Chapter 56: Chapter 56 - The Girl Watching Quietly

Rika Saionji really disliked places that are too loud.

It’s why she did not enjoy the rooftop of the school during lunch.

Everything about the lunch hour on the rooftop was too loud, too many people and too much chaos.

And to make it worse Kuro Kurogane had been sitting in the middle of that chaos.

Akari was hanging on his arm in a dramatic way.

Mina was taking food out of his lunch box.

Aoi was sitting quietly next to him as though she were some kind of supportive wife who had already won him over emotionally.

Meanwhile, Kuro looked done.

’Why are you all here at the same time?’

Mina said, ’Because of love.’

’Do not summarize my suffering with one word.’

She was right.

Nearby, Rika was pretending to read the same page for five minutes in order to be able to avoid seeing this.

The truth is the last few days, watching Kuro with all of them had hurt in a strange way.

It was not painful enough to be heartbreaking but enough that there was a weight in her chest.

And the worst part?

She knew why.

Before she met Kuro, romance existed in books.

It was predictable, safe, and fiction.

Rika enjoyed watching people in a relationship from a distance.

In manga’s, novels, and stories.

All the feelings seemed to be organized in those forms.

Now every time Kuro smiled with someone else naturally, her chest would feel like it was going to burst from the pain it was causing her.

It was very inconvenient.

"...Saionji-senpai?"

Rika blinked gently.

Kuro glanced towards her from across the rooftop.

"...You have been staring at one page for the last ten minutes."

Direct hit.

Rika immediately closed the book in a calm fashion.

"...I was thinking."

"A dangerous hobby," Mina muttered.

Rika ignored her like a professional.

Then suddenly Kuro made a small gesture beside him.

"...Do you want to sit?"

Simple invitation.

But for some reason Rika’s heartbeat reacted embarrassingly fast.

Absolutely pathetic.

Totally pathetic.

But still Rika quietly stood up and walked to sit near him.

Not too close. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

Not too far.

Safe distance.

Hopefully.

Pandemonium resumed almost immediately.

Akari pointed at Rika with great enthusiasm.

"Warning! He is now a natural woman magnet!"

"I noticed," Rika answered with calmness.

"Why am I being talked about like an environmental disaster?" Kuro said while holding his forehead tiredly.

"Because of your impact on women," Mina answered him with honesty.

Which was correct.

Then suddenly Aoi wordlessly handed Rika a cup of tea.

"...Here."

Rika blinked again.

"...Thank you."

Afterwards, the atmosphere barely softened again.

The combination of the warm sun rays, the chatter at lunch, and the comfortable sounds created an environment that was warm.

And Rika unexpectedly found herself smiling slightly.

Being with these people and in this environment felt very good, although it was his presence that added the most to her enjoyment.

A little while later, Kuro arrived at the library to return some books and saw Rika there. Rika was quite busy - organizing the returned items, pleasant and stable in their setting until Kuro showed up.

"You are back again" he said holding a couple of manga books.

Rika’s heart skipped a beat as she heard him.

A stupid organ.

"Generally, libraries are for books", Rika replied in a neutral fashion.

"Valid point."

Then without any thought whatsoever, Kur walked over to her and started helping her to re-organise the books.

No second thoughts whatsoever.

As if he belonged with her.

This motherf*cker was now warming up her chest with pain because of this realisation.

Several minutes later, as there was still very little light in the room allowing Kuro’s face to look exceptionally handsome, he suddenly picked up a romance manga and asked Rika...

"This is a good book, is it not?"

Rika instinctively looked at the book, but then suddenly froze in place.

"...You read that book?" she asked incredulously.

"...Perhaps", Kuro replied.

"That’s way too embarrassing."

"You happen to own three copies of that book."

Direct shot to the heart. Rika immediately looked away.

"...That is only because I am a collector", Rika said.

"...Suspicious defence." Kuro responded.

Then without any warning, Kuro chuckled.

It was a soft chuckle.

A real laugh.

And shockingly enough, Rika fell in love with how he laughed immediately.

Dangerous development.

Real dangerous.

Then again out of the blue Kuro asked...

"You’ve been quite a bit quieter the past few days, haven’t you?" he said.

Rika froze again. This is the second time he noticed something about her.

Kuro always notices even the smallest of details.

"Have I?" Rika asked in a dazed manner.

"Yes," Kuro said.

Silence.

Rika slowly replaced another book in its proper place.

"I’ve just been thinking."

"About what?"

That was a direct question. A dangerous question.

Rika silently looked at the books.

Because, honestly, the answer was him.

His smile.

His kindness.

How he listened to her.

How easy it felt to be next to him.

Then softly she partially answered honestly.

"About feelings."

Kuro blinked, slightly.

"That sounds serious."

"It is."

Silence softly settled.

Then, without warning Rika gave a small, beautiful smile.

A little lonely.

"Romance is easier in manga."

Kuro quietly looked at her.

"Why?"

Rika hesitated for a moment.

Then answered softly.

"Because real feelings are messy."

That was a direct truth.

The significance of the words lingered softly between them afterwards.

Because they both understood.

Very much.

Then suddenly the sound of voices echoed from the hallway of the library.

Akari’s loud, obvious voice called out first.

"Kurooo!"

Immediately behind her was Mina.

"Found him."

And finally, Aoi’s calm footsteps behind them.

At the same time, Rika looked toward the doorway, and all three girls came into view.

There was nothing but silence.

In that moment, the entire energy in the room changed instantly.

Not hostile, but heavy.

Because now the emotional energy around Kuro was apparent to everyone in the room.

And slightly outside of that energy, Rika suddenly knew something painful.

She knew she wanted to be in that energy.

Akari immediately hugged Kuro’s arm and pressed against him dramatically.

"There you are."

Mina gave Rika a small glare.

"...Library date?"

"...Returning a book."

With Aoi casting an eye this way and an eye that way between Kuro and Rika.

The soft atmosphere which surrounded both of them.

Kuro at the same time sighed out.

"Why is everybody tracking my location now"

Because according to Mina, there is no privacy when it comes to romance anime.

But that was a fair enough point.

As the five of them slowly left together Rika was a step behind, just watching.

Watching Kuro, as he was weak laughing from the girl’s chaos again

Just how naturally the girls would all move to Kuro.

And Rika felt something in her chest tighten.

Because, at some point along her path somewhere along her path Kuro Kurogane stopped feeling like words in a story any longer.

And he became someone whom she now truly wanted.

And then, almost like it was no longer something anyone would hear Rika whispered to herself.

"I have already begun falling have I not?"

And unfortunatley Rika already knew the answer to her question.