Archive of Our Own

Slowly Our Indifference Fades

Aoko found him making breakfast one morning. It wasn’t an unusual sight, it was something she had grown accustomed to these past few months since he moved in. Soujuurou would be busy in the kitchen cooking up something to eat, usually when she’d get home after school and before he went off to work. He would always cook something simple for them, leave enough for himself or if she and Alice wanted seconds and was easy enough to heat up anytime they wanted. But today was unusual because he was cooking breakfast.

Breakfast at the Kuonji mansion consisted of toast, jam, and if there was time, maybe some tea or brewed coffee. Life as a mage and the student council president doesn’t leave much free time as one could imagine so she would often eat what she could, if she had to cook, it had to be something instant or something that just needed minimal cooking skills. Not like she could rely on Alice to cook anything good, with all her elegance and refined demeanor, that girl could burn water if she could.

That’s the reason Soujuurou is already a mile ahead of them, considering he already found time to cook breakfast this morning.

“ Good morning Shizuki-kun”, she greeted him rather casually as she walked into the kitchen.

“ Oh…”, he made a sound, a little surprised by her sudden appearance before turning around and giving her his usual smile. “Good morning to you too Aozaki…”.

She hears something sizzle as Soujuurou pours something into the frying pan. Its smell was almost intoxicating, enough to make her stomach grumble and her mouth water. She takes a deep breath to take it all in, she almost tastes the grilled meat on her tongue and lets out a relaxed sigh.

“ That smells great”, she comments as she moves closer to where he is.

Soujuurou steps aside and lets her see a group of sausages being cooked on the pan, she takes a quick glance and sees the scrambled eggs set aside and pieces of toast on a plate on the counter. It seemed like he was cooking a full-blown breakfast.

“ Just some leftovers from the restaurant that the manager didn’t want to throw out”, he explained as he resumed cooking.

“ He gave them to you for free?”, Aoko questioned.

He nodded, “Yeah he did, it was nice of him at least”.

“ Must be…”, she mumbled, also wanting to get free stuff from time to time.

“ And since I woke up early, why not use them before they go bad”, Soujuurou said as he used the spatula to turn them on their side.

“ Sounds like the manager just wanted to get rid of almost expired meat”, Aoko pointed with a sly look on her face, as if Soujuurou got duped.

But he shrugs at her suggestion, “At least we reap the benefits...do you mind setting the table? I’m almost done here”.

Aoko fought back the click of her tongue at his suggestion, something that she was already planning to offer to do but now being told to do it was just annoying. But she lets it go and takes the plates and utensils, bringing them out into the dining room to set up. It was a quiet morning, living this far out from the city-town below granted them a sort of peace in their surroundings.

So all Aoko hears as she sets up the table is the rustling of the leaves outside and the chirping and singing of birds. The sun was creeping up into the sky, its light breaking through the canopies and finding its way streaming into the dining room through the open window where the curtains were kicked up by the wind. A cool spring breeze enters the house and Aoko never felt a morning could get as peaceful as this.

Soon they’re eating, and Aoko surmises that the best way to eat sausages is to have it be paired with brewed coffee as Soujuurou slathers jam on his toast. It's quiet between them, not the awkward type of quiet where their attempts at conversations have died so they give up. More like a preference for the quiet over the conversation.

“ I might come home late tonight”, Soujuurou suddenly said as Aoko swallowed down the eggs with the coffee.

She chews for a bit before replying, “Work?”.

Soujuurou nodded his head, “Yeah, they needed extra hands for some party”.

“ I see…”, Aoko said. “Well, then I guess I’ll make the dinner tonight”.

“ Thanks, also don’t forget to unlock the front door, I don’t want a repeat of last month”

Aoko lets out a chuckle as she remembers that night. When they accidentally locked the front door and Soujuurou had to climb up the second story window, not realizing he had ended up in the West wing of the manor and was almost devoured by whatever trinket Alice had placed in that window.

“ I’ll be sure to be mindful this time”, she assured him.

“ I appreciate it Aozaki”

“ Don’t mention it”

She takes another bite of the eggs and relishes in its deep flavor, she wondered if Soujuurou is a chef in the thousands or so part time job he has for himself.

“ This egg is really good”, she finds herself complimenting him.

“ Thanks, I decided to use a different seasoning”, he replied. “We were running low on salt and pepper so I decided to use soy sauce”.

“ Can’t say I’ve had much of those”

“ I could tell”, he thoughtlessly said and so she retaliated by kicking him in the shin underneath the table.

He winces and looks up at her unfazed smile as he rubs his sore leg. Soujuurou knew better than to run his tongue for so long, especially when it came to someone as hot-headed as Aoko but the atmosphere around them just made the banter feel like a natural fit. But like many situations he found himself in, he was reading the whole thing entirely wrong.

“ Anything else Sou-juu-rou-kun?”, Aoko said with her usual charming smile but the emphasis on each syllable of his name and her eyes being closed was enough of indication that what she meant was the exact opposite.

“ Uh...nothing…”, he answered. “But as an apology...I’ll make something again for breakfast when I have the chance”.

