Archive of Our Own ^beta

Six-year-old Orihama Ai was minding her business on the playground. She was pretending to be chefs with a handful of other kids in her class. They scooped up handfuls of rocks and woodchips, mixing them around in a soup on the foot of the slide, and served up bowls to one another–Ai’s soup was seasoned with dandelion petals.

In the midst of her mixing, there was a quiet sniffle. Blinking slowly, she dropped her mixing stick, and peeked around to the other side of the slide. One of her classmates–Tsukimiya Utsugi–was sitting with his back to her in the woodchips, holding his knee and rubbing his eyes.

“Utsugi-kun, are you okay?” Her little voice asked, shuffling closer. When she looked around them, she realized none of the other kids were nearby–they already set up the restaurant under the jungle gym.

She heard him sniffling. “I-I tripped.”

Ai shuffled closer, gasping when she came to his side. His knee was all covered in blood with woodchips pressed into the skin around it. She grabbed fistfuls of her skirt, looking around anxiously. 

“I’ll get Sensei–”

He shook his head rapidly. “No...don’t leave. I don’t wanna be by myself...”

And because Ai was a sweet girl, she nodded, kneeling down by his side. “Okay, I won’t!” She agreed easily, “Do you want me to help you to Sensei? You need a bandaid!”

He shook his head, pouting tearfully. “No...it hurts...” he sniffled again, and Ai immediately hushed him like her mommy did when she started crying. Like her mommy, she put a hand on his blond head, patting it softly.

“Don’t cry, Utsugi-kun,” she soothed quietly, “It’s okay.” He turned to her with his squinted pout.

“Will I have get my leg cut off?”

She shook her head, “No, just a band aid! I got one from Sensei before and it had fishes on it.”

He wound his fingers into his shorts fabric. “Are you sure? How do you know?”

She smiled brightly, trying her hardest to reassure him. “Because I’m gonna be a doctor one day! You’ll be okay, I promise!”

“Ai-chan...” He stared open-mouthed at her kind smile for a few long seconds. Then, the little boy nodded. Shyly, he grabbed her hand. He repeated her name, again, and placed something in her palm. “Ai-chan…hahaha! A doctor!” He let go, and she watched in a daze as he hopped right up, and ran away, waving back. “Haha! Thank you, Ai-chan! I spilled my ketchup everywhere! Than you for being gullible!”

Once his laughter faded away, the little girl looked down and her hands where he dropped two empty ketchup packets. Her gaze hardened.

She would never trust Tsukimiya again.

Again. It was like every other year in Ai’s school experience–of course he was in her class once again.

No matter how hard she tried, there was no escaping Tsukimiya Utsugi. Even moving from elementary to middle school to highschool, he was always there, sitting just a couple desk away, smiling that same untrustworthy grin. She couldn’t stand him.

Ai thought that guy he hung around–the weird one, Hanadori Kabuto that thought he was ‘Miguel ruler of hell’–had it all wrong. His Miguel was a mere puppet. The real devil was Tsukimiya, pulling his and every other person he met’s strings.

“Ai-chaaan, if you glare any harder, your eyes will pop out of your head.” Miki groaned from behind her, poking her in the center of her back. Ai deflated, turning to face her best friend.

“Sorry, Miki-chan. You know I can’t stand him.”

The girl rolled her eyes, propping her chin in her hand. In an undertone, she leaned the least bit further. “I don’t really understand why...he’s not that bad. And super responsible.”

Ai twitched, remembering every instance he teased and tricked her throughout her life. It was the small, subtle things that really sent her. And, of course, that.

A little reddness flushed in her cheeks, and she avoided eye contact. Miki raised a knowing eyebrow.

“Miki-chaaan!”

“Ai-chan!”

Ai jumped about a foot in the air, stiffening at Tsukimiya, the bastard’s, voice right behind her. She whipped around in her seat, only to see him standing right there, leaning down to look at her with that same closed-eye grin.

“We got in the same class again! How lucky!”

She bet he found a way to tamper with the laws of probability; there was no way they’d have been in the same class for ten consecutive years otherwise.

“Aw, Ai-chan! You know something like that isn’t possible even for me!” 

She cursed internally, stupid mind reader!

But Ai composed herself, looking at the boy levelly. “Did you want something, Tsukimiya?”

He pouted. “So cold!” Seeing as the person that would sit in front of her wasn’t yet there, he took a seat in that desk, turning to lean his head on his hands on top of her desk. She scooted back. “Do I want something? I wonder...” the way his mouth pulled up told her he was very much teasing her about that. She flushed, glaring.

“If you don’t know, go back to your own seat.” She said, and though her words were sugary sweet, there was such an intense look on her face that it might’ve made weaker men flee. He ignored her, laughing.

“You cut your hair over the summer!” He shifted his chin off one of his hands, reaching forward, “It looks cute!” He pulled a strand of her black hair, now reaching just a couple of centimeters above her chin.

Hastily, she jumped back, but his actions had the desired effect–her face burned. Still trying to save face, she cut back. “Tsukimiya, please don’t touch me; I don’t know where you’ve been.”

She paid little mind to Miki’s small gasp at her rudeness, focused completely on the enemy before her. He laughed carelessly, but the caution signs went off in her head. She knew better than anyone how condescending he could be.

He tilted his head just a degree to the left, sending a jolt of fear through her. “It’s a cute length on you. I wonder what inspired you to get it trimmed to that length? Ah, you were really close to...well, you know, Ai-kun.” He sat up straight, laughing. “Anyway! I’ll talk to you later!”

As he returned to his seat, Ai could only reach up, holding her wavy strands in something like horror–or dread. Gradually, her face heated up to the point she was sure it would explode.

He...he....no!

“Ai-chan? Ai-chan...” Miki called behind her. She didn’t respond immeadiately, so Miki tapped her shoulder. She jumped, spinning around to face her. Miki blinked back in surprise at the girl’s extreme blush. They were quiet for a few long seconds before Miki nodded.

“Ah, so it’s like that.” She concluded solemnly. Ai pouted pitifully, snaking her head rapidly in denial. Miki patted her shoulder.

She hated when he did this.

Every now and then Tsukimiya would defect from his usual strange circle of minions–friends and bother her during lunch. That day Miki went to go eat with a couple friends in a different class. Ai didn’t mind eating alone in the least; she could read a book in peace, or join the other girls if she really felt like it. Now she wished she had.

Ai almost stood right up when he took the desk in front of her, turning back with his usual untrustworthy smile. He looked as if he was surprised she was there, even if he had been the one to move.

“Ai-chan! Let’s eat lunch together!”

“No thank you.”

He laughed, ignoring her quick response, and unpacked his lunch. She knew better than to try an escape–he mostly just read through mealtimes, anyway. And he scared her too much to run.

So she buckled down in resignation, sighing as she casted a longing glance at Kotoko-chan’s table. Tsukimiya was humming his own tune, eating in one hand, and holding one of his magazines in the other. She chewed her leftovers absently, reading the headline on the back: ‘Pair of Glasses Revives His Family Dojo?’.

Vaguely, Ai wondered where he got his magazines. Up to that point she’d seen him with all kinds, including but not limited to cooking, gossip, home decor, and arts and crafts. Lately he’d been into DIY, but it looked like he moved on from that.

“Mmm? You’re wondering where I buy my magazines? I just get whatever looks interesting at the convenience store! Ha ha ha!”

She narrowed her eyes. Creepy mind reader.

Ai cleared her throat, biting the inside of her mouth. She’d been thinking about their conversation from the other day, and that one thing he said was bugging her. Ignoring the slight heat in her cheeks, she looked across at her classmate.

“Tsukimiya...” he looked up cheerfully, giving a hum of acknowledgement, “What you said before...what did you mean by what ‘inspired’ me to cut my hair this short?”

Apart from that brief period where her hair had been a bowl cut as a result of his mischief, Ai always kept her hair quite long. It was so light and wavy that she was nervous to cut it, afraid it would spring right up and make her look like a boy. But when she went to get a trim, she made a spur of the moment decision to cut it just above her chin. She thought it suited her.

He hummed, laying the magazine flat. “Hmmm? You didn’t notice, Ai-chan?” He leaned so that he was looking at her from an upward angle, something that would normally read innocent, but unsettled her. “It took forever for me to get you to cut your hair like that! You’re pretty stubborn, you know.”

She blinked, and an expression of horror overtook her features. Consciously, she touched her strands. “Wh-What?”

He nodded. “Mm! I’ve been trying for years! It started when I cut your ponytail off~it was such a terrible experience that you would never go shorter!” The seeds had been planted that far back?! 

“Then it was stuff like saying ‘I like when girls wear their hair down!’ And the next day you would come with it up~or ‘You look nice with your hair in a braid!’ and you would take it out!” Her eye twitched; she’d done those things consciously over the years, just to spite him. Was she playing right into his hands?

“Finally, before break, I told Hanadori-kun I like girls with long hair! I made sure you would hear me, so the thought planted itself in your head! And you really did cut it!” She barely even heard his excessive laughter, too far stunned to acknowledge it.

Then, she started getting hot, a childish rage growing in her by the second. Was it really him? Was he really controlling her like that? Was he that evil? Was she that gullible?! Could that even be considered gullible?!

“Aw, don’t get mad, Ai-chan! I did it because I knew you would look cute!”

She stood up, letting the chair squeal behind her. A shadow overtook her face, and she clenched her fists at her sides.

“I need to use the restroom.”

Tsukimiya’s laughter followed her until she left the room, stomping right to the girl’s bathroom. The group of first-years hanging out by the sinks took one look at their senior’s face and fled, even if she was about as intimidating as an angry bunny.

Ai stared at herself in the mirror, frustration welling up. She didn’t know how to feel. How were you supposed to feel? She huffed, running her fingers through her hair. She really did like it how it was cut. Suddenly, she blushed. 

Tsukimiya said you were cute.

Ai shook her head rapidly, patting her face violently. No, no, no! None of that. She didn’t like him. Nope. Not at all.

Ah, why was her life so hard?

Ai was well aware she shared the same fate as about a half dozen other girls that liked Tsukimiya. Girls always fawned over him for some reason, giggling, and making any attempt they could to spark a conversation with him. She’d even seen a few hand over love letters–and once almost walked in on a girl confessing her feelings to him by the lockers.

Miki asked if she resented them. Ai told her a resolute ‘no’.

She didn’t dislike any other girl that had a crush on that scary mindreader. If anything, she considered them kindred spirits: in the same boat as her. Only, tragically, they couldn’t see him for the demon he really was. 

Why did girls find him so attractive? The question popped in her head, and she really did wonder. After all those years of fighting her pathetic feelings, she had never really wondered why she liked him so much. 

The question had her thinking on it the entire day. She stared him down from her seat near the back as he laughed at Hanadori and Koyuki Seri during their break. Sure he was smart, and she wouldn’t deny that he was clever, but there was no overshadowing his bad personality. It was so veiled sometimes that it really wasn’t a mystery why so many girls had such a dreamy perception of him. However, sometimes he made it just too obvious to ignore. For example, laughing hysterically while taking pictures of his friends in their most shameful moments. She wasn’t sure how that was overlooked.

Maybe she and the others were all just shallow and liked him for his looks. He was much too bubbly looking to be considered conventionally attractive in a manly sort of way. She stared at his stupid grin; he had a nicer face than she cared to admit, but it she didn’t think it was enough to be the sole reason she liked him. She’d met plenty of pretty faces.

Still with her chin in her hands, Ai’s eyes went to his legs. Maybe that was it–he was tall, and had long legs. She did like tall guys.

Her eyes continued trailing upward. Somehow the way his belt sat on his hips and the way he tucked in his shirt stuck out from the other boys in their class. Was it an odd thing to notice? And she did like his forearms and his hands. They were always clean, too, so she didn’t get the gross feeling she usually did when a boy passed a paper back to her with dirt caked between his nails.

His shoulders, too were a nice width, and his hair always seemed so soft–

Ai felt an ice cold fear settle over her; he was looking right back at her. And he was grinning.

Frantically, she swung around to look at Miki, beat red and sweating profusely. “Ai-chan are you okay?” She asked with concern, abandoning her phone.

“Miki-chan, he caught me! Please don’t tell me he’s coming over!”

Miki blinked, thoroughly confused, and looked over her shoulder. “Tsukimiya-kun? Yeah he’s coming over. Why? What did you–”

“Oh Ai-chaaaan, did I just see you–”

She slammed her hands against Miki’s desk, getting to her feet and ducking around him quicker than she had probably ever moved in her life. “I forgot I have an errand to run for Sensei–I’ll talk to you later, Miki-chan!”

She didn’t wait for any acknowledgement, escaping to classroom in record time. She might have been free then, but she knew that he would never let her so shamelessly checking him out go.

Ai was confident their scores would be good for the group final before summer break. They’d studied together and she was right in this assessment, as their average rounded out to a high 87, much better than a lot of the other groups. When Sensei put the averages on the board, she was secretly pleased to see she was ahead of Tsukimiya the bastard–childish, but she was still in distress about that evil pink notebook. It didn’t help that Sensei gave her these knowing looks now.

“Do you have any plans for break, Ai-chan?”

Ai shrugged, offering Sumiso a smile. “No, not yet. We should all do something, right Miki-chan?”

Beside her, Miki was still sulking. “Who knows? I have to get to together with them to plan a trip...”

Ah, poor Miki. She was in the losing group.

Ai nudged her playfully. “You can make time for us, can’t you?” She sighed.

“I suppose...” 

Kotoko and Yae giggled, and Ai turned back to them. “What about you? Do either of you have plans?”

Yae shrugged. “We were going to go to the fireworks show,” she smirked knowingly at her best friend and Sumiso blushed, “And Kotoko was thinking of inviting a certain someone…”

Ai and Miki leaned forward, grinning. “Who?”

Kotoko blushed, putting her hands over her cheeks. “S-Seri-kun!”

They immediately searched out their quiet classmate to where he was fuming at the front of the class. Miki raised an eyebrow. “Really?” She asked, not unkindly. Kotoko nodded quickly, and Ai could see nervousness. She smiled encouragingly.

“I could see that! Koyuki-kun is...” she turned back, and for the first time, she really looked at Koyuki Seri. She blinked, the smallest spattering of color appearing on her cheeks. “...cute.”

None of the the other girls got that chance to notice her hesitation–at that moment, Koyuki’s face was slammed suddenly against the desk, too quick for anyone to really understand what happened.

“Gestöber!”

The people in the immediate vicinity jumped, looking worryingly at their classmate, holding his red nose. “O-Ow!” He stuttered, looking around rapidly.

“Seri-kun, are you okay?” Tsukimiya’s laughter sounded above the rest of the concerned mumbling, “That looked like it hurt!”

And although she didn’t see what happened, and had no proof whatsoever, somehow she felt like the Tsukimiya leaning over his shoulder, patting his head too enthusiastically to be gentle, might have been responsible.

When it came for the summer festival, Ai was dressed in her cute baby blue yukata, waiting with Miki for Kotoko and Yae to meet them for fireworks. Ai could barely stutter out the encounter she had with her crush, and Miki bounced between completely losing it over her best friend’s embarrassment, and pity.

“My poor Ai-chan! I thought you were exaggerating, but he really is teasing you! Maybe he likes you back!”

Every time Ai thought about that she couldn’t help the inevitable blush. A certain sense of helplessness filled her, sending her to the edge of embarrassment. She wasn’t sure if she was secretly pleased, or depressed about it. Because of course she was humiliated, but she still liked him, whether he liked her back or not. And he most definitely  didn’t. 

“He doesn’t! And don’t say that so loud!” Ai sighed forlornly, hanging her head. “Tsukimiya is so mean...” Miki patted her pityingly.

Eventually, Yae and a tearful Kotoko showed up. When Yae shared what transpired at Koyuki Seri’s place, Ai felt a certain kinship with the sad Sumiso. Both of them were stuck with helpless crushes, after all. If Kotoko, cutest girl in their year, was rejected, maybe there was some kind of hope for her yet.

Despite the inkling of cheering up their mutual helplessness brought, Ai tried her hardest to distract Kotoko. The four of them meandered all over the festival, hitting stalls and the occasional game. They tried some sweets, and Yae even won her best friend a stuffed chick. Ai kept an eye-out for her family–her parents brought to boys somewhere.

A couple hours in, the fireworks hadn’t started yet. They tried to find the best place in the adjacent park to sit down and watch them together, but a majority of the spots were full. It had them wandering the crowds for a while, though not unhappily.

During their wandering, Miki gasped loudly, stopping in her place. Curiously, they followed suit, following her gaze.

It was them.

They were in a small group sitting in the grass. Hanadori was dressed in an elaborate orange and red yukata, leaning oddly elegantly on his hands. Koyuki Seri was beside him in a daze, hanging his head back while the redhead chattered away. Finally, Tsukimiya was looking much too handsome for her liking, sitting with his legs crossed, and looking right at them.

“That mindreader noticed us!” Ai gasped quietly, looking back to her friends. Sumiso was looking downcast at the sudden appearance of Koyuki Seri, and they immediately tried shuffling away.

“Here come Tsukimiya-kun!” They all looked with a little panic in his direction, and the blond was approaching. However, his two forgotten companions scarcely seemed to notice.

“Hello! Funny running into you here!” He greeted merrily, approaching with a friendly wave. The rest of the girls didn’t look nearly as uncomfortable as she was once they noticed Koyuki hadn’t noticed. They greeted him with a friendly politeness one showed their classmate, except for Ai, who had to fight the blush and settled for a mumble.

