Disbelief

She tried calling Aimi but she instantly went to her voicemail. There was still something wrong with her phone but she could only find out if she asked her. She felt that Aimi didn't come to school today but she looked for her during recess anyways.

Her mind dwelled on Aimi through her classes. After the first recess is lunch. Having no friends to slow her down, she quickly but absent-mindedly ate her food. She can feel some students gossiping around her in the classroom but wasn't sure if they were talking about her since it was too quiet for her to make out the words.

It is worse to make out some words than it is to either hear it all or nothing. This leaves the mind to fill in the gaps. Auditory delusions are common in this scenario. Chiho got up and decided to walk to someplace quiet.

She thought about the roof. In her dark world, she saw a bright light.

***

"Hikaru!" Chiho called out in the corridor.

Everyone looked at the source. Hikaru who was walking in her direction turned his gaze toward her indifferently.

...

The silence made Chiho uncomfortable. Hikaru was waiting for her to speak since she called out his name with so much vigour that he thought she had something urgent to say.

He blinked and said "Chiho. Is something wrong?"

"Yes, no. Actually, Aimi returned home safely this morning!"

Everyone started muttering with surprised expressions.

"That's good... So, about what happened-"

"About that..."

Chiho was feeling conflicted again. She didn't regret what she did and she also felt something off about Hikaru. Until she heard about the whole story from Aimi, she will still have suspicions of Hikaru's involvement. Yet, it does seem that Hikaru's case is going pretty well.

"About that, I think I jumped the gun and I shouldn't have been too angry with you."

"That's ok. How is Aimi?" He said nonchalantly

"She's-She's not at school and is resting at home."

"Mm. She must be tired."

"Yes..."

...

Chiho glanced away with blushed cheeks while Hikaru stared blankly. She bit her lip.

"So... I think I might visit-"

"Would you like to go eat out after school?" He said cooly.

"!!!"

Everyone's jaws gaped. Chiho blinked at 20 fps.

"Sorry, what did you say?" She asked again as she couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"Hm? Would you like to go out with me?"

Brows raised and curved so high that deep wrinkles appeared across the forehead of everyone. It looked like an epidemic of wrinkles. Chiho lowered her head to avoid blinding his eyes with red.

"Yes. I would like to go out with you."

She glanced away after lasting a couple of seconds of continuous eye contact.

"Then I'll see you after, right, I have a Kendo class. It finishes at 5 but I can leave at 4. Is that alright?"

"Of course! I mean, you don't have to leave early. I could wait fo- I mean 5 should be okay."

"No, I'll see you at 4."

"Okay."

Hikaru walked past Chiho. She should be satisfied with what happened. It was divine intervention. Yet, her hardy tomboyish personality pushed on.

"Please wait a moment."

Hikaru turned around.

"Bring me to Kendo class with you"

"Sure."

Wide eyes with whites showing couldn't be widened any further, yet muscles around the eyes fought to defy their limits. No one could comprehend what they were witnessing.

"See you later."

"See you."

***

Hikaru walked to the Kendo club and was surprised he saw Chiho leaning against the wall. Her class was further down from the Kendo club but she still arrived there earlier than him.

"Come in," Hikaru said as he opened the door.

*Tap Tap Tap*

Sounds of bamboo swords hitting each other dominated the room. Shinai is four layers of bamboo tied together to represent a Katana. Hikaru put on his armour called bogu. He wrapped his head with a white towel before putting on the helmet.

Aito saw Hikaru and was waiting for him to finish getting ready. He was typically Hikaru's sparring partner because he was competitive but also eager to learn. Hikaru was the best in Kendo class. Even Giichi who was second-best could only land a hit one out three times. Unlike Giichi, he revered Hikaru but always aimed to reach the stars.

Aito walked quickly to Hikaru before someone else did.

"Hikaru! Would you like to spar with me?" He asked excitedly.

"Of course."

Aito turned his head at Chiho and raised his brow in surprise. Everyone knows Hikaru never dated anyone.

"I'll be leaving with soon after this."

"Ahh... huh? You're leaving early?"

"Yes. I'll finish sparring today."

Aito was confused.

'Was he going to do back-to-back spars before going out with his friend? No, is it because it's his first date? Wait, is that why he's bringing her here? To impress her?'

He shook his head and quickly stood opposite Hikaru as he had already gone into Chudan posture. The same middle-level posture he used to kill his parasite-infected cat.

Aito moved his left foot slightly behind the right and held his sword in front of his waist. He had also entered chudan no kamae which was a move that balanced offence and defence and is almost always preferred during a battle.

Aito was eager to surprise Hikaru as he had done extra practice in the last few days with Giichi and their sensei, Ichigorou. He had caught up a lot in those intensive training sessions and would probably get a leg up on Giichi at least half of the rounds.

Aito's surroundings became blurry as he focused. Everyone began watching the two.

***

"What! Don't be ridiculous. You two are playing a prank on me." Fumiye exclaimed in disbelief.

"I didn't believe it either," Fujiye said.

"But it really happened. Everyone was there." Kanna added.

Her right- and left-hand women tried convincing her.

"Well you might be telling the truth but that doesn't mean what you think you saw is true. What we're seeing is something never seen before because someone's never been kidnapped before. Hikaru's probably just trying to be nice like always."

"Mm. That's true."

"Yea that's probably it."

Fumiye reminisced about the make-up date she had with Hikaru after being rejected.

"Sigh."