Aoko smiled, “Then apology accepted”. She took a glance around and noticed they were one person short. “I wonder how long Alice is going to be sleeping, she’s not usually this late”.

“ She left earlier this morning”, he replied.

“ Really now?”

“ Yes, she said something school-related and left just as I was about to start cooking”

Aoko chewed on her fork, “I see…”.

When breakfast concludes, she’s already packing up her bag to go to school while he’s busying himself with the dishes. She reaches for the door when a sinking feeling overcomes her. It was a feeling all too familiar, that overwhelming feeling of guilt, as if she had done something bad and was now trying her best to hide it. Aoko tried her best to ignore, reasoning that if he had wanted her help he would’ve simply asked for it instead.

That reasoning could’ve helped her out had she not already threw her bag and blazer on the couch and marched back into the kitchen. Soujuurou was already on the process of scrubbing the plates with the sponge before she walked over to him, rolling her sleeves up and putting on an apron.

“ Scoot over”, she practically commanded as she hit him with her hip.

“ Its fine Aozaki I got thi-”

Aoko glares at him and he stiffens slightly, “Scoot. Over.”, she repeats herself and he complies.

Wordlessly, they work together. He washes the plates down with the sponge and soap and passes over to her where she rinses it out and dries with a towel. Again, it is silent between them as they work, the clattering plates and glasses, the squeaking of the sponge against the plates and utensils, running water fills up the space where small talk and chitchat would’ve filled in for them. Instead, they bask in the silence of each other’s company.

Aoko would be lying to herself if she said she didn’t like this.

-0-

One afternoon, Aoko found herself thinking of the color blue.

Maybe it's because she had dreamt of going to the beach before she woke up that morning. She couldn’t remember any of the details, just the saltiness of the sea breeze, the hot sand on her feet, and the warmth of the gentle sun. Aoko always wanted to go to the beach, living in such a town like Misaki makes one long for more than just the same old mountains, forests, and fields that she had grown accustomed to all her life.

“ Aozaki…”

She wondered if she had just gotten bored of it. Ever since she took over as the head of the Aozaki family, all she did was be the guardian of their family's domain. She wanted to curse her Grandfather, curse and ask why he didn’t place a domain in someplace like Tokyo or even Okinawa. Then maybe she’d do something fun like go surfing or live it up as a city girl. Alas, she was restricted to this town for her foreseeable future.

“ Uh...Aozaki…”

She wondered if she could move. Once everything was settled, she could live a normal life for herself. Well, whatever normal she could muster given who she was and what she could do. She could be a nomad, just travel the world with nothing but a suitcase and the sun on her back. That sounded fun, but she’d be tight on money and maybe take odd jobs to make ends meet, she knew someone who was used to that so maybe he could help.

“ Aoko”

The sound of her name coming out so gentle yet stern startled her and dragged her back into reality. Aoko blinked, the blur slowly faded and she remembered where she was and, specifically, who she was with. She looks over at the person who she’s sitting across as Soujuurou gives her a look, a mix of disappointment and slight exasperation at her for drifting off like that.

“ You done with the mock test?”, she sternly asked, deflecting whatever judgment he might muster after what he had just witnessed.

“ Yeah”, Soujuurou replied as he slid over the answer sheet towards her. “But can I ask? Are you okay? You seem to be somewhere else for a moment there”.

She glared at him, “I was between none and your business”

Soujuurou clammed up at that, “Right…”, he takes a quick glance at the paper as Aoko takes it. “I think I messed up some of the answers”.

“ I’ll be the judge of that”, Aoko said as she clicked on her red ball pen.

It was quiet where they were. Inside the student council room after school had ended a few hours ago. Soujuurou couldn’t help but grimace over what drew them into this situation in the first place. See, for all his bravado and self-assurance over certain things, Soujuurou seemed to academically struggle. Which was normal for his case, having inserted himself into the Japanese education system already in 2nd year of high school. He had great help easing into it, it's not like he was uneducated but life in the mountain often taught a different kind of education.

So when he showed Aoko his stunning 37/100 test score in modern literature, she almost throttled him on the spot.

“ Seriously, how’d you let it get this BAD?”

He remembered her saying, slamming her fist repeatedly into the table while grabbing her head. Soujuurou looked at her rather sheepishly, as if he was a child being reprimanded for something he knew was bad but didn’t have the guts to face it yet. She simply sighed and said that they needed to mitigate the situation fast before he had to take a retest or risk going to summer classes next month.

Not that he didn’t mind that but Kinomi has always been hassling about “enjoying youth” more before the soul-crushing adulthood starts pouring in. And so here he was, sitting across from Aoko as she graded his mock test answers to see if he was ready enough for the retest on Friday. Aoko was a good teacher, though a little intense and gets so wrapped up that she begins to micromanage but her method of teaching was solid. He wondered if she ever wanted to be a teacher of sorts, she’d be good at it. Though she might get that signature “Demon Teacher” nickname after the first day.

Besides-

“ Oi”

He wouldn’t mind her wearing glasses and-

“ You’re staring”

His vision clears and it's her looking up at him, her cold blue eyes peering at him, the bangs falling on her face barely concealing the look that she’s giving him right now.