“Did you all come here together?” He asked.

Yae nodded, and they let the authoritative girl take the reins in the conversation. “Yeah, we were looking for somewhere to watch the fireworks together, but all the good spots are taken.”

Tsukimiya hummed sympathetically. “It did get crowded, didn’t it?” He pointed across the hilltops, toward a small dip in the field by some trees. “There might be a spot on the hill behind those trees! I didn’t see anyone going that way.”

They looked in surprise to where he was pointing, taken aback by the unexpected helpfulness. “Thank you, Tsukimiya-kun!” they echoed.

He hummed sweetly, accepting their thanks. “Mm! Happy to help!” It looked all too suspicious in Ai’s eyes, but she let it slide for that moment–this was the perfect opportunity to make their escape.

The realization struck Ai, and she almost lit right up. She contained it, though, knowing Tsukimiya would sense her escape plot and put a wrench in it. Trying to be discrete, she snatched Miki’s wrist, intent on pulling her in the direction of the hill. But, as she did this, her eyes unconsciously flitted up to the blond, and she froze in her tracks once she realized he was looking right back at her.

“Oh, do you have anything to sit on in the grass? It’s pretty wet!” Ai almost collapsed–why was she always so close?!

Her companions paused, too, looking at one another. Miki tilted her head. “No, we don’t.”

And seemingly being perfectly helpful and not the snake she knew he was, Tsukimiya pointed toward the stands. “You’re all wearing such pretty yukatas...you wouldn’t want to ruin them!” Ai didn’t like the way he and Miki made eye contact. “That’s where I’m going now.”

Suddenly, Ai’s grip on her friend’s wrist backfired, and she want hastily nudged closer to Tsukimiya. Her eyes widened in betrayal as Miki smiled sweetly, waving her off.

“Good idea! Go with him, Ai-chan! You shouldn’t walk around alone, after all!” Ai opened her mouth to snap back, but Miki cut her off with a giggle. “Oh don’t worry, Ai-chan! Of course we’ll split the cost! Better hurry before the fireworks start!”

Ai watched, helpless, as Miki took Kotoko’s hand and turned them around, looking absolutely evil as she bounced away. Her plead for help fell short with even Yae, far too amused as she walked away.

“B-Be...trayal...” she whispered.

Tsukimiya’s sudden laughter startled her, and the blond leaned forward into her range of vision. He was smiling innocently, as if he and Miki totally didn’t just launch a conspiracy against her with a single look.

“Come on, Ai-chan! Before the fireworks!” He echoed Miki’s words, and started in the direction of the festival stalls. Ai followed him for a few steps, then crouched, touching the grass.

Was it luck? Was it coincidence? Was it black magic?

 She caught up to Tsukimiya in just a few moments, not bothering to hide her pout. He was humming merrily, hands shoved in his sweatshirt pockets. Unwillingly, she observed he even looked fresh-cut and clean in jeans and a hoodie. He was too attractive for the good of humanity.

Good of humanity? Did she catch something from Hanadori?

Tsukimiya laughed suddenly, prompting her to shudder. But he didn’t tease her about what she was thinking.

“I haven’t seen you in a week, Ai-chan!” He whined, “I would have texted you, but you left so abruptly after lunch that I didn’t even get the chance to get your phone number!”

She cringed at the mention of the previous week, heat immediately flooding to her cheeks. Looking away, she pouted. “I wouldn’t have given it to you anyway.” She declared.

He made a sound of surprise, as if he hadn’t completely expected her response. “Why not?” He tried to lean down to look at her face, but she turned her head too quickly. “And why aren’t you looking at me?” He did it again, and she averted her face once more. “Why? Why? Why?” She dodged each successive attempt, her face only burning hotter with each second.

Then, to her complete disbelief, he rounded right in front of her, grabbing her hands. The shock was enough to make her looked up, wide-eyed, and he burst into laughter.

“Y-You’re so red!” He gasped between laughs, dropping her hands and falling to his knees to clutch his gut. Fury rose in Ai’s stomach as she grew even redder.

“Tsukimiya!” She snapped, grabbing her side bag and hitting him pitifully. “You’re such a jerk!”

This only made him laugh harder. If people hadn’t started staring, she might’ve continued, but she stormed away instead. Tsukimiya caught up quickly.

“Wait up, Ai-chan!” He ignored her stomping, and fell into step, as if he’d never made fun of her. “Mm, did you have anything to eat?” He asked conversationally, looking at a food stand as they passed.

Ai sighed, knowing she could most definitely keep up her burning rage, but not wanting to in the festival atmosphere. “We tried some sweets,” she mumbled begrudgingly, “Did you?”

Tsukimiya nodded happily, surprising her by veering off toward a food stall. “I had some of this takoyaki with Hanadori-kun and Seri-kun! It’s really good,” he slid right up to the stand and requested an order, leaving the brunette blinking in confusion. He was given four on a wooden skewer, and he spun around.

“Here you go!” Stunned, she barely reacted as he shoved the skewer into her hand. “You shouldn’t neglect your dinner, Ai-chan!”

He begun walking off again, and after a bewildered look at the stick she held, she hurried after him. “Hold on! I-I can’t accept this–”

Her classmate hummed, “Why not? Take it.”

Did he know? Did he know he was just making her chronic crush dig deeper? Well, of course he did, but it really wasn’t fair.

Seeing her hesitance, he wrapped his hand around hers, bringing it up to his mouth, where he bit one of the takoyaki off the stick. 

“There!” He grinned through a mouthful, “You, too!”

A little color rose to her cheeks, but instead of being furious, she just glanced down, and quietly took a bite. “Thank you.”

They wandered through the different stands, idly searching for somewhere that sold blankets. Ai listened to Tsukimiya’s suspiciously normal chatter, responding here and there in the longest civil discussion they had to date. They talked about class and about the festival and her brothers. He mentioned going to the new mall with Hanadori earlier that day, and terrorizing Koyuki Seri–where begun to realized he wasn’t a minion, but perhaps a victim like her–and even Tsukimiya’s cat. Ai forgot any of her usual hostility at that topic of conversation; she found cats the cutest possible thing in the whole world, but was never allowed to have one of her own.

They did find a stall that sold blankets, and she bought a cute striped on for she and her friends. By the time they were walking back, she was in the best mood she had been that entire afternoon.

“I hope I get placed in the same class as Miki-chan again...” Ai said as they broke away from the festival, reaching where the hills for the firework viewing begun, “It’s nice having friends in the same class as you.”

Tsukimiya nodded happily, “Hanadori-kun and Seri-kun really did make this year more entertaining,” oh they really did, Ai thought, “Speaking of friends, I almost forgot to ask!”

Ai tilted her head up to look at him questioningly. “Ask what?”

“About you and Sumiso-chan! I wondered how hanging out with her was. Considering...you know...”

Now she was stumped. “Considering what? Kotoko-chan and I are fine, why wouldn’t we be?”

He hummed, leaning down to speak in an undertone, as if it was a secret. “How admirable of you, Ai-chan. There aren’t many people that can stay friends with someone who likes the same person they do. Or does Sumiso-chan not know?”

Ai froze, horror overtaking her being. “W-Wha-Wha–Kotoko-chan doesn’t–she–we dont–”

He knew he knew he knew he knew–but wait! Kotoko? She didn’t like him! She liked–

“Hmmmm? Don’t you both like Seri-kun?” 

“K-Koyuki Seri?!”

She didn’t know if it was the light, but for some reason when Tsukimiya cracked open his eyes they appeared a terrifying ruby.

“Don’t you?” He pressed.

Ai was completely flustered, this being the last conversation she thought they’d be having. None of it connected! Tsukimiya had been terrorizing her for years because he knew she had a big fat crush on him, right? She didn’t even know where Koyuki even fit into the equation.

“N-No!”

He leaned closer, striking fear into her heart. She felt like she was being interrogated. “Really? Don’t you think Seri-kun is cute? Isn’t that what you said?”

Shock coursed through her right then, and her memory went back to that single conversation they girls had before summer break. She didn’t even think anyone heard that!

“Where did you hear that?!” She gasped, a painful shade of red.

He leaned closer yet. “So you do? You think Seri-kun is cute?”

Frantically, she waved her hands between them. “No, no, no! You have it wrong!”

“Isn’t that what you said? You said Seri-kun is cute.”

“N-Not like that! He’s cute like–like a cat!”

Tsukimiya’s sudden interrogation ceased completely, his eyes closing back to his signature squint. For the first time in maybe her entire life, Tsukimiya seemed caught off-guard. “Like...a cat?”

Suddenly he burst into hysterics, not holding back in the slightest as he fell to his knees clutching desperately at his center. His laughter didn’t seize for a good few long minutes. Ai just stood above him, feeling as if her soul had been sucked right out.

Finally, he gasped to a halt, wiping his teary eyes as he got to his feet. “A cat!” He chortled one last time, shoulders still trembling. He sighed, grinning widely down at her. At that point she was over it-over it all. She wanted Miki back, betrayal and all.

“Whew,” he tilted his head for the finishing blow, “Well if you don’t like Seri-kun, who do you like?”

Ai froze, as if a rod had been shoved up her spine. His grin didn’t waver.

Mortified, she thought, this is mortification.

Then he plopped one warm hand on her shoulder. “Ha! Just joking!” The hand slid down her back, turning her the opposite direction of the festival. “Look! Fireworks are starting!” As if on queue, the first shell exploded into a flash of reds, blues, and greens. And maybe it was him teasing her further, but he didn’t take his hand away.

One of the more enjoyable aspects of the school sports festival, in Ai’s personal opinion, was decorating the posters. After Hanadori royally screwed up their team banner, Ai was about as miffed as the rest of her classmates, but that was quickly solved as she got to paint a couple smaller ones while Koyuki Seri went to buy paint.

Her little masterpiece was requested by their school nurse specifically, after a brief conversation on her way to class. She requested a flower wearing the red team head band and Ai carried out her wish, humming happily and kicking her feet in the air as she painted the smile on the daisy. ‘Go Red!’ stood out below the flower.

“How cute, Ai-chan!” 

Ah, of course. There could never be peace.

After her initial start, she glanced to the side to see Tsukimiya leaning over her with an all-too-innocent smile. She frowned, thinking he was lucky she’d already removed her brush from the poster, and sat up off her stomach.

“Thank you,” she said tonelessly, but not rudely. He jutting out his bottom lip. 

“So cold!” He whined, slipping into the desk beside her place on the floor. “Always the tsudere character type, Ai-chan.”

She pouted belligerently at that, not having the energy to muster up a snarky remark. “Shut up..” she mumbled instead, placing her wet poster on his desk to dry.

“Anyway! Ai-chan! What did you write on your college sheet?” A little confused at his interest, Ai dipped her hand in her jacket pocket.

“Why?” She asked, pulling her paper out.

He hummed, leaning his chin in his palm to look at her. “You want to be a doctor, don’t you? I was just curious which schools you were going to apply to.”

Ai froze a little there, quite frankly dumbfounded. Tsukimiya ignored her pause, taking the paper from her frozen hand.

Doctor?

He was right. It had always been her dream occupation, ever since she was little. Maybe it was the romantic in her, but Ai truly, honestly wanted nothing more than to help people. But it was a dream she didn’t often talk about with anyone, and especially not Tsukimiya. 

But there had been one occasion…the instant she had realized Tsukimiya was evil–all the way back on the playground as a little girl. A little color rose to her cheeks.

No, she thought, Sensei probably said something.

“Mmmm no! You told me!” He piped up, and she flinched at the evil mind reader. “You’ve really researched, huh?” He grinned, scanning her paper, “Isn’t that a coincidence?”

She blinked. “Isn’t what…?” He unfolded his paper from his pocket, still holding hers, and handing his choices to her. Ai took the sheet, unmoving as she glanced over the words.

“We chose the same! Ha ha ha!”

Oh god no, please! Ai begun to sweat profusely, reading each character over and over and over–

“It looks like we might be together for a long time Ai-chan! Ha!” His maniacal laughter echoed through her ears. And she was terrified.

Field day was there and, like most years, Ai participated the bare-minimum.

It wasn’t that she disliked games and competitions—in fact she really enjoyed the entire school getting together like this, cheering eachother on and having fun. Alas, Ai was painfully uncoordinated. She was a little short and a little scrawny for that type of competition, so she mostly stayed out of things like races, instead opting to cheer her peers on.

That day, she couldn’t tell if she was embarrassed or not by Hanadori’s unique cheering. She didn’t understand what he was saying, and somehow it seemed he recruited an underclassman to participate in his fantasy, so she found herself stuck between annoyed, embarrassed, and highly amused.

“Go Miki-Chan!” Ai cheered happily as her friend raced past her toward the next person on the relay. Her beloved Miki was just as competitive as her, but she had the athleticism to back it up. 

They were by no means winning field day, but Ai was having fun. Until folk dancing, that is. It was the last group event and Ai participated in it because the only thing she could really do was step on someone’s toes. Unfortunently, the prior year she had gotten stuck with Tsukimiya, which meant plenty of snickering from him, but she hadn’t tripped in a race in front of everyone at least. This year, however, she was going to try to snatch up a different partner quickly, just in case Tsukimiya had any ideas.

As they lined up, Ai scanned the different boys’ faces, skipping right over Hanadori and the scythe-wielding first year. She locked onto a tall, kind of cute third year with a smile. He was looking back at her too, and they seemed to have the same idea.

She began reaching out a hand. “Excuse me—” before she could even ask, someone grabbed her outstretched hand, firmly pulling her to the side. 

“Ai-chan, let’s get in line here!”

Panic. Her eyes bounced between Tsukimiya’s too-innocent smile and the confused third year watching her be pulled away. Her tone turned indignant as she realized he was cornering her once again. “W-Wait–”

Tsukimiya stopped them in another position in line, snatching her other hand in his, holding her squarely in front of him, maybe a step too close. “You weren’t going to ask Yukihara-senpai to dance, we’re you? You’re my dance partner, Ai-chan! Ha ha ha!” Her scrunched up pout and menacing glare only served to make him actually laugh. She thought the blush that was definently staining her cheeks was not doing any favors to communicate her displeasure.

She almost snapped at him and told him exactly what she thought of being his dance partner. Almost. Unfortunently, her mind caught up to her body and she realized how he was holding her hands in his and how big they felt wrapped so firmly in place and how much taller he was since the previous year and how he was much too close and much too handsome and how she was slowly turning more and more red as the seconds ticked by.

“Mmm, what’s the matter, Ai-chan?” He leaned forward and she swung her head sideways, looking away. He leaned, following. “Don’t you think we make a good pair? Huh? Huh?”

And, by some miracle, what that poor first year called bad luck came as a blessing as Ai was saved from answering by bird poop falling directly into the outstretched hand of the reaper boy.

Tsukimiya’s attention snapped away from her, slapping one hand against his mouth to smother the hysterics she knew he was suppressing. Even she couldn’t help the laugh from escaping her lips, following the blonde’s lead before another could follow.

“Oh…no…” she whispered comically, and glanced up to see actual tears leaking from Tsukimiya’s eyes. Oh, he was such a bad friend.

Then all hope at composure way lost when Hanadori’s hand literally slipped out of his partner’s, coating it in dark lord juice. Tsukimiya was on the ground, unable to contain his hysterics.

It took a while for Tsukimiya to calm down, but he finally grabbed her hands again and they participated in the folk dance. She was spared from any more teasing, seeing as her partner was still forcing small peels of laughter from escaping. So she just followed along, trying not to think about how tall and handsome the stupid mind reader was, somehow not treading on his toes as they danced around. After the fact, Ai was not released. Tsukimiya kept his grip on her, and pulled her to where Hanadori was being consoled by the underclassman.

“Tsukimiya please let me go.” She huffed, trying to pull away, but he just grinned, yanking her along.

“Come oon, Ai-chan!”

It was painful. Hanadori’s embarrassment was painful. 

The real finishing blow to Hanadori was when Tsukimiya collected himself to pat him on the shoulder. “Don’t sweat it, Hanadori. Just because someone you thought was below you on the totem pole surpasses you to find happiness doesn’t mean you should get all depressed!”

Oh, he was the worst friend. For the first time in probably her entire life, Ai felt sorry for Hanadori. Tsukimiya was still evil.

Ai tried desperately not to be seen in the vicinity as Hanadori screamed, shielding her face. Tsukimiya had no qualms, pointing with a feigned seriousness. “Could it be?! Hanadori’s awkwardness around women has turned into raw fear and combined with his rejection into a powerful mix of love and hatred!”

Ai cringed; she knew Tsukimiya was evil, but this was just cruel. She didn’t know if Sensei filming the entire thing made it worse. Hanadori took off, and she was yanked along, jolted violently  from her secondhand embarrassment. “Let’s follow him! Something terrible will happen if Miguel gets out of control!” He wasn’t even trying to hide his amusement anymore.

“Let out Miguel’s emotions! A cry from the soul!”

The field day ended with Hanadori’s nonsense cry in the speaker over the entire school, which inevitably made everyone laugh a little at him. While Tsukimiya finished his narration for poor Koyuki Seri’s video, Ai pitifully continued her attempts to wiggle out of his vice grip on her hand. Soon Miki-chan would be coming back from the events and they’d go inside and change into their normal clothes. If her best friend saw them linked at the hands, however unwillingly, there’d be no respite.

“Don’t worry, Ai-chan, I’ll let you go for now!” She flinched as he acknowledged her, and was filled with relief when he let go. She rubbed her hand begrudgingly, glaring up at him with a pout.

