"Ah."
"Ah."
Once we left the school gates, we took a detour to the nearest mall. Luna wanted the latest rendition of nail enhancements that had just been released, and she forced us to go with her. On the way there, she explained to Yu the different shapes and sizes of nails and what they do. He had trouble keeping up, and what should have been a quick explanation turned into an endless loop. I understood everything, though—I've already been through this lecture a dozen times with my sister.
As we entered the store, we coincidentally ran into Lily and her friends. The moment she saw us, her eyes sparkled, and her mouth stretched into a bright smile. She ran up to us with open arms.
"Oh my god! What are you doing here?!" she exclaimed.
I slightly opened my arms, ready to return her hug. "Oh, Li–"
"Hey Lily! You've gotten so much prettier since I last saw you!"
Lily ran right past me and into Luna, squeezing her tightly. My arms remained open for a second too long before they lowered back to my sides, the air suddenly feeling very cold. Ignoring her Brother and greeting his damn friend first? What is this?!
The audacity was impressive, even for her.
"Did you dye your hair, Luna? The blonde looks so good on you!"
Luna giggled bashfully, squeezing Lily back. "Hehe, thank you! But enough about me—look at you! You've gotten so much better at doing your hair and makeup. You might even be better than me!"
The two of them became engrossed in their own little world, making it impossible to join in even if I tried. Yu and I were left with two options: stand there awkwardly while they talked, or wander through the rows of pastel polishes as two grown men.
This… sounds like a lose-lose.
As Lily was mid-sentence, her eyes met mine for a brief moment. A flicker of mischief danced in her pupils.
"Hm? What's wrong, Lily?" Luna asked.
"Oh, me? It's nothing," Lily replied innocently, as if nothing was the problem. "But I think my Older Brother is getting mad at me that I'm taking up your time."
My ears perked up as she said that. "What? No–"
She mercilessly cut me off. "Well, it was nice talking to you, Luna! But I'd better scram before he gets any more annoyed. Talk to you later! You too, Yu!"
With that, she returned to her friends, leaving just as abruptly as she had arrived. As she exited the store, she turned toward me and smugly stuck out her tongue. I made sure she saw me roll my eyes before she left. Once she was gone, I let out a quiet chuckle that only I could hear.
This girl… doing all that just to make me look bad. Just who do you take after?
A blunt hit on the shin dragged me out of my thoughts. Luna was standing in front of me, hands on her hips with a disgruntled pout.
"Why did you have to ruin my perfectly good moment with her? I just wanted to talk to lil you for a bit!"
I let out an exasperated sigh. "Are you stupid? I wasn't actually annoyed, genius. That was just Lily's own way of being considerate. I mean, look at where we are," I gestured around the store. "You know how weird it is for two guys to stand around in a nail store twiddling their thumbs while you girls talk?"
Luna stared blankly at me before pulling back with an awkward chuckle. "Haha… good point. Sorry."
I shook my head. "No, it's fine. There's nothing to apologize for." My voice softened before I even realized it. "It actually makes me happy that you get along with her."
"ENOUGH BICKERING CHILDREN—ENOUGH! PLEASE, JUST HURRY UP I'M STARVING!"
Yu's shout froze the entire store. Customers and staff alike stared at him with trembling eyes. To be fair, he was intimidating at first glance—six foot four, muscular, and tanned. He looked like the definition of a thug. Which made it only funnier that the scariest-looking person in the room was the only one whose heart was actually in his sleeve.
"Okay, okay, I'll hurry up, just shush for a bit," Luna ordered.
Luna commanded us to reserve a spot in the checkout line while she browsed the store. Yu and I could only nod obediently under her authority and do as we were told. We waited for five, then ten minutes. It was almost our turn to check out, and she was nowhere to be seen. Yu started scanning the store anxiously.
"Dude, what are you panicking for?" I muttered. "She'll come eventually."
"Why are you not worried?" he hissed quietly. "What are you gonna do if it's our turn and we tell them that we were just selfishly reserving a spot? That's awkward as hell! And it makes us look bad!"
"I can take the next person in line!" the cashier called out.
Yu stiffened like he'd been struck by lightning. I tapped him on the shoulder—snapping him out of his trance—and walked towards the register as he tried to hide behind me. My eyes twitched as I suppressed the urge to groan.
…I hope you know, using someone shorter than you to hide behind doesn't work.
"Hello, how may I help you today?" the cashier asked.
As I opened my mouth, someone pushed me aside and dumped several items onto the counter.
"Yes, hello—sorry I'm late," Luna said, her breath heavy. "I'd like to buy these products if that's okay."
She was covered in a light sheen of sweat. She had clearly been running around the entire store—probably to save us from the awkwardness that Yu feared. I hope you know you could've just taken your time. I can stall a goddam cashier! Seriously, what is wrong with these two?!
Luna paid quickly, shoved everything into her bag, and pushed us out of the store into the mall hallway. We all stood there, catching our breaths—all for different reasons.
"I'm…kinda…tired…" Luna wheezed.
"Yeah… me too…" Yu added emptily.
I stayed silent, staring at the floor. I wanna lie down in my bed…
"Can't lie, I kinda wanna go home," Luna echoed my thoughts exactly.
My head shot up. Oh my days… dreams really do come true! Yu turned to me and asked, "What about you, Hoshino?"
"I don't care," I replied evenly. "I'll do whatever the group does."
Yu nodded. "Okay, then, since Luna wants to go home, let's go home. We can get ramen another day. I'll walk both of you guys home."
Luna let out a deep breath as she slung her arm around Yu's shoulder. "While I do appreciate it, Yu, I think you should just go home."
He firmly shook his head. "Nah. I like to make sure that my friends get home safely. We all live near each other anyway. Besides, I like walking! It's good exercise."
"Well… if you insist," Luna resigned.
I patted Yu on the back and gave him a big thumbs up. "Don't worry, Yu, I'll take your offer without a second thought! I hate walking alone, it's sooooo boring."
Yu snorted. "That's just because you're lazy."
We had a good laugh. Once the laughter died down, we all started walking home. Luna was the first one we dropped off, partly because she lived the closest, and partly because that was just proper manners. Once she was safely inside, Yu walked me home next. I gave him a loud high five, then watched as his retreating figure grew smaller in the distance.
The moment his figure disappeared, the warmth of the afternoon as well as the laughter we had just shared vanished. A familiar sense of cold leaked out from my hollow chest and enveloped my whole body.
That was fun while it lasted.
I took the key out of my pocket and unlocked the door.
But… it's time to go home.
I mechanically curled my fingers around the doorknob, twisted it, and pushed the door open. Before I even set foot in the house, a soft, soothing, yet domineering voice reached my ears.
"Welcome home, my Son. I hope you had a good day at school today."