Sorry for the late update, I kinda ran into a brick wall, resulting to a writer's block :3 Thank you to those who answered my question! Then it's settled, ORIGINAL PLOT! \*O*/ Now let's give Cloud the spotlight for a while ;)
Chapter 25:
~~~
It was already the last day of February and in less than 5 weeks, we will be ending our second year life. And because the last term is the busiest and shortest, we were all advised to attend half day classes every Saturday starting after the midterm break so we could advance with our lessons before the finals or hell week arrives.
"Aihana-san~! Good morning," Looking over my shoulder, I saw a familiar boy with messy black hair running towards my direction as I rummaged the inside of my locker to fish out my stuffs for today's class. I smiled when he stopped right beside me and let out his signature smile, which made the females who were also there go 'Kyaaaa~'.
"Morning. It's amazing how energetic you are on early mornings," I stated, closing my locker using my shoulder because my hands were full of school stuffs. "Let me help you with that," Cloud mumbled, taking 3/4 of the stuffs I have before speaking, "I don't know, maybe because it's Saturday?" he related as we both head back to my classroom.
Opening the classroom door, I noticed that there were only a few students inside at that time. "What does Saturday have to do with that?" I questioned, walking towards my seat. "Well, because we only have half day of classes," he reasoned happily, closing the sliding door before placing the things in hand on my table.
"But still, we have classes," I muttered disappointedly, "Saturdays are supposed to be the best days to sleep. And because of class, I don't have the opportunity to enjoy these best days," I sighed.
"Issues," Cloud let out a laugh as ruining my hair. "Hey! Not the hair!" I warned, trying to remove his hand but to no avail. We both ended up playing around and laughing when the sound of the sliding door being opened caught our attentions. An extremely intimidating air seemed to fill the atmosphere as a certain redhead walked inside the room. Of course, who else could it be?
The few students who were inside the classroom greeted the redhead like they usually do. "Good morning, Akashi-kun / Morning Captain," Cloud and I both also greeted. His eyes sent a glance at us, making Cloud remove his hand from my hair that he was messing earlier, before looking ahead as if he didn't see us. My eyes were glued on Akashi for a short moment while Cloud resumed to his talking.
I haven't been able to talk to Akashi since after out talk at the balcony. Even at school or something about the club because, currently, the school restricted and controlled the clubs, especially us because they'll be using the gymnasium for this year's graduating batch.
"Boo!" someone said in a surprise yet whispering way, shaking me off. "Shiz," I muttered at the same time because of a chill that ran down my spine after I heard and felt a breath near my ear. "Good, you're back to life," Cloud said triumphantly, "I was talking to you yet you're not listening," he made a grumpy face which made me laugh. "Sorry," I turned to him, "What were you saying?"
"Ne~ I saw this new mall near the shopping street last month. I didn't get the chance to roam inside before, ”Cloud began, "Since its half day today, can I ask you out? " Cloud turned to me with a goofy grin.
"A date?" I joked. "Would you agree if it's a date?" Cloud tilted his head, smile never leaving his face. "Nice line, Romeo," was my reply.
He laughed, "But really, Aihana-san, mind if you accompany me there? They're having a Spring Sale," Cloud said, voice hinting with hidden hopefulness. "I don't really have plans for later so I think it's fine," I shrugged. "YOSH!" he beamed with a charming smile.
"Now let's go to the cafeteria!" Cloud marched out of the door. I followed shortly behind, but before completely walking out, I caught a glimpse of Akashi who seemed to be looking at me as well.
~~~
(Time skip: End of class)
"Hakino-san!" Eikichi called out right after I walked out of class. He was together with Kotaro and Reo who were waving behind him. "Yo, senpais" I greeted as I walk to where they are. "Ai-chan~! I missed you!" Reo hugged me, making me let go of my bag. Both Kotaro and Eikichi sighed.
"Reo-nee, please let go," I didn't even try to push him away because I know it would be futile, "You saw each other earlier, Reo-nee," Eikichi informed. "But still!" Roe remarked before letting me go. I straighten my uniform immediately and picked up my bag when suddenly, "Akashi-kun!" we were all taken a back when we heard a female voice calling Akashi.
Looking at the source of the female voice, we all turned to our right to find Akashi, and of course based on the voice of the female, with Nika. As usual. No, I'm not being bitter. It's just that I can't hide the fact that I can still feel my chest tightening whenever I see them together, especially right now where Nika's hand is laced around Akashi's arm. Darn, it's hard to keep up with a facade, you know?
Akashi looked at our direction, which made Nika also turn her attention to us. She waved at us and partially dragged Akashi towards us. "Hi Aihana-chan! Senpais!" Nika greeted with a smile.
They waved at her while I returned the greeting. She is a usual face in the club now, she always visits and watches club practice so most members are familiar with her now. None of them know who she really is to the emperor, except for Reo, but that doesn't mean they don't notice some things.
