Chapter Three

Love's True Form

It was later that evening, just before twilight.

Naoya reached the shoe rack near the entrance of the school. He leaned against a shelf, sighing to himself, “Thank God it’s finally over...”

“Hey, Naoya. Looks like we’re both doing just peachy,” a voice greeted him. It was Naoya’s friend, Tatsumi Kouno.

They’d both bombed a quiz and had to take supplementary lessons as a result. Tatsumi was reaching for his shoes when he paused, as if something occurred to him. He spoke up, “Come to think of it, it’s rare seeing you having to take supplementary lessons.”

“I’m awful at math, man. You know this,” Naoya replied.

“You’re never this awful, though.”

“Not usually, I guess,” Naoya admitted. Although he didn’t exactly want to toot his own horn or anything, he was quite skilled academically. It wasn’t that he was incredibly intelligent; it was just that he was able to predict what teachers were planning to put on tests and stuff like that. He simply needed to do some last-minute studying beforehand, and everything would usually turn out fine.

“You’ve been staring into space a lot recently, my man. It’s like you’ve got something on your mind. Mind me if I take a stab at what it is?” his friend asked.

“Be my guest.”

“It’s Shirogane, right?”

“You got me,” Naoya shrugged limply.

“I’ve been dying to ask you about it, dude. Everyone’s been talking about the gloomy-looking guy ‘The Queen of Thorns’ is falling all over,” Tatsumi joked. He gave Naoya a playful shove before his face became somewhat serious all of a sudden. “Still, I don’t really get it. What are you so worried about? What’s the big deal if you two are dating?”

“Well, she’s not really the problem,” Naoya answered hesitantly.

“And you are?”

Naoya heaved a heavy sigh in response. He was happy that Koyuki liked him—really. He was honored, even. The issue laid with him. “I don’t know, like, how I like her, if that makes sense,” he explained.

“It doesn’t really, to be honest,” his friend replied simply.

How exactly did he feel about her? How would he describe this affection—was it like family? A friend? Or possibly a lover? What did it really mean to “like” someone, anyway? Naoya knew that Koyuki held romantic feelings for him. So how did he feel? The question had occurred to him yesterday, and it only confounded him the more he thought on it.

“So yeah, that’s what’s been on my mind,” Naoya concluded. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

“‘Cause I don’t get what the hell you’re saying. Even preschoolers can decide whether they like someone or not, man! You’re nearly a goddamn adult!” his friend cried incredulously.

“What d’you want me to do about it?! I’ve never been in a situation like this before!”

“Well yeah! You’ve always just shut that shit down in the past!”

“Uh, well... Yeah, I guess you’re right about that,” Naoya mumbled sheepishly.

Nothing could shake you to your core quite like the words of someone you’ve known your whole life. It was for a similar reason that he kept those who had approached him romantically in the past at arm’s length. And because he’d done that, he had never sorted out his own feelings toward such situations—in other words, the reason he was struggling was entirely his fault.

Tatsumi smiled broadly and slapped Naoya on the back again. This time, he did it rather roughly. “You’re so good at reading others, yet you don’t understand yourself at all! Haha. Man, I do not envy you!”

“Mind your damn business, okay?” Naoya grumbled.

“I’ve got a girlfriend, though. If I can’t give unsolicited love advice, then what can I do?”

“Oh yeah, I forgot about that.”

Although he often found it hard to believe, Tatsumi had a girlfriend he’d been seeing for over a year. It only made sense that he didn’t really relate to Naoya’s struggles.

“What does someone like Shirogane even see in you?” Tatsumi mused as he put his outdoor shoes on. He stepped toward the doors of the school before stopping. “Well, that aside, she does seem serious about this whole thing.”

“What d’you mean?” Naoya asked.

“Uh, that’s her over there, right?” Tatsumi asked as he pointed at the school’s main gate.

“What?!”

And sure enough, there she was. Most students had either gone home, or they were attending their various clubs. That left the main gate quite deserted, save for a lone girl who stood underneath the gate’s arch, staring quietly at her feet.

“Shirogane?!” Naoya shouted and began running in her direction before he knew what he was doing.

“Ah!” Koyuki gasped. When she saw him, her face lit up for the briefest of moments before her usual cool expression returned. “Fancy meeting you here, Sasahara. What a coincidence.”

She appeared tired, and there were scuff marks from her shoes on the ground where she’d been kicking pebbles around. She must have been waiting for him for quite a while.

