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I can make it, I can make it, ANDDD I’m safe!
The door to classroom 2-A cracked open, allowing An Shiraishi to slip inside with merely a minute to spare. Turning her head to quickly avoid the teacher’s exasperated expression, she crawled through the crowd to her seat.
A majority of the students were still engaged in conversation, yet that did little to ease the odd feeling An sensed.. isn’t it like, weirdly empty today?
A cough from the teacher had numerous chairs sliding in with a metallic screech. The teacher waited for the students to assume their appropriate placements, before clearing his throat. A tower of papers were piled ahead of him, and he read out the first leaf atop of the pile.
“Let’s see here…” Readjusting his glasses, he squinted at the paper before raising his monotone voice. “Shinonome Akito-Kun is absent today with a fever.”
The hand An was propping up her chin with loosened. Absent ? So that explained why the class looked paler than a old picture: good ‘ol carrot head was away.
The teacher continued, breaking into An’s less-than-worried thoughts with a hail of lousy news. “Today is homework day, so someone will need to give him the material.” He scanned the wave of now depressed students, searching for a willing soul. “Is anyone willing? Kusanagi?”
“Eh-” Nene’s voice leapt an octave. “Oh, um…I don’t know him very well.” From the glance An stole, she could see that class 2-A’s songstress was floundering. That very glance, however, sealed An’s fate, as Nene’s purple gaze locked with An’s.
“Um, maybe Shiraishi would be a better fit?”
An resisted the urge to screech. DON’T DEFER TO ME!
The teacher fixed her with an inquiring gaze, and all An could do was sit up a little straighter in her chair. “Oh, yes! I can do it, I guess.” She was trying desperately to both reign in her irritation, send a not-very-angry-glare to Nene, and answer simultaneously. “I mean, yes, I will!”
The teacher seemed as though he anticipated this outcome, amusement clear on his face. “Great. Here is his address: don’t worry, his parents are already expecting someone to go give them to him.”
The paper printed with the address passed hands, and An retreated back to her seat, feeling defeated. Her blue-grey hair were thin tendrils as she laid her head against the desk. First, we have homework. Then, I have to go give this to him.
She stared out of the glass window beside her, wishing to be one of the many clouds billowing in the air. Haaa…he got sick, even though he’s an idiot, huh?
—-------------------------------------------------------------------------
With the bag of sports drinks heavy in her arms, An trekked forth. The sun was losing its lustre, desperately throwing its final rays across the streets as the day began to end. It was awfully cold - no wonder Akito had fallen prey to a bug.
Maybe these drinks’ll be too cold for him. An surreptitiously reached for a bottle from the bag. I’ll just drink oneeee…couldn’t hurt.
The taste of ice, electrolytes and guilt was delicious. An slid the cap back onto the plastic, taking note of the approaching houses. They were…disgustingly fancy. Nothing at all akin to the myriad of colours on the graffitied Vivid Street. With a jolt, she remembered that his father was a super famous artist.
Not that I’m scared! An tiptoed over to the supposedly correct house. Even the bushes, trimmed to perfection, seemed to judge her. Nah. She smoothed down her skirt, fiddled with her hair pins, and conjured a smile onto her face. Here goes nothing!
Ding dong.
A bird’s laugh descended from the sky. Leaning in, An waved into the peephole. She moved away swiftly, facing the doorbell once again.
Ding dong.
A thud from the house. A yell. The sound of something soft being thrown.
“ONE MOMENT!”
A muffled curse. Then, the sound of a latch being removed.
A brunette of similar stature faced An. “Oh. You aren’t a salesman.” Her face was done in flawless makeup, and her clothing could only be from those fancy stores Akito often (ridiculed) discussed. Her eyes, a hazelnut hue, squinted. “Wait, you're…Shira-shiya-”
An leapt in to finish her sentence. “Shiraishi! Shiraishi An. You’reee Shinonome Ena-san, right? We met alongside your group, I believe?”
Ena nodded, brown hair and white bow bobbing. “Ohhh, yes. I remember that now…it’s been a while since then, huh! Oh, though now that I think about it, I did see you at school not long ago.” She laughed at herself, once again raising the question that An frequently pondered: how are she and Akito related??
Ena paused, glancing at the bag and paper in An’s arms. “Oh, you were sent here to help out Akito?” The name slithered out her tongue, covered in barely concealed venom. Suddenly, the resemblance between her and Akito wasn't so faint. “He’s been putting up a fuss all day. Maybe that homework will manage to shut him up! Woah-”
A figure collided with Ena’s back. Sliding between her and the doorframe came a slightly taller female, evidently in her forties. Her coppery hair shone in the day’s fading light.
