7 Ch 7 - Invisible Thread

Kousuke Nakano opened his eyes after recalling the first time he met Yuu Osaka back in winter.

"What a small world. It doesn't look like he knew it was me," Kousuke said, shaking his head as he picked up the lunch boxes Yuu carelessly left clattered on the floor.

"Damn, he's careless," he mumbled as he descended the staircase.

Looking at his hand contemplatively, his footsteps stalled. Shaking his head, he continued on his way.

To Yuu's surprise, Kousuke attended the afternoon classes. As soon as Kousuke entered the classroom, he dropped the lunch boxes on Yuu's desk, not bothering with the odd stares the students around gave them. Yuu's cheeks heated up, remembering how close they were earlier at the corridor of the old building. Her skin tingled, recalling how his warm minty breathe caressed her skin.

"Osaka-kun? Are you okay?" Hikari asked, flicking a glance at Kousuke, who sat with a clear expression on his face staring outside the window.

"U-uh! Yeah." Yuu stammered.

"Did you have lunch with Nakano-kun?" Hikari, seated to Yuu's right, whispered.

"Y-yeah. They're the lunch boxes the girls gave me."

"Eh?! You're friends with Nakano-kun?!"

"H-Huh?! I-It just happened! I don't know. He just kept popping out of nowhere."

Kousuke couldn't help but bite his tongue to hide his amusement at Yuu's flustered reaction.

"I didn't expect you to be the bad boy type! So cool!" Hikari giggled.

"Hey! I'm not!"

Kousuke had to bite the corner of his tongue harder to keep a smile from crossing his face.

The rest of the day went by unremarkable, and before she knew it, the sun had set. That night, Yuu opened her diary and furiously scribbled the embarrassing event that happened earlier. 'What's with him?! Argh!'

The following day, Kousuke was already seated by the windows with his headphones on when Yuu arrived in the classroom. Composedly, Yuu sat on her seat before opening a workbook.

A tapping sensation on Yuu's left shoulder made her jump. 'Ugh! What the heck?!' Looking over her shoulder, she saw Kousuke stifling a laugh still with his headphones on.

"Why are you so jumpy?" he said, chuckling.

"Don't talk to me, you pervert!" Yuu hissed.

Kousuke laughed and then whispered, "Me? Pervert?! You were the bold one first."

"Huh?! It's because you kept ignoring me!"

Kousuke ran a finger on his chin with a thoughtful look on his face. "Eh? Pinning me on the wall like that..."

"Don't make it sound weird!"

Kousuke couldn't help but laugh at the boy's exasperated expression, gaining a few odd looks from their classmates.

'Ugh! This guy!'

That teasing didn't stop there. And Yuu knew she was in for the long haul!

One morning during class, Yuu and Kousuke were paired to solve a sheet of math questions. Quietly turning her seat to share a table with Kousuke, Yuu mumbled her objections.

"Why do I have to pair up with you?"

"Hey, stop complaining and get on with your work!" The teacher hollered from behind.

'Eh?! Why was the teacher standing behind me?!'

Kousuke smirked, amused. Yuu then went on to decide which one of them answers which question.

Kousuke, "Are you serious? Why am I answering 7 out of 10?"

Yuu adjusted her glasses before clearing her throat, "That's for annoying me every single time. Stop complaining, or we'll never finish. We still need to transfer the answers to the workbook."

Kousuke smirked. "Sure, let's do it your way, Yuu-chan." Drawling out her name earned him a deadly glare which he simply reciprocated with a light laugh.

Ten minutes later, Kousuke was tapping his pen on the table as he stared at a blank sheet of paper.

"You're kidding me?"

Yuu glared at Kousuke's words and then at the answered questions on his paper.

"Seriously?!" Kousuke hid his face on his folded arm to stifle a burst of laughter. "Damn, and you... you had the guts to divide the questions like a boss and... can't even answer one!"

"I'm not good at maths. So if you answered yours correctly, we shouldn't fail, at least," Yuu grumbled, and Kousuke could only chuckle at the honesty.

His eyes darted to the front and then back to Yuu. Slipping the answered sheet over to Yuu, Kousuke took Yuu's blank sheet. As soon as he had done that, the teacher's clicking heels became louder. Looking behind her, Yuu realized the teacher was heading their way.

Pausing to check the progress of their work, the teacher nodded at the sheet in front of Yuu in approval. However, she gave Kousuke and the blank sheet in from of him a disapproving look.

Shaking her head, the busty teacher went back to her table at the front. "Twenty minutes left!"

"Why did you do that?"

"I'm just returning a favour," he answered nonchalantly as he focused on the questions in front of him.

"HA-HA. Funny."

"Can you just try and understand how I answered those questions? You're distracting me."

Yuu scoffed, "Who distracts who aaaall the time?"

"Do me a favour and stay quiet for two minutes."

"I wasn't really talking to you, you know."

"Then... quit staring at me," Kousuke said with his notorious smirk.

"I wasn't staring at you!" And sure enough, that silenced Yuu, giving Kousuke enough time to finish answering the questions.

With curiosity filling her to the brim, Yuu tapped the desk with her fingers and looked at Kousuke with determined eyes.

"Tell me. Have we met before?"

The wind blew past and sent Yuu's fringe over her eyes.

Kousuke hummed as a ghost of a smile graced his lips. "I wonder."

"Tch. Just tell me already!"

"Nah," Kousuke smirked. Then, feeling her face heat up, Yuu turned away with a scowl on her face.

Day after day, Kousuke would tease her every chance he gets. And every night, she would write about her exasperated encounter with Kousuke in her diary.

One afternoon, Yuu passed him a handout, and their fingers inadvertently brushed. Yuu jumped away, whereas Kousuke only chuckled at her flustered expression.