“I’d appreciate it if you didn’t manhandle me,” she grumbled under her breath, though it only served to make him laugh.

“Don’t you want to hold my hand? Huh?” He waved it enthusiastically at her, and she flinched. 

“No!” She hissed quickly, backing away. He didn’t lose his grin.

“Are you suuureee–” 

“Miki-chan!” Ai called abruptly, jogging away from him as soon as she spotted her friend. Miki looked over to her as she approached. 

“Hey, Ai-chan, what’s up?”

Ai hooked their arms together, making a beeline toward the school. “I hate that stupid mind-reader.”

After school, following the sports fesitval, Ai and Miki walked together as they always did. Miki was describing in detail the races, and how she overtook her opponents. They lost field-day, but she won her relay. Ai had seen it all happen, but she listened to the recounting with enthusiasm.

“That’s my Miki-chan,” Ai dramatized once she finished, “Unstoppable!” The girls giggled together, bumping shoulders.

“What about you? Did Tsukimiya end up being your partner again?”

Ai resented the humor in her voice, but chose not to give into the teasing. “Unfortunently. I was going to ask a third year, but whoosh! He just swoops right in!”

Miki giggled at her friend’s obvious distress. “Sounds like your own Prince Charming!” Ai recoiled in disgust, even as her cheeks warmed up.

“Miki-chaaaan!” She whined out, “Don’t tease! You’re mean! Tsukimiya just loves torturing me!”

The other girl shrugged, keeping her little smile. “I don’t know,” she said, “It doesn’t seem like that to me.”

Ai furrowed her brow, kicking a rock on the sidewalk, “What does it seem like?”

“Oh, I don’t know,” she mused, “He’s always teasing you, yeah, but it might just be because he likes your attention.”

Ai flinched. “Why would he want my attention?” Miki opened her mouth, but she didn’t get the chance.

“Ai-chan!” The girl in question drooped dramatically as they turned behind them.

“Speak of the devil,” she grumbled, watching the blonde approach, “And he shall appear…”

“That’s mean, Ai-chan! I came to see you!”

She sighed, turning and continuing to walk. “What do you want?” Miki sighed at her rudeness but followed.

He fell in step on her other side, leaning forward so that she could see his smile. “What are you doing today?” 

“Going home.” She answered shortly. 

He hummed, seeming like he was considering something. Then, he snatched her hand for the second time that day.

“I have errands to run; come with me!” The way he said it wasn’t a question, and he clearly didn’t intend for it to be refutable. He pulled her sideways down an adjacent street, waving to Miki as he marched off.

“Bye Hijame-chan!”

“M-Miki—”

Ai ended up pouting as she walked alongside Tsukimiya. He evidently did have a few errands to run, and she had already tried every excuse and escape attempt there was to get away, but he caught her every time. She eventually simmered down from her rage at being kidnapped, giving into following him around; it was a nice afternoon, after all. She liked taking walks and if she wasn’t doing this she would just be watching her soap reruns all night. Yousuke was cheating again and Maria still didn’t realize her coworker was the right one for her.

“I have to drop a few books off at the library, first,” he told her amiably, ignoring her pouting. Ai glanced up at him.

“The city library?” She asked and he hummed in confirmation. “Why not the school library?”

He shrugged, smile not leaving. “They didn’t have what I needed.” She was a little curious now, being an avid reader herself. She chewed the inside of her lip, debating asking him what books he had. If his magazine titles were anything to go by, Tsukimiya had a very unique taste in reading material. After a beat, she looked back up at him, shuddering at the expectant look he had.

Giving in, she crossed her sweater-enclosed arms, enjoying the comfort her uniform afforded. “What books? Can I see?”

He hummed. “Of course!” He swung hi bag over one shoulder, unzipping it, and thumbed through the contents. After a moment, he pulled out three books, two novel-sized, and one larger. “Here you go. I really recommend the top one.”

Ai took a hold of them, blinking in surprise at the weight of the larger text. The one on top was a novel by a name she didn’t recognize. On the cover was a candle in greyscale, very unassuming, so she flipped it to the back to read the synopsis. Ai tripped over the sidewalk twice before Tsukimiya put a guiding hand on her back, making her jolt, but she didn’t try to shake him off.

The synopsis read something about a man in the early Meiji period trying to find his family after the war. From what she gathered, it was a mystery novel, and it implied that the circumstances surrounding their disappearance went deeper than running from the conflict. Ai was a little reluctant to shuffle to the next book; she was a die-hard mystery fan.

“That one seems really interesting,” she admitted, “They don’t have it at the school library?” 

Tsukimiya shook his head. “It gets a little graphic in some parts—I don’t think they would, even if it was more well-known,” he reasoned and she pouted a bit, “Are you interested? I can check it out again if you don’t have a card.”

Ai did have a card, but unfortunately she lost it the previous summer. She didn’t have any money with her for the replacement fee, so when he offered she perked right up. “Would you?” She asked and her voice came out shyer than she meant, “I lost my card and I don’t have any money on me.”

The hand she forgot was on her back pulled her a hair closer, missing the trash bin, “I don’t mind.” 

Ai couldn’t help her lips twisting in a pleased smile then, or her reddened cheeks—a feature that was becoming permanent on her—and looked quickly down at the other books. 

The second one made her raise an eyebrow. “The Complete History of Switzerland?” She asked, bemused. He nodded.

“I was curious.”

She breathed a small laugh, “Only you,” she mused, not unkindly. The final was indeed a textbook like she thought it’d be. The title was something or other dealing with program languages and video game coding. Her head tilted as she cracked open the cover, running a thumb down the edges of the pages, flashing images of computers and pixel images.

“Coding? Video games? Is that what you want to do once you graduate?” 

He shook his head. “No, that’s just a hobby. I want to go into psychology.”

Psychology, of course. It was the perfect field for him…obviously. Applying to the same schools as she did made sense, too. “Psychology…I doubt you’d even need to go to college for that.”

He laughed out loud, “You think?”

Ai shrugged, thinking about his absolutely terrifying mind-reading abilities. He told her once years ago that he could just guess what she was thinking, and that frightened her a bit. “I think…” she mused, “You might understand people a little too much.”

He didn’t respond right away, and she looked up to see his expression. He wasn’t smiling any longer, just seeming a bit thoughtful. “Why do you say that?”

Ai, for some reason, felt a little nervous. “I mean…you can guess what everyone is thinking most the time,” she elaborated, “I just think half the fun in knowing people is…not…knowing. If that makes sense.” He still didn’t respond, and she fidgeted with the textbook cover. “I guess I like being surprised.”

“Even I’m surprised sometimes, Ai-chan,” he responded after a beat, grin returning. “Here, we can go in here.”

There was something so nice about the city library that their school one was missing. Obviously, the scale had something to do with it, but Ai just got a different feeling wandering around in there. She already had her book Tsukimiya was checking out for her tucked against her chest. She followed aimlessly as he flitted through the shelves, searching for something else to grab—it didn’t take him long to pick out the fourth volume in that programming series. She didn’t even notice before that it was part of a series.

“Ai-chan, pick something out for me,” he said once he’d found the textbook, “Show me one of your favorite books.”

Ah. Oh no. If her crush on the evil bastard was a living thing, it’d be squirming and writhing inside her chest, wrapping tendrils around her heart and squeezing at those two simple sentences. Her heart physically ached, filling her brain will buzzing bees and butterflies and all kinds of winged insects. He had—unintentionally?—cracked the code to Orihama AI’s heart. 

Tsukimiya watched her bottom lip tremble, big blue eyes staring widely up at him. She hugged her book tighter, breathing a small, “Okay.”

Was it that easy? Was she that weak? Was all it took to destroy her fortress a request to share in her interests? Ai’s legs moved in a brisk, stiff swing as she sought out where she knew the mystery section was.

It only took a few moments of scanning to find the author, and then her favorite title. Despite herself, her voice was eager when she spun to offer it to him. “It’s about a group of college kids that visit a murder sight and things happen that I won’t spoil and they have to use their knowledge of the mystery genre to figure out the killer and it’s one of my absolute favorites and—” she cut herself off, realizing she’d been rambling. She pursed her lips together tightly, “Let me know how you like it?”

It wasn’t meant to be a question, but it sounded like it. Instead of tease her like she had been expecting, Tsukimiya took the book graciously, smiling. “I will. It must be good if you’re so excited about it!” She flushed a little, nodding, and he nodded toward the front desk. “Let’s go, then.”

 They checked out the books and tucked them into their school bags before heading outside. Tsukimiya was humming contently as he hopped down the cement steps to the sidewalk. “The rest of our stops aren’t as fun. Sorry, Ai-chan.”

Ai didn’t feel any of the annoyance she’d harbored that day. “That’s okay.”

They walked around to a few places then: the launder, a tailor shop, and a store. He mostly just payed a few tabs, telling her his parents asked him to as they never had the time. He also picked up a few miscellaneous household items, though none of it was too much to put in his school bag. Ai didn’t usually get to do the errand running in her household; her parents were more inclined to have her babysit and they do the errands. She sort of enjoyed it.

“That’s all I needed to do,” Tsukimiya said as they left the grocery store. He had a bottle of mirin tucked safely in his bag, “Let’s get something to eat.”

Ai frowned, “I don’t have any money on me. Did you still want to grab something for yourself on the way back?” She suggested it, but her tummy cried silently.

Tsukimiya waved her off, shorting her brain out once again as he grabbed her hand. “I’ll pay, Ai-chan, don’t worry about it.” He didn’t allow her to protest, cutting off whatever she was trying to say by yanking her forward. “Let’s go here. Ramen sounds good.”

He dragged her inside what she found to be a cute ma and pa ramen shop. The decorations were what you saw in every old Japanese person’s homes and businesses, cluttering it in away that made her feel familiar. Even as they seated, however, Ai was still protesting.

“You don’t need to pay for me, I’ll just wait to eat at home,” she rambled, mouth practically salivating at the smell, “I’m not even that hungry.”

“You’re a liar, Ai-chan, just order.” 

After four promises to pay him back, Ai gave in and ordered her food. Most of that afternoon felt a little similar to when they walked around together at the festival; he wasn’t trying to embarrass her too hard, and she didn’t really want to take his head off. They made light conversation and she was actually having a nice time. 

Then, she had one mortifying thought. It almost…almost…felt like…a date.

That sealed her self-destruction, and she didn’t know how he could have possibly guessed the direction her thoughts were going during their brief lull in conversation, but that too-innocent grin meant he knew exactly what was on her mind. She shivered. 

“What’s wrong? Why are you sweating?” She looked away from hun, not justifying an answer. Evil. Evil, evil, evi– “Thats not nice, Ai-chan! I thought we were having a good day!”

She latched onto that, hoping she could distract him from thoughts about crushes and the really cute way his head leaned against his hand. She cleared her throat. “I have been having a nice day. Thank you for the food, Tsukimiya.”

Despite such a normal thing to say, the boy laughed, setting her further on edge. “Well that’s what you do on a date!”

For the eight seconds it took her to process that, from her toes to the top of her head, Ai felt as if she was boiling, slowly filling up with steam until she was hot all over. Her mouth sputtered, trying to suck in the air to make words until, finally:

“D-Da-Date! You said it!”

In an instant, Tsukimiya was pouring laughter, not even trying to hide his cruelty. His head fell off his hand, first pressing against the table, then thrown back in peels of hysterical laughter. Each moment Ai’s face felt warmer and she felt as if panic was choking her, pounding a nail deeper and deeper down her throat and into her heart. He was snapping pictures of her devastated expression as he always did. Then, to her horror, for the first time in her entire life as a result of his teasing and jokes, Ai felt her eyes prickle with tears. 

She ducked her head immediately, avoiding his never-ending laughter. She cursed herself for tearing up and cursed herself for being hurt. But why wouldn’t she? She felt like a complete idiot. For years and years she had been trying to shake that obnoxious crush on her classmate and he knew about it the entire time. But not only did he just know about it, he used it to tease her, dangling it in front of her any chance he got to get a rise out of her. She was just one big dumb joke to him. And even if she would rather be an absolute nobody in his eyes, nonexistent on his entire radar, she remained the stupidest, dumbest, most colossal joke in the whole world.

His laughter simmered down, and she heard the table creak as he leaned his forearms against it. “Aww, Ai-chan, you aren’t a joke,” she saw something move and despite herself, she glanced upward. Tsukimiya was still smiling, but this wasn’t his evil grin, just a small curve of his lips. He picked up one of his napkins set at the end of the table and reached out toward her. She flinched back, but he ignored it, dabbing at her eyes. “You’re just so easy to get a reaction from. It’s cute!”

She backed away from his reach, keeping her face still as hidden as she could swiping a sleeve against it. She only let herself one sniffle. She didn’t know if his response hurt her further or not. She still felt stupid.

“I’m sorry for hurting your feelings, Ai-chan,” he tried again, “The waiter is coming with our food. Let’s enjoy dinner, okay?”

Not wanting even a drop more of his attention, Ai nodded, sitting up straighter when her bowl was slid in front of her. They thanked him for the food, and she picked at it, still unwilling to participate in conversation. It was really yummy—it was too bad she lost her appetite.

Tsukimiya tried a few times during their dinner to make more conversation. Ai didn’t want to seem so affected, so she tried to respond normally, but her heart wasn’t in it. Stupid, stupid, stupid—

After they finished their meals, or in Ai’s case half-finished, the pair went outside where it had already gotten dark. She wasn’t really that sure of where they were in town, never really venturing this far away from the park she took her brothers.

Tsukimiya stretched out his arms above his head for a moment, looking up at the dark night sky. The city lights couldn’t keep all the stars away, and Ai looked, too. Then, surprising her, she felt his hand grab hers. “Let’s walk the long way home, Ai-chan.” And he pulled her along.

He’d been grabbing her hands all day since the folk dance during field day. She didn’t know if her reaction to it had become the funniest thing ever to him, but this time he wasn’t just holding it in a vice grip as he had when he dragged her around. Ai’s tummy was bubbling with nerves as she stared at their fingers, intertwined.

“I think I’m going to start that book tonight,” he said, “Our class trip is coming up, so I’ll probably read some during the plane ride, too.”

It took a couple seconds to find her voice, but when she started talking she felt a lot better than she had during dinner. “I’ll probably start mine this weekend, too,” she kept her eyes down, unable to stop glancing at their linked hands, “But I was going to save most of it for the trip. Miki-chan always falls asleep really early.”

Without incident, they meandered slowly to where Ai lived. She didn’t even question how he knew where she lived until they wandered in sight. If it were anyone else she would think that incredibly creepy, but she tried not to think of it at all, excusing it as his probable supernatural abilities.

Ai was the one to pull her hand away, turning to face him on the sidewalk in front of her building. She looked up at him, gripping the straps of her book bag. He didn’t seem so evil in that light. 

“Goodnight, Tsukimiya. Thank you for the book.”

He hummed, “Goodnight, Ai-chan. I’ll see you Monday!”

Ai’s walk up the stairs and to her door were spent in a disbelieving daze. It almost felt like that night hadn’t even happened. Had it happened? Really? Did she really hold Tsukimiya Utsugi’s, her evil lifelong crush’s, hand the entire walk home? 

“Hello, Sweetheart. How was school?” Ai’s father called from the kitchen as she walked in. It wasn’t too long after that was she ambushed by her baby brothers, already dressed in their matching Doraemon pajamas. She talked to her parents for a little while and said goodnight to her brothers. Then she finally was able to take a shower, throw on her comfies, and collapse on her mattress. She layed on her back, just staring at her ceiling, replaying the entire afternoon over and over in her head.

Her feelings were a complete mess. From teasing and laughing at her to handholding and calling her cute, Tsukimiya’s behavior was all over the map. In-character for him, for sure, but completely indecipherable in motive. She thought he was the evilest, worst, most terrible person in the world, but he had really intertwined their fingers like a couple. And she really had a nice time. For a moment, she wondered if he really was evil.

Beside her head on the blanket, her text tone chimed. Expecting Miki, she picked it up—not Miki, but an unknown number.

‘Cute~’ above the text was a picture of her cherry red, panicked face, sitting in the ramen shop booth from earlier.

No. He was evil. Terrible. The devil himself—she hated him with every ounce of her being.

Her phone chimed again. ‘Mean! No you don’t! <3 <3 /^.^/’

The next Monday, when Ai got the chance to give Miki the full details of her bizarre night, she thought her best friend might have a stroke.

“He what?!” She whisper-yelled as they walked into school together. “Ai-chan! That was totally a date!”

Ai furiously shook her head, try her best to communicate the impossibility. “Did you miss the part where he called it a date and then laughed for ten minutes straight?!” She hissed back, crossing her arms. Ai had come to the conclusion that Tsukimiya, through his layers and layers of villainy, had just felt sorry for her after accidentally making her cry, and held her hand because he knew she had a silly idiotic crush on him and it would distract her. He was right, too.

Miki pouted at her tone, bumping her best friend’s shoulder. “Whatever, it sounds like it was a date to me,” she declared stubbornly, “And kinda cute, too…”

Ai was admittedly nervous walking into the classroom, but mercifully, Tsukimiya was with Hanadori, blocking in poor Koyuki Seri. She sighed in relief once she got to her seat, glad he wasn’t approaching her. That relief was gone, however, as soon as she sat down.

“Hi, Ai-chaan!” He waved enthusiastically from the front of the class, managing to turn half the eyes in the classroom at his volume. She cringed, spinning to look at Miki as they unpacked their textbooks. She was snickering.

