Yajima's Arcade wasn't the most inspired name of all time, but it got the point across. Opened in the 1980s, it was a locally popular arcade in its time. Nearly twenty years later and that popularity was nowhere to be found.
After Reiichirou gave them a few more details about the place, they made plans to go to this arcade after school the next day.
Till then, Kinjo tried to get next week's newspaper done. She sat quietly in her room with blank white walls, a desk, a bed, and a single nightstand. Pretty barren for anyone, especially a high schooler.
She typed away at her laptop, getting as much information from the clubs as she could. Having a direct line to the club presidents made that an easy task. She made a list of each club and their newsworthy announcements before separating who would be writing what in the club.
As she finished up doing that, she closed her laptop and sighed. She checked the time on her phone which read: 3:15 AM.
Try to sleep more, please.
Fumiha's words echoed in her mind. Kinjo realized the dark bags under her eyes weren't healthy, but she always justified it by telling herself she was doing what needed to be done.
The image of the pony-tailed president, Ogino, flashed through her mind. There wasn't anything Kinjo wouldn't do for her, including giving her all to keep this club from vanishing.
Ogino was the only real reason Kinjo was in the Journalism club in the first place. She never had any interest in Journalism, but the person she cared for did, so she stuck by her regardless.
With another sigh, she stood from the chair and dropped on her bed.
That night, Kinjo had a dream. A dream that she had plenty of times before. A painful dream…a nightmare.
Ogino stood next to Kinjo by a bridge, the timid river below shined with the sunset.
She could feel her face stiffen as she held back tears.
"I'm sorry…" Ogino whispered. She tightened her grip around the railing. "You know this wouldn't work. Especially not here."
Kinjo could feel her throat tighten. "…I know." she managed to let out.
Once again, the town shackled by tradition was stopping her from being herself. It was suffocating how careful she had to be; how careful everyone had to be.
Why should we care what they think? She wanted to say but knew there was much more to it than that. It wasn't always that simple.
Maybe it wouldn't be worth it. Maybe they could someday make it work, but it was obviously not now. All they had to do was wait for the right time…but what if it would eventually be too late…?
"It's late. We should get going." Ogino said as she began to turn away from the bridge. Kinjo tried to reach out for Ogino's hand but stopped herself at the last second.
Just like that, she saw the back of the girl she loved walk away…far from her reach.
Her alarm went off every morning at seven, and that morning was no different. With a little under four hours of sleep to her name, she stood up from her bed and headed to the bathroom.
In the mirror she saw the same image she saw every morning. Black hair, droopy eyes, pale skin, and thin frame.
She was plain-looking, to say the least. That fact didn't bother her though. She wasn't trying to be the prettiest girl in school, or even in her class. She found thinking about things like that pointless.
She sighed before splashing water on her face.
There were plenty of times when she ran into Fumiha on the way to school. That day was not one of them.
She silently made her way to school and headed straight to her classroom. As she slid the door open, she found two classmates near the back joyfully talking to each other. She'd spent enough time in that class to know that those two were dating.
The brown-haired girl sat in the corner with her boyfriend right next to her.
A sting in her heart made her quickly look away. She ignored them as she sat down in her seat. But she couldn't help but think of how lucky they were to be able to be so public about their relationship.
As the first half of the day disappeared in a flash, Kinjo stood to go to the cafeteria for the break.
"Excuse me, Kinjo," a voice suddenly called out to her. She turned to the voice and saw the same couple from earlier nervously looking at her.
"Yes?"
"Um, we were wondering if the Journalism Club was going to continue publishing things like this week?"
Realizing that she probably was talking about the café, Kinjo answered, "Yeah, we're looking into a few new places."
Although they really only had one new place, they would probably have another one by the end of the week, so she wasn't completely lying.
"Really!?" she said excitedly before reeling herself back with a formal cough. "That café you guys wrote about was perfect for our date." The girl grabbed her boyfriend's arm. He blushed as he turned away from Kinjo's stare. "We'll be waiting to see what else you have in store." She smiled.
Who goes on date during the weekday? She asked herself but decided that it would be a little rude to ask them that.
She simply nodded through gritted teeth before saying, "We'll do our best."
The same sting in her heart lingered as she saw them walk away.
Kinjo made her way to the cafeteria on the first floor, however, before she reached the staircase, she heard someone call out to her.
"Kinjo." The familiar voice said. She turned to find Ogino making her way towards her. "Are you going to the cafeteria?"
Kinjo nodded. "Yes. I didn't have time for breakfast today."
"Again?" Ogino asked worriedly. "Are you sure that the school lunch would be enough then? I already told you I could make a lunch for you."
Kinjo felt her heart skip a beat. Ogino's soft eyes and slight frown filled her chest with warmth. Obviously, she would love to jump at the opportunity to eat something made by her, but she couldn't. The last thing Kinjo wanted was to give Ogino another responsibility that would weigh her down.
"No, I'm fine. The school lunch is more than enough."
Ogino eyed her, "Hm…that sounds to me like you're lying." She grabbed Kinjo's thin wrist and dragged her towards the staircase.
