19 Chapter two, 2016, buddying emotions: 6 (1/2)
That night, after they had split up outside their mall, Yukio had trouble sleeping. It wasn't that his mother disturbed him. She never did. It wasn't that he was afraid of making contact with Takeida-san. He had already experienced being rejected by two different girls during middle school.
It was however more complicated this time. One of those two girls had been Wakayama Noriko, and she was all too likely to be on good terms with both Takeida-san and Ageruman-san.
Yukio shifted uncomfortably in his bed again.
The last thing he wanted was for Takeida-san to mistake him confessing to her as going for second best. Sure she had been at a different school at that time, but with girls you never knew. And asking for Ageruman-san as well. Not good even if it was for the benefit of another guy.
Yukio never understood why Urufu-kun didn't contact the blond bombshell himself. It wasn't as if he was overly shy. Yukio knew that. When they had stolen out late evenings the previous winter he had listened to Urufu-kun exchanging friendly insults and jokes with girls several years their seniors. Well several years Yukio's senior. With Urufu-kun you couldn't count years that way.
And he twisted in his bed again.
Sleep came late that night and morning all too early.
He kept his silence on their way to school. Thankfully Urufu-kun didn't try to force a conversation, and it was clear that he understood what Yukio had decided to do.
When they arrived at school Yukio made for the right wing stairwell immediately after he had changed into his indoor shoes.
'Feel like the idiot I am,' he mused as he climbed the stairs. Too short. Three floors was way too short. And he was outside 3:1 where he met more than a few quizzical looks. Still no one questioned his right to be there. Now that's funny.
When he wordlessly entered their classroom one of them helpfully pointed at the foremost desk by the window. It was empty but Takeida-san sat by the one behind it.
He fumbled in his pocket for the note he had prepared and headed for her.
”Wrong desk. It's the one in front,” he heard from behind him.
Takeida-san looked up at him and nodded at the desk in front of her. After that she paid him no more attention.
'Now that is seriously funny. What are they…? Oh, oh, oh. I'd better bring my brains along next time.'
He felt himself blush slightly. Not because he was ashamed but because the entire situation had turned into a bad joke.
With a few more steps he was at Takeida-san's desk. When he didn't move she looked up at him again. ”It's that one,” she said and pointed ahead of her.
'What do I say now? Better not say anything.' He handed her the note.
”Just leave it on her desk. I'm not her errand girl.” She rose and started for what had to be Ageruman-san's desk.
”No!” Yukio had to say something or the situation would degenerate from absurd to awful. ”Read it!”
He could see in her face how, with glacial speed, she started to grasp that she and not Ageruman-san was the intended recipient of the note. In the end she even pointed at herself with big eyes and her mouth open in a big 'O'. 'Beautiful eyes.'
Yukio nodded.
Followed by a: ”Guys, we have a new winner! He didn't come for Ageruman-san,” he fled the scene.
'Smooth, so very smooth. Could just as well have confessed to her in front of them all. Gods, that was awful!'
Things didn't improve when he came back to the left wing. It was all too obvious from where he had come. Before he had time to enter the relative safety of 6:1 he had time to hear all the relevant questions.
”Dumped?”
”Rejected?”
”Shot down?”
Multiple times.
Each.
”You look flustered,” Urufu-kun greeted him when he was finally inside their classroom.