"Do you know how much I visualize that goddess in my bed? 60% of all the wet dreams I had was because of Akane-sama!"
"...You know...First of all, don't use such filthy words with me. Second of all, I'm her brother, thus don't do dirty talks about her in front of me. And third of all, close your impure mouth. You are drooling contaminated liquid because of your perverted brain."
"Oops. Sorry again. Hahaha..."
Kouki used the back of his hand to wipe off the oozing saliva.
"*Sigh*...Are you not capable of thinking about interesting topics, other than sexual perversion?"
"I can! When I'm in the right mood, then I might do that."
"So you are saying that when you are with me, you are not in the mood?"
"Since when did I say that!?"
People in the vicinity heard Kouki raised his mature voice, which suited his appearance but not his mind. Harue and Kouki were at the bus stop waiting for the bus to arrive.
Harue sighed yet again due to the level of noise Kouki generated.
"Now listen here Harue. You are getting the wrong idea here."
"Ah. The bus is coming."
"Hey! Don't try to run away."
"I'm not though. Even if I did, you would still be glued to me no matter what."
The bus stopped, letting the people enter through the opened door.
As the two friends entered, they found out that all seats were occupied, so they had to stand up. The bus started moving along its designated route.
Harue's tired face could be seen as he listened to Kouki's voice.
"That's true. I'm going to be with you all the time. Like brothers for life."
"Heee~ I will take that as a curse."
"Don't say that."
A crying baby. That was the comparison that Harue thought of when he was staring at Kouki's sobbing face. Even though he jokingly tried to look as sad as possible, this did not suit his face.
"You are going to scare people with that ugly expression of yours."
"At least you will not judge me by my appearance, but by my beating heart that longs for a daily dose of my best friend's amazing friendship."
Harue thinly smile as he faced the exaggerated response from Kouki. He then pondered before a light bulb suddenly lit up in his mind.
"The way you are acting so romantic and dramatic right now, I just could not help but remember 'that' time when were kids."
Harue lightly emphasized the word 'that'. From other people's point of view, it does not have that deep of a meaning, but in Kouki's perspective, he had the glimpse of hell.
".....Harue.....Tch!"
Kouki's expression suddenly changed and Harue slightly sneered at him.
Kouki embarrassingly veered his sight away from Harue before ruminating for a while. The energetic Watanabe Kouki vanished. After a few seconds, he regained his line of sight slowly to Harue again.
"Have you told anyone?"
"Of course not."
Harue put one of his hand on Kouki's shoulder.
"If this gets out, I'm going to face the same consequences as you. So we are in this together. Right?"
"That's...right. Right. Let's just forget about that. Hehehe..."
Kouki lightly laughed at Harue and quickly changed the topic. He recuperated the enthusiastic side of him. We talked about different subjects, except for the sexual ones. The bus took about 20 minutes to arrive at the shopping mall.
Harue and Kouki exited the bus and walked to the nearest crossroad. The mall was on the other side of the road so it was obvious to where they were going.
"It sure is hot, even if it is spring."
"Wait until it is summer. It is going to be hell compared to this season."
"Yeah. By the way, where do we start first?"
Kouki looked at Harue as they were in front of one of the biggest buildings in this area.
'Heisei Shopping Mall' was hugely inscribed with metals at the entrance. Different neon colours for each word was quite welcoming. Today the mall would not be very packed with people, as seen by the number of people entering this building.
Well if it would be in the holidays, it would have been swarmed greatly. Harue was glad that he came today.
"We can go and take a look at what you need first."
Harue put forward his opinion on where to start.
"Is that so? Then can we wait here? We are going to have one more companion."
"Another one? Your friend from the club?"
"No. Well, you will find out when she comes."
"She?"
Harue could not help but think of who would accompany this guy. Well, any handsome guy would easily find a girl to tag alongside him.
Harue sighed inwardly, contemplating on whether to reveal this nasty side of Kouki to that girl or not.
They were waiting for about 10 to 15 minutes and there was still no sign of that girl that Kouki mentioned. Harue glared at Kouki but Kouki did not take that annoyed gesture seriously. He continued to stand alongside Harue, waiting for that friend.
Harue checked on his watch, seemingly not happy with the time they wasted on just standing. They could have done so many things in Harue's mind.
"Sorry for coming late."
A girl's voice. Not too high pitched, not too low pitched. A normal voice, but that somehow is beguiling to Harue. Judged by Harue's shocking expression, he completely did not expect this turn of event.
As the girl came jogging closer to the two waiting figures, the heavy breathes were getting clearer.
"Long time no see, kouhai!"
Kouki, replying as enthusiastic as always, greeted the companion, that would later be joining them.
"Good day...to you..., Watanabe-senpai."
The heavy panting gradually became less intense and more stabilized. She readjusted her spectacles to be able to display her black alluring eyes perceptibly to those two.
"Good day to you too, Harue-senpai."
"H-How have you been..., Yuna-san?"
"Pretty well, Senpai."
Harue's sight was glued to her unimpeded black eyes. Time seems to be frozen for Harue as he continued to gaze at the circle of night.
'Aaa.....I wish I could stay like this.'
From only her eyes, she was able to magically captivate Harue in immobility. Her well-rounded face was the foundation for such beauty. Her unwrinkled cheeks, her pointy nose, her long and thin eyebrows, her bang that covered her smooth forehead and the long black eyelashes did not matter to Harue. The eyes were enough to do its job.
