‘That’ Side Character Chapter 22: Competition?

He was so preoccupied with thoughts of you, that he didn’t see a girl standing in front of him, calling to him, and when he sensed someone was there he just mechanically stepped around them to keep walking.

“Hey? Kenma?” the voice called again and he stopped when the voice permeated his thoughts.

He looked to his left into the smiling face of his classmate.

He didn’t ask anything, just waited for her to speak seeing as she looked like she wanted to ask him something.

“Oh… umm,” she stalled, “how is Y/N?”

“Ok,” he said softly.

“Oh… cool… are you and her going out?” she asked.

“No,” he replied blandly.

“Oh! That’s good,” she said with a bright smile, “so you’re single, right?”

He just turned and kept walking, making her chase him.

“So uh… do you like anyone in the class?” she pushed. 

Kenma had had enough of the conversation so was disinclined to answer, and promptly ignored her probing questions as she followed him into classroom.

The teacher looked up as he entered and noted that you weren’t with him, and he gave her a cold glare as he sat down.

The girl was still intent on talking to him but thought that it was probably best not to talk, now that they were in class, so just gazed longingly at him as she sat down in her seat.

It was an awkward class.

The teacher felt it.

Kenma certainly felt it, and he couldn’t wait till the break to go and see you again to make sure you were ok.

Back in the sick bay, you had woken to your booted leg falling off the side of the bed and it had startled you. You had been having a dream that your foot had gotten caught in a noose and had yanked you to the side of a cliff.

Waking with a start, you quickly lifted your leg back onto the bed and lay there panting with the sudden fear.

While you were still trying to come down from your stress laced dream, Kenma walked in and saw you in a state of lowkey panic.

“What happened?” he asked.

“I almost fell off a cliff!” you exclaimed, pointing at your booted leg, “this stupid thing nearly dragged me off!”

He blinked at you, putting it down to a dream so didn’t question you further about it. 

“Thanks for coming to see me,” you said with a smile as he sat down on the side of the bed.

“It’s ok,” he said as looked at you softly.

You looked at him and then your eyes fell to his bare hands.

“Oh… where’s your game thing?” you asked, noticing he didn’t have it on him.

“In my bag,” he replied.

“Why didn’t you bring it?” you asked.

“I…” he paused… he didn’t really have a good answer to that question, “I don’t know?” 

“Oh…” you said softly, “well… umm… hey… is there something you want?”

“What do you mean?” he asked.

“I mean. Is there like something that you like, or that you want?” you repeated, “I don’t want to tell him it’s for a gift for him…”

“Uh… no?” he replied, confused.

“Oh,” you said sadly.

Silence fell and after a few more seconds he stood up.

“Umm… I’ll see you after school… ok?” 

“Yeah ok,” you said with a smile, watching him leave.

“I still have to get him a thank you gift,” you thought as you stared up at the ceiling once he had walked out.

………………….

Walking out of the infirmary, Kenma looked back down at his empty hands and stared as he slowly opened and closed them.

“I don’t have my game,” he thought as he walked, “I always grab for my game. But this time I wanted to see Y/N more than I wanted my game. That’s weird?”

He continued on down the hall to his locker to get his PSP just to make sure he was still into it. 

As he pulled it out, he looked at the poster he had stuck up on the back of his locker. There was a game conference coming up soon and it featured his favourite game and people would be cosplaying as the characters. 

Man, he really wanted to go.

Even the creators of the game would be there! 

He stared at it as he waited for his game to load, then he closed his locker and went to sit down somewhere quiet.

After school, the infirmary nurse dismissed you and you got off the bed and wobbled to the door, feeling a little woozy on your feet after lying down for so long. 

Booted leg first, you made your way back down the hallway to the lockers, just as the bell rang and students spilled out of the classrooms and flooded the hallway.

“Woah! A sea of people!” You thought, stumbling to the side rails to get out of the way and also to kinda pretend that you were in some type of ocean, “will I make it to my locker?” You asked yourself dramatically, clinging to the rail and slowly pulling yourself along. “Kenma! Will Kenma help me? Where is he?” You asked yourself, lifting yourself up on tip toes (on one foot) to try and look over the mass of chatting people.

Your eyes scanned down the line to where Kenma’s locker was and you saw his head through the crowd, smiling when you saw that tell tale black roots with blond tips look.

“Kenma!” you shouted, hoping he would hear you over the din but it was far too loud in the hall and he definitely didn’t hear you.

You made your way forward a little more and tried to call out again but stopped.

It looked like he was talking to someone and you stopped and squinted to see who it was.

You saw your female classmate next to him and it looked like they were having a good chat.

Your heart sank.

It hurt.

You didn’t want him to be talking to anyone else… Wait, correct that… any one female else.

With more purpose, you pulled yourself through the people towards where Kenma and her were talking and saw her stroke her hand down his arm and giggle.

“Is he making her laugh?!” you thought with indignation, your heart starting to hurt in your chest, “he doesn’t try and make me laugh?”

Jealousy surged inside you as you pushed your way though to them.

………………………….

Kenma had walked to his locker, intending to get his things before going to yours, and packing your bag for you, but before he could leave, that girl from earlier had bailed him up against his locker.

<<< ‘That’ Side Character Chapter 21: Validated

‘That’ Side Character Chapter 23: Jealousy >>>