Youth Unsupervised

Chapter 20-Neglected Warnings

When I awoke the next morning, she was gone. I rolled over, stared at the ceiling, and sighed. Nothing like starting the New Year having completely screwed up everything the night before. I guess I should have expected as much. Even someone like Saki, with her near nonexistent respect of personal space, had boundaries, and I'd just charged right past them.

I sat up on the edge of my bed and ran a hand through my hair, considering my options. There weren't any, really. What was done was done. There was nothing left to do but wait and see what happened. Hopefully, she would show up sometime soon and not be totally disgusted with me when she did. I was sure she'd figured out that I was in love with her. She was sort of perceptive that way and it's not as though I had been at all subtle about it. If she was still unaware, surely the previous night would have convinced her completely. What she would do with that information still remained to be seen, but it wouldn't do me any good to worry about it.

I got ready and made my way to Hiromasa's house. It felt weird going to his house to apologize. It's not as though we'd never had a fight before. We'd known each other for a long time, after all, but it had been quite a few years.

When I knocked on the front door, Kanna, the eldest of his little sisters, answered it.

A big smile spread over her face when she saw me. "Hi, Kaito."

"Hey." I waved at her. "Is your brother here?"

Aoi, the second eldest, squeezed her way under Kanna's arm and smiled just as big.

 "I've told you not to answer the door," Hiromasa's mother scolded before she even came into view. "Oh, Kaito, it's you. Want to come in?"

I shook my head. "No thanks. I just wanted to talk to Hiromasa for a minute."

"I'll get him." Kanna took off like a shot.

"Not here to play?" Aoi asked.

I smiled. "Sorry. Not today. Maybe next time?"

She pouted, crossed her arms, and stomped away from the door.

"Did you two boys have a fight?" Mrs. Shiganori asked.

I rubbed the back of my head. "Yeah, kind of."

"Mmm." She nodded. "I thought so. He's been sulking all morning."

Hiromasa stepped into the entryway and leaned against the doorway opposite his mother. "What do you want?"

His mother scowled and smacked the back of his head.

"Ow." He rubbed where she'd struck him. "What was that for?"

She put a hand on her hip. "You had better make an effort, young man. The two of you have been friends for twelve years. You shouldn't take that kind of friendship lightly."

"Fine. Fine." Hiromasa looked at me. "Give me a minute."

I nodded and he shut the door. When he opened it again he was wearing his coat and shoes. He stepped outside to join me, shutting the door behind him.

"So, what do you want?" he asked.

I stuck my hands in my pockets. "I just wanted to come and tell you I'm sorry. I didn't want it to seem like I did this to you on purpose. And I'm sorry I took your feelings for Saki lightly." I looked down. "Honestly, I respect you a lot for what you did. I could never tell her how I feel. I think it's incredible that you were able to do something like that. You're a pretty cool guy."

He was quiet. When I looked up, he was tapping on his phone.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"I'm going to need you to say that last part again." He held the phone up to my mouth. "I need it for my ringtone."