“… .sorry….”

Sheepishly he looks away as he mutters his apology to her. He doesn’t know if it's the summer weather but suddenly he feels his face begin to get hot. His clothes suddenly feel a lot tighter and he wonders if the room was always this stuffy, but he sucks in a breath and swallows the dry spit in his mouth. It's quiet again in the room, but instead of the usual comfortable one this one was more awkward, he could feel his heartbeat against his chest and the blood rushing in his head.

Soujuurou was not sure if Hell existed, but if it did, it would be just like this.

“ You can simmer down you know, I’m not going to bite your head off or anything”, Aoko assured him.

He turned to her and she was still grading his paper, not sparing him a glance.

“ I didn’t think you would”, he replied nonchalantly.

“ Just surprised you’d stare at me like that”, she admitted.

“ I didn’t mean to by the way”, Soujuurou felt the need to defend himself.

“ I know…”, Aoko said. “Just be a little mindful next time”.

He nodded in agreement and they returned to the silence of earlier once more. He didn’t want to bring up the fact that she was staring off into space as well but his was a tad worse than hers, he surmised in his head. At least she wasn’t staring at him like he was. He wondered if it was the summer heat getting to him.

Summer in the mountains was different than summer in Misaki. In the mountains, the air was cool and felt fresh and even invigorating, but down here in the city. The heat was a swelter, didn’t help that the night before had rained so the heat was almost unbearable, and inside this room filled with bookshelves, paper, tables, and chairs, maybe he was just caught up in the summer heat. He wondered how he was going to cool off during the break. He hadn’t even thought of what he’d do during the summer break. Soujuurou thought maybe he’d go home for a few days, and catch up with some of the folks back in his hometown but at the same time, strangely, he doesn’t miss them as much as he should.

“ If you want to say something just say something”, Aoko bluntly said.

Soujuurou felt a sweat drop, “I wasn’t even going to say anything”.

“ I could tell from your face you have something on your mind”

He tilted his head, never realizing how much his expression betrayed his thoughts this much. He always thought his face was pretty neutral most of the time.

“ Well I was just wondering about how to spend my summer”, he confessed.

That made Aoko pause for a moment before continuing what she was doing. If she was being honest, that was the last thing she was expecting him to answer with. But it made sense, it was technically the first summer he was spending in the city as opposed to his old life in the mountains.

“ I’m sure Kinomi has a stupid plan that he wants you to come along with”, she casually said.

“ That’s what I’m afraid of”, Soujuurou confessed, barely fighting back the grimace on his face.

“ Not a fan of being dragged around town or something?”, Aoko questioned.

“ Just not a fan of being dragged around in general”

Aoko would’ve laughed at that joke if there wasn’t some bitter irony to it. But she was surprised how much of a backbone he had developed during his year here, sure, December was a lot of all 3 of them but she never realized how much it took out of him. And now there he was, wrapping up his 2nd year of high school at the blossom of youth before he headed off into adulthood. But Aoko internally cringed, she was starting to sound like her old man,

“ Well I think there’s more to do here now anyways”, she said.

“ As I heard though I doubt I can get away as much anyways”, he replied.

“ Why not?”, Aoko questioned.

“ My jobs”

She chuckled, “Right, you’re practically the backbone of Misaki Town’s economy”.

“ You love that joke huh”

“ Of course I do cause it's true”

Soujuurou chuckles along with her and lets out a sigh after he is done.

“ Well when you take a break from that, maybe you should consider something fun”, Aoko encouraged as she twirled the pen in her hand.

Soujuurou watched as she did, fascinated by the movement of her fingers as she flipped the pen between them. It was a habit he noticed in her, every time she was focused on something, she would twirl the pen between her fingers. She doesn’t pay it even mind, so he wonders if it was instinct at this point.

“ What fun is there to do anyways?”, Soujuurou asked with such earnestness, that it made Aoko stop herself from face-palming.

“ Lots...of things…”, she said, cringing slightly at him before coughing into her hand to compose herself.

“ What about you Aozaki?”, he asked. “What’re you going to do for the summer”.

Maybe head home for a few weeks”, she replied nonchalantly. “Meet with Grandfather and see what we can do and maybe further my mage training”.

“ I see…”, he noted. “That sounds fun”.

“ You know damn well it's not”, she practically cursed out at him. “But who knows, I want to do something else this summer anyway.

“ Like what?”

“ Maybe going to the beach, that sounds fun”.

Soujuurou thought about it for a moment, that would seem fun for the most part. He had never gone to the beach itself, nor did he ever desire to go to one. He always found the cold rivers near where he grew up sufficient for daily life, so the concept of going somewhere for the sole purpose of just swimming felt foreign to him. What enjoyment could be gained from that?

But-

“ That could be fun…”, he muttered out.

He wondered about it, but the look on his face was enough to let Aoko know he was debating internally if it was a good idea to go. Knowing Soujuurou, he would be at an impasse with his thoughts and just be stuck on it. She missed when he was a little more thoughtless with his actions, but she did also often mistake bravery for utter stupidity and so she decided to break through it.

