Beyond The Table Thus The Boundary

Chapter 11: Reality

The air there felt chilled, but the entire atmosphere was practically choking Tsubasa to the point she could not really look into Takato’s glittering and pleading eyes. She was utterly petrified by the abrupt heart-to-heart confession by Takato, whereas it has only been roughly a week since they were assigned the group work. Thanks to the assignment, only then Tsubasa could figure out the real voice of that Takato man without unnecessary hindrance. She was so convinced their group mates Setoka, Mitsuko, and Asahi did not know Takato’s visit to the infirmary, judging from how relax Takato was while spending his so-called rest time there.

            “You must be kidding me, Takato,” Tsubasa could not help but to avert. The longer she tried to focus on Takato’s whole expression instead of his eyes, the stronger she sensed the intensity of Takato’s imploring gaze. It was not that she disliked talking to Takato – the timing was awfully bad, and instead of deciding an answer, she would brush this off as a mere dream. However, the keen look in Takato’s shining cornea remarked her that he was not even playing around.

            All right, this is totally a different Takato.

            “Are you becoming someone else when you fell sick?” As how she thought she would, she did. While evading the aimed eye shot by Takato, she brushed it off as a joke. It was not a mockery though – it was more for herself to recompose her unstable breathing and heartbeat.

            If only Takato could hear microscopically, he might hear my heart throbbing like hell here. She gulped as Takato never budged.

            Seconds and probably minutes of keeping quiet, Takato finally broke the awkward silence. He faced to other direction from Tsubasa and a long sigh escaped from him. His squinting eyes indirectly told Tsubasa that she has done something she should not, yet she failed to discover what it was. It was possible though since she was not the kind to understand body languages that correctly. She was a blunt, thus beating around the bushes was definitely the worst method to inform her on anything.

            “Forget it. It won’t help you from the fever anyway,” again, another sigh escaped from Takato. He rose from the bed and did some stretching to relax his muscles. Eventually, the face turned reddish out of the blue and it was witnessed by the sick Tsubasa.

            “Why are you blushing, Takato?” Tsubasa was still in her blunt mode that she asked, “Oh, wait. Let me guess. You’re shy, right?”

            Takato’s childish turn around and back face Tsubasa proved her right. No other pleasure admitted than teasing that Takato man before her. It was funny to see him all red and flushed just because he has performed something out of his habit – confession. Tsubasa did like him, but in a romantic way? She would say it was only out of respect, and finding a weird man such as Takato was almost like a diamond – too precious to be let go.

            She did not realize one fact – she has already fallen in love with that Takato man even before the group assignment thing. All because she was attracted to his nature – his quietness, his diligence, his perseverance, and other indescribable favourites. Despite not having real close friends around him, she still found him interesting in many ways. From the fondness she accidentally grew in her girlish heart, she had the habit of watching him keenly and covertly to figure out what his liking and hate.

            “All right, all right. Are you sure you are having stomach ache, Takato? You seem… too fine to me,” Tsubasa purposely frowned deeply as if she was disgusted by the presence of Takato there. In fact, she was already on cloud nine.

            A sudden thought hit. She wondered if Takato really meant the confession. She has always been aware that the Takato she knew was not the type to lie. He was indeed the worst liar among their group. Everything was nicely portrayed on his face, and he could not fake a mimic. He stuttered so much and even if he succeeded in deceiving her, his face and blood flow would never lie. Their current situation was the best example, and Tsubasa could swear she wanted Takato to lie on other bed like he was the one having fever instead.

            Takato took a glance of Tsubasa before he made his way to the door. As his hand grasped on the doorknob, he mumbled almost to himself, yet it was actually for Tsubasa.

            “I hope this feeling will reach you someday.”

            Without turning to wave Tsubasa goodbye, he swung the door opened and instantly stepped out, leaving Tsubasa dumbfounded. Tsubasa did not have the chance to even call him that Takato has dashed out of the infirmary. Presumably he was still embarrassed of his shocking action that even he could not accept the reality. He might have planned other topic to chat, but the confession came out instead. Nevertheless, since he has unconsciously come out with the topic, he would just follow the flow instead of denying or claiming it as joke or such.

            As for Tsubasa…

            She still thought it was a joke by that Takato man.

            How to mend her though?

            “Ah, you’re awake?”

            Out of the blue, a voice intervened her contemplation. She rotated her head to the direction the voice was supposed to be emitted from, and gaped in disbelief as she saw the one she never hoped to meet for the time being was leaning his forearm against the doorframe.

            She chirped as uneasiness rested in her chest.

            “Were you dreaming? I heard you were talking quite much just now,” Takuya casually paced towards the pallid Tsubasa on the bed.

            Wait. Does this mean Takuya has heard Takato’s confession just now? This is certainly not a joke! Even Tsubasa could feel her blood gushing to her head. The result was vague, but reminiscing the volume of Takato’s tone while confessing just now, she swore Takuya could listen entirely. She scrunched her face in denial.

            “Do you dream of a prince charming coming by a horse to bring you home?” Takuya asked more and more to intrigue her, “Not so fast. He’s going to meet me first.”

            From a pale scrunching face, Tsubasa’s countenance interchanged into visually perplexed. “Was I saying about prince charming?”

            “Just rough guess. You did say something like ‘liking’ and ‘relationship’ though,” Takuya pulled a pout.