Her tone matched her gentle face, even as she eyed Ena with reproof. “Ena, it’s poor form to complain so openly to a stranger. Although it seems as though you two know each other?” A smile creased her features as An nodded. “That’s wonderful! Ena really needs more friends, after all! I'm her and Akito's mother. It's a pleasure to meet you!”
A flush of colour ran up the fiery girl’s face, leaving An no time to introduce herself. “Excuse me?? How is that not poor form?” Hands folded neatly across her chest, she turned around, yet flipped her face back towards the two. “Oh, right: did you get him to drink it yet, Mom?”
The wording confused An. It? What, is Akito afraid of medicine or something? She could envision him hating the 'grape-flavoured-crap' that were fever medications.
The Shinonome’s mother merely shook her head. A sigh trailed out of her mouth. “I swear, that boy is so stubborn…”
As if in testament to this statement, a shout sounded from deep within the house. It carried all the way to the front door, without losing any of its gusto.
“I’D RATHER DIE FROM THIS COLD THAN EAT THOSE CARROTS, GOT IT?”
Then, the slam of a door.
The three ladies stood still at the entryway. The oldest was embarrassed, the brunette was angry, and their guest was stifling her laughter the best she could.
“W-well, how about you come in? Oh, I didn’t catch your name.” The Shinonome’s mother, face pale with embarrassment, ushered An in.
It took An a moment to switch back to reality. “Ah, Shiraishi An! Thank you very much!” The words bubbled from her mouth, coloured by the laughter she could hardly contain.
—----------------------------------------------------------
“And get this? He hasn’t eaten anything all day!”
The Shinonome’s mother finished her statement with a huff. In spite of the fact that she had only just told Ena off, it did little to stop her complaints against her son.
“Is that so?” An’s shock was tempered only by her interest in the tea that had been brewed (fantastic tea, at that). “Ah, so that’s why you two have been attempting to make him drink the soup?”
Strolling out from the kitchen came Ena, a bowl in hand. “Exactly. Look at this soup!” She flaunted the dish at her junior. “Does this look bad to you? He’s only throwing a hissy fit because there are CARROTS in here.”
The Shinonome's mother giggled at this. “But Ena, you don’t like carrots eith-”
“MOM. I thought we weren’t going to say too much to our guest!” She punctuated her interruption by placing the bowl loudly on the table before the two.
To this, the Shinonome’s mother could only flush. “Ooo, that is true. I’m sorry, An-chan- you don’t mind being called An-chan, right? Here, I’ll go and give those papers to him.”
Relieved of her burden, An felt anxious. To leave, or not to leave, that is the question…yet somehow, she found herself marvelling at the tidbits that lingered in the living room. Family photos. Paintings, likely from their father. A variety of flowers abound. Yet most entrancing was one photo.
Akito, significantly younger, and sporting a cheerful expression as he nestled a soccer ball in his arms. His entire personage seemed to shine, regardless of the dirt that dotted his clothes and legs.
“Oh, that photo!” An jumped at the sound of Ena’s voice. Akito’s sister leaned next to An, gazing at the ginger within the frame. “He used to be so cute…goes to show how age ruins us all, I guess!” Although Ena laughed, her gaze was full of warmth.
I guess even Akito used to be cute…the thought felt strange in An's head, much like a puzzle piece which refused to fall into place.
Yet unfortunately, the two's warmth towards Akito would come to an abrupt stop, as the Shinonome household’s lead parent walked down the steps leading to his room. Within her hands, the homework papers and the drinks An had purchased. On her face, exhaustion, as she slumped back onto the living room couch.
A sigh left Ena’s mouth. “Let me guess. Mission failure?”
Her mother could only nod. “He kept shouting about how ‘I’d give him that damn carrot soup’ when he opened the door.” She laughed, wrinkles showing around her lips. “That kid is a fighter.”
Tell me about it...
Yet with a closer look, worry was evident on the older ladies' face. An hastened to take action. To make things right! “Is there anything I could do to help?”
When the two stared at her, surprise vivid on their faces, she could only stammer. “I- I mean, he may not be expecting me to butt in..?”
An could practically see the lights go off in Ena’s head as the older girl flashed a menacing smile.
“It’s perfect you mention that…I have a greeeeeat idea!”
Only when Ena smirked did An see the similarity between her and Akito. Her chocolatey eyes turned bitter black, and her voice turned sinister.
“So it goes like this…”
—----------------------------------------
Knock knock.
