In a café in the busy city of Shibuya, three people were enjoying their drinks in silence while watching the outside world rush past.Among the three, one of them was a teenager.She was wearing a skirt with alternate blue and white lines running down that had a long flowy tail on the back end while it ended short on her knees at the front. Paired with flat, brown sandals, it gave her a simple but beautiful look.Right in front of her was a man in his forties. With a plain white t-shirt and a simple pair of blue jeans, he was the embodiment of simplicity but his handsome features made even those simple clothes seem like something valuable.On his left was a woman. Similar in age to the man. She was wearing a dress similar to that of the teenage girl but it was a bit mature with the color selection being black and the front part a bit more open. Although the woman was in her early forties, her looks and sharp eyes made her look somewhere in her early thirties.The man put the cup in hi
The exams were over and today was the day we will be heading to Kyoto for our week-long trip.You may all be thinking how amazing it was that we get to enjoy a week-long holiday but the reality is different from what you think.This trip is not just for the purpose of having fun but also for study purposes. From what Maki told us, it’s more like a joint camp where students from different schools come together and have a study exchange of sorts. And in between that study camp, we will get to visit different places in Kyoto. However, the study camp was only for us third-year students. The second and first-year students will come four days after we go, only to have fun.“Lucky them.” I cursed aloud as I made my way to the school with all the study materials and change of clothes and other necessary items I will need for the stay arranged messily inside my bag.When I reached the school, other students were already filling in the bus. And seems like I was the last one to arrive.Well, the
The air in Kyoto felt suffocating. Almost as if I would die at any moment.Although I was feeling uneasy, I did my best to not show it to others which worked well as no one noticed my condition.We got off the bus and following the guide and the teachers in front we were led to the reception for the registration process.The students let out voices of admiration, marveling at the sight of such a breathtaking and lavish-looking hotel.This was my first time inside here so I was also looking around the place. It lived up to its fame. When I was in Kyoto, the hotel we were currently inside was promoted in magazines and articles regularly as one of the best hotels one can find here in Kyoto. After witnessing the state-of-the-art facilities, I could definitely see that they weren’t exaggerating with their promotions.After the registration was done, we were each handed a key to our respective rooms.In this hotel, there were rooms ranging from one-person to multi-person rooms. Many student
This was the schedule for today:We will have a morning class from 8 am to 10 am which will be followed by a meal. Then after the morning meal, we will go on a short walk around the vicinity of the hotel for sightseeing. I heard people say that there was a nice hill from where you could see half of Kyoto.After that, we will have a small briefing session where different teachers and experts will give us lectures about choosing a suitable and practical career. All the other students were listening to the boring lecture while I, on the other hand, spent the whole of it sleeping on the hard wooden surface.By the time the lecture ended, it was already 3 pm which was the time for our lunch.Going in and out of the hotel countless times, the students were now familiar with the paths, and the number of students who got lost was less than on the first day.I, Yamamoto, and a bunch of other students from our class were having lunch together.It was the first time I had interacted with boys ot
I opened the door to see Aina standing a few steps away from me in her nightwear.I closed the door and stood there, facing her.It has been quite a long time since I last met Aina, face-to-face. After that incident in the class, after that slap that shattered the hopes that I didn’t have from the very beginning, we haven’t talked to each other. For me, I didn’t care. As for Aina, she cared to a certain extent that was why she was ignoring me. She was trying to avoid me. You don’t have to try or force yourself to ignore someone you don’t give a damn about after all.“Oh, Aina. It’s surprising. What brought you here?” I asked.She didn’t speak.I waited but she showed no signs of opening her mouth.Did she come here for no reason at all? I ended up thinking. If she did have something she wanted to say, then why was she staring at me silently? Does that mean what she has in mind is something heavy and hard for her to ask of me casually? If so, then she should have done some practice. Sh
Aina was surprised.She hadn’t expected anyone to be out here on the rooftop at this time of the night.But as she inched closer, with the help of the dim moonlight, she was able to see the silhouette of a person. Of a woman to be exact.“Oya, who do we have here?” The girl turned her head towards Aina, noticing her presence.When Aina saw her face illuminated by the moonlight, one word crossed her mind: beautiful.She had black hair with eyes the shade of mysterious purple. On the right side was a small reddish clip while a long tuft of hair cascaded down to her ample bosom on the left.As she stood there, entranced, the girl raised her eyebrows and started scrutinizing her.Then, after a while, as if finally, something had dawned on her, she spoke, “You are the girl from Kageyama’s school, no?”The word she just mentioned caused Aina to fluster for a moment. She had just now returned from Kageyama's room and she was trying to forget the conversation she had had with him. But hearing
I watched as Aina ran desperately and climbed the stairs.She was running away.I could see that. She had been running away for so long. I had noticed it a long time back. When she used to watch me with those eyes, with yearning. When she was with Miyamoto, she would gaze at him, longingly. Her gaze said that she wanted something more from him. Something that she wasn’t able to find in him. And that something was…me. In the first place, I think the reason she started dating Miyamoto was also me. Although I don’t know how exactly or why, but I believe I am not un-related to that matter.Shizuku Aina. A headstrong girl who doesn’t shy away from being brutally honest and telling them what needs to be said. Long brown hair and those eyes filled with determination.When I first saw her and started knowing her better, I had subconsciously started comparing her to Kaya. They were a lot similar. That was why I wanted to know just how similar they were. So, I showed her the dark side of me. Th
It has been four days since my late-night encounter with Aina. Ever since that day, she has been avoiding me constantly and there were dark circles under her eyes probably the result of thinking about things too deep till late at night. I have had a few conversations with Nakamura and Ito and spent most of my time in class with Yamamoto. Other than that, I have kept myself holed up inside my room listening to ‘Starting Over’ by John Lennon. Somehow I have found this song to my liking and for the past few days, I have been listening to this on repeat. I am now just waiting for another song to take over.Today is the fifth day of our study camp plus tour meaning the second and first-year students could be coming any time now. Or so I thought while going down for breakfast with Yamamoto and others in tow when we saw that they had already arrived.They were the same as us, looking around the hotel with glittering eyes. The only exception was Miyamoto. He was acting calm and was following