[The King's Avatar] The Misconstrued Situation With An Overdue Explanation

Chapter 13: Blank Mind

870 words, 4 minutes

On Akane's end, though, she soon began feeling a little queasy.

The confidence she previously had seemed to disappear bit by bit the closer she got to his table. 

What should she do? Should she approach him casually? Should she pretend she's looking for someone? Should she act like she's going to leave the canteen? Should she act like she was still hungry and was going to buy some more lunch? Come to think of it, she just remembered she left her lunch with Chen Guo.

Dammit, she didn't want to accidentally force Chen Guo to watch her lunch for her in case she wanted to leave the canteen herself.

Akane went back to where Chen Guo was sitting and swiftly packed her own lunch. She zipped up her bag and slung her pastel blue backpack over her shoulder. "I'll act like I'm about to head out," she told Chen Guo, smiling nervously.

"You act like such a child sometimes," laughed Chen Guo, setting her chopsticks down. "Don't overthink it, Akane! Just say hi or something."

Akane looked back at him with a longing look on her face. He was nearly finished with his lunch, he just had a few sliced peaches to finish. "OK..." she mumbled, heading off on a journey that may kill something precious; her self-esteem.

She kept on wondering if she was even good enough for him. Just because they both rode motorcycles didn't mean they were compatible.

But it felt so easy to talk to him when they were in front of the entrance...

No, no, that was just one time. If she remembered anything useful from science, it was that repeated results made your conclusion stronger.

In this case, it meant she had to keep talking to him.

But he wasn't sitting alone... what would his friends think of her? Would they think she was just trying to distract him from his studies? She didn't want them to think of her as a bad influence. She just wanted to talk to Josaku!

Enough,  she said mentally. Just go already. Stop acting scared, he's just another university student.

Akane walked up to him hesitantly and shyly, but she hoped her voice wouldn't be conveyed the same way. "Uh, hey, Josaku..." she started, realizing after a split second that she had to raise her voice because of how loud the canteen was.

He noticed her and smiled. "Oh, hey," he greeted, taking a peach slice and popping it into his mouth.

Akane was a little stunned. He didn't call her "darling". She was now starting to doubt everything with regards to her chances of being with him.

Nonetheless, she had to keep pushing. She got the greeting out of the way, so now they had to actually talk about something.

"Um..."

Shoot, she didn't know what to talk about.

Akane felt her body break into a cold sweat. How could she be so stupid? She can come up with various different responses to almost any scenario from her head and she couldn't think of what to say to her crush? Her mind already went blank when the conversation didn't even start flowing yet?

How pathetic,  she thought nervously.

She could see 2 of his friends eyeing her curiously, and she wanted to die. This wasn't high school anymore, but because she's never focused on boys for a while, these feelings felt super strong.

"What's up?" he asked for her, holding a single peach slice between his fingers.

Oh, thank goodness, a question! Akane felt slightly relieved that he was talking to her. "Nothing much," she answered easily now, bringing some of her long blue hair over her shoulder to hide her backpack strap. "Um, I was just wondering..." she continued, glancing over at the exit to the canteen before flicking her gaze back to him.

She wanted to get away with him.

"Are you busy right now?"

If Josaku was being honest, he kind of liked how she was giving him this attention. He didn't expect to see her again after this morning.

He still had a bunch of work to catch up on, but he could entertain her a little.

"Not right now," he replied. "Why?" Because that word alone would sound a little accusatory or pressuring without a light tone, he gave her an interested smile.

On the inside, Akane was elated. She expected him to say he was busy, but this was perfect for her. She could feel her confidence returning, even though her heart was still thumping. Not even the loud chatter in the canteen could hide its beat from her. "I was wondering if you wanted to hang out?"

Josaku didn't even need to think about it. "Sure," he answered. "What time?"

"Uh..." She couldn't stop a smile from spreading on her face. "...now?"

"Now?" he asked surprisingly, but he didn't mind. "Sure, no problem. Just lemme return my tray."

Akane waited by the table patiently as he stacked his tray and took the container with peaches. It was a short walking distance back to the table he sat at with his friends. He stood by her side, putting his free hand in his jacket's pocket.

"So where to, darling?"

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A/N:

I'm doing my best to work on this fic as much as I can after my online classes.

Thanks for sticking around! Any feedback?

—Kaio