“I told you my supplementary classes were gonna run long, didn’t I?” Naoya chided. “You should’ve gone home.”

“What? Did you seriously think I was waiting for you? Hah! Please. I was just studying in the library until now,” she scoffed, posing haughtily as usual.

Naoya didn’t point it out this time, though. “Oh, sorry, my mistake. Anyway, I’m sorry I’m so late. I’ll study extra hard, too, so I don’t have to take any more lessons like this.”

“Well, um, if you want to apologize that much... Whatever. I don’t care,” Koyuki answered in a quiet mumble. Her nose was slightly red, a telltale sign that she was embarrassed. Those little quirks—signs that were dead giveaways to what she really felt—were incredibly charming to him.

I really do like being with her. Normally, I get worn out from being around people, but she’s the exact opposite. Is that really love, though? Naoya pondered. There were a few exceptions, of course—there were his parents, his boss, and—

“Oh look, it’s Naoya,” a bright female voice called out from behind and snapped him out of his mental listing.

Naoya turned around to figure out who had been calling out to him. The girl had burgundy hair that was pulled into a functional ponytail and long, thin legs. Her large eyes were slightly almond shaped. All of these traits combined to give her a rather sporty appearance.

Naoya smiled when he recognized who it was. “Hey, Yui! Club stuff all finished?”

“Nah, there was no club today. So why’re you here so lat—Whoa, is that Shirogane?!” the girl exclaimed. Her speech had been casual until she noticed Koyuki. “Why are you two together?! What the hell happened?!”

“Didn’t I tell you? Some stuff happened, and we’ve been hanging out a lot recently,” Naoya explained.

“A weirdo like you with her, eh? Okay. Stranger things have happened, I guess. Oh yeah, is Shirogane also heading home now?”

“I-I am,” Koyuki nodded awkwardly. She seemed familiar with Yui, which made her even more awkward.

It suddenly occurred to Naoya why this may be. “Right, you guys are in the same class, aren’t you, Yui?” he asked.

“Yep. We haven’t talked much, though,” Yui replied.

“Indeed...” Koyuki threw a prickly glance at Naoya in spite of her polite smile. “So are you and Sasahara friends?”

“Mm-hm, we’ve known each other for years,” Naoya replied.

“Yeah, since kindergarten, actually. As much as I try and get rid of him, haha,” Yui joked. The way the two of them bounced off each other was a testament to the many years they had been friends. Naoya had known Yui Natsume for over 10 years—so long that their respective families were both friends, and Naoya even ate at Yui’s house every once in a while. She was one of the only people Naoya could easily get along with.

“Oh wow. That’s great...” Koyuki said as her face hardened. Naoya felt as if there was now a wall between him and Koyuki that hadn’t been there before.

“Oh, but you don't gotta worry, Shirogane—she’s just a friend, so it’s not like u—”

“Shut up!” Koyuki shouted and covered his mouth with her hand. Everyone was shocked by her action, including Koyuki herself.

What? Did I read her wrong?! he questioned himself. Although he possessed such a useful ability, in the end, it was up to him to suss out the cause of said emotions. It was clear as day that Koyuki was jealous of Yui, so he had tried to nip it in the bud early on. He hadn’t expected her to react the way she had, and, to make matters worse, he was currently having difficulty reading her.

“Are you freaking clueless or what?! What if Natsume likes you, huh? She’d be so hurt by what you just said!” Koyuki protested.

“But she doesn’t like me, though!” he replied.

“You don’t know that for sure! Come on, Sasahara! You two are childhood friends!”

It seemed Naoya had been totally off the mark—he had expected Koyuki to see Yui as a rival, but it turned out the opposite had been true. She got angry for Yui’s sake instead... That’s cute as hell.

“Come here for a sec!” Koyuki exclaimed, yanking Naoya closer in an attempt at getting some privacy. Yui was only about two meters away, though, so she could easily overhear everything if she wanted to.

“I can leave if you guys wanna talk,” Yui added.

“What are we fighting about, guys?” Tatsumi made his belated entrance.

Yui waved at him lightly and said, “Oh. Hey, Tatsumi. Hope the extra classes weren’t too bad. Was Naoya taking them too?”

“‘Sup. And yeah, it was a blast,” Tatsumi replied jokingly.

“Haha, sucks to be you.”

“Um, Sasahara, who is this?” Koyuki asked. Her anger had managed to subside somewhat with the new arrival.