That person was such a fascinating figure right now for the entranced boy. The one who was able to bewitch Harue,
Her name was Adachi Yuna.
"Harue-senpai?"
"...Y-Yes?"
"Is something the matter? You are in a trance it seems."
Harue slightly panicked as he thought that he was caught staring at her for way too much time.
"I-It's nothing. I-I was just wondering why you were accompanying us."
"Oh yes, about that. Watanabe-senpai invited me over, saying that you wanted a little help with the shopping."
Yuna held onto the hat she was wearing as her red skirt and white long-sleeved t-shirt were lightly moving due to the smooth wind.
Harue again glared at Kouki, but this time, with a frustrated expression. Kouki just smiled widely in response to Harue's cute reaction.
"Well since you two are in the same club, I thought that you needed some help with the outfits of the new play."
Kouki sugarcoated his teasings to Harue with some facts and attempt to help. That move clearly made Harue helpless and he could not completely rebuke Kouki.
"...You..."
"You don't have to thank me Harue. We are best friends. Right?"
In front of Adachi Yuna, Harue could not fight back Kouki because he would feel embarrassed. He also thought that if he persistently tried to refute Kouki on this matter, he might make Yuna think that she was not needed here, and becomes gloomy.
For which Harue does not wish for it to happen!!!
"I'm in your care, Yuna-san."
"Likewise, Harue-senpai."
He played along.
Kouki started to walk and Harue and Yuna followed behind.
Kouki started a conversation with Yuna as he walked in front of them. He glanced backwards for a second as he talked with her.
"So why did you come late, Yuna-san?"
"Ah. My glasses fell because of someone bumping into me. When I found it....."
She scratched her cheek lightly and slightly averted her eyes from Kouki as she continued.
"...I missed the bus. So I had to wait for another one."
She wryly smiled at Kouki as she adjusted her black spectacles again.
"Really a bad start for you, hahaha..."
Kouki looked straight to the sections that showcased different types of clothing.
"...Must be annoying to wear glasses."
Harue chimed into the conversation hesitantly as he thought up carefully of what and how to speak. He was being too cautious when it involves Yuna.
"Why don't you try to wear contact lenses?"
Kouki suggested a good idea to Yuna as they arrived at a place where it showcased different types of spectacles behind a glass casing.
"I'll try.....maybe some other times. I feel more comfortable with this spectacles."
"Your choice."
After a few minutes of chatting and walking simultaneously, they arrived at a section where they sell diving equipment, bikinis, and other swimming clothes.
"This is my domain. I'll just be on here for 5 to 10 minutes, then we can go to where you want to."
Watanabe Kouki was in the swimming club. He wanted to buy some swimming suits because the previous one that he wore was starting to get more tight than usual. This could hinder his swimming techniques if he continued to wear a more constricted swimsuit.
Harue noticed that his best friend was becoming more muscular and a bit bigger.
'Is he advancing towards the bodybuilding path?'
He could not help but ponder on his well-built body that continues to amaze Harue. Harue knows that he must have a good body to be able to swim fast and more efficiently.
Since he is the ace of the swimming club, he can understand the hard work that Kouki is putting in to maintain that position. Harue smiled at that thought as he was seeing Kouki seriously choosing the swimsuit considering his comfort and its flexibility.
"I am taking these two."
Kouki bought what he needed. 2 swimsuits. He paid the cashier the exact price as he turned towards Harue and Yuna.
"Now let's go buy your required things."
All three of them arrived at the next destination. It had one-piece suits, hoodies, different types of jeans and pants and some other stuff. When they were about to enter, Kouki suddenly exclaimed.
"Ah! Nature's calling!"
"What?"
Harue looked at Kouki with a worried face. But he was not worrying about Kouki, but he was having a bad feeling.
"I gotta go to the toilet. You two can go and take a look at what you need without me. I don't want you two to waste any time longer waiting for me."
He smiled as he announced,
"I'll be going now. I'll be right back later."
Harue even noticed the corner of Kouki's lips raised higher as he turned around and ran away from them.
The girl and boy gazed at Kouki's running back. Harue was in a state of panic. He was there, alone, standing beside Adachi Yuna. He felt abashed to an extent.
"Harue-senpai. Shall we go in."
Harue awkwardly nodded to her words. He could not be in a more anxious situation if he tried to. The only way to keep a bit of calm he had was to blame Kouki for it.
'Damn that bastard. When he comes back, I might, No! I will reveal that secret we were hiding, in front of everyone.'
This thought passed by in his head but he could not help but see the other side of his action.
Kouki just helped Harue. He helped Harue be together with this girl alone. This girl, which Harue finds it difficult to even speak casually.
A few moments after, his mind relaxed after thinking about his best friend's good intentions behind this abrupt move. He thinly grin before he stared at Yuna.
Harue thought, he thought about Kouki, about Yuna, then about himself.
.....He decided.
He decided it was time. Time to end all the burden of shouldering this strong feeling that he held. For 1 year. For 365 days. For all those seconds he felt it.
It was time to let it all out.
"Yuna-san, I have something to tell you."
"Yes?"
The curious bespectacled black hair beauty twisted her head towards Harue, which made him even more anxious. That little movement of hers made it a bit more difficult for Harue to proceed.
But nonetheless, he steeled himself and marched forward.
"Yuna-san....."
The black eyes met. Seriousness filled them, which made Yuna feel more serious too. Then...
"I-"
*BOOOOOMM!!!!!!*