Aqua Terrarium (Nagi No Asukara)

Chapter Eighteen

"Kaname!" I huffed when I finally managed to catch up to him.

Kaname froze at the sound of my voice before relaxing as he turned to me with that light smile on his face. "Aoi? Did you finally settle it with Chisaki? I saw you were both busy conversing during the whole fiasco."

I tried to regain my composure before answering, "I-I think we managed to make a compromise..."

"I see. It's quite surprising that you're the one who approached her when you clearly scolded me last time not to spoil her too much." He chuckled to which I pouted, knowing well that he was waiting for this moment to tease me.

"I wasn't spoiling her. I just... Didn't want us to fight anymore," I admitted sadly earning me a knowing nod from Kaname.

"Now you can understand why I can't seem to stay mad at them. We're friends first and foremost. I value that more than anything."

"To which I admire you for it," I reply with a sigh as his eyes widened at my response.

It wasn't like I was praising him for it. In truth, as I only realized it now, my situation was far different than his was. Friendship isn't just built on letting them get away with their own mistakes. There are times fighting is necessary to better understand one another.

That's why I forgave Chisaki because she knew she had crossed a line and in that moment of seeking forgiveness, we had grown to understand each other better as well gain a more mature view of the situation.

Kaname's was different. He couldn't afford to do that because of his selflessness and love for her. He let her go and do what she wished and it's because of that why I had scolded him for spoiling her.

It wasn't like I could tell him that. That his selflessness was one of the many reasons why she always slipped through his fingers.

"I see," he merely replies, that half-smile of his leaving a pang of guilt in my chest before he decided to change the topic. "But you aren't here just to tell me that, are you?"

"No," I quickly answer while glancing to the doors that led us outside to where Sayu and Takashi were waiting for us. "I made a promise with Takashi and I intend to stick with it."

At the mention of my brother's name, Kaname couldn't help but tilt his head to the side in confusion. "Promise?"

"I saw the look on your face when you spotted them. I understand that Sayu was at fault for making Hikari and Manaka apologize like that but she has her reasons."

"Are you going to stop me then?"

"Maybe. It depends. But at the very least, let me talk to them first," I reply while closing the gap until I am right next to him. "I'm sure that once you hear her out, then you'll understand why she did what she did."

--*--

"Takashi! Sayu! We're here," I called out to them the moment Kaname and I made it to the side of the school building. Just as promised, Kaname left me to do the talking, with a promise as well that he would listen to Sayu's explanation before making his decision.

It didn't take a while before I spotted Takashi peeping by the side of the building, eyeing us both warily before emerging first with Sayu following behind him, her head lowered and her hand tightly gripping onto Takashi' shirt.

I couldn't help but be awed at my own brother's bravado, knowing well how much of a shy kid he was. Takashi usually avoided confrontations like these but when it was impossible to do so, he'd be doing what Sayu's doing right now, head lowered and avoiding eye-contact.