After giving it some thought, Naoya found it a bit strange—she must’ve seen the two friends together before. Maybe she just didn’t remember.

“This is Tatsumi Kouno,” Naoya answered. “He’s from my class.”

“Oh, and he’s also my boyfriend slash childhood friend, I guess,” Yui explained.

“Nice to meet you, Shirogane,” Tatsumi greeted her.

“Nice to meet you to—wait! Boyfriend?!”

“Yeah. Look,” he said while linking arms with Yui.

“Get a room, you two. You’re freaking Shirogane out,” Naoya joked.He turned to a rather befuddled Koyuki and explained, “So yeah, us three are all childhood friends. These two are going out, and I’m basically the third wheel.”

“Hm. I see. Mhm,” Koyuki nodded multiple times, seemingly in deep thought as she stared at the couple.

“Are you feeling okay now?”

“I felt fine before. It’s none of my business what you choose to do with other girls. Why would I care? Don’t go around acting like I’m some jealous girlfriend—it’s disgusting,” she spat out. It appeared she was back to her usual self.

Naoya let out a sigh of relief. He was glad to have made it out of that interaction without any misunderstandings.

“By the way, what are they doing?” Koyuki asked, pointing to Naoya’s friends.

The couple had, at some point, moved away from them and were having a covert conversation near the vending machines. They were obviously all too familiar with Naoya and his excellent hearing, so they chose a faraway spot. Naoya stared off in their direction, wondering what exactly they were talking about. Despite how far away they were, he could still catch snippets of their hushed discussion here and there.

“Those two are... Definitely...”

“But... seems like...”

“Oh, so...”

“Oh yeah... Nice, good idea. Let’s do that.”

“Yeah, let’s get ‘em.”

Koyuki, for her part, remained cool as ever. “She’s doing a hell of a lot better than you, isn’t she, Sasahara?” she remarked. “She’s the same year as me, and she already has a boyfriend. That’s pretty... amazing.”

The couple returned, all smiles. They showed no concern as Naoya glared at the two of them.

“Shirogane, you doing anything after this?” Yui, who appeared to be in good spirits, asked.

“Um, no. Why?”

“Great timing! It just so happens that I have four coupons for that crepe store in front of the station! You guys wanna tag along?”

Koyuki looked quite intimidated by her offer. She replied with great caution, “S-So you’re inviting me to hang out with you?”

“Yeah,” Yui affirmed. “If you can’t right now, that’s totally fine. I’ll just invite you some other time.”

Koyuki grew even more overwhelmed by Yui’s considerate accommodation.

Looks like she really wants to go, Naoya thought to himself. Yui knew that Naoya always kept other girls at arm’s length, so she was probably incredibly interested in this new female friend that Naoya was suddenly getting along with. Girls did tend to like talking about relationships and such, after all.

“Yeah, like, they have all these crazy ingredients,” Yui enthusiastically continued. “You can get all kinds of stuff. Come on, Shirogane, it’ll be fun!”

“Ummm...” Koyuki hesitated, withdrawing into her veritable shell more and more.

Naoya, yesterday’s incident still fresh in his mind, knew he had to act quickly before the dreaded “Queen of Thorns” made her appearance

“Yeah, we can eat crepes and have girl talk!” Yui exclaimed cheerily.

“G-Girl talk?” Koyuki repeated the word quietly to herself as if digesting it. Suddenly, she snatched a coupon from Yui’s hand. “I’ll take you up on that! Let’s have some girl talk!”

“Hell yeah! That’s the spirit!”

“I don’t really get the fascination with gossiping myself...” Naoya chimed in.

“Women, man...” Tatsumi grumbled.

The two exchanged tired looks while the two girls began hyping themselves up.

When they arrived at the crepe place, they were pleasantly surprised to find only a few other people there. Perhaps it was because it was getting somewhat late in the day, but they had thankfully managed to avoid the after-school rush hour.

Yui surveyed the menu outside the store with great scrutiny. “Last time, I had a strawberry crepe, so maybe this time, I’ll go with something that has chocolate in it. What do you feel like having, Tatsumi?” she asked.

“I don’t have your sweet tooth, so, uh, do they have any side dishes?”

“They have tuna salad and some other stuff... Oh! Says here that the staff recommend natto and daikon radish! Should I get that?”

“Nah, that sounds too heavy right now. Just gimme some rice.”

The couple were deciding on their crepes together, as expected. Naoya and Koyuki stood awkwardly behind them, watching the scene unfold.

