_Chapter 40~ Intoxicated_

          "Listen, I truly believe I smiling can lead to a happier society!"

          "Yeah, yeah," I drawled.

          "There's so many studies!" he went on, scrolling through his phone for emphasis. "And all big words aside, they are basically saying that those who smile or laugh often are at a lesser risk of gaining heart related diseases. It can relieve you of stress and increase productivity. Plus, if you go around smiling at other people, they're more likely to smile back. And by smiling back, they're not only making the person who smiled at them happy, but are also lifting their own moods as well—"

         "What are you trying to say, Miyabi?" I deadpanned, resting my chin on the palm of my hand. "And what does it have to do with me?"

          In accordance to my response, Miyabi frowned. He set down his phone, poking his finger at me. "When I smiled at you today you didn't smile or gesture back; you didn't do anything!"

         "Hey, Miyabi, pointing is rude," Daichi scolded, grabbing his arm and pushing it down.

          Miyabi's shoulders squared. "I know, but it's all Sheep's fault!"

          I couldn't help but roll my eyes at the guy. "And what's so wrong with the fact that I didn't smile or gesture back?"

          "It hurt me!" Miyabi exploded.

          I rose an eyebrow. "And that's a bad thing because?"

          His jaw fell in disbelief.

          I recoiled as a result. Dammit, why did I always say this kind of stuff without thinking? "I-I mean..."

          Miyabi ducked his head, a pout evident on his lips. "C'mon, Sheep! Do you want to die early? Do you want to be vulnerable to something like heart disease?"

          Heaving a breath, I relented with a sigh, "Fine, fine." I forced my lips upwards, beckoning to it. "Here you go. A smile."

          Miyabi still appeared discontented by my gesture all the while Daichi from beside him let out a laugh. Students filed past the secluded area we were posted beside, chattering animatedly. The lunch bell had already rung, and lucky for me I'd managed to bump into these two the moment I'd left my classroom.

          "I was worried because you didn't show up yesterday," Daichi started with a smile, "but I'm glad that it wasn't anything serious."

          I honestly felt the same way. Although I was hopeless in the morning, after flushing myself with plenty of water I was already feeling like myself by the end of the day. My headache had gone down tremendously as well, and even now I felt perfectly fine and like myself.

          My vision focused itself upon the series of bandages and bruises highlighting Daichi's face that only seemed to increase in number whenever I saw him. What exactly did Daichi do in his free time? Was he that clumsy? Despite my growing concern, at the notion towards yesterday, my chest couldn't help but needlessly constrict. I avoided their eyes for a brief second before unclamping my lips.

          "Miyabi, Daichi," I started. "At the bowling alley, did I—"

          Their perplexed gazes only strung immense reluctance to blossom inside of me. I stopped myself at that, and immediately feigned a smile.

          "My birthday... was fun, right?"

          My shoulders slumped as matching grins enveloped their faces.

          "It was a blast!" agreed Miyabi. "Especially because Daichi was so confident before he got dominated by Sheep."

          "She didn't dominate me; I let her win," Daichi said, fixing his spectacles resting on the bridge of his nose.

          "Excuses," cooed Miyabi.

          Daichi glared at him. "At least I hit something with my bowling balls."

          "That was my first time bowling," Miyabi defended. "I'll do better next time!"

          As the two continued to go on, it only allowed for the emptiness in my mind to expand. What they were talking about—it was a fuzzy memory lingering at the corners of my mind. Yet, after that there was nothing left to surface. And as much as I wanted to ask them, I had the feeling that I should just let it be.

          Ryu even said that kind of thing... Granted, I didn't have the obligation of listening to him, especially after his audacity to say such a thing and not give me any means of an answer, but deep down, I kind of didn't want to know. I didn't want to prove the likely idea that was encircling around the back of my mind.

          If I did admit it, I think I wouldn't be able to face them the same way again.

          "I have to go do something," I lied through my teeth, disrupting their relentless argument and spinning around to leave.

          "Where?" asked Miyabi.

          Not wanting to expand on the lie I'd just uttered, I simply said, "See you guys," before scurrying off down the hallway.

