No empty promises

Sunday 3rd April

For the next two days, Toh doesn't mention a single word about what Arata said to him. He wanted her to relax after spending three days in such a horrible place. However, occasionally he would wake up in the middle of the night and find her not in his arms, not anywhere. He would only panic for a moment before seeing the messages on her phone.

His gaze fell on the girl tucked in his embrace.

The two of them lay on the couch in each others arms, watching a movie. Though unlike her who was engrossed in the film, he was too busy just staring at her.

She is perfect.

Sumire laughed. "Why do you keep looking at me?"

"I find everything about you attractive." Toh admitted.

"You're sweet." Her gaze softened. "I'm sorry for sneaking out the past two days."

'Whenever I compliment her, I notice that she finds a way to evade the compliment.'

Toh shakes his head. "It's fine, I understand."

That was a lie. He doesn't understand why she has to do such dangerous jobs. She just came back from being stuck in an underground tunnel for three days, stuck in a place where there was not one but two dead bodies. Why can't she have a break?

He caresses her hair and a content sigh escaped her lips.

"This is nice."

"Did you not do this with him?" Toh asked quietly.

"I think, we did a few times. But, those moments were rare. Sano liked to show off that we were together. So, we seldom spent many moments where there wasn't a crowd."

Toh frowned. So, in other words he carried her around like some type of trophy to show off. He leaned forward and kissed her forehead.

"I'm sorry you had to go through that, you deserve more."

"A normal relationship?"

His lips curved to a smile. "Yes."

"To be honest with you, I don't know the first thing about a normal relationship. I even question the reasons I accepted your confession."

"You don't have to." Toh intertwined his hands with hers. "You didn't want to lose me right?"

Sumire nodded. "I don't understand that logic. No matter how much we try to convince ourselves, we have only known each other for two months. It's too little time to get attached or form proper feelings."

"It's not."

"But-"

Toh shakes his head and kisses her forehead and eyelids. "It's not strange, Sumire. It doesn't matter how much time you get to know someone. Sometimes, knowing somebody for far longer is more painful. Because when they betray you, it will hurt more. The fact that we came together in a short amount of time, means that you won't have to endure that type of pain."

"I see you're not saying that you won't betray me."

Toh freezes and was about to explain when he saw the look on her face.

"It's okay, if you don't promise me that."

"It is?"

Sumire nodded. "I would rather you don't give me empty promises."

"Did he say that to you?"

For a minute the girl didn't say anything before weak laughter escaped her lips. "He did, and at the time I actually found it sweet. I felt that he was truly what I needed, and that I didn't make the wrong choice choosing him above all others." She trailed off. "The other option then had been Aki-san. He saw how badly I was breaking after Yuhi left, and confessed to me. However, I turned him down."

"Why?" Toh wondered.

Despite Aki's eccentric behaviour, Toh had no doubt that he would treat the girl well. She must know that too, and yet she turned him down to date somebody she just met.

Sumire responded by kissing his lips lightly. She pulled away after a few seconds and laughed. "Uh, this is harder than I thought."

Toh's lips curved amused. "It's alright, I don't mind."

"Your very patient." Sumire trailed off. "Your spending so much time with me. But, what about university and your store?"

"I'm still studying, you just don't see since your usually sleeping."

"But, I don't think you have been attending lessons."

"I've been studying from home."

"You can do that?"

"Yeah, benefits of being the top student." Toh caressed her hair. "Occasionally I'd make use of it, since I have a lot of other work I have to take care off."

"The top student huh?"

"That reminds me, what are your grades like? I don't think I have ever seen you study."

But, when he went to her house the last time. He saw that she had many academic books.

"My grades are average."

Toh frowned, recalling the titles of the books he saw. "So, your an average student with academic books that belong in university libraries?"

At those words Sumire flinched and then laughed nervously. "Uh, I suppose I can't hide it from you." She then begins to explain her situation, and how she is actually very smart. So, he questions why she hides it.

"It's just, it will make me stand out. If I am too smart, people will talk and if I am too stupid people will talk. So, I figured the middle approach was better."

Toh just stared at her dumbfounded. He doesn't know what to think about that theory of hers. But, he also understood. Sumire is afraid of people. It's only normal for her to ensure that her life is as peaceful as it can get. Only normal for her to get rid of anything that would attract more people towards her.

"How smart are you? I am curious."

Sumire rolled her eyes. "I have heard that before." She trailed off. "Do you have any homework that needs doing?"

Toh thought for a moment and reached over to take some papers from the drawer on the right. He pulls out a pen from his pocket and passed it to the girl.

She was already looking at it with sparkling eyes. That eager to show him huh? Or maybe she just enjoyed academics. She would be one of the few who did.

"There is a lot of math involved in fashion design. So occasionally we get given quizzes like these." Toh explained.

Sumire was already jotting down answers. He didn't even notice when she took the pen off him. After five minutes, she stopped writing and handed the papers back to him.

Toh blinked surprised. "Are you sure you don't need more time?"

She looked at him offended before giggling. "You'll see."

It took him a few extra minutes to check through everything and when he finally did. He looked at the girl in disbelief.

"I already knew you were amazing, but this is on another level."

Sumire laughed. "Thank you for the compliment."

It truly is a waste for her to hide her intelligence. When he heard her story a few minutes ago, he didn't think much of it. It's her choice, it will always be her choice. But, that was before he knew exactly how smart she was.

*Unedited*