CHAPTER 34

        "Hoshino-san!"

         I rubbed at my eyelids, unable to suppress a yawn. I leaned against the door as I stared past my front porch and at the frowning male posted there with a huge frown painting his face. He had a bag slung around his shoulder, but it wasn't until he rattled me with his next words did I understand why.

          "Summer vacation is nearly over! Did you finish your summer homework yet?"

          "Huh?" I yawned again. "It's summer vacation, Kouichi. Of course we don't have any—"

          "We do!" Kouichi enunciated, puffing up his cheeks. "Have summer homework," he went on. "Everyone in the Humanity Club was right. You really did forget Seisein Academy is a college prep school."

          I rubbed at my eyes. "Kouichi, I need my beauty sleep."

          "It's noon," he replied in disbelief.

          "Only?" I sighed. "No wonder I'm so tired..."

          I slouched forward but as I did, Kouichi reached for my arm. His glasses hung appropriately on his nose, but after blinking a couple times it wasn't hard to notice that he'd gotten a tan from his vacation. If I remember correctly, he went to Okinawa...

          "You're coming with me," Kouichi cut my trailing thoughts off, waking me up for good. His hazel eyes locked with mine. "We're going to the library."

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          "Hoshino-san, we didn't come here so you can waste your time at the manga section."

          Kouichi's words breezed past my ears. I bobbed my head as I turned the pages of the book in my hands. Then, I glanced at the entire shelf of books, ranging from series I'd already read to new series I wanted to and broke out into a wide, drool-y grin.

          "I was wanting to read these series but since I wasted up all my leftover money, I'd given up," I cheered, hauling them up into my arms. "I can't believe I hadn't thought of coming to the library. Good thinking, Kouichi!"

          He had taken a seat at the table next to a rather large window where a beautiful view of a lake existed. Fortunately for us, the library was pretty much vacant today, leaving this entire area for ourselves. Positioning his palm on his cheek, Kouichi heaved a breath.

          "Hoshino-san, you haven't even started on your summer homework."

I eyed the Horimiya manga with heart-eyes. "I'll start now."

"Not that kind of homework."

I paid a glimpse behind me to find that Kouichi appeared utterly finished with me. I bit the inside of my cheek as I brought the stack to the table, flopping down into the opposite seat from him.

Picking up the first volume, I scanned the page with my eyes. "You're oddly snappy today, Kouichi," I noted, pulling the book down a bit to see his face. "Did your trip change you or something?"

         Kouichi turned his cheek, a look of discomfort consuming his features. He swerved towards his textbooks and flipped them open. "Let's get started."

          I picked up an eyebrow, perplexed. Regardless, I shrugged his confusing behaviour aside and dropped my chin onto the table, extending out my arms so I could read my manga that way. "Aye-aye."

"You could at least try to get started," he said.

"You're the one who shouldn't have expected I'd study like Mizutani Shizuku," I murmured. "I'm not that into school."

          Kouichi produced another exhale of defeat before pushing down on the eraser of his lead pencil and scribbling down in his notebook. As he worked quietly, I was marvelling the art style and storyline of the manga. And just how cute Miyamura was. I was already shipping the two main characters by chapter three.

       "How was your trip to Tokyo?" Kouichi asked to break the stifling silence.

        "It was pretty cool," I responded repositioning myself in my seat. I plopped my cheek onto my hand as I flipped through the pages that way. "We had to cut it off short but it was really fun. I got to have a blast in Akihabara, too. You should've been there."

        "I should've," he said.

        Nothing else flooded past his lips and I curiously peered up at him. Once again he seemed nothing but disgruntled; stuck on the words to get out. I cocked an eyebrow.

       "How was Okinawa?" I inquired.

        Kouichi stiffened and dropped his gaze. This time, his reaction had tugged on the last string of my confusion. I was contemplating whether I should prod him further or drop it, but before I could decide, Kouichi slapped his hands down onto the table.

         The raucous jolt startled me, and my heart stopped for a good while. Nothing but determination was slapped upon his features and widened eyes as he leaned forward. I blinked slowly in return, frozen in place.

          As if recognizing my shock and his strange actions, Kouichi recoiled. He drew back into his seat, a sheepish look consuming his countenance.

"Sorry," he choked out.

"It's fine..." I said. I finally regained movement in my arms and carefully set the manga back onto the table. Kouichi's eyes were downcast as he pouted and considering the oddity of this entire situation I sighed. "Want to talk about it?"

Kouichi didn't make a huge deal and gasp; instead the guilt straining his features only escalated. He shut his eyes tight, clenching the fabric of his pants.

"I cheated on you!"

My eyebrows shot upwards. "H-huh?" I said.

"This summer," Kouichi continued, raising his head and locking eyes with me. "I made moves on another girl."

My mouth fell into the shape of an 'o.' Kouichi gained a slight tinge on his freckle-filled cheeks and he quickly averted his gaze.

