roubai | i. wakasa

十一

Fast forward to Friday night and just like how Rini predicted, Takeomi left the house after dinner. Both Haruchiyo and Senju were too immersed with their own toys and their favorite nighttime cartoons to not cling on her legs when it was her turn to go out. Clad in a pink sweater, faded light wash denim jeans and white sneakers, the girl slipped out into the night, making her way to Shibuya.

It was a fairly long walk for her, considering that she was coming from their neighborhood and into the commercial attraction. As usual, Shibuya is packed with people of all age and race. A small smile paints her lips as she sees Wakasa's figure waiting on the corner of the bar, his lazy, loopy eyes trained on her as she raises both of her hands up to wave at him.

"Did I make you wait for too long?" She asks, standing before him.

"Nah." He plainly responded, turning around to open the door for her. Letting her inside first.

And upon entering, the bar was actually quite cozy and warm. No one else was there except for the two of them and the faint background sound that's playing inside. Heading over to sit on a cubi hole on the innermost of the bar, Rini immediately takes the menu pamphlet in her hands.

"This is actually cool!" She remarks, showing to Waka the pamphlet while pointing at a promo. "They have this one month free glass of beer!"

"Sounds great." He commented, taking a seat in front of her. "Go ahead and order anything you want."

"I wanna try their beer first!" She announces, lifting her head up to look at him. "What about you?"

"Same as you. I'll try the beer first."

What seemed to be one glass of draft beer turned into one glass of whiskey highball to ten shots of vodka along with a small platter of dried nuts had turned Rini to becoming happy and affectionate at the same time.

"I'm really so happy to have a friend like you, Waka!" The black haired girl beams, now sitting besides him while her arms wrapped around his right arm, her head leaning on top of his shoulder. "All the other girls at our school are so mean, they pissed me off a lot so...I never had any friends before!" She smiles with her eyes closed before opening them and peering her face a little closer to his.

"Are you happy that you're my friend too? Come on. I wanna hear you say it!" She chuckles softly, nudging his arm in her hands. "Pleaseeee!"

"I'm so fucking happy to be your friend too." He replies, leaning his back on the cushioned seat, turning her head to look at her. "Come on, let me take you home." He tells her, pushing her out of the seat, hands holding onto her shoulders as he guides her outside.

"Woooow, it's so pretty outside!" Rini slurs, smiling to herself all the while Wakasa had to hold her to keep her from fumbling down on the ground. As they walk through the busy area, Rini turned her head to take a look at him.

"Can you hold my hand?" She asks, pouting at him. "They're soooo many couples here and I want to hold hands like them too!" She whines. The white haired male lets out a sigh before giving into her request, slipping his hand into hers while intertwining their fingers together.

"Holding hands feels nice, right?!" Rini lets out a sound of laughter, hugging his arm too. "Your hand is bigger and warmer than mine. Do you want to hold hands with me forever, Waka?" She asks, smiling at him.

It's just the alcohol. Wakasa reminded himself, holding her hand a little tighter as they cross the crossing. Once the alcohol in her system fades away, she's going back to becoming her old self. He tells himself. Though that was the case, he actually liked the feeling of holding her hand in his.

"Sure." He replies, taking a quick glance at her. "Let's hold hands forever."

"Waka" Rini begins to say, looking at his face rather than where she's walking. "Did you know that you have such pretty eyes?" She asks him. "Your hair is so pretty and fluffy too. Your lips aren't that big, but they aren't that small either." Rini softly hums, smiling at him.

"Why are you so pretty?" She asks him in a quiet tone.

Wakasa wasn't sure what to respond. Was it his heart beating that's beating so fast from her question or was the alcohol finally taking it's effect on him? Honestly he didn't know. The moment they left the bar to arriving at the Akashi residence, Rini did not wanted his hand to be removed from hers. She'd make a whining sound and try to claim his hand on hers again. It was quite amusing seeing her become like that.

"Where are you going?" Rini asks as he lets go of her hand. There it was again - the same pout on her lips. "Are you going to leave me?"

"You're at home now." He quietly tells her. "Make sure to get some sleep, okay?" He says. But of course, Wakasa is a gentleman. He won't leave until he sees Rini entering inside their house with his eyes. If she has entered and closed the door behind her, only then can really leave.

With her lips still pouted, she cups his face and places a long kiss on his cheek. "You're mine, okay?" Before giving him a sweet smile, turning around and then entering inside their home.

. . . . . . . . . . ♡

The following day, Rini had woken up with the sun exactly on her face. Despite her attempts of falling back into sleep, they were all fruitless. Hence, having no choice but to flutter eyes open and blinking the sleepiness away for the later night. 

Her body felt a little heavy as soon as reality dawned into her. Trying to recall the events of last night, she remembered herself going to the bar that she and Wakasa went into, ordering multiple drinks that had them talking about random things like

"What are you gonna do after high school?"

"What made you want to open a gym?"

"Are you really sure you want to do ten shots?"

And then after that, she couldn't remember anything anymore. While she gets up from her bed and makes it, she hoped that she didn't do anything weird to him.

"Grandma said you went out last night." Takeomi begins to say as soon as he saw Rini coming down from the stairs. "Where did you go?"

"Relax." She replies, taking a seat besides Haruchiyo who's eating his breakfast sandwich. "I was with Wakasa." She adds, raising her right hand up. "We didn't do anything!" She continues on. "But what about you? Where were you after dinner?"

"Division meeting." Takeomi replies right away, almost sounding a little suspicious to her. But nevertheless, Rini decided to just nod her head and not press him further about it.