“ I can take you to one if you want”

Soujuurou paused at that and looked up at her, taken aback by her sudden offer but realized this was Aoko Aozaki he was talking about. This girl would move mountains if he asked her to, she probably could given how strong she was. Despite her appearance, Aoko could pack a punch if she wanted to and was not the type to hold back at all. Something he had already witnessed firsthand for himself.

“ Well then that sounds even more fun”

He gives her his usual relaxed smile, one she returns with one of her own. Aoko shakes her head before returning her attention to the work that she is doing.

“ But first you better pass the retest for modern lit or else you’ll be forced to take summer classes”, Aoko reminded, her words were a hammer that shattered whatever relaxed atmosphere they had.

“ Right…”, he shamefully admitted.

“ Seriously how do you even fail at modern literature? Its essay-based”

Soujuurou took a moment before replying, “It's...hard for me I guess to understand”.

She gave him a knowing look, “Understand what? The prose? Characters? The dialogue?”.

“ No I understand those clearly”, he answered back. “I just have trouble understanding the author’s intentions”.

“ You mean his feelings?”, she probed.

He nodded, “Yeah, more or else, it's hard for me to understand his feelings”.

Aoko understood him now a bit better than she did earlier. It wasn’t that he was daft to it, he just had trouble articulating what someone else could be saying. Soujuurou does act a lot more straightforwardly than other people and tends to take things more literally. So she could understand why he’d have a hard time understanding or even being able to write out how an author could be feeling from just words on paper.

“ Well, one trick I can teach you…”, she started as Soujuurou perked up at those words. “Is try to understand the context of what is being said”.

He tilts his head slightly, with a confused look on his face.

“ I don’t think I follow”.

Aoko sighed, “What I mean is, understand what is trying to be said from what the character is saying or what they’re trying to say. Think of it like…”, she searched her head for a possible example. “Saying what they mean to say without actually saying it”.

That puzzled him even more, Soujuurou furrowed his eyebrows at that and tapped his chin, trying to take in what she had said.

“ Take for example…”, she struggled again before deciding to commit to this mandatory lesson. “Let's say a child broke something precious, maybe a vase or a family heirloom and to prevent from his parents finding out he decided to hide it. How do you think someone like that would act?”.

Soujuurou pondered that hypothetical for a moment, trying to understand it from his position if he were the child.

“ He’d be pretty quiet”, he answered. “Maybe do what he can to draw his parent’s attention away from it”.

Aoko snaps her fingers and beams him a proud smile.

“ Bingo”, she declares. “Now you just have to use that logic for all the books you’re assigned to read”.

“ Sounds complicated”, he admitted.

“ People often are”, she shrugged.

Then Aoko stops and lets out a sigh, she looks back at him and shows him the paper. Soujuurou musters up the courage to smile back at her but feels the sweat drop as he hears the paper begin to crumple and veins begin to pop out of her hand as it clutches the paper.

In bold red colors, it read the mark: 50/100

“ Soujuurou…”, her words were sweet honey coated that hid thorns underneath it.

He sighed, “I’ll redo it…”

-0-

Soujuurou couldn’t help but shield his eyes as the glare of the hot sun beamed down on him. He blinks but the sweat gets into his eyes and it stings so he rubs his eyes and uses the hem of his shirt to wipe the rest of his sweat from his forehead. He lets out an exhausted sigh and looks towards the person who dragged him out here in the first place.

“ Come on!”, Aoko yelled out to him, waving her arm. “Don’t be so slow”.

“ I’m not trying to be…”, he muttered his reply before picking up the cooler, placing it on his shoulder before trudging on.

It was the start of summer and Soujuurou found himself at the beach. Sure, it was atypical of a teenager like him to spend his summer outdoors, Kinomi’s “spring of youth” coming back to him as he carefully balanced himself on the stone steps and into the hot sand. He wouldn’t have minded going to the beach, he was even looking forward to it but tragically, as had become his life the past few months. He had been treated as a mule for Aoko to carry her stuff.

“ What’s this beach again Aozaki?”, he remembered asking the other night over dinner.

Aoko shrugged as she ate, “It's a bit far from here, at least a couple of train rides away but I promise you... it's worth it”.

He sighed, already feeling the fatigue of the travel but he couldn’t complain. He was the one who accepted Aoko’s offer to take him out somewhere during the summer time and it did beat sitting around the house all day doing nothing or just going to work every day. It was just them now, Alice had flown to London for her summer, wanting to spend time with her Mother and “hone her magecraft”, as she said, and laid down some pretty strict rules while she was gone for the rest of the month.

“ Believe me…”, Alice said as she stood at the doorway of the mansion, giving the two of them a glare. “I would know if you two broke the rules”.

And so the mansion was a lot quieter now it was just the two of them. That’s when Aoko had sprung the proposal of going to the beach the day after tomorrow while they were eating dinner. It was a bit of a surprise to him that she still held on to that, a simple little word of assurance she had said to him while conducting a study session in the student council office. But he stopped himself, this was Aoko Aozaki he was talking about.

