' Beep!'

' Beep! '

' Beep! '

" Grrahhh...." I groaned loudly as I reached my arm towards where the alarm should be. I missed a couple of times but eventually I found it and gave it a good smack to shut it up.

I went back to sleeping.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I slowly opened my eyes, blinking slowly a couple times before I turned to my other side where the alarm is. I checked the time.

8:00 AM

I must've been tired from working at Starry's last night. But even if it did tire me out, I enjoyed the experience of working there and seeing all the bands that were listed to play that night. Though, the real pleasure lied in working together with Gotou-san and her friends.

They're an interesting group, and I can tell they deeply care for her and vice-versa.

Even if today is a Saturday....I shouldn't waste my time lying around.

I slowly sat up on the side of the bed, stretching my arms first.

I stood up and began straightening my back, hearing a few pops from the stretching.

" That hit the spot..." Who doesn't love the feeling of hearing that ' pop' after stretching.

I hear a knock on my door before it slightly opened. A familiar head poked through and upon seeing me, his face relaxed before opening the door fully.

" Looks like you're finally awake." He says.

Well if isn't my little brother who's 3 years younger than me, Seiji. He was a few centimeters shorter than me, we both had emerald eyes inherited from our mother and we both had brown hair....inherited from dad.

There were many instances where people mistook us for the other, and they'd always be caught suprised by how different both our personalities are despite our similarities in looks.

" Morning, Sei." I greeted, my voice raspy. I should drink water immediately.

" We're out of groceries." He informs, " Are you free to come with me?" He asks, a hopeful glint in his eyes.

I smiled like always. My brother likes to act indifferent towards me when other people are around to not seem ' uncool' as he puts it.

But in reality, he'd always search for activities that we could do. We were stuck like glue to each other whenever we were both free.

" Sure, just let me get ready." I said.

" 'Kay." He gives me a nod before closing the door, giving me space.

After a few minutes of more stretching and adjusting my eyes to the morning reality, I exit my room and treaded through the bathroom.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After taking a shower, I looked at myself in the mirror and groaned at a new pimple that has formed on my forehead.

" Nice to see you again, Mr. Pimple." I chuckled sardonically.

Well, I suppose acne just comes like that for boys my age. I'm lucky enough that I  usually have a clear skin face instead of it being constantly littered by countless pimples, zits, and whatnot.

I splashed water on my face and applied soap, and then washing it away with water again. It's no problem. I can just cover it with my bangs.

I got dressed in my room, deciding to wear casual clothing or anything that wasn't too shabby. Humming to myself in satisfaction, I left my room and ended up in the living room where my little brother was waiting for me. He passed the time by playing with his phone on the couch.

I whistled to get his attention.  " Let's go!"

" Finally. You take so long to get ready, almost like a woman." He jabs, rolling his eyes.

I smacked the top of his head playfully. " I do not." I refute.

" Ow." He rubs his head.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We made our way through Shimokitazawa district with my bike. I liked riding it here, compared to Oreha it's actually quite calming here since the streets are relatively calm.  Of course, it does get busy since this is tokyo and all, but compared to the main city of tokyo and oreha. The streets here  were tame.

We arrived at the grocery store. I parked my bike and locked it to the vacant stall before entering the store with my brother.

I signalled for him to grab a cart and he quickly does that.

" So, what do we need?" I ask.

" We're lacking vegetables and meat. We should grab at least 5 cuts of different fish, and then some canned or pre-cooked options." He reads from the list he made on his phone.

" So we split up?" I asked.

" Nah. Too lazy to look for you. Let's just stick together." He lazily replies with a wave of dismissal.

" Sounds good." I had the free morning anyways. My shift starts in the afternoon for weekends.

We wandered through the different aisles and selected our canned meals, and some basic ingredients for cooking like salt n pepper, eggs, oil, and such.

" By the way, I didn't get the chance to ask. But how's school going?" I opened a conversation.

" It's fine, I guess. " he answered without tearing his gaze away from the item prices.

" Got a girlfriend yet?" I asked.

" Do pigs fly? " he shoots back.

" No?" I replied.

" There's your answer." He says before placing another item in the cart.

" What about you?" His gaze looks up to me. " Got a girl?"

Pink hair flashes through my mind for a split second.

" Do aliens exist?" I ask.

" It's possible?" He replies.

" There's your answer." I grinned and his eyes widen in suprise.

" Seriously?" He looks interested now. I can humor him just a bit.

" Well, I'm not planning to make any moves." I leaned on the cart as I think back to that certain girl. " I don't think she sees me in that way though. Even if she did, God knows that she'd rather die than make a move. " I chuckled.

" A shy one?" He asked.

" Shy is an understatement. Maybe the term of ' a Human being that can't stand social interaction without agreed-upon appointments, including time, place, and date a year prior ' would be more fitting."

