BloodLust- The Dark Arts Chronicles (4th)

(7) AKEMI

     Entering our English classroom, Dai and I settled into our seats on the back row.

  “Dai! Akemi!” yelled a high voice as we took a seat. Cheza, Mizuki’s former best friend, appeared by my side and took the seat next to me.

     Mizuki and Cheza used to be best friends since reception, until Cheza moved away, while they were in primary school because her parents had divorced. Cheza’s mum was devastated, after finding out that her husband had left her for a younger woman. To recover from her severe depression, she took Cheza and headed back to her hometown in Hokkaido, where the rest of the Kikuta family lived.

     Three years later, Cheza returned to Tokyo and joined Tokyo Boarding High, where coincidently her best friend Mizuki was. However, Cheza was in different classes and a different dorm then Mizuki, so she made new friends and started hanging out with them but Mizuki and her were still close.

  “Hey, Cheza,” greeted Dai.

  “Hey! I haven’t seen you guys in ages! How have you been? I heard you were stuck in Military School all summer! That must have been horrible!” said Cheza, giving us a sympathetic look.

  “Yeah, lucky us,” I commented, sarcastically.

  “It wasn’t that bad. It was actually a lot of fun,” added Dai, optimistically.

  “That’s good! Mum and I had to go back to Hokkaido because my grandmother was ill, so I couldn’t stay behind in Tokyo.”

  “Well, you didn’t miss much!” I smiled. The classroom door opened and Mizuki and Ikuto entered, laughing and chatting. Mizuki eyed us and smiled as she continued her conversation with Ikuto.

  “Hey guys,” she smiled, revealing the dimple on her left cheek. Ikuto pulled a seat from the row in front of us.

  “Mizuki!” squealed Cheza, giving Mizuki a tight hug.

  “Cheza! Where have you been? I have missed you!” replied Mizuki, laughing and starting up a conversation with Cheza.

  “Okay class, settle down,” interrupted our teacher Miss Miyako. “To begin with, get into pairs because you lucky people have a project to work on.”

  “Mizuki, can I go with you?” asked Ikuto, quickly. Hesitating, Mizuki turned around to face Dai and me.

  “Um, are you guys going to pair up?” asked Mizuki. “Because Ikuto wanted to pair up with me and I don’t want to leave anyone on their own.”

  “Yeah, that’s fine,” I shrugged, disappointed.

  “Yeah sure, you can be my partner,” Mizuki smiled at Ikuto.

  “Dude, you should seriously make your move,” smirked Dai.

  “What?” I asked, confused.

  “You should ask Mizuki out soon or else he’s going to do it,” whispered Dai, glancing at Ikuto.

  “I will…eventually. I just need a bit of time,” I said, making up an excuse.

  “More time for what?” asked Dai, flatly.

  “I don’t know. To make her like me,” I replied, stupidly.

  “You have had all the time in the world! Just ask the girl out, dipshit.”

  “I’m not a dipshit! What about Saika? I don’t see you asking her out,” I argued back, confidently. Saika was my girl best friend, which means she admitted to me that she has a thing for Dai. Finding an opportunity, I thought about persuading Dai to ask her out as he likes her too.

  “It’s not that hard! She loves you,” glared Dai.

  “Then, why don’t you ask Saika out? She loves you. Besides, Mizuki only likes me as a friend and I don’t want to ruin that.”

  “Did she ever tell you she loves you?”

  “Yes, lots of times”, I shrugged. “But it’s as a friend, I assume.”

  “You idiot! You Dipshit! You asshole! It means the girl loves you! Ask her the hell out!” shouted Dai.

  “Can you two keep your voices down?” commanded Mizuki, turning around. “What are you talking about anyways?”

  “You,” answered Dai flatly. Panic rising, I kicked Dai under the table to shut him up.

  “Haha! Dai you are so hilarious!” replied Mizuki, monotonously and then turned back around.

  “Phew, that was close,” I exhaled.