“Miki-chaan…” she whined, risking a glance back toward him.

He was already laughing at something else Koyuki Seri had said, to her relief. Hanadori Kabuto, however, was staring at her with a small, opened-mouthed confusion. She cringed as his head swiveled between she and his blonde friend. Finally, he stopped, shaking Tsukimiya’s arm. He said something, pointing in her direction. It was like watching a train wreck. 

“Hmm, Hanadori?” Tsukimiya responded loudly, “Oh, Ai-chan? We went on a date after school on Friday!”

Mortification.

Most of the class were staring now, reveling in knowing their peers business and relationships like teenagers did. Hanadori was gaping at his friend, waving a disbelieving finger in her direction, but unable to say anything coherent. When she heard a few giggles, it became too much, and she grabbed her textbook, slamming it open and vertically against her desk, creating a barrier between herself and Tsukimiya’s inevitable hysterics.  She stared at the upside-down words on that page. She felt out of body mortification. Terror.

She craned her head slowly to the side so that she could see Miki, but was disappointed to see her friend trying to snuff out her own laughter in her palms. Betrayal.

It felt like everyone was watching her.

She knew, logically, nobody was and nobody would even care by the next day. Other than Hanadori; every time he looked at her, he covered his mouth and giggled like a little kid. Tsukimiya loved it. He was enjoying watching her grow increasingly agitated. Every time she unintentionally saw him, because she was obviously avoiding looking at him, his grin just grew and grew.

She spent lunch huddled in a circle with Miki, Kotoko and Yae, whom of which kept offering either congratulations or merciless teasing. Tsukimiya didn’t try to approach her, but he did stare off and on throughout the entire meal, leaning on his hand like he always did. Ai didn’t have much of an appetite.

Freedom finally came when the final school bell rang. She didn’t waste a moment, packing up her things, and dragging Miki-chan with her. All she wanted to do after that awful Monday was rush home and watch Doraemon with her baby brothers. They didn’t torture her like this. 

They were almost at the front doors when a voice called out to her. “Ai-chan!”

She faltered in her step, turning to the distinctly female voice behind her. She stopped when she saw Yoriko, a girl from another class. They’d been very close in middle school before drifting apart. She was nice, but they never spoke anymore.

“Yoriko-chan?”

She looked nervously between Ai and Miki, playing with the end of her long braid. “Can I talk to you?” She glanced away and quickly back. “Alone?”

Ai and Miki glanced at eachother before the latter smiled, backing away. “I’ll wait for you outside!”

Once she cleared out, the two remaining girls wandered out of the way of their classmates and stood by the lockers. Standing with the taller girl, Ai got the distinct impression something was seriously bothering her. It’d been a long time since either of them had spoken and she wasn’t sure what she had to say—they hadn’t ended as bad friends or anything.

“Is something wrong?” Ai asked carefully, the nervousness rubbing off. She gripped the straps of her bag.

Yoriko wouldn’t look at her. After a long breath she opened her mouth. “Did…did you really go on a date with Tsukimiya-kun?”

Ai’s expression turned stony. No more. This was getting ridiculous.

The context of the conversation was immediately made clear. Yoriko, like Ai, had a huge crush on the evil mind reader. She once even confessed her love; Ai had almost walked right in on it during passing time. When they were in middle school she had always raved about how sweet and kind and helpful he was. Ai never told her about her own feelings, not wanting to hurt her friend by telling her she very much disagreed with the other girl’s interpretation of his character.

Ai hadn’t answered right away, and Yoriko looked up, hurt on her face. “Ai-chan?”

And she tried to answer. Really, she did. But when she opened her mouth to respond, nothing came out. She started sweating, heat rising in her face.

What was she supposed to say?!

Was it a date? It was the formula of a date. They went to the library and dinner and spent the entire afternoon together—they even held hands. The only thing that was missing from this equation was two people interested in eachother romantically. Because while her heart did crazy things for him, she was almost certain he just enjoyed having someone to harass.

Before she could blurt out her resolute no, Yoriko but her lip, pointing determinedly right at Ai’s face. “You might have been on a date with Tsukimiya-kun, but I’m not giving up! We’re love rivals, Ai-chan!”

“Yori-wait-no!” But the other girl was already marching away, leaving Ai spluttering in her wake.

Ai whipped around to run and find her best friend, face painted in panic. She froze, however, when she saw Miki…and a dozen other of their peers lingering nearby, having had just witnessed Yoriko’s not-so-quiet declaration. 

Ai would never forgive Miki-chan for abandoning her at lunch. She told Ai she was going to another class to eat with a friend and promptly left her alone in her seat. Ai thought she could surround herself with Kotoko and Yae, but tragically they weren’t in their seats when she spun around. 

Ordinarily, sitting alone at lunch never bothered her. Yoriko, however, made it so that her classmates wouldn’t forget the previous day’s gossip. She was meeting more eyes than she normally did that morning. She had hoped to distract herself with her friends, but the only ones she hung out with deserted her. Even more devastating was that she purposely hadn’t brought the library book with her, specifically intending to save it for the upcoming class trip. Without a proper distraction, Ai sat alone at her desk, staring wiltedly at her rice.

“Helloo Ai-chan!” Her chopsticks nearly snapped in half.

Tsukimiya sunk right into the seat in front of her, his body turned so that he placed his bento box on her desk across from her. He was wearing that all-too-innocent smile, the one that usually made her heart beat a little faster, but in this case made her want to run. She had enough of his antics this week and it was only Tuesday.

She huffed, stabbing her rice. “What do you want?”

He pouted at her snark, the picture of innocence. “Don’t be mean! We haven’t talked since our date on Friday!”

Ai bristled at the d-word. “Stop calling it a date! It wasn’t a date!” She hissed out in a whisper-yell. 

“Hmm? But didn’t you call it a date first?”

She was growing redder by the moment. “No, you did!”

“But you thought it—”

“Aha!” She exclaimed quietly, “So you admit to reading minds!”

“Aha!” He repeated, “So you admit to thinking it!”

The girl all but short-circuited there. Her next words weren’t words, but incoherent stutters as she tried to form some kind of rebuttal. Tsukimiya was full grinning by then, leaning toward her like they had been having the most riveting conversation. He took pity on her after a few muffled guaffs.

“I was going to ask if you’re excited about the class trip. Sensei put me in Hanadori and Seri-kun’s group. Are you with Miki-chan?”

Ai huffed, still cold with lingering nerves, “Yes, I’m with Miki-chan, Kotoko-chan, and Yae-chan. Sensei was really considerate in choosing.” 

He was, too. He was a little low-energy and times, but Sensei really payed attention to the dynamics of his class. She remembered him offering to put her with Tsukimiya and cringed.

“Do you like amusement parks?”

Ai nodded. “I like rollercoasters and heights.”

Tsukimiya grinned, “Ooh, that’s unexpected, Ai-chan.” She raised an eyebrow. 

“What do you mean?”

He shrugged. “It doesn’t fit your image; you give off the nice girl by your looks. And you’re kind and patient—to everyone but me. If someone didn’t know you, I doubt they would think you’re into scary things like that.”

She could understand his thought process there, if only from her looks. Outside of her school uniform, Ai loved pretty clothes and dresses. She owned more sundresses than she did pants, and even had her ears pierced so that she could wear pretty earrings to match her outfits. But, then again, she didn’t really look like the murder-mystery type, either.

“Well…I don’t think those things are scary. I don’t like scary stuff like ghosts and monsters or anything—but amusement parks are fun.” She frowned briefly, remembering something, “Too bad Miki-chan doesn’t agree. I went on the Ferris wheel with her once and she almost passed out.” Tsukimiya laughed.

“Aw, poor Ai-chan! You’ll have to find a riding partner, huh?”

Ai had never been on a plane before, so the class trip experience was already starting strong for her. She was happy to be buckled-in beside her best friend, who was less than thrilled, but still a good sport. Miki was going through her cosmetics magazine to distract her from her nervousness. Unfortunately, her motion sickness caused her to beg Ai for the window seat, which she, of course, gave up.

She was all rainbows and sunshine…until somebody pulled lightly on a strand of her hair from behind. She didn’t even have to see to know who the culprit was. She glared at the seat in front of her. Maybe if she didn’t react, he would stop. He didn’t.

She whipped around. “Tsukimiya!”

He laughed. “You seem excited, Ai-chan!”

She didn’t dignify it with a response, turning around to pout at the seat in front of her. Thankfully, he turned his attention to Hanadori, instead. However…it seemed Hanadori was even more nervous than Miki. His wrenching noises even had Ai turning around to gape. She couldn’t even enjoy take off seeing as her classmate screamed.

The flight attendant approached, worried. “Are you alright?”

Tsukimiya’s laughter rang louder than the yelling. “He’s fine. He has dark god of destruction sickness,” he explained, then held out a piece of paper, “By the way, here’s my number!”

Oh, he was so gross. Immensely uncomfortable now, Ai turned back as the flight attendant laughed sheepishly and walked away. Evidently he’d seen her expression.

“What, Ai-chan? Are you jealous?” No, she was disgusted. His voice took on a teasing, bothered tone. “Geez, we only went on one date. Can’t I make friends? That’s a little controlling, isn’t it?”

This had her whipping around again, seething. “Shut up, we aren’t dating! Stop giving people the wrong idea!”

From the back of the plane, Sensei leaned his head into the aisle. “Orihama-chan, keep it down and stay in your seat, please.” 

Ai flushed, turning back around, sinking firmly into her spot. Miki was giggling behind her hand, though it was overshadowed by the hysterics behind her.

“Miki-chan…I think I’m in heaven!”

Miki watched from her position, sprawled out on the amusement park bench, as her best friend spun in circles, blue eyes twinkling at the giant rollercoasters and park attractions. She groaned.

“I think I’m in hell…” the plane ride did not bode well with Miki’s stomach. Sensei offered for her to stay with the staff under a tent until she felt better, and she took him up on his offer. Ai was a true friend and ran off immediately to buy her a churro and water, but it did little to help settle her tummy.

“Go find Yae-chan and Kotoko-chan,” Miki mumbled, “Go have fun, Ai-chan…I’m just gonna nap.”

It took some convincing, but Ai really was excited about this part of the trip. So she obeyed, wishing Miki a good nap, and set off to find her other friends.

She was glad their class was wearing their uniforms, so it made it easy to distinguish each other. She found Yae and Kotoko lined up for the rollercoaster, and slid into the line with them at the grace of the nice family behind them.

“Miki-chan still isn’t feeling well? I hope she gets better!” Sumiso expressed, eyebrows pulled up in worry.

Ai nodded. “She’s just motion-sick. She’ll be okay.”

Yae was looking behind them with annoyance. “Geez, those guys are behind us in line.” She grumbled, and her friends followed her line of sight. Behind that family was none other than Tsukimiya and his two minions. She soured.

“Why can’t I ever escape that evil mind reader?” She groaned. Yae rolled her eyes.

“I don’t think you’re the problem today…they were following us before you got here.” Ai perked up at this, hopeful; maybe he would leave her alone, then.

When they got to the top of the line the unfortunate problem of there being three of them reared it’s head. Sumiso offered to sit out, but Ai insisted she was fine with being sat stag with a stranger. 

“That’s no problem!” Ai’s face fell at the voice that meant problems, “I was going to wait for Hanadori-kun and Seri-kun, but I can ride with you, Ai-chan!”

The ride conductor waved their group forward so that Hanadori and Koyuki Seri were sitting in front, followed by Yae and Kotoko. In the following car, Ai and Tsukimiya buckled in, awaiting takeoff. She grumbled under her breath about not being left alone and how she wanted him to fly off the ride. He laughed. While they waited for the ride to start, she considered something, glancing at him on and off.

“Did you need something?” He asked, a teasing lilt to his voice.

She narrowed her eyes. “Are you guys…following Yae and Kotoko?”

“Yes!” Ai spluttered at his easy answer, swinging her head to fully look at him.

“What? Why?”

Tsukimiya chuckled, nodding forward. “Seri-kun!” Ai hummed, looking toward the boy at the front. “He yelled at Sumiso-chan by accident and wants to apologize and confess his feelings!”

Ai’s mouth fell in an open gape, wondering briefly how Koyuki Seri would appreciate his friend spilling his secrets all at once. Then, she remembered how sad Kotoko had been when this incident occurred, and how excited she had been to invite him to go with her and Yae.

“So that was a misunderstanding?” She asked, “That’s good. Good. He should ask Kotoko-chan out. Good luck, Koyuki-kun!” Tsukimiya hummed his agreement and the ride started locking as it prepared to go. 

“Mmm, too bad Yae-san doesn’t seem like she’s gonna want to let him talk.”

Ai nodded, knowing how intense the girl could get, and how protective she was of Kotoko. Ah, she could only imagine how nice it would be if Miki was half that protective…maybe she wouldn’t have to experience as much embarrassment as she did.

She nodded. “Good luck, Koyuki-kun. You’re going to need it.”

The ride clicked as the cars were pulled slowly up the hill. Ai held firmly onto her harness, a shaky little smile growing as they neared to drop-off. She couldn’t help her eager glances sideways, wanting to share in her excitement with someone. Tsukimiya just seemed pleasantly amused, completely relaxed as they got to the top. 

“You have to put your hands up at the drop,” she insisted quickly, looking with a grin at their distance from the ground. “It’s more fun like that!”

He ooh’d, following her lead, raising his hands slowly as they rounded the top. The moment before the plummet, he grabbed her hand in-air, startling her significantly before the air rushed by, gliding through her hair as the rollercoaster sped through the track. Her ‘aah!’ turned into an ‘euhhh?!’, Tsukimiya’s laughter following them the entire way.

By the time they stopped, Ai was frantically shaking his hand away, beet-red. “Tsukimiyaaa!” She whined pitifully, running off to join her friends before he could respond—but not before he could laugh.

She barely even paused to see the pictures the park sold of their ride—as she was passing, she and Tsukimiya’s was plastered on the big screen where he was holding her hand in air with a careless open-mouthed smile, and she looked horrified, red as a ripe tomato.

“Geez, Ai-chan…are you or are you not with that annoying guy?” Yae said as a greeting as she joined them. Ai whined pitifully, shaking her head.

“That’s so cute, Ai-chan! I’m cheering you on!” Kotoko missed context more often than she got it.

The rest of the day was spent similarly. On the carousel it became clear what was happened—Hanadori kept messing up every chance Koyuki Seri got. Ai sat on a pony with a pretty pink mane and Tsukimiya watched her, grinning, from a bench. On the gondolas, Hanadori managed to fall into the water, and from his spot in their shared boat, Tsukimiya was in hysterics. She silently thanked Hanadori; before his distraction, Tsukimiya kept rambling about how romantic it was, and how they were practically on a date in Venice. She knew he was screwing with her. She hated him.

They hadn’t talked much before, but watching Koyuki mess up so royally was just sad. So, when they got off the gondolas and Yae and Sumiso started talking about a haunted house, Ai sputtered out an excuse to go talk to Koyuki.

She approached their group as he moped, receiving no encouragement from his so-called friends. Tsukimiya was obviously having a ball torturing the boy, while Hanadori dried himself from his impromptu dip in the water.

“No luck, Koyuki-kun?” She asked, stopping in front of the boy, her hands linked behind her. She already knew the answer.

Koyuki looked up, drained, “Orihama-san?” Then his eyes darted to Tsukimiya, a flush covering his face. “Y-You told!” 

Tsukimiya just laughed harder. “Don’t worry Seri-kun! Ai-chan won’t tell anyone! She’s too worried about her own problems!”

The girl in question glared, “Shut up!” She snapped, then turned back, the picture of sweetness once more. “Don’t worry, Koyuki-kun, once you talk to Kotoko-chan, she’ll forgive you. So don’t give up!”

He sniffled, looking up at her pitifully. “But I can’t even talk to her…”

She clenched a fist in encouragement. “Don’t worry! I’ll distract Yae-chan!” He looked somewhat encouraged then, a little hope returning to his lifeless eyes. 

She felt a hand clamp on her shoulder. “Then come on! They’re going to the Haunted House!”

Tsukimiya pushed Koyuki, too, heading straight for the spooky attraction. Ai dragged her heels. “N-Now? Ah-ah let’s try later!”

“Are you scared, Ai-chan?” Yes, she was very scared. She hated creepy things like ghosts. But even if he already knew this, her pride wouldn’t let her seem scared.

“No! I just want a snack!” He laughed, grip unyielding.

“I’ll buy you a snack after! Come on!”

The moment they crossed the doorway, all Ai’s bravado disappeared. Without thinking, she snatched the fabric of Tsukimiya’s shirt, trailing behind him as he continued dragging Koyuki.

“Stop being a wimp! You want to make up, right?” 

“Not in a haunted house! What am I even supposed to say to her!”

Ai barely paid attention. Despite how she wanted to act tough, her jaw chattered a little as she looked around, waiting for a ghost or something scary to pop out. “It’s fake, it’s fake, it’s fake–” she continued her quiet mantra, wanting to cry as they came to a halt.

“Well, we left Hanadori behind so you might want to hurry up!” 

Ai whipped back, eyes bugging as she realized they had, in fact, left him outside. She didn’t even think that was an option!

“Hey Seri-kun, look! It says there’s a stone that grants wishes!”