            “Wait, wait,” Tsubasa gestured her hand, halting Takuya from spouting out more rubbish, “How long have I been awake?”

            Takuya propped his chin and recalled thoroughly. “Merely five minutes ago. I guess.”

            “For real?” To her, the presence of Takato was long enough for them to have some conversation before Takato decided to leave the infirmary. At most, 30 minutes have passed and she did not sense the existence of other people than both of them at the moment. No one was entering the infirmary while Takato was there, and it puzzled her a lot because she refused to believe the presence of Takuya was an imagination.

            Takuya seemed much more real than Takato. Other than the distinct voice, Takuya looked much closer to his usual self compared to Takato. As for the latter, not enough with being talkative to Tsubasa, he even confessed to her.

            “I must have dreamt something sweet I should not get up,” Tsubasa face palmed in disappointment. If only she slept much longer, she might have heard more of Takato’s sincere confession. If it was only a dream, she would rather stay asleep until she found out what the outcome would be. She still considered that Takato man as a quiet and mysterious one. If it was in reality, she must have gone crazy.

            Takuya crossed his arms while watching Tsubasa murmuring words he could not eavesdrop well. She must be talking to herself – or more to self-reflecting – of her inner soul, physical appearance, or sanity. “You do tend to overthink, don’t you? I could see from your mimic.”

            “Am I?” Tsubasa automatically slapped her face with both palms, “I’m sorry that I’m that see-through. I don’t mean to make you uncomfortable. I tried to control myself, but I don’t seem to be able to do it independently.”

            “You just need to do it without thinking,” Takuya persisted on not to laugh at Tsubasa’s bewildered expression, “I mean, just do it naturally. You can’t force your face to not smile, but you still can smile moderately. Right?”

            “Your words are like an old man. Are you sure you’re not a reincarnation of grandparents of the 17th century?” Tsubasa squinted at the latter. She still was not disgusted by Takuya – she really could not mask her confusion that well. Everything was excellently portrayed on her face and she never planned on figuring out how she looked like.

            “I’m not sure about that but one thing for sure – You’re still drowsy,” Takuya shook his head in disapproval, “You should rest some more. Moreover, there’s still time before everyone returning home. Take this opportunity to rest before you come back.”

            Tsubasa rolled her eyes. Takuya surprisingly had a pair of keen eyes that he could perceive every emotion shown in someone’s phrases. Takuya made his way to the window, gazing the outside view and getting himself indulged into his own world. Tsubasa had the urge to startle him, but then she chose to just let him be alone without disturbance and all she needed to do was to rest her head off and get better so that she could return home.

            “It’s not safe yet.”

            Takuya frowned in disagreement as Tsubasa voiced out her demand to return home soon after her temperature decreased significantly. “There’s still plenty of time before 5,” he claimed like a big brother scolding a little sister.

            “But, I need to be fast or I will reach home late. I dislike being outside when the sky has turned dark,” Tsubasa almost spilled out the fact that she previously came back home that late with Takato. She could hold her secret pretty well that she quickly evaded from voicing it out loud, “I can’t really see well in dark, plus my neighbourhood is rather isolated from the main road.”

            The man frowned deeper until his eyebrows entangled to each other. He tilted his head on one side and pouted, “Sakura Street isn’t that isolated to me though.”

            “Eh?”

            “Eh?”

            Instantly, Tsubasa glared at the flustered Takuya. For sure he would since he uncontrollably mentioned Sakura Street, the neighbourhood where Tsubasa lived in. Tsubasa never remembered disclosing her current home address to Takuya. She squinted at Takuya, threatening him to reveal more of what he has known from her.

            “Wh- Why do you look at me that way?” The mouth said so, yet Takuya evaded to other direction but Tsubasa.

            Tsubasa clenched her teeth. “Were you stalking me all these while?”

            “Why should I? I would rather stalk myself than you!” Takuya shrieked incoherently.

            “Then, how do you know where my house is, huh?” Tsubasa even pointed straightforwardly to Takuya’s pallid face. “Just admit it that you’re caught red handed now!”

            “You were the one telling me your own address, and now you’re saying I’m stalking you just because I remember you live there? What the heck!”

            “I did?” From a very threatening facial, her face interchanged to a very stunned girl. She grabbed the blanket covering her body, ducking her head as low as she could to hide her embarrassment. “Ah… I guess I really did.”

            Tsubasa has just realized Takuya’s continuous reminder to her all these while. She was always caught talking to herself, exposing some or most of her humiliation. It was her very fault if anyone figured out her weaknesses, her embarrassing moments, her bad past, her terrible behaviour, et cetera – She was the one telling the whole world though.

            Takuya chuckled at Tsubasa’s sudden emotional flip. She could randomly get mad at the latter, and come to her sense right away. Moreover, she was the type to easily believe whatever one told her, which kind of dragging her into unknown mess she might get involved later.

            “You’re dangerous, Tsubasa. I can’t let you know every of my traits to you, or you might spread rumours to everyone about me,” Takuya cleared his throat and giggled along his breathing.

            “Shut up,” Tsubasa murmured and crossed her arms in disapproval, and pouted. “I just want to go back home.”

            “All right, all right,” Takuya finally gave in, “With one condition. I will accompany you home, okay?”