Fragments part 2 - Hikari

“Aki-chan~!” her voice echoed louder than the wordless whisper of the crowd. Why people with high-pitched voice always didn’t know how to control their voices.

“Aki-chan~!” I could feel her cheekily grabbed onto me and I swerved a little to my side. Damn brat!

“Why are you here?”

“That’s rude, Aki. I just came here,” she said pouting already. After all the years of knowing her, this girl pouted a lot more than any other girls would. “Besides, would it be so bad if I’m here? Ah!” I paced up before her, ignoring her, leaving her behind. “Aki, matte! Mou…” There, another pout, I guessed. I didn’t need to turn at her to know this.

I heard her footsteps trailing behind me and she paced to catch up. “Nee, Aki. You are becoming more and more emotional lately. Being emo is not good for your health, you know. You should go and have some fun sometimes! Do you want to go watch a movie with me?” And she muffled up some title which I could not grasp.

“I don’t want to watch movies with you,” I deadpanned.

“Hidoii!!”

I left her behind again and it took her less than a second to grab onto me again. “Nee, Aki,. I guess I figure out what you need.” For a second I eyed her from the corner of my eyes without turning and looked in front of me again. “You just need something to spice up your life, something that will give you new experience, new feelings, new expression to this stoic face of yours.” She poked my left cheek with her pointing finger and laughed her usual annoying Thehehe. I scoffed in disdain.

“You know, Aki, you need a guy in your life.” My eyes widened in surprised as her voice trailed away with a strange echo. Instinctively, I whacked her hands away from my arm.

“I’m not interested in meaningless talk, Akari.” She giggled as I rushed forward getting into the tunnel. She followed me like a shadow, into the darkness where I walked.

“Life has been so cruel, so cruel that it will freeze one heart. Someday, Aki, a person, a person will come to save you and thaw your heart away. Indeed, like the light at the end of this tunnel” Baka onna da. The books she read were getting to her head. I stepped out of the tunnel heading to the railway tracks. The bell of the railway chimed and the railing began to fall slowly across the path.

“Aki-chan, don’t you agree with me? You cannot lie to me, Aki. I always know that you are – “

“Enough, I don’t want to listen anymore to this!” I screamed at the top of my voice. The people who stood waiting by the railing stared as if a horn had just grown on my head. Akari whistled to herself, ignoring me. Damn, she purposely did it! I hate her! I stared at my feet flustered.

“Nee, Aki-chan, mae wo mite goran...

...Hora!

Are wa kimi no hikari da.”

I lifted my eyes to see a dark figure in front of me, standing still at the other side of the track. His dark jacket matched with his raven coloured hair which hung loosely innocently on his head. No one had that kind of haircut anymore. Not after they graduated from school. But this person in front of me chose to stick to the fashion as if the time had been stagnant. And those nerd looking glasses… I imagined this guy had issues with his past memories.

“Murakawa Shiki,” Akari said. “ No, Shiki-senpai, darou? Always innocent, warm and kind. I know he would suit your type, Aki.” I glared at her as she said it but it only made her giggle more. I turned away, in shame looking back at him who was than looking thoughtfully at his watch.

“Really, Aki. You think I didn’t know why you choose to go back on this route. You will find Shiki-senpai coming back from his part-time job on the way. Always looking silently and keeping things to yourself. You should learn to express your feelings a little bit.” There was a sad tone in Akari’s voice, a reason I didn’t answer her this time, a reason I had gazed sadly on senpai’s face.

The sound of the train grew louder and I could feel how the ground shook as it sped up past us, blocking our sight with unbearable but enticing blur. Just before it did, I caught Shiki-senpai’s eyes on me, noticing me, smiling at me.