Ai nearly passed out when she looked where he was pointed; there was a creepy ghost girl with blood running from her eyes and mouth peeking from behind a sign. “Find my wishing stone…”

Suddenly, there was screaming. Koyuki ran off, and Ai’s soul left her body. 

“Ai-chan?” Tsukimiya’s phone camera clicked in front of her face. “Are you dead?” The only response she could muster was to hold onto his shirt tighter and shake her lower lip. He looked behind her, then stepped forward to get Koyuki’s attention, bringing Ai with him. “Seri-kun, look behind you!”

Despite herself, Ai turned her head, only to be frozen once more in fear. A dark figure was flying through the entrance, coming right towards them. Everyone around her screamed, tearing away from the creature, and Tsukimiya had to grab her arm to pull her along. The black shadow, however, quickly overcame them, bolting right past them in a streak of orange. She blinked, fear gone. Of course it was Hanadori. Of course.

When they left the haunted house, a great wave of relief washed over Ai as she saw who was waiting for her. She bolted away from the never-ending laughter from the mind-reader, throwing her arms around her best friend.

“Miki-chaaaaaaan! I missed you so muuuch!” She cried out, holding on as if she was going to be ripped away. Miki patted her back slowly.

“Ai-chan? Are you okay?”

The black haired girl backed up, showing her devastated face. “No! Tsukimiya has been harassing me all day and they made me go in the haunted house!” She whined, pointing accusingly at Tsukimiya. 

The boy in question laughed. “You said you weren’t scared! So you’re the type to freeze instead of run, huh?”

Miki soothed her, “Aww, you hate scary things! Why did you say that?”

Ai sniffled. “My…pride…” it was lost now. That was the end of it.

While Koyuki Seri gathered his strength and requested to talk to Kotoko, Tsukimiya stayed true to his promise and bought a teary-eyed Ai an icecream cone. She licked it pitifully as their group watched the pair from afar, wondering if they realized Hanadori had trailed after them to the Ferris Wheel. Miki comforted her, telling her about her day with the staff. Sensei had been really nice and bought her a corn dog, and gave her some change to play a couple games while she waited for her stomach to settle. 

Yae was not happy about Koyuki Seri and Kotoko going on the ferris wheel together, a fact she made known. By the time they got through the line and were getting on the ride, Ai got down to her cone, biting the chocolate-lined waffle.

“She shouldn’t have gone with him!” Yae snapped at their group. Miki and Ai exchanged a glance—she was so cool. Why weren’t they like that?

“Calm down, Yae-san. I thought you were a lady.” They cringed, exchanging another look; evil mind reader Tsukimiya, versus the toughest girl in their year, Yae. It could get ugly.

She rounded on him, furious. “What do you know about me?!”

Tsukimiya’s grin didn’t waiver. “And what do you know about Seri-kun?” That even tripped Yae up, and her anger seemed to fizzle out. Even Ai, who’d been rooting for Koyuki Seri, paused her train of thought. “He’s a shy, cowardly, emotional, and lame guy,” Ai wondered whether he realized he was supposed to be defending his friend, “But he’s not a bad guy.”

Yae seemed to deflate, huffing. She slid beside Miki on the umbrella-covered picnic table they’d taken hostage of, and crossed her arms. “I still don’t like it…but I guess Kotoko-chan can hear him out.”

Miki and Ai made eye-contact once again; Tsukimiya won this battle. 

“Yae-chan,” Miki tried, smiling, “Do you want to play some games while we wait for them?” The other girl shook her head, leaning her chin in her hand.

“No, you two go ahead. I’m going to wait for Kotoko-chan.” She said, “Why don’t you guys ride the ferris wheel? You haven’t gone on any rides, Miki-chan.”

Ai’s best friend waved her off. “Ah, no, no! I’m afraid of heights. And I get motion sickness. Go with Ai-chan! She loves heights! I can wait for Kotoko-chan.”

Ai perked up a little at the suggestion; she did love the ferris wheel. It would be a lie to say she didn’t want to go, but it was only fun when she had someone to go with. Ai was the ‘enjoy with someone else’ kind of person. A little eagerly, she chewed her remaining piece of chocolatey cone quickly.

However, to her disappointment, Yae shrugged. “Nah, I’m just going to take a break,” her eyes rounded slowly to the mind-reader, who was turned away, leaning against the foot of the table, probably smiling into the cosmos at a reality they couldn’t see. “Tsukimiya, go with her. You’ve been her riding partner all day, anyway.”

Ai choked, betrayed by the person she expected least. Miki slapped a hand over her mouth, trying not to laugh at Ai’s sudden horror.

“Mmm? You want to go on, Ai-chan?” He asked, turning slowly, evil grin withstanding, just as she’d suspected.

“No!”

“Why didn’t you just say so? Come on!” She flinched away from him, but he ignored her, grabbing her wrist. He pulled her right off the bench, in the direction of the ride, ignoring her spluttering. Ai whipped her head backward, trying to communicate her horror to Yae, hoping she would realize the peril she’d inflicted and save her. Yae shrugged. Ai knew then that she had just wanted the blond gone. She was just a tool.

They got in line, and Tsukimiya hummed mindlessly, allowing AI’s hand to drop back at her side. She sighed pitifully, looking upward to admire the massive Ferris wheel; the one back home had nothing on the size of this one. She’d only ever been on the ones with the benches and little open seating. It was a shame her Miki was so scared of this stuff.

“Geez, Ai-Chan, stop acting so disappointed to spend time with me!” He whined suddenly, and she wondered if he’d been listening to her longing for Miki.

Ai huffed, very much wanting to bite back, letting him know exactly why she was afraid to be within ten meters of him. But, despite herself, she held her tongue, knowing he really hadn’t been an absolute terror that day. He may have dragged her into a haunted house, but he did buy her ice cream afterward. If nothing else, she was glad she at least had someone going on rides with her.

“Sorry,” she said, “Thank you for going on the ride with me.”

He laughed, shooting a bright smile. “Haha! No problem, Ai-chan!”

A large group ahead of them all got in one of the viewing rooms together, causing them to move up a significant amount. Tsukimiya scanned the moving pods as they went forward. “I wonder how Seri-kun is doing. I don’t think he saw Hanadori get on behind him.” He observed, echoing what she'd wondered earlier. Ai looked too, trying to catch a glimpse of their peers.

“I thought so, too. Poor Koyuki-kun.” Unable to find them, Ai’s gaze slowly wound back to where Miki and Yae were sitting on the picnic table. It took her a moment to find them, but when she did, she was confused. Miki was waving frantically at her, eyes wide. When she realized Ai was looking back at her, she less-than discreetly wagged her finger to her left. Ai followed her pointing, freezing when she made eye contact with none other than Yamamoto Yoriko.

She didn’t know how to express, from twenty meters away, that it was most definitely not what it looked like. So, when Yoriko bit her bottom lip and raised her chin, trying not to look as devastated as she had five seconds prior, Ai panicked. Her head swiveled frantically from Tsukimiya and back, waving her hands in an x-motion. The girl just clenched her fists and marched away.

“Hmmm? What was that about?”

“What was what?” Ai squeaked, putting her hands behind her back, the picture of innocence. “Nothing.”

His grin turned evil, and he leaned closer. She leaned away. “Was that Yamamoto-san?” He asked, and she suddenly felt hot, “What’s going on with you and Yamamoto-san?”

Ai swallowed, not liking how close to her face he was. “Nothing! Not a thing!”

He hummed. “Oh? It doesn’t have to do with you and Yamamoto-san talking the other day?”

She nearly burst a vein. “I-I have no clue what you’re talking about!” He finally straightened out, and Ai felt the relief wash over her. But he wasn’t done. 

“So nothing to do about being ‘Love Rivals’?”

She lit up like a Christmas tree, completely and utterly embarrassed. She batted her hands weakly against him, crying out. “Tsukimiya! You jerk!” She whined, “It’s your fault for telling people we went on a date, anyway! If you hadn’t done that, Yoriko-chan wouldn’t get weird ideas in her head like that!”

Tsukimiya laughed loudly, neither of the pair noticing the looks they were getting from people around them. “But Ai-chaan!” He grinned, “You’re the one that called it a date, first!”

Oh, she was not having that conversation again. 

Mercifully, the ride conductor called them next to get on. They ducked inside the pod, sliding across from each other on the benches. Ai scooted all the way to the end, so that she could look down. Tsukimiya mirrored her, smiling contentedly as the ride creaked to a start again. Ai couldn’t help her previous distress from absolving, growing more excited the further they got from the ground.

“You sure enjoy this kind of stuff, huh?” Tsukimiya observed, eyes trained on her grin. She didn’t notice.

“Everything looks so pretty from high up,” she answered, pressing her finger against the glass, “Look at the flowers!” Tsukimiya humored her, responding to her calling out different objects and places with an appropriate ‘ooh’ or ‘ahh’.

It made her entire day when they got to the very top and the ride slowed to a halt. She hopped right up, going to the other side to look downward. “Tsukimiya! We’re at the top! Look how small everything is!” 

He pushed himself up, coming over to where she stood. He looked down.

“The people look like ants,” he observed, “I feel like I could crush them under my thumb.” She blinked, looking up at him.

“That’s kind of scary to say.”

He didn’t respond to her critique, just tilting his head in her direction, wearing his ever-present curve of the lips.

Oh, she thought suddenly, oh no.

This…was bad. She tried her hardest not to have a single thought in her head. She ran through mental images of her classmates and her brothers and sushi and American action movies and rock and roll, and—oh he was still so handsome up close. It was a battle lost before she could have it because why was he, her long-time evil, manipulative crush, standing centimeters away from her, looking right at her while they were at the very top of the Ferris wheel and overlooking such a gorgeous view? It was textbook romance and she couldn’t not think that because it was so obvious.

What was infinitely worse was that he probably knew exactly what was going through her mind right then. He knew she was thinking about how close his face was to hers. He knew she was thinking about how handsome his features were. He knew she was thinking about how tall he felt beside her and how it made her feel oddly safe. He knew she was thinking about how easy of a distance it would be to cross to kiss—

She didn’t know whether it was him or her imagination, but Tsukimiya seemed to inch closer. It was all she needed to be absolutely frightened out of her frozen posture. Like lightning, Ai swung her body away, jamming a finger against the glass at random.

“Look! Hanadori-kun!” She blurted, face burning red. From her peripheral, she could see him linger on her for just a moment longer before looking downward.

It was indeed Hanadori; he was impossible to mistake even from that height, crouching behind one of the benches, out of sight. Ai could hear the mirth grow in Tsukimiya’s voice. “Ahh, I wonder why he’s hiding like that!” He said with too much excitement, “I wonder if Seri-kun said something to upset him!”

Don’t say that with so much joy.

The ride started moving again and Ai made a hasty retreat back to her side of the benched room. He did likewise, and she tried her hardest not to show how uncomfortable she felt. She tried not to look at him as he got comfortable, crossing his legs and propping his arm on his knee. He rested his head in his hand, staring directly at her. Her heart pounded.

“Why are you so nervous, Ai-chan?” She shivered, sweat beading on her brow. She didn’t look at him.

“Nervous? Who’s nervous? I’m not nervous.” She replied quickly. “Are you nervous?” 

Ah, she looked at him. Bad mistake. Tsukimiya grinned a little wider. Then, to her horror, he hopped out of his bench, crossing over to her side. He sat down, sliding all the way down by her near the window. Frantically, she tried shuffling away, but his arm snaked up behind her, pulling her back down by her shoulder.

“Here, Ai-chan, let’s take a picture while the view is still good!”

She was short-circuiting. He held his phone camera up, pointed toward the pair of them. He clicked the camera, and Ai tried again to bolt, but he held on. “Ah, that’s a good one, Ai-chan, do you want to see?”

She shook her head rapidly, eyes squeezed shut. He was mean! Awful! Cruel! Terrible! He was an evil sadist that only took pleasure in torturing poor, diseased innocents like her.

“Ai-chan, your face is all red. Do you have a fever?” Suddenly, she felt his hand cup her cheek. Her eyes flew right open,

And he didn’t try to make her sit again as she dove away to the other bench, pressing her hands over her absolutely blazing cheeks. He went right into the hysterics, laughing loud enough so that she was sure everyone in the whole park could hear.

“Tsukimiya, you jerk!” She cried out furiously, “You’re mean! You’re mean! You’re mean!” His laughter only increased, tears building at the corners of his eyes. “Evil! Monster! Jerk! Mind-reader! Sadist!” 

The poor ride conductor didn’t expect the young teen girl to burst off the ride as quickly as she did, making a beeline for her best friend. Her partner followed slowly behind her, still in hysterics. Neither of them paid him a look.

“Miki-chaaaan! I want to go home!” 

“He’s so meaaan!”

Miki nodded sympathetically to her best friend give her rendition of the torture Tsukimiya the bastard put her through on the ferris wheel. The pair of girls were sitting together in the girl’s room of the traditional temple inn, surrounded by their classmates as the amused themselves. They had already been to the bath house and relaxed in the hot water. Following that, they were all given matching sleeping robes to wear to bed, and Miki had received all kinds of praise for her planning. Ai was tucked inside Miki’s bed mat, looking for comfort from her closest confidant.

“I’m sorry you had to go through that,” Miki laid it on thick, and Ai sniffled appreciatively. Miki scooted a hair closer, adding in an undertone, “But, like…you almost kissed? Like he almost kissed you?”

AI’s face reflected horror at friend’s question. “Mi! Ki!” She shook her head frantically, practically steaming with embarrassment. “Noooooo! He was making fun of me!”

She was unconvinced. “I don’t know, sounds like he almost—” Ai hushed her, looking around at their company with distrust. She scooted up so she was sitting, and leaned her head against Miki’s shoulder.

“That evil mind-reader isn’t capable of anything like that,” she moped, “He just uses my feelings against me to make himself laugh…” 

Miki nodded sympathetically, patting her back. “Could be,” she admitted, “But…Ai-chan he doesn’t do that to anyone else. Maybe he singled you out for a reason.”

Ai sighed, shaking her head a little. “It’s probably because he knows he can get a reaction out of me.”

Her friend pushed her back a little, and looked at her with her best serious expression. “Or,” she started, “Maybe he sees you, Ai-chan, are the custest, kindest, smartest, and most adventurous girl in all of Japan, and is smart enough to actually have feelings for you. You know how he is—he teases all of the people he likes most.”

Whether or not any of what she said was true, Ai’s heart suddenly welled with emotion, forgetting all about her distress from the day. She blinked her blue eyes rapidly, trying to keep the wetness from falling down her face. “Miki-chan…you really think that about me?”

Her friend let loose an affectionate smile, nodding matter-of-factly. “Of course!”

Ai sniffled loudly, diving at her friend in a big hug, knocking them both backwards. “Miki-chaaan!” She cried, and the pair of girls ignored the odd looks from their peers. “You’re the best friend ever! Never leave me!” Miki giggled under her, pushing her away with a grin.

“You’re right I am!” She agreed, sitting back up, “Now, promise you won’t worry so much?” Ai nodded rapidly.

“Yes! I promise!” 

Miki humf’d. “Good.”

Just as they were about to disperse for their own beds, Ai’s text-tone went off. She fished it from under her pillow, gulping audibly when she saw Tsukimiya’s contact name plastered across the screen.

Evil Mind-Reader: goodnight Ai-chan (´∀｀)♡

Following the text was the picture he’d taken on the ferris wheel. Her eyes were shut tight in the image, face bright red. His arm was around her and he leaned his head close to hers with that ever-present grin. The view of the park was visible behind them, creating a pretty backdrop.

It was cute. 

Ai tossed her phone, grabbed her pillow, and slammed it into her face.

It was so cute.

The rest of the trip went by blissfully uneventfully. Ai and her group wandered around the town, enjoying their time without the presence of those annoying guys. Miki and Ai visited the historical town’s sights with Yae and Kotoko, enjoying the ambiance away from the bustling city they called home.

They got icecream and lunch and sat outside to eat. Yae was in a significantly better mood than the prior day, and though Ai felt betrayed by the tall girl, she wasn’t going to allow it to bother anymore. Kotoko told them her theory that Koyuki Seri and Hanadori Kabuto were secretly pining for one another, and the events that transpired on her Ferris wheel ride.

Ai didn’t know whether or not she should tell her Koyuki in fact had a crush on her…but then again, she didn’t know what was going on between he and Hanadori. It sure would explain some questionable behavior.

They ended the day with high spirits and full bellies. The girls took several pictures together, and Ai was pleased to save them in her camera roll to look at as memories with her friends. She embarrassed herself if she scrolled too far up, where she had saved Tsukimiya’s picture despite herself. It would be her dirty little secret.

Family outings were few and far between for the Orihamas. Between schooling for Ai and her parents’ demanding jobs, it was a rare occasion for them to be home at the same time before it was time to go to sleep. That weekend, however, both of her parents made time to take their kids out as a treat.

Ai, of course, took this as an opportunity to dress her baby brothers cute. She herself had a pretty knee-length skirt covered in a cute strawberry floral pattern, matching perfectly with her strawberry earrings. She dressed her brothers to match her color scheme, and their parents had them pose for a picture before they left the house.

The plan for the evening was to see a movie, then head to dinner. The entire walk to the movie theater had Haru and Ryo holding their sister’s hands as they walked down the sidewalk. Her back was a little sore from bending Haru’s way, but the overload of cuteness from both sides kept her hobbling happily.

