By the ti Atsuki drove them back to Chiba City, dusk was already settling in. They'd hit a stretch of traffic on the way, which is always a risk on weekends. Had they hit the evening rush, they'd likely still be stuck in traffic now.
Only after they entered Chiba did Atsuki finally breathe a sigh of relief. "Lady Arisu, we're finally back in Chiba. Weekends really aren't a good ti for outings—crowds everywhere, cars everywhere. It wasn't even rush hour just now, and still, we got stuck in such a long traffic jam."
"That's true. Next ti we should plan for a weekday instead. The only question is if the horoom teacher would approve our leave."
Arisu gazed out the car window, absently twirling her silver hair between her fingertips, her mind consud by thoughts of that morning.
Who would have thought the real reason Kotomi turned down was to go to the aquarium with gumi? And the exact sa aquarium, no less. Could anything be more cruelly ironic? Ha… it hurts. It really hurts. Why would Kotomi lie to ? Why would she agree to gumi's confession?! She was supposed to be my bride!!!
Arisu let out a bitter, silent scream in her heart.
"Lady Arisu, I hope you don't mind my asking, but ever since we left the aquarium, you've seed upset. Did you see sothing there that you wish you hadn't?" Atsuki asked, her voice careful.
Arisu had grown up under Atsuki's watchful eye, and the driver could read her mood with the slightest shift. Right now, she could sense an imminent explosion.
This was what worried her most; since Arisu had been born with a congenital heart condition, any sudden emotional outburst could have serious repercussions. Furthermore, Arisu's poor health since childhood had led to long stretches spent recovering at ho. Even now, it was hard for her to find friends to talk to.
On top of that, she didn't care much for making friends, harboring a sense of noble pride as the young lady of the Sakayanagi family. She'd always kept her distance from her peers, interacting with them only on the level of social niceties.
And yet, deep down, she longed for a friend.
But who could possibly be worthy of becoming such a treasured companion to her?
The answer was one that only Arisu knew, and she had settled on it years ago.
It was a girl.
A girl whose presence was unknown to the Sakayanagi family, who still worried that Arisu would never find a friend to trust. But Atsuki knew the truth: that Arisu had indeed t soone she cherished deeply.
—Izumi Kotomi.
In Atsuki's eyes, Arisu harbored an intense desire for Kotomi, and while their initial eting had likely been rooted in friendship, that bond had long since morphed into sothing else.
Though it surprised her that Arisu would be so fixated on another girl—perhaps it had even turned into love—Atsuki could understand it in so way. To Arisu, Kotomi was the one bright spot in a lonely childhood devoid of friends, an irreplaceable person, soone she wouldn't allow anyone else to take away.
At the sa ti, Kotomi was soone Arisu desperately wanted to draw close and keep by her side forever.
Although Atsuki wasn't entirely sure what sort of feelings Arisu now held toward Kotomi, she knew they weren't re friendship.
When Atsuki voiced her question, Arisu smiled slightly. "If I told you I saw Kotomi at the aquarium, would you believe ?"
"Didn't Miss Izumi say she couldn't make it because she didn't have ti?"
"That's right. If she hadn't turned down, we could have spent such a beautiful Saturday together. But she rejected … to go to the aquarium with another girl!"
Picking up on the resentnt and bitterness in her voice, Atsuki could only shrug and answer, "It is unfortunate, but it's possible she'd already promised her friend. That could be why she declined your invitation with that excuse, Lady Arisu. When it cos to asking soone out, timing really is everything. Just make sure you're the first one to ask her out next ti, and you'll be fine."
"But they went to an aquarium together! If they had gone anywhere else, I wouldn't mind so much. But when we were little, we promised to visit every aquarium in the world together—just the two of us. Has she forgotten already?"
"You know, Lady Arisu, you sound like a bit of a sore loser right now."
Atsuki's teasing words were t with silence as Arisu took a deep breath, her thoughts turning sharply inwards.
gumi Kato.
How dare she kiss my Kotomi? How dare she confess to her? I've never even seen Kotomi make that expression before! Well, if gumi Kato thinks she can beat to it, she's got another thing coming. I'll do whatever it takes to get Kotomi back!
Though Atsuki had only t Kotomi once when she was a child, and even though the years had worn away most of her mories, she still rembered that first impression vividly.
Though Atsuki knew little of Kotomi's personality, she would never forget the beauty of that young girl.
—Izumi Kotomi was soone whose beauty shone through since she was a child.
When they had been in Chiba City for a while, Atsuki finally steered the car toward a Burger King.
As she pulled up to the entrance, Atsuki undid her seatbelt and turned to Arisu in the back seat. "Lady Arisu, would you like to eat inside, or shall I bring the food back for us?"
"Let's take it to go."
Not in the best of spirits, Arisu wasn't in the mood to dine in. She wanted to take the food ho, eat, and sleep off her bad mood in hopes of washing away the day's events.
"Understood. Please wait here a mont." Atsuki nodded and opened her door to step out.