"Um," he tried again. "I was visiting my grandmother, as you may already know. I had to room with my cousin there and he formally introduced me to his close group of friends. I'll spare you the mushy details, but among them was a girl. And she was incredibly sweet and kind, with slight affinity to mischief. She even has a love for photography and digital arts, and we also share many of the same likes for various bands, sweets and TV shows." Kouichi's eyes were almost shining as his lips stretched back into a subconscious smile. He gripped at the camera he had hanging at his chest. "This summer was the most enjoyable I've had in a long time."

         Kouichi had succumbed to a grinning mess. And once I'd come back to my senses, I broke out into a tiny smile of my own. Summer love? Aww. I didn't realize I'd been watching him so intently until he broke out from his daze and blushed immediately. His eyes flickered in my direction, and he held his camera up to shield his face.

"I apologize," he said, lips curving downwards. "It seems I had only convinced myself that I loved you, Hoshino-san. When in fact, it was only deep admiration. For being so cool and sure of yourself; for being so proud of who you are. I do still hold you dear to my heart, but I now realize how naive I was. To 'fall in love' as easily as I had totally believed wasn't that easy, after all. And for continuously harassing you because of my mistake in judgment of my emotions, I must apologize."

Kouichi tried to bow his head head but I reached out and stopped him before he could. Wide-eyed, he rotated his head and with a wide smile I drew back into my own seat.

"Summer love, huh?" I asked, leaning against my palm. "That's bittersweet. I didn't actually think those kinds of things happened."

Kouichi's surprise hadn't lifted. "Hoshino-san... you do realize I'm breaking up with you—"

"We were never going out, idiot." As soon as the words left my mouth, I laughed. "Jeez, you're seriously so innocent at this whole romance business. You need to fix up."

Kouichi remained blank, like a piece of paper, and I dropped my arm and backed into my chair.

"You were acting so strangely; I was worried something terrible had happened." Waving aside the idea, a yawn came over me for the umpteenth time today. "Don't tell me the only reason you woke me up early and raped my doorbell is because you wanted to tell me something like this?"

He puffed up his cheeks. "You're so nonchalant about this, Hoshino-san. I was so worried and wanted to apologize as soon as possible for cheating on you with another girl—"

"Kouichi."

He glanced at me, and his eyelids peeled apart even further when I flashed him a grin.

"Look, you're the one that jumped to conclusions," I reminded him. "Meaning, I don't matter and never should've. You can like any girl or even guy if you'd like. In fact, I'll always support you and whoever it is that snatched your fancy. Trust me on that."

          Kouichi continued to gape at me. I grew tired of his awed look soon enough. When another wave of weariness washed over me and compressed my shoulders, I dropped my head into my arms. I shut my eyes too, withholding another yawn.

          "Man, I'm sleepy," I complained. "You can work on our summer homework all you want but I think I'll take a nap."

          He didn't respond to my comment, but I guess I hadn't been expecting much. At least, until a gradient of light flickered across my shut eyelids—a flash. I peeked through an eyelid to find a smiling Kouichi holding his camera at eye view.

          "Why are you always taking pictures of me?" I murmured.

          Kouichi laughed as he retreated to stare at the snapshot he'd taken. "Because you're honestly so photogenic, Hoshino-san."

          "I don't know who you're trying to lie to but it's not working." I buried my face deeper into my arm. "Why don't you take pictures of yourself or something?"

          "I would, but I sadly don't appear in photographs."

          I stiffened and jerked my head. "Are you suggesting you're a—"

          His chuckle cut me off. I frowned in distaste, resting my chin on my arms again.

          His next words left me in shambles.

          "It's because I love taking pictures of beautiful things."

          I disregarded the heat that reached my cheeks. "Then you completely missed the view of the lake outside. You took a picture of me, you know."

          "I know," he responded, a huge grin consuming his face. "It's because you're way more beautiful than the scenery, Hoshino-san."

          My heart fell slightly in my chest. I gnawed in the inside of my cheek before averting my eyes.

          "I don't look very good in photographs, or much at all in real life," Kouichi went on, staring fondly at the picture he'd taken. "Even though I realize I don't view you romantically anymore, you always keep catching me off guard. The more I find out about you, the more beautiful you become. And trying to capture it all in one photo is..."

          "What are you rambling about?"

          Kouichi brought his focus to me, soaked in bafflement.

          "I'm not as beautiful as you're deeming, and I never will be," I said, shooting him a pointed look. "And you're totally underestimating yourself. You're definitely a handsome fella, Kouichi. And you know first-hand that your hot-o-metre increases if you take off your glasses."

        The gawping manner that he stared at me made me sigh.

         "Have more confidence in yourself, alright?"

         I properly positioned myself back in my resting position, shutting my eyes for good. Both the serene quiet of the library and the cool breeze wafting in from the window allowed for a blanket of refreshment to swallow me whole. My breathing evened itself out, in even spurts.

         When another flash of the camera went off again, I didn't even have the energy to refute or open my eyes and turn my head.

          "Say, Hoshino-san," Kouichi whispered.

         The ruffling and weight on the opposite end of the table indicated he was positioning his chin on his arms like me. I made a grunting sound in replace of a 'yeah' but Kouichi had taken his sweet time to respond.

          I was already half-asleep when he finally did.

           "Thank you for always being so kind to me. For caring about me; for forgiving me. I really missed you."