          After retrieving my bag with my bento from the classroom, I emerged from the room yet again. Before I could leave entirely, I spared one last glance in the direction of Ryu's seat and wasn't the least surprised to see that he wasn't there. He'd ignored me all during class time and at the start of lunch he'd immediately bolted towards the school store to buy lunch.

         The idea as to why he was avoiding me only worsened my train of thought. I gripped the fabric of my uniform. That night...

          What exactly happened to me?

          "Senpai!" I was poked in the back, allowing me to jolt. The top half of my body toppled over my lunch I kept clasped in my hands. Now awake from my daze, I sat appropriately and fixed my gaze onto the culprit.

          I wasn't even surprised to see it was Aki—that mischievous grin plastered all over his face as it'd always been.

          He waved yet again, falling onto the open space against the back fence beside me.

          Returning my focus back onto my lunch, I took a bite. "How did you find me here?"

          Aki tsked, wagging his finger at me. "As Senpai's number one stalker, that is no task at all." The glare I sent his way allowed for him to cave. "Plus!" he went on. "I saw you up here from the courtyard."

          "And you decided to say hi?"

          "Don't be ridiculous," Aki said. I turned to see him smiling from ear to ear as he swooped his hand in, scooping up one of my omelettes and tossing it into his mouth prior to my reflex to stop him. "I'm hungry so I came to eat your food," he finished mid-chew.

          Instantly, he hummed and reached his arm out again. I smacked away his hand before his grubby fingers could terrorize my food for the second time. I brought my lunch closer to me all the while he grimaced, nonchalantly mussing his hair.

          "Fine, I understand," he said after a pause. "I'm fine with skipping lunch."

          "You don't have a lunch?"

          "I can't cook." Aki shrugged. "I don't exactly have much to bring for lunch besides cup noodles and even then that's pretty embarrassing."

          I found that fairly strange. Iwasaki bought himself lunch nearly every day so couldn't he do the same? The mention of the guy made me frown. Yielding a sigh, I eventually succumbed and extended out my lunch again, hitting it against Aki's stomach.

          Aki beamed as a result and took it between his fingers. "You're giving this to me?"

          "If you're fine with my leftovers," I replied, searching through my bag and pulling out extra chopsticks I kept handy in case I ever needed them. Just as I brought it out though, Aki laughed and returned it to me.

          "It's fine, Senpai. You don't have to give me your lunch," he said. "Thanks for being considerate, though."

          Sourly, I pushed it back to him. "You need lunch to function through the rest of the school day."

          "Then all the more reason I don't need it," he retaliated, enclosing his hands around mine so that I couldn't give it to him. "I'm skipping next block anyway."

          "Skipping?" I echoed in disbelief.

          His expression grew sheepish. "Er, slipping out?" My look must've sufficed because it succeeded in making him uncomfortable. "What? I have better things to do then sit in a class and be bored to death!"

          I shook my head with the roll of my eyes. "Delinquents."

          Aki mimicked me. "Non-delinquents."

          For a split second, a tiny smile tilted up the corners of my lips. I immediately wiped it away but it didn't go unnoticed by Aki.

          "So you can smile," he whistled. "I wasn't sure how to behave around you today. You're acting a little different."

          Was I...? Tying the knot for my lunchbox, I slipped it into my bag and leaned against the fence. "What's with people's obsessions with my smile today? It shouldn't affecting you that much."

          "It's a little worrisome," he admitted.

          "Wow, are you telling me that the third most feared delinquent in the city is worried about me?" I drawled with a scoff. "And here your older brother could care less about galling the courage to even face me."

          Aki waited, and tentatively nodded. "I see Iwasaki screwed up again."

          I puffed my cheeks, turning the other cheek. "Once I begin to think he's a pretty sweet guy, he just goes and ruins it." My countenance fell. "And all I wanted was answers too...."

          The redhead laid his head against the fence as well, staring into the sky with a breath. "You might have to cut the guy some slack," he said. "Whatever happened on your birthday—he's probably not telling you because he doesn't want to worry you."

          I bodded my head at first. Until realization socked me in the gut and I twirled his way so fast my neck nearly snapped. "I didn't tell you it had anything to do with my birthday!"

