Akari Tachibana couldn’t stand to be left alone with discomforting silence. Silence just wasn’t her thing.

Instead, she loved:

Loud Teasing

Dramatic Gestures

Making Kuro in resistance of his will

That was a natural occurrence.

That was a familiar encounter.

Up until yesterday, however—

Things felt different.

Not in any obvious way.

No way that anyone else would view as anything but normal.

No way that anyone who didn’t watch Kuro Kurogane for as long as Akari had already noticed.

Suddenly she was afraid.

On the first day of the Kyoto Field Trip, everything was normal.

Students were laughing very loudly while goofing around in the shopping area of Kyoto, and teachers had a difficult time of staying awake because they were so tired, and Mina continued to hit on Kuro for entertainment purposes.

Everything was the same.

Only Akari kept catching small moments by herself.

Smallest of moments.

Moments that create a risk.

For instance:Kuro’s searching Aoi through crowds without even knowing it.

Aoi’s glances realising where Kuro was without him speaking.

The strange tension created when their eyes happen to meet.

And the worst part?

They both didn’t seem to reality of it yet.

But Akari did.

Every time Kuro was near her, she was aware of it.

"Kuro-kun!"

As Akari grasped onto Kuro, he attempted to concentrate on his partner and the team as they strolled through the busy streets of Kyoto.

"Can you please buy me some ice cream?"

"You already have food in your hand."

"But I need the dessert stomach fade."

"That is scientifically false."

Usually, he would sigh exasperatedly.

Usually, he would pay full attention to her antics. 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

But today - for just that split second - his attentiveness shifted elsewhere.

To Aoi.

Just for a moment.

But Akari noticed it.

And all of a sudden,yher chest started feeling tight.

Aoi was walking nearby with Rika holding bags of purchases.

As calm as she has always been.

As beauty-full as she has always been.

And somehow, that made it worse.

Because Aoi isn’t trying.

Aoi hasn’t been aggressively flirting with kind of like how Mina has, nor is she clinging onto Kuro like how Akari is.

However, Kuro’s naturally gravitating his attention towards Aoi now, which terrifies Akari the most.

Because now Akari realizes:

Aoi stopped pursuing Kuro; Kuro is now pursuing Aoi on his own free will.

While the students were at a riverside walkway, their teachers were getting the next sightseeing route ready for the class.

The students started to disperse and buy drinks or snacks.

Akari was sitting next to Mina on the bench looking at Kuro just across the street, not really paying attention to what he was doing.

Then Aoi strolled on over and sat next to Kuro.

There wasn’t any signal of flirty behavior.

Just close together without effort.

Like they belonged together with each other without having to try.

Kuro gave Aoi a can of coffee. Kuro gave it to her automatically. Aoi took it from him automatically.

It was a small gesture but very intimate.

Akari immediately looked away from this.

Mina noticed.

Of course, she noticed.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, obviously."

"Liar."

That was a direct hit on Akari.

Akari laughed out loud.

"You’re irritating."

"Your envy is irritation."

Silence fell between Akari and Mina.

Akari leaned back into the bench, her knees by her chest.

"Something has changed."

This caused Mina’s previous expression to soften.

"Yeah."

Akari continued to stare into the river.

"Aoi has changed."

"No," replied Mina softly.

Akari turned her head towards Mina.

Mina smiled sadly.

"She no longer holds back."

These words hurt Akari. She understood what these words meant.

Aoi no longer holds herself back with respect to her emotions.

She no longer holds herself back with respect to her romantic side.

And Kuro is starting to completely see Aoi for who she really is.

That night, the class went to a small lantern festival in Kyoto at the inn.

Students were strolling the food stalls throughout the vibrant and youthful street festival listening to laughter bounce off all the surfaces beneath the illuminated atmosphere creating a very "warm, beautiful, and romantic" feeling, which caused Akari to be filled with emotional instability.

She seized Kuro’s sleeve without notice,

"Where are you taking me?"

"No questions."

Kuro tried to resist, but before he had a chance to back out, Akari had already dragged him away from everyone and down the lantern-lined street until the noise from the festival started to fade out and was ultimately lost in the calm of the soft glow coming off the hanging lanterns as they arrived at their destination:

"You kidnapped me!"

"Yes!"

"Why?"

Akari stopped immediately.

She turned around and for once there was no loud smile on her face.

She appeared to be nervous, which made Kuro take a moment to pause before continuing with his questioning.

"...Akari?"

The soft breeze moved back-and-forth through the hanging lanterns above them and finally Akari asked without hesitation:

"Do you like Aoi?"

The silence that followed Akari’s question caused an immediate, and painful, halt in Kuro’s heart.

Akari was watching him carefully, not teasing him, nor joking around, but simply being fearful.

That alone caused Kuro to feel immediate pain in his chest.

"Why are you asking me that out of the blue?"

"Because I am not stupid."

That was a direct hit.

Akari let out a weak laugh.

"I know you better than anyone Kuro-kun."

Akari’s voice softened slightly.

"and lately you look at Aoi differently."

The silence after this statement caused Kuro to be unable to respond immediately.

The frightening part was she was telling the truth.

Akari faintly smiled.

Small. Delicate.

"See?"

Kuro’s heart sank painfully.

Because this was the first time in Kuro’s life that he had seen Akari look truly scared that she was going to lose someone really important.

Then quietly, as if she hated to say it, Akari said:

"I always thought I’d be first."

The lantern in her eyes reflected softly.

And all at once, Kuro realized something significant.

Aoi was scared of losing him silently.

Akari was scared of being left behind loudly.

Both women loved Kuro in their own unique way.

But both women loved Kuro just as strongly.

Then before Kuro could say anything back to her, Akari suddenly forced a smile back on to her face like she always does with:

"ANYWAY."

Mood whiplash.

"It’s festival date time."

"You are emotionally terrifying."

"Thanks."

"That wasn’t meant to be a compliment."

She laughs louder now... but Kuro can hear the sadness in her laugh and it never fully goes away.