Chapter One

The Poison Tongue and the Mind Reader

Spring—a season of encounters, and the very same season in which the eventual lovebirds met.

It had all started just outside the shopping district. The time was around dusk, and Naoya had just stepped outside of his workplace, broom in hand, intending to tidy up the storefront. Just as he was about to begin, however, he happened to spy a man and a girl having some sort of spat nearby.

While the girl in question wasn’t facing him, he could still make out a school uniform—it was the exact one from Naoya’s school—and long silver hair that marked her as not fully Japanese. She was also very evidently in some sort of trouble.

Across from her was a man dressed to the nines in a fine suit, although the flashy, dyed hair and dangling ear piercings made for a rather bizarre contrast. He had been persistently calling out to the girl, and she appeared to be at her wit’s end. There was also a noticeable tinge of fear in her voice.

Looks like this dude’s trying to pick her up and ended up taking things too far... Naoya noted. And just as soon as he’d thought that, he threw himself between the two and the crimson-stained cityscape. He stood boldly across from the gaudily dressed man and called out, “Uh, excuse me? She doesn’t look like she’s interested, buddy. I recommend you leave it there.”

“Wha-? Who’re ya supposed to be?” the mystery man gawked.

Naoya heard the girl breathe in sharply, but he chose to ignore her for the moment in favor of pushing his point. He glared at the man and said, “Would you mind not harassing women in front of my workplace, please? If you keep this up, I’m afraid I’m going to have to call the police.”

“Haha... Look, buddy, this is all some sort of misunderstandin’. I dunno what kind of image you've got in your head, but I’m no criminal or anything. Okay?” the man tried to assure Naoya with a painfully fake smile. He flicked out a business card from his pocket and handed it over.

Just from a quick glance, Naoya gleaned something about him being an entertainment talent company producer. And, unlike the garish man, the font and design were easy on the eyes.

Undeterred, the man continued, “I’m actually on the hunt for our next top model right now—someone who’d make the front page of the magazine. This chick looks like she could really go f—”

“Well, that’s clearly bullshit,” Naoya cut him off.

“What?”

Naoya was not here for pleasantries, nor did he buy the man’s easy-going tone. He glared at the man and reiterated, “You’re not some scout searching for a model—that’s total bullshit. You’re just hitting on her.”

“What?! Do you have the slightest shred of proo-”

“Just look at the situation. Really, just think it through for one second. Although people might try to hide their true intentions, their body language almost always gives them away,” Naoya explained. The man was like an open book. The slightly dilated pupils, the hasty breathing, the cracks in his voice, the quivers in the corners of his mouth, the sweat on his brow; every miniscule detail only served to betray him. There was no room for doubt—the man was lying, plain and simple.

“You’re just some university student, right?” Naoya continued. “You’re from Kansai, if I had to guess. You’re struggling at school, and your family cut you off, so you’ve just been wasting your days messing around and acting like a total sleazeball. Am I on the right track here?”

“H-How’d you kn—?!” the man sputtered, his face paleing.

Bullseye. Naoya had been able to tell where he was from thanks to his accent. The rest had been educated guesses based on the slight stench of alcohol wafting from the man's body and the less-than-stellar state of his suit. Sensing weakness in the man’s eyes, Naoya pressed the issue further. He plastered a thin smile on his face and said, “Does your pickup game suck so badly that you need to rely on fake business cards? Come on, man—you can do better than that. Working on yourself a little has gotta be quicker and less expensive.”

“Y-You best watch your mouth, kid!” the man roared as he lunged forward and grabbed Naoya by his collar. A small cry rose from behind them, but the man paid no mind.

Naoya didn’t let his patronizing attitude slip despite the position he found himself in. “Do you wanna get your brains bashed in, kid?! ‘Cause you seem like you do!” the man threatened.

“I don’t really want that, no,” Naoya answered. “Oh, by the way...”

“What?”

“See that used book store? That’s where I work. And you know how things have been pretty sketchy recently? There’s crime everywhere you look. Well, it just so happens we recently got some new security cameras installed out front.”

