III. AYAKA

During freshman year, Ayaka dated someone who wasn't exactly known for his good reputation. He was loud and boisterous, but she found it endearing. Their relationship didn't last long; only four months. But still, it caused her to worry for what her future relationships would be like.

Arataki Itto was the first real boyfriend she ever had.

"Ayaka, are you going to eat?" Ayato asked as his younger sister poked at her dinner with her fork.

"A-Ah, I'm sorry!" She stammered. "I didn't realize... I'll save it for leftovers."

"Alright," he nodded, standing up and whisking her plate away as he left to the kitchen.

She sat at the dining room table, rhythmically tapping her fingers on the wood as she lost herself in her thoughts. Itto's suspension had finished that day, so she was forced to see him again. As expected, he either didn't notice her discomfort or completely brushed it off. He was always somewhat clueless that way. She stood up and sighed, ready to head back upstairs.

"I'll be in my room."

"Love you!" Ayato called.

"Love you too," she said, starting her journey up the stairs.

"Itto, what are you doing?"

"You'll see, just hold on! Don't take the blindfold off."

"Okay...?"

All she could hear was the shuffling of feet and the sound of paper, but she still had no idea what he was planning. She was tempted to peek, but she decided not to ruin the surprise for herself. Finally, Itto stood behind her and put his hands on her shoulders.

"Okay, you can look!" He grinned.

She lifted the blindfold off her head and gasped, seeing a giant sign hung between two trees. She blinked and froze out of shock. She wasn't expecting this of all things. 

'Will you be my girlfriend?'

"So... What do ya say?!" He exclaimed, smiling both from nervousness and excitement.

She turned to face him with a smile, "Of course I will, Itto."

His grin widened, showing more of his teeth, "Cool! That's cool! So, uhm, is it okay if I... kiss you?"

"Pfft, I would like that."

⊱✿⊰

"You didn't have to get me anything for Valentines Day..." Ayaka said as she sheepishly looked off to the side.

Itto smiled as he held the bouquet of roses, "Oh, c'mon! Who doesn't get their girlfriend a present for Valentines Day? Just accept it!"

She gently took the flowers and smiled to herself. They were fake roses, but it still meant a lot. She'd only ever gotten gifts from people who never signed their letters, so she never had any idea who they came from. Besides, at least she wouldn't have to worry about the flowers dying.

"I tried making chocolates, too, but uh... It didn't go well," Itto admitted, scratching the back of his neck.

"Thank you, Itto," she replied. "I appreciate it more than you know."

She clicked her tongue and pushed a few strands of hair behind her ear as she attempted to complete her math homework that was due the next day. She couldn't focus, unfortunately. She felt bad for having her mind linger on her memories with Itto when she was with Thoma, so she gave up on working and grabbed her phone off her desk. She went to her contact list and called her boyfriend. He picked up after two agonizingly long rings.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Thoma," she sighed. "Are you busy? I just wanted to talk for a bit."

"Even if I was busy, I could always make time for you," he said, smiling on the other end. "You sound upset, what's wrong?"

"I'm still a bit... troubled. Itto's appearance earlier has me thinking about things..."

He furrowed his eyebrows with concern, "What do you mean?"

"My relationship with him."

His heart cracked a bit, hearing that, "...Do you miss him?"

She gasped, realizing what he was thinking and quickly reassured him, "No, I don't! I only have eyes for you now, Thoma, I promise. I just... wanted to be honest with you, and I can't seem to focus on work. But... It makes me worry for us."

"Why's that?" He asked, his worry gradually rising.

"Because..." She started, nervous to finish her thought. "I don't want things to end the same way with you."

He exhaled and smiled to himself before giving a response, "We won't end that way, if we even end at all. I'm not him, and you're not who you were back then either. We'll be alright, no matter what happens."

"...You mean that?"

"Of course, love. I don't say things I don't mean," he chuckled. "Do you want me to visit you for a bit? I can bring you some snacks and we can watch a movie or something to get your mind off it, if you want."

"That would be wonderful," she said, a small grin tugging at her lips. "Thank you, Thoma."

"Anything for you!"

