2.5 Miles

Ch.6

One week later

Sigh... school is such a drag.

Shikimaru sat in his classroom bored out of his damn mind. (Oooh scenery change!)

And so, he thought about where he was right now. He had a secret friend. Akemi.

Akemi... beautiful dawn...

It made him blush slightly. Tch. It's a stupid name... so why did he choose it?

That doesn't matter. Meeting Akemi does.

It was an odd discovery, and one that he was glad he made.

When he thought about it, he could only marvel; who would have thought, that's to discover something so life changing for him, he only had to walk about 2.5 miles.

His parents and the gate keepers eventually got used to him leaving right after school, and didn't question it when he didn't return home or just walked through the gate.

He was glad he met Akemi, though that's something too troublesome to admit out loud. She stopped cutting her hair and it was to her shoulders by now. She looked pretty with longer hair.

Not that it really matters how she looks, it's not like they're married.

I wonder what choji would think...

"-maru! Shikimaru! You okay?"

"Uh?"

It was Iruka.

"You looked dazed. You okay, kid?" Everyone was staring at him now. This didn't happen to Shikimaru!

Shikimaru doesn't get dazed. He's Shikimaru! Sure, he falls asleep and doesn't always pay attention, but he never gets dazed. Even more so, he seemed shocked when he came back to them! SHOCKED!

This is Shikimaru, right?

"Oh. Sorry Iruka sensei."

Oh my god, he apologized.

"Uh, um... just don't do it again? I guess???"

Iruka didn't know what to say. This stuff doesn't happen with Shikimaru. He was surprised.

But Iruka let it off for now. This couldn't have happened unless it was something serious, and he doubted it would happen again.

And so he continued teaching.

Uh, this is such a drag. Now everyone's gonna question me...

Hopefully it doesn't take too long. I don't want Akemi to worry.

What?

She's a drag. It doesn't matter if she worries. I have my own life. I'm sure she'll understand. Troublesome woman.

Why would she worry anyway? I'm just some guy. And she's just some girl I happened across. We both have no reason to worry.

What's this feeling? Shikimaru couldn't pin point it. He just shrugged it off.

"Shikimaru!"

He was startled, and jumped. His legs hit the  op off the desk.

"What's with you today? This has never happened before, I'm worried. I'll send someone to tell your parents, stay after school. I want to talk with you."

This is troublesome...