Volume 1 Chapter 4 - You and I

Chapter 4:

You and I

[Let this day imprint our smiles]

Morning. Bright sunlight illuminates Kenta's room, creating an unimaginable picture. The sun's rays, passing through the window, illuminated everything in its path: a table, school supplies, pants lying on the floor, a shirt carelessly left on the back of a chair, and a new chapter of the novel lying by the bed, apparently, it was read only last night. A couple of beams hit Kenta himself as well, making him squint at his reluctance to get up so early. Finally, Kenta slowly raised his head, resting his hands on the bed, after which he rubbed his face with his hands and, getting up, yawned. He slowly approached the windows of his room and, slowly opening the curtains, approached the door leading to the balcony. It seemed that nothing could break this idyll. But...

*Exactly, I promised to meet Yokota-san. Even her friends will be there. I have never been in the "golden group" before. I wonder what they are.*

Kenta went downstairs and looked around. None of the family members have yet entered the kitchen.

*Well, great* - thought Kenta - *There is time to be alone*

Approaching the table, Kenta was surprised by what he saw. On the table lay omurice (fried rice, wrapped in an omelet), on which was written in ketchup: "Brother, I went grocery shopping. Dad and mom left on business. I have the keys, and spare ones are on the table in the hallway. Kisses, Rin"

*Blimey! And how did she manage to fit it all in?! *

Rin Ieda is Kenta's little sister. The second child in the Ieda family. The complete family consisted of Kenta, his parents, Rin, their even younger sister - Megumi, and twins - Yasuo and Yasuko. Rin, being the second child in the family and having a brother who needed to do a lot and constantly, took on most of the household chores. She cleans, cooks, does laundry, and is very active and popular at school. Quite a long black hair is a trait that suggests their relationship with Kenta. Rin is not tall, but still not inferior to her peers. She is fragile, like a rose that has just blossomed, but strong and independent, just like each rose has its own thorns.

Kenta busied himself with breakfast as he continued meticulously memorizing notes from his hand-held notepad as he prepared for the upcoming midterms. Kenta, being a very smart guy, often got into the top 10 - 20 students on the exam results. However, this time he set himself a specific goal - to get first place, thereby showing that all his efforts paid off and his prayers were heard. But only God knows what place Kenta will take.

The time has come. Kenta got ready, even combed his hair, took the keys from the hallway, and as he left Ieda's residence, he turned back a couple more times.

Finally, he reached his destination. There were a lot of people, and it was getting dark. There was no desire to go looking for the "golden group", but then Akemi's voice rang out:

- Ieda-kun. We're here. - Akemi was standing next to a group of about four people, not counting Akemi herself. She was dressed in style, her usually straight hair was slightly curled today. Akemi slowly walked over to Kenta:

- You're quite punctual, I see! Well done, I was afraid you'd let me down, but you didn't fail. That's great.

- Of course, my family always teaches me to be on time for appointments, especially if you promised. In our family, good qualities like punctuality, honesty, and other things are very much respected.

- Well done, consider that my respect for you has grown. By the way, I'd like you to introduce you my friends: Tamura Jun - the president of our school council and just a really smart guy, Yamaguchi Izamu - the captain of our school volleyball team, Oka Mamoru - a nice and outgoing guy, and Sato Aika - our pretty girl who's quite popular at school.

- I know, why are you introducing me to my own classmates?

- Well... in case you don't know them, - Akemi whispered. - Guys, can I have your attention, please? I'd like you to meet my boyfriend. This is Kenta Ieda. Please take care of him.

Kenta became abruptly embarrassed. This greeting was more than embarrassing. It seemed to him that no one would believe that the beautiful Akemi had a boyfriend like Kenta. An unprecedented, silence came over the street. It made cold sweat drip down Kenta's face. Suddenly, Mamoru started talking:

- So you're Akemi-san's boyfriend. I didn't know that, at school you always sit quietly and hardly ever talk to Akemi-san. But I'm glad that you turned out to be her boyfriend and not some sneak from the street. Please take care of our friend.

- Uh... yeah, sure.

