Heal Me (Akito Sohma Love Story)

First Date

The girl leaned over the bar and you dropped Akito's hand to reciprocate her hug. The two of you gabbed a bit; the usual casual reunion things. 'Oh my goodness, you look amazing!' 'wow you work here?' 'it's been so long', blah blah blah. Then she landed on a question that brought you back to reality. "Who's this?" 

You looked behind you, and your heart sank a bit at the realization you'd left Akito alone in this new space. Chosen someone else over him. You tried to take his hand but he kept it clenched by his side. 

"Um.. This is Akito! He's.. We're on a date." You nodded, as if to remind yourself as well. "Could we get those coffees?"

Alina looked a bit embarrassed and scribbled your name on a cup. "Of course. I'll bring it right out to you." 

You almost protested, but just reserved to nod and find a table with Akito. He sat down first, and you suddenly felt nervous around him again. There was an awkward silence in spite of the bustling shop around you. You took one of the advertisements off of the table and twisted it around in your hands, watching Akito's chest rise and fall. 

"I know that girl." Came his soft voice, surprising you. 

"You do?" 

Akito finally made eye-contact with you, and his cheeks were painted a pretty blush color. "I do... Told you I liked to keep tabs on you.. Research you..." 

You narrowed your eyes in confusion. "You stalked me?"

"I checked on you. It's different." He grabbed a packet of sweetener from the disc and began tearing into the wrapper. "But you guys were friends, right? All four years of high school?"

You blushed yourself now and bounced your leg rapidly. "Yeah we were close." Akito nodded dismissively and the silence returned. "Really close."

Akito nodded again, eyes widening a bit this time, as if to say 'yeah, I get it'. "Well I'm glad you got to see her again I guess."

You could tell he didn't mean that. He was jealous. And it was about to get worse. "Akito, we dated." 

:O

The look of surprise on his face made you smile nervously, though you tried to keep it down. "But you-.. But she's--..." 

You shrugged your shoulders. "I mean, I never let another man in my life. That spot's for  you.." Akito was blushing completely now and his eyes went back down to the pink scraps of paper he'd torn. "We realized we worked better as friends anyway, but it was real once.. Completely different from the way I feel about you, though, despite the feelings both being romantic."

Akito took a breath. You could see one of his hands on the table clench into a jealous, vibrating fist. "That's.." He poured the sugar out into a small pile on the table and crumpled the wrapper. "A lot."

Alina returned with your orders and sat Akito's down first. "There you are, sir. Gotta tell you, keep this one locked down, she's incredible. A little crazy, but incredible." She set your drink down before you and tossed a wink in at the end. You could see Akito's comically fake smile twitching. 

"Yeah. I'm still finding out so much about her." You kicked his leg a bit under the table. "That'll be all, coffee-girl." Your mouth dropped open in surprise at him, but Alina went away nonetheless without a word. 

"That was a little immature, don't you think?" You sighed, twisting your warm cup in your hand. 

"Oh, then just go with Alina." He leaned back so aggressively in his chair you feared it would tip and instinctively leaned forward. You were hurt by his words, but you knew he was equally hurt by yours.