Naoya gestured toward the sign outside of the shop. It read Akaneya Used Books, and next to it was a camera fixed and diligently pointed in their direction.

The man’s face underwent another dramatic change, shifting colors from white to crimson rage to white again as quickly as a chameleon.

Naoya gave him a wide grin and continued, “If you were to ‘bash my brains in’ here, I’d take that footage and run straight to the closest police station. If you still want to, though, go right ahead.”

“Tch!” The man tossed Naoya onto the ground and quickly skulked away.

Naoya stood up, patted himself down, and fixed his collar. A sense of relief washed over his body. “Whew... Guess it doesn't need to be a real camera to have the same effect, huh?” he remarked. He was thankful he’d had the foresight to insist that his boss install one.

“Um...” he heard a small voice from behind him stammer.

“Yeah, everything’s fine now.”

He heard another gasp and sensed the girl recoil behind him. Naoya began to turn around to see what the problem was, but he was interrupted by a husky voice calling out from inside the store.

“Sasahara, are you there?! Sorry to spring this on you, but could you deliver something for me? I don’t have time to do it myself right now!”

“Got it! Coming! Hey—you stay safe on your way home, okay?” he directed at the girl.

“Um!”

In the end, Naoya headed back inside the store without ever getting a good look at the girl’s face. He simply felt like he’d done a good deed and left it at that.

“Sasahara, huh...?”

The girl in question clutched her hands in front of her chest and recited the name to herself. In hindsight, it was extremely uncharacteristic for her.

※※※

The first time they actually met face-to-face was at lunchtime the next day. Naoya was aimlessly walking down the school halls with his friends until he found his path blocked by a stranger.

“You’re Naoya Sasahara, right? Thanks for yesterday,” the mysterious girl spat out in a frigid voice. Contrary to her unpleasant tone, she was dazzlingly beautiful. Her silver, gossamer hair fell to her lower back, and her blue eyes twinkled like the sun’s rays dancing on the ocean. Her face was perfect, almost uncannily so—as if she were a CGI model rather than a real girl—with skin that was almost translucent in its paleness.

And yet, despite her dainty beauty, the look she gave Naoya could only be described as sharp and vitriolic. An overwhelming aura of intimidation emanated from her as she stood in the hallway, arms crossed over her chest. She reminded Naoya of a Deva statue—the type one could find in Buddhist temples.

“What?” Naoya managed to blurt out in response.

The other students began to take notice of the remarkable girl. Soon, whispers began to fill the air.

Naoya’s friend, Tatsumi Kouno, who had been walking with him, came to a halt and frantically whisper-shouted into Naoya’s ear. “Whoa, hold up, Naoya. Did something happen between you and ‘The Queen of Thorns’?”

“Uh, yeah, yesterday. It wasn’t really a big deal...” Naoya said flippantly while he made a show of maintaining his composure. He hadn’t seen her face yesterday, but he could easily guess who it had been from her hair alone.

Didn’t think I’d see her again so soon, though...

As it turned out, her name was Koyuki Shirogane. She was a second-year student at Ootsuki High School, just like Naoya, although she was in a different class. Her grades were just as impressive as her looks. So great was her superiority in every subject, including sports, that it had even managed to reach Naoya’s ears.

Unfortunately, the majority of the rumors he had heard about her were far from complimentary.

Koyuki resumed speaking while looking down on Naoya. “Thank you once again. Seeing as I didn’t get to say that yesterday, I decided to seek you out. You were wearing our uniform, so I knew you came to this school at least.”

“I see. There was really no need for you to come and say thanks, though,” Naoya responded.

“There was, actually,” she said with a dramatic flick of her hair. She huffed through her nose before she spoke again, “I don’t like to be indebted to anyone, so I had to do something. It’s not like I would approach some nobody like you otherwise.”

“Huh?”

Koyuki Shirogane was almost perfect, save for one major flaw: her sharp tongue. Since Naoya had entered this school, he had heard innumerable stories of male students who had fallen for her looks, only to be ruthlessly slaughtered by her verbal onslaughts.