“ And there’s a lot of fun, we can ride jet skis, surf-oh!-I heard the food stalls there sell the most amazing food”, she rambled as they ate.

He couldn’t help but smile at her enthusiasm, “Well whatever it is...I’m sure looking forward to it…”.

Aoko found a spot for them to sit on that was near the rocks. Planting the parasol in the sand and opening it to give them a shade, Soujuurou practically slammed the cooler down on the ground as he rubbed his aching shoulders, lugging that around from the train station was no easy feet as he craned his aching neck as well. He turned to see Aoko unfurl a massive blanket from her bag and place it down, for today, this would be their shelter.

She turned and gave him a wide smile.

“ Having fun so far?”, she asked.

“ It would be if I wasn’t a pack mule”, was his honest reply.

“ Ah man up Shizuki-kun…”, Aoko teased him as he walked by him and slapped his back. “Don’t be a downer on such a bright day”.

He sighed and shook his head, the fatigue of the travel was still getting to him but he felt more energized at the salty smell of the ocean. He opened the cooler, took out a can of soda from the sea of ice, and sat down.

“ Cool off for a bit”, Aoko advised him as took her bag and began walking off. “I’ll go get change and we can hit the water…”.

Soujuurou waved at her retreating form before opening the can of soda and taking a massive swig. The cool and sweet taste of the soda was enough for him to let out a relaxed sigh, already feeling the exhaustion wane from his body as he did. There was something to be said about enjoying a nice cold soda on a hot summer day, he thought people were exaggerating about but now. Sitting by the beach with the cool ocean breeze in the air, was the closest thing to heaven that he was willing to believe in.

He took a look around. It was a bit crowded, droves of people mingling about around him. He wasn’t surprised by it, Aoko did say this was a fairly popular beach that was a frequent go-to by people in the region. People from all around were streamed in, from families to groups of friends, from casual to ones who were there to train. Never in his life did he even dream of being able to go to a place like this, in his youth, he embraced with contentment that he would view nothing more than the mountains and the skies for all of his life but now, the sight before something he could never imagine seeing.

Soujuurou took another sip from his can, his summer felt like it was really shaping up to be something fun.

“ Heeey!!! Shizuki-kun!!!”

He turned and almost snorted the drink from his mouth. Running towards him, in the glistening heat of the sun, with her hair done up and wearing a two-piece bikini, was Aoko Aozaki. Now, despite his demeanor and usual bravado around other people, Soujuurou was still a boy, a teenage boy with certain urges, wants, needs, and desires and he too could feel attraction towards someone if he felt like it.

Living with two girls the same age made him assume that he had built up the proper immunity against those urges. But now, watching a girl like Aoko Aozaki run towards him, he realized maybe he hadn’t built up the tolerance as strong as he did, or maybe because this was Aoko Aozaki he was talking about. She was in a different league all on her own and now she slowed to a walk as he stood up, making sure to hide the obvious embarrassment on his face.

“ Come on, let's go take a swim before it gets too hot”, she offered as she threw her bag down on the shade.

Soujuurou coughs into his hand, “Ri...Right...we should”.

“ Are you okay?”, she questioned, approaching him as she did. “You seem flushed...don’t tell me you’re still tired from that walk?”.

“ I’m fine Aozaki…”, he reassured her before taking off his shirt and throwing it beside her bag. “You said you wanted to swim right?”

He turned to look at her and saw her face turn red as well, her eyes glazed momentarily as she looked at him. But it came and went in a flash as she shook her head and cleared her throat and he followed her out into the water.

The impact of the wave drenched him all over and he had to rub the saltiness from his eyes, but the water felt cool and refreshing. He looked over to Aoko who jumped and dived into the water as well, disappearing behind a wave before popping back up, her hair was a tangled mess but a smile brighter than the sun itself.

She turned back to smile at him, “I told you the water here is nice”.

She dives back into the water and he follows her shadow as it moves about around him. That’s when she pops up again right in front of him, getting him wet once more and she lets out a hearty laugh as she does and he follows her as they both dive into it once more. Soujuurou feels weightless in it, as if his being was suddenly gone and all that was left was his consciousness slowly floating about. That’s when a large wave washed over and knocked him on his butt, the sudden pushback caused him to swim back up and gasped for air.

“ You okay?”, Aoko asked as she swam over to him.

“ I’m fine…”, Soujuurou coughed and pounded a fist on his chest, but stumbles back as he feels his head get light. “I think I’ll sit by the shallows for now”.

“ Sure…”

-0-

In the afternoon, Soujuurou lay down beneath the umbrella waiting for Aoko to return with the food. They had decided to at least buy food from the stalls when they went out on this trip, Aoko insisting it was a part of the experience of going out for a day at the beach. He let out an exhausted sigh, he hadn’t felt this since he left home almost a year ago and yet it filled with a sense of calmness despite the exhaustion.

It was summer after all, and here he was enjoying it to the fullest.

That’s when his stomach grumbled loudly and realized that Aoko had been gone for a long while. It was almost 30 minutes now, checking the watch that he had on him. Which was usual, given the state of the crowd for today that serving time would be a lot longer than it does usually. Soujuurou sympathized with the summer staff, having experienced the pain of lunch and dinner rushes from his part-time work at the restaurants.

