Meeting Her.

Haruki just stared blankly at the woman's blatant statement, "How does she still remember me?" He thought, "Did I make it obvious?!" "So... are you Haruki?" she repeated. "A-am I... Haruki?" he replied, acting dumb in hopes of her giving up. She coughed slightly, awaiting a better response. Realising his method wasn't working, Haruki remarked, "O-oh.. Oh, I mean.. I mean.. yes, I am Haruki." The woman, dazed at his response, gawked directly at him, unaware of his anxious state. "So you're Vanessa, right?" Haruki asked timidly, "Yes! I'm so glad you remember, I haven't seen you since high school!" She shouted joyfully. Haruki smiled tensely, craving an escape out of this situation, causing him to stay mute.

After a moment that lasted for eternity, Vanessa began, "So…wanna hang out?" She said it so abruptly that Haruki strained the whole of his body, paranoid of what she intended to do and how she would do it. "I mean, just—it won't be that long." Vanessa said, trying to reassure him. "Yeah, why not? Yeah, sure." Haruki replied, striving to act reserved, "Where do you want to go?" "To be honest, anywhere," she quickly replied. "O-oh, oka-." Before Haruki finished his sentence, he got rudely interrupted by her: "Oh, I know! What about your house? Oh my god, let's go to your house!" Haruki just peered blankly at her, eyeing her with clear suspicion, while Vanessa eagerly looked directly at him. "No. Just no," he suddenly sneered, directly implying that she would never go to his house. "What? Why not?" she persisted, interested in going to his home. Haruki, the complete opposite was nothing but desperate for her not to enter his house, but unfortunately, he was fully aware that if he resisted, it would eventually come back to regretfully haunt him. "S-sure. Let's go, I guess." He reluctantly sighed. "YAY!!" Vanessa shouted at Haruki's face. Haruki stared uncomfortably again, It wasn't even ten minutes yet conversing with her, but he already started to loathe her.

The two started walking together towards Haruki's house."So," Vanessa started, "how far is your house?" "U-uh, well, like fifteen minutes away." "Alright, that's not bad." "Well, what about yours?" Haruki asked, pretending to be inquisitive. "Uhm, I don't know—twenty-three, twenty-four minutes? It's pretty far by foot. I'd say around twenty-three minutes. "To be precise." She smiled in an odd manner. Then she said, "So how's your mom and dad doing?" Haruki, drained of her endless questions, rapidly replied, "Uhh, f-fine, they, yeah, they, uhm, they're doing fine.."Haruki murmured,replying in order for her to shut up. "Oh, okay, well, that's good to hear." "Yeah…" He hoped that Vanessa wouldn't start anything related to his parents ever again, but just as he thought would happen, he jinxed it. "Oh, I just can't wait to meet them! I'll be so happy!! Oh, yes, what should I say to them when I see them?" Haruki was slightly shocked yet had an apparent pissed face. "W-well, I-uh, he stammered, seeking to find the words for her inquiry. "Oh, I should be like, 'Hi Haruki's mom. Hi, Haruki's dad! I've been waiting to meet you for so long! I met your son at a shop today, and we came here because I wanted to see you!!" Haruki clenched his teeth. "Yeah, good idea." But, um, I think you should know something." "What is it, Haruki?" "Yeah, well, uh. My parents aren't home."