บท 20: "She is Mine."

Tomose's POV

Two days have passed since he confessed to me. Albeit, this isn't the first time I've been confessed to, I've this certain feeling of awkwardness when the thought of facing him crosses my mind.

I tried my best to confront Yoshiwa and Sakura and get my closure regarding that incident. It seemed like they were in no mood to overlook that incident and talk things out. Since I knew it wasn't my fault and I tried to convince them, I left like I did my part. The rest was up to them.

I was talking with Matsushita as usual, and noticed him entering the class. He looked at me, and our eyes met. Blood rushed to my cheeks, but tried to keep my composure.

This is so awkward.

He walked past my desk towards his place. It seemed like he purposefully avoided talking with Matsushita since I was here. He doesn't have to do that. I had a misunderstanding about their relationship.

"Huh are you alright?" Matsushita asked me as my cheeks were red.

"Y… Yeah" I nodded. She looked at me suspiciously, then looked at Sakamaki. A smug formed on her face.

"What!?"

"Ohhooo, I see." She gave me a side glance.

"It's not what you think it is."

"But I didn't even say anything." She playfully poked my cheeks with her index finger and chuckled.

It was lunchtime; I was putting my notebooks back in my bag when I heard Sakamaki's voice beside me.

"Hello" He greeted us.

"Hi, Sakamaki-kun." Matsushita greeted him.

I pretended to not notice him and kept fiddling with my bag.

"I'm going to borrow her for a moment." He said while looking at me.

"What? Wait…" I wasn't ready for that.

"Areh, Tomose-san, are you okay?" Matsushita asked her in a sarcastic tone. I knew exactly what she means by that.

"Yeah, I… I am alright." I pinched the knot of my tie with my left hand while looking towards the desk..

"Ahh, I see." Matsushita sighed and looked at him.

"So you decided finally?" What did she mean by this?

"Yeah" He nodded. Was it some inside thing between them? Well, I don't care about it, though it made me curious.

"Damn, that's kind of surprise." She nudged him with her elbow, and he gave an awkward smile.

"Oi, Saki-san." He called me by my first name in school. What is he thinking?

I looked at him for a split second and replied, "Y… Yeah wait." I got up from my seat and started walking beside him because I'm just going to embarrass myself in front of Matsushita if they kept talking.

He took me to the place near the playground where I talked with him for the first time about my true feelings.

"So wh… what did you want to talk about?" I asked.

"You made up with your friends?" He said in a plain tone.

"Kind of... Yes."

"That's good." I don't understand what he is thinking. He should be more expressive.

"Yeah, I mean, Yoshiwa-san and Sakura-san were angry at first but it seems like they are okay now." He was frequently nodding without interrupting me from talking.

"I told them my genuine feelings about them, and Kana actually apologised but those two didn't."

"But it's alright, I'm feeling a lot lighter now. I feel like it has taken a weight off me. I don't care if they'll hate me or not. I'm going to live freely now." I kept talking non-stop until he said something.

"Your ears are red."

"Wh-What?" I covered my ears with my hands. This is so embarrassing. I want to die. He was looking at me with a confused look.

"But, I really want to th… thank you." I gathered enough courage to express my gratitude. I looked at him and his eyes were staring into mine.

"I did nothing." The same old Sakamaki.

"You did. You helped me. You… you… I don't know how to thank you."

"Kiss me.".

"Hu… wait… what!?" What the heck did he say? Is he purposely trying to mess with me?

"I was kidding." He patted my head, noticing how flustered I became.

"But you still haven't told me if you love me or not." I looked at him as he leaned closer towards me. My cheeks were again feeling hot. I avoided eye contact with him.

"Hey, Tomose-chan" I heard a familiar voice call my name.

We both looked in that direction and noticed a tall boy walking towards us. To be specific towards me. He came stood in front of Sakamaki, blocking him.

This is the last person I want to deal with right now. Why can't he leave me alone?

"Haven't seen you lately. How have you been?" He smiled.

"Mineta Senpai, I've been good." I tried to be polite. My main objective was to end this conversation as soon as possible.

Ayame Mineta was my upperclassman from class 3-3. He was a decent-looking guy with thick black hair, but he was more of a delinquent. His shirt was always out, and he didn't wear his tie. The top few buttons of his shirt will always be open, which exposes his muscular chest. He was taller than Sakamaki that's I couldn't see Sakamaki standing behind this guy.

"So, can you give me another chance?" He asked.

"S...Sorry Senpai, but I already told you my answer and it will not change." Even though I rejected him once, I was nervous about doing this again.

"But why?" He raised his voice.

"I'm sorry, it's just that I don't like you in that way." I said my honest opinion and tried to walk away from him, but he slammed his left arm on the wall beside me, blocking my way out, and leaned closer to me.

What's up with everyone trying to lean closer on me today!?

I noticed Sakamaki walk from behind this guy while staring at his face. It seemed like she was observing him. To be specific, thinking about something.

He looked at me, and pulled me towards him by my left arm..

"She is mine." I could feel his hand gently holding the back of my head on his chest. The sound of his heart beating and rhythmic movement of his chest made me feel a certain way, which I have never felt before.

The warmth of his embrace made me feel like I'm at peace.

Wait…

Did he just call me his? What the heck?

"Seriously? You're rejecting me because of this wimp?" I heard Senpai's voice.

"Are you that lame that you can't accept a rejection like a man?" Sakamaki finally spoke up.

"What did you say!?"

"Areh? You didn't hear me clearly?"

"I guess you need to learn how to talk to your elders." I took a peek by turning my head and noticed Senpai trying to intimidate Sakamaki. Now physique wise, Sakamaki was comparatively smaller than him.

"So you're resolving to violence now? No wonder she rejected you." He chuckled and moved me to the side. He was staring at Senpai.

Senpai rushed towards him and held him by his collar. "You think you're all that because she likes you?"

"NO! Senpai, stop this." I pleaded with him to stop because I didn't want Sakamaki to get hurt because of me.

"I wonder how it will sound? An upperclassman beating a junior because of this matter." He laughed.

"You seriously want to get beaten up, don't you?" He sighed and cracked his knuckles.

"Can you beat me up? That's the real question." I knew he was weird, but is he crazy too? Why is he trying to trigger Senpai and get himself beaten up?