Her Saviour

Chapter 32: Before fireworks.

Haru’s Point of View

After he parted from Rin, he went to his class dragging his feet. There were about 3 minutes left until his next class but was stopped by his friend who was rushing to the administrative office for some paper work so he tagged along. However, the work did not take time and they casually walked up the steps and turned the corner to see the lecturer enter the class right at that moment.

They slowly and silently opened the door, bent their heads low and followed the lecturer halfway to his table, and pretended as if they were already in the class as they went back to their usual seats by the window. Haru and his friend again played rock, paper, scissors to decide who gets to sit by the window and Haru tricked his friend into losing somehow so that he could look out the window. Whenever he wanted a break from listening to the lecturer, looking out the window refreshed him.

The class then started with the window curtains pulled down and darkening the room to watch a documentary. Haru concentrated on the documentary and took down short notes in his small notebook. Biting the pen when watching and his left hand on his chin supporting his head while writing. The class felt like it went on forever because the documentary was apparently boring to others and they were on their phones. His friend who was sitting next to him was also on his phone playing a game and would constantly disturb Haru when he was attentive and making notes. This went on until the class was over.

Haru packed his books and pen and was leaving for his next class but looked out the window once to see if he could see Rin walking to her next class but he did not spot her so he left the class.

On his way, he felt a bit tired so he decided to buy a cup of coffee to wake him up entirely. The cafeteria was packed with students buying things so he went from the side and bought an instant coffee instead. He repetitively tried cooling the hot coffee with his breath but was still hot so he took light sips as he walked to his next class.

As he was about to enter the class, his phone vibrated. It was a text from Rin, “Hey, where are we meeting for lunch?” and Haru thought about the places in and around college for about a minute then replied with, “How does the road to the west of the cafeteria sound?”

He was putting his phone back in his pocket when it vibrated again and checked to see “Yup. That sounds good. See you in an hour then.” He then sent a smiley emoticon and kept his phone on silent and entered the class.

The seat he usually sat on was taken by someone else so he had to go to the backbench, right in the center of the row. Their lecturer entered the class a few minutes late, apologized and the lecture began. He took out his laptop as this lecturer had the tendency to do everything quickly. She spoke fast, wrote on the board fast, and erased it just as fast. Haru had to copy notes from someone else for this class the first time he attended because he usually wrote notes.

He then starting typing as the lecture began. Haru felt a bit out of place not bring near a window where he usually took a glance outside. He had was in the middle of the backbench this time and although he tried to look outside every once in a while, he would fail. He decided to focus on the class instead because it proved useless and listened to the lecturer rambling on and on about behavior and socialization.

He was engrossed in his thought processes as the lecture went on, fascinated by facts and examples that the lecturer gave on this topic. Just like how even though he was tired from the assignments and the articles assigned, he was still fine with the workload because he enjoyed studying about it.

They then proceeded to a group work in-class and did brainstorming on a few relatable examples from the given lecture. The class was over before the discussions ended then the lecturer told the class to present the information they discussed in the next class. Haru quickly packed his laptop and dashed out of the class.

He then quickened his pace and walked to the meeting spot which took him about 2 minutes. When he reached there, he looked around and saw no one. He then walked a bit more and saw a small rock by the big tree. He then noticed that he was a bit out of breath. He sat on the rock with his back to the cafeteria and slowly breathed and calmed down. He waited for a while but felt impatient and then took out his phone and texted Rin, ”Are you on your way?” He waited for a while longer but did not receive a reply.

He began to wonder about the possible things Rin would be doing right now. Maybe she is asking a doubt to a lecturer? Maybe she is talking to a friend? Maybe she's thirsty and buying a drink somewhere? In his mid-thought, he felt a tap on his shoulder.

As soon as he turned around to see, he heard Rin speak, “Hi. I’m sorry that I made you wait.”

At the sight of her, Haru couldn’t help but smile. He replied, “No. It is okay. Do not worry about it. I just reached here.”

Haru thought, “How can I tell her that I was waiting.”

They then walked to the cafeteria and picked what they wanted to eat. Haru waited while Rin scanned through the menu available today. Then they found an empty table and walked towards it. They sat opposite each other and began to eat.

While they ate, they talked about what happened in their classes.

Rin spoke, “We watched a boring documentary today and I did not have any other choice but to focus on it. According to the curriculum, we are going to have a test on that documentary.”

Haru watched her as she cutely frowned and he laughed.

He said, “It will be okay. You can do it.”

Just as he said that, Rin also started laughing.

Haru then said, “Well you had a boring documentary to watch, I played a rock paper scissors game with my friend for the seat near the window. And guess who won?”

Haru was smiling proudly to let her know that he had won but then he heard her say, “Oh I know. Your friend won right?”