As a result, she had gained the nickname, “The Queen of Thorns.” It was for this reason that she was currently drawing a lot of scornful whispers and disapproving looks from the crowd, as well.

“Here we go again...”

“I don’t know what happened, but she really ought to watch her mouth...”

Koyuki, for her part, paid not the slightest bit of attention to the peanut gallery. Instead, she chose to further press her point. “It’s true that I was in a scary situation, but I’m sure I would have figured something out, even if you hadn’t stuck your nose where it didn’t belong. In the future, I’d really appreciate it if you didn’t run around acting like some kind of white knight. Like I said, I don’t like owing people.”

“Mm-hmm, got it,” Naoya nodded and assented immediately. He understood exactly what she was saying. “In other words, you want to take me out after school as a way of saying thanks, right?”

“What?” Koyuki sputtered after a dumbfounded pause.

“What?” Everyone in the hallway echoed, mirroring Koyuki’s perplexed expression.

The most surprising reaction, however, was Koyuki’s—almost immediately, her face flushed tomato red up to the tips of her ears. “Wh-What are you talking about?! How did you m-manage to reach that conclusion from what I just said?!” she squeaked.

“What else was I supposed to think?” Naoya responded, incredulous. “You just admitted that yesterday was frightening for you. That part was true... The rest of what you said was just putting on airs.”

Koyuki seemed shocked, but didn’t reply. Naoya added, “And what you said about not owing people was kinda true too, but what you really wanted to say was ‘thanks.’”

Koyuki’s voice and expression belied her harsh words. It wasn’t hard for him to uncover her real intentions when he paid even the slightest bit of attention. Naoya continued his assault. “It just so happens that I’m not working today, and I’m not a part of any clubs. I’m totally free. So, Shirogane, where’re we headed?”

“L-Listen! I-I just... Ugggh!” Koyuki protested. Her petite frame shook with frustration. After a while, she managed to stop herself. She stared at the ground and began whispering something under her breath. “Um... If it’s okay with you, I’ll be waiting, so...”

“Sure, I’ll meet you at the front gate after school.”

“Wait, how did you hear me?! You’re supposed to not be able to do that!”

“My hearing’s always been good. It’s never let me down so far,” he replied.

“Guuh!! You... Y-You-!” she stuttered.

“‘You’ what?”

“You freak! What are you, a mutant?! What’s with the amazing hearing?!” she screamed. And with that suspiciously complimentary remark, Koyuki fled the scene, her face still a bright red.

The peanut gallery in the hallway watched her depart and discussed among themselves.

“What the...? Was that really Shirogane?”

“That didn’t go how I was expecting it to...”

“Guess she really can be cute and charming if she wants to be.”

Tatsumi gave Naoya a hearty slap on the shoulder. “Still an expert mind reader, I see! But...” Tatsumi trailed off as he lowered his voice and inquired with a disappointed tone, “You were just planning on messing with her like you usually do, weren’t you?”

“I mean, yeah. Pretty much,” Naoya replied.

“Goddd! Why does this jerk get to be so popular with the ladies?!” Tatsumi despaired. Naoya met his friend’s outburst with nothing but a small shrug.

※※※

After school, Naoya headed to the front gate and found Koyuki waiting for him. Her stiff posture made her stand out amidst the throng of students even more than usual.

Naoya headed directly over to her. “Sorry, did you wait long?”

“Don’t worry about it. I’ve said it before, but I don’t like to owe people,” she answered. Koyuki’s face was cool and composed, very different from her flushed and flustered expression from lunch time. Suddenly, she flourished and pointed at Naoya. Her eyes were like those of a lion about to gorge itself on some unfortunate prey, and Naoya was the hapless antelope. “Like you said at lunchtime, it’s true that I want to say ‘thank you,’ but nothing there’s nothing more to it than that. Don’t get full of yourself, got it?”

“Eh, dunno if I can promise that,” Naoya retorted in a noncommittal tone. He deftly warded off her attempt to overwhelm him and smiled wryly. “Any guy’d get a bit of an ego boost if he were about to go on a date with a girl as cute as you.”