“Sorry about this, Shirogane. You’re not bored or anything, are you?” Naoya asked.

“No, not at all. I was free today, so I don’t mind this too much,” Koyuki demurred. In spite of her placatations, her face was a mess of anxiety. “It’s just... I haven’t really done this kind of thing before, so I’m a little nervous.”

“Oh yeah, the whole ‘not having any friends’ thing.”

“That’s a pretty dickish way to put it, but you’re not wrong,” Koyuki mumbled. She looked at Naoya and sighed. “I’ve never been to a crepe store before or experienced ‘girl talk’ before, so... I don’t even know if I can do this.”

“It hasn’t even started yet. No need to get so worked up about it now,” he tried to reassure her.

Shirogane is being pretty nice today, he noted. It wasn’t just with him either—she had managed to reign herself in with Yui and Tatsumi, too. She must be grateful that they invited her here... Or... Another possibility occurred to Naoya. He gulped before asking, “You aren’t... worried because of everything I said yesterday, right?”

“What are you rambling on about? The crap we talk about goes in one ear and out the other—I forget most of it the next day. What, do you think I obsess over everything we talk about? Gross. But, yeah, you’re right,” Koyuki mumbled the last part, her eyes dropping to the ground. “I’ve always wanted to do stuff like this. I mean, I don’t really like gossiping, but I like sweet food, and...”

---

---

“I’m glad I didn’t chicken out. And, um, that’s not because of you, or anything, but... Thank you, I guess,” Koyuki earnestly fumbled over her words. When she was met with silence, her head snapped up. “Wh-What?! Did I say something weird?!”

“No, it’s just...” Naoya covered his mouth and spoke in a strained tone. “You’re really... you know, and I don’t know how to deal with it sometimes. Don’t worry about it.”

“Quit being so vague. That’s only gonna make me worry more,” Koyuki chided him. Her eyebrows were knitted in confusion.

This gesture in particular was too cute for Naoya to handle, and he felt his heart skip a beat. It made him want to pat her on the head and look after her, almost like a caretaker or a parent would. Well, that just added another option to the list of possible ways he liked her. He still didn’t know whether he liked her like that, but what he did know was he really enjoyed her company. Was it as a friend, a lover, or as a guardian, though? Why can’t I figure this out?

Naoya’s troubles followed him into the store. While everyone around him spoke and joked in high spirits, he alone sat in silence. Koyuki sat next to Naoya, and Yui and Tatsumi sat on the other side of the table. Koyuki and Yui had begun their girl talk, and it appeared to be going swimmingly despite Koyuki’s earlier reservations.

“Sasahara was the reason you two started going out?! No way!” Koyuki squealed.

“Yeah. He doesn’t exactly look like a little cupid, does he?” Yui replied.

“No, not at all. How did it all happen?”

“It’s a long story,” Yui explained with a glance at Naoya. She sighed and continued, “Long story short: it was back when we were about to graduate middle school, I think. We were all walking home together when he suddenly stopped and was like, ‘So when are you two gonna start dating?’”

“So he had as much tact back then as he does now, huh?”

“Yep. I wanted to curl up and die,” Tatsumi grumbled as he took a large bite of his crepe.

Naoya was brought out of his own head by the three sets of eyes staring at him. “Uh, well, I thought it fit the circumstances at the time fine,” he began to explain.

They’d known each other since kindergarten, and it was obvious that Yui and Tatsumi had liked each other—it was just that neither of them had acted on it. Naoya had also been anxious that they’d end up drifting apart once they graduated. They were all going to the same school, but Tatsumi and Yui were both social butterflies. No doubt they would soon make plenty of friends at their new school, or so Naoya had told himself. If he didn’t act soon, it was possible they would never get the chance to get together. Sure, the couple was awkward about it at first, but look how it’d turned out—everything turned out well in the end, right?

Naoya smiled smugly, “Quite the matchmaker, aren’t I?”

“I dunno about that, but there definitely wasn’t as much drama as I was expecting,” Koyuki said with a look of dissatisfaction and another bite of her crepe. She obviously wasn’t used to eating them, as small crumbs would be left on the tip of her nose every time she took a bite. It was cute, however. Really cute.

“Enough about us, though. I wanna hear about you two, Shirogane,” Yui spoke up.

“Us?” Koyuki asked hesitantly.

“Yep! So—what do you like about our little Naoya?”

Koyuki jumped up and accidentally crushed her crepe slightly, her face redder than the strawberry she was eating. She quickly caught herself and attempted to flash a smile.