But he began to feel anxious as well, it had only been a few months since their last encounter with Touko and it had been relatively peaceful since then but if he knew one thing about mages, it was that they would always have something up their sleeves. He tried to bury the feeling, knowing full well how capable Aoko was when it came to a fight but that feeling persisted until it swallowed his thoughts fully.

“ Won’t hurt to at least check up on her”, he reasoned to himself as he stood up, threw on the polo shirt he had worn, and headed towards the restaurants.

He scanned the crowd to look for her and found her by one of the restaurants out front, holding on to take-out boxes inside two separate plastic bags, he walked towards her at a brisk pace when he noticed that she was surrounded by 3 different guys. Now, it was no secret that Aoko was a very attractive person.

For any person with functioning eyes, she could be easily described as beautiful, it was that exact beauty of hers that lulled people into thinking she was an innocent and even sweet type of girl. Doesn’t help she was wearing a swimsuit that just triples her charms by showing off more of her body than usual, she was the perfect honey trap.

But Soujuurou and practically everyone who knows her knows otherwise, this was Aoko Aozaki after all. He knew he had to intervene before they got kicked out for assault and for sending 3 guys to the hospital.

“ Come on hot stuff, why not hang out with us for a while?”, one of the guys wearing red board shorts and a snap-back cap tried to flirt.

“ I’m sorry like I said, I’m with someone”, Aoko replied, trying to hide the frustration that seeped in her tone of voice.

“ Oh come on, it’ll be fun”, the tanned one with dyed blonde hair said as he approached her but Aoko took a cautious step back, curling one of her fingers tightly.

“ No I think I should just go”, she said as she tried to sidestep but was blocked by the guy with the blue top and swim shorts.

“ No need to hurry”, he said as his lecherous eyes traveled to her back and shrugged. “We’re not going anywhere”.

“ Yeah”, the first guy replied. “You said you were with someone? Is she cute?”.

“ If it's a guy, then ditch him and hang out with us”, the dyed blondie said.

“ Oh maybe I should shove your face into a ditch-”

“ Aoko”

Before she could reply she felt something drape over her as felt an arm over her shoulder and pulled her away. She turned her head and saw Soujuurou, a neutral expression on his face as his arms guided her towards him, noticing that it was his shirt that was draped over her as he pulled her close.

“ I’ve been looking for you everywhere”, he had said, his voice barely concealing what his true feelings were but they remained neutral as ever. “Let's go before the food gets cold”.

“ Ri-right…”, she said, surrendering her pride as they walked away.

“ Hey man”, one of the guys, she recognized as the guy with the snap-back cap called out as she heard the man’s hurried footsteps behind them. “She was just about to hang out with us, so why don’t you hurry off somewhere and let her hang out with some fun guys for a while”.

“ Believe me, you’re the ones getting saved”, Soujuurou muttered under his breath and Aoko glared at him.

“ Oi, what’s that-”

But before she could speak she felt the snapback cap guy grab her shoulder and pull her back, a desperate attempt to get her but that’s when her already short temper came to a boiling point. She stopped and turned, and with her free hand, she balled it into a fist and swung toward the guy’s face. But before her knuckles made contact with it, it was stopped.

Soujuurou caught her fist with his own hand, just inches away from the other’s guys face, who stood in shock at what just happened, the impact of the fist was so strong that it blew the hat from his head. Aoko snapped towards Soujuurou with an indignant look in her eyes but he merely replied with a head shake of his own before turning her back towards him.

“ Told you I was saving you”, he said as dropped Aoko’s fist and proceeded to walk away, with the hot-headed brunette glaring daggers at the guy who stood in shock at what had transpired.

They were some distance away from them when Soujuurou dropped his hold on her and walked silently beside her as they returned to their spot on the beach. That’s when he turned and saw she had stopped, she was twiddling with the hem of the shirt that was still draped over her.

“ You...You didn’t need to step in like that you know”, she said to him.

Soujuurou shrugged, “Well I felt like I needed to…”, he bit back the urge to say ‘ besides if I hadn’t, those guys are gonna end up with serious bruising’.

“ Still”, she said, with a tense tone, and crossed her arms, giving him a slight glare.

Soujuurou wondered what part she was mad at. Women, he thought, always a mystery. But he saw her shoulder’s sag and she let out a deep sigh as she resumed her walk.

“ Thanks anyway”, she said as she passed him. Soujuurou turned and followed behind her.

“ Don’t mention it…”, he replied before shivering at the breeze that passed. “Also I think I might want that shirt back…”.

Before he could even finish, Aoko had already put her arms through the sleeves and adjusted it to her body. She turned to him, her usual carefree smile returning to her face as if it never really left.

“ Fat chance…”, she answered before laughing.

-0-

“ As if my luck couldn’t get any worse...”, Aoko groaned, rubbing her head and letting a deep sigh.

The brunette had felt the migraine she was already feeling forming already pounding into her head. The principal had suddenly called in an emergency meeting with some of the staff and year representatives, including the student council, despite it being in the middle of summer break. Begrudgingly, she attended it nonetheless, Tobimaru was off somewhere and was unable to return in time. So she was with most of the council members as they listened to the principal babble on about plans for the new semester.

