2 Chapter 2

Sakino

I was never one to believe in love at first sight. The mere prospect of declaring love for someone by a single glimpse at their features could only be described as shallow and insensitive. However, my personal experiences in the past may have contributed to this biased opinion.

"Usagi-San, please go out with me!" I stared at the girl who stood across from me in the empty courtyard, watching her bow slightly as she spoke. While I didn't recognize her whatsoever, I had a hunch that she was a classmate of mine, or in the same year at the least.

"Why?" I asked, causing the girl to look up, visible confusion growing on her face. "Why do you want to go out with me? We've never even spoken to each other before today, if I remember correctly."

"Well, I had passed by you a few times in the hall and was immediately captured by your beauty. I couldn't stop thinking about you after that, and before I knew it, I had fallen in love with you!" That could have been easily thrown into a low-budget romantic comedy, and no one would even question it. While it wasn't worded for word, the message was all the same. She probably confused momentary desires for love at first sight, and now those confused feelings were getting the better of her. This was something I had seen countless people give in to many times over.

"I see. While I do appreciate your courage, I will have to decline respectfully." Giving a slight bow myself, I then turned around and began walking away before feeling the girl grab onto my wrist.

"Wait a moment, please! I promise I can make you happy, so please give me one chance!" Staring silent at where she was holding on to me, a sense of hope seemed to fill her eyes, as if she believed that I was considering her words. Shallow; it was all so superficial.

"Let go of me." Speaking firmly before tugging my hand away from her, the girl released her grip with a confused look on her face, seemingly surprised by her actions as well. Continuing to walk away from the courtyard and towards the school's front gate, she didn't try to stop me this time. Despite attending an all-girls academy, I found myself confessed to more times than I would like. I began to walk down the sidewalk, though I didn't have any destination in mind. The group I usually hung out with was busy with club activities, so I was left alone for this once.

"Sakino-Chan, wait up!" Turning to see one of the members of my friend group, Chiyo Koshikawa, I slowed down my pace so that she could catch up.

"Didn't you have drama club?" I inquired, watching as she reached back to tie her black hair into a ponytail. If I wasn't mistaken, her club did meet today, so maybe it was cancelled?

"Keep it a secret, but I'm leaving a little bit early to see one of the boys I had met at a mixer from before. His name is Teruo Kaori, a second-year at Uchiyama High. He's a starter on the basketball team and a total hottie!" As we attended an all-girls school, Chiyo frequently went to mixers and other events to branch out and meet boys from other schools. While I never bothered to concern myself with any other circumstances, Chiyo told me enough about her stories and experiences that I could say that I've been to a majority of events with her. Besides, considering all her complaining about the previous boys she hung out with, I couldn't help but feel as though I was dodging a rather large bullet.

As we continued walking, Chiyo and I eventually parted ways. While we were both heading towards the city centre, she was going towards wherever she was planning to meet the boy, while I was heading towards home. Approaching the tall apartment building, I made my way inside before getting in the elevator, which rose towards the top floor.

"I'm home," I stated as I stepped inside the empty apartment. If it weren't for the clutter and trash laying around the interior, it would have been a pretty nice place. Of course, since no one but myself would ever see what my home looked like, over time, I slowly lost the need to clean up constantly. Could I be blamed for becoming a little bit lazy with no one to keep me in check?

Setting my bag down in the hallway, I made my way over towards the living room before laying down on the couch. Staring up towards the ceiling, I slowly closed my eyes, finally relaxing for the first time today. While I indeed did have fun with the friends I hung out with at school, I had to wear a mask around the many people who thought I was a completely different person than who I was. At times, it became rather exhausting. Then, my phone began to ring, prompting me to pull it out and look at who was calling.

"Hey Chiyo-Chan, what's up? Did something happen?" I asked upon seeing her name and accepting the call. I was expecting her to be still hanging out with the boy she had mentioned earlier. Did that mean something didn't go according to plan?

"Well, let's say that Teruo seems to have already been seeing someone before asking to meet up with me. I don't have time for people like that, so I walked off shortly after meeting up. That being said, want to grab some dinner together? I hope you don't mind the others not being here, but it'll be my treat!" Well, it's not like I had any plans for dinner alone. Besides, it seems as though we'd have a lot to talk about tonight.

"Sure, I'll be meet you in a few minutes. How does the ramen shop sound?" After finalizing our plan, I quickly got changed into a more casual pair of clothes before leaving the apartment and heading towards the restaurant we agreed to meet. Upon exiting the apartment building, I probably hadn't even fully stepped out onto the main sidewalk before feeling someone crash into me, resulting in the two falling onto the sidewalk.

"Hey, watch where-"I began to say before catching a glimpse of just who had run into me. A pair of teary brown eyes stared up at me, somewhat covered by displaced strands of black hair due to the fall. Judging from her uniform, it was safe to say she was a high school student as well. Uchiyama Prefectural High School, the only other high school within close vicinity to this city area.

"Are you alright?" I asked, the annoyance of being bumped into quickly replaced with concern for the stressed girl. However, before I got a response, she was already back on her own feet and running away yet again. Slowly getting up and looking after her, I watched as she slowly disappeared within the growing crowd of people accumulating on the sidewalks. Well, that was rather unusual. I wonder what had happened for her to be in that state. Continuing to walk down the sidewalk until I reached the ramen shop, I stepped inside and looked around before spotting Chiyo sitting at the end of the counter.

"Hey, hope you didn't wait for too long." Taking a seat beside Chiyo, we immediately placed our orders, wanting to get our ramen as quickly as possible.

"Not really; I had just gotten here as well."

"That's good to know. So, what exactly happened with Teruo?" I asked while Chiyo let out a soft sigh.

"Well, after we had met up, we walked into one of the supermarkets since Teruo said he wanted to get some snacks. While I was browsing, I came back to find him talking with another girl, who looked to be from his school. Neither was expecting to see each other there, and when I got closer, it was clear that he was two-timing her by inviting me out. I wonder how many other girls he's doing the same thing too," Chiyo murmured while I remained silent, her voice slowly fading away into the distance.

I wonder if the girl in question was the same person I had run into some time ago. It would certainly match up the timing, and judging from the uniform she was wearing; she did go to the same school as Teruo.

"…About you?" Huh? Blinking, I glanced up at Chiyo, who was looking at me rather expectantly. Had she asked me a question, which I completely ignored?

"Sorry, I wasn't quite able to catch that. What did you ask?"

"Well, we always talk about my relationships and who I see all the time. Did you have anyone special to you that you might not have told me about?" While I knew her question was genuine, I couldn't help the small chuckle that left my lips.

"Special to me in a romantic sense? There's no one like that." As I said those words, what appeared to be an expression of relief quickly flashed over Chiyo's face.

"I see. Well, one day, you'll hopefully find the one person who you can fall in love with. Who knows? Maybe it'll be love at first sight." There it was again, that overused expression that has lost its meaning and value over the recent years. I was never a believer in falling in love at first sight, and I don't see that stance changing anytime soon. After all, love like that was nothing but a shallow misconception.

Right?