"Wha 'cha doing?" Nika tilted her head to the side but before we can answer, "Oi!" someone shouted. Now looking to our left, it was Cloud to approach us with his cheerfulness. "What's this? A meeting or something?" he questioned in a joking manner.
"Oh~ It feels like a family reunion!" Kotaro commented, clapping both of his hands.
"Goody! Pretty boy is here too. Anyway, we're going to the karaoke," Reo informed us. "Graduation practices are a pain, we want to relax a little," Eikichi added. "And because the more the merrier, we're inviting you, kouhais!" Kotaro stated with a wide grin.
"I'm going!" Nika's eyes seemed to sparkle. "That's the spirit. What about you captain?" Kotaro asked but it was Nika who answered, "He's going together with me," she assured.
"Ai-chan?" Reo turned to me. "Well... I don't really k--" my answer was cut by Cloud who spoke, "Sorry but we can't go today," he bowed slightly before grabbing my wrist in a gentle way. My eyes widen and for some reason, I ended up looking at Akashi whose gaze landed on Cloud's hand on my wrist. His face didn't show any emotion but his eyes were reflecting some kind of malice that I can't explain.
"Eh? But why?" Nika whined. "We have a date," Cloud announced. I was about to say that he was just joking about the date thing when Cloud dragging me slightly out of the scene, "Ja ne~!" and pulled me into a sprint out of the school grounds.
~~~
"We're here!" Cloud proclaimed, raising both of his arms (including mine because his hand still held my wrist) in the air. After a couple of minutes wandering around the city, we finally managed to find the mall that Cloud was talking about.
"Good," I mumbled, "Now go call them and apologize properly!" I removed my hand from his hold and gave him a not-so-hard smack on the back of his head.
He winched, rubbing the back of his head and let out a short laugh, "Ouch, no need to be brutal," he complained, "Beside, we looked like we were running away together earlier," he beamed.
"It seems like you're in the wrong world, Romeo," I rolled my eyes. "Psh. Don't tell me you didn't find fun too, " he dared. I shrugged, smiling slightly. Well, I found it fun actually. Just by seeing the shocked faces form earlier, I can say it really was funny. Except for Akashi's expression though....
"It might be fun but Reo-nee is seriously going to kill you. She.. No.. He is going to do this and that to you if you don't explain to him now," I warned him. "Okay, fine," Cloud nodded immediately, fishing out his phone at the same time.
~~~
After hours of roaming as if there was no tomorrow, we finished looking around and entering each and every single shoes and clothing stores located inside the mall with paper bags full of clothes Cloud insisted to buy for me. I hate shopping, but after today, I'm not even sure if I hate shopping still.
"So all you wanted to do here is shopping, huh?" I questioned out of randomness.
"At first, yep. but since you agreed to join me here, I had some changes in plan," Cloud answered with a grin.
"Do you have somewhere you want to go to? It's still pretty early for dinner so I suppose we can go somewhere to kill time" Cloud asked, glancing to me.
"I don't have something in mind, anywhere would do," I answered shortly, occupying myself by admiring the displays inside the shopping mall. We both stayed in comfortable silence for a while as Cloud lead the way, "I think I know a place," he smile before leading the way excitedly.
~~~
"Come on, Aihana-san. It's easy, just let go of the handles and walk normally towards me," Cloud instructed. If it's not obvious, Cloud brought me to an ice skating rink. And to tell you? It's my very first time ice-skating so excitement built up in me. It was a good thing we did shopping first though, because we had some spare clothes to use as we enter the ice rink to avoid getting cold.
But all the excitement faded out when I took my first step inside the rink earlier because it didn't go well and I just ended up slipping and slipping even as I tried to stand up again :3
So here I am now at the side of the rink. Cloud stood few meter away from my side, reaching out his hands for me to take. I slowly tried to remove my hand off the handle but I suddenly felt like I was about to fall so I ended up holding firmer onto the handles to steady myself, "I told you, I'm just going to stay here. You can go and have some fun," I waved Cloud off.
"What's the use of taking you here if you're not going to try and enjoy it?" Cloud commented, crossing his arms over his chest. "Just.. No," I mumbled, focusing my gaze on the skates I'm wearing. "Aihana-san," he said my name in a commanding tone.
"No, I had enough falling on the ice floor for the day," I pointed out, pouting slightly on how pushy he was. A sigh escaped his lips before sliding to stand next to me, "Just try. Here," he offered his hands paired up with his convincing smile. Groaning, I took his hands and closed my eyes tightly as I felt him pulling me to some place in the ice rink.
"C-Cloud-san! We're too far from the sides!" I complained, holding his hands tighter when I realized that we're at the center of the rink. "Relax," he chuckled before I felt his hand slowly to let go of my hand.
"Cloud! I'm going to stab you if you leave me here!" I shot at him, grasping his arm for steady when I almost lost my balance. "Fierce~" he joked, "I got you, okay? I'm not gonna let go," he said, almost too dramatic before displaying a grin. He started giving out instructions on the proper posture and other stuffs needed to be known in ice skating.