Haru stopped smiling and was confused after he heard. “How couldn’t you get it?” he thought but then he understood that she was teasing him. He watched as Rin burst into laughter and speak, “Look at your face. It is like ‘Come on Rin, how could you think that I lost’ Oh my god this is priceless”. Then she continued laughing.

Seeing Rin laugh, Haru could not help but smile. Rin was so precious.

He spoke, “Yes. Exactly.”

Then Haru also joined Rin in laughing. They laughed for a good while. By this time, they had finished eating. They stood up and walked out of the cafeteria together. Haru asked her where her next class was.

It was quite far from where his class was but he wanted to spend some more time with her, so he offered to walk with her to her next class. Haru was excited about their plans after their classes get over.

When they reached near her class, about five minutes or so were left until the class began.

Haru heard as she said, “Haru, you should go to your class now. There are only five minutes left. And thank you for walking me to my class.” She smiled at him.

Haru looked at her smiled and he melted. He thought, “Anything for you Rin” but instead replied, “Okay Rin. See you after class. Oh wait, meet me near the library after your classes are over?”

Rin smiled and said, “Okay Haru. I will be there. See you.”

Haru then walked in the direction of his class. As soon as he turned the corner, he sprinted towards his class. His class was on the opposite side of the campus. He did not usually like sprinting. He was the type of person who dragged his feet to his classes just like when he did during his way to the second class.

He was out of breath and was breathing heavily by the time he reached near the door of his class. The lecturer had just entered the class. His friend walked from behind and hit Haru on his shoulder. He gestured him to come fast. Haru gathered all of his strength and walked towards the only seat that was empty. He reached and sat down.

Even though he thought his lungs were going to give out, he did not regret it.

He had two more classes until he and Rin would meet. At the moment, it was 2: 05 pm. This was one of the moments when he wished he could just close his eyes and then when he opens, those two hours would have passed. He sighed. Besides, he was not even near the window again. He was sitting between two of the most sincere students in that module. He felt out of the place. Especially when all he wanted was for the classes to get over.

However, he did take out his notebook and a pen. He flipped open the notebook and pretended to jot down what the lecturer was saying. Haru was actually thinking about the plans he had for later.

“Classes are going to be over by 4 pm. Then we will meet at the library. After that, we are probably going to the isolated place to smoke. But that will not take long. So, in the meantime until 6:30 what should we do?” he thought.

As soon as he thought that, his attention was back to the lecture because the lecturer was asking a student beside him a question. He let out a sigh of relief that she did not point towards him because he had no idea what they were talking about.

He then thought that it would be better to try and focus on the lecture for a while. Surprisingly, he did it and the hour just passed by. Then the lecturer left. Haru put the notebook and his pen back in his bag and stood up. He was extremely tired. He needed a coffee and he did not want to attend the last class they had for the week. So he walked towards the cafeteria. After that, he asked for a coffee. He got the coffee and walked out of the cafeteria. He sat on the bench. He took out his earphone and his phone. He played a song as he sipped his coffee. He felt better.

He then continued listening to music and scrolled through his social media apps. He felt much relaxed and his tiredness was gone by the time it was 3: 30 pm. This was good because he was going to drive forth and back from the place that was on the outskirts of the city.

“Oh about the plan. What should we do until it is time to go? Maybe ask her out to eat somewhere?” he thought.

However, he gave up. He could not think of something nice to do with her without coming off as a weird pushy guy. Then he just thought that he will leave this thinking to the future him.

After he decided, he checked the time. It was 4:04 pm.

"Oh s**t, I will be late," he thought. He picked up his bag and walked fast towards the library. He reached there in about three minutes. He could see her near the library. He then walked to where she was waiting.

As soon as he reached, he asked, “I am sorry. Did you wait long?”

Rin shook her head and said, “Nope. I did not wait a lot.”

Haru nodded and spoke, “Let’s go?” Rin nodded. Then they walked to the main entrance of the college and into the parking.

Haru walked towards his car and Rin was following him. When they reached, Haru had an idea for a gesture so he opened the door of the front seat for Rin.

Rin smiled and he heard her say, “Wow. You are a gentleman. Thank you.”

Haru replied, “No problem” and smiled back. After that, Haru walked around the car and got into the driver’s seat. He put the key in and started the car. Haru drove out of the college parking.

As soon as he did that, he asked, "Do you want to go to the isolated place below for a smoke?"

Rin replied, "Yes. I have been wanting to smoke one for about an hour ago. We had a block period” and she fake wiped away a tear.

Rin was extremely cute and Haru just wanted to hold her. Then he had a nice idea because of her fake wiping a tear. He was going to ask what her favorite food to eat and take her to eat it. He laughed and said, “A block period? That sounds tough. By the way, what is your comfort food?”

