“ So she wants to avoid me, uh? ”
Houtarou kicked the nearest stone on the road. The stone was big enough to hurt his foot, but he feigned ignorance.
“ I didn’t expect Ki-kun to be a girl, so, was me not realizing it that made him.. errr, her angry? “
There were still students going home, their chatting seemed background music, seeing the lack of any vehicle around.
“ .. Nah, that’s not how the normal Ki-kun is. Should I go to the orphanage? But going alone is a bit.. That’s it! I’ll go to Ei-kun and we’ll go together. ”
It didn’t pass so much time, but Houtarou could find nothing but differences between now and how he remembered this streets.
“ Does Ei-kun.. even live there anymore? “
Step after step, he found himself in front of a somewhat familiar orange apartment.
“ Did they move? Before it was white.. “
Full of indecisions, Houtarou decided to ring the door bell. At worst, he could ask the new residents informations on Eichirou.
The door opened.
The person who came out was a boy around Houtarou’s age, blonde messy hair and blue eyes, even his clothes perfectly fitted his “delinquent” look.
“ No luck, uh. “
‹ Ehm.. sorry to disturb you, but.. do you happen to know where did the previous residents, the Ozuma, moved to? ›
An awkward silence followed. Houtarou stood there with his eyes closed and an hardly maintained smile, the “delinquent” instead had a his mouth wide open. And, maybe it was just Houtarou’s imagination, a pulsating vein on the forehead.
‹ ..Don’t tell me you can’t recognize your own childhood friend, Hou-kun. ›
Now it was Houtarou the one surprised and Eichirou the one smiling.
‹ Ei-kun.. you sure have changed a lot ›
‹ Yeah, you too. Why don’t we talk inside? I’ll give you something to drink too ›
‹ Proposal accepted. ›
.
.
.
The interior, too, slightly changed, but Houtarou paid it no heed.
Sitting in front of a table, face to face, the two drank some coffee while chatting, until..
‹ Anyway, I came to visit you because I wanted to know if you’d accompany me to
the orphanage to see Ki-kun. I just discovered that she was a girl and it seems she got angry for it, so I wanted to make up ›
‹ Aahahahha! Really? Don’t worry, that happened to me too, the first day of middle school! It was really embarrassing: I even bowed down in front of the orphanage, only that Ki-kun was out shopping, can you imagine? ›
Eichirou and Houtarou happily chatted as if those years when they were apart didn’t exist. Houtarou was truly happy of this, being able to remain friends, he thought maybe the three of them could go back to being together.
‹ Ahaahaahahah yeah, I can imagine it. Ei-kun, that’s totally like you ›
‹ Yeah, maybe, ahah. Back to the serious stuff, I can’t really help you Hou-kun.. sorry ›
‹ Eh? Why? ›
‹ Ki-kun and I.. aren’t friends anymore. ›
Houtarou’s brain stopped reasoning for a second. With just one sentence his hopes were shattered.
“ W-wait, let’s not get pessimistic.. maybe it’s something trivial and we can solve it “
‹ Can.. can you tell me what happened Ei-kun? ›
Eichirou bowed his head. Houtarou thought Eichirou did it because he made a question which brought back painful memories. Instead.. Eichirou just wanted to hide that wicked smirk of his. Just thinking back about that night made smile, but right now, he needed to keep up that facade. He couldn’t let this chance slip.
‹ Well, you see.. During our second year of middle school, Ki-kun and I.. went out together ›
Eichirou seemed about to cry, really great acting if I may say so.
“ .. Eh? “
But all Houtarou could think about was “ went out together “.
“ They went out together.”
‹ The happiest five months of my life.. at first it was all okay, but then I found out that she was cheating on me with a boy in his class, Makoto or something.. that really crushed my heart ›
Too many informations for poor little Houtarou made him capable of only muttering:
‹ Was that.. really Ki-kun? ›
Houtarou was shocked.
“ I thought he.. she, was better than that.. Ki-kun, you deluded me ”
Eichirou was euphoric; on the inside.
‹ Yeah, that’s what I asked myself too when I found out about it.. ›
Dumbstruck, Houtarou went home. He thought nothing between them would change. That they would be friends forever. Instead, what he found when he returned was only a wounded friend and a traitor.
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Kiyuta 