“I’ve given you hours to come up with something and you still haven’t?” After class had ended, most of the class left early to get a head start on their project. Aoi was upset with his apparent inability to lend ideas for his half of the project.

“Sorry, but I just didn’t want to do the same thing as some someone else.” He spotted his friend walking out of the classroom with his partner. The mirror image of his own partner, but one who was much nicer. Envy filled his body as he watched them disappear around the corner. Only Aoi tapping on the desk was enough to regain his attention.

“So? You going to pick something out?” She continued to pester him even as they left class. Under normal circumstances, they would never want to be stuck with one another for longer than necessary. She kept pushing him so they could rush and finish out their task. He felt the same way. After this, he could go back to ignoring her.

“Guess I don’t have a choice.” He once again pulled out his coin. “I was stuck on a couple ones at this point. Heads for an aquarium at the city center, and tails for a park by my house.” With that declaration, he flicked the coin high up into the air.

“An aquarium or a dainty little park?” She asked as it continued to hang in the air. “How can you be stuck on something like that? Of course the aquarium’s a better spot to do a project like this.”

“I’m the one making the decision here.” He replied as the coin landed back into his hand. Of course, he wasn’t actually making any decisions, as it was to be determined by whatever the coin landed on. “Looks like it’s tails, so we’re going to that park.”

“Ugh. I should’ve never let you take the lead.” She complained to him as they exited the school. During their walk to towards the park, it got awkwardly quiet. While Kichi was fine with wanting to not talk with her during their time in high school. It felt weird just walking next to her without uttering a word. So he decided to try and clear the tense air.

“So, uh, what do you think of the town?” He asked.

“It’s all right, I guess.” She gave him a halfhearted response. “You live here, so it can’t be that great.” He frowned at her insistent on insulting him. It’s not as if he went out and attacked this girl. Why was she so standoffish? “So this park, is it cool enough so we can get a good grade?”

“I doubt the teacher’s going to be very strict on it.” He assumed the process was more important than the location when it came to school work. Admittedly, he wouldn’t have thought about this place if this wasn’t just for a grade.

“Judging from where it is, I’m taking you live in the same neighborhood as me and Airi.” She commented as they neared the location.

“Yeah, that’s pretty coo-” He was about to describe that fact as a nice coincidence for them. However, she cut him off and described it in a different light.

“Unfortunately.” Kichi frowned at hearing her continue to treat him more of a pest rather than a normal human being. “So, you already know what we’re going to write down?”

“Hmm, I was planning on doing that when we got there.” It was evident she wanted him to get their job done quickly so she could go home and move past this inconvenience as fast as possible. “There doesn’t need to be that many points. Probably just hit a good half dozen bullet points should be enough.”

“Good enough for me.” She responded and finally they had arrived at their location. “I’m going to walk around to check this place out. I assume since you live here, you don’t need to be reminded of anything to write down some facts.” Without allowing him to reply, she had already stepped away and got onto some of the playground equipment.

“Yeah, sure.” He said after she had already left his vicinity. It was one thing to want to rush through so she didn’t have to be with him. It was an entirely separate matter to treat this task as if they weren’t a group.

As he got to work figuring out some things, the boy did occasionally sneak a peek at the girl as she walked around. He couldn’t tell from his glances what it was she was doing. It seemed as though she was trying to soak in the spot, as if saving a picture in her head. Though as he saw her sit on the swing for a bit. He also wondered if she was just taking advantage of him by making him do all the work. “You know, it is a group project.” Kichi commented loud enough for her to hear.

“Duh, of course I know that.” She yelled back at him. The girl leapt off the swing and returned to the bench where he had been sitting at. “Do kids not play here or something?” They were the only two hanging out at this spot that was more designed for children half their age.

“Probably some event is going on at the elementary schools or something.” He answered. Normally, this place would be filled with kids during the weekend. They certainly were loud enough for him to even hear it while at his own home. “Good for us. At least we don’t have to deal with them running around while we’re trying to concentrate.”

“Yeah.” For once, she agreed with him. Then Aoi went up to him and yanked the paper away from him.