If Aoko were the honest type, she’d tell everyone and the principal himself how a big waste of time this was. But she bit her tongue, even as she noticed the dark gray clouds rolling in the distance that began to blot out the clear blue sky.

When the meeting was done, it was already past lunchtime and it had begun to rain outside. To her luck, it was the one time Aoko decided to be reckless and not bring her umbrella with her this time.

“ You should take one Aozaki”, she remembered Soujuurou reminding her as she was leaving the house earlier that day. “It might rain”.

But Aoko had brushed him off and said that it was the middle of summer and there was no way it was going to rain on a summer day. Whatever God was up there must be laughing at her right now, taking pleasure in the utter fact that he had proven her wrong. She also had to stay behind to talk with one of the teachers and when she was done, there was barely anyone left whom she could ask the favor of sharing their umbrella.

“ Guess I should’ve brought one”, she muttered under her breath as slips off her indoor slippers and placed them back into the shoe locker.

In her head, Aoko was already calculating the places that were near that she could take shelter in one at a time, planning to run headfirst into the rain with her school bag being her only shield against the rain until she reached home. She wasn’t happy with the idea but it was better than being stuck in school for the day, just waiting for the rain to let up. If she had been given the magic of flight instead, she would’ve used it in a heartbeat.

“ Huh?”

As Aoko stepped outside of the door, there she saw standing, Soujuurou with an umbrella.

“ Aozaki”, was the first thing he said before letting out a relieved smile. “I arrived just in time”.

“ What’re you doing here?”, she questioned as he got closer to her.

“ Well when you left without an umbrella I thought it would be fine…”, he began, scratching his cheek as he did. “But then I saw it started to rain and got really worried and I came over here to hand you one”.

Aoko bit the inside of her cheek just so she could fight the way the sides of her lips were curving upwards. She knew he was under no obligation to come all this way, even with this downpour that spread its misery all around them. But then she noticed something and eyed the young man up and down before speaking up.

“ So where’s my umbrella?”, she asked.

Soujuurou froze and looked around him, even turning in his spot before sighing.

“ I knew I forgot something”, he muttered under his breath.

Aoko sighed at his shortsightedness, but it was the thought that counts. Instead, she walks down to him and ducks under the umbrella, taking the cue, Soujuurou moves aside and now both of them stand underneath it. It was damp and the heat was still ever present in the air that made the whole thing feel muggy.

But it was better than being out in the rain getting wet and possibly getting sick, Aoko knew how to count her blessings when they came.

“ Let's head home, I’m dead tired”, she said and they began their way.

The journey towards their road proved to be challenging, the little space provided by the umbrella had made movement feel limited and even tight. This forced them to match each other’s moves, not too fast as to not leave the other behind but not too slow to drag the both of them down but they struck a balance. Finding their rhythm in their walk.

The town seemed quiet under the rain, there was barely anyone outside and the people they did meet were hastily making their way indoors to get out of the rain. It had gotten lighter than it was earlier that day but the emptiness of the street made the soft pounding of the rain seem loud, in the distance, they could hear music play and a light fog began rolling down from the mountain.

“ I never knew Misaki could be this peaceful”, Soujuurou commented.

“ Well it only happens on special occasions, like sudden summer rains”, Aoko chided. “But I’m surprised you’re that impressed by it, Is this town too loud for your liking?”.

Soujuurou shrugged, “Sometimes it can be, with noises of the music and people chatting and walking…”.

Aoko understood him, these days his grievances were a lot more reasonable to her now. He was still adjusting to life in the city after all, but now, for the first time in a while, he managed to at least find some peace while still living here.

“ Well at least we live pretty far removed from all that”, Aoko pointed out.

He nodded in agreement, “That I am thankful for…”.

“ Still I get what you mean”, Aoko said as she looked around her. “It does seem a lot more peaceful than normal”.

“ And the sound of the rain is pretty relaxing”, he added.

Aoko took the chance to close her eyes for a moment. She allowed the noises of everything around her to seep in. It felt soft to her ears, a gentle hum as the rain pounded against metal and concrete. She could hear it pelt against the woods and leaves from the trees around them. Finally, she could hear the gentle breathing of the person beside her. It was like a melody with each breath he took in and out, it was enough to lull her even more to the feeling of serenity.

“ Aoko look out!”

She jolted her eyes open, suddenly she felt a weight pressed up against her and loud sounds of splashing. Aoko looked and saw Soujuurou towering over her with one arm stretched out to cover her side, still keeping a grip on the umbrella that he held over her head with his free hand. She noticed the sleeves of his shirt had gotten darker and she looked down the road to see a truck driving away.

It clicked for her in an instant.

“ Always for the heroics are you Shizuki-kun?”, she said.

All Soujuurou could muster was a half smile to himself. Half proud and half embarrassed by the sudden showcase of his bravado, that split-second decision to jump in front of her as the truck practically flew by.

“ I guess so”, he replied.

