from the start | ran takahashi

Chapter 4

I was walking down a familiar school hallway. I suddenly turned right and saw a boy and girl talking. I quickly hid behind the wall so they wouldn't notice me.

I didn't mean to eavesdrop but something told me to stay and listen.

The conversation was nostalgic, almost like a deja vu. The girl was confessing to the boy as he stood there, silently. The boy asked for a reason and the girl could only mumble words that was impossible to understand from my position.

"I already have someone I like.." The boy replied.

I felt myself stop breathing for a moment and then I relax.

After a few seconds, I heard a mix of sobs and footsteps move away from the scene. My body suddenly moved on its own, revealing myself to the boy. The boy was still looking away from me, following the girl disappearing in the hallway. The boy had an oddly familiar built making my stomach turn.

"So, you broke another heart, player?" I said without thinking.

At this point, I had zero control over my body.

"Yeah.." He replied, still having his face away from me.

For some reason, I expected a snarky remark or a glare, but all I got was an agreement.

"Yeah? Uh... Are you okay?" I asked, the sarcasm was notable.

He shook his head and brought his head down. I still couldn't make out who I was talking to.

"Nope.. Not really.." He said, feeling upset.

I leaned on the wall next to him.

"What happened? You feel bad?" I said, again, with the sarcasm showing through.

He kept quiet. I waited for him but nothing. Nothing came out of his mouth.

I looked away and took a deep breath.

"Hey.. if you aren't gonna talk, I'm gonna le-" I said, suddenly feeling irritated but got cut off.

He mumbled something but I couldn't understand what he said.

"What did you say?" I asked, inching closer to the boy.

He turned around to reveal who he was and it made me break a cold sweat.

"R-ran?" I asked, bewildered at the sudden appearance.

"I said.." He said, getting closer to me.

"...I like you."

Then black.

I woke up sweating. I looked around to check where I was and calmed some of my nerves down to see that I was still in my hotel room. Still shaken, I grabbed my phone to check what time it was.

6:02am

I laid back down on the bed with my damp shirt as I stared at the ceiling.

"What the actual fuck..." I breathed out.

It was around 2pm in Japan and I'm going to blame that weird dream on the jet lag and stress that I encountered yesterday.

'Ran? Liking me? I'm going crazy..'

The moment I landed here in Italy, everything was going downhill for me. Mental health wise. I've been stressing so much more than usual and I was hoping that the 4 day break would help me, but right now, I think it'll be the opposite. I was already planning on rescheduling my flight earlier so I don't have to face the source of stress.