Unwanted Rendezvous

-Chapter 3-

"Your eyes are beautiful." His words reverted my voice from coming out.

Is he crazy? Who in the right mind would say that? This must be the reason why he's in this hospital.

But I suppose mental suits him better...

"What? No response? How lame..." He left my gaze and leaned on the bench. Truly, he is weird.

I made a bad decision going up. I was planning on going outside and taking a short stroll then coming back, but I ended up here, on the rooftop. I was curious about what the top floor looked like since it's my first time in this hospital.

That plan would have been good.

"I'm not trying to be rude about this but..." Even so, this person is quite interesting to be with. Other than his audible personality, he is a bit...normal compare to others.

"Do you perhaps have a stutter?" He once again faced me with his doe eyes. Does he think I am sick just because I don't talk? Is being quiet really that of a big deal?

What a weird thing to normalize.

"No."

Silence can indeed be loud at most. When I first heard of that phrase, I thought it was ironic. How can silence be loud when its definition is clearly the absence of sounds?

Turns out that I have misinterpreted it.

"I give up. You are one hard fella to talk to." Glad you knew. As if that idea wasn't obvious from the beginning. As far as I knew, I never actually wanted to talk to you.

"Say, what are you doing here?" But it seemed he has other plans.

Can this person's mouth shut up for an hour or something? Why do people have to be so talkative? Can't they just keep their thoughts to themselves? Seriously...

I can feel him getting closer once more, but I never budged for I knew that he might use it against me. I should have never gone here as I keep saying in my head.

He deeply sighs when I didn't answer his question and returned to his spot in the seat.

"How rude..." His murmurs were audible.

Don't blame me though...It wasn't me who tried to be so forceful to others. Learn your mistake.

Finally, I felt peace after a minute. Despite that, why do I feel different?

Why do I feel suffocated even though I'm clearly outside? It's like someone's hand was choking me from behind. Who was it?

It's so annoying...

I felt terrible...

"Oy, leaving so soon?" I didn't listen to him as I hurry my way inside the hospital.

I couldn't breathe for a while back there? What's going on?

It's not like I was cramped into a tight room with only a hole to gasp air. Why do I hate that feeling? I was used to silence...

How weird.

"You're back." Grandma and Yumeko-san were in the middle of a conversation when I arrived. I opened the door wider and walked inside.

"Did you got bo—Speaking of, Yuki!" When I slowly turned my head, I was Yuki arriving after me.

"Good evening Yumeko-san, Fujiko-san." Yuki knows grandma. They must have met before. I did skip a lot of days to help grandma, and I hardly try to remember people's identity.

"Good evening, Yuki. You arrive early today."

"I got bored. I had nothing to do today so I just went back. Are those cookies?" He pointed to the bag Yumeko-san was holding. I completely forgot about that.

"Yes. Yoruko made them for us. Would you like some?" Yuki took one and grab a bite.

"Wow! This tastes good!" He smiled in joy as he continues to much down the cookie. "Got any more?"

"I'm sorry Yuki but that was the last one. We already ate the rest." Yumeko-san placed the bag on the desk and wiped the excess crumbs in her hands.

"Well, that's a bummer..." What a child he acts.

"It's alright, maybe Yoruko will make more soon. Speaking of, I haven't properly introduced him." Grandma pulled me closer to her, moving me to face Yuki.

"This is my grandson, Yoruko."

"Yoruko...so that's your name." He raised his hand to me, guessing he was about to offer a handshake. "I'm Yuki."

I know your name already though...

I stared at his hand, contemplating whether I should shake it or not. It would be disrespectful since grandma was behind me. Not to mention I don't want them to think I have some bad blood about him despite just being introduced.

I do want to punch him for the accident but who am I to do that? I slowly raised my hand to which he surprisingly grabbed towards him and shook it violently. "Nice to meet you!"

I let go of his hand and quickly hid in behind me. This guy is a mess, I stand by it.

He joined grandma and Yumeko-san's conversation shortly after. Basically, they were talking about clothes in which I have no intention to listen. I have no knowledge about fashion so I can't quite blend in with them. But it wasn't a big deal anyway so let them be.

"Yoruko was offered to be a model once but he rejected it. He said he doesn't like it." Look, modeling is not for me. I don't want to be one at all. That guy was too persistent. Good thing he finally gave in afterward.

"Is that so? I mean he is qualified to be one. When I first saw I actually thought he was one." Does being tall and skinny consider one a model?

I mean, big-sized can also be one, right?

"But come to think of it, his style is a bit...lame." He tried to whisper the last part but was heard very clear by myself. Don't need to hide it, just it if you want to say it.

Shortly after, the door opens and enters the same woman who took Yumeko-san's check-up. It must be time for another one.

"Good evening Yumeko-sa—" The moment she lock eyes with Yuki, she froze along with him. "You!"

"What's u—OWW!" He was attacked by the clipboard in her hand. Her reflexes were fast that I barely noticed that she was very close to me.