Kousuke softly knocked Yuu's forehead with his knuckle, "Hey! Get over it already!"

"What was that for!" Yuu hissed.

Kousuke propped his chin over his arm on the table with an earnest look on his face. "Sorry, I won't do it again. I was just messing with you."

Taken aback, Yuu could only stare at him. 'Does he mean the one at the corridor, or what he did just now?'

The corner of Kousuke's lips twitched, and then he whispered, "Damn, your stare burns, you know." As soon as he said that, Yuu's face turned beet red and faint laughter erupted from his lips, reaching his eyes.

"Y-You!" Yuu smacked Kousuke's table while standing, "Stop messing with me!"

Kousuke's laughter echoed in the room, and everyone turned their eyes on the two.

Fuming, the teacher hit the board. "Osaka! Nakano! Step out!"

'Argh! Again?!'

Days went on with Kousuke teasing Yuu, and Yuu just never got used to it. But, before she realized it, an invisible thread of friendship had already connected them.

A few times Kousuke fell asleep, Yuu would find herself waking him up before class started. All the times she had to do that, Yuu couldn't help but admire just how enchanting he looked from his sleep. And every time Kousuke realized Yuu waked him up, he would playfully give Yuu a wink with a devilish grin.

"I could feel your eyes boring a hole in my skin, you know," Kousuke joked.

"As if I was watching! Class is about to start, idiot!" Yuu would always flush and quick to deny the accusation.

Other than the occasional interaction, Kousuke had not really made any big moves since. However, it felt as though she was being watched more. And that made Yuu guarded more than usual.

As expected, Yuu had become a popular figure in school. Although not the same popularity in her previous school as 'the daughter of a business tycoon', she was still very popular with the female population that liked the beautiful-boy-in-glasses.

Yuu would sometimes get ambushed in the corridor by girls wanting to talk to her, and she would indulge them for small talk, but never for too long. Too much contact, and she may give her secret away.

Despite the pain of having girls around, Yuu found it reassuring. This way, no one would doubt her gender. She was, after all, the beautiful boy in glasses!

"What are you snickering about? Stop it. You look like an idiot."

Yuu whipped her head to where the voice came from and glared at Kousuke.

"Huh?! Mind your own business!" Yuu hissed with a deadly glare. There weren't many students around, which Yuu was grateful for.

Kousuke propped his chin on his hand as he cocked an eyebrow. "Hey. Now I'm curious. What was so interesting? Tell me."

Yuu returned his expression with her cocked eyebrow and smirked. "Not telling you."

"Hey!"

"Nope!" Yuu turned with her own smile of victory. Since he didn't answer Yuu's question before, she wouldn't be so easy as to share her piece of mind as well.

While busy in her own thoughts, a strong feminine perfume flooded Yuu's nostrils she almost coughed.

With her face scrunched, Yuu looked around until her eyes landed on a feminine figure heading her way… no, the seat behind her.

Yuu recognized the girl. Mei Ayano. She was a few centimetres shorter than Yuu, but her figure was immaculate - large bust and slender frame.

Yuu turned away, grabbed a book from her bag and opened it.

"Nakano-kun, you haven't been hanging out with us lately," the girl's sweet voice sounded.

From the corner of her eyes, Yuu could see the girl flinging her legs in the air.

'Is she serious? Sitting on Nakano's desk?'

"I've been busy lately."

"Eh?!" The girl whined, "Then, how about tonight?" The girl said in a suggestive tone. "It's Friday after all."

"Sure. The usual."

"Yes! I'll let my friends know."

The girl then hopped off Kousuke's desk.

Was it just Yuu's imagination? Because it felt as though the girl flicked her long hair towards Yuu.

Hikari then entered the room as bubbly as ever, rushing to Yuu's side immediately. "Osaka-kun! I need your help with so– " Hikari suddenly stopped what she was saying. With a confused face, Yuu cocked her head to the side as she looked at Hikari.

"Osaka-kun… are you okay?" Hikari then felt Yuu's head with her palm.

"What are you doing?"

Hikari only gestured to look at the book in Yuu's hand.

Yuu followed Hikari's gaze and what she saw uttered her speechless.

The book she held was upside down, and the page was half-torn.

Pursing her lips, Yuu shut the book and smiled at Hikari.

"You were saying?" Yuu diverted the conversation.

"Ah! I need to get some consent forms from the faculty office. Will you come with me?"

"Yeah, sure."

Yuu stood up and headed for the door with Hikari when Kousuke's voice stopped her from taking another step.

"Hey! Osaka."

Hikari stepped behind Yuu, clutching Yuu's blazer. "N-N-Nakano-kun?"

"What the hell was that?"

Yuu, "What are you talking about?"

Kousuke took a few steps towards Yuu until they were only two feet apart.

The air around them felt chilly. Yuu couldn't help but compare it to the winter that just gone by. Then, as if she was treading on thin ice, she took a slow, steady breath in.

Hushed whispers erupted around them.

"Are they fighting?"

"Eh? Nakano and Osaka?"

"Scary."

Yuu remained standing as she looked Kousuke in the eyes.

"What's with the sudden cold shoulder?"

Yuu's eyes widened a tad bit with his confrontation as a weird sensation swerved inside her chest. "What are you talking about?"

That overly fragrant smell flooded the air again, and Yuu knew who was coming.

"Nakano-kun, don't scare Osaka-kun," purred the girl as she slipped an arm on Kousuke's waist.

Yuu couldn't help but breathe a chuckle as she looked away, the bizarre sensation inside her chest spreading.

Yuu turned away and grabbed Hikari's wrist. Then, with eyes narrowed, Yuu pulled Hikari out of the classroom, missing the sight of Kousuke clenching his jaw.