"Hold on!" Arisu suddenly stopped her. "When you're ordering, ask if this store is one of the event locations. I heard Burger King is doing that 12-Layer Commorative King Burger Challenge, but it's only offered at certain locations."
"Of course. But, Lady Arisu… could you actually finish a 12-layer King Burger?"
"It's not for ! I'm just scoping things out. If this store is part of the event, then next weekend I can use the burger as an excuse to ask Kotomi out! There's no way she could resist such a massive burger. Once I've got her there, we can go on a proper date~"
After finishing her explanation, Arisu couldn't help but let out a pleased giggle.
Yes, she'd let this Burger King event mark the first step of her plan to win Kotomi back!
Atsuki opened her mouth, as if about to say sothing, but decided against it.
Better to stay out of the young lady's private matters, she thought. Nodding, Atsuki stepped out to make her order.
It wasn't long before she returned with the food. After setting it down in the car, she said regretfully, "Unfortunately, Lady Arisu, this location doesn't have the 12-layer King Burger, nor is it one of the event locations. I checked with the manager, and it seems there aren't any event stores anywhere in Chiba City."
Arisu, sitting in the back seat, was montarily stunned.
Was her carefully laid-out plan really derailed before it even began?
She had barely started, and she was already dead in the water?
Arisu leaned back, ntally deflating.
"Oh, co on! You'd think they'd at least put one event store in Chiba City. Now I can't even pull off step one of my plan!"
She clicked her tongue and muttered, "Looks like I'll have to abandon the subtle, gradual approach and go straight for the big moves."
While Arisu was still deep in thought about how to reclaim Kotomi, now even more vexed by the lack of a thed store in Chiba City to use as an excuse to ask Kotomi out next weekend...
anwhile, over in Shinagawa Ward…
When Kotomi and gumi walked into the Burger King, they found it quite crowded—it was dinnerti, after all. Perhaps all the ti spent in the music store had taken a toll on her energy, because Kotomi now felt like she could devour an entire cow.
They took their place in line, and thankfully, it was moving along quickly. As hungry as she was, the last thing Kotomi wanted was to be held up by a long wait for food.
Waiting in line on an empty stomach can feel like torture.
Kotomi was reminded of an incident from her childhood when she went to the park with a friend. Well, it was less "going to the park to play" and more like her friend dragging her there. She would have preferred to stay ho since, if she had, she would have been able to eat cake soon after.
She had even eaten less lunch to leave room for the cake. But before the cake had even appeared, her friend had dragged her off to play in the park.
So as she played, her mood remained subdued, her mind focused on two things only: hunger and that cake.
Thinking of them separately might have been bearable, but the two thoughts combined was sheer tornt.
And her friend was always full of energy whenever they played together; every ti they hung out, Kotomi ended up exhausted. This ti, she had been particularly overenthusiastic. Although her friend needed a cane to walk, she still managed to completely wear Kotomi out at the park.
At one point, her friend even wanted Kotomi to climb up the tallest slide platform with her so they could play an elaborate ga of house as a newlywed couple living in a fancy apartnt.
She was just about to drag Kotomi up the stairs to the top of the slide when Kotomi, already exhausted and now on the verge of tears, couldn't hold it in any longer.
Thinking back on it now, she clearly rembered that she cried because of hunger, exhaustion, and the unfairness of missing out on cake. The mory of herself sobbing out of hunger was rather embarrassing.
She couldn't believe she had once been such a foodie.
To get back to the story, when little Kotomi burst into tears from hunger, her friend had panicked. It was her first ti seeing Kotomi cry, and she had no idea how to comfort her, even tried feeding her the two jellies she had in her pocket, but it wasn't enough.
Luckily, her friend seed to have plenty of allowance money and took her to a Burger King near the park to treat her to a burger.
Kotomi had cried the entire way to the restaurant, but the mont she walked through the doors, her tears stopped abruptly.
That day, little Kotomi had ordered a special seven-layer commorative Whopper and wolfed down ten of them in one sitting. Her friend, who wasn't even hungry, had ordered just so fries and a milkshake.
Thinking back on it was a little embarrassing—she had been so ravenous that she even polished off the fries her friend hadn't finished.
That friend from her childhood was always a bit forceful, but she was also incredibly caring. She always bought her whatever she wanted, and on her birthdays, she'd even go all the way to a cake shop to order her a cake. Back then, there weren't many bakeries in Chiba City, and the closest one was a 30-minute drive away.
But why couldn't she rember her friend's na? She could feel there was still so promise between them that had yet to be fulfilled…
Kotomi pondered, straining to recall every detail about that friend from her childhood. But as she expected, nothing ca to mind.
With the line finally moving up, Kotomi decided to stop thinking about it for now. Better to get her al first and fill her stomach.
Unbeknownst to her, all the little expressions she'd made while thinking about her cane-using friend had been caught by gumi, who watched her closely.
"Hello, what would you like to order? We're having an anniversary promotion right now. If you scan the QR code, you can enjoy a random discount and a free chocolate sundae."
Chocolate?!
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