"If he agrees..." "The first date..." "What does he like..."
Those words played in her mind like a movie. She imagined Sato Maya and Katsuragi Keima walking together through the comrcial district. She imagined him teaching her how to play gas. She imagined the two of them sitting in a café, chatting. Every one of those images made her chest feel tight.
"Kei, what do you think?" Sato Maya asked her again.
Karuizawa Kei snapped back to reality. "Huh? I think... Chiaki is right."
"Then it's settled!" Sato Maya stood up excitedly. "I'll go ask him this afternoon!"
"This afternoon?!" Kei was stunned.
"Yeah, strike while the iron is hot!" Sato Maya clenched her fists, her entire being radiating high-spirited fighting intent. "I can't wait anymore! If I wait, I'm afraid I'll chicken out. For stuff like this, you have to go all out in one breath!" She checked the ti on her phone.
"You can't be so reckless about sothing like this!!" Kei said, sounding sowhat anxious.
"Then what should I do?"
"You could... ask so other people first!" Kei couldn't think of a reason on the spot, so she could only say that.
"Makes sense! I'll head out first then!" With that, Maya picked up her tray and ran off quickly.
She left Karuizawa Kei and Matsushita Chiaki sitting there. The cafeteria was still noisy, with people coming and going, but Kei felt like those sounds were very far away. She just stared at her tray, dazed.
"Kei." Matsushita Chiaki's voice pulled her back.
"Hmm?"
"Do you really not like Katsuragi-kun?"
Kei's body stiffened. She looked up, eting Matsushita Chiaki's eyes, which seed to see through everything. "O-of course it's true."
"Is that so?" Matsushita Chiaki tilted her head, a faint smile playing on her lips. "But your expression just now didn't look like soone who doesn't like him."
Kei fell silent. She didn't know what to say. Because Matsushita Chiaki was right—her expression had betrayed her.
Matsushita Chiaki actually possessed extraordinary observational skills. Since the first day she entered the school, she had been hiding her true abilities. She had been silently observing everyone else. Kei's small reactions naturally couldn't escape her eyes.
"Sigh..."
"Alright, I won't ask anymore." Matsushita Chiaki stood up and picked up her tray. "But Kei, if you ever want to talk, you can find anyti. That's what best friends are for, right? To listen to each other's secrets." She patted Kei on the shoulder. "I'm going back first. Take your ti eating."
"Bye..."
Matsushita Chiaki left Kei there alone to process her emotions. The people in the cafeteria were thinning out. Lunch break was almost over. Kei stared at the ssy tray she had poked at, her mind in a whirl.
What did she just say? "I would never like a gar nerd like that." "I prefer guys who are a bit more cheerful."
But was that true? A cheerful guy? What counts as cheerful? Soone like Hirata?
She thought of Hirata Yousuke's recent state—drifting outside the class circle, unwilling to interact with anyone, looking like he'd lost his soul. That wasn't cheerful. That was broken.
Then what was cheerful? She didn't know. She only knew that every ti she saw Katsuragi Keima, there was a strange feeling in her heart. Not a racing heart. Not a blushing face. But a kind of... peace. A feeling of "as long as he's there, it's fine."
She rembered what he said the day he rejected her confession. That was two months ago. She had wanted to use him as a "protection umbrella" by pretending to date. Katsuragi Keima had refused, but she always rembered his words. Despite appearing incredibly cold, he had seen her true self at a glance.
Since then, she had really started trying. Studying, growing, becoming better. She didn't need an umbrella; she could live well on her own. And Katsuragi Keima had remained in her heart. Not as a "protection umbrella," but as...
As what? She didn't know. She only knew that now Sato Maya was going to make a move. And she had just said "I don't like him" with her own mouth.
"I'm such an idiot..." she whispered. The surrounding seats were now empty.
anwhile, back in his dorm, Katsuragi Keima was eating while frantically grinding a ga, completely ignoring the fact that the affection levels displayed on two character cards were about to hit the roof.