“Haha. Nice joke. Naoya’s a loser. There’s nothing likeable about him,” she disparaged in an attempt at an unconcerned voice, gesturing toward Naoya with a tilt of her chin. “I am in the middle of trying to make him fall for me—that much is true. Doesn’t mean I like him, though.”

“Oh. Okay, then. Yeah, I figured you didn’t like him,” Yui concluded with a nod.

“Glad to hear it—wait, what?” Koyuki’s eyes shot open.

Yui continued casually, “I mean, Naoya always runs his mouth and says whatever’s on his mind at the worst times. Plus, he’s not much to look at. I just didn’t see someone like him and a total catch like you being a good match, Shirogane.”

“Jesus, Yui. The man’s right there,” Tatsumi scolded her.

“Yeah, please don’t be... Please don’t say that about him,” Koyuki spoke in a small voice as she glanced at Naoya. “He’s not really as bad as you make him out to be. He’s helped me out a lot, and I can be myself around him, a-and he’s really kind. So I don’t think it would be a bad match... Maybe.”

If her plan was to come off as adorable as possible, then she had succeeded with flying colors. Tatsumi and Yui hadn’t expected a response like that—hell, not even Naoya had—and they all sat in stupefied silence.

The long and rather awkward silence was broken when Koyuki shouted, “But I don’t like him or anything! Really!”

“Oh. Okay, then. My bad, Shirogane. I get it now,” Yui reassured her.

Koyuki took an awkward bite of her crepe in response. Naoya suddenly felt apologetic toward her—she was being much more honest with her feelings than Naoya was.

“Yeeep. I toootally get it now. Right, Tatsumi?” Yui continued in a mischievous tone.

“Sure do,” he replied. The couple shared the ominous exchange with equally ominous smiles on their faces. Naoya was too caught up in his own head to dedicate any significant thought to their behavior, however.

“Your crepe looks great by the way, Naoya,” Yui spoke up.

Naoya peered down at his crepe—he’d ordered a mix with red beans and matcha ice cream. “Yeah, it’s pretty good, I guess,” he surmised. He assumed that she wanted some of his since it was slightly less sweet than what she’d ordered.

Sure enough, his friend asked, “Could I just have a little bite? Pretty please?”

“Uh, no. You don’t do ‘little bites.’ I’ve known you long enough to know that.”

“Come ooon,” she pleaded.

“No. Take some of Tatsumi’s.”

“I don’t like natto, thouuugh...”

“Speaking of—why the hell did you get natto, Tatsumi?” he turned to his other friend and asked.

“It’s better than you’d think, actually,” Tatsumi answered. He seemed pleased with his strange order—he’d always done things his own way.

Yui decided to press further. “Please, Naoya. It’ll literally just be one small bite.”

“Ugh, fine. Here.”

“Yaaaay!” Yui cheered. She leaned over and bit into Naoya’s crepe. They had been good friends for so long that they no longer cared about frivolous issues like indirect kisses anymore. Naoya looked at his crepe, which had diminished significantly, and sighed.

“Give me some, too!” Koyuki exclaimed loudly beside him.

Naoya looked at her incredulously. It was obvious that, rather than wanting some of his crepe, she simply wanted to get close to him like Yui had. Either way, it was going to end in him losing more of his delicious snack. Although he had no reason to deny her, he was stopped by an unusual feeling. His heart thumped loudly in his chest, he could feel his face turning red, and his mouth grew dry. Soon, he found it was difficult to speak. “S-Sure. Here,” he managed to sputter.

“Okay,” Koyuki replied. She awkwardly leaned in, tucked a lock of hair behind her ear, and took a modest bite from the edge of the crepe. Naoya forgot to breathe through the entire duration of the interaction.

“Thanks. It’s quite tasty,” she surmised. Her lips were glossy from the leftover cream, and Naoya found himself unable to remove his eyes from her. Koyuki noticed his gaze and asked with genuine remorse, “What? Did I take too much?”

Why didn’t I feel anything when it was Yui doing it? This is... kinda amazing. Naoya didn’t quite know what his turbulent feelings entailed. In fact, his mind had gone completely blank, and he was unable to think clearly.

Tatsumi noticed Naoya’s brain grinding to a halt and took it as an opportunity to strike. “Haha, guess you’re one of us now—the blessed few,” he goaded. “Lucky you, getting to flirt with a cute girl and shit. If Yui wasn’t here right now, I might’ve tried to get cozy with her myself.”

