“So this is Aoi’s apartment. It’s surprisingly big, are you an undercover rich kid who hangs out with a peasant like me to not blow your cover?” Said Haruto while looking up at the apartment in awe. 

“It’s not like the whole building is mine. Also, I’m neither a rich kid nor a peasant. I’ll go buy us some drinks and snacks. You guys go in first.” 

I handed the keys to Shin as she’s already been here numerous times to a point that she already knew every corner of this apartment. 

“Let me go with Aoi. I’ll help him carry the stuff.” Said Hina.

Just like the rest of them, I was also surprised. What’s  bugging me is that they might get the wrong idea like Haruto who is giving me a suspicious look right now. Well, I guess if I act normally, they wouldn’t get the wrong idea. 

Silence accompanied Hina and  I as we made our way to the convenience store. We walked slowly down the street past the lit lamp posts. The neighborhood is quiet. After all it’s almost 10 PM. The air’s starting to get colder and colder these days considering that winter is fast approaching. 

We reached the convenience store and bought drinks and snacks. I went outside and lit a cigarette. She probably came here with me to grab a smoke herself so I offered her a stick and she accepted. 

“I guess this is becoming our little secret huh?” said Hina.

“I knew you came with me to grab a smoke yourself.” 

“That’s one reason.”

One reason huh? It felt like she wanted me to ask what the other reasons are so I intentionally kept quiet so as to not know the other reasons and get the wrong ideas. 

“Why won’t you just show people this side of you?”

“You know very well why I won’t” 

Why did I even ask? I already knew the answer. 

“You, have you moved on yet?” 

“Well, you rejecting me was indeed shocking. But I think I've moved on for a while now.” 

“Would you still confess if you knew I was smoking?”

“Probably, stuff like this doesn’t really affect how I view people.”

“But you barely knew me back then, even now.” 

“Yeah, but I’ll probably still feel the same if you hadn’t rejected me.” 

After we finished smoking, we made our way back to my apartment. They already occupied the space like it’s their own house. Arata and Kaito playing video games on my console, Haruto fidgeting with my book collections, Shin and Yukino looking at my old photo album. 

“So this is Aoi as a kid huh?” Said Yukino with sparkling eyes trying to hide her excitement. 

“Yeah and that’s me on his side.” Said Shin.

For some reason, I was delighted that Yukino riffling through the pages of that old photo album with such a look made me happy. It’s like I wanted her to see how I looked way back. A feeling like wanting her to know me more. 

“Now let’s look at the picture of me and Aoi bathing together when we were kids”

“Oi Oi Oi! Stop, don't show that to her!” As I rushed to quickly grab the album and placed it back on its respective shelf. 

“Why not?! Yukino’s really enjoying it right now!” 

“W-well, I’ll be embarrassed! Besides, the two of us bathing together when we were young is already weird itself!” 

Yukino started laughing as if tears would come out. We all stared at her for a few seconds and started laughing as well. 

Most of them were getting drunk except for Arata and Hina.  It became crystal clear that Haruto,  Kaito, Shin, and to my surprise even Yukino, can’t hold their liquor. The four come in different kinds when classifying a drunk person. Haruto, becoming the poetic one arguing about how love hasn’t come his way yet, perfectly contemplated how his next girlfriend will be the one he’ll marry. 

Shin on the other hand started becoming so noisy and started to describe my whole persona to the group and even started bragging how she’s the one who knew me the longest in this room.

Kaito simply just fell asleep on the side of the room while still holding a bottle of bear and a pillow on his other hand. 

What really surprised me was Yukino who’s  becoming more talkative than usual. Sure, she’s talkative when it’s just the two of us. But I never saw her become this talkative with a group. And she’s looking like a mad woman asking questions that would put a person on a hot seat. 

Then what surprised all of us except for Kaito who’s asleep was when Yukino asked Hina a question. 

“So, why did you reject Aoi? The more I observe you the more I see that you have developed a liking for Aoi already.” Said Yukino looking half asleep pointing an empty bottle of beer to Hina. 

“I guess it’s your imagination, I would never see myself falling for someone like Aoi.” Answered Hina.

I expected myself to be hurt by the words that came out of Hina, but it didn’t really. Maybe it’s  because she just said that because she was put on the spot by Yukino.  Or even if she really meant what she said, I already accepted that so it didn’t bother me as much as I would expect. 

“Why lie to us when it’s already so obvious?” 

The room was accompanied by a tense atmosphere as the two argued, even Haruto who is usually talkative fell silent. I noticed the tension rising so I quickly acted before things escalated.

“I think you're drunk enough, Yukino. I’ll take you home. You guys continue what you were doing.” 

I quickly escorted Yukino out and sat her at a parking bumper beside my motorcycle. I  bought tea from the nearby convenience store to help her sober up and hurried my way back and gave it to Yukino. 

As she sobered up a few minutes after drinking the tea, she started talking.

“I can’t believe Hina, she’s clearly starting to fall for you” 

“What made you think that?”

“It’s obvious, at least to us women. First, she’s always stealing a glance whenever she gets the chance. Even her demeanor when she’s around you changes. Plus, I already saw the both of you smoking alone several times already.”

“Oh so you saw that, I’m glad you didn’t announce that earlier in the room.”

“Of course I won’t, I’m not a kid. First of all, what’s there not to like about you? I envy her.” 

“Really? Then what’s there to like about me?”

“You’re…” Right when she was about to answer my question, she fell asleep, falling onto my shoulders. Her body was warm and soft. Her petite body barely gave any weight. Even the scent of her hair was clearly embedded in my head. Time paused for a moment, and my heart skipped a beat as she continued to rest on my shoulders. . A few minutes later, her uncle called so I answered. Perfect timing since I can’t take her home with my motorcycle like this. I bet her uncle’s gonna scold me later.

Her uncle arrived and to my surprise, her uncle’s not that mad. 

“Thank you for answering my call, I was really worried. Anyway, you didn’t do anything to her right?”

“You know me better uncle, I’m sure you already knew the answer” 

“Acting all cocky now are you? We’ll get going then. Go inside now. It’s getting cold these days.”

The pickup truck drove away and I waved until I couldn’t see it any more. 

I wondered what Yukino meant when she said that she envies Hina. Are there any deeper meanings behind those words? I seriously wondered why I’m beginning to think about her and what she thinks of me more and more these days. I hope I can get an answer from her one day about what she meant. Might as well ask her what she likes about me while we’re at it.