“I don’t want your DAMN soup.”
It really is true…
An stifled a giggle, and cleared her throat before knocking again on the hardwood door. “It’s me! An!”
The sound of something falling over came in reply. A swear.
Then, his voice again, not nearly as angry or level as before. “An?? What the heck are you doing he-” Akito’s surly tone was interrupted by a fit of coughing.
A chill came over An. Thaaaaat doesn’t sound great!- Coupled by the fact that he hadn’t eaten anything only increased An’s determination. Which she channeled into banging on the door. “Let me in! I’m just here to give you homework!”
“Slide it through the bottom!”
She had expected such a retort. “I got drinks too! The ones you like!” At the absence of any reply, she let out a huff. “Just OPEN it, you big ba-”
With a fling, the door parted, revealing the room and boy behind it.
Apart from the hoodie Akito usually wore, he looked like he had been put in a blender: hair, mussed up in approximately four different directions. Eyes, drooping like leaves heavy with dew. And his face was flushed a shade of red which did not make An think of ‘healthy’.
Yet even so, he managed to lean against the doorframe, fixing An with bleary eyes. “Oh…you weren’t lying.” He stretched an arm out, and turned his face away. “Thanks.”
Akito cupped and un-cupped his palm, evidently waiting for the plastic straps to be passed along. After waiting for a few seconds too long, he looked back to see An’s smiling face.
She tilted her head, long hair flowing like a curtain. “You aren’t gonna let me in? I wanna see your CD collection while I’m here!” She swept the drinks out of his grasp. “I won’t give you these unless you let me see.”
Too tired to object, Akito merely blinked at her. “But-” he paused to cough. “What if you get sick, too-”
Yet with these words, both An and Akito knew that whether he had liked it or not, he essentially had given her permission to enter. An flowed inside, like a wave, washing out the lingering sense of sickness.
The room was just as An would have expected. A shelf of CDs, arranged to perfection. A Rad Weekend poster, worn from age, plastered on the wall before his bed. Of which was lazily made, as though he had just been sprawled on it minutes ago. The window was open, letting in a cool sunset breeze, buffeting the papers An held in her arms.
“Oh. Look who has a present!” She placed the homework on what seemed to be Akito’s desk, quickly putting a CD atop of them as a stopper. “Those are due before next class. Better get them done!” Not that I’ve done mine yet…
Though An tried to steal glances at his expression, Akito kept facing away from her. He must have been more interested in the carpet than her sudden appearance.
Well, that’s fine…I just need to buy a bit more time.
Yet that wasn’t necessary, as her eyes caught on a piece of paper, wedged between a math textbook. The word ‘ticket’ poked out of the pages.
A smile spread across her face. “Oh my gosh! Is that the ticket for that movie we went to??” An felt warm as she reminisced on the day for the umpteenth time. It had been months ago, yet the memory was fresh in her mind. “That was so much fun! Maaaan…”
I guess even he’s been remembering it, too? To have kept this…
The book was snatched from her hands before she could appraise it any longer. Akito’s face was turned towards her, for the first time since he opened the door. “Don’t go poking around.”
His ears were red. I guess - his temperature is really high? That’s what An told herself, anyways.
And with Akito distracted came the moment to strike.
As Akito simmered beside her, the door crept open, and with it, the slide of a bowl on the ground. The clatter of a spoon jolted Akito to reality, yet his reflexes failed him.
There it was. The carrot soup, successfully within Akito’s vicinity.
The orange vegetables seemed to dance in the liquid, bobbing up and down, much like Akito’s Adam's apple. Fury seemed to rise off of him in waves. “Hey, An.” Level and eerie, his voice chilled . “Did you plan this?”
“Ummmmmm. What if I said your sister did..?”
Much to An’s surprise, her sick friend did little to express his frustration. Rather, he slumped to the ground, orange hair draping over his face.
“You damn accomplice…” Sighing, he pulled the bowl towards him. “...did they use the entire bag of carrots in this or wh-” his complaint was cut off with yet another fit of coughing.
Even when sick to the bone, Akito refused to look weak. Turned away, back straight, no one would know if he had been sick or not.
An had been approaching the situation with humour, up to this point...yet seeing Akito so pitiful moved her to some degree of sympathy.
...ugh.
A twinge in An’s heart jolted her to action. She took a tentative step towards the sickly Akito, the movement jolting his face upwards. Yet she moved towards the bowl instead, taking a hold of the spoon.
The metal dipped into the sea of broth. It re-emerged, carrots packed within its oval. Carrots which An dropped into her palm, and gulped down.
