The next day the anxiety brought by Hoshiko’s distant presence permeated Ryuji’s thoughts. Benefited by Amaya’s natural tight-lipped nature the space between the two friends silently grew.  The short walk to school was made slightly longer by the lack of conversation. Mostly because Amaya had nowhere to stand in the situation she found herself. She didn’t know if Hoshiko’s return was something that Ryuji appreciated or merely accepted. While the girl waited for a sign from her friend on whether to reach out Hoshiko or stay hidden behind him, Ryuji was flooded with memories of their childhood together.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

“Ryu-kun, let’s go to the dock!” A young Hoshiko calls out as she pulls the slightly older boys hand.

“H-Hoshiko…wait!” Ryuji recalls calling out the girls name with the high pitched voice of a prepubescent child. Reaching the edge of the quay the two stand side by side.

“Nee, Ryu-kun, where do you think the sun ends at?” The small girl asks while still holding her best friends hand.

“I don’t know.” He answers simply and puts his other hand in his pocket.

“Ryu-kun, let’s be like the sun and never be end.” The gleaming eyes reflected his face and a strong feeling of attachment pounded in his small chest.

“That’s impossible. The sun sleeps at night, so I guess it does end.” He debates childishly and the toddler Hoshiko listens while nodding at the truth.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

Somehow Ryuji and Amaya ended up wordlessly doing everything they did every day in a much tenser atmosphere.

“Stand. Bow. Sit.” The class president says as he normally did and just like that the day started. No different from any other day. Home room, 1^st class, 2^nd class, 3^rd class, so on, so forth. If the schedule was unchanged how come the simple act of looking towards each other caused the two to feel as if they were free falling?

                “Ryu…-kun” Amaya suddenly says in a low voice as she and the Ryuji sit side by side on the grass in front of the baseball field.

“What did you say?” The boy says taken aback by the wording.

“Uh…nothing.” Amaya says in a feeble attempt for an excuse.

“Didn’t you just…call me Ryu-kun?” The guy asks despite the answer.

“I—It’s what Hoshiko said yesterday…right?” The girl says almost shaking from the confrontation. Ryuji was completely silent for a few seconds then lightly nodded while looking straight into Amaya’s eyes.

“I just thought it was…cute. Y—you know, I mean, she seemed very…close.” Amaya’s eyes skip from one object to another until they end up observing Ryuji’s sundrenched expression freeze.

“Hey, guys! What are you two up to?” A female voice calls out as Hoshiko’s familiar figure walks up to the boy. Already a group of girls followed her, probably friends from before. Both of them were quiet as their glares broke away and switched to observing the person before them.

“We’re just having lunch.” Ryuji answers a bit out of it still.

“Eh, you still roll your R’s like that, huh?” Hoshiko giggles at the fact and Amaya’s eyes gloss over as she sits still and out of the conversation.

“It’s definitely not on purpose. Don’t make fun of me like that.” Ryuji snaps back to reality. Each time Amaya watched the two speaking it became more and more obvious that Hoshiko really knew how to get her friends attention. This made Amaya feel like a forgotten toy, the measly stuffed animal instantly switched for the speaking doll.

                On the way back home Ryuji and Hoshiko finally parted leaving a passive Amaya walking besides her friend with no comment. Ryuji looked down over to her and she looked straight at him as if asking if it was ok to talk now.

                “Y-you ok?” He asks, slim fingers ticking with uneasiness.  He could feel the heavy atmosphere that flooded in each time Hoshiko was near and the eerie silence when she left. What he really wanted was for Amaya to be able to say something. But she didn’t. And Hoshiko did and he felt inclined to answering so that the preppy girl didn’t feel ignored.

                “Yeah. Why?” Amaya answers with a halve truth. She truly was ok now that it was just the two of them. The quietness after the short-haired female left wasn’t so much irritating as it was saddening. It was the quiet after the storm. It wasn’t as if Amaya cared if the girl was hyperactive or talkative. Amaya could possibly be the most aloof person you’d ever meet, however when it came to Ryuji her self-reliant nature flipped completely and she felt herself chained to his actions. With that said it’s obvious that she could feel that Ryuji wanted her to speak up during the times that Hoshiko was there but something deep inside her told her to steer clear of the beautiful girl, almost as if her intuition was warning her that Hoshiko was Ryuji’s business. And that’s what made Amaya sad: the fact that she couldn’t comply with what her friend wanted her to do because something stronger told her to do the opposite.

                “I was going to ask if you wanted to come over to water Oba-chan’s garden with me.”

                “Sure.” Amaya smiled so lightly that the only reason Ryuji was able to notice was because of the stillness of the moment.

                The two teens walked straight to the backyard and took off their shoes. Ryuji went over to the hose as Amaya rolled her socks off. After the water started running Amaya went over to the area where Ryuji was and skimmed through the plants to check for bugs or anything else that could damage the vegetables.

                “Ryuji!” The boy’s grandmother calls out and he turns instantly.            

                “What grandma?” He answers and she smiles as she looks over Amaya. Ryuji follows her gaze and notices that his friend was now dripping with water. He had accidentally wet her when he turned to see the old lady.

                “Just bring some tomatoes when you’re done.” The elder laughs as she goes back into the house.

                “Sorry.” Ryuji says with burning cheeks. Amaya’s head is down and she’s standing motionless. The boy walks up closer to apologize once again and suddenly Amaya grabs the hose and turns it on her friend. This time he’s left still as he looks at her giggling face. The moment strikes his heart like a burning arrow. The girl’s long black hair stretched down framing her sun kissed skin as her smile shined with the reflection of the rays of light coming from the sunset. The greenery around her made for a beautiful portrait and the tickling sound of her giggles floated through the air. He smiled widely as the image was imprinted in his brain and sprayed her again.

                “Hey! I’d just gotten even.” Amaya says as she tries to pull the hose from Ryuji’s hands and he skids from side to side. She tricks him by going left then back quickly and holds onto the hose with both hands. Her gorgeous yet rare careless expression shows and driven by the moment Ryuji can’t help but tug her closer. Their wet chests touch as they glare into each other’s eyes. The boy’s body is overcome with chills and the girl’s blood pumps rapidly as their gazes meet.  Instantly they break apart and Amaya looks down to the dirt ground. Just at that moment a voice that the two were acquainted with flies into the property like a bullet with exquisite timing.  Ryuji and Amaya look at each other and the boy heads to the front gate. As soon as he does Amaya picks up her shoes, socks and bag. She heads straight towards the same gate and lowers her head as she passes through Ryuji and Hoshiko. She stops for just a second turns and says bye to both of them before running home.