Soul for a Girlfriend?

Chapter 164 - Lingering Feelings

Last few days went great for me as my interaction with Naoto has taken a sudden turn ever since I confronted her about her injury. She has started to take an interest in me as she talks more than often with me now.

And in the last couple of days, a few things have happened which have made me kind of confused about whether or not she likes me. Her actions have kept me on the edge. 

Walking under the same umbrella, closer than an arm's length with each, while stealing glances frequently. Baking cake for me because I just happened to mention it. Talking with me for hours over text.

Looking at them from a platonic point of view, they seemed rather harmless but then again, calling them platonic won't do it justice since I'm friends with her at such a level that she wouldn't do random acts of kindness towards me.

I was in a dilemma because I had already asked her out once and asking her again would be really awkward. But then again, looking at her, she doesn't look the type of girl to start things like these from her side.

I was getting a strong gut feeling that if I asked her out within this week again, the chances of success were rather high. But I wasn't sure if it was the right time to shoot my shot. At times like that, I decided to seek help from another person.

Though I wasn't a fan of involving someone else in the process of securing a target, it didn't really matter, as it wasn't like I was putting them in direct danger. Though the main problem was that I haven't talked with them for quite a long time, so texting them would be awkward.

As usual, it was the third period and our biology teacher was going on about the structure of histones. I was actively taking down the notes because sitting idly was something she hated. And writing them down, I was immersed in my own world of thoughts.

A few days ago, everyone witnessed Naoto giving me cake even though I didn't eat in class because it was a bit awkward to do that. But some of my classmates have been making comments about that incident.

And the person who was most excited about it was none other than Ts?men. Of course, that dude would be interested in my love life for some reason. He wouldn't stop talking about it and teasing me.

Naoto knew very well what others would think if she visited my class and gave me something like a cake which she baked herself, but still she did that. That might mean that she wants people to think of us in that way. But again, that was way out of character for her to do.

I was waiting for the period to get over so that I could text the person and talk about my predicament. As usual, the period went by and the teacher left the class after giving us some assignments for home.

As soon as she left the class, I took out my mobile and texted Yuna. The text got delivered, but she didn't open it. I put my mobile back and waited for her reply. Since she was close to Naoto, she was a good person to rely on.

And I could tell that she shipped Naoto with me, but since Naoto was rather cold to me in the beginning, she didn't tease her. My mobile vibrated, as it was Yuna's reply. I opened the chat and texted her to meet with me in the hallway near the library.

I headed towards the hallway and got there before her, as she was nowhere to be seen. I rested my arm on the window platform and gazed outside as a small tug of wind flew through my hair.

I was looking towards the playground,as I could see the tiny figure of students playing around it. The sound of an excited feminine ringed in my ear calling out my name, "Yo Sakamaki-kun!"

I turned around to see Yuna walking fast towards me with a bunch of papers in her hands. As nodded her head upwards as she said, "Long time no see."

"Yeah… you doing good?" I nodded, looking towards the bundle of paper she was holding and asked, "What are those?"

She raised them up slightly and said, "Just a bunch of counselling forms from our class."

Realising that I might've called her at the wrong time, I asked, pointing towards the bundle, "You have to submit them?"

"Yeah, I'm going to the admin office." She nodded slightly, as I walked up to her and picked up half of those papers, "Here…"

"Woah…" She was surprised by my sudden offer to help, even though she didn't ask for it. I wouldn't have helped her if the situation was something else, but right now I can't let this chance slip away from my hands.

I adjusted the bunch of papers, properly aligning them and then gave her a small smile and said, "Let's continue our conversation on the way."

As we started walking towards the admin office together down the stairs, she looked at me with a curious smile and asked, "Yes… but what happened? You haven't talked with us lately?"

"Areh… I was a bit busy with some stuff you know…" I answered with an awkward smile, because I thought it wouldn't be a wise choice to talk about what happened between me and Naoto.

By her expression I could tell that she was aware of everything, and she said with a slight nod, "Oh… yeah I heard what happened between you and Naoto."

There were no ulterior motives behind her tone, which sounded quite innocent. She said that in a way that almost illustrated her surprise, that I would say something like that.

I chuckled softly as I said in a low tone that hinted at my concern for Naoto, "Yeah… I hope you guys aren't holding grudges against her."

She looked at me with widened eyes, as she instantly shook head from left and right in denial, and said in her usual fast-paced tone, "Oh of course not! Are you crazy!"