They sped by a few people before making it into the large cafeteria. Ogino looked for an open table before sitting down.
She forced Kinjo to sit down before sitting on the opposite side of the table.
"What are you—?"
Ogino cut her off by pulling out a bento and placing it between them. She opened it to reveal a variety of food. The mixture of rice, sausage, and different types of vegetables let out a delicious scent that made Kinjo's mouth salivate.
Ogino pulled out chopsticks and picked up an octopus-looking sausage. She reached over the table and presented it in front of Kinjo.
"Say 'ah'," Ogino said like she was feeding a baby.
"I'm not going to—"
"Come on, friends do this all the time!" she waved the sausage around, making all the small octopus limbs wobble.
It was true that friends did that all the time, but Kinjo couldn't very well see it like that. Just being in the situation she was in made her heart beat out of her chest.
Through blushed cheeks, Kinjo said, "I-I can just grab it myself." She reached for the sausage with her hands, but Ogino pulled it away.
"Nope, I'm going to feed you," she grinned.
With a sigh, Kinjo looked around. Everyone else in the cafeteria was busy talking to friends, laughing, and playing around.
It should be fine…
"…Alright."
Ogino's eyes shot open, but she quickly smiled. She brought the chopsticks to Kinjo's mouth again. Once it was close enough, she quickly bit into the sausage and backed away a bit.
Delicious.
"Is it good?"
Kinjo nodded.
The sausage was much better than she expected. It wasn't the first time Kinjo tried Ogino's food, but it had definitely improved since the last time. The flavor that came with every bite left you craving for more.
"Here's another!" Ogino brought another sausage towards her.
"I'm good." Kinjo turned away.
"Aw, alright, but you can have this." She gave Kinjo half of her bento. The two parts looked identical in what they had inside. It was almost like it had been planned out beforehand. "And I won't be taking it back, you hear!? If you don't eat it, then you'll have to throw it out."
With that ultimatum on her hands, Kinjo couldn't refuse. She sighed as she grabbed the chopsticks Ogino laid out for her.
They ate silently, Kinjo enjoying every bite of the bento. Every so often she would catch Ogino glancing at her, waiting to see her reaction.
"Oh, you got some on your cheek," Ogino said as she placed her hand on Kinjo's face and wiped away some rice.
Bump—Bump
Kinjo's heart skipped a beat. Ogino's smooth hand had the usual fruity smell from the moisturizer she always used. Her hand gently caressed Kinjo's face for a moment before quickly pulling back.
"Um," Ogino awkwardly laughed, "You're pretty messy sometimes, aren't you?"
Kinjo recollected herself with a breath, "You're messier than I am. You wouldn't last a week without me."
"That's not true!"
"Last week you forgot to buy Cookie food. If it wasn't for me, you would've fed him those chips."
"How was I supposed to know you can't feed chips to hamsters?"
"Logic?"
Ogino dropped her head on the table defeated. Although they were mostly joking, it was true that Kinjo was basically the reason Ogino hadn't messed everything up on multiple occasions.
"You're like a child."
Ogino laughed at Kinjo's declaration.
With their bickering reaching its end, Kinjo could only look at the smiling Ogino. Her sharp features and brown eyes looked gentle, almost fragile. She was bright, energetic, and full of life.
Kinjo wished she could be half of that.
She had never been one to take care of herself, so she was always borderline unhealthy. Her parents never did much to change her ways, so she continued with her bad eating and sleeping habits. All of that led up to her being the way she was now. Regardless of what she said, Kinjo hated that but never did anything about it.
Even now, all she had done was give an excuse for her unhealthy habits. But that wasn't something she was willing to admit.
Yet, every time she saw Ogino, Kinjo felt like at the very least those unhealthy habits were going towards a good cause. Ogino was smart, talented, and beautiful. Kinjo would gain nothing by making herself better, but she could give her all towards her.
The light of the cafeteria reflected off the table for a split second, turning Kinjo's attention towards it. There, hanging off Ogino's ear, was a long earring with a mirror surface.
Kinjo unconsciously touched the earring on her own ear. It was the exact same design, but unlike Ogino who wore it on her left ear, she wore it on her right. That's because they were part of the same pair.
They both used to belong to Ogino, but she had given Kinjo one of them some time back. It was a symbol of their promise. The promise that they one day would be together.
Although neither of them had realized it, at some point they had ended up gazing into each other's eyes.
---
As this was going on, a single boy was sitting alone by his desk. He ate a single sandwich that he had made himself earlier that morning.
Toi sighed as he finished his lunch.
Once again, he was alone. It wasn't like he didn't have friends, he had plenty of those. It was just that he never felt right being with them, especially during their lunch break.
He simply didn't feel like he was a part of the group. There was always a part of his mind that told him he was just annoying them. That he was nothing more than a leech.
So he always opted to be alone, and that day was no different.
Suddenly, the classroom door slid open. Standing there with a bright smile on her face and swinging golden hair was Fumiha as she walked up to him.
He could feel the tiniest grin form on his face.