She had learned awhile back that many people found it easier to communicate if they were performing some distracting task with their hands. It was sort of a comforting gesture in a way. She thought it was cute that Hakuba would resort to such a quirk in his nervous state. His anxiety was almost tangible, in fact, thick and heavy in the air as if drawing the breath out of him and making him silent.
When he finally found the words to speak they were hurried and messy as if he had choked on them on the way out. What kind of question was that anyway? She raised an eyebrow at him and continued scribbling away at her work.
“Just fine. Thank you so much for asking. I have found that simply getting it over with is the best method for completing school work.” If he was going to ask such shallow questions then she was determined to provide him with equally shallow responses.
Eventually one of them would grow tired of it.
“That’s a fair strategy, yes… it seems to work quite well."
Would things ever stop being so awkward between them? Or between himself and, really, any number of people? Hakuba glanced over to her, feeling a sort of twinge in pain at the degrees of separation that they now had. He pursed his lips, considering.
"Koizumi-sa… Koizumi,” he sighed, turning his head away in defeat. He was tired of it, and as much as he longed to cling to his resolve, it was far too difficult to keep up the pretense of indifference with someone he still had feelings for. Not that he could admit that to anyone but himself, but he knew it at his core. It was pointless to try to say otherwise.
“What are we going to do?” He left the question open, vague, hoping that she could supply the meaning that he was attempting, and failing, to convey.