.
.
.
Before the first afternoon class.
In the hallway, students walked in small groups—so chatting, so flipping through textbooks, others rushing to their classrooms. Sato Maya walked with a light step, her face still carrying that excited flush from lunch. She was ntally rehearsing the scene of asking Keima out after school, but she felt like sothing was still missing.
Suddenly, she saw a familiar figure. Kushida Kikyo.
Sato Maya's eyes lit up. Kushida Kikyo! The most popular girl in class, the recognized social butterfly who was gentle and considerate to everyone, always saying and doing the right thing. Since Kei said to ask soone for dating advice, Kushida was the perfect target! Soone like her must understand romance very well, right? She'd definitely have a way!
"Kikyo!" Sato Maya walked over quickly, her voice carrying an irrepressible excitent.
Kushida Kikyo looked up, and that signature sweet smile imdiately surfaced on her face. The smile was warm and natural, making anyone who saw it feel a sense of closeness.
"Maya-san, what's wrong?" Her voice was perfectly gentle, like a spring breeze.
"Kikyo, I have sothing I want to ask you!" Sato Maya grabbed her hand, her eyes fervent as if she were grasping a lifeline.
Kushida was startled for a mont but quickly adjusted. "What's the hurry?"
Sato Maya looked around and lowered her voice. "It's about romance."
"Romance?" Kushida kept her smile. Romantic topics were the easiest way to bring girls closer together. They were also the secrets Kushida loved to collect most.
"Yeah!" Maya nodded vigorously, her eyes sparkling. "Kikyo, you're so popular, you must know a lot about this! I want you to teach so of your experience!"
Kushida's heart skipped a beat. She had never been in a relationship herself. With her true personality, a relationship was essentially impossible. But she couldn't show that.
"This... of course I can," she said with a smile, her voice remaining gentle. "But it's not very convenient here; let's talk over there." She pointed to a corner at the end of the hallway where there were fewer people.
The two walked over. Sato Maya couldn't wait to speak. "Kikyo, I've fallen for soone."
Kushida asked curiously, her heart impatient to hear the answer. She had a morbid obsession with other people's secrets. Closing distances and obtaining secrets was what she thrived on.
"Who?"
"Keima-kun."
The air froze. Kushida's smile stiffened on her face. In that instant, countless thoughts flashed through her mind.
'Katsuragi Keima? Sato Maya likes Katsuragi Keima? Since when? How?'
"Kikyo?" Maya's voice pulled her back.
Kushida snapped out of it. "Ah, sorry, I was just a bit surprised." She put her smile back on, but it was a few degrees stiffer than usual, and the curve of her lips wasn't as natural. "You like Katsuragi-kun?"
"Yeah!" Maya nodded vigorously, radiating a young girl's yearning. "I want to ask him out, but I don't know how. You're so popular, Kikyo, you must have experience, right? Teach !"
Kushida looked at her.
'Why would she like a guy like Katsuragi Keima?'
This made Kushida feel sowhat displeased. Keima was the guy she hated most. But was this how she was supposed to be feeling right now?
Regardless, she had to keep the conversation going.
"Well..." she began, her voice a bit dry. "Katsuragi-kun is quite special; you can't use ordinary thods."
"Right, right!" Maya nodded repeatedly. "That's exactly why I don't know what to do. Kikyo, help think of sothing!"
Kushida fell into thought. She rembered those previous nights when she and Keima were alone, where she could vent her displeasure without reservation and reveal her true self. Those monts were hers. Hers alone. A privilege only she possessed. Even if Kushida believed she should hate Keima and want him expelled, now Sato Maya was barging in.
She wanted to ask him out.
She wanted to enter that room.
'Unacceptable, unacceptable, unacceptable.'
"Kikyo?" Maya looked at her, a bit worried. "What's wrong? You look a bit strange."
