The library was quieter than usual.
Aki liked it that way.
He sat at a small corner table by the window, where the sun fell in golden strips through the blinds. His notebook was open, but empty. He hadn't written anything yet.
He checked the clock. 4:15 PM. Haru said he'd come "right after class."
Aki exhaled softly. Figures.
He was about to pack up and leave when—
"Yo!"
The voice echoed off the shelves.
Several students turned. The librarian glared.
Aki winced.
Haru plopped down in the seat across from him, out of breath, hair a mess like he'd sprinted here. "Sorry. I kinda got distracted chasing a cat."
Aki raised an eyebrow.
"A real one. Not a metaphor," Haru added quickly. "Though honestly, a metaphor would be cooler."
Aki didn't reply, but something about his expression made Haru grin wider.
He took out a crumpled handout from his bag and flattened it against the table. "Okay, literature project. We're supposed to analyze a poem together, right?"
"Yeah."
Haru leaned in. "Can I be honest?"
"No."
"I'll be honest anyway," he said, unfazed. "Poems confuse the hell out of me."
Aki held back a sigh. "Then why'd you choose me as a partner?"
Haru tilted his head. "Because you look like you understand things I don't."
That stopped Aki.
He glanced up. Haru wasn't smiling this time. Just watching him. Not mocking. Just… sincere.
The silence between them felt oddly soft.
"…What poem did we get?" Aki asked, voice quieter.
Haru perked up. "Uh… something about love and flowers. Super vague. Want me to read it out loud in a dramatic voice?"
"Please don't."
"Too late." Haru stood, cleared his throat, and began reading the poem in the most exaggerated Shakespearean voice imaginable.
Aki stared at him, horrified.
The librarian glared again.
Haru laughed and sat down, whispering, "Okay, okay, I'm done."
But Aki wasn't annoyed anymore.
He was trying not to smile.
---
They worked for an hour. Haru was… distracting. But not in a bad way.
He asked stupid questions. Made dumb jokes.
And sometimes, he just stared out the window mid-sentence, like his mind was somewhere else entirely.
By the time they finished, the sky was turning pink.
"I'll walk you home," Haru offered, slinging his bag over his shoulder.
"No thanks."
"Too bad, I'm doing it anyway."
Aki rolled his eyes but didn't argue.
As they walked side by side through the quiet streets, Aki glanced at him from the corner of his eye.
He's annoying. Loud. Unpredictable.
But for some reason…
He didn't feel so alone today.
---
That night, Aki wrote in his journal:
> "Haru chased a cat.
Haru made a fool of himself in the library.
Haru said poems confuse him.
Haru walked me home.
I think I laughed.
…I didn't hate it."