fourteen

"You should meet my mom."

If there had been anything in my mouth that day, I would've choked. I looked up from my book and at Kiyoshi, my eyes wide. "What?"

We were in the library again—it seemed like the only place we could go. He shrugged and continued to flip through the pages of the manga in front of him. "I mean, you already kissed me. Plus," he looked up and smiled, "you're my girlfriend."

"You kissed me!" I said, trying not to raise my voice so much. "And it's not like we're actually together—you said it was only for a month."

"Ouch." Kiyoshi put a hand over his chest, pretending he was hurt. "That stings."

"Truth hurts, Kiyoshi." I went back to reading and thought he'd done the same until I looked up and saw him staring at me. "What?"

"Would you?" he asked.

"Would I what?"

"Would you date me if you had the chance?" I tried looking for any signs to show he was joking, but his face was serious, and it sounded like an honest question. I should be honest with him as well.

I looked back down and flipped the page of me book, "Yeah," I said. "I would."

"Then why don't you?" he asked again. He rested his head on his arms, trying to meet my eyes. I ignored him.

"Because I know nothing about you."

"That's a lie," he said. "You know everything about me."

There was a moment of silence between us—or maybe it was because we were sitting in a library. I stopped reading, but didn't look at him and he kept trying to meet my eyes.

"How?" I asked, closing my book.

"What I told you at Akira's party," he started, "about the voices—that's it. That's all there is to know about me."

"But it's not." I didn't understand why I was getting so angry as I finally looked up to meet his eyes.

"It is."

"It's not," I said, trying not to yell.

"Ren." He sat up again, "That's al—"

"I don't know anything about you, Kutsuki Kiyoshi" I cut him off. "I don't know who you are, but I know that seeing you hurt because of those voices doesn't only hurt you.

"It hurts me, too."

Kiyoshi was probably the first person I've come across where I couldn't control my emotions. I would never have told someone that I would date them if I could, or that seeing them cry makes me cry, too. But Kiyoshi wasn't just someone—he was different from ordinary people.

There was a small smile forming on Kiyoshi's face. He then chuckled, saying, "You didn't have to get so emotional on me. I just wanted to know if you wanted to meet my mom."

Kiyoshi doesn't know how to deal with other people's emotions, much less his own.