H O T A R U F U J I O K A
藤岡 蛍
of 3-A
The messages stopped when I turned my phone off, but that didn't change the fact that my eyes were already swollen at this point. And judging by the time, it was probably the end of school already.
So, when I heard our doorbell ring, I had to do my best to look fine.
"Iroha-chan" I greeted her who was at my door, as I saw a number of people waiting by the gate.
"Ah, you definitely cried didn't you" she pointed out, hitting the mark. "You can't deny it. Your eyes are swollen".
"It's that obvious, huh?" I tried to laugh it off.
"You tried hard" she placed a hand on my head, despite are small height difference.
"It feels kinda awkward when some shorter's trying to pat me, Iroha-chan" I joked, smiling at her.
"What's that got to do with it? It's not like you're way taller, you're even shorter than Itona" she just pouted, before adding, "Oh and speaking of which, those three insisted to come. But, you don't have to explain anything though---".
"It's fine" I cut her off. "They probably deserve an explanation".
"I can explain everything for you if you want me to. But today, we're just here to hang out" Iroha eyed the three who were still waiting. "Hikaru has some business so he might come later"
"I see. Then, come in first" I told her, "you're not planning to make them stay out here the entire time, right?".
"Hm~ I might've intended to" She joked, before calling out to them.
✖︎●✖︎
I appreciated Okuda and Itona's company, however, the awkward tension between Akabane and I was just something inevitable.
"Are you sure it's alright for me to be here?~" he asked me as Itona, Iroha and Okuda went on ahead towards my room. I made sure I was left behind in order to make sure the doors were properly locked.
"It's fine. You're probably here because you're confused about what's going on right? Well, you probably came for Iroha-chan, as well, it can't be helped" I assured him.
"It wasn't obvious but I could see the panic in her eyes. So I kinda figured that the rumors were true" He told me. "The other two are clueless, though".
"So she's still keeping that promise with Hii-kun after all" I mumbled.
"Hii-kun?" Akabane asked me.
"Ah, speaking of which you must've been classmates. Ishikawa Hikaru, a student from Class D. Iroha-chan calls him Shi-chan, though. She's probably as close to him as she is with Asano-kun or even closer" I explained.
"Hm, I see~" the red head muttered quietly with a noticeable change of attitude before Iroha called out to us.
"Hurry up you two!"
"A-are you perhaps jealous?" I wondered, blurting it out so suddenly.
"Heh, so even you say some pretty interesting stuff, huh" He smirked. "Well, even if I was, it's no use admitting it~".
"I understand. Still, I'd like to thank you for looking after her" I said with all honesty before the redhead turned to me to reply.
"It's not like I want to. Somehow I just end up doing so".
"Do you like her?" I asked.
And there it was, a moment of silence. Leave it to me to make a situation so awkward.
"You mean the way you like Itona-kun?~" he teased me as I blushed crimson.
"Ah..." I tried to avert my eyes.
"Honestly, I don't know. Or more like I don't want to know. Confirming it would be just as bad as admitting it" He said. "Anyways, Iroha's going to get mad if we take longer than this~".
"Right" I agreed before heading upstairs with him.
As I entered my room, I was greeted by amused looks, as the trio browsed through my photo albums. "Iroha-chan!" I exclaimed, the sudden wave of embarrassment coming to me.
"Ehhh~ Why not? Look it's the 7th grade you" she pointed to a certain picture at the near end of the album.
"Shouldn't you look at the interesting stuff, like baby pictures or something?~" Akabane commented.
"We're almost done" Iroha told him, "you guys took sooo long".
"Ah, by the way, be brought food" Itona ignored them as he turned to me while Okuda handed me a box filled with cupcakes.
"Ah, thanks" I smiled at her.
"It's the least we can do" she returned the gesture before looking back at the picture. "By the way, what school were you from? I've never seen people wearing this uniform---".
"The school's a local one in this area, and considering how far we are from Kunugigaoka, there's no doubt you won't see students in our area" Iroha explained for me.
"I used to go here too, before that thing with Shiro" Itona added.
"Shiro?" I asked him.
"It's nothing, don't mind me/him" the four immediately spoke in unison.
I didn't want to pry.
"Anyways, we came here for you" Itona faced me. "What's that about this rumor?".
"It's not exactly a rumor" I admitted before gather courage to explain the thing about being an idol, making sure I skipped the most important part, the reason why I stopped.
"You see---"
✖︎●✖︎
"Hii-kun" I greeted the guy in front of me, as he entered through the front door, hours after Iroha and the others left.
After removing his shoes, he walked towards the dining table where one cupcake was left.
"You bought some?" He asked me, before I corrected him by shaking my head.
"Iroha and some friends came over. I explained things to them" I told him.
"The whole thing?" He seemed quite surprised before I corrected him again.
"The gist of it. Minus that night, of course" I said.
"Hm... I see" he hummed, as I caught sight of the red tint of his knuckles.
I changed the subject. "You got into a fight? That's rare".
"Oh believe me it is" he laughed sarcastically. "In fact, from the looks of it, I might even get dropped to Class E".
"Hikaru, what do you mean?" I asked him with an air of seriousness.
"I punched Asano. In the face...Uh, for maybe a couple of times" he trailed off.
"Why?!" I exclaimed, knowing full well what that man can do.
"Look, it's his fault alright? He's the reason why the entire school knows. I'm your brother, what else am I supposed to do other than standing there to watch?!" he countered.
"But Class E! We know you can't get into Class E. Hii-kun!" I panicked, aware of the things my brother wanted to achieve.
"Hotaru, trust me, you need more help than I do"