          Aki rotated his head my way with a lopsided grin. "You didn't? Oops, I seem to have spilled unnecessary information."

          The fear that had always surfaced when in this teen's presence soon replaced itself with discontent as I relaxed myself.

          "Do you just stalk people in your free time?"

          "Pretty much," Aki chuckled. "It's a lot of fun. You should try it sometime."

          I ignored that last part.

          "All I want is to understand why he'd not want to worry me," I replied to Aki's previous theory. "He walked me home so he should know better than anyone."

          "He walked you home? And you stayed home from school yesterday due to a 'cold', right...? " Aki murmured, more to himself than to me, a hand underneath his chin. I cringed, but I didn't question why he'd known that. Aki had always known information I'd least expected him to. "Why? What happened the night before? Did you do something bad?"

          Right as I was about to spill the fact that I hadn't known, Ryu's words from yesterday flooded my mind. It shut me right up. He said not to tell anyone... Then again, knowing Aki, he'd easily find this information out anyway, if he didn't already know it. If Ryu was so reluctant on telling me, then maybe Aki could give me answers.

          "That's the thing," I admitted. "I don't know what I did that night and it's freaking me out."

          "You don't remember...?" Aki repeated, blinking slowly. "Did you hit your head?"

          "I... don't think so," I replied. "I don't have a bump or anything. Plus, I do recall a few things; like going bowling and being surprised. But it's after a certain point... Iwasaki came late but around that point it's kinda fuzzy. And I don't know why."

          Aki's countenance grew solemn. "Senpai, were you drinking anything at all during then?"

          "Fruit punch I think," I hesitantly answered. "Why?"

          "And you blanked out around then," he went on without bothering to address my question, brows knitted together. "And the next morning I bet you woke up dehydrated and with a bad headache, right?"

          Aki's accuracy only spurned panic to overwhelm me. I sat up straighter. "You know what's—"

          "Senpai." Aki met my eyes, void of emotion. His face right then was equivalent to the rumours I'd heard about him—still with traces of smouldering anger. "You must've been intoxicated," he finalized. "Someone gave you alcohol."

          My eyelids rose slightly, and hearing Aki's confirmation to my suspicions only allowed for a frown to tug down the ends of my lips. "But... was everyone else drunk then?"

          "If Iwasaki's so adamant on keeping this a secret from you, I doubt it," Aki responded fairly easily.

          My lips quivered. "Why... would anyone give me alcohol?" I asked, a tremor sneaking up and invading my voice. "I-I don't understand."

          Aki's look flickered with sympathy, only worsening my fright. The idea had come to my mind, but such a notion was incredulous. I mean, I was with my friends celebrating my birthday! One of them wouldn't... Yeah, I had to have run into a random person and they gave me a drink. That was the most plausible explanation... right?

           I bobbed my head to myself for internal confirmation and Aki from beside me spoke, "I agree with Iwasaki on this matter."

          Puzzled, I snapped my attention his way.

          He went on, "He probably didn't want to freak you out like this. Besides, it's unlikely to think that somebody would intoxicate you on purpose; more so, one of your friends. It was most likely accidentally added to your drink by one of the workers making them." He finished it off with a sincere smile. "Trust me on this. I'm a genius at putting things together, remember?"

          Hearing Aki's words, reassurance surged through my veins. I nodded as a result, retreating my hands from one another and resting them upon my lap.

          Seconds later, the redhead produced a hearty laugh.

          "Well, seeing you drunk must've been worth it," he said. "And if Iwasaki walked you home, he got front row seats to the show."

          Inwardly, I grimaced at the idea. Warmth crept onto my cheeks. If that was true, I couldn't even begin to imagine just how embarrassing it all could've been. But at the same time, I was glad I didn't have to recall myself at my most mortifying moment. If I were to know, it'd only succeed in making me want to burrow into a hole for the rest of my life.

          "Maybe we even have it all wrong," Aki continued with a sly smile.

          "Have what wrong?" I demanded, not liking his look.

          "Maybe you confessed that you like him and that's why he doesn't want to bring it up."