Rin replied immediately, “Ice cream. What is yours?”

She was still wiping away some fake tears.

Haru smiled and replied, “Pancakes. And how about this? After we smoke, we go eat your favorite ice cream?”

Rin spoke, “I do not why you are going to treat me to ice cream but whatever you are doing, it is working.”

Haru asked, “Do you have a place in mind?”

Rin nodded.

Just then, they reached the isolated place. Haru stopped his car and they both got out of the car. Haru walked around the car to where she was and leaned on the car. Haru watched as she also leaned back and took out two cigarettes. They lighted their cigarettes and smoked.

They were silent. Haru did not want to disrupt the peace. As he smoked, he looked at Rin. He was on her left side. The left side of her face was covered with her hair. He wished she would turn his way, Rin did. Their eyes met and they stayed that way for a while.

After a while, Haru watched as she started blushing. Then she hurriedly turned away and continued smoking.

Haru thought if he made her uncomfortable. So he stopped smoking and threw the cigarette butt. He then asked.

“Rin, you done? It is nearly 5 pm. We have to go eat ice cream and then we have to go somewhere. We can smoke again after a while.”

Rin replied, “Yes, I am done. Let me just step on the cigarette butt.” She threw the cigarette and stepped on it. Haru watched as she got into the car.

Haru also got in and asked, “So tell me the direction to this Ice cream parlor or tell me the name of it and I will find it on Google maps. After that, I will turn on the navigation.”

Rin replied, “Oh. You do not have to do that. I will tell you the direction.”

Haru nodded and started the car. Following Rin’s directions, they reached the Ice cream parlor in about fifteen minutes. He parked the car and they both got out.

Haru was dragged into the parlor to choose which ice cream flavor to eat. Anyone would have been able to see how Rin was excited. She had that gleam in her eyes. Haru was glad that he decided to do it.

After about ten minutes, she decided on chocolate chip ice cream.

Rin looked at him and asked, “Which flavor are you going to get?”

Haru had been looking at Rin and had forgotten to decide on a flavor. So, he replied, “I will be getting what you are getting.”

Rin nodded and placed their orders. After the person working there scooped their ice creams and gave it to them, Haru paid and they walked towards the booth in the parlor. They sat down and started eating it. They talked about what ice cream flavors they had eaten and Rin was confused to see Haru shocked when she told him that she had eaten almost every flavor that this parlor sold.

"Well, I like any type of pancakes. So it makes sense that you would want to eat every type of food you like." He thought.

Then he spoke, “You really do like your ice cream huh?”

Rin smiled and nodded.

After they were done, he checked the time and Haru spoke. “Come on. We have to go. We spent about an hour here. It is 6: 15 pm now. Oh and before we drive towards the surprise, should we buy a pack of cigarettes and some snacks to eat on the way?”

Rin nodded.

They walked out of the ice cream parlor and got into the car. They drove to a convenience store. Haru stopped the car there and both of them got out. Haru walked into the store and Rin was following behind. He slowed his pace down so that she did not have to walk fast. Haru watched as she picked up some potato chips, gummy bears, cookies, and cream flavored Pocky sticks and some sodas. He helped carry those to the counter and then asked the person behind for a pack of cigarettes.

After the person told them the total, Haru saw Rin reaching for her purse and he instantly knew what she was up to.

So he said, “I will pay.”

Rin spoke, “No I will. You already paid for the ice cream”.

Haru replied, “No. I am the one who invited you to come. I should be the one paying.”

Rin argued, “No. I am the one who picked all these snacks. I am not even sure you like them, so I will pay.”

He made a mental note that Rin was stubborn. He was glad that he got to see this side of her.

Haru argued back, “Of course, I like them. So I will pay.”

Just then, the cashier faked a cough and looked at them with a look that said “I do not care who pays but pay up”.

Haru whispered to her, “I will pay right now. Let’s talk about this later.” He had no intention of letting her pay or talk about it.

Rin whispered back, “Okay”.

Haru paid and reached out for the snack bags. He noticed that Rin was about to pick it as well so he quickly picked them all and refused to give them to Rin.

They walked out of the store and Rin helped him open the car door as he had bags in both his hands. After putting the snacks in, they got in. Haru wanted to check the time but he did not want to waste it so he asked Rin to check the time as he started the car.

Rin spoke, “It is 6: 35 pm. “

Haru nodded and started driving.

Rin searched the bags for the packet of Pocky sticks. She opened it and put one in her mouth. Then she handed one to Haru. She asked if she can connect her phone with the car’s stereo. Haru nodded. So she connected and started playing music.

They reached the highway and Haru drove on it.

In less than an hour, they were going to watch the fireworks together. He could not help but get excited.