“C-Cute?! Date?!” Her face turned the color of a cooked lobster. Unlike at lunch, however, she didn’t allow herself to be cowed this time. She turned away from Naoya and began speaking. “Hmph. Just so you know, flattery isn’t going to get you anywhere. This isn’t the first time I’ve heard vomit-worthy lines like that—I get them all the time.”

“I’m not really trying to flatter you or anything. I don’t really have a strong presence, so I’ve gotta speak my mind straight up to get my thoughts across.”

“Shameless, aren’t you? Unfortunately for you, this is nothing new to me. I mean, have you seen how cute I am? People are always trying to sweet talk me,” she scoffed.

“Is that right?” he said, playing along. Naoya could make out a smile when he looked at her from the side and thus didn’t really believe her. She couldn’t stop herself from grinning and trembling.

Before Naoya could point any of this out to Koyuki, she began to pick up her pace. “Let’s just get going already!” she exclaimed. “Also! You’re not allowed to talk to me until we arrive at the shopping district, okay?!”

“I can tell already this is gonna be one tough date,” Naoya grumbled.

“This isn’t a date! Now shut up and follow me!”

Naoya followed obediently behind Koyuki, who was heading off in a huff.

The surrounding students surveyed the scene with great curiosity. The rumors of the infamous “Queen of Thorns” inviting some gloomy-looking nobody out on a date had already begun to spread far and wide.

The two eventually arrived at the shopping district in front of the station. Ootsuki High School was located in the heart of town. Because of that, there was a wide selection of cheap chain stores marketed toward students dotted about the area. Koyuki picked one such of these—a donut shop—and headed straight in.

Naoya didn’t have any objections to this, so he followed her in and ordered a donut and a coffee. They chose a table with two seats and sat directly across from one another. The nervousness in the air was palpable—Koyuki was fidgeting in her seat and staring blankly at her donut. Since it didn’t look like she would be picking it up any time soon, Naoya opted to make the first move.

He raised his hand in a conciliatory gesture and asked, “Is it all right if I eat first?”

Koyuki nodded, staying silent.

With her permission, Naoya reached for his donut. He was very much a growing boy and had a voracious appetite to match. Right in the middle of devouring his delicious snack, a faint voice spoke up.

“Um.”

“Hm?” he asked.

“You seem to be... really good... at reading people...” Koyuki mumbled. She monitored Naoya’s face closely through upturned eyes. “Do you actually know what I’m going to say before I say it?”

“Yeah. Of course,” Naoya responded as he finished up his donut and wiped the sugar from his fingers with a napkin. “But I can also tell that you want to say it yourself. So I’m waiting.”

“How do you...? You can’t really read minds, can you?!”

“Nothing impressive like that. It’s like you said earlier—I’m just kinda good at reading people.”

“‘Kinda,’ huh? Well, whatever,” Koyuki frowned, obviously unsatisfied with the explanation. She paused for a long moment, then sighed before bowing her head deeply. “As for yesterday... Thank you. I’m serious—you saved me.”

“You’re welcome.” Naoya accepted her words of gratitude.

Koyuki appeared somewhat relieved, as though she’d gotten something important off her chest. Finally, she began to nibble on her donut. “Y-You’re weird... You make me feel like I’m going crazy.”

“Yeah, I get that a lot,” he replied.

“Hmph. I can see that,” Koyuki snorted as her perfect lips curled into a mocking grin. “I hope you realize what an honor it is for a weirdo like you to get to eat with me.”

“Oh yeah, I do. Don’t worry. It makes me happy that you’re happy to be here.”

“I’m not happy to be here! No one said anything about that!”

Koyuki’s face once again became dyed a deep shade of red, which was only deepened when she realized that her shouting was attracting the attention of the other customers in the store. To this, she quickly withdrew into herself and turned a reproachful eye onto Naoya, who was quietly sipping his coffee.

“What is up with you?” she grumbled. “I didn’t even say anything like that...”

