Me and Ai

Chapter 58: Feeling

"Don't be so down, Ori-chan. A smile looks better on you."

I sighed and smiled. "Yeah, you guys are right. Let's just have fun today!"

"That's the spirit!"

I shouldn't sour the mood over something trivial like this. That's what I thought but somehow, I could still feel my heart ache a bit. Anyway, there's always next time.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------  

Kurosaki-senpai puts his arms behind his head as he lay on the sofa; he then looked over to Mikaze-senpai with a bit of seriousness on his face.

"What was that all about? That was one surprise attack you had there."

"..." Mikaze-senpai was looking down to the ground with his arms crossed.

"You lied to them, Ai-chan. We all know that you don't have any work today." Rei-chan looks at him with concern and seriousness.

Camus took a sip of his tea. "I believe that this is the first time I've heard you lie like that. I'm a bit surprised that you would turn down a request that way; you would usually outright say that you don't want to go." He placed his tea down onto the table. "Is there a reason behind your unusual behavior?"

"You've let them down, you know; especially that kid." Kurosaki-senpai turns over on the couch. He was waiting for Mikaze-senpai to say something but he didn't say anything at all; Kurosaki-senpai grew even more concerned.

Rei-chan, who was sitting on the couch opposite of Kurosaki-senpai, crossed his legs and recalled the faces of the sad hoping juniors.

"She was the saddest of them all. Sigh." He then looks at Mikaze-senpai from the side.

Mikaze-senpai was completely silent and was just staring off into space; the three grew even more concerned for him. He wasn't his usual self today at all. They decided not to talk about it anymore since he refused to speak about it at all; they just passed the time with whatever came to their mind. After some time, all of the seniors went off to do their own thing. Rei-chan decided to go and bother Tokiya-san and Otoya; he's off to cause some trouble again. Camus left to find Cecil to teach and scold him again about what it means to be an idol. Kurosaki-senpai went to his room to practice his bass skills. Mikaze-senpai on the other hand, just went back to his room and started typing on his computer.

The sound of the keyboard keys being pressed filled the room; Mikaze-senpai kept typing and typing but there was something wrong. Usually, he would just type continuously but today, he would stop typing time to time as if he didn't know what to type at all. He pursued to type further but came to a point wherein he was just not in the mood and was too distracted to continue.

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath; he began thinking about what was wrong with him. Recalling the events that he has been thru since he started staying in the dorm upon Shining Saotome's request, his thoughts started to remember more and more of the times he has spent with Kaori rather than the times he has spent with everyone else; he then remembers how he treated Kaori when they went to the studio to watch the filming of the drama series.

He suddenly opens his eyes.

"That wasn't fair of me; I shouldn't have acted that way." He said softly. "I haven't been fair to her at all ever since I lost my temper on that day...I've been avoiding her...far too much..."

He got up and went out to take a walk around the premises. He just kept walking while he thought and thought about what has been happening to him; his curiosity was lit as well as something inside his chest.