Ch 29

POV Akari Nakano

"We don\'t have any ice cream in the park. We have to go to a shop." I told her when she stopped crying.

The little girl nodded and followed me to a nearby ice cream parlour. Just as I was about to order the ice cream the little girl blackmailed me again.

"I want a triple scoop of pistachio, strawberry, and mango. If you don\'t give it to me I will start crying again."

"Yeah yeah whatever," I said ordering the ice cream. I ordered one for myself as well. A candy is not enough to fill my stomach.

When our ice cream arrived, it hit me suddenly. I couldn\'t recognize it just by the names, but with the colour... This is just another coincidence, right?

"Say little girl what is your name?"

"I was told not to give my name to strangers."

"I-is that so." My smile cracked upon hearing her answer. "But you gave candy to a stranger."

"That is your fault. Did your parents never tell you not to accept things from random people on the street?"

"Then what do I call you?" I asked exasperated.

"How about \'Hime-Sama\'?"

I couldn\'t hold back my anger. "How about I tell your family about your deeds?"

Upon hearing my words, she quickly shut her mouth and focused on eating the ice cream."

What am I doing fighting a kid? What I call her doesn\'t matter right now. What I need to do first is ask about her ice cream.

"Can I ask why did you choose these three flavours?"

"My brother who only used to eat chocolate ice creams and cake suddenly changed his tastes. When I asked him why he told me it was because he ate this." She said licking her ice cream like an innocent elementary schooler. "But I still feel chocolate is better."

This cant just be a coincidence, right? While I was in thinking about how to broach the topic, she asked me a question that caught me off guard.

"What about you onee chan? Why were you sitting in the park all alone?"

What should I say to her? She is probably Makoto\'s sister.

"Actually, I got rejected by a boy I liked and was very sad. I went to the park for a change in mood."

"Rejected? If I knew, I wouldn\'t have blackmailed you."

Is this little girl pitying me? How low I have fallen, for an elementary schooler to pity me.

"Which grade is your brother in?" I asked a last question to confirm my suspicions

"Which brother? I have two." She replied innocently.

"The one who told you about the ice cream thing."

"He is in high school second year. You are asking way too many questions onee chan."

"Oh. Sorry. But you extorted so much out of me. Some questions are nothing much in return, right?"

It seems I was right. This is Makoto\'s sister. Talk about coincidences. I ran away from him after being heartbroken only to run into his sister to be blackmailed and extorted. I can\'t have a worse day even if I tried.

"Say, does your brother have a girlfriend?" I asked her, trying to make the most of the situation.

"No. I don\'t know of any."

He doesn\'t? So that really might have not been his girlfriend. Doesn\'t that mean I drove a wedge between them by acting like that? I feel worse now.

I didn\'t realize it then but I did feel a little relief after knowing that. After all, you can\'t let go of your feelings in just a day. But I do feel a little sad that my first love went unrequited.

These thoughts brought a tear to my eye which trickled down my face slowly.

"Onee chan people look ugly when they cry, and in front of others, you should show your best. That is why you shouldn\'t cry in public. That\'s what my brother told me."

Her words made me smile, despite my depressing thoughts. Is that something Makoto told to stop his sister from crying out loud?

"Was it also your brother who thought you how to take advantage of people?"

"Not exactly. But he told me that people who are most likely to be forgiven are children, and the second is cute girls."

"Pfft" I couldn\'t hold back my laughter at that.

What the hell is he teaching his sister. No wonder she turned out to be such a devil.

After chatting with Makoto\'s sister my mood did turn better. Telling somebody about your problems feels like taking a load off your shoulders.

Soon we both finished eating our ice-creams.

"Goodbye one chan. If we meet later please treat me again." Makoto\'s sister said waving her hand.

This girl will never really change, will she?

"We\'ll see if you are able to extort it out of me." I shouted my response.

.

.

.