“I mean, it’s really easy to tell what you’re thinking,” he answered. It was pretty much a walk in the park for him—small details, like her intonation when she spoke, the movements of her eyes, her habit of fixing her hair, all clearly revealed what she was thinking. Even if she tried to hide it, she was like an open book to him.

“Really? I don’t know if I believe you...” Koyuki said hesitantly.

She spent a few seconds examining Naoya intently before an evil smile once again rose to her lips. She retrieved a one hundred yen coin from her purse and held it in her hands, but she hid it from Naoya such that he couldn’t see which one it was in. She then thrust her hands out at Naoya and asked, “Okay, test time. Which hand is the coin in?”

“It’s on your lap, right?”

“Correct,” Koyuki said faintly after a long pause. She opened both her hands; as expected, there was nothing there. Koyuki plucked the coin from her lap and stared at Naoya like she was looking at an exotic animal.

“You really are good,” she marveled. “Oh yeah, so about that so-called ‘scout’ from yesterday. Are you a detective or something?”

“A teen detective? What is this, an anime? I’m just your average high-school student,” Naoya replied incredulously.

“Your ‘average high-school student’ can’t do the things that you can,” Koyuki pointed out as she gave Naoya a dubious look.

Naoya shrugged his shoulders and replied, “I do hear that a lot, yeah. People ask me if I have special skills and stuff all the time.”

“Well, yeah, of course they would. What kind of training did you go through to be able to do this kind of thing?”

“Nothing in particular, really,” he replied with a shrug and a lopsided smile. He wasn’t really lying or hiding anything. He had never done anything in particular specifically to read people; he had just had a unique set of circumstances that led him to realize he had a knack for it.

“When I was little, my mom was sick. Really sick. I mean, constantly bedridden levels of sick,” he explained.

“Huh?” Koyuki gulped, apparently taken by surprise at the direction the conversation had taken.

Naoya ignored her and continued. It must have been around the time he was six years old—his mother had suddenly collapsed one day and was hospitalized as a result. She had been hooked up to ventilators and pipes of all kinds, virtually chained to her bed and unresponsive. Naoya had visited her every day and did everything he could to look after her. He would stare intently at her face to discern what she needed. Eventually, he was able to tell what she wanted just by looking.

“Well, I was still a kid, so I couldn’t really do anything major to help her. But by doing that over and over, I guess I learned how to read people based on visual cues,” he concluded.

“I see... All that for your mother’s sake,” Koyuki murmured as she held a hand over her mouth, her eyes wide. Then, in a hesitant and careful voice, she asked, “Um, so... Your mom... What, uh, how is she doing now?”

“She’s gone somewhere far away...”

Koyuki paled and flinched at his words.

Naoya continued, nonplussed, “She’s probably in the Caribbean or somewhere like that right now.”

“Wha?” Koyuki gawked.

“Yeah, she accompanies my dad on his business trips and stuff.”

Although she had once been at death’s door, she had managed to recover through some sort of miracle. Now, Naoya’s mother and father spent their wonderful married life touring the world together. They figured it was fine to leave Naoya to his own devices, considering he was already a high-school student. It wasn’t unusual for Naoya to receive a letter from them at the end of each month, where they would recount their adventures and attach some lovey-dovey couple photos. He had long since given up trying to figure out how he was supposed to feel about those.

Koyuki chewed on her donut absentmindedly before shouting, “You’ve gotta choose your wording better!”

“Ahaha. I get that a lot as well, actually,” he said with a laugh. Naoya did this sort of thing to people all the time.

Koyuki looked on and said, “Hmph. I guess that does explain why you’re such a weirdo, though.”

“And why I’m such a good son, right?”

“Still a weirdo regardless,” she rebutted. She sipped her coffee, seemingly annoyed, before putting on a strange smile. “Unfortunately for you, that little skill of yours won’t work on me.”

“Seriously?”

“Of course. I mean, why do I even have to be here with you in the first place? I could list about 100 things that would be more worth my time right now: drink water, listen to the radio.” She made a show of sighing and shrugging her shoulders. “But, just out of curiosity, what other stuff can you tell I’m thinking?”

“Uh, well, you know...” Naoya trailed off with a nod.