I squated down when my feet felt to tired with the knees slightly bent posture. "What's wrong?" Cloud turned to me with a worried look. A childish idea came in my mind, "Nothing," I answered before raising both of my hand to hold his hand.
"Nee~ Pull me, Cloud-san!" I smiled as if I was a child. Cloud blushed for a moment before laught it out, "Aye aye, ma'am!" he answered and started skating while I was beng pull behind him.
The kids inside the ice rink, who are better skaters compared to me, saw what we were doing and started running after us. I held out my hand and the kids one by one grabbed on to each others hand and held onto mine. We were laughing as they all squated down and let themselves get pulled by Cloud who didn't seemed to mind.
In the middle of having fun, I overheard a conversation. "Hey, look at them. Don't they look cute~!" I heard a female squeak from afar.
"I agree, they look good together. They seem to be having so much fun," another voice commented.
"Yes! Urgh! I suddenly felt out, I need a boyfriend!" the female announced. Looking to my side, I noticed the some girls looking at our direction with smiles on their faces.
"Looks like we have some fans now," Cloud stated with a laugh as a slight blush made its way to my cheeks out of embarrassment. "They're just your fangirls," I reasoned. "Nope, they're our fangirl," he corrected, "They think were a couple," Cloud winked in which I returned a gesture by rolling my eyes. before laughing along with the kids again.
~~~
After changing back to our uniforms and eating dinner at a simply restaurant, we decided to call it a day. Cloud escorted me home and after bidding goodbye to him at the doorstep, I entered my condo while saying, "I'm home," to no one, or so I thought.
"And where have you been, young lady?" a familiar pitched voice greeted me, making me startled. I think you already know who that person is. Who else would be barging into my home without even my notice, anyway?
Ela sat on the couch with her legs crossed. Her arms also crossed over her chest as she arched an eyebrow. "Acting like that doesn't suit you," I commented as I walk passed her. "Meanie!" she hissed before standing up and following me to my room.
"Trespasser," I teased back, placing the paper bags and my school bag on the space beside my bed. "What's this?" Ela tried to shift the topic by asking about the paper bags. Before I can even answer, she picked one up and peeked inside, "Woah~ You went shopping?"
"Cloud-san insisted to buy those," I responded. "You were with Cloud-kun?!" she seemed surprised by my answer. "I just told you, didn't I?" I sarcastically pointed out. "So you were on a date with him earlier, and you didn't even inform me?!" she acted as if she was offended for real.
"Says the one who enters someone else’s territory without even informing them," I countered, "Since when did you arrive here? You could have at least called me," I told her.
"Just this afternoon. Oh, and speaking of calls, someone was looking for you, he called a couple of times," Ela informed as she continued to take out the clothes inside the paper bag. "Who was it?" I asked as I rummaged my closet for some pair of pajamas so use.
"It was a male, but every time I would ask who it was, he would end the call immediately," Ela pouted. "Weird," I mumbled before remembering my phone inside my bag.
Fishing it out, I tried to turn it to life. After a couple of times trying to open it to no avail, it came in mind that my phone ran out of battery. Letting it charge for a while, I was able to use it, only to find a lot of missed calls and most of it were from Akashi. It was fine at first but then my phone started vibrating again. My heart started beating abnormally when Akashi's name flashed on the screen.
I had this unease feeling for some reason as I unplug the charger and answer the call on its third ring, "M-moshi moshi?" my voice wavered. A sighed was heard from the other line, "Finally you decided to pick up," Akashi stated. "Why weren't you answering my calls from earlier?" his voice made it clear that he wasn't in a good mood.
"I apologize, Akashi-kun. I was with Cloud-san for a while and didn't notice my phone was on its silent mode all along until it ran out of battery, " I responded. I placed a hand on my mouth when I realized the words that slipped out of my lips. T
There was a long pause on the other line before a sarcastic question greeted my hearing, "That's your reason?" I blinked a couple of times as I gulped, before humming a yes in an unease manner.
"That's your only reason?" he scoffed, emphasizing the word only. Seconds passed before the person on the other line spoke again, "Don't you know how many time I tried to contact you for the past hours?"
My heart was pounding, tightening my chest in a painful way. "You don't, do you? First you weren't answering my calls then next thing; you were out of coverage just like that. Who knows what might have happen to you," he scolded with a calm voice, which made me feel more unease. "You're too busy to the point you even forget about other things," I wanted to answer him but my lips won’t allow me.
"You should know the effect of what you're doing to the people around you," he exhaled an exasperated sigh, "Aihana.." he stated my name as if I was the worst person on earth. Before I can even speak he ended the call without another word. Leaving staring at nothing, trying to comprehend what just happen.
~~~
End of Chapter 25 (I don't even know why I ended it here)