"I love you, Kuriama-san."

She just lingered there for a moment; detached from her senses, stunned to the core at how much those words were shooting through her veins, circulating through her blood, ringing in her brain. It made her dizzy.

"S-s-s-s-senpai!" was all she managed to spill out. She was trembling and she felt as though her knees were threatening to buckle in the moment she needed them sturdy the most. Her eyes brimmed with tears and her cheeks were burning and she just wanted so badly to cup her palms over her quivering pale lips, but she refused further allowing herself to look so puny, even though she knew more or less that Akihito was already aware of these little quirks. It's just that- No one has ever loved her before. The feelings being exchanged and the attachment involved were just so foreign...to the point that it scared her.

He just stood there, too, overwrought and flustered entirely, just inches apart from Mirai. He has never done anything like this, for his experience in this field was as limited as—zero, flat. He had no experience in love whatsoever, and for a fleeting second he pitied himself. But in the passing heartbeats that followed, that Mirai consumed mulling over his abrupt confession, he racked his brain for a reason to why he had even done it in the first place. Alas, he couldn't settle for a valid answer.

He could just cuss himself throughout his entire undying existence if the awkwardness in the atmosphere did not stabilize.

"H-h-how unpleasant!" said the frail figure finally, stiffly clutching the hem of her woolen pink sweater with fidgeting fingers.

How unpleasant. His mind echoed.

She couldn't prevent a helpless squeak escape from her mouth as the air between them stood tense. He seemed to persist in keeping his eyes glued to the ground and remain unresponsive throughout the whole scenario; which made half of her irritated and half relieved. As she began to understand it was leaning more to the latter, she decided to take advantage of the situation-in truth, she couldn't come up with anything else.

"S-see you later senpai!" the words flew out in merely a breath as she bowed hastily. Before he could completely focus himself, she was already distant and running off.

Not bad for someone with anemia, the thought flashes across his mind for an instant, but he sinks back to his senses immediately. "Shit."

Back in her apartment, she has changed into clothes that she thought would help make her feel more relaxed and curled up by the wall of her bedroom, hugging a pillow wedged between her knees and chest. She's had a distant stare since the moment she'd arrived—which was earlier that day—but she couldn't bring herself to wipe it off and focus; until she hears a knock on the door.

Absent-mindedly, sluggishly, she walks barefoot towards it, still clasped onto the pillow, and opens it narrowly to peep. She nearly drops what she had in her hand when she looks up and her eyes come to rest upon his hazel ones.

"Hey," he greets with an angelic smile and tender eyes, as if nothing had happened between them. She decides to go with the flow.

"Ssenpai, what are you doing here?"

"Uhh… my studio was making me feel... claustrophobic. May I come in?"

She then realizes she was being rude by just standing there, so she holds the door wider and waits by the side for him to enter. He nods slightly as he passes her.

When he's inside, she her mind suddenly goes blank of all the things they usually do when he comes over. Before she could think of how to entertain him though, he already positions himself onto her worn-out carpet, resting his back against the wall and occupying a fairly large amount of space as he remained propped, with eyelids shut.

"You came here to sleep?" she asks with all curiosity. He inhales deeply as he hears it, releasing a lengthy sigh as a response.

You can do this, Akihito. God dammit you can do it. He chants to himself as he takes in a breath. Let's do this. He sits upright, leaning forward before he opens his eyes.

"Hey, Kuriyama-san,"

Silence. And inquisitive eyes staring back at him.

"I'm really sorry about a while ago. I didn't mean to startle you, the words just, flew out like I had no control over them. N-not that I didn't mean everything I said though, I just-" Before he could finish his carefully (hazily) planned apology, her lips latch onto his mouth as she clumsily tangles into him, sending his heart running at a dangerous speed of 300 kph or so- at least that's what he thought. He sat dazed, wondering how he had been oblivious to the cautious approaching of Mirai as he spoke.

She lost it somewhere during his mention of control. She just wanted to spare the bound awkwardness after his speech, spare them both, actually. Electricity crackled in her fingertips as they seized his shoulders, shaking as they crept up and laced onto his golden hair. She felt as if her heart needed an anchor to prevent it from hopping out of her chest, but warmth flooded her being as she sensed his heart hammering as well.

It began awkwardly, with both of them rather stiff and their faces bumping in the wrong places (her glasses interfered occasionally, but he liked the way it went out of place), but they attained the proper pace in no time as they dissolved into each other through the duration of the kiss. The moment it was finally (unbelievably) over, both wild eyes examined each other's flushed faces.

Holy shit, he contemplated.

My first kiss, she reflected.

And then the silence was penetrated by teasing words that seemed to vibrate in her ear.

"Is this how you return "I love you"s?"

"S-senpai, how unpleasant!"

"No, no, no, I'm absolutely fine with that!" giggling as he exclaimed with a goofy grin plastered on his face.

She jabs him in the stomach with her elbow. She knows she heard an "ouch" along the way, but considers it too trivial to interrupt the moment. She disregards it anyway.

"I-I love you too, Kanbara- senpai."