Turned away from Akito, she had no idea of his expression. Yet she could hear him give a short gasp, and make a move towards her. “You-”
“I’m hwelping woo out so stahp compwaining” Discarding manners, An mumbled out her response around the vegetables in her mouth. The spoon went down multiple times, retrieving a concerning amount of carrots, until they were all gone, now occupying An’s stomach.
Ok…that was a LOT of carrots. With a quick wipe of the mouth, An turned back to Akito. His shocked face filled her with satisfaction. “Here.” She turned the bowl towards him, and handed him the spoon. “I didn’t contaminate anything. Bon appetit!”
Then, to An’s surprise, the boy before her gazed at the soup, now consisting of broth, meat, and less inflammatory vegetables. And started laughing.
A laugh, unlike anything An ever heard from him. His eyes no longer looked hazy, as he wiped tears of laughter from them. His face, though flushed, sported an amused expression, which he fixed onto the now nervous An. “Man. You are weird.”
An hurried to respond. “Huh?? I’ve done you a fa-”
“Thank you.”
Two words. Two words, which spread through An's heart, straight to her stomach, where carrots and butterflies now laid.
Dang it. “Now I can’t even be mad…” An muttered. The door was still open, yet she felt self conscious now. The room had shrunk in size, it felt.
Thankfully, it seemed as though her work was done, as Akito took his first sip of the soup. Clearly, a carrot-y taste must have remained, as his nose wrinkled. Yet after his second swallow, he seemed satiated. “Well, at least it doesn’t taste like COMPLETE trash.” He muttered around sips.
An tittered. His reactions are cu- funny. Funny. “Oh! Here!” She fumbled to grab a drink from the bag which she had forgotten about. “A drink. To wash out that carrot taste.” She added.
Akito flashed a grateful expression, taking the cold drink with no apparent reaction when their fingers slightly touched.
A few conversations, soup sips, and laughter later, the sun had finally set. With the last traces of sunlight evaporating, An decided it was time to go. She held onto her skirt as she lifted herself upwards. “Well, I best be going.”
By then, the soup was gone, and so was the bulk of Akito’s exhaustion. He rose, flaunting his superior height. “I’ll show you out.”
“Oh, no need!”
Akito blinked at her, surprised by her speedy refusal. “For sure? Oh, yeah, I guess you’ve been around me a lot." A hint of regret was in his tone. "If you get sick, you better not expect me to be your little fetch-quest-boy.”
She stuck out her tongue in reply. “Yeaaaah right. You owe me at least 1,000 yen for all these drinks, by the wayyyyy”
Yet protecting herself from the sickness was the last thing An had in mind. Rather, the longer they spoke, the sooner Akito would notice the flush permeating her own skin.
He seemed to accept her reluctance, at the least. He stepped towards her, arms folded across his chest, and gave a smile so radiant, it must have been plucked from the sun.
“Well, I guess a movie ticket would be a fair reimbursement, yeah?”
An’s heart leapt, recalling the ticket in the book. “For real?? There’s a movie showing right now that'd be perfect to see once you’re healthy again!”
“Rise of the Underdog?” Akito questioned.
“Yeah!” An replied. “Wait, how do you know??”
He laughed in reply. “I have my sources. Also, you were talking Kusanagi's ear off about it last week.”
Oh. “Ugh, don’t tease me like that! For a second there, I thought you were actually psychic! But if you were, your test marks would be better…”
At this, Akito jostled her out of the doorframe. “Shut up. You didn’t do the homework either, now did you?”
She could only awkwardly whistle in response. “Oohhhh, look at the time! I should get going!” Flustered that he guessed so easily, An ended the conversation before he had more material to fire at her.
And if I don’t end it now, I won’t ever want to.
As she walked down the hallway leading to the steps, she sneaked only one glance. And there he was, still staring and waving at her.
The last An saw was Akito's crooked yet genuine smile, before she was forced to descend down the steps. An practically hopped down them all, as buoyant as a balloon. She related her success to the Shinonome’s, of which both were incredibly grateful.
Ena’s words of “He must trust you, to let you trick him and not yell your ear off!” rested in An’s heart, even as she exited the house. A pack of cookies, her reward, was nestled in her arms.
The street she had been nervous to step on mere hours before seemed as though a stage, as she danced her way down the sidewalk. An had truly become a cloud, and she felt as though her heart was soaring into the midnight blue sky, with each time she remembered Akito’s smile.
Ah-
An stopped in her tracks, noting her rising temperature at the thought of him.
…great. Now I must be sick too.
- End