The movie went well, too. The boys wanted to sit with their sister, while their parents sat behind them. It was a children's movie about a fish that was swept away from his home and had to make his way across Japan, through fish tanks and streams, and for one terrifying moment, a puddle, just so he could find his grandma. Ai and her brothers cried unabashedly. The movie had been out for a while by then, so there were only a couple other people in the showing with them—that meant she wasn’t too embarrassed when the lights came on and she was blowing her nose into a napkin. 

“Did you enjoy the movie, boys?” Orihama Tatsume asked his sons with a smile, glasses fallen to the bridge of his nose as they always did.

Haru was still rubbing his eyes, stumbling down the sidewalk to the restaurant with only his sister as his guide. Ryo nodded quickly, spinning around in circles as he walked. “I wanna swim like Hirame!” He called loudly. Their parents laughed a little at that. Tatsume looked teasingly at his daughter next.

“What about you, Sweetheart? Did you enjoy it?” She knew he was teasing her about crying, so she stuck her nose up.

“I thought it was a very touching story!” She declared, “And I’m not ashamed!”

The restaurant they decided on was a nice, lowkey family spot that had opened recently. Ai was relieved her father won out on where they were going, as opposed to her mom. If it were up to Hanako, they’d be eating four-stars every night. Ai didn't have a taste for fancy food; she thought it was too much too stuffy sitting in high-end places. Plus, the boys were too young to appreciate anything fancy.

Ai and her brothers took one side of the booth, with Ai on the outside. Her parents sat opposite her dad across from the boys. Her mother came from an upper-class family, and while she had certainly mellowed out since Ai was small, messes still bothered her a little, and Haru was at the age where he thought hitting himself in the mouth with his food was eating; Hanako had a hard time letting him eat while food was splattered all over his cheeks.

“So, how was your school trip?” Her mom asked curiously, thumbing through the menu.

Ai banished all thought of the mind-reading bastard. “I had a lot of fun!” She chirped, “We went to an amusement park the first day, and an old inn where we got to use the bath house and sleep in the same room as all the other girls in the grade,” she informed. “The second day was fun, too. I got to wander around the temple and town with Miki-chan and a couple other friends.”

Hanako hummed, smiling, “That sounds like fun.”

Ai nodded quickly, looking up with eager eyes, “It was! We also went to—” her words faltered, a cold sweat immediately breaking out over her skin.

“Sweetheart?”

Behind her mother, four booths down, sat none other than the three most annoying boys in the school. Hanadori was sitting with his back in her direction, animatedly waving his hands about as he spoke. Koyuki Seri looked as miserable as always, staring with a dejected expression at his soda. Finally was him, Tsukimiya, sipping his beverage merrily, nodding along with Hanadori’s words, wearing the same dumb expression he always did.

Ai scooted down in her chair, trying to act nonchalant as she hid behind her mother’s figure. “A-ah—we went to this really neat ice cream shop!” She covered up, “They had weird flavors! Like…tuna!”

Mercifully, nobody seemed to have noticed her.

Her parents looked a little strangely at her, but Ryo took it as an invitation to get her attention. “Neechan, what that?” He pointed at his menu and she peeked over.

“That’s curry and rice,” she read, “Do you know what you want to drink yet?”

He stared at his menu, deliberating as if he could read the options, “Mmm…milk.”

Ai nodded. “Good choice. Haru?”

Haru looked at his brother first, then his menu. “Milk!” He repeated. 

“Good choice, too,” she praised, “Do you know what…neechan…wants?” Ai’s voice faded in volume, a bolt of panic overtaking her. From just a hair to her mother’s left, she got a perfect view of the weirdo table. And Tsukimiya was grinning. At her.

“Milk!” Haru responded happily, not noticing her distraction. 

Ryo shook his head knowingly. “No, no! Haru, Neechan drinks tea!” 

“Ohh…”

Tsukimiya made no move to come her way. Instead, he just…stared…keeping…eye contact. 

Oh it was such a good day! It was going so well! 

Ai couldn’t break his gaze, even as the waiter came and took their order. She hardly remembered what she had chosen, too terror-stricken to think straight. She had the worst feeling that if she were to break eye-contact, something bad was going to happen.

“Ai, are you feeling okay?” Ai’s eyes snapped over to her father’s concerned frown, meeting his identical blue eyes with alarm.

No!

She looked back, sitting up straight as she saw Tsukimiya was on his feet, approaching. 

No, no, no, no—

“Ai-chan!” All four of her family members’ heads swiveled at the familiar greeting, meeting the newcomer with curiosity. “What a coincidence!”

Quietly, hatefully, she mumbled, “Is it ever? Really?”

Tsukimiya laughed like he somehow didn’t manipulate the universe to have them meet in the same restaurant at the same time on the same day. AI’s mother smiled politely, crossing her hands on the table.

“Ai? Aren’t you going to introduce us?”

She sniffled, pouting. Her brothers responded for her. “Utsugi-kun!” They called excitedly, sitting up on their knees to see him. He waved sweetly, as if he was actually nice.

“Hi, Ryo-kun! Haru-kun!” They grinned contentedly, glad their names were remembered. Tsukimiya turned his attention to her parents, who were understandably surprised. “I should introduce myself! My name is Tsukimiya Utsugi, I’m a friend of Ai-chan!”

Friend. Bold of you.

Ai’s father spoke up first, “I’m Ai’s father, Orihama Tatsume.” For a moment, Ai wished she didn’t have a lovable dork of a father, but one that fought off boys with a knife.

Her mother smiled, showing off her bright white smile. “I’m Orihama Hanako, Ai’s mother, but you can just call me Hanako-san!” She greeted amicably, “It’s so nice to meet you!”

Mom! No!

Tsukimiya laughed in what was supposed to be a charming manner. “I can see where Ai-chan gets her good looks, Hanako-san—I thought you were her sister! It’s nice to meet you as well!”

Ai bristled, horror overcoming her. No.

Her mother giggled sheepishly behind her hand, waving him off. “Oh, stop it!”

Was he? Was he really? His grin said it all. 

Stop flirting with my mom!

“So, Tsukimiya-kun, are you a classmate of our Ai? She doesn’t talk about many friends outside Miki-chan, of course.” Her dad asked with an all-too amicable expression.

Dad! He’s flirting with your wife right in front of you!

Tsukimiya nodded. “Mm, we’ve been in the same class since we were little, actually. It’s funny how life works out that way!

As if you didn’t alter the cosmos to achieve that.

Ai’s mom looked to her curiously. “Is that so? I wonder why you haven’t come up before,” she said, “Do you spend time together often?”

“Mom!” Ai whined, cringing at the embarrassing question parents loved asking.

Tsukimiya laughed it off, patting her shoulder twice in an overly friendly manner. “Not too often! We’ve hung out after school once or twice,” he left out the bit of it being involuntary, “And we were riding partners at the amusement park on the school trip.”

Ai cringed at the overly interested expressions her parents shot her. “Really?” Asked her dad, “She’s so quiet about her friends, I’m shocked she hasn’t told us about you!”

Tsukimiya waved them off like it wasn’t a big deal. “Ah, I’m sure Ai-chan is just being considerate as always! She probably doesn’t want to concern you with small stuff like that. She’s told me how hard the two of you work!”

No, she hadn’t—it was true, they did work hard, but she hadn’t.

Hanako gasped softly, holding a hand to her cheek, looking straight at her daughter. “Oh, Sweetheart, it isn’t a bother! You can tell us about anything!”

Ai tried to dismiss it, “Oh, mom, that’s not it, really—” 

“Sweetie, we don’t want you to think you can’t talk to us,” her father told her sternly, though he must have seen her reluctance on the topic, because he switched it quickly. “So you went to the amusement park with her—we were just talking about that! Did you have a good time.”

Ai sighed a breath of relief now that the attention was off her. 

“Of course! Ai-chan and I went on the rollercoaster, and the carousel, and the gondolas, and the ferris wheel,” Ai returned to cringing; the rides he listed implied something she didn’t want her parents to think, “And we even went in the haunted house!”

Hanako frowned. “Sweetie, aren’t you afraid of spooky stuff?”

Her cheeks heated up at the memory. Before she could respond, he cut in again, “Ai-chan acted brave, but she was holding onto me the entire time! She was so scared that she didn’t let go once!”

Ai choked on her tea, the looks she was receiving from her parents telling her they caught on to exactly what he was trying to imply.

“Th-that’s not true!” She fibbed, knowing exactly how guilty she looked.

Her mother laughed at her. “Oh, don’t lie! You’re a scaredy-cat just like your mother!” Tatsume joined in on her laughter, leaving Ai red in the face.

“Oh? Are you afraid of ghosts, too, Hanako-san?” Ai didn’t like the way he said her mother’s name.

“I have to confess, I really just can’t handle that kind of thing!” She said. Tsukimiya hummed, taking on a teasing note.

“Well, it always is the pretty ones that the ghost gets first in the movies!” Tsukimiya and her parents all laughed together. Ai was practically choking on revulsion.

Suddenly, she shot up in her seat, accidentally banging her knee in the process. She ignored it, pointing behind her mom.

“Is that Koyuki-kun and Hanadori-kun?!” She exclaimed, as if they hadn’t been there, acting like they hadn’t been staring the entire time. “Tsukimiya! Come with me, I want to say hi!”

Tsukimiya hummed, shrugging. “Oh, those two? I came with them! You can go ahead, Ai-chan. Let them know I’ll be right back.”

Hanako waved her off. “Go ahead, Sweetie, we want to get to know Utsugi-kun a little better!” 

Utsugi-kun?!

Ai flashed her parents a fake smile, glowering the moment she left their line of sight. Angrily, she stomped toward her other two classmates, fists clenched at her strawberry-clad sides. She rounded to their table, and the pair shrunk at the fury painted on their usually amicable classmate’s face.

“O-Orihama-chan—”

She put her fists on their table, leaning closer. “Get your leader over here and make him stop flirting with my mom.” She hissed out, and they flinched away. 

Bravely, Hanadori stuttered, his inability to look at women keeping him from meeting her eyes. “I-I am Miguel—ruler of…ruler of Hell…and I have no-no-no leader, w-woman—”

Ai rounded at him, practically steaming from her ears. “I said get your leader over here, Hanadori, or I’m really sending you hell.” He audibly yelped at that, sliding all the way away, against the wall. 

 “G-Gestöber!”

Koyuki Seri gulped, holding up his hands. “I don’t think he’s going to listen to us! Tsukimiya-kun—”

“Try.”

Without another protest, Koyuki whipped out his phone, smashing the buttons rapidly. Ai looked back at the table, glaring still as Tsukimiya pulled out his phone to check whatever his friend had sent him. He looked over at her and smiled, then back to her family. Ai marched his way.

“I’m so glad I got the opportunity to meet Ai-chan’s parents!” He was saying as she returned. 

Her father nodded in agreement. “It was good to meet you, young man!”

Her mother held a coy hand against her cheek. “Very glad to meet you, Utsugi-kun! We’ll have to have you over for dinner one night! I’ll give me my num–”

Ai intercepted, sliding up by Tsukimiya. “That’s okay, mom! I have his number! I can text him!”

Ai didn’t like that her mother seemed a little disappointed at that. “Oh, alright then.”

Tsukimiya bowed one last time to them. “It was very nice meeting you!” He smiled, “Bye, Ryo-kun, Haru-kun!”

“Bye!”

“Bye Utsugi-kuuun!”

Ai hoped he could hear how much she hated him with his mind-reading powers. He smiled at her last. “Bye, Ai-chan, I’ll see you on Monday! Remind me, we have to go to the city library together again, soon!”

She narrowed her eyes. “Bye.”

Once he’d walked off to rejoin his friends, Ai sat back in her spot, taking a deep breath to collect herself. Her father was looking at her knowingly. “So, Tsukimiya-kun, huh?”

Her mother waved a hand. “What a fine young man!”

The morning of the class cultural festival, Ai was anxious. After Sensei informed them there was a competition going between the classes with cafés and food, Tsukimiya appeared particularly fired up. The intensity in which he took to coordinating them was downright scary. It was watching a horde of puppets on strings, dancing along to the movement of his fingers. Ai didn’t feel like putting up too much resistance against him that day; he was scary when he was motivated.

“Your costume is cute,” Miki commented, straightening the bow on the back of her yukata, “I wish mine was that cute.”

Each of the students serving, or at least of the floor, were given unique costumes to wear around the customers. Ai didn’t know who was in charge of choosing them, but she did feel cute…or at least as cute as one could feel when they followed the theme of Purgatory.

Her yukata was a muted blue, like the moon reflecting off a lake. There were subtle, glittering white details that looked like fallen snow, accessorized by a pearly white ribbon in the middle, and tiny matching flowers weaved into the sides of her short ink-black hair. 

“You think?” She asked her friend, “you look cute, too, Miki-chan!” Though, as kitchen staff, Miki’s was not as intricate. Hers remained a similarly muted green, like soft moss on a stone.

“Aiii-chan!” The girl in question flinched at the sound of her name, “Come, come, you have customers to wait on!” She shivered, shooting Miki a reluctant grimace. She obeyed though, wandering over to where the mind-reader was directing people.

“Right there, Ai-chan!” He told her, pointing at a table of boys by the window, “Try to get them to spend all their money! Act cute!” Ai shrunk away from his enthusiasm, glancing at the table with a little nervousness.

“Act…cute? I don’t think that’ll—” he cut her off with a wave and grabbed her by the shoulders, spinning her around while he walked toward them.

“Sure it will! Go ‘What do you need, Senpai? I’m here to serve you, Senpai! Oops, I dropped my clipboard, Senpai!’” Ai gaped, resisting his push.

“But—Tsukimiya—”

With one final shove, she was close enough to them for one of the upperclassmen to notice her standing there. Nervously, she glanced back to Tsukimiya, who was already halfway across the room, staring right back. He imitated a little smile, cupping his cheeks in hand. She gulped, turning back, and approached with flushed cheeks.

“H-Hello, Senpai’s! My name is Ai-chan! Can I please take your orders?” She asked shyly.

It was painful. It was embarrassing. But Ai gave them the dumbest, most innocent expression she could muster, angling her chin downward to look up at the table of four with big eyes. She was sure they would laugh or cringe and it was hands down the most embarrassing thing she had done that week, but…they…blushed?

“A-Ah—I’ll get the matcha tea!”

“I’ll get the green tea, please!” Ai wrote down these orders, imitating Haru’s cute expression when she looked back up. 

The third boy smiled at her, sheepishly showing her the menu. “Ah…I’m not sure what to get! Can you recommend something, please?”

Ai almost told him the peach tea was really good. Then she paused, leaning closer to look at the menu. Her eyes raked the laminated sheet until they landed on the drink with the highest price tag. She tapped it eagerly, a little close for her liking.

“This one, Senpai! The matcha tea latte is so tasty! You have to try it!” She insisted and he didn’t even look at the menu, just nodded quickly.

“Okay, that, then!” She jotted it down in the large size, looking at the last boy. He was staring at her too, blinking quickly when she looked at him.

“Me as well—that’s fine.”

She nodded and addressed the table again. “Were you getting anything to eat?” Ai hated how sweet her voice sounded. They shook their heads and she could feel Tsukimiya boring holes into the back of her head. Ai made a ‘ahhh?’ Sound, pouting, and clapped her hands together, trying to convey her eagerness. “Oh, but you have to try the matcha red-bean dango! It goes so perfectly with the matcha!”

The one that had asked her for a suggestion cleared his throat, smiling at her. “O-Okay! I’ll take an order.” She nodded happily, tilting her head sweetly to the side.

“Okay! I got to help make those ones, too! I put lots of effort into it, so I hope you enjoy it, Senpai!”

It was as if a dam broke. It was a lie, but it did the trick.

“A-ah, I’ll get an order, too!”

“Me too!”

“Could I actually switch my drink from green tea to a matcha latte, too? And I’ll also add an order.”

Ai giggled happily, jotting down on her notepad. “Of course! Did you also want a plate of sandwiches to share? It comes with four slices!” 

“Sure, yeah!”

Ai bowed quickly, beaming expression still plastered on her face. “Thank you, Senpais! I’ll be right back with your order! Wait for me!”

The moment she turned away, Ai felt slimy. She felt as if she had somehow lied to all those poor upperclassmen boys. Then, she looked at the order, and that feeling went away. Tsukimiya was waiting by the kitchen area when she approached, grinning.

“See! I could feel the cuteness from here. What did they order?” She wordlessly handed him the notepad, and his grin suddenly felt evil. “That’s my Ai-chan. Keep up the hard work.” 

 Ai wasn’t sure if she liked how he said that. Somehow she felt…used.

The next hour and a half continued like that, and Ai kept busy as she waited on tables and bounced between them and the kitchen. Most often she was directed towards upperclassmen boys, Tsukimiya rambling something about her cute-approached selling well with the third years. She also waited on a good number of couples, where she used the approach of convincing the girl to order a bunch and let their boyfriends foot the bill.

When she got a minute's break from running around, she wandered back by the kitchen. Tsukimiya was standing there, looking proudly over what became his cafe. She absently thought he might be too good of a businessman. Hanadori and Koyuki Seri were hanging around as well, surveying the kitchen. 

“Ai-chan!” Tsukimiya greeted happily as she approached, “You’re our best seller, right after Hanadori-kun.” He told her, and Ai would be slightly offended, it being Hanadori of all people, but her eyes flashed to the strange purple-haired guy and his twenty plates of dango. “Way to turn up the cute charm!” He went to pinch her cheek, getting in a good squeeze before she batted his hands away with a pout.

“Stop that!” She groaned, “That hurts.”