          My heart halted its beat in surprise before frantically picking up again. "C-confess?" I said as coolly as I possibly could despite the fiery blush, that, for some reason, found its way to my cheeks. "I'm not understanding what you're talking about."

          Aki only suggestively wriggled his brows. "You can hide it all you want, Senpai, but I know the truth."

          "What truth?" I questioned, now becoming paranoid. "There's no truth. No truth at all."

          "Oh my, denial is it? Or is it plain obliviousness?" Aki rose to his feet, twirling around. "Tsk, tsk, when will you come to terms with the facts?"

          "Aki," I hissed, springing upwards with clenched fists. "If you're not going to tell me what you're talking about, shut your mouth!"

          Aki howled in amusement, grabbing hold of my hands with ease. Suddenly, his grip tightened and he leaned his face in closer to mine, holding me in place. "Nope, no matter what you say I'm not going to tell you nor am I going to keep quiet. Why don't you go right ahead and shut my mouth yourself then?"

          My eyebrow furrowed together in confusion. "Because it's yours?"

          Aki blinked at first, startled by my response. "No, I meant..."

          I cocked my head to the side but he only continued, blanking his face.

          "Senpai, what if I told you that I like you?"

          Aki had successfully baffled me. "I'd say 'Yeah, I like you too, Aki. You're not that bad of a guy.'"

          Letting go of my hands, he said, "No, but I mean, if I like you, like you."

          "As a form of entertainment?" I asked. "Yes, I know."

          "No!"

          "No... you don't find me funny?"

          "No!" He grew rather frustrated. "You're not funny!"

          "Wow, thanks." I frowned. "Really hurts my ego."

          He deadpanned. "Would I have to kiss you or something?"

          "Kiss me...? Why?" I inquired.

          Aki clenched his teeth. He took a deep breath. "Kikuchi." I was startled he didn't use any honourifics. "Look, it's a matter of if I don't want to be your kouhai anymore. Or you not to be my senpai. You're a cool person, and—"

          "I'm sorry, Senpai will never notice you."

          My blunt response caused him to let out a defeated sigh.

          "And, I've been shot down by my dense upperclassman." He drew away from me, crinkling his nose in distaste. "Always a pleasure. And yet you responded so funny when it came to Iwasaki, too..."

          My eyelashes fluttered rapidly. "I did?"

          Aki peered downwards before grinning and poking me between the brows. "Seriously, what a cute senpai I have. So innocent. When you turn over to the other side a little, I'll have the perfect thing for you."

          "Huh?" I questioned, touching the spot he had prodded me. Aki's words ignited a horrible premonition to gnaw its way at the pit of my stomach. The perfect thing...? Turning to the other side...? What was he talking about?

          Pivoting to go, Aki winked and sent me a wave just as the loud bells chimed throughout the campus.

          "You'll realize soon enough," he assured me as he hurried towards the doorway; possibly to make his escape before the teachers could find out he was planning on ditching. "See you around, Senpai!"

          The metal door clanked shut behind him and I reached to the ground, slinging my bag over my shoulder. I'd realize soon enough? About what? Iwasaki...?

          "Maybe you confessed that you like him and that's why he doesn't want to bring it up."

          The thought allowed for my heart to swell in a funny way. I cocked my head to the side as new warmth crept onto my cheeks.

          That's... strange.

          I made small, slow steps towards the doorway, paying heed to the relentless patter of my heart against my chest.

          Did I possibly not just 'like' Iwasaki as a friend after all?

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Hmmm. Haha yeah, Reina's kinda dense, lmao.

If you're wonder why I haven't updated in awhile it's because I've been busy, which isn't much of a surprise nowadays. I'm trying my best though!

I realize the overall pace of the story is a little too slow so I wanted to quicken it up a bit, and maybe finish the story before the end of May. I'm funny, I know xD Then again, I might have hope because I think the story might last until chapter 60 or even earlier.

But more importantly, thank you very much for reading this far, seriously. It motivates me to keep writing. I'll work my hardest to keep up with updating frequently now that it's May (but excuse the crumminess that may come with them, too. I typically proofread but I don't think I'll do it thoroughly anymore since I wanna finish the story as quick as I can). Leave your opinions about the chapter(s)! Thanks! 💕

-Misty