He could tell from how she acted she was the oldest child in her household. She was right-handed, but could probably write with her left hand if she had to. She was the type to work hard in the shadows, and she was very bad at showing any form of weakness. Take their “date,” for example—she was forcing herself to drink black coffee when she was clearly much more of a cream and cocoa person. As Naoya stared her down, listing all her traits in his head, Koyuki began to recoil slightly.

Looks like it’s time to whip out the big guns. Naoya thought to himself, ready to deliver the finishing blow. “I can tell you’ve fallen for me,” he declared.

“Pfftt!” Koyuki spat her coffee everywhere. She curled over and began coughing violently.

Naoya was unable to do anything but watch. He knew that if he reached out to her, then he was very likely to receive her ire.

“Cough, cough! Th-That’s a good one! Me? Like you?!” she sputtered out between coughs.

“What? Am I wrong?”

“Uh, duh! Yeah, you’re wrong!” Koyuki shouted in a wavering voice. She was pure crimson from the top of her face to her fingertips. Her exotic blue eyes were wet with tears of embarrassment. Still, in spite of everything, she continued to act defiant. “I wouldn’t fall for you even if you’d managed to save me from a freaking tiger, let alone some random loser off the street! Don’t get so full of yourself!”

“Oh. That’s a major relief, to be honest.”

“Wha?” Koyuki’s eyes grew wide.

Naoya sighed and said, “Listen. There’s a reason I came here with you.”

“A reason...?”

“Yep. It’s nothing complicated or anything.” Naoya faced Koyuki, took a deep breath, then spoke in an exceedingly neutral tone. “I’ll just come out and say it. I’m sorry, but... I can’t go out with you.”

Koyuki’s face dropped at that moment, like her soul had left her body. “Do you have... someone else you like?” she asked.

“No, nothing like that. I’ve never had anyone like that, and I don’t now,” he responded with a wave of his hand.

“So do you just not like strong-willed girls like me?”

“That’s not it either,” Naoya assured her while he shook his head lightly. Even if he did have a girlfriend, he wouldn’t hate Koyuki. He thought she was funny and straight-forward—two traits he rather admired. It was just that he had some... difficult circumstances at play.

“You’re not the problem. It’s just that I don’t feel like going out with anyone right now,” he informed her.

“Why not?”

“If there were someone I liked, and I was supposed to be with them all the time, well, my mind would constantly be going 100 miles an hour trying to figure them out. It’d really wear me out.”

Because of his strong intuition and people-reading skills, Naoya was always in tune with others. What were they thinking? What did they want? These were questions he never really had to ask—he couldn’t help but know how the other person was feeling. Naturally, the constant access to others’ emotions—be they positive or negative—would wear anyone out, and Naoya was no exception. There had been instances bad enough to cause him to faint at times. He had also made use of his intuition in the past to try to help girls in need. Unfortunately for him, it had always resulted in a major headache for him.

That was why, since he had started middle school, he had declined any girl who seemed even remotely interested in him upfront. Their reactions had all varied—some had blown up at him, some had silently seethed, while others had simply sobbed. In the end, though, they had all quietly distanced themselves and left things at that. Despite that, Naoya could tell that many of them were still hurt.

Letting them down easy at the start saves a lot of pain in the end...

He had never meant to upset any of those girls; he simply knew that it was better for both parties if they didn’t get involved with him. They would eventually move on and meet others. That way, Naoya wouldn’t end up letting them down.

Naoya’s dejected face was reflected in his coffee. He resumed reciting the script he had created and repeated multiple times by now. “So I just wanted to let you know that, even if you do like me, I can’t return those feelings. If you do have feelings for me, I’ll have to ask you to give up on me now. If you don’t, please keep it that way.”

Koyuki answered with silence. Perhaps it was more accurate to say she had no answer at all.

Naoya sipped his coffee and noted that it tasted notably more bitter than before. He was reaching for the sugar when she spoke.

“That’s... so stupid...”

“Excuse me?” Naoya’s head rose at her irate voice. When he saw her face, all he could do was blink and stare in amazement. He had expected her to react in anger, but he didn’t glean any of the fury he had been expecting in her eyes.