Kushida took a deep breath. "Nothing, I'm just thinking about what advice to give you." She struggled to make her voice sound normal. "I think... you could start with sothing he's interested in."
"Sothing he's interested in? Gas, after all?" Maya's eyes lit up.
"Yes." Kushida nodded, each word feeling like it was being squeezed through her teeth, though she tried to make them sound gentle and natural. "He likes gas, so you could ask him to the ga center. He'll definitely be interested."
"Right, right! Chiaki said the sa thing!" Maya excitedly noted it down.
"And..." Kushida pretended to be thinking, images of those nights flashing in her mind. "Don't pressure him. He's the type who doesn't like being forced to do anything. Just let him be himself freely."
Sato Maya listened intently, nodding non-stop. "I got it! Kikyo, you're amazing!" She hugged Kushida. "Thank you!"
Kushida stiffened. She felt Maya's hug, felt that pure, unreserved gratitude and joy. The complex emotions in her heart grew stronger. She didn't know how she responded to the hug. She just chanically raised her hand and lightly patted Maya's back. "You're welco..."
Sato Maya let go of her, a brilliant smile on her face. "I'll ask him later this afternoon! I'll definitely succeed!" She turned and ran off, her steps light as a bird's.
Kushida stood there, watching her silhouette disappear at the end of the hallway. The sunlight still fell on her, but she couldn't feel the warmth. The complex emotions surged like a tide. She looked down at her hand—the one Maya had just held. She clenched it slowly, then released it.
"Huh?"
A sound ca from behind her. Kushida whipped around. No one. The hallway was empty, save for a few distant students. But in the corner, a figure flashed by. Red hair.
Sakura Airi.
Kushida's pupils contracted slightly.
.
.
.
Sakura Airi leaned against the wall, covering her mouth, her whole body curled up. She had just been passing through, wanting to head back to class from this side. As a result, she heard their conversation. She heard everything!
"I've fallen for soone." "Keima-kun." "I want to ask him out."
Those words hit her heart like a hamr. Again, and again, and again. Her mind went blank. Only a few words echoed repeatedly: "Keima-kun," "Like," "Date."
'Maya-san likes Keima-kun. She wants to ask him out. And she even asked Kushida-san how to pursue him! And Kushida-san... is teaching her! Is seriously teaching her how to ask him out.'
Airi's eyes suddenly turned red.
'A rival... is there another one? Maya-san is pretty and has a bold personality...'
'No, no, no!' Airi lowered her head and walked quickly to her seat. She flipped open her textbook, pretending nothing had happened, but the hand holding her pen was trembling slightly. The tip of the pen drew a wobbly line on the paper. She stared at the line, dazed.
Her mind was a ss.
'Maya-san is going to ask Keima-kun out... will she succeed? Will he agree? If he agrees... if they go on a date... if he falls for her...'
"Airi?"
A voice spoke from beside her. Airi looked up abruptly. It was Karuizawa Kei. She had walked over at so point and was looking at her with concern. "Are you okay? You're a bit pale."
"N-no, I'm fine..." Airi said in a small voice, trying to make herself sound normal. "I'm just a bit tired..."
"Tired?" Kei looked at her, her gaze lingering on her face for a few seconds. "Why are your eyes a bit red?"
Airi's heart skipped a beat. "P-possibly because I didn't sleep well..."
"Is that so?" Kei looked at her suspiciously, seemingly guessing what the other was thinking, but she didn't ask further. "Then get so rest." She turned and walked back to her seat.
Airi breathed a sigh of relief. She stole a glance in Katsuragi Keima's direction. He had just returned to the classroom and started playing his ga.
'Did sothing happen? Why do I feel like there are several gazes staring at ?'
Katsuragi Keima thought to himself as he played his ga.
Read ahead and finish this fanfictionby supporting on buyacoffee com/varietl or ko-fi edwriting
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