It took a while for everyone to ask Kenta about everything, but Kenta held his ground with dignity, answering any questions.

The inside of the mall was very sanctified, the people around them bursting into laughter, and the hum, from the restless companionship, melded into one motley, just like one uncoordinated chorus.

- There are still five minutes to go.

- I see, Akemi-san. - Jun, the president of the school council, said.

- What's the movie about? - Isamu asked.

- Don't tell me you came with us and didn't even know what movie we were going to see.

- I'm not going to lie, that's right.

- Wow, we're going to see a horror movie. It's about a monster that...

Kent's mind went blank, after he had heard the word "horror". He hasn't liked scary movies since he was a kid, watching horror movies with his family had scared him even though he was sitting far away from the TV with his eyes closed, and here he had to watch everything on a big screen and with 3d sound as well. It seemed that Kenta was about to shake so fast that he could fly out like a helicopter, but he pulled himself together in time.

*Calm down, it's okay. It's just a movie. How can you be afraid of something like that?! Let's think about Yokota-san. If everyone thinks her boyfriend is a coward, she'll be embarrassed. Wait. By the way, Yokota-san said that the guy she likes is among this company. So it's one of them. Tamura-san, Yamaguchi-san, Oka-san, each of them are quite good looking and have their own merits. Yamaguchi is good at sports, has an athletic physique and is strong. Tamura is very smart, good at everything: sports, sciences, languages, all kinds of arts; he always comes first in exams, and he's the one I want to beat in scores. And Oka is a very kind and compassionate person, and additionally he is very handsome. I need to find out exactly which one of them she likes, or else I might make a lot of mistakes and bring only inconvenience. Seriously, why me?*

- Ieda-kun, we're on our way in.

- Oh, right, I'm coming, Yokota-san.

Kenta's main task in the cinema was to prevent himself from showing his fear. It was quite an ordeal. Every time he suspected that a screamer was about to jump out, Kenta closed his eyes, squeezing his eyes so tightly that he felt as if he could break anything he could lay his eyes on. Finally, his ordeal ended with his victory. Stepping out into the lobby of the cinema hall, Kenta exhaled with relief. For about another hour, the whole "golden group", now also with Kenta, chatted about life, studies, sports, future professions, and more. Finally, Yamaguchi-san said:

- Well, let's go home now. It's already late and we have to go to school tomorrow.

- Since when did you become so worried about schoolwork?

- Since it became necessary. Come on, let's go.

Everyone said goodbye to each other. Kenta was about to go home when Akemi said:

- Ieda-kun, would you like to take a little walk?

- What? Okay... sure.

- Heh, fine.

They walked along the road, illuminated by the dim flicker of lanterns. It all seemed rather creepy. Kenta remembered that scene from the horror movie he had just seen and got a little startled, but his fear was interrupted by Akemi's sweet voice:

- Ieda-kun, what's wrong? Are you alright?

- Yeah, I'm fine.

- Good, 'cause I thought you were scared of that movie. Heh-heh.

Kenta was stunned and jumped a little at being so easily recognized.

- Why would I be scared?

- Yeah. Look, did you figure out who I like?

- I'm not sure, but I thought you had feelings for Mamoru-san. Do you?

- You can't be fooled. How did you figure it out?

- Well, you'd only fix your hair when Mamoru-san was looking at you. You looked away every time he looked into your eyes, and what's more, you grabbed my hand and ran to get a seat next to Mamoru-san. Of course you wanted to sit next to him, but you wouldn't have been comfortable alone, even though he's your friend, so you sat me on the other side as a "soothsayer," because of that, during your conversation with Mamoru-san, you often looked back at me so that there was someone to support the conversation.

- Well done, you're completely right. And by the way, you were very good at keeping up the conversation. See? That's why I chose you for this role, because you're very understanding of other people's feelings, but you never abuse that, you try to help, and it's a shame that not everyone notices that.

- Well, I'm glad I can help you, Yokota-san.

- Then, Ieda-san, do you mind if I come over for a while?

「At that moment, he wanted to capture her smile under the glow of the moon」