Chapter 49: Chapter 49 - Who Makes You Laugh Like That?

At lunchtime , Kuro Kurogane was seated next to his classroom window quietly enjoying convenience store bread, while he struggled to mentally cope with all of life.

It was supposed to be a peaceful lunch.

At least it was going to be.

Then, Mina Fujikawa just appeared beside his desk in a very dramatic manner.

"Kuro-kun."

"Why do you sound like you’re about to do something dangerous?"

"Got an emergency."

"Go away."

Mina completely ignored him and just dropped her butt directly into the seat next to him.

She proudly placed two drinks down on his desk.

"One’s for me." "One’s for the emotionally constipated boy."

"That nickname is starting to evolve badly."

"Character development."

Kuro sighed under his breath as he accepted the offered drink without realising that he had silently smiled at Mina.

The only problem was that Akari Tachibana saw the whole thing from the classroom door.

With slow narrowing of her eyes, Akari marched toward Kuro and Mina with a fierce determination.

"Oh?"

Mina innocently blinked.

"Oh?"

Akari pointed an accusatory finger at Kuro.

"What did you mean by that?" Kuro froze as she drank her soda.

"Are you implying that I am doing something wrong?"

"Did you hear me?"

Akari leaned in closer to Kuro.

"You have been laughing with her more lately."

This struck Kuro hard.

Mina raised her eyebrows in confusion.

"Oooooh?"

Kuro looked away from both girls.

"No, I have not."

"You are lying."

"Actually, you are correct," added Mina.

"YOU ARE MAKING THIS WORSE FOR ME."

Akari crossed her arms and sat very close to Kuro as if she was claiming territory.

Kuro was completely trapped.

Kuro’s life was pure agony.

Meanwhile, Mina had been extremely smug today.This further frustrated Akari.

For recently, something had changed between the three girls.

It was how easy their conversations flowed; how quickly Kuro responded to Mina how natural the silence was when they were together.

Akari noticed every single one of these things.

She wasn’t sure how comfortable that made her.

Because comfort is much harder to fight than flirting.

Mina leaned in as she opened her pop.

"Are you coming out tonight?"

Akari’s eyes went wide.

"Tonight?"

Kuro blinked once.

"The update is tonight."

"Oh yeah."

Akari folded her arms and turned her head to Kuro, seriously betrayed.

"You guys are playing together now?"

"Yep! We spiritually bully people on the internet," beamed Mina.

"We lost 7 games yesterday," Kuro replied.

"UNIMPORTANT!" shrieked Akari as she turned and glared at Kuro.

She was not constrained by any form of embarrassment, flustering or tension.

Kuro felt secure in herself and at ease.

And when Kuro chuckled again after Mina clumsily dropped her drink onto the ground that was very quiet but very real, Akari’s chest tightened with the thought that Kuro’s laughter is occurring more often lately, and the majority of the times that Kuro does laugh, it is with or around Mina.

After school Akari immediately cornered Kuro.

When Akari said "Kuro-kun," Kuro replied,

"Why do I feel a sense of danger?"

"Let’s walk to a more private place."

" That sounds threatening."

Akari could have reasonably been truthful when she said that.

When Kuro sighed, he began to walk with her to the back of the school to the quiet path behind the school.

The cool wind was moving steadily through the branches of the trees, and the sounds of clubs practicing in the distance could be heard in close proximity to the school.

Then all at once, Akari stopped.

She stood in complete silence.

"What happened?"

Akari looked down away from Kuro.

That is very uncommon.

"Do you like being around Mina?"

Akari asked straight with no teasing, joking, or ambiguity

For some reason he felt as though that question could lead to serious problems.

Akari noticed immediately that Kuro was hesitating.

"I am just taking my time thinking."

"Which does not help."

"That is going to cause emotional problems."

Kuro nervously rubbed the back of his neck.

"Mina is very easy to talk to."

Akari looked down unclear of herself.

"Your smile appears more often when you are with her."

Again, Kuro heard the same thought.

He opened his mouth and tried to think of something to say and then quickly changed his mind about talking.

The unfortunate truth was he was no longer completely able to deny it either.

The silence that hung between Kuro and Akari at that point was now an answer to both of them.

She laughed weakly at the end of it.

Not exuberantly. Not animatedly. Just very small.

"Well, I knew."

Kuro’s heart tightened a little bit.

"Akari..."

And in one quick motion she faced him again, that big smile she usually has now back in place but too forced.

"Well duh she’s fun."

Again Akari poked him in the chest for emphasis.

"She’s loud, she teases you, she drags you outside and she practically kidnaps you from having a social life."

"That last one is definitely true!"

"Of course."

Then suddenly her smile starting to fade.

She firmly but quietly asked him.

"Are you still happy to be with me ?"

Kuro froze.

The wind, blowing through the trees of spring, was now a gentle breeze between the two of them.

This was one of those rare moments he hadn’t seen Akari looking completely unsure of anything.

"Are you still happy? "

Kuro had been shot and hit directly.

Kuro was now recalling childhood memories with Akari, late-night talks with Akari, her constant warmth towards him All the times she had tried to make him laugh.

Kuro had always had Akari there beside him; every single time in existence.

Except for this one crucial momentKuro realized that although he had been preoccupied trying to understand Mina’s feelings to such a degreehe had been neglecting to see how much Akari has been struggling as well.

When he answered her very honestly and straightforwardly, because of this, he created a huge amount of confusion and embarrassment for Akari.

Kuro looked back at Akari with calmness after she blinked at him a little bit.

"You make everything brighter."

Complete silence from both of them, then, when Akari’s face started flushing red.

"Was that supposed to sound ’cooler’ than it did?" She asked him confusedly.

"Probably," replied Kuro.

At this point, Akari turned her back on him, and started asking Kuro in a shocked manner, "You can’t just randomly spit out lines from romantic protagonists!"

"And again, I simply responded to you honestly," he said to her.

"That’s not the point!" she explained.

And then, Kuro unintentionally smiled at Akari again.

And both of them noticed, and, after a while in the sweetest of ways Akari returned his smile.

And even after everything, she realized, that that smile belonged to both of them.