Uh, I feel like if someone said what I just did to you, you’d start hating them, right? So why don’t you hate me?

Koyuki ignored Naoya’s confusion and began to rant. “Hmph! I don’t like you, okay? Seriously, this whole thing is nothing to me. But what gives you the right to tell me how to feel?”

“W-Well, I didn’t really mean to do that. What I meant was, you wouldn’t want to date a guy who’s always guessing what you’re thinking and feeling, right?” Naoya backtracked, trying to inject some good humor into his voice. “And it’s not just what you’re thinking, either—I can tell how much you weigh, your three sizes, and stuff like that just by looking.”

“Uh, and? A tape measure and a weighing scale can do that. Why are you trying to compete with a tape measure? Is that supposed to impress me?”

“Eh, uh, I mean, yeah, but...” Naoya stumbled over his words. He had figured that Koyuki had just fallen for her idea of him, and once he’d shown her what he was really like, she’d quickly lose interest. Things, however, were not going according to plan.

Why didn’t that work? Why can I tell she still likes me?

Koyuki snorted haughtily to herself and said, “Hmph. So it looks like you want me to give up. If that’s what you want... Okay, Sasahara.”

“Wh-What?”

“You’d better listen closely to what I’m about to say,” she demanded. She took a deep breath, then suddenly thrust her finger toward Naoya and declared, “I will make you fall for me!”

---

---

“What?” Naoya blinked in surprise.

Her lips curled in a fearless smile. “I get what you’re trying to say, but do you seriously expect me to just roll over and take it? Fat chance!”

She wasn’t giving him any ground. In fact, she appeared to be getting more confident by the second. She continued, relentless. “I don’t care how much you can read me! I’m not scared! And there’s no way I’ll get hurt by you, either. I’m gonna cling to you like a barnacle and make you like me! Not that I’ll like you back or anything!”

“Don’t lie! You’re head over heels for me, aren’t you?!” Naoya recklessly stated. It didn’t seem like she wasn’t going to give up on him any time soon. Naoya could tell that she was serious, and it made him uncharacteristically shrink back under her intense pressure. “Hah... Why are you like this? You could have any man you wanted.”

“I’m pretty much throwing myself at you, and you’re telling me to chase after other guys? Talk about bad manners, Sasahara,” Koyuki sighed. “Plus, I did say you’re a weirdo, but I guess this makes me one, too.”

“What makes you say that?”

“You’ve heard it, right? What everyone calls me? ‘The Queen of Thorns.’”

“Well, I’ve heard some rumors, yeah.”

“Exactly. I guess I’m so perfect that people find it hard to approach me. Whatever. I’m sure part of it is because those losers are just jealous,” she said with a huff.

“Sigh...”

She was 60 percent serious and 30 percent putting on airs—the remainder was self-directed shame. She didn’t need to act so steadfast like this.

Naoya ignored Koyuki’s rambling until she stopped, cleared her throat, and thrust her chest out.

“But yeah, that’s the deal,” she stated. “I need someone who’s just as much of a weirdo as me. You barely, just barely, make the cut, so I guess I’ll test you out and see if you can get a passing grade. You’re welcome.”

Her eyes narrowed, and she licked her lips. Her small tongue was a light red color and brought images of a man-eating spider to Naoya’s mind. “I will make you fall for me. And you’re gonna end up being the one to confess to me. Hehe... Making a composed guy like you fall at my feet is gonna be quite the sight.”

“Eh, um...” Naoya stuttered and broke eye contact with her. It wasn’t that he was being cowed by her evil empress act. Really. Seriously. It was because he was able to read her true intentions behind the façade she’d put up.

She wanted to be with him. She wanted to know all of his likes and dislikes. She wanted to walk to school with him and then go out together on their days off. She wanted to go on a date to an amusement park and many other places, too.

---

---

It was those honest thoughts that caused Naoya to gulp quietly to himself.

She’s not joking around! Does she seriously like me this much?!