"Don't you greet me with that look on your face! You've been running away for days and now you just smile at me like it was nothing?! You've already missed a lot of your check-ups!"

"I'm sorry okay..." His words felt forced if you heard them. How irresponsible...

"I'm not buying this excuse once more. Tomorrow you must proceed with your check-up or else it won't be just this clipboard that will hit you!"

"Alright, alright, mother." Once more, he had received another hit from the clipboard. "Could you stop doing that?!"

"Don't you dare talk to me like that. I know you, Yuki. You'll be gone again after this."

"I won't okay? Geez, that hurts you know..." He moves to his bed and laid down while the nurse proceeds to Yumeko-san's check-up.

How compelling...

That's how a normal conversation works?

.

"I took a lot of time from you two again...I'm sorry about that."

"How could you say that? It's alright."

It was time for us to go. The check-up had recently finished and in great timing, dinner was soon to commence. Grandma and Yumeko-san their last conversation of the day before leaving the room.

Yuki was in his bed covered in sheets when we left. I didn't give much attention to him after getting immersed in the book I was reading. I managed to finish it in time when we were about to leave.

We are on our way to the train station when grandma starts talking to me.

"We lost track of time again..."

"It's alright."

"You didn't get bored didn't you?"

"No. I was reading a book."

"The cookies were delicious. I remember when..." Her words continues but I was unable to answer them. I couldn't think of anything to say.

How do you respond after this? As much as I don't like this, I highly doubt grandma as well.

What should I say?

The station is getting nearer...

Should I try something...

...Maybe not.

She wouldn't mind it right? She is used to my demeanor. She won't complain if I shut my mouth...

'What? No response? How lame...' Why did that cross to my head?

I knew should have left earlier...

'I give up. You're one hard fella to talk to.' Yes, that's right. I am a person who's hard to talk to.

That's why this isn't a problem if I can't say anything.

This is who I am.

This i—

"You know, I think we shoul—"

"G-Grandma..."

Her footsteps decelerated and made a complete stop in front of me. "What is it?" Her eyes stared at me, unable to look away.

Why am I shaking? This is getting out of hand.

Come on, speak! She's waiting for your answer!

You have to say at least a word. Anything! Come on!

"I-I..." Do I actually have a stutter? Why does it feel so hard to talk?

Why is today so weird? I could speak normally to grandma but why can't I do the same today?

Am I...scared?

No! I can't be! That's gibberish! I-I can Talk! I know how to speak! I-I—

"It's alright Yoruko." I looked up to my grandma who was sincerely smiling at me.

No, It's not grandma. It was never okay.

"Don't push yourself to talk. Didn't I tell you the last this happens?" She went closer to me and held my hand as gently as she could. She brushed my hand like it was a glass—one wrong move and it might break. "Forcing yourself will make it harder."

There was nothing I could do at that point.

In the end, I never got to say anything.

.

I stopped going with grandma for about two days because of hectic schedules and deadlines we have to finish. Exams are coming soon and I have to review my notes.

I usually stay in the library to read and would meet up with grandma after she had finished her visit. I told her that she should just meet me at home but she insisted.

This routine of ours lasted for several days—turning into weeks.

I was in the library today, studying math. I soon finished it and went to the shelves to find a book to ease the time. My plan was to study two subjects a day every day until before the examination.

Since my schedule is finished and there is still more time till grandma arrives, I guess I better use it to read.

I found a very interesting book and proceeds to my seat to read it. As soon as I opened the book, I saw pen marks written on the sides of the book. They were quite blurry so I doubt this was written long ago. Some words were readable but it was still hard to understand what they meant.

I opened the rest of the pages and saw continued writings until the end. The one who wrote this must have taken notes about this book and forgotten it. As the last page enters, I noticed that the writer's name was written right next to the page number of the paper.

Weird...I felt like I'd seen this name before.

.

"You don't have to do this."

"What do you mean? Are you ashamed of me?"

"No, It's not that..."

"Then it means it's alright."

Grandma surprised me after school. She was on the gates, waiting for me to exit the buildings. I confronted her when I got closer to her and she simply smiled at me before walking towards our next destination—the hospital.

I didn't go to the library today per grandma's request. She said she wanted me to take a break from studying because she could see how dark my under eyes are getting.

"Yumeko-san might be waiting for you."

"Don't mind her. She knows I was coming today with you."

"But shoul—" Grandma turned around and immediately cuffed both my cheeks together.

"Yoruko, listen to me." She moved my head closer to her as she was about to give one of her famous lectures. Don't worry, this was the first time this happen. My face feels stretched right now.

"I don't know why you called me last night but I want you to know that if you want to say something, I'll listen." She removed her hands from me and fixed the bed hair I was still stuck with. "I won't laugh at what you say. It's a good thing to open up sometimes, don't you think so?"

To be honest, I myself did not understand why I even do that? What was the point of it?

I don't think I have anything to say at that time...

But why did I still try to?

Is it because of what he said?

I'm completely confused.

-AR PHANTOM-