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“My calculations say that we are 84.7% compatible, which is the highest I’ve ever seen from another person, including my own mother.”
Max adjusted his glasses, swallowing around his heart, which had lodged in his throat just about when his palms had started sweating.
His problem wasn’t that his calculations were wrong--they never were--the problem was that people were an unknown and unpredictable set of variables.
He’d never yet found the series of equations that would unlock a human heart.
Carefully watching Kagami for any flicker of reaction, Max opened his mouth and useless trivia poured out. “I’ve demarcated your response as variable y, as the function y, or set, is commonly called ‘the range.’”
Max fidgeted on his feet under Kagami’s stony stare, wondering just how deep of trouble he was actually in. “Because your reactions can be considered a range: you may laugh, you may raise a brow, you may turn my clumsy attempts to ask you out on a date down, or you may do all of these things, or none of them. It’s a variable set, you see, and now I’m explaining puns again--”
“You’re asking me out on a date?” Kagami’s stern voice, flowing from her lips as smooth as melted butter, as refreshing as purified water, as intoxicating as a fine wine, made Max practically dissolve on the spot out of embarrassment.
Her next words shattered his self-confidence entirely, fracturing his heart into splinters of bloody glass. “You’re right. That was a clumsy attempt.”
“I can leave if you prefer. No doubt my very presence has become odious--”
“Clumsy,” Kagami murmured, her amber-eyed gaze flicking over him in an assessing gaze that stripped him bare. “But bold. And endearing.”
Elation suffused Max. Rocketing up to cloud nine, he wanted to open a villa there, and got briefly distracted about the logistics of doing so--aside from having to lay a foundation for the villa in cloud matter, the prices of cloud real estate were probably--
“Laser World Paris Montparnasse. Two pm sharp on Saturday. Clear your schedule and bring your cardio; the activity I’ve selected is an intense romp.”
Max opened his mouth to protest, but laser tag actually sounded better for a first date than his romantic restaurant idea. This was why he liked Kagami--she was decisive and had no qualms about telling him what to do, when his own insecurities kept him from making decisions quickly without rationalizing them out and completely overthinking them.
Max began to say that he agreed with the choice, when Kagami surprised him again. “Is this an acceptable first date for you?”
“I-It is.” Max gulped down precious oxygen. He was going to get drunk on her, he just knew it, and then how would he be able to go on the date? She’d cream him in laser tag, and man, was he looking forward to that. “My schedule is free and I will be able to attend.”
Kagami jerked her chin up, offering him another one of those assessing stares. “Good. I’ll pick you up at your home on Saturday. Two pm. Don’t be late and dress in comfortable clothing.”
Max’s suspenders get up was the most comfortable clothing he had, but he wasn’t about to argue with her when he’d just gotten what he’d wanted: a date with Kagami! He could hardly believe it. Again, cloudy villa prices called to him.
“Will do.”
***
Kagami had said that Laser World would be intense, and she was right. Max could hardly keep up with the game of tag, though the excitement he felt from being on a date--a real date!--with the girl he was most compatible with buoyed him through the first two 20-minute sessions.
Kagami was, as he’d expected while tossing and turning in bed during the night before, an excellent marksman. Her shooting skills were second-to-none; Max frequently found himself being sniped from above in the blacklight-washed labyrinth of Laser World.
And it was an entire world; the maze was 500 square meters, and Max found his heart struggling to keep up with all the dashing around corners he was doing in an attempt to avoid being shot--and hopefully shoot a member of the opposite team, especially Kagami herself.
Max bolted around the maze like a terrified rabbit. His eyes had adjusted to the dim lighting shining on neon graffiti everywhere, and he was looking for cover.
Clutching his laser rifle to his chest, blood thrumming through his veins and making his palms sweatier than they’d been while asking Kagami out, Max slammed his back up against a jungle-themed corner wall. His grip was slick on his gun, but he knew Kagami was out there, stalking her prey.
The thought of being desired enough to be hunted by this girl was enough to spill thrills down Max’s spine. Goosebumps broke out on his arms and legs; despite the hitches in his breathing and his overheated, sweaty state, his belly felt stabbed with daggers of ice.
Max knew he couldn’t stay there. He had to keep moving. Pushing himself off the wall and sucking a breath over his teeth on the way, Max crept around the maze, searching for any member of the opposing team.
His brain had kept a running clock: he had 1.3 minutes to find Kagami and hopefully take her down before the end-of-session buzzer sounded.
Then he realized he was being watched. Panic pounded in his palate, causing his breathing to spike upwards in frequency and pitch. He slid up against a wall, trying to cover his chest plate with his gun so he was less vulnerable to attack.
He rounded a corner--and acted on instinct. Kagami was there, standing in front of him with a sinister smile on her face. Max immediately raised his rifle to chest level and pulled the trigger, just as she did the same.
Their chest plates lit up--direct hits. Kagami rolled to the side before Max could react, firing along the way. His shoulder plates flashed; she’d scored hits on those as well while he was stupidly marveling at her grace.
Max scrambled to retaliate, but Kagami was too fast; absolutely stunning Max, she ran up the wall and backflipped over his head.
If he wasn't compatible with her before…
Kagami landed on her feet with a smile, having scored hits on his chest, head, and back plates. By the time the end-of-session buzzer rang, startling Max out of his stupor, he'd officially lost.
Lights flooded the maze, forcing spots into Max's vision and him to blink. Kagami took his hand and led him like a baby deer to the exit.
The small smile of satisfaction perched on her beautiful lips was everything to Max. He didn't want a physical relationship with her, but he could appreciate the aesthetically pleasing things about her.
And her winning… She was glorious, a candle in the dark that held the potential to spark a raging fire, and Max was helplessly drawn to her.
"Wow," Max stammered as soon as they'd discarded their game accoutrements. Kagami's hand found his again as they walked--with Max practically floating--back to her family's car. "My calculations reveal that this first date was a smashing success."
Kagami's low, silken chuckle filled his ears and made his heart swell. She patted his cheek, and he was amazed to feel the callouses from her fencing sabre on her delicate fingers. "Good. You pick the second one."
A riotous grin broke out on Max's face. "Will do."