“Hey, I’m not finished yet.” He protested, but she didn’t care.

“Looks like you’ve done enough.” She commented as the girl scanned through his writings. “I need to get my work done, so go ahead and leave.”

“What?” He was visibly confused, but she didn’t reply to clarify things to him. Instead, she sat down besides him and tried to push the boy away.

“I said you’re free to go.” She spoke, trying to get him to move. “So go ahead and go home. I can finished the rest of this project.” Aoi was trying to convince him that their project was in good hands, but he was unwilling to allow her to do the rest without his supervision. Even though she didn’t seem the type to sabotage their work just because she despised him. There was still a sense of unease inside him due to not knowing how their final product would turn out without his presence.

“I’m not going to leave you alone.” He responded, trying to get a closer look at what she was doing to their paper.

“I’m a grown girl. I don’t need someone watching me.” She slid over to try and gain space between them. Aoi seemed to be trying to write something, so all he wanted to know was what she was writing.

“It’s not fair if you get to see what I wrote and I can’t.” He didn’t relent, trying to catch a better look.

“Can’t you take no for an answ-” She attempted to push him off, but his greater weight only resulted in her being the one who got moved. Unfortunately, she had lost too much ground on the bench. This resulted in her butt finding the ground as she took a tumble down.

“Are you all right?” He quickly went over to ensure her well being. This along with the position in which she landed in lead to him catching an incidental peek under her skirt.

“I’m fine.” She slapped away his hand and used the other in order to press down her skirt and conceal herself. “You pervert.”

“I wasn’t trying to look.” He respond by lending a hand to help her back onto her feet. She didn’t take the offer as she got up on her own, dusting off her outfit in the process.

“Hmm? What were you trying to write?” While she did that, he took advantage of that by grabbing the paper she dropped. It didn’t seem like any words he had ever seen before.

“I-I… I wasn’t writing any words down.” Begrudgingly, she had to admit the truth to him. “It’s supposed to be some drawings, but you didn’t let me finish.”

“Oh, sorry.” Still, he was impressed at the quality from the little bit of time she had to work on it. Not to mention she was dealing with him pushing her at the same time. “It’s turning out pretty nicely. I’d like to see it when you’re finished.”

“I’m not that great at it.” She snatched their project from his hands. “I’m no artist, I just like to scribble from time to time.” Again, the girl sat down on the desk and return to work. This time she didn’t attempt to make him leave. Probably due to the fact that he already knew the truth by now. It would be pointless to try and hide it now.

“I don’t know why you didn’t want to show it to me.” He sat down besides her. The evening had come and the sun was working its way down to the horizon. “I won’t make fun of you.”

“Why would you care anyway?” She responded with a question of her own. “Obviously my sister’s cooler. Why do you want to get to know me?” He had a hard time denying that when she had a point. Kichi was willing to ignore her in preference over Airi. Hearing her say that made him realize how cruel that sounded, even if he never said it out loud. “That was pretty mean back in class too. How you flipped a coin with your buddy to see who had to suffer with me.”

“Ah! That wasn’t the intent.” He realized how that must’ve seemed to her sitting in class as they publicly did that. “It was because Chuuya didn’t know you too well and the two of us haven’t… Really been in the best of standing.” That was why they would’ve preferred being with her sister. Though now it made a little more sense why she seemed to be even harsher with him today. “I’m real sorry. That was really disrespectful.”

“Hmpf.” She didn’t respond with words to his apology. Instead, she brought up their brochure to his face, revealing her finished drawings. “Done.”

“Wow.” He was impressed at the drawing of the swing set she made. Even some of the finer details, like the paint that stained one of the legs, were shown here. “This is amaz… Hey, where are you going?” While he had been scanning her drawings, she took the time to stand up and began walking away.

“Going home.” She answered. “We’re done with our little project. So, we don’t have to see each other any longer than we need to.”

“But…” No matter what he could’ve possibly said. It wouldn’t have done a thing to slow her pace away from him. In short time, Aoi had already rounded the corner, leaving his sight. “Guess I’ll see you in class tomorrow.”