After separating from Makoto\'s sister, I spent the next few hours roaming around from shop to shop eating the snacks and sweets that caught my eye. Nothing like having junk food when you\'re depressed. That night I went to sleep without having dinner because my stomach was already full from the extra stuff I ate in the evening.

*******************************

POV Shinji Makoto

Sunday came by, and I spent the whole day lazing around like any student \'should\'. Who studies right after exams anyways?

After my failed attempts of trying to reach Nakano by phone, I finally gave up. Either she is excessively mad at me, or her phone is just completely discharged. Phone getting discharged, lost, or broken is a very strong cliché afterall. Well, I can just clarify everything on Monday like Tsukumo said. I don\'t really have another option.

When I think about it, isn\'t all of this Shimabukuro, Nishikawa, and his sister\'s fault? All I did was to try to protect Nishikawa and Shimabukuro and just got caught at a bad moment. I mean, I couldn\'t have really avoided it by changing something. Life just really gives you the short end of the stick sometimes, doesn\'t it? All you can do in such situations is just face it calmly.

At night I got a message from Nakano. Finally.

.

<Sorry, I didn\'t see your messages until now.

My phone was not with me.

Also. Sorry about yesterday.>

<No. I am the one who should be saying sorry.>

<For what?>

<I mean, for upsetting you.>

<Wasn\'t it me who flipped out randomly.>

I am really sorry.>

<I don\'t mind. It\'s alright.>

<But I made things awkward for you two

Really sorry.

I will apologize to her in person if you want.>

<No need for that. It\'s fine.>

<Really?>

<Umm? Yes.>

.

Her tone seems normal while chatting. Is she not angry anymore? Is this how things normally go during misunderstandings? I thought misunderstandings were a real pain in the ass to resolve. I guess manga and anime are not good examples to follow in real life.

Anyways, It seems my hunch was right. It was not that she saw the messages and didn\'t respond, she just did not have her phone. Then again, she might be lying to hide her true feelings.

Aagh. I scratched my head in frustration, trying to guess her mental state. This is why I don\'t like chatting online with people you know in real life. I can never tell their true motives just from their messages. Since their faces and expressions are not visible, I can\'t even use the \'Absolute Perception of the Heart\' to read her.

The biggest question right now was why was she apologizing? For shouting at me? But she has never once apologized for scolding me before. While re-reading our chat I noticed a line that I missed previously. What did she mean by making things awkward for both of you? I didn\'t know what she was apologizing for. At the very least she realizes it wasn\'t my mistake.

After a couple of moments of thinking…

Ohh Shit. Does she think me and Haruno are actually a thing?

I messaged her again telling her that it was just a misunderstanding, but no reply came.

Goddamn it! Did she go to sleep?

"Haah." After a few moments of waiting with no reply I sighed in resignation.

I guess misunderstandings really are disgustingly hard to clear up.

*****************************

POV Haruto Nishikawa

It seems I was quite early to arrive to the class today. When I entered, only a few people were there inside.

"Good morning Hiwari san" I said, greeting her.

"Good morning Nishikawa kun." She replied with a smile.

Hmm? Her tone is normal. Is she not angry anymore?

"Umm. Hiwari san. Really sorry about what happened in the infirmary."

"Ah. It\'s alright. It was me who got angry for no reason."

She really doesn\'t seem angry anymore. The problem was solved on its own. Then what was the point of getting a gift for her?

.

.

.

During lunch break, when I told Makoto kun about how everything got resolved on its own and how the gift selection was useless, he replied nonchalantly, "Isn\'t that good? You can still give her a gift which will improve your relationship with her."

"But how? Wouldn\'t it be creepy if a person whom you don\'t really know just comes up to you and give you a gift? What if she asks me how I knew today was my birthday?"

Upon receiving no reply, I turned my head. Makoto kun was staring out of the windows with a listless expression.

I guess he has problems of his own as well. Actually, I did feel like something happened between Nakano san and Makoto kun, but upon asking him he just dodged the question.. Well, if he doesn\'t want to share it I won\'t pry into it.