~ Kaede's POV ~
"Why are all of the buses delayed today? There must be construction going on..." I heard running from behind me and saw Shuichi. My heart tightened and I wanted to look away, but I couldn't'. He had a look of desperation as if he was searching for something and he finally found it.
"Kaede! A-are you going home right now?" I raised my eyebrow.
"Yes, I am."
"W-well, do you want to hang out?" I was surprised and looked around to see if Tsumugi was nearby. I felt relieved to see that he came alone, but I was still cautious.
"Sure." He let out a smile of relief. We walked to his car and a wave of memories washed over me. We headed towards my house which almost felt like a new experience. It was quiet the entire trip.There was obviously tension in the air, but I could only wonder why he wanted to hang out with me. We entered my house and went straight upstairs into my room. "It's been so long since I've been here," he remarked finally breaking the silence.
"I wonder why," I murmured.
"Is everything alright?" I frowned at his question causing him to give me a genuinely confused look.
"Seriously?" I started tapping my foot on the ground folding my arms. He was trying to think of what it could be, but I was growing impatient by the second. "No it isn't!" I shouted. "We haven't hung out in forever! I-I missed you so much..." I bit my tongue so I wouldn't spill more of my emotions. I wanted to hold him at that moment. He looked at me with a guilty expression.
"Why didn't you say anything, then? You've been avoiding me these past couple of weeks." I was appalled by his statement.
"You never tried to talk to me, either, since you've been busy with... Tsumugi. " I almost choked on her name feeling my body fill with unwanted jealousy. He seemed to pick up on it.
"Kaede, are you jealous?" My eyes widened.
"What are you saying, Shuichi? Why would I ever be jealous? It's not like we're dating!" He had a slight frown at my last sentence. I sat down on my bed looking away. "I mean, unlike you two." I looked down at my feet.
"Kaede, we aren't together. Does it seem like we are?" he asked. I scoffed and looked at him in disbelief
"You went on a date for crying out loud. I never see you without her around your arm. How aren't you guys dating?" I clenched my fists. "I thought you weren't into dating in high school..." I had more sass and anger in my voice than I wanted. He frowned looking at me a little offended.
"And I thought Rantaro was just a friend." I was a little startled by this different side of his. I was also confused by his statement.
"He is. What makes you think otherwise?"
"A video of you and Rantaro dancing. You both going out to a restaurant." My eyes widened.
"It was just a celebration for finishing our project. And the dancing was just us waiting for our cakes to cool." He was speechless, but looked down at his feet with a bit of jealousy on his face.
"You and I haven't danced before..." he said quietly enough for me to hear.
"You and I haven't gone to a movie before..." I said. A silence fell upon us for a few seconds.
"Kaede, I just went to the movies with Tsumugi because you declined my offer. It wasn't a date, I just had extra tickets." My body relaxed a little bit, but in return I was a little upset at myself. He went on the date because of me...
"But you could've given it to Kaito or someone else. Why her?"
"Because she wanted to hang out and I had no reason to say no." His voice remained calm and straight to the point. I squeezed my hands into fists.
"Okay, but this entire week you never talked to me. You were always with her! Even if you aren't dating now, do you both like each other or something? Everyone in our friend group thinks so. "
"What if we do?" he asked looking at me. My heart felt like it was thrown on the floor then stomped on a thousand times. "You told me that I should try going on a date. I don't understand..." I did... I really did tell him that. I couldn't tell him that I didn't mean it. I should be happy for him, but I'm not. Tears started to fall on my lap. I couldn't stop them from soaking my skirt.
"So do you like her?" I asked trembling trying to hold in my sobs.
"Kaede..." Everytime he said my name my heart fluttered, but at this moment it felt like needles stabbing me. He reached to touch my shoulder, but I pushed him away.
"Answer my question."
"If I say yes then what? You'll stop being friends with me?" His question caused anger to fuel inside me.
"Isn't that what you want?!" I asked glaring at him. "Ever since she's been here, we stopped hanging out. We always went to the cafeteria! We always sat together at the tables! We always hung out at my house!" I hated this side of me. I've never shouted before nor have I ever felt jealous. Only Shuichi could do this to me.
"Kaede..."
"Can you just answer my questions!? Do you like Tsumugi?" I stood up to stand right in front of him.
"No, I don't! I already told you that we didn't go on a date. I've only seen her as a friend from the beginning up till now." I felt my heart relax and I wanted to wrap my arms around him. But, I couldn't because there were still questions floating in my head.
"Then why did she post a picture with that kind of caption?"
"What caption?" Shuichi looked genuinely confused. I pulled out my phone and showed him. He had a slight frown on his face. "I didn't know about this. I'll tell her to take it down."
"She definitely took it as a date." He shook his head.
"I made it clear to her that it wasn't. I'll talk to her."
"Why did you start hanging out with her so much?" I went onto the next question immediately. He took a few seconds before words could come out of his mouth.
"I was trying to..."
"To what?" I asked growing impatient. He gave me a desperate look.
