Trust

Akito's pov:

"Akito, wake up sweetie, you're gonna be late for school!" I hear my mom shout from somewhere downstairs.

Ughh, my head. I feel horrible.

I get out of bed and slowly make my way downstairs, leaning against the wall so I don't fall.

"Morning sleepy hea- Aki! Your head." my mom shouts in the middle of her greeting.

I guess she forgot about last night, I mean she was pretty tired.

She asked me about my head and suddenly just changed the topic to how my hair looked before I could even answer her.

"Yeahhh, that's kind of a long story." I nervously say to her.

"Did you hit your head somewhere?" she asks as she once again, examines my head.

"Mom, you did this last night, calm down."

"Did... what last night?" she asks, confused.

"Treated my wound and wrapped this bandage around it," I say pointing at the bandage.

"Oh, I guess I must have forgot."

She takes a seat at the kitchen table and places her head in her palms.

I know my mom's worried about me and already has a lot on her mind as is.

She's so drained that she can't even remember what happened last night. She didn't even eat, she just passed out on the couch.

"It's okay mom."

"What happened though?"

"On my way back from the store last night, I helped a girl in the alley who was in trouble. The guy who cornered her, took a glass bottle and knocked me right on my head."

Damn, telling the story of what happened sounded a lot better in my head.

"Akito! Are you sure you're alright?" mom asks, her voice laced with concern.

"Yeah, mom. I'm sure. Just a bit dizzy, but I'll be fine." I reassure her.

"That was really brave of you Aki. I'm proud of the fact that you were able to stand up for that defenceless girl. I really raised a strong boy. But you need to be more careful. That man could've done so much worse to you."

Okay, woah!

Instead of shouting about how reckless I was, my mom actually thinks I was brave, and strong!

"Thanks mom, I'll be more careful next time. And yes, you did a very good job raising me." I laugh as I give her a big hug.

"I'm sure you will. Now go and get done, you're gonna be late. And be sure to take it easy today, Aki."

"I will mom!" I nod reluctantly.

"Akiii!!!!"

Probably should've thought about the fact that I have a crazy overprotective girlfriend waiting for me at school.

Though I don't want to worry her too.

"M-morning, Yumeko" I greet awkwardly.

"What the hell happened to your head."

She aggressively grabs my shoulders and starts to shake me.

"I. Hit. My. Head. When. I. Got. Out of the shower" I say as she shakes me.

"Really?"

She suddenly stops and just stares at me with a 'did you really just say that' kinda stare.

Crap, She thinks I'm an idiot...

"Yeahh?" But it came out more as a question.

She takes her seat in the front of the class and places her head on the table.

"Is everything alright" I ask her nervously.

"You really hit your head when you got out of the shower? How clumsy can one person be" she groans.

If I actually told her the truth, she'd lose her marbles and, one, kill me for being reckless and two, think that I have some relation with that girl from the alley.

Besides, me hitting my head as I got out of the shower makes sense. I can be a bit spacey most of the time.

Not that that's a good thing.

I bend down infront of her table and pat her head, to which she responds to with a slight smile and red cheeks.

She really loves head pats and is super adorable when she smiles like that.

"Hey dork" I hear coming from behind me.

Minami...

Can only be him...

"Hey Mina..mi-"

Okay this is definitely not Minami.

It's someone from another class, and they aren't speaking to me, they're talking to... Yumeko?

"Hi, I didn't expect you'd come to my class." Yumeko say's getting out of her seat.

"I guess I'm just full of surprises." the guy says with a smirk.

Okay, who is this guy and why are they so comfy with one another?

"Uhh, who is this" I ask Yumeko.

"Oh, Aki, meet Kenji. He's from the class right down the hall."

"Kenji?"

"Hey, Aki. How's it going?"

He seems friendly enough, but I can't shake the feeling that this guy's sizing me up.

"It's going." I reply curtly, not wanting to engage in small talk.

Yumeko notices the tension between us and steps in, her voice smooth as silk. "Hey, guys, let's not fight. We're all friends here." She smiles at me, her eyes sparkling with warmth. "Aki, you're being a bit grumpy today, aren't you?"

I force a smile, feeling a twinge of guilt. "Yeah, sorry about that. I'm just a bit tired, I guess."

Kenji nods sympathetically. "Yeah, I know how that is. Sometimes I feel like I'm running on empty too."

Ya don't say...

"I'm gonna go and find Minami." I grunt as I make my way out.

As I continue to get lost in my head, I feel a light tap on my shoulder from behind me.

"Touka, hey..." I nervously greet.

"How you doing Aki? It's been a while."

She puts her arm around my shoulder and gives me a soft smile.

For Touka to smile like that, I bet there's a massive tsunami or natural disaster going to occur.

Because something like this, doesn't happen too often.

I mean she does smile, just not at me.

"I guess it has."

"You still looking after Yumeko?" she gives me a stern look.

"Yeah, Of course" I mutter.

"What's with that tone? Did something happen with you two" she asks letting go to stand infront of me.

"No, nothing happened. She's in class with some guy" I say as I try to make my way past her.

"And you just left her there alone with him" she questions.

What was I supposed to do? Stay there and have them continue acting like I don't exist.

I think not.

"Yeah, they seem to be getting along well." I say as I force a smile.

"Wow, the trust you have in that girl is amazing. Any other guy would've stood there and kept watching them like a hawk" she says kind of excited.

"Yeahhh, I guess so."

Maybe Touka's right. I should probably just calm down and trust Yumeko. Besides, if she freaked out the way she did because she thought I was cheating on her, then there's no way she'll do what I'm thinking of.

At least I hope so.

Girls tend to be kind of a mystery if you don't know how to read them correctly.

