"Hanae, Wakana's searching for you." A good looking guy came up to Hanae. He had an indifferent and emotionless face that gave off a cold and blunt demeanor.

"Satoru, there you are. I've been looking for you guys as well."

Hanae excused herself and left Yahiro with the crowd. After she turned away, Natsuki patted him on the back and smiled at him as Yahiro hung his head dejectedly.

The shoulder-length hair girl put her hands on her hips and looked at Hanae. "There you are."

"Wakana.." Hanae walked towards Wakana and hugged her. She was pleased to meet her friends in a crowd of strangers.

"Yeah, yeah, sorry I'm late." Wakana patted on her back for a while before she pulled them apart and looked at her. "Where were you just now?"

"Yeah, we came late because Wakana took a long time to put on her contacts." Yukirin, the guy with a pair of up-turned eyes and thin furrowed eyebrows, came up to them. His face may seem fierce, but in reality, he was caring and the 'mom' of the circle. "Have you eaten yet?"

Hanae shook her head. "I didn't get to touch the food yet. I was talking to Kiyoshi just now until Satoru called out to me."

"You talked to Kiyoshi? I thought you said that you find him hard to talk to." Wakana turned her head to Satoru. "You didn't interrupt them or anything, right?"

Tendou stared at his twin sister blankly. "..I don't think so. Did I? Sorry, Hanae." His habit of quietly thinking while staring into space made people misunderstood him as a rude and disdain person. His friends knew that he did not know how to express his feelings well. He may seem very emotionless on the outside, but on the inside, he is caring.

"No, it's okay, I don't have anything more to talk about anyway," Hanae assured her friend. 

They spent the rest of the night eating and talking to each other since, after high school graduation, they seldom gathered and met each other. After all, the only people who entered the same university were Hanae and Satoru.

"You should stop drinking, Wakana." Yukirin took the drink from her hand. "It's gonna be a hassle to take the drunk you home."

"Ugh, you can't stop a college student from drinking free liquors." Wakana threw her left hand around Satoru's neck to support her body and tiptoe to reach his height. "Why are you so annoyingly tall?"

Satoru took a bite of a crab cake, ignoring his sister, who was tipsy after drinking too much beer.

"How dare you ignore me! I'm -hic- older than you!" Wakana staggered as she held up her two fingers on one hand and grinned. "Two minutes older than you~" The people near them kept on glancing at them, which gave her friends quite a headache.

"Okay, that's it. We need to move before you regret everything later." Yukirin put down his plate and took Wakana's handbag from her. "Want a ride, Hanae?"

Hanae checked the time on her watch and decided that it was time to go home. "Thanks. I'll take you up on that." She thought that she needed to thank the host before leaving the party. As she looked around the house full of people, she spotted Natsuki in the kitchen, taking out some more liquors from the fridge.

"Hey, Natsuki." She tapped his shoulder as he swiftly turned around. "I think I'm gonna leave for the night."

"Already?"

"Yeah, my friends offer me a ride, so we decided to leave before Wakana causes a commotion." She chuckled. "Thank you for inviting us, we had a great time, and the food was amazing."

Natsuki bit his lower lips and scratched his head. "Uh, does Yahiro know about this?"

Hanae lifted an eyebrow and slightly tilted her head. "I didn't tell him. Why?"

"..Nevermind." He sighed and smiled at her. "Yeah, thank you for coming."

.....

That night she got a text from an unknown number.

"Hey, it's Kiyoshi Yahiro. I hope you don't mind Natsuki giving me your number."

Author's Note:

* Yahiro and Hanae addressed each other by their family name (Kiyoshi and Asahina) because, in Japan, people generally do not call one another by their first name. Unless you are very close to the other person and in the right sort of casual environment.

* Yukinari Haruki's nickname is Yukirin. Yeah, he is a guy.