“Wow, Tatsumi—if we lived together and had a couch, you’d be sleeping on it tonight. She is pretty cute, though. I’m so jealous of your skin, Shirogane...” Yui remarked.

“Yeah. She’s got a great body, and she’s smart to boot. She’s the whole package—you don’t see girls like her every day,” Tatsumi added.

“I-I’m not...” Koyuki floundered. It was pretty evident that she was not used to people complimenting her, as she became embarrassed again.

Naoya noticed that another strange feeling had started to well up inside his chest. Yui’s fine and all, but I dunno how I feel about Tatsumi talking to her like that. Although he knew that they were both just giving her genuine compliments, it didn’t prevent a wave of irritation from washing over him. Even worse, he couldn’t place his finger on why he felt this anger toward his friend.

Naoya shot Tatsumi a glare, and he seemed to notice it. Instead of backing off, however, he chose to double down on the false flirtation. “You’re at the top of our year, right, Shirogane? How about we study together sometime?”

“What?” Naoya and Koyuki both blurted out at the same time. Whereas Koyuki’s voice held a great deal of confusion, Naoya’s was significantly more outraged. Koyuki appeared to be at a loss.

“Yeah,” Tatsumi continued with his friendly prodding. “I just failed our math test hard. I was thinking I’m gonna try and study harder. You crushed it, didn’t you?”

“I mean, I did okay,” she replied.

“So yeah, how about it? You should be my teacher, Shirogane. I’ll even treat you the next time we get crepes.”

“Um...”

“It can be something else, too. What d’you like, Shirogane? Tell me. I’ll get you anything you want,” he offered, leaning forward slightly. It was as though he was genuinely trying to pick her up, and Koyuki was at a complete loss on how to react. His real girlfriend, for her part, paid no attention—she simply sat next to him and took bites out of her crepe. Tatsumi reached forward, grabbed Koyuki’s hand, and said, “Say, how about tomorrow we—”

“Fuck off,” Naoya snapped, staring daggers at Tatsumi. “You don’t get to go anywhere near her.”

“Well, well, well.” Tatsumi smiled so casually that it was as if his friend hadn’t just freaked out on him.

Koyuki tilted her head to the side, entirely unsure what to make of the situation. “What’s up, Naoya? Did something make you mad?”

“Nah, not really mad or anything,” Naoya mumbled as his actions slowly dawned on him. He fell deep into thought, taking small nibbles off his crepe. “I’ve felt weird for a few minutes now...”

“Weird how?” Tatsumi asked.

“Well, I thought nothing of it when Yui had some of my crepe, but my heart felt really weird when it was Shirogane. And when you were being all creepy with her, it kinda annoyed me. What the heck’s wrong with me?”

Koyuki decided this was prime time to jump in. “Well, maybe it’s...” she suggested with an audible gulp, staring seriously into his eyes. “You might have a cold, Sasahara. That can make your stomach feel weird and give you all sorts of strange symptoms.”

“Yeah, maybe. I’ll take my temperature when I get home, I guess,” he agreed.

“What the fuck, you two?!” Tatsumi shouted. “I set him up perfectly and everything. What more could I have done?!”

“It’s okay, Tatsumi. We all know Naoya’s an idiot when it comes to himself,” Yui assured him.

“Stop talking like I’m not here, you two,” Naoya complained, turning a suspicious gaze upon his two friends.

Yui spoke up in an exasperated voice, like she was admonishing a child, “So you don’t care when it’s other girls, but when another guy gets in Shirogane’s business, it bothers you. Jeez, I wonder what that could mean.”

“Yeah, I have a cold, or... Oh,” Naoya stated, finally realizing what they’d been doing. “So that’s what’s happening, huh?”

“Looks like it, Naoya,” Yui affirmed.

“Took you long enough, numbnuts,” Tatsumi added sarcastically.

“Oh wow...” Naoya mumbled. He looked quite surprised.

Koyuki looked to be the only one among them who wasn’t on the same wavelength. She knitted her eyebrows and cocked her head.

Naoya turned to her with a serious expression and declared, “Shirogane. I don’t think a cold’s the issue.”

“Then what’s the matter?” she asked.

“I think I like you.”

“Well, that would explain everything th—WHAT?!” Koyuki had tried to play it cool, but couldn’t quell her sudden outburst.