"I can't say it, I'm sorry..." His response made me even more angry, and I felt like I wasn't myself at that moment. I turned Shuichi around and pushed him down on the bed. He looked at me in shock as I climbed on top of him. Tears started to drop down from my eyes onto his face.
"Why are you doing this to me?" I just wanted to say it. To confess my feelings then and there. But I couldn't. I'm scared of rejection. I'm scared of what might become of our relationship.
"What am I doing?" He wiped the tears off my face.
"You're hurting me by keeping these secrets... I thought we were closer than that. Was I mistaken to tell you everything about me?"
"No!" he exclaimed, but closed his eyes to calm down. He took a deep breath before opening them and looking into my eyes. "Kaede, the reason why I hung out with Tsumugi was because I was trying to get over you." My eyes widened and I felt so many different emotions. Shock, confusion, happiness, anger, hope...
"Y-you hung out with her because you were, what?"
"I was trying to get over you... I know you only see me as a friend so I tried to use Tsumugi as a way to get over you... I didn't want to ruin what we had because I truly treasured our friendship. More than I ever have with anyone else. I'm sorry, I didn't know it would hurt you this much..." Shuichi looked away. I was in complete shock that no words could come out of my mouth. My heart was beating rapidly and thoughts were spinning through my head.
Shuichi was trying to get over me? He likes me? He likes me... Maybe I should test fate, then. I started inching closer to him and when Shuichi turned to face me, our lips connected. He was surprised, but I felt him kiss me back grabbing my waist to pull me in closer. I pushed off his hat and my hands were combing through his hair as his hot breath was entering my mouth. Our kisses were passionate, but fast and I felt all of my previous thoughts disappear. The only thing on my mind was his lips. We let go after a few minutes gasping for air. Both of us were breathing heavily and my hand rested on the side of his face caressing it.
He then looked at me extremely shocked as if what happened just hit him. Shuichi and I sat up. "Kaede, w-what was that?" My face turned extremely red. I hugged him tightly sitting on his lap. I rested his head on my chest.
"Do you hear my heartbeat?" I asked with a soft voice.
"...Yes, Kaede."
"I can hear yours too, Shuichi. It's my favorite melody. It envelops me in hope and happiness... more than any other song can do. Shuichi you play my heart better than I play the piano." We could only hear our heartbeats and the wind from outside. It was beautiful. I feel like I'm in a different world when I'm with Shuichi. I've only felt this way with my piano, but never with someone else. He wrapped his arms around my waist pulling me closer.
"How long have you felt this way?" he asked.
"You won't believe it, but since the day we met. Bumping into you, and the way you were so concerned about me although that was the first day you knew me. How you stayed by my side and showed how much our friendship meant to you. How supportive and understanding you are. How you comforted me and opened me up like a book causing me to spill everything that I've held to myself for so many years... I..." His head lifted up and he looked at me. We were gazing into each other's eyes.
"You..?" he asked.
"I think I'm in love with you, Shuichi." I remembered the feeling of his lips and the electric spark that occurred once we came into contact. I told him. I told him all of my feelings.
"I love you too, Kaede." We both grinned from ear to ear. When he called my name at that moment, all of the needles disappeared and the familiar warmness came back. We both closed our eyes and leaned in to kiss each other again. I felt the same spark. This time it wasn't rushed. It was slow and comforting. All of my worries vanished and I felt like I was in heaven. I felt safe and protected. His hand was in my hair and the other on my hips. My arms were still wrapped around his neck. Is this what true happiness is?
His tongue touched my lips as if he was asking for permission. I grinned at how he could still remain polite and patient in such a heated moment. I parted my lips and felt his tongue enter my mouth and swirl around mine. It was dancing with my tongue. My body felt hot and I melted into his arms. We separated for air breathing heavily again.
"Kaede..." he said in a husky, low voice. It sent a shiver up my spine. He looked directly into my eyes.
"Shuichi..." I gave him a quick, but lingering kiss. "So are we a thing now?" We both laughed and he pushed me down onto the bed getting on top of me.
"Kaede, will you be my girlfriend?" His voice was soft and sincere. He asked the question as if there was any reason I would say no. It was adorable.
I nodded my head like crazy. "Yes, yes!" He smiled and we kissed again. We couldn't let go of each other. We just cuddled for an hour kissing from time to time.
"So, when did you start liking me?" I asked quite curious.
He blushed and looked up at the ceiling of my room. "When I saw you play the piano..."
"Huh? You mean when you came over for the first time?" I looked at the beautiful black instrument on the other side of the room. He let out a soft chuckle.
"No, I actually saw you play before that. It was the first day of school." He turned back to gaze into my eyes tucking my hair behind my ear. "When I heard that beautiful melody and saw that it came from you... When you were playing, your expression was filled with so many emotions. You were in your own world, but there was despair yet so much hope in it. I felt a connection that I never wanted to break." He entangled his fingers in my blonde hair. I never knew that it was possible. The person lying in front of me is my best friend who became my boyfriend. My best friend who I fell in love with.
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