Chapter - 3
Tap! Tap! Trrrrr! -!
Aah!! I lost again, how could my gaming skills drop so low, even though it hasn't been much time since I left gaming. Huh! whatever, imma just go to sleep.
Ryota was - unusually enough - playing games till midnight and after a streak of horrible losses, he gave up on it and decided to just sleep. His room, just as you would expect from an average teenager, was pretty messy all over like it hadn't been cleaned for some time now.
"….."
Ryota was lost in his thoughts.
He had a weird looking smile on his face indicating that his thoughts definitely weren't something holy.
Oh man..! I'm really in love right now, a love at first sight
[This isn't the first time he has experienced love at first sight]
My first crush, hehe
[Lie]
But I don't even know her name or where she lives, I doubt if I would see her again - Ryota's mood was suddenly in distress over this matter.
Then to clear this distress and become lively again, Ryota came to a conclusion
"I should just fap"
*20 min later*
Ryota's mood got even more down now because faping just added another guilt on his shoulder
[This also isn't the first time something like this has happened]
This time, I'll not think about anything and straight up go to sleep…he declared in a confident manner.
*Next day at school*
Ryota - unsurprisingly enough - didn't go to sleep "straight up" after declaring he would and thus he was awake past 4:00 am, he then had to wake up at 6:00 am to get ready for school.
I'm so sleepy and less on energy right now that I could collapse any moment now.
I really want to go home and sleep till noon
[He was even thinking all this like a sloth]
Hey! Ryota!!
Someone just called Ryota out and suddenly jumped on him from behind putting their hand on Ryota's shoulder
Ryota was annoyed by this action and turned around to see who it was
[turned around to curse the shit out of that person]
It was Suguru
Ryota didn't say anything after seeing who it was.
Yo! W'sup?
Something good's up dude, since you were absent yesterday it's obvious you won't know about this
About what?
Y'know a really hot girl just got transferred to our std., in the other section though which is just beside our classroom and she's a real baddy. What's hilarious is that she has already turned down a guy since she came here and it has only been one day too…
Ryota wasn't much fascinated by this news as he was being loyal to his crush who doesn't even know about his existence.
Well if she really is that good then there's no point for us to be excited about her is there? I mean, people like us are gonna be turned down by her if we ask her out anyways - Ryota tried to divert the discussion because he was afraid that he would get led astray from the path to his crush onto another girl If this continued.
But there's no harm in fantasizing about her - Suguru was still standing firm on his stance
"There is a harm dude, at least for me" Ryota thought
*Class bell rings*
Ryota said "Uh let's go to the classroom or we would get late otherwise"
Ryota was about to enter his classroom when suddenly his vision falled on a person in the corridor, it made all his sleepiness go away and surged a burst of energy throughout his body. He was very certain of it - "It's the same girl I saw at the bookstore!", he shouted with excitement in his mind.
Suguru saw Ryota staring at her and said
"Bruhh! you were just saying that there's no point in us trying on her and now you're staring at her so passionately"
Huh! What do you mean, is that the girl you were talking about earlier?
"Of Course she is"
What's her name? - Ryota was excited to know about the girl but he was being calm enough to hide that
"Haha this really is a 180° turn, you were literally so uninterested in her before but now you want to know about her. Guess my bro has fallen in love just by a glimpse of her!"
"....It's not like that"
"Hehe. Agawa kei. That's her name, if I remember correctly"
"Ohh..!"
Now let's get into the classroom already, said Suguru.
Both then went into the classroom and sat on their respective seats
In between the classes Ryota kept thinking about kei, "how am I supposed to concentrate here when she is present just in the next class", "how should I approach her", "I wonder what kind of person she is", "wait, haven't she already turned down someone already, could it be that she's actually a mean person" and etcetera meaningless thoughts.
Ryota tried looking for her in the recess but couldn't find her, he somehow managed to not see her the whole day after the morning even though she is just in the class besides his.
God damn! I'm outta luck. He was very frustrated.
Though it didn't last for long, when he was walking back to his home after school through the crossroad path. He saw that girl again, coming out of the same bookstore he saw her the first time at.
Ryota noticed a book in her hand. The first thought that came into his mind was "she must read books alot, I mean, she just purchased one a couple of days ago and now this one or she's probably getting them for someone else"
An idea came into his mind, to buy the book kei was holding but he was short on money, or that's what he thought unless he checked his bag in hope for a miracle and actually found enough money in it.
Woa! Luck's on my side again.
Ryota then walked into the bookstore himself and asked the bookseller "The highschool girl who just bought a book from here a couple of minutes ago, can you tell me which book she bought if you don't mind?"
The bookseller was welcoming to tell him about it "Oh! Sure, she bought the book called The Prophet"
*10 min later*
I ended up buying the same book, the reason is obvious.
I didn't think I had any money on me though I wonder where it came from.