It didn’t matter how little experience Naoya had in love—now he had an answer for the bizarre sensations. He just knew. He continued, “I’ve been worried for a while now about how I feel about you. I knew I liked you, but I wasn’t sure in what way. But now I know—I like you romantically, Shirogane! There’s no other explanation!”

“There’re people here, you moron! Shut up!” she screamed, garnering more attention from the other patrons than Naoya had.

Tatsumi gave Naoya a lopsided smile and noted, “It’s always all or nothing with you, isn’t it?”

“Love makes people crazy, Tatsumi,” Yui followed up without missing a beat.

Naoya had more important things to deal with than to respond to their jabs. He asked, “You said you’d make me fall for you, right, Shirogane?”

“Um, I-I did, but...” she trailed off hesitantly.

“You said you’d make me confess to you, yeah?”

“N-No way!”

“Yes way,” Naoya affirmed with a deep nod. “Shirogane! Do you wanna go out wi—Hey! Shirogane?!”

As Naoya had tried to confess, Koyuki had bolted up and began dashing for the door. “I can’t deal with this right now! Not here!” she cried.

She managed to make it a few meters before she tripped over a chair and collapsed in a heap.

※※※

“I can walk by myself, you know,” Koyuki grumbled.

“This is my fault, so just let me help you out, all right?” Naoya replied. He walked slowly as he carried Koyuki on his back through the dimming evening city.

After Koyuki’s accident, Naoya and Koyuki had headed back to school—they had parted ways with Tatsumi and Yui at the crepe store. Although the couple had both been worried about Koyuki, they had left the responsibility of dealing with the situation in Naoya’s hands for some reason. At the infirmary, the nurse had informed them that Koyuki had lightly sprained her leg and that she would need to stay off it for about a day. She’d initially refused the idea of being carried around when Naoya had volunteered, but she quickly surrendered after trying to walk by herself for a few feet.

Naoya could tell that Koyuki was being careful not to hurt him with her arms wrapped around his neck, and he appreciated her concern. While he carried her on his back, Yui’s parting words churned through his mind endlessly: “Maybe next time, take things a bit slower, Naoya!”

“Um, I’m sorry about earlier. I was too forward,” he apologized.

“Way too forward. Now I can’t go to that store for a while,” Koyuki sulked. After a moment of silence, she fidgeted and asked quietly, “Were you serious about what you said earlier?”

“I was. I like you romantically,” he stated.

“Ugggh, stop saying it like that...” she complained. Still, Naoya could feel her racing heartbeat and her erratic breaths directly on his back. “But do you, like, really like me?”

“What?” he asked. He hadn’t expected that question.

“I mean, we’ve barely just gotten to know each other. There’s gotta be some misunderstanding, or you’re just joking... right?” Her voice trembled as she spoke. He couldn’t see her properly, but the image of her face scrunched in embarrassment rose to his mind. “I want to believe you... but I can’t.”

“Okay,” he replied after a pause.

Although he had tried to sound cool and collected, he couldn’t deny the sensibility in her words, nor the sense of shock he’d felt when he’d heard them. It only makes sense that confessing to someone so quickly would only freak them out...

It was like petting a stray cat before it had gotten used to you. In the end, acting rashly only trampled a budding sense of trust. “I honestly do like you a lot,” he insisted. “I’ll just have to make you believe me.”

“Do whatever you want. I don’t care. You’re a weirdo anyway,” she replied. Naoya pretended to not hear her sniffling to herself.

Guess she was being serious about wanting to believe me, but not being able to. No need to panic, though—I’ll start taking things slow and steady, he assured himself. The first stop was already complete: he now understood how he felt. But the real battle had only just begun.

He continued with a light tone to his voice, “But if I’m ever convinced that I’ve gotten it across, I’m gonna confess right there on the spot. Might wanna start thinking about your answer right now.”

“No pressure, then... What are you gonna do if I reject you?” she asked hesitantly.

“I’ll just confess again.”

“I was worried you’d say that. You’re that kind of idiot,” she muttered with a tired sigh. Life quickly returned to her voice, however, and she said, “If you’re gonna insist on confessing, it’s all gonna be on you. Okay?”

“Got it. I’m already working on my finest lines for when it goes down,” he replied.

“Don’t work too hard—if you make them too cringey, I’ll die of embarrassment.”

“I feel like when it comes to stuff like this, you gotta either go big or go home. Oh yeah, by the way—I work at a second-hand book store. I could probably afford a ring or something with about 3 months of my pay. D’you want me to go for that, or nah?”