That’s when Hanadori turned around, holding his tray of dango. He made eye contact and gasped, shuffling behind Koyuki. “Tsukimiya’s woman!” He hissed quietly, sweating as if she’d hurt him. Ai coughed.

“A-ah, hello Hanadori-kun, Koyuki-kun. I’m sorry about the other night,” she apologized, “I was frustrated with Tsukimiya, and shouldn’t have taken it out on you two.” The mind-reader hummed, looking at his friends.

Koyuki laughed awkwardly, waving her off. “That’s okay, it’s understandable!” He said. Hanadori didn’t budge. He was practically trembling behind Koyuki, staring at her with a suspicious, narrowed gaze.

Ai ordinarily wouldn’t have cared as much as she did, but her behavior was rather egregious. It wasn’t their fault Tsukimiya was an evil monster. Plus, the pair had worked really hard bringing together the class for the cafe. Hanadori especially was to thank for the amazing organization. Koyuki worked hard, too.

So, despite herself, Ai smiled warmly, leaning to the side a little to better see her eccentric classmate. “I’m really sorry, Miguel-san, let me buy you a drink.”

That seemed to do the trick. Instead of the suspicion, Hanadori turned red, avoiding her gaze completely. He played with his fingers, shoulders rocking shyly. He looked to the side, “M-Milk latte!” He stuttered out. Ai nodded.

“Okay, I’ll buy you a milk latte.”

Tsukimiya, meanwhile, was pouting. He put his hands on his hips. “You never offer to buy me anything, Ai-chan,” he interjected, “Even though you’re my woman!”

Ai bristled, color rising in her face. Perhaps it was the residual anger for flirting with her mother, but Ai’s temper spiked. “I am not your ‘woman’—in fact, I can’t stand you. And maybe if you weren’t harassing me all the time, I’d be more inclined to treat you better.” She snapped back, and his minions seemed startled at the apparent aggression she harbored for him.

Tsukimiya laughed, “Aw, Ai-chan,” he reared up, and she prepared herself for what she anticipated was going to be a big one, “You act like you don’t enjoy the attention. If you didn’t care as much about what I think or what I do as you say you do, you wouldn’t react nearly as intensely as you do. Stop pretending you dislike me all the time, because that’s just not true. In fact, there’s plenty of instances where you act calmly around me, and plenty of times we’ve been alone together where you’ve enjoyed my company. You like the attention I give you; you just don’t want to admit you look forward to it.”

For ten whole seconds…Ai didn’t react. His friends didn’t react. Tsukimiya just stood there, grinning, allowing his harsh words to sink in. And when they did, Ai calmly turned to where the kitchen staff were lining up the ready dishes and took a drink for her table. And she walked away.

She was no stranger to his hard-truths. She’d received a few of them in the time she knew him. But they were never like that. They never had to do with whatever weird mixed up relationship they had. He had never come out and said exactly what he knew she felt. She felt uncomfortable and exposed and guilty and just…tired. She was tired of him. She was tired of dancing around him, the constant carrot and stick between relentless teasing and those few disarmingly good moments. She wanted nothing more than to feel like she claimed she did, and hate him.

She ignored him for the next long while, whether or not he tried to interact with her—and he didn’t. She continued her cutesy act, using it more as a distraction than anything, even if it made her feel stupid. Evidently, Koyuki must have felt a little bad for her, because when traffic paused, he shuffled over to her, smiling carefully. 

“Hey, Orihama-chan,” he started, “A friend of mine in another class said to check out his class stall—apparently they’re telling fortunes and it’s really popular. A few of us are going. Did you want to?”

He probably expected her to say no, because he seemed surprised when she agreed. She hadn’t gotten a break all morning, so the prospect of stepping outside to see what other classes were doing sounded appealing, even in her rut. She had figured Tsukimiya would be among them. She hadn’t thought he meant just his weird group of friends. While they walked to the next class, she pointedly did not look at the mind-reader, instead keeping pace with Hanadori, who seemed to be sweating a significant amount in her presence. She appreciated how tall he was, a fact she hadn’t noticed before, seeing as he made a good barrier. It kept her from peeking.

The fortune teller turned out to be their class’s Mogami’s twin sister, an equally strange character. She learned things about Mogami’s obsession with Koyuki Seri that she really did not need to hear. And then she learned stories about Koyuki she did not need to.

“We can’t go letting you take the number one spot! So we’re here to wreck your dojo!” 

Ai wanted to leave. Of course it was something like this—she just wanted to see Kotoko and Yae’s class performance. 

“This is a fortune telling cafe.” Suzuran stated plainly. Tsukimiya hummed in acknowledgment, taking the seat across from her.

“Yes, which is why I’m going to fight you with fortune telling. I don’t even need tools. I listen to the voice of the universe.” Ai narrowed her eyes; was he being serious, or just playing it up? She would believe either.  “Everything is occurring exactly how destiny has foreordained.”

And Tsukimiya ripped into her.

“Everything you’re doing is not fortune telling. It’s a combination of knowledge and wisdom gained through obsessive observation. And the cards are just props. Am I wrong, Mogami Suzuran-san?”

She didn’t allow emotion to take hold. She threw down the cards, standing as she faced him without expression. “So? Are you telling me to close up shop if I don’t want you telling everyone?” 

“No!” Tsukimiya offered a hand, a dazzling smile taking over. “Just to come to our cafe and buy something!”

Suzuran seemed surprised. She straightened up. “You’re going to poison the tea.” Ai decided she was rooting for the weird girl; she’d rather lose the stupid competition if it meant Tsukimiya got humbled. “I read the fortunes of everyone in that class. And yours said, ‘Stay away from Tsukimiya Utsugi’.”

Get him, Suzuran!

She went to pass him, but Tsukimiya reached out, grabbing her hand. Ai’s heart dropped into her stomach. 

“But coming is what destiny foreordained; I can see it in your eyes.” She turned back slowly, and a moment seemed to pass between the two. Ai couldn’t see well in the dim light, but it almost seemed like he opened his eyes. “Good girl…”

Mogami Suzuran promptly passed out, falling directly into Tsukimiya’s lap. 

Ai didn’t stay, turning around and leaving the room. No, she had seen everything she needed to; she was done with Tsukimiya Utsugi and her stupid crush. And that was it.

And she knew she was so angry because he grabbed her hand and had a whole moment with that one random weird girl. She felt all weird and scrunchy and gross inside because she was kind of jealous and kind of scared and wondering whether or not Tsukimiya Utsugi was just toying with her like that. That’s all it ever took for her, too—a little handhold here and there and she melted for the evil bastard. Every. Time.

Miki greeted her jovially when she came back, and Ai tried to match it. She knew her friend wasn’t buying it, but she wore her best game-face anyway. Under no circumstances would she let that bastard see how she was feeling inside. So she took a deep breath, stood a little taller, and returned to waiting on customers.

She couldn’t help feeling back on edge when the weirdo conglomerate returned, and she was once again in the same room as him. However, when she waited on a particular customer, Ai’s mood changed for the better.

“Hello, welcome to—oh!” She paused, unsure if the upperclassman in question remembered her.

He smiled kindly, sitting all alone at a table. “Hey, Orihama-chan. I don’t think I introduced myself.”

Ai mirrored his smile, notebook falling. She certainly recognized him, thinking back to the sports festival—before Tsukimiya cut in, she was going to ask him to be her partner. She found herself a little pleased he knew her name, despite never introducing herself. “You’re Yukihara Asahi, right?” She guessed, and by his brightening expression, she guessed right. “Did you stop by for some dango? A drink?”

He shrugged a little sheepishly, “Sure…would you…maybe let me buy you one, too?”

Ai blinked. “Now?” She asked. He nodded. She didn’t debate her answer too long; it’d been a long, hard day. The only drink she bought was for Hanadori, and she thought she deserved to sit down. And he was cute!

“I would like that, very much,” she said, decidedly, “I’ll tell the kitchen what we want and be right back!”

Yukihara picked a menu item and Ai did exactly that. Miki gaped openly when she told her she was taking a break to sit with their cute senpai. Ai felt some kind of victory, sitting down with a sweet smile, less excited about sitting with a cute boy as much as glad to indirectly show Tsukimiya that he wasn’t the only guy she could talk to.

“Are you enjoying the class festival, Senpai?” She asked when she sat down, holding her milk latte close. Asahi nodded.

“Some of the classes really went all out. Mine just did a magic show. It wasn’t anything crazy.” He told her. Ai hummed.

“I wish I could have visited more; I haven’t really been able to leave here for very long. We’re pretty busy.” 

 Ai chatted with the older student for a long while. She decidedly enjoyed his company. Yukihara was sweet and funny. He made her laugh a few times, and Ai was disappointed when she finished her drink and it was time for her to help close up shop. Asahi cleared his throat nervously when they stood, pulling at his collar.

“Actually, Orihama-chan…” he trailed off, “I was wondering if you’d like to catch a movie tomorrow night.”

She was surprised at that. They’d never interacted really, so the fact that he made his way down to see her had been strange enough. Ai had never thought she was particularly attractive—she was always so short and a little thin. She thought she looked younger than she actually was, and for a young teen that had never been something desirable. Her friends were usually the ones being asked out, so for her to be on the receiving end of someone’s attention was something new.

Her mind couldn’t help wandering to stupid Tsukimiya. It felt almost like a betrayal, even though he made it pretty clear he was just bullying her. It felt kind of like a betrayal to her own feelings. But, after earlier, whatever reservations she had about moving on from him were as good as gone. She wanted to hate Tsukimiya Utsugi.

“I think I would like that a lot.” She finally decided, smiling up at him. “That sounds like fun.”

After he said his goodbyes and exchanged numbers, Ai turned back to help with cleanup. Briefly, she met Tsukimiya’s look from where he was watching from across the room, and just as quickly turned away, chin held high.

“You’re crazy, Ai-chan,” Miki told her insistently the next day. “I don’t know about this…”

Ai frowned from her place on the floor by the mirror. That school day had been dedicated mostly to cleanup and general wrap-up of the previous day’s festivities. Miki had voiced her misgivings with Ai’s impromptu date a few times leading up to her watching Ai get ready. 

Ai ran through her hair, making sure it waved nicely at the ends. She had her bangs pinned back, out of her face with a cute pear clip she got at a craft event. It went nicely with her tan dress and green cardigan. She felt cute in this outfit, as she always did when her fruit jewelry matched.

She sighed, spinning around. Miki was laying on her stomach, pouting down at Ai from the bed. “What don’t you know?” She asked.

Miki’s feet kicked up behind her. “I just don’t feel like you should be accepting a date with Yukihara-senpai…doesn’t it feel a little like cheating?”

Ai huffed, bringing her knees up to hold. “We were never dating! You know that,” she added in an undertone, “He didn’t even like me. He just liked messing with me.”

“You always say that,” Miki whined suddenly, “I don’t think that’s true! You didn’t see how Tsukimiya-kun kept looking at you two.”

“It doesn’t matter,” she wasn’t sure who she was trying to convince. She didn’t want to think about the hopeful feeling that brought, “I’m sick of it all! I don’t want to like him any more.”

Miki sat up, scooting off the bed so she could sit in front of Ai. “Ai-chan…about what he said earlier,” she took a deep breath, looking nervous, as if what she was about to say would upset her friend, “I don’t think any of what he said was…wrong?”

Ai didn’t get mad. “I know. And that’s what’s making me so mad.” She admitted, “Why can’t I want to like someone that doesn’t make me mad or embarrassed every other minute? Maybe I just want a cute, normal relationship.” She sat up on her knees, smoothing out her skirt. Quietly, she added, “Mogami Suzuran can have him for all I care.”

Miki groaned. “So you’re just jealous!”

Ai put her nose up in the air, standing straight. “It’s almost four-thirty! I have to go!”

Miki sighed, following her friend to the door. “I just think you pushing yourself to like Yukihara-senpai isn’t going to help anyone. I’m just worried about you, Ai-chan. I just want you to be happy.”

Ai grabbed her hand, holding it as they left the house, “I know, Miki-chan. Thank you.”

Ai met Asahi outside the local theater. He was already there waiting, hands stuffed in his pockets and staring up at the showings list as she came up. She realized he was a head and a half taller than her as she did—Ai was shorter, but she wasn’t that short. She’d always liked tall guys, but approaching him was almost scary.

“Hello, Yukihara-senpai.” She greeted, coming to a stop. He looked down quickly, a smile growing when he saw her. “Orihama-chan!” He exclaimed, “You look so pretty!”

That was an opener. It might have been the abruptness at the compliment, but she mercifully didn’t light up red at his words. She touched her cheek, just to be sure, trying to play it off with a laugh. 

“Oh, thank you!” She said quickly, “What are we seeing?”

Yukihara pointed up at the titles, “I was thinking ‘Dangerous Ride 3’! Are you a fan?” He asked eagerly. Ai raised her brows consideringly.

Truthfully, she hasn’t seen the first two. In fact, she actively skipped through the trailers when they came up as ads. She used the restroom during the trailer, even though trailers were her favorite part of the cinema experience. A high-speeds chase around the world, highlighting fancy super cars and aquatic rovers was the last thing she wanted to sit through.

“I can’t say I am…”

He waved her off. “Ah, that’s okay. You don’t need to know the story, anyway; it’s more about the cars and the action.” Her heart constricted painfully; oh, she was obsessed with a good story. It’s why she consumed almost exclusively fiction. She could get down with a good action movie, so long as it had some kind of direction. Godzilla was her favorite franchise growing up.

“O-Okay!”

He bought her ticket and a popcorn to share. She got them drinks, not wanting to let him pay for everything, and he didn’t protest. The theater was relatively crowded, but they got good seats right in the middle, as he’d shown up early enough to purchase the seats before he waited for her outside. She thought it was sweet he was so well-prepared, despite being less than thrilled about the title.

Ai could barely pay attention to the film. It was the longest one hour and forty-two minutes of her life, in fact. She couldn’t help but focus on trying to time her grab for popcorn as his hand cleared the tub. She didn’t know why she was so afraid to touch his hand, but she was. She worried, briefly, if she developed an aversion to hand-holding because of—

Ah, close. You’re on a date. Don’t think about that. 

He, on the other hand, was absolutely loving it. Every time she snuck a glance, Asahi was wearing a big smile, visually reacting to every explosion. It was kind of cute, she thought. Likewise, when they walked out, he couldn’t stop rambling about the different scenes, looking just like how her little brothers explained how Anpanman saves the day. Except he wasn’t as cute as her baby brothers. Obviously.

“Did you like it?” He finally asked, looking eagerly down at her as they walked. Ai smiled.

“It was fun!”

It was enough to placate him, and he went into another speal about a certain driving maneuver. He only paused when they came to the end of the theater sidewalk. “Did you want to get dinner?” He asked. Ai really wasn’t hungry, seeing as they downed a whole bucket of popcorn, but she wanted to give this date a better chance to end.

“I could eat.”

They ended up at a ramen shop, and Ai just barely banished the memory of the last not-a-date she went on. If Asahi noticed her distraction, he didn’t say anything. They sat in a corner booth, and ordered quickly.

“So, what do you do for fun, Orihama-chan?” He asked curiously. She drummed her fingers on her legs. 

“Oh, I like to read! I used to go to the library real often when I was younger, but school keeps me busy.”

He made a noise like amazement. “You must be so smart! I can’t remember the last time I read for fun,” she dropped a bit internally at that, “What’s the last book you read?”

“It was—” she stumbled, remembering the book on her nightstand. 

It was the book Tsukimiya had let her check out under his name. She finished it a couple days prior, and had been meaning to give it back. It really was an amazing read, and she’d jotted down the title and author in her journal of mysteries she’d enjoyed. She had been hoping to read another work by that author.

“It was a mystery,” she finished, and this time he did seem to notice her misstep, “I had fun reading it.” He nodded slowly, seemingly thinking, “What about you, Senpai?”

His smile returned. “I swim. I’m in the swim club at school.”

“That’s cool,” she said and meant it, “So do you compete against other schools?”

The pair chatted on and off about hobbies and school. While she found they shared very few interests, Ai did appreciate his personality. He was a bit goofy and eager to talk, and Ai would have believed him if he told her he had never even stepped on an ant. He was so genuinely, amazingly sweet, that she felt awful for not getting those butterflies when he looked at her. 

“You seemed a little distracted earlier,” he noted over their noodles, “Are you having a good time?”

Ai nodded quickly, “Yes! Yeah! I’m really having a nice time, Yukihara-senpai.”

His smile was a little smaller at her insistence. He took a bite, not meeting her eyes. “You know…I was surprised you agreed to go with me tonight.” He told her. 

She frowned. “Why is that?”

He shrugged, peeking up between his bangs, before straightening up. “I don’t know—I kind of got the impression that you and Tsukimiya Utsugi were a thing.”

Ai visibly cringed at that, disappointment overtaking her face. He raised an eyebrow. “No,” she said firmly, “We…no way. I can’t stand that guy.” This time she flinched at herself; it was exactly what she told him the previous day that had prompted his hard-truth.

Asahi smiled knowingly, but it was marred by a bit of disappointment. “Is that true?”

And Ai sighed, deflating in her seat. Because she knew it wasn’t true. She really didn’t hate Tsukimiya. She liked him a lot. She like how they could talk about books and how he humored her on park rides and how he would grab her hand to lead her places. She liked his stupid laugh and the fact he always kept her on her toes. She liked that there was never a dull moment when he was around, whether she was mad or sad or glad because of it. She liked that even though he could hurt her feelings, he could and would always make her feel better afterwards. Tsukimiya Utsugi was a menace, but…she really, really liked him.

