[closed] soon everybody will ask ...

[writeshersnacks]

Characters: Amano Toko [writemeasnack] and Inoue Konoha [writeshersnacks]
Location: Library, elsewhere later
Time: Evening ... ish?
Content: She's back, and theeeey need to talk.
Warnings: Should be tame? Two awkward teens. Yep.
Format: Prose.

Comments

[writemeasnack]

"Mmm... that one... and that one..."

Toko was behind the counter, crouched near the floor in front of a tall shelf, picking things off the bottom of the shelf to return to the main floor of the library. She wasn't much paying attention to what was behind her, trying to catch up on work that had been left undone in her absence.

[writeshersnacks]

To say he was amused was an understatement. Konoha smiled at the sight, taking out his phone and quickly texting her a message. What was the harm in adding a little more to his phone bill?

Turn Around.

[writemeasnack]

Toko stopped moving, looking down at her skirt pocket. It was on silent, but the little vrrr! could be heard coming from it. She took her phone out and flipped it open, staring at the message for a second before standing and turning around.

She grinned, but thankfully this time she didn't tackle him over the counter. Instead she came out and hugged him tightly.

"I missed you."

[writeshersnacks]

"I could tell," he responded quietly, hugging her back just as tight.

"Didn't expect you to go back to work so quickly."

[writemeasnack]

"Just came in for a couple of hours to catch up on work that was left behind," Toko said, stepping back with a slight bounce to her feet, "I'm almost done, though. I was gone so much longer than I was expected to be."

[writeshersnacks]

Konoha smiled, but it was obvious he was pretty nervous.

"... Could we talk after you finish?"

[writemeasnack]

Oh she knew what that was about. She'd been fretting over it just as much, and still hadn't come to a conclusion on how to deal with it. It didn't help that she feared two years may have put more of a gap between them than she was willing to admit.

"... sure, Konoha-kun. Just... give me a few minutes."

[writeshersnacks]

He nodded. "Okay. I'll go sit down for a bit." And with that, he reluctantly let her go, moving to an empty table and sitting down at it.

This was good. This would give him some time to try and prepare what he would say to her.

[writemeasnack]

Toko nodded, returning to her task behind the counter. She left and reentered the staff area a half a dozen times, returning the books that needed to be reshelved until she was done.

She grabbed her back and sweater, and went to Konoha's table, though she didn't sit down. Instead she stood next to him, looking a bit awkward.

"Ah... here or... somewhere else?"

[writeshersnacks]

He jumped a bit as she spoke near him, but he stood and pushed his chair in as quietly as he could. Konoha didn't look at her immediately.

"Probably best to go somewhere more private ..." He mused, then looked up at her.

"How about that lake from before? That was a nice place."

[writemeasnack]

"Alright," Toko nodded, fidgeting a little with the strap on her back. She didn't move right away, waiting to see if he'd lead the way.

[writeshersnacks]

Okay, this was really awkward. He expected that, but ... he had to do something, right?

So before Konoha could convince himself otherwise, he grabbed her hand and started tugging her in the direction of the door, a blush creeping up his cheeks as he did so.

[writemeasnack]

Toko let out a quiet yelp, stumbling along behind him until she regained her footing properly.

She followed, willing but still worried about what was going to be said.

[writeshersnacks]

Konoha slowed his pace to walk alongside her as she started to follow, quiet as he thought more about what he was going to say. Nothing seemed right enough. He didn't want to improvise, but he didn't want to sound stupid, either ...

Guh. This was going to be interesting.

They arrived at the lake quicker than he'd thought they would, and he stopped, looking out over it.

He had to say something ... but his mind was running blanks.

[writemeasnack]

"What... what did you want to talk about, Konoha-kun?" Toko asked nervously, refusing to let go of his hand but still just as worried as before. The silence was getting to her.

[writeshersnacks]

He was quiet for another several moments.

"... You ... remembered what happened before you left, right?"