Hardly Platonic

Chapter 4

It was during Hanae's second year of middle-high school when she first met Yahiro through her childhood friend, Natsuki. At that time, she was quite the tomboy with her pixie hair-cut and shorts underneath her skirt. She was immature and quick to lose her temper whenever others ticked her off, which resulted in her not having any close friends aside from Natsuki. They both often went home together as they lived near each other.

"Natsuki! Come on! Let's go home now!" Hanae shouted at her childhood friend, who was playing soccer with his friends in the school field. Even though she called for him from quite a distance, her loud voice could be heard clearly by Natsuki as he waved at her and gestured an 'okay' sign with his right hand.

Hanae then picked up her bags and quickly went to the shoe rack to wait for Natsuki. She was eager to walk home with him today as she planned to tell him her decision to join the drama club. She thought that the people there were warm and friendly, and Tendou Wakana, the club president, asked her to join and act as the male lead for her upcoming show. It was not that she was specifically interested in acting or performing, just that it has been a while since people accepted her the way she was.

"Hana! Sorry for the wait!"

She turned around and saw Natsuki grinning like a child at her while removing his indoor slippers to change into his outdoor shoes. "Come on already!" She pulled a face and folded her hands on her chest.

"I'm here, Natsuki." Out of nowhere, a neat looking boy came up to Natsuki. He smiled politely at Hanae when he noticed her, which she awkwardly nodded in response and did not think much thinking that he must have business with Natsuki.

"Yahiro! There you are. Let's go home now." Natsuki smiled at Yahiro as they started to walk towards the school gate.

Hanae was dumbfounded with the whole situation since she was not informed about having an extra person around. She was glaring at Natsuki, who purposely looked away from her.

Natsuki did not tell her in advance because he knew that she would already reject the idea since she tended to push other people away before giving them a chance. Therefore, he believed that by letting her meet and be familiar with Yahiro, she would open her heart to him and expand her social circle. "Yahiro, let me introduce you to my childhood friend, Asahina Hanae. She's quite feisty and hot-tempered, but she's nice. Hanae, this is Kiyoshi Yahiro, my friend who'll be going home with us from now on."

Yahiro turned his head to Hanae and greeted her with a smile, only to get a silent treatment from her. She was irritated and annoyed with Natsuki for deciding this without asking her opinion.

'What am I, chopped liver?'

Natsuki sighed in displeasure after seeing her attitude towards Yahiro. He nudged her elbow with his and plastered a smile while looking at her menacingly, which he usually did whenever he truly got mad at her.

Hanae flinched, bit her lower lip, and furrowed her forehead while slowly looking away from Natsuki. "Hi, Kiyoshi." She awkwardly muttered something to Yahiro while she darted nervous glances at Natsuki.

'Is this good enough?'

Natsuki slightly nodded in approval and relaxed his tense face. Though it was only a short and simple sentence, it was good enough for now, and he thought that he should not push her more than this. After that, Hanae was silent the whole time Natsuki and Yahiro talked to each other. Whenever Natsuki tried to get her into the conversation, she replied flatly with a short sentence, obviously not interested.

.....

The cafeteria was crowded with people since most of the university students had finished their class already. It did not seem like there would be empty seats for both of them. For some reason, Hanae felt pressure to get the guy beside him an available table to sit. Since he asked her to show him around, she felt responsible and attentive to give this new student the best experience.

Yahiro broke into a smile when he saw her anxiously looking for empty seats. He admitted that she had become more mature and sensible compared to her past self, especially her gentle and calm demeanor. However, the way she diligently gave her all in doing anything was still the same as the girl he met during high school, and he was glad about it.

"Kiyoshi, maybe we should go somewhere else-" As Hanae turned to her left, she blinked a couple of times as she realized Yahiro was not there beside her.

'Where did he go? Did he get lost in the crowd?' Though he was a full-grown man, he was still unfamiliar with everything. Panicked, she swiftly walked around and turned her head from side to side while looking for him.

"Where are you going?" She almost let out a shriek when a low-pitched voice came from behind. She quickly turned her head around and was startled to see Yahiro behind her. He smiled and pointed his finger to an empty table for two. "Come over here. I was asking the person before for her seat after she had done eating."

She was taken by surprise to see Yahiro be capable of dealing with things well, though recently transferred from abroad. She went to get her food first while he saved their seats when a familiar voice came from behind.

"Hey, Hanae."

She turned around to see Satoru, her close friend from high school, quietly queuing behind her with his poker face. "Satoru, what a coincidence." It was true that they rarely met each other since they were from different courses.

"Your class just ended, huh.." The thought had crossed her mind to ask him to eat with her. At the least, the more people around, the less awkward it would be. Though he refused at first, he finally agreed after she offered to pay for his lunch.

After paying for two meals, she walked towards Yahiro whose back was facing her way. When she put down her food tray, Yahiro swiftly lifted her head and smiled warmly at her. However, his smile slipped when he saw another person sitting beside her.

"This is Tendou Satoru, you probably know him? He's from our school as well." Hanae thought there was no problem in bringing an extra person to the table. Plus, since Yahiro said that he felt comfortable with people that he was familiar with, then, a fellow former schoolmate like Satoru would be very convenient.

Hanae did not notice a slight change in Yahiro's reaction, as he clenched his jaw for a moment before plastered on a smile. "Hi, I've seen you before. You're Tendou-san's* twin brother, right? I'm Kiyoshi Yahiro, call me Yahiro."

Satoru greeted him back and sat down, feeling uncomfortable as he could notice that his presence was not well received. He looked at Hanae, who had started to eat, oblivious with the awkward atmosphere around them.

'I don't get paid enough for this..' He sighed as he ate his meal.

Author's note:

* Yahiro referred to Tendou Wakana as Tendou-san here.