“No,” she mumbled, “I just…he said some stuff that bothered me really bad. And I promise we aren’t together, or anything like that,” she pouted into her reflection off the broth, “I don’t even think he likes me in that way.”

Asahi barked a short laugh suddenly, causing her to jump. When she looked up, he waved his hand. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to laugh!” He said, “I just think you’re wrong about that.” She looked at him oddly, and he shrugged, “Tsukimiya is kind of a scary guy, but he’s still a guy. From the way he was looking at us yesterday, I was kind of worried you really were together. I can tell…he likes you.”

Despite her frustration in regards to the blond, Ai’s heart warmed with hope. It wasn’t the first time someone had said that…but it was different when it wasn’t her best friend. She bit her lip.

“You…think so?”

He nodded. “For sure. Besides,” he gestured at her with enthusiasm, bringing a grin to his face, “Look at you! How couldn’t he? That would just be dumb of him!” Ai giggled, this time blushing from his blatant praise of her.

“Thank you, Senpai,” she said with sincerity, “Really. I mean it. You’re a great guy.” He shrugged, acting as if he’d heard it all before. “I’m sorry I let you take me out.”

“Don’t worry about it,” he slurped another mouthful, “I’m a little disappointed, but I still got to see an awesome movie, and ate ramen with a cool girl. Seems like a good night to me.”

He walked her home and waved as she went inside. Ai greeted her family and made a beeline straight to her room, and right to bed. She flopped down, grabbing her pillow and holding it close. She knew what she was going to have to do.

“Ai-chan, let’s go on another date!”

It was the end of the school day, and Ai just wanted peace. Peace. She was tired and there’d been a really hard test that she thought she did really well on, but she had to give it her all. Now, burnt out, standing at the shoe lockers, Ai wished she could just have peace. 

“You don’t really want peace. You just want to go be lazy at home and watch romcom reruns. Let’s do something fun instead.”

Ai cringed at the blatant mind-reading, turning to look up at him. He wasn’t wrong; she had originally meant to go to the mall with Miki, but her parents wanted her home early that evening. Her schedule cleared and Ai just decided to be lazy. Tsukimiya was right, though, and she was just making excuses.

“What did you want to do?” She asked, “And it’s not a date.”

Tsukimiya grinned, giving her a little shrug. “We can go get books at the library, then walk around the mall. Hijame-chan said you wanted to go.” So Miki was meddling. The mention of the library did, however, cause a little excitement to bubble up her chest.

Ai adjusted her backpack, scanning for the girl in question. “Do you mind if I go home to drop off my stuff first? Maybe change my clothes?”

Tsukimiya hummed, nodding. “That’s fine, I’ll do the same. I can meet at your place.” Ai wondered for a moment when she had become so friendly enough with the most evil guy she had ever met to be so casual in accepting an invitation to spend time with him. “That’s fine. Do you remember where I live?” He nodded, his ever-present smile growing a bit.

“That’s a silly question!” He backed away, waving, “See you later, Ai-chan! It’s a date!”

Around her, a few people turned to stare and she suddenly felt like standing him up. Her face burned, and she hid it back in the locker. Annoying bastard.

Ai and Miki talked the entire way back home. Miki admitted she had suggested the pair of them do something in her absence, a fact Ai was both grateful for and not; she was still confused on the relationship between she and the evil mind reader. She didn’t know whether she wanted to spend time with him, or simply go back to ignoring his presence. Miki told her that she thought she was dumb and they would make a cute couple. Ai cringed.

The moment she waved goodbye to her best friend, Ai ran up the stairs to her place, and inside. Haru and Ryo shouted their greetings as she entered, and she spared them each a hug and a spin before she was rushing into her room and tearing off her clothes.

“Sweetheart, what are you doing?” Her mother called from the room over. Ai hastily flicked through the clothes hanging in her closet.

“I’m going out!” She called back, snatching up her yellow gingham dress. She put it on over a white shirt and poked her cute lemon earrings in. Within a few minutes, Ai was spinning in a little circle, admiring her cute little outfit with a satisfied grin.

Then she stopped, realizing she was making herself cute to go into town with him.

Shame, Ai-chan. Shame.

But…her new approach to dealing with Tsukimiya was to just not think too much about everything. So if Tsukimiya wanted to think she was out here dressing cute for him, he could think that. The fact of the matter was that she liked looking cute. So she was going to dress cute.

Ai took a picture of herself in her mirror and sent it to Miki as requested. Her friend replied with satisfaction and a picture of her own going-out fit; she and her parents were going to some important business dinner with her dad’s boss. After telling her Miki how amazing she looked, Ai swiped over to the chat for the bastard himself, nervously hovering over the characters for a minute. Looking at the messages, she realized she had never actually texted him back, despite there being full one-sided conversations. She took a deep breath and typed.

Are you far? Text me when you’re outside.

She exhaled, reading it thrice before hitting send, infinitely proud of herself. Only a moment went by before her phone chimed.

Evil Mind-Reader: I’m already here Ai-chan(✯◡✯)

Ai froze. Suddenly, she could hear the mumbling of speaking and laughter outside of her room.

Evil Mind-Reader: Your mom is so cute!!

Ai threw her bedroom door open, stomping into the living room. Lo and behold, Tsukimiya was sitting pretty on her sofa, legs crossed, and smiling at her mother. Hanako sat in the armchair beside it, body pointed toward him. Her cheeks were a little flushed, and she was laughing at something he had said. Haru and Ryo were sitting on the sofa next to him, playing with toys, clearly wanting his attention but too shy to actively get it. He was undeserving of her cute baby brothers’ attention.

“Oh, hi Sweetheart,” her mother greeted, as if she had just gotten home, “Utsugi-kun is here!”

Ai glowered, reaching down to pick up her brothers on either hip, the sight comical as she was both small and they were getting too big to hold like that. They laughed as she waddled, oblivious to her fury. Tsukimiya grinned, waving all innocently, as if he totally wasn’t probably flirting with her mom.

“I see that, Mom,” she hissed out, “Tsukimiya text me next time before you get here.” 

He ah’d, as if surprised. “Are you inviting me over again?”

Her mom waved a hand. “We should host Utsugi-kun for dinner!”

Ai swung around, making the boys giggle again. “No way,” she said with finality, “I’m grabbing my bag, then we’re leaving.”

Ai tossed Haru and Ryo one at a time onto Ryo’s bed, leaving them cackling in her wake. She quickly shuffled into her bedroom, shoving her wallet, library book, and phone into a brown satchel. She didn’t want to leave her mom and Tsukimiya alone together in a room for any period of time.

“Don’t worry, Ai-Chan, I’m right here.”

She jumped, spinning around. Tsukimiya laughed loudly in her doorway, probably enjoying the fear that crossed her face. Ai steamed, walking toward him with the intention of pushing him right out. He dodged her, stepping inside.

“Your room is so cute,” he told her, behind over to look at the pictures lining her dresser, “Ahh, you’re so cute, Ai-chan!” He pointed at one in particular of her and her parents at a beach when she was little. They were all laying on towels, smiling at the camera, but Ai didn’t have bottoms on and her bare bum was covered in sand. She gasped loudly, slamming the photo forward, bright red in the face; it was a cute photo, really, but even if it was her baby butt, the thought of Tsukimiya seeing that horrified her.

“Tsukimiya! Get out!” She cried. He ignored her, sliding toward her bed to admire the conglomerate of stuffed animals sitting proudly where she arranged them that morning. He picked up her favorite, Puripuri the kitten, from the pile, easily distinguishable by the matted once-white fur and faded pink ribbon around her neck. 

“This one must be your favorite,” he deduced, “Look how old and stained—”

Ai snatched her away, holding Puripuri close. “Don’t talk about her that way!”

Tsukimiya was cracking up by now, only succeeding in making her more flustered than she already was. She set her stuffed cat back down and marched a step forward pushing against his chest. 

“Out, out, out, out—” 

“Ai-chan, you left your underwear drawer open!”

“Out!”

It took half the walk to the library for Ai to calm down. She might have sooner, had he stopped laughing, but the hysterics followed them most of the way. Tsukimiya only ceased his evil laughter once the library was in-sight. He sighed loudly, as if winded from his constant chortling. 

“Do you know what you’re going to check out?” He asked her finally, and she sent him one last glare before calming herself. She cleared her throat.

“I really liked the book you recommended me…I was going to find another but the same author.”

He nodded in understanding. “The rest of his books are good, too. That’s my favorite, though,” she asked him what he was looking for and he hummed, “I’m going to get the next volume in the coding series, and I’ll probably look around for something else. Do you have any recommendations? Pick out another one you like.”

Oh, he knew just the way to win her heart.

A smile replaced the pout she’d been wearing, that familiar warm feeling creeping back up into her chest. She grabbed onto her satchel a little tighter, unable to stop the excitement from her face; she knew exactly what she wanted him to read. 

“Okay!” She chirped, “You, too then. I brought my wallet to get a new library card, so I can get a few.”

They returned Tsukimiya’s books and hunted down more. Ai scanned the generous selection of books under the previous author and snatched one that seemed good—the description was quite vague, but alluded to a twenty-years unsolved murder. Tsukimiya got his textbook, then a learning Swedish book. Ai thought he was funny for the weird titles he picked up, but also found it kind of cute. He picked out another novel, apparently keeping her interests in mind. It wasn’t a murder-mystery but a hunt for a missing city, gone right from under its citizens’ noses. She got excited when she read the description.

“I’m going to read this one first!” She told him happily, “This looks really good!”

Ai found exactly what she wanted him to read, talking animatedly about the writing and how everything seemed so unrelated, but the author managed to weave it all together in an insane way. She hardly noticed him nodding along, too caught up in her enthusiasm.

Following the library, they made their way to the shopping mall. Ai practically skipped there, eager to go home and start reading. Miki thought she was weird, but reading was always something that brought Ai endless entertainment. The fact Tsukimiya was allowing her to share her interests with him meant more than he probably imagined.

She didn’t think there was anything either of them cared in particular to look at while at the mall. Ai and Miki had planned to go there, more for something to do than anything else. She just window-shopped, chatting idly with Tsukimiya. They eventually made their way to a coffee shop in the mall and got in line. The both ordered a milk latte, and Ai proudly payed for his before he could even think about it.

“You’ve already bought me a food a couple times,” she told him, “It’s my turn!” He didn’t argue with her, grinning as they stepped to the side to wait for their drinks.

“You do like me, Ai-chan, thank you.” 

She promptly turned into a tomato at that and slapped him with her bag. They got their coffees and sat down. 

“Somebody told me you were running for Student Council President,” she commented. She had heard it from his apparent campaigning team, a group of girls that apparently took it upon themselves to make sure Tsukimiya won. Yoriko was on that unofficial committee, and she had told Ai to vote for him before running away.

Tsukimiya grinned, nodding. “Hanadori, Hibiki-kun, and Mogami-kun signed up, so I did too, and then put Seri-kun’s name in as well.”

Ai blinked. “Does…he know?”

Tsukimiya laughed, shaking his head. “No! It’s more fun like that!”

Sometimes she really did feel bad for Koyuki Seri. But, then again, if Tsukimiya was spending time messing with him, in theory, he would dedicate less energy into harassing her. It was a sacrifice she would just have to make.

“But isn’t Seri-kun doing all the sacrificing in this case?” He interjected, “And that’s pretty confident of you, assuming if I spent less time on Seri-kun, I would choose to spend that energy on you, instead. You must think highly of yourself.” 

Ai flinched, pressing her lips together as she glared. “Stop reading my mind, evil mind-reader,” she said, “And that’s a pretty logical conclusion to come to; the only person you frequently make fun of—at school—outside of your weird friend group is me.”

Tsukimiya hummed, leaning forward on his hands. “I have lots of friends, Ai-chan. Maybe Suzuran-san or Yamamoto-san would like to be my friends, too!”

She narrowed her eyes. He was definently making fun of her stupid crush on him. He said that purposefully because he knew however crazy Suzuran was, or how far on the sidelines Yoriko was, she would still feel that uncomfortable stewing of jealousy. Oh, he was awful, terrible, mean, evil—

“Calm down, Ai-chan, I’m just teasing!” He laughed, “You’re going to vote for me, right?”

Ai sniffed, looking away. “We’ll see. Maybe Hanadori is a better candidate.”

Tsukimiya pouted, but didn’t comment further than that. Instead, he reached across the table and moved her hair to the side. She flinched back from the suddenness, bringing a smile back to his face. “Those are cute,” he commented, and edge realized he was talking about the lemons hanging from her ears, “You always wear fruit stuff.”

Ai took a sip from her drink, ignoring the bit of color on her cheeks, and nodded. “I really like hair clips and earrings and stuff  like that,” she said, “I wish we could wear that kind of stuff at school.”

That amused him. “Pfffft…what do you mean? Hanadori and the others wear things that don’t follow the dress code all the time.”

Eyepatches, earrings, masks, leather gloves, capes—scythes? He had a point.

“I guess,” she agreed, “But I feel like if I was the one to do it, I would actually get in trouble.” He laughed at that, then leaned his elbows on the table, resting his head in his hands.

“You’re probably right,” he surrendered, “Show me.”

Ai blinked. “My…accessories?” Tsukimiya nodded.

A little confused, but not displeased at the opportunity to show off her stuff, Ai pulled her phone from her bag and went to her camera roll. She scanned it briefly, then left in favor of going through she and Miki’s shared pictures on text. There were way more pictures with that specific criteria in that folder; Miki was an avid fashion fan and absolutely insisted on Ai sending her outfits. Ai returned the favor so that she could keep her friend’s confidence healthy. Their messages were almost a constant stream of ‘you’re so cute!’ and ‘I wish I looked like you!!’.

Embarrassed at the excessive number of selfies exchanged, Ai cleared her throat. “Miki-chan and I send each other what we’re wearing all the time. I don’t really take pictures of myself otherwise…”

She flipped the phone around, zooming in away from her face in the many pictures. She showed him her pear clip, strawberry earrings, hair tie with two red cherry beads attached, blueberry adorned hair pins, and peach earrings. Of course, all of her accessories weren’t fruit-themed. They were just her favorite. She also had flowers and fun shapes and even some holiday ones. 

Ai was surprised at his interest in them, but took his scattered compliments and comments with a small smile. After all, she didn’t often get to show off to anyone other than Miki and occasionally Kotoko. And she did have a massive crush on him. 

When she pulled her phone back, Tsukimiya looked back up at her, still with that same smile. “Very cute, Ai-chan,” he reiterated, “You kind of dress like a little kid, huh?”

As a result of apparently being mercilessly exposed to all her classmates and their teacher, Ai had taken up avoiding Suzuran at all costs. Ever since the girl decided to air out all her deep dark secrets, Sensei would give her a wink and encouraging thumbs-up every time he saw her. It was mortifying. But however badly she wanted to rip the girl a new one, Ai was decidedly scared of the strange girl. Even Tsukimiya avoided her, after all.

Each time Ai saw her pacing the hallways, delicately collecting each of Tsukimiya’s election posters, she would turn right around and run, as if more of her secrets would somehow get sucked out of her. Miki thought this was hilarious, of course. 

“Look out, Ai-chan! Suzuran-san is coming! Run before she steals your soul!” Ai shot her best friend a pout, but still retreated the opposite direction. Miki followed her, giggling a bit as they ducked behind an open door.

“It’s not funny…” Ai groaned, “I can’t even go home! Look! She’s blocking the only staircase!”

Miki grinned, bumping her. “What do you think she’s going to do? Bite you?”

Ai rolled eyes. Maybe. “I don’t want her confronting me or something weird. She’s scary!” They watched around the corner as she moved on, headed down the adjacent hall. Ai grabbed her friend’s hand and ran for it, not bothering to look back as she made it to the staircase. Miki protested as she was dragged down the stairs, ignoring the few kids that they passed. She didn’t stop her half-jog until they were out of the building and into the clear.

“You’re crazy,” Miki told her, “You hurt my wrist—buy me a coffee.”

The pair of girls made their way back home, stopping briefly at the convenience store, where Ai did, in fact, buy her a coffee. Miki sipped happily as they left, enjoying the iced coffee, even if it was already cool out.

“Who do you think you’re going to vote for, hmmm? Tsukimiya-kun, right?” Miki teased. Ai bumped their shoulders.

“Miki-chaaaaan!” She whined, “Actually, I kind of want him to lose.”

Miki snorted. “Why? Because he has half the girls in homeroom leading his campaign?” Ai rolled her eyes exaggeratedly, eliciting a laugh from her friend.

“No!” She said, but perhaps that did have something to do with it, “He needs humbling. Besides, Hanadori really pulled together the class festival booth, didn’t he? Maybe he would be a better president.” She hadn’t meant it seriously, but she admittedly started to believe her own words as she said then. It was true, after all. After Koyuki Seri’s meltdown, Hanadori really was the driving factor in pulling together their project, even with the setbacks. It might have been evil Tsukimiya that led them to victory, but they wouldn’t have had anything worth winning with if it hadn’t been for their eccentric classmate.

“I guess the dark god did do that…”

The girls said goodbye once they reached Ai’s home. She was eager to get inside and settle down; she managed to knock out all her homework while she was still at school, so her afternoon plans involved herself, her bed, and a good book. The great mood, however, slid right off her face once she opened the door.

Tsukimiya Utsugi, the devil himself, was standing right in the middle