Accordance

25

"So.... you and Tobu huh?" Aiko blushed and pursed her lips.

"He's a cool guy okay. Look we talk later. I don't wanna be embarrassin him."

"I'm not embarrassed." He sent her a flirty smile and she pushed him.

"Okay lover boy. Let's go." They watched them walk up the hill together.

"Were we really that late? I ain't even notice." Rie laughed.

"Yes. They are getting to know one another. Happened soon after Christmas. It is almost spring now. I think Nakamura is a good person. He is good for Aiko." She nodded.

"He is. I agree."

"Is your feud over?"

"Yes." Before she got a chance to speak, Hiroto beat her to it with a solid answer. He cleared his throat.

"It's been over." He gently laid a hand on top of her hair and ruffled it before leaving her.

***

In class, she tapped her pencil against the paper. It just so happened that she hadn't studied for this exam, smart she knew. Instead, her mental capacity had been taken up by the dude sitting in the back of her and the replay of their kiss on Christmas. It had replayed like a broken record and she hadn't been able to get it out of her mind since. Sighing, she bit her lip. This was preparation for the final exams coming up. So... how was she gonna do well when she hadn't even studied? Lord help me. I can't keep acting like this. It's so exhaustive.

She missed his laughter, his advice and presence. Just him. It was about time she stuck it to all those who had once made her afraid. Didn't she say she wasn't going to live in fear anymore? Well, now was that time to show up and put up. The next time people saw her with him... he was going to be hers. She didn't know how she would make it right but she was going to find a way. Her stupid choices and decisions had pushed him away and hurt him for so long. It was time to stop hurting him. She loved him too much to hurt him or ask him to hurt himself for her. That was plain dumb. If they stared, so be it. If they judged, let em. She needed Iwase Hiroto in her life and damn it if she had to beg him to take her back as a friend, as a person and as the holder of his heart she would.

***

He hoped no one noticed. Her fingers slip through the wooden supports of the chair and reach for him. She had never broken their agreement before. But the way her fingers reached for him touched him. They begged to be in contact with him. He put his pencil down. He hoped no one saw his fingers meet hers. And the gentle shock that jolted them when the touch exploded their world in color. Here and now, only they existed and in their world, they had a tiny slice of heaven. He didn't want anyone else to share in their moment.

Tightly gripping onto her fingers, he slowly looked up at her form. Her face was etched in concentration and her pencil tapped against the edge of her exam. Thinking. Didn't she know how much he missed her? Her existence meant everything to him. She was the reason he breathed in lungfuls of air when he woke up every morning. She was the very reason he smiled and opened his heart. She sighed and he felt a smile come to his lips. Relief. She tapped on the paper louder until he took his nail and pressed it into her palm. She sat up slightly taller but did not turn her head.

"What question are you on?" He wrote into her skin.

"38." He calmly flipped his test to the correctly answered question.