" That bad, huh." He chuckles before leading me towards the meat section. He asked the employee behind the counter to bag 3 kilos of beef.

" But...if she did like you....." he glances to me. " Would you make a move?"

"...I may have lied a teeny bit."

He raises a brow at that and I refuse to look at him.

" There were....actually a few instances where I did make a move....and almost spill my feelings straight to her." I confessed.

" Idiot." He kicks my leg.

" Hey! The hell!" I glare at him and he glares back.

" You're smarter than this--" he pauses for a moment and thanks the employee for handing the bag and then goes right back to lecturing me. " -- You shouldn't give anyone ideas! Don't lead someone on when you've got another issue at hand."

He pushes me, urging me to continue pushing the cart. But I knew the conversation wasn't going to end anytime soon.

So I answered.

" Look, I couldn't help it! I wear my heart on my sleeve, you of all people know that!"

" I can't believe my older brother is failing to be subtle about things that matter most--"

" Hey, I don't think she's getting any ideas alright!" I defend.

" Look me in the eye and tell me that you're absolutely positive about that." He challenged.

" I'm--"

" I wanted to spend more time with you, even a second longer..." I faintly whispered. Half-hoping that she'd hear and the other half hoping she didn't.

" S...same..." My eyes widened in suprise. Did she really say that? Or was it just in my head.

I kept it to myself. Whether she said it or not, whether it was real or a mere hallucination, I won't say anything about it.

I can't say anything, but a happy hum slipped from my lips.

My heart had skipped multiple beats.

That memory from last night suddenly makes way into my head. Shit.

"...."

" You're?" My little brother is waiting for my response.

If...Gotou-san did say that....then that means....she must be getting an idea, right? But that's IF she said that.

" ... Asahi, c'mon now. Respond already--"

" Okay, I'm not actually sure--"

" You're absolutely fucked." My brother immediately groans, walking ahead of me and to the fish section. Again, he orders a selection of different cuts from a the variety of fish presented.

Language, mister.

I caught up to him, with the cart of course.

" Look, I promise I won't try anything else--"

" Bullshit."

" Language, mister. That's the second time you've cursed. Stop now or else I'll tattle to mom." I flicked the side of his head.

He rolls his eyes.

" Oh don't even. If you do that, I swear I'll tattle to mom about the time you came home pissed-drunk back during middle school--"

" Okay, truce!" I pat his back with a strained smile. " Give your onii-chan a break, will ya?"

He sighs.  " Truce accepted. But you're still a dumbass. Just...be careful--"

" I know." I drop my usually lighthearted tone. " I do a ton of dumb things, but hurting her will never be one of them."

"....I'll take your word on that." He relents.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

" Besides her sounding like the most introverted creature to ever exist in the history of mankind. What does she look like?" My brother asks as we rode my bike back to our apartment.

" Pink hair, blue eyes. Usually frowns and looks nervous,  but her smile reminds me of when sakura trees bloom during the season ; simply put , she's gorgeous." I responded honestly.

" What made you fall for her?"

" What's with you and these questions now?"

" Nothing. It's just piqued my interest since you never showed that much interest in a girl before. At some point I was honestly convinced you were in the closet."

I roll my eyes, even if he couldn't see it. He probably knows and takes pleasure in that fact. Mom, why did you born this cheeky little brother of mine? I want a refund.

Ignoring his last remark, I answered.

" Not telling you."

" Whatever, knowing that you're down bad for this girl is enough for me anyway. So what does she do?" He doesn't hesitate to continue the topic.

" She works part-time at a club called Starry's. And she's part of a band, the leading guitarist."

" Ah, so a musician . Figures. No wonder you're down horrendous. "

" Stop wording it like that." I said with slight irritation.

" Heh."

" Besides, I'm not sure yet if I've fallen that deep."

" I smell a horrible lie from you, brother."

It's not a lie. But telling him otherwise is just a waste of breath. The kid is stubborn when he wants to be, especially at my expense.

So what if I look forward to the expression that Gotou-san would make every day?

So what if I constantly recall our conversations whenever I've got nothing else to think about?

So what if I like the feeling she gives  when she hugs me?

It's not love love.

It's just......a mere boyish crush I have on her. That's it.

Nothing more than that!

~~~ End ~~~

At first, I didn't plan for the chapter to be Akihiko pov all the way.

But then I thought this could be a good chance in exploring his character a bit more and see things from his perspective, especially when it comes to how he feels for our main character, Bocchi!

And a new character is introduced, his little brother with a 3 year age gap!

There wasn't any bocchi in this chapter besides his thoughts about her and the topic being her.

But I hope you enjoyed Akihiko's PoV and interaction nonetheless! I will only use his POV sparingly in moments that matter most

Since the priority is Bocchi!

~~~ Bye! ~~~