"Where are you off to by the way" Touka asks.

"Oh, I'm actually looking for Minami" I say scanning the hallway.

"He's in the library. I passed him a while ago" she says pointing in the direction of the library.

"Thanks. I'll go get him then."

"Sure. See you around Aki," she says as she waves goodbye. "Be sure to greet everyone for me."

Maybe I over exaggerated when I said she was creepy looking. She's actually not that bad.

Touka used to be a huge part of our friend group and Yumeko's best friend until a few months ago.

She's still Yumeko's best friend, just not necessarily part of the group anymore.

Not that any of us don't want her to be...

She joined a music club and it's taken all her attention since.

She really has a passion for music and dreams of making her own some day.

Anyway, back to my quest to find that nerd of a friend of mine.

"You're probably overthinking it. Yumeko is head over heels for you, there's no way she'd let that guy do what you're thinking" Minami insits.

"I guess you're right. Oh, I ran into Touka this morning when I went looking for you."

"Man! It's been a while since I last saw her" he chuckles.

"Yeah. She seems to be doing okay."

"Things don't feel the same without her, huh? Her awful sense of humour really was a big part of us" he laughs.

"You should go visit her sometimes. You know she's always in the music club, so just stop by and say hi" I implied, getting up from the bench.

"Will do. By the way, where's Yumeko? She was supposed to be here about five minutes ago" Minami questions.

I guess I didn't really notice.

But he's right, she was supposed to be here already.

"I'll go look for her, you gonna wait here?"

"Sure. Be quick!"

Where is she?

I've searched the cafeteria, the classroom, and the library but still no sign of her.

"Oh shut up, you're lying!"

I hear a familiar voice say from the top of the stairs.

I follow after it and find Yumeko... with that guy again.

They're laughing but at what?

I decide to stay hidden a bit and follow them into an empty classroom down the hall.

"Man, if I didn't know any better, I'd say you totally suck at gaming, Yume" the guy says.

"I know right! Luckily you got to see me in action!"

Yumeko's a gamer?

But I thought she found it distracting...

"We should hit up the arcade again when you're free" the guys implies.

"Sure. Just don't cry to me when you lose" Yumeko smirks.

At that very moment, seeing Yumeko smile at him the way she did... My heart felt like it was gonna come up out of my throat.

I loosen my tie around my neck and turn around to walk away but a student bumps into me and drops his books to the ground.

The sound of the books hitting the ground echos through the halls.

"I'm sorry" I apologise to the boy as I hand him his books.

"No worries." He walks off without saying another word.

"Aki?"

"Oh, hey. There you are"

"Yeah? What are you doing here, aren't you supposed to be with Minami on the roof?" she questions.

"I am, but I came looking for you. You were supposed to meet with us ten minutes ago." I state.

"I was just on my way to you guys, there were just a few things I had to do real quick."

"Imma head out, Yume. We'll catch up later" that guy says as he dissapears down the hall.

"Sure." she says waving at him.

"Were you with him?" I ask her.

"Kinda, he wanted to ask me a few questions is all." she calmly states.

"Oh, that's all?" I question.

"Yeah," her eyes move up and down like she's scanning me as she draws closer "why are you so untidy? Your shirt's untucked and your tie is a mess" she sternly states.

"Yeah sorry, I did just bump into someone" I nervously respond.

She fixes my tie and kisses my cheek.

Her smile after she does my tie, makes me feel flustered.

But for some reason, I just can't shake this uneasy feeling.

Days go by with Yumeko and Kenji running off together and laughing.

He even went to her house whereas I, her boyfriend, has never even set foot there or met her parents.

I began to suspect something was going on and eventually, I worked up the courage to ask her about it.

After school, Yumeko and I take our regular route home through the park and stop for icecream on the way.

"One chocolate and one strawberry please" I order from the guy behind the cart.

He hands me the ice cream and after paying, I meet up with Yumeko sitting on a bench under the tree.

"Here, I got you your favourite." I say as I hand her the strawberry ice cream.

"Thanks, Aki."

"Hey, Yumeko... There's something that's been bugging me lately and I wanted to talk to you about it" I say, my voice shaking.

"Sure, what's on your mind?" she asks politely.

I take a deep breath before continuing...

"That guy you're always with, who is he to you"

"Ah, you mean Kenji? He's just my cousin, Aki," Yumeko replies with a smile, taking a lick of her ice cream. "We haven't seen each other in a while, so we were just catching up."

I feel a wave of relief wash over me.

Cousin, that's all. I was worried for nothing.

"Okay, that makes sense," I say, trying to sound casual. "I just didn't know you had a cousin at this school."

"Yeah, we're not super close or anything, but we're related," Yumeko explains. "He's a nice guy, don't worry about it."

I nod, feeling a bit silly for overreacting earlier. "Yeah, no worries. I just wanted to make sure."

Yumeko looks at me with a curious expression. "You were really worried about it, weren't you?"

I shrug, trying to downplay it. "Maybe a little."

"You're the one I love, Akito. No other man is ever going to get in the way of that, okay." her voice soft as she places her hand on mine.

"Yeah. Sorry for making it weird, I guess." I nervously chuckle.

Yumeko laughs and pokes me with her elbow. "You're so cute when you're jealous, Aki."

I roll my eyes, feeling my face heat up. "I'm not jealous, I was just concerned."

Yumeko smiles and leans in close. "Whatever you say. But don't worry, I'm all yours. Afterall, we finally shared our first kiss didn't we..."

I feel my heart skip a beat as she whispers that in my ear.

Yeah, I'm definitely overreacting. Yumeko is mine, and I'm hers.

No need to worry about some random guy.

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