Ryota came to his home and started reading the book. Apparently the book was a collection of poetic essays that explore various aspects of life like love, joy, sorrow, friendship, death, spirituality and also, human existence.
Ryota was interested in Philosophical topics like these so he didn't have to force himself to read the book and actually read it by interest - though the underlying motive was still held with greater priority.
*10 pm*
Ryota's father just came back from his work while Ryota was reading the same book.
Knock! Knock!
His father knocked on the door in the meanwhile and then shortly came in, before Ryota could even respond.
Yes, dad..?
It's not something important, I just felt like talking to you. - Mr. Kimura said in a calming tone
Ohh!
Mr Kimura noticed the book in Ryota's hands and said "ohh! So you bought a literature book by the money I gave you last night, honestly, it's better than wasting money on mangas"
You gave me money last night? - Ryota was confused
Hm? I came to talk to you yesterday too around the same time as now, don't you remember?
Uh, yeah! sorry- I'm a bit lost right now because I just woke up from sleep…
[He Lied]
"So dad gave me money last night when he came to talk to me, not that I remember anything about it"
So, dad, what's up?
"The workload at the office is too much that I'm unable to spend much time with my family so I was thinking if the three of us could go on a picnic sometime soon when I get free."
Sure! I would really love to!
[This was genuine]
Yea I'm looking forward to it too - Mr. Kimura said with a gentle smile on his face.
"Come get dinner already you two!" - Shouted Ryota's mother
"Yea, mom, comin'!"
Uh, Ryota
Hm?
I was wondering if you're fine, y'know?
Mr. Kimura was saying this in regards to the suicide incident, Ryota realised it immediately.
Yes, I'm absolutely fine, you don't need to worry yourself.
Mr Kimura gently rubbed Ryota's head and said "I see."
The family then had dinner together and Ryota went to sleep afterwards, he read some pages of the book before sleeping though.
The next day was Saturday and so it was a day off from school for Ryota. He was completing his school work when he got a call from Suguru.
Suguru invited Ryota to watch a new movie in theaters telling him that a couple more of his friends are coming too.
Ryota thought "well, I don't have anything to do anyways so I should just go with them"
[he intentionally ignored his school work]
Ryota got ready and came to the address told to him by Suguru but he didn't saw Suguru there, Ryota thought "they aren't here, have I been tricked by him or I am just at the wrong place, I should just call hi-"
Heeyy, Ryota!! - Suguru shouted Ryota's name while waving his hand. He and the others had just reached the location.
Ryota noticed them though he wasn't paying any attention to Suguru but one other person behind him
Kei!!
She is one of the other 'friends' he was talking about?!
When did they become friends?!
Why did the bastard not tell me she's coming, waah! I didn't pay much attention to my looks before coming here, I probably look shit right now.
Ryota was- all excited, frustrated, surprised and anxious at the same time.
Suguru and others came upto Ryota, Suguru said to Ryota "Yo dude, sorry for the late. let's go straight to the theater after here, though let me introduce you to these two. This is my girlfriend - time stopped for a second for Ryota, he got anxious and wasn't ready for what was coming after that, or that's what he thought at the moment - Yumeko-san"
Huh? Ohh!
[Ryota was so fixated on Kei that he didn't even notice the other girl, Yumeko]
Man I thought he was going to say "Kei" and give me surprise of the century - Ryota was relieved
"Hi, I am Kimura Ryota"
Nice to meet you Kimura-san. To be honest, I already know your name. Because of the rumours serculating around the school about you, but no worries, I don't believe in them at all because from what Suguru-san told me about you, you seem to be a nice person and it's hard to believe you would do something like that - Yumeko said with a gentle smile on her face.
"I am really gald to hear that!"
Suguru told Ryota "Yumeko was the one who suggested me to invite you with us and that she would invite a friend of her"
"Ohh! thanks Yumeko-san, for inviting me today with y'all"
Suguru continued "and this here is Kei, Yumeko's friend"
"Hello, I'm Aikawa Kei"
"Hi, nice to meet you Aikawa-san"
Her voice is so sweet- though, Aikawa? Wasn't her last name Agawa? Suguru's feeding me wrong informations but whatever, he is the one who gave me the opportunity to get in contact with Kei-san
[This guy started using honorifics with her name just after speaking to her once]
All 4 of them went directly to watch the movie afterwards, they had alot of small talks on their way to the theaters giving Ryota chances to talk with Aikawa and get past the 'small talks phase'.
*Before going in the theater*
"When did you get a girlfriend? I thought you were single this whole time" - Ryota asked Suguru with interest
Suguru replied - with a smug face - "well, I WAS single but not anymore, I got into relationship with Yumeko-san yesterday after school, when she proposed me"
[Suguru was the one who proposed her]
"Dude, you're quick with it"
*Couple of hours later*
Ryota and Aikawa were alone at Aikawa's place. Aikawa was lying on her bed, Ryota sitting beside her.
To be continued...