Youth Unsupervised

Chapter 15-Kindness and Cruelty

The next several weeks passed with relative normality as we all got back into the swing of things. Saki continued to come to school and do homework with me and Hiromasa. She would still involve us in her deviant activities weekly, but at least she hadn't felt the need to break in anywhere else or take us back to her father's house.

We were all sitting outside, eating at lunch period like we normally did, when a girl with her brown hair pulled back into a short ponytail approached our group. Kataoka Naru. I was pretty sure I let her borrow my umbrella sometime the previous year.

"Nagase?" she said, with her hands folded behind her back. "Do you have a minute?"

"Sure." I stood up and brushed my pants off.

I followed her along the walkway until we were out of earshot, then she turned and smiled at me. "This is kind of embarrassing. Do you remember me?"

I nodded. "Kataoka, right?"

Her smile widened and she nodded hastily. "That's right. I still remember that day you let me borrow your umbrella and had to run all the way home in the rain."

I laughed. "Yeah, I got drenched that day. That's alright, though. Like I said, I didn't really mind."

"I meant to talk to you before summer break, but then I saw you were always hanging around Higoshi and I figured you two must be dating." She paused to fiddle with a strand of hair that came loose from her ponytail. "I finally got up my courage to ask her, and she assures me you aren't."

She probably said it without any hesitation either. It's not as though I would have expected her to answer differently, but the truth still hurts when you hear it out loud sometimes.

"Anyway," she continued. "I...I just wanted you to know that I like you...and...and I wondered if you wanted to go out sometime." She finished in a rush and then bowed her head so I couldn't see her face.

The amount of courage it takes to confess your feelings to someone never fails to impress me. I can't fathom the mental torment that must exist in those seemingly endless seconds that occur between the moment the confession leaves your lips and the time it takes for the other person to respond. Will they return your feelings? Will they prolong your agony by saying they need time to think? Will they say no?

I have never been able to refuse anyone before. Not because I especially like them, not in that way, but because I'm always hoping that I will eventually. Besides that, I don't know that I could turn someone down in good conscience. If I were to spend my days dwelling about whether or not someone I liked thought about me the same way, to hear a no after I finally put myself out there would probably rip me apart.

"Sure," I said. "When are you free?"

"Really?" Her head snapped up.

"Of course." I smiled and nodded.

"Today?" She took a step forward and grasped both my hands in hers. "Uh...I mean." She stepped back and pressed her index fingers together nervously. "I'm free today, if you want to do something."

"I'll have to check," I said. "I usually hang out with Hiromasa and Saki on the weekdays."

"We can all hang out." She smiled.

"Huh? Really?" I asked.

She nodded. "Sure. I wouldn't want you to break your plans. Plus, I think I might feel kind of nervous if it was just me and you." She looked to the side and blushed.

I chuckled. "That's fine with me. In that case, it's only fair you pick the place. Where do you want to go?"

"Do you like karaoke?" she asked.