On my trip back home, I couldn't help but recall Aya's radiant smile, the way her eyes had sparkled under the porch light as she held the bookmark close. It was one of those moments that felt like it could tie me down, keep me on the ground, no matter how chaotic my days got.
Aya's quiet strength, her unassuming warmth. It was always going to be a reminder of why I kept juggling all these connections, why I couldn't let any of them slip through my fingers.
The evening air was quite cool because of the cloudy sky as I walked toward the train station. The streets were silent as the pedestrians dwindled, as well as the lack of cars passing by and the distant bark of a dog.
Upon taking my seat on the train, my phone buzzed in my pocket.
I pulled it out to find a string of messages from the separate group chat that the girls added me to, reading about how they messed with each other.
There was Nami teasing Satsuki about her earlier jealousy. Chii was spamming emojis, and Hina had sent a photo of the whiteboard from the Literature Club, captioned, "Ruki, contact me ASAP. Let's scheme about something. I got an idea!"
I chuckled, typing a quick reply to keep the banter going. Of course, her scheme was probably not that great, so she didn't send it through our private chat, but still, I liked that Hina was also heading the chaos in that group chat.
There were more messages and half of them were either directly or indirectly related to me. As for the other half, that's where their banter starts, or whenever a discussion from the Ruki Hub would spill over to it.
After surfacing there for a few minutes, my thoughts drifted back to Umi.
Her boldness today, the way she'd pushed past her shyness to hold my hand, to kiss me back with that quiet intensity, I feel like I've unlocked something from her. Or rather, has my corruption seeped deeper into her?
Anyway, she was already different from the Umi I'd first met, the one who was too shy to talk to me as she pulled Sumire away, who kept on preaching about Asahi.
She was growing, carving out her own space in my world, and I couldn't deny the pull I felt toward her. Not just attraction, but something deeper, like she was someone I could sit with in silence and still feel understood.
I guess I'm falling further for her, huh?
The train soon reached a station, its doors hissing open. I watched as more passengers came aboard, mostly tired salarymen going home from work.
The city lights blurred past the window, a kaleidoscope of neon and amber that somehow brought a calming feeling as the train passed by.
I leaned my head against the glass, letting the gentle rumble of the engine lull my thoughts.
My phone buzzed again, this time a private message from Umi. Just a simple, "Thank you, senpai. Today was… I'll never forget it." followed by a blushing emoji.
I smiled, my fingers hovering over the keyboard before typing back, "Neither will I, Umi. You're stuck with me now. Sleep well, okay?"
I hit send, then switched to another message thread. I never run out of unread messages, after all. And as always, there would be those who would be buried.
I had to scroll down to see if I missed something, for example, Juri's update about the state of her work at her agency, or Hanabi's message, telling me she has a surprise for me when the sleepover happens.
In Juri's message, she sent a photo of her upcoming schedule. And then there's a red circle on a calendar marked 'Cultural Festival Visit/Date with Ruki'.
I know that's what she wants to truly highlight so I played along, commenting on her schedule and telling her not to forget to contact me if she needs me to play as her boyfriend again. This time it won't just be an act anymore. Chapters first released on NovєlFіre.net
In Hanabi's message, I teased the girl and mentioned Matsuri. And as I expected, that clumsy and goofy girl immediately fumbled, "How did you know?!"
My reply to that was… "How can I not when my goofy Hanabi is being so obvious. I miss you. But don't tell Matsuri I miss her too. She'll freak out, don't you think so?"
Am I being truthful with those words? Honestly, I had no idea about Matsuri. I still have to see her before I can determine whether what I feel for her is the same as I have for the girls and now, for her twin sister.
After that, I messaged Nao, inquiring when that sleepover would happen. Unfortunately, she still couldn't give a clear date. Maybe next week. That's all.
In any case, her pastries kept on arriving at our house. Every time she would back one, she'd always send a portion of it. Even if I told her not to spend so much on the delivery, the girl insisted, saying, "No one will eat that here, Ruki. Besides… you always give me great feedback. I'm improving because of it! Don't forget to brush your teeth, okay? You always eat a lot even though you don't have a sweet tooth."
… Well, it's her creation, why will I be picky about it? And she's always baking those with me in her thoughts.
Ah… If they cannot come quickly, I might just go to them one day and bring them home with me. And that includes… Azusa. Should I still call her Saionji-senpai or surprise her with a more intimate endearment? Something like, Azu-chan.
I can already imagine her face scrunching up as she pretends not to be happy about it while secretly giggling whenever I'm not looking.
Anyway, I sent her a message too. A reply to her message earlier this afternoon. It's not that I forget. Her message just got buried when I ended up spending so much time with the two PE teachers.
I thought for a while about what to say before ending up with a silly reply to her question about my preference in fashion. Even if she said she's not going to dress up according to my answer, she's probably going to spend a lot of time in front of the mirror trying those clothes out so… I answered with the most absurd combination I could think of: a neon green tracksuit paired with a frilly pink beret and mismatched socks. One striped, one polka-dotted.
I added a winking emoji and a quick, "Just kidding, Azu-chan. Wear whatever makes you smile. You'll look perfect to me."
I hit send, imagining her scrunching her nose at the nickname and the ridiculous outfit, probably muttering something about my terrible taste while secretly laughing.
Azusa may come off as an egotistic girl who thinks herself to be the highest of all. The queen bee. But against someone as shameless as me, she's also folding. Anyway, she's still charming even with her eyebrows furrowed. And whenever her face would redden, it was a sight that would be great to put in a portrait.
I couldn't wait to see her again, to tease her in person and watch her try to hide her giggles.
Eventually, the train stopped at my station, and I pocketed my phone, ready to face my girls. Yae and Ririka should've arrived by now, but they didn't tell me if someone else came with them.
As for the possibility of Fuyu visiting… it was highly likely, she's acting like she was missing me a lot this morning, after all. It didn't matter to her anymore, even if Fubuki ended up teasing us. She's more than happy to take it by now. Because it's already the truth, unlike before when she was denying her attraction to me.
Alright. I should buy something. Not dessert. Maybe… drinks?