“ Come on”, she pulled him back towards her, steadying herself as he lightly crashed into her. She got a good whiff of her scent as she did. It was a stale mix of the rain, the pavement, and the moss. But she could smell the garnish on his hands from his work in the kitchen and the smell of of fish and smoke practically stunk his clothes.

It was a smell that calmed her though, as if all the worries of the world would just melt away in an instant.

“ You smell like death”, she declared before chuckling and playfully pinching her nose. “Let's get home before you get sick”.

“ Yeah and I need to wash my clothes and take a shower too”

She pulls him along and he obediently follows, and they resume their earlier pace, slipping back to their earlier rhythm with ease. Still tucked under the umbrella, the pair walked through the empty town where the rain filled in the silence of the world.

-0-

Aoko tapped her foot impatiently, pulling back her sleeve and looking at her watch, the hands showed that it was already 7:30 and she let out an annoyed sigh. Sure, it was still decent enough time to make the walk to school before the first class but she wanted to get there as early as she could. Mentally cursing at the companion that kept her waiting, having hurried up to his room after forgetting something important.

“ Even after I told him to double-check his stuff the last night…”, she mumbled under her breath.

That’s when she heard the thudding of footsteps above her, heading towards the stairs and then before Soujuurou reappeared. Bounding down the stairs with his bag over his shoulder and his almost forgotten textbook in his hands. He merely gives a sheepish smile as he walks over to her, hastily stuffing the book into his bag and letting out a tired breath.

“ Sorry for the wait, I couldn’t find it in the place I thought I left it”, he apologized as he zipped up his bag.

“ I told you to put it away after studying”, she scolded, even crossing her arms and glaring at him.

“ My bad”, was his poor attempt at an apology.

If this had been the same last year, she would’ve violently scolded him and told him how much time they had wasted before giving some vague threat. But now, all Aoko did was sigh, her irritation going away in an instant at the sight of his boyish smile, maybe she had gotten weaker or maybe there was something about this boy that made her mind be at peace. She opened the door and he was about to follow her out when she noticed it.

“ Wait”, she abruptly said, stopping Soujuurou with a grab of his shoulder.

“ Wha-?”

But her hands were already on him, hastily trying to untangle his school tie with a few pulls before it came loose.

“ I’d rather not have you walking around with your school tie like that”, Aoko scolded as she began to tie it for him. “Honestly, you shouldn’t dress so slovenly…”.

“ Didn’t mean to”, he replied. “I didn’t have time to work on it because you were rushing me so much”.

“ I wasn’t rushing you, I told you I needed to get to school early to set up the council room”

“ I told you I could help you with that…”

“ Not a chance, you still have to talk with Yamada-sensei about the project requirements and club applications”

“ I feel tired already”, Soujuurou let out a tired breath.

Aoko smiled, “Well, at least we can have lunch together later at the council room before-”

“ Oh my”

The two turned to see Alice, standing by the stairs, looking down at both of them. A hand over her mouth with her eyes widened in obvious surprise, the robin flutters to her shoulder and chirps as innocently as it can conceal. It was as if the two of them had stumbled upon something they were not meant to see.

“ You two have surely gotten close”

In a snap, Aoko's face turns red as pushes the tie-up in a finish, enough of a force to make Soujuurou go slowly off balance because of it.

“ We have not”, with a huff, she grabbed her bag and headed straight out the door. Grabbing hold of Soujuurou’s arm in the process and dragging him out, muttering his goodbyes to Alice before the door slams shut.

“ Honestly that Alice, she reads way too many romance novels…”

The morning greets them with a warm sunlight beaming through the clouds. It was nearly fall, the leaves on the trees were beginning to color in dark brown and oranges and the afternoons have been getting a lot chillier than they were before. The pair walked down the hill towards the town, their chatter filling in the quiet morning that would’ve otherwise been dead silent a year ago.

She thought it was nice, their little morning stroll before school.

“ You got work after school?”, she asked him.

He nodded, “At the restaurant again tonight, the boss asked for extra hands”.

“ I swear that skinflint boss of yours just wants to skip out on paying some of his employees overtime pay”

Soujuurou chuckled, “Well after you told him off the last time, I think he’s taking it into consideration”.

“ He better….”, she argued. “I’ll come by after the school meeting and we can have dinner”.

“ Sure, I’d like that”

Aoko then finds herself looking out the horizon before. At the sight of the sun as it break through the white puffy clothes that crawled over the land below them. She then catches sight of two birds, as they dance about in the sky. The one ran and the other chased, their feathers enticing a ballet as they circled each other so high up, she couldn’t help but be captured by it. That’s when she blinks and sees them disappear into the distance before they are gone from her sight completely as if the blue abyss of the morning swallowed them up.

“ Aoko let’s go”

Soujuurou’s voice calls to her and she realizes she had stopped before turning her heel. He’s standing a few feet ahead of her, looking back at her as he does. With that same look on his face and the same innocent eyes that she saw a year ago but somehow, looking at him now, it felt different. She feels it inside of herself, a tender thumping against her chest and a heat rising to her cheeks as he looks at her.

Aoko smiled before jogging towards him.

End.