Somewhere in the Middle - An Ayushiki Fanfiction

Chapter 3 - The Perfect Attire

{Naomi}
The class rep and I arrived at our first stop in the mall; a store that specifically sold party dresses and more specifically, prom dresses! I mean, I get this is just a Valentines Day dance, but we could still look amazing for it! I went for the red dress section and Shinozaki followed me. Her eyes were always on whatever dress I was looking at and it got me wondering. I was only after the red because it was my color, but Ayumi was more of a light pink or light violet color so I had no idea why she eyed my dresses.

"Well Shinozaki-san, I'm gonna go try these on so I'll be right back!" She randomly grabbed a few dresses and followed me to the changing rooms. The first dress I tried on was silky with a bit of lace at the top. I came put and saw Ayumi dressed in a frilly red dress. It didn't really suit her, but I didn't want to be rude so I stayed silent.

After trying on a few more dresses, I had found the perfect one! It was a read silk dress with these little diamond designs. It was a strapless dress, but it fit perfectly. After I finished up, I saw that Shinozaki was still undecided.

"I think you'd look better in pink then red!" I told her. She looked over at the pink section, then back at me. She walked over and grabbed a few dresses. I watched as she tried them on one by one until she found the perfect one. Ayumi chose a short, strapless, light pink dress. The top had little diamonds that shaped into hearts while the bottom was a nice lace. Admittedly, the dress looked fantastic on her. I was glad she decided to take it.

"Where to next?" She asked me and we decided to head for shoes.

"Hey Ayumi-chan, maybe later we can go for a coffee or something all together?" I suggested. This is how Satoshi and I decided to start putting our plan in motion. If we could get them to sit together, it's be a good start!

"Oh, uh sure!" Ayumi said putting back a pair of heels the color of ballet shoes. And just like any lady would do, she got flats in the same color. It was the perfect solution for if your feet began to hurt after wearing heels for a while. I did the same thing, but with a different shade of pink. Everything was starting to come together so well. The dance was still another two weeks away, but that gave us just enough time get Shinozaki and Kishinuma together! If we could do that, then we'd all be happy!

Next on our list was makeup, perfume and hair products. That was pretty simple considering we already had most of it at home already. It was mostly about restocking on things like that. All that was left now was accessories. As for hair, mine was so short that all I got was a small heart hair clip, but the class rep went for a nice red bow. We had enough jewelry at home so we decided to skip that. Satoshi had texted me that they were finishing up and that it was time for us to all meet up.

Ayumi and I headed for the coffee shop that was close by to the mall. We could see the guys through the window and we waved to each other. I was sure to sit right next to Satoshi so that Ayumi would have to sit next to Yoshiki. She reluctantly took her seat with a sigh.

"Wow, who thought shopping could wear you out this much!" She said in a huff. We'd been carrying around our heavy bags from store to store all this time, so it was good to get this coffee break.

"We'll go order, what do you girls want?" Mochida asked us. How nice of him! I ordered and so did Ayumi and the guys left the table to go get our drinks.

"Hey Ayumi, for the dance, I know you said we'd go as a group, but the songs aren't all group dances. Satoshi already asked me out, maybe to keep things even you should dance with Kishinuma while we're dancing." I was testing the waters on the idea. She made a grimace for a moment as if the idea was pretty sucky. I almost pitied Kishinuma; Shinozaki would be pretty difficult to convince at this rate.

{Yoshiki}
I handed Ayumi her drink, and sat back down. I wonder if Nakashima and Satoshi had left that spot specifically open for me to be near to Shinozaki or if it was just a mere coincidence. They were pretty close themselves, so this could honestly go either way.
"Oh hey guys! I was just telling Shinozaki-san that for the non-group dances, she should go with Kishinuma since we'll be together, Satoshi!" Nakashima's words made me blush as I looked at Shinozaki. Ok, the seating arrangement wasn't a coincidence; those two we're trying to force us together! I didn't really mind though; maybe they'd actually be able to help us out. Just by looking at Shinozaki, I could tell she still wished Nakashima would give up Satoshi.

"I-I guess I'll just sit on the side during slow dances and all." It was like she loved to crush my dreams. Just the mention of her dancing with me shut her down for further discussion. Although when Ayumi wasn't paying attention, I could see Nakashima look at me and mouth out 'sorry Kishinuma, I tried.' I shrugged. It was expected when it came to Ayumi. That didn't stop me from loving her though, it was cute how she played hard to get, but in truth, I was getting tired of this game. I had these next two weeks to try and win over her heart. I knew where this was gonna go though. Nakashima got up to go to the bathroom,mane just like any girl would do when their friend goes, Shinozaki followed her.

"I know what you're trying to do." I said as soon as they were gone, "Shinozaki's never going to agree, ya know. She likes you too much." Satoshi then sighed. He knew I was right.

"It's ok, we'll keep trying!" He smiled at me. Try all you want, her feelings won't change! Checking the time I'd need to get back to work soon. The idea of maybe playing something for her has crossed my mind before, but would now be a good time? At the dance, maybe if I perform a few songs, she'll change her perspective on me. Even if she didn't, that was worth a shot! I had a few songs in mind anyway and it'd be awesome to get to play my new guitar! I've never performed in front of anybody at school, but I've taught a few kids who would come in looking for something to play.

"Thanks. But I think you might be wasting your time." I told him. I don't know why he wanted to meddle in my odd relationship with Shinozaki when he could be fawning over Naomi, in fact, what was their gain in helping us?

When the girls came back, I got up. I had to leave for work now or I'd be late. I waved bye and left. I never really liked leaving Shinozaki with Satoshi, but I couldn't just tell her to leave. I gave them one last glance and sighed. I wished she'd stop shutting down my chances with her and give me a chance. It sucked that it couldn't be helped, but I was used to it by now. And besides, Satoshi was more with Nakashima and she could clearly see that. I admired her tenacity to pursue my friend, but I wish she'd get so excited when she saw me.

. . .

"Kishinuma, you're late!" I heard as I walked into work.

"Sorry, I was just out with some friends!" I apologized to my boss, then hurried to the staff room to put my things away. I quickly got out there and began serving customers. Since it was the weekend, it was definitely busier then it had been Thursday and Friday. By the end of the day, I was exhausted. I checked my phone to see I had a few missed messages. Nakashima had invited all of us to go bowling tomorrow apparently. I thought about it for a moment and then replied to the invitation with a 'sure'. The more I could hang out with Shinozaki, the better!

A/N: I never mentioned this in the other chapters (bc I kep forgetting) BUT I DON'T OWN THESE CHARACTERS! This work is purely fictional and anything similar to the games or anime are only coincidental! Other than that, hope you enjoyed chapter 3! I had these first three pre-written so the rest will take longer to upload since I still need to write them! If all goes well, chapter 4 might be up tomorrow or two days from now. Happy New Year also!