A few days passed as I indulged in writing day in and day out even tonight. The moment I woke up, I realized that I had fallen asleep at my desk. I stood up and my back hurts from the poor sleeping posture that I had.  I opened my curtain as my desk is only sitting beside my apartment window. It was still dark, the sun barely even rising. 

I checked the time and it was 5 AM in the morning. I prepared for school as I remembered that I have a morning lecture at 8:30 AM. I prepared early for the reason that I had something in my mind that I wanted to do before going to school. 

Winter’s fast approaching and it's getting colder these days so I wore a sweater and jeans. I’m very sensitive to cold weather resulting in me getting sick. While I was on my way out, I headed on to the parking lot to do maintenance work on my motorcycle as I won’t be using it today. 

I walked around aimlessly near the neighborhood. The place looked like a ghost town as a cold gust of wind blew to my face, messing up my currently long hair. The length of the front being just above my nostrils and the back almost entirely covering my neck. Should I get a haircut soon? But I look cool in this cut so I probably won’t. 

I ended up at a bridge above a small river surrounded by trees as the autumn leaves fell onto my face. Very fitting for the fall season. The lights surrounding the street beside the river perfectly exposed the vibrant colors of the leaves falling. A morning magic that only I was able to see. Or so I thought. Until I saw Hina. 

She walked towards me and said,

“Do you often come here?” 

“Not really. Just happened to wake up a little earlier than anticipated”

“Right. I never saw you around here during this time.” 

“So I guess you do this every morning, do you live near Hina?” 

“Not really, I just stumbled upon this place one time and I loved the view so I visit this place almost every morning right about this time.” 

Silence filled the air as the both of us watched the autumn leaves fall in the river. It was cold and the situation made my throat even more drier than it should be. It was an awkward silence, like one of us waiting for the other to say a word to cut the silence.

“So, how long have you known Shin and Yukino?” 

“Aren’t  you going to ask about the other three? Well, I guess you already know since we’re in the same class. I’ve known Shin ever since I could remember.”

“Then How about Yukino?”

“I met her in high school, though we didn’t know each other personally back then. I only got to know her this year. Thanks to you.”

“To me?”

“Yeah, anyway let’s go, we have morning classes.” 

“Hey, answer my question. Wait for me!”

She kept pestering me on the way to uni but I never answered and enjoyed teasing her until she gave up. It’s not like I can tell her how I blurted everything out to Yukino after she rejected me. 

We arrived a bit early so she went to meet up with her friends and I walked back outside headed to a nearby convenience store to grab a pack of cigarettes. On my way to the store, I sensed a presence following me throughout but didn’t  give it much thought as I was feeling sleepy, plus my back really hurts.

I bought a pack of cigarettes and as soon as I went back outside, a male figure greeted me with extravagant pointy eyes examining me from head to toe. This man is someone I know very well. 

“Mind explaining  to me what I just saw on my way to the university Aoi?” Said Haruto.

I walked a few meters away from him to not hold up a line at the entrance of the store. I lit a cigarette and started talking after hitting one puff from my freshly lit cigarette. 

“You mean how I went to school with Hina? There’s no explanation needed. Just like last time, we stumbled upon each other as I went for a morning walk before coming here.” 

“Hmm, that’s too much for a coincidence. So? What did you guys talk about?” 

“Nothing.”

He kept pestering me the entirety of the time until I finished smoking. I already gave him an answer to his question which in the first place, I’m not obliged to answer. We head back to the campus right after to attend our lecture. 

“So you do smoke?” 

“Yeah. Do you mind?”

“Not really, just a bit surprised.” 

That was quite a late reaction regarding my smoking agenda. I guess he’s that interested in what Hina and I talked about.  

Haruto went to his class and I did the same. We planned to stop by a diner later with the others so I hope he’ll keep his mouth shut. 

As I entered the lecture hall, Hina was looking at me the way Haruto looked at me earlier. I guess she’s still not over the topic from earlier.  What’s with people looking at me like that today? 

The professor, despite just finishing the midterm exams, is already talking about our final exam as the whole class already knew why. Our scores were mostly failing. We already received it through our online portal 2 days ago. To my surprise, I was one of the few students who passed. Barely, but I did. 

So for an hour and a half, our professor raged, as the veins on his forehead became completely visible even to me who sat near the back end of the hall. I wonder how Hina and the others did in their midterms. I bet they all passed without any problems. Unlike me, they’re probably smart. 

After classes, I waited for them at the open field inside the campus. To the very field where I got rejected. I sat on a bench and started writing my novel for the job just to pass time.

An hour passed upon checking my watch. I wondered what’s  taking them so long. I even hurried just to be here on time. Out of nowhere, Yukino was running towards my direction looking exhausted.

“Why are you still here?” Asked Yukino

“I’m waiting for you guys. Isn’t that obvious?”

“They’re already there c’mon. Check your phone dude!” 

I checked my phone and read all the messages. It seemed like they decided to meet at the diner instead. Looks like I was on time, but not on the right place. 

“Why didn’t you go with Hina? She’s already there.” 

“What? She’s coming too?”

“Of course. Anyway, let's go before they finish up.” 

We arrived at the diner as Arata, Kaito, Shin, and Hina looked at us wondering why the two of us arrived late. We quickly sat down across each other on a separate table for two beside their table. 

“Sorry, my uncle and I went somewhere for errands.” Said Yukino.

Again? They sure are busy.

“It looks like you two are getting closer to each other.” Said Shin pertaining to Yukino and I as she gave us a side eye acting all suspicious. 

“Yukino just happened to see me waiting at the wrong place so we went here together.” 

“It looks like Aoi is good at bumping into people” Said Haruto as a joke as all of them laughed except for me. 

I texted Haruto these very words as I looked at him with devilish eyes “Later, you’re dead.” 

Time passed by as we talked about random stuff. We were about to go home when Shin, out of nowhere, suggested that we should go drinking at my apartment. All of them looked excited so I was in no place to reject Shin’s suggestion. I guess I won’t  be able to write my novel tonight.