He could tell her feelings were genuine—they wouldn’t be broken easily. Naoya fell silent under the weight of her resolution.

Koyuki continued with an air of victory tinging her voice, “Haha! You’d better prepare yourself for tomorrow. I like to play with my food.”

“Y-Your food?” Naoya chewed on the word, then fell into thought. “That sounds like it’s going to be something, all right...”

“Hehe, doesn’t it? Anyone being pursued by someone as beautiful as me wou—”

“I might actually fall for you,” he cut her off with a simple statement.

“Yep! That’s right. Of cour—wait, what?!” Koyuki’s voice rose to a shout at Naoya’s words.

The other customers must’ve been getting used to her by now, as most only spared a light glance toward their table.

Koyuki pointed a trembling finger at Naoya. “What are you saying?! You just told me you weren’t going to go out with anyone. Can you stop making such lame jokes?!”

“Sorry, but I’m being serious,” he responded with a shrug. It was true that he had not planned on getting close to any girls, as he’d already explained to her. That said, there was something different about her. “I want to see what you’re thinking. All of it. All the time. I guess I find it... fun? You’re the first person I’ve ever felt this way about,” he explained.

Naoya had only felt regret and bitterness toward the affection shown to him before, but he felt none of that with Koyuki. He wanted to be with her and discover her wide range of expressions, to find out what makes her tick. Such were the thoughts that swirled around his head—he felt like his entire world was turning upside down.

“I know you just called me a weirdo and all, but I hope you’re okay with me liking you. I mean, you’re cute, and being with you will clearly never be boring. I think it’d be more weird if I didn’t like you, to be honest,” he continued.

“Wh-Wha?! What’s with the Casanova act all of a sudden?!” she sputtered.

“I mean, I did tell you earlier that I can’t help saying my true feelings.”

“Yeah, but I didn’t think you meant this much!” she shouted.

Naoya looked past her outburst and tried to figure out what she truly felt in her heart. As he examined her eyes, he asked, “So, yeah—if you do pursue me, there’s a good chance I’ll end up falling for you. This is just out of curiosity, but how are you planning on winning me over?”

“Huuuh? Well, uh...” Koyuki fumbled as she averted her eyes and opened and closed her mouth like a goldfish. She spoke in a quiet, embarrassed voice. “Well, I was thinking I’d wait for you, we’d go to school together, then we’d leave and go to a cafe or something like we’re doing now. You know, stuff like... that.”

“Oh, good plan. That’ll definitely get me to fall for you,” he assured her.

“R-Really?!”

“Yep. Definitely as much—if not more—than you already like me.”

Her radiant expression soon crumpled into anger, and she spat out with furrowed brows, “Listen up, buddy—I. Do. Not. Like. You. When will you get that through your thick skull?!” She suddenly lost her energy and sank back into her seat, sulking. “Quit messing with me. If you continue, I’ll get really mad, okay?”

“I’m being serious, though... Oh. Ohhh. Okay, now I get it,” Naoya said as he lightly punched his open hand in a gesture of realization.

Koyuki liked Naoya, and if Naoya liked her back, then the feeling would be mutual. So why was she getting so angry? It didn’t come to him immediately, but he finally understood after he thought it over for a bit.

“I guess—based on my tone—that I sound like I’m not taking this seriously. I’ve gotta be more serious,” he stated.

“Guh! No, that’s... Well, you’re not wrong, but... Okay, no, but... Ughhh.”

“All right. I’ll just put it simply,” Naoya began. He collected himself, then reached across the table to hold Koyuki’s hand. She let out a small squeak in response, and he could feel her hand rapidly warming up as he grasped it. “I’m looking forward to getting to know you, Shirogane. I’m going to fall for you as hard as you’ve fallen for me, okay?”

“Okay, listen here, you littl—!” Her voice broke as she trembled. “You’re nothing to me! I don’t bike you!”

“Haha. That was pretty cute, messing up what you wanted to say like that.”

“I am so done with you!” she cried.

Naoya’s sweet words drove Koyuki half to tears. And thus the curtain opened on the war between the two lovebirds.