“Jeez, have you ever heard of walking before you can run?! I don’t need anything like that yet!” she shouted.

“‘Yet’? Okay, you’re the boss,” Naoya backed off, glad that she didn’t notice her Freudian slip.

They eventually arrived at a residential area. As Naoya navigated down the streets, he soon reached a particularly quiet neighborhood. That was when Koyuki told Naoya to stop. When he took a moment to take a good look around, he realized he was standing outside of a formidable Western-style house enclosed by large walls.

“This your house, Shirogane? It’s massive,” he said, amazed.

“What? I think it’s about normal,” she waved him off.

It was basically a palace in Naoya’s eyes. When they headed inside, Naoya was greeted by tall ceilings and walls fully furnished with elaborate and expensive-looking paintings. Naoya placed Koyuki gingerly down near the entryway.

“Thanks for bringing me home. Do you maybe want to come in?” she ventured nervously.

“Not today. Thanks for the offer, though.”

“O-Okay then,” she said.

Naoya realized he was disappointing her—and men everywhere, for that matter—by not accepting the beautiful girl's invitation into her home. “Your parents aren’t home, right? I’ll wait until they’re back. That way, I can come with gifts and stuff and introduce myself properly,” he explained.

“I wanna ask how you knew how my parents aren’t home, or why you think you need to be so formal with them, but I doubt that’ll go anywhere,” she grumbled. She seemed to be learning to read Naoya by now, too—at least to a certain extent. She sighed, then looked at Naoya with a slight blush tinting her face. “Yeah, it is pretty late. I guess I’ll see you... next time?”

“Yep. I’m looking forward to it. Bye. Mind the leg,” he replied, ready to leave.

“W-Wait a sec,” she spoke up.

Naoya turned back and saw Koyuki digging through her school bag. When she found what she had been searching for—a small notebook—she handed it over to Naoya. “You might not need this, but, uh, take it. They’re the notes I made for that last math test. They might help,” she explained.

“Whoa, really?! Are you sure?!” Naoya exclaimed. He accepted the notebook and began flipping through its contents. Important points were underlined neatly with colored pens, and instructions for calculations were methodically written in sequence. It looked more helpful than most textbooks. There were over 10 pages of notes, and Naoya found himself at a loss for words.

Koyuki appeared concerned at his silence. “Sorry if this was rude of me. I just figured you’d want it. I wanted to give it to you at the school gate, but we had to go get crepes, and I ended up forgetting. Plus...” she trailed off as she stared at Naoya. “What?”

“Nah, it’s just...” Naoya mumbled. He found his hand rising to cover his mouth, but it did little to hide his growing smile. “Are you sure I can’t just confess to you right now?”

“What?! You said you were gonna look for a better time, right?!” she yelped.

“But I already really, really like you,” he said earnestly and without a hint of embarrassment. A thought had occurred to him—when they had met at school earlier, she had said she’d been studying in the library. She must have been making the notes then, just for Naoya. “You’re already wife material. Come on, le—”

“Shut up! And get out!” Koyuki screeched. She tore the notebook out of Naoya’s hands and began beating him over the head with it, unrelenting until she had driven him out of the house. And with that, she tossed the notebook out and slammed the door behind him.

Despite her harsh actions, he quickly received a text message. “If you don’t get something, ask me anytime. Later,” it stated.

Naoya alternated glances between the notebook and his phone screen. Then, he looked up toward the heavens and declared, “Yep, I’m in love.”

It had certainly taken him a while to figure out—so long, in fact, that the affection he had bottled up for her threatened to gush forth at any moment like a broken dam.

He felt a smile rise to his lips that he had some suspicions might never disappear. While he returned home, he mumbled lovesick nothings out loud to himself. “I need to be careful. I need to wait until she’s ready... But I wanna confess nooow...”

Twilight was being ushered in, and the deep crimson hues of early evening were slowly replaced by shades of indigo. The changes in the sky might have seemed melancholic to someone who was in bad spirits, but Naoya was unflappable. He barely paid attention to his surroundings as he practically skipped his way home.

Suddenly, he sensed a pair of eyes on his back and whirled around. There was no one there, though he felt as though the presence had come from the direction of Koyuki’s house. “Must’ve been my imagination,” he mumbled to himself. He turned on his heel and resumed the trek home, albeit slightly faster than he had before.

The truth of what Naoya had sensed would take a few days to come to light, and it would all start with a letter left in his shoe self.