⊱✿⊰

Ayaka always wanted to feel romantic love for someone, and she wasn't sure if that was the case with Itto, but either way, her relationship with him became frustrating after the first two months. He was known for brawling with other students and getting into fights, but since she was friends with him beforehand, she saw other sides to him as well. Most people didn't bother knowing him when they heard about him in the halls. It made her feel a bit special, being an exception. 

However, that didn't mean he stopped getting into fights.

"Itto, what are you doing?!"

"Teaching this guy a lesson for messin' with my gang!"

The other boy was beaten to the ground, with blood on his face from both his mouth and nose. She gasped and kneeled down to him, unsure of what to do.

"Can you walk?" She asked, to which he nodded.

She wrapped his arm around her neck and hauled him off the ground, "Let's get you to the nurse's office..."

She gave Itto a glare as she walked past him. She had no idea what the other boy had said or done, but she knew that no one deserved to be humiliated and hurt in public like that. His injuries didn't look that minor, either.

"You're better than this," she stated before walking down the rest of the hall with the guy he'd just beaten up. He just stared after her, slightly disappointed. He couldn't tell if it was disappointment directed toward himself, though. In his eyes, he did the right thing; he was just defending his friends.

"You still seem off in your own world," Thoma pointed out, causing her to lift her head from his chest and look up at him.

"Sorry," she apologized. "I'm probably not the best person to be around right now..."

He placed his hand on her cheek, "You're the one person I always want to spend time with, Ayaka. Is there anything I can do to help?"

The randomly chosen movie played in the background, acting as meaningless noise. She thought about it, looking down for a moment, before making eye contact again and opening her mouth to speak. Her voice came out as a gentle whisper that wouldn't have been audible if he wasn't so close.

"You could kiss me more..."

He chuckled and moved his hand so his index finger and thumb were holding her chin, "I can do that."

⊱✿⊰

"Itto, I'm sorry, but I have to break up with you."

"Huh-? Wait, why?!"

She was startled by him raising his voice, "Because you've been getting into a lot more fights recently and I don't want to be with someone who's always hurting other people...!"

"I'll stop, then!" He replied. "I promise, I won't fight anyone again."

She stared at him momentarily before sighing, "You've said that before. And it's not just that. You've been ditching me for your other friends more often as well..."

"What, I'm not allowed to have friends now?" He questioned, furrowing his eyebrows as he grew more irritated.

"No, that's not what I'm saying," she frowned. "That's perfectly fine, but we've barely seen each other outside of classes for the past month and I don't think this is what I want in a relationship. There were plenty of occasions when we planned to do something and you never showed up. You didn't even give me any warnings!"

"Well I'm sorry that some things come up out of nowhere!" He rolled his eyes. "You're really leaving me over this?'

"Yes, I am, Itto!" She pinched the bridge of her nose. "The fact that you don't understand shows how immature you are."

"I'm the one being immature about this? I can't give you all of my time, y'know!"

"I'm not asking for all of it, I-!" She gave up halfway through her sentence and turned around. "It doesn't matter. I'm going home."

He felt humiliated as she walked away from the school building. She broke up with him in front of so many people. He considered that it might've been a form of revenge, but that wasn't how she intended it. Really, she didn't want to wait until later on to break up with him. She just wanted the stress off her shoulders.

"Shouldn't you be heading home now...?" She mumbled into the fabric of Thoma's shirt as he wrapped his arms around her. They were laying on her bed, simply enjoying each other's company.

"I can stay the night," he whispered, running his fingers through her hair. "Only if you want me to, of course."

She weakly nodded, which he let out a breathy chuckle at. She was clearly exhausted, though he wasn't sure how she managed to tire herself out. She hadn't even finished her work.

"Hey, what about your work?" He asked quietly, his breath tickling her ear.

"I'll worry about it later... Stay here, please."

He smiled and kissed the top of her head, "Of course."

She felt safe in his arms, like nothing could ever hurt her. She felt far away from her painful memories and her former desperation to be loved. With Thoma, all she felt was warmth and happiness. Her relationship with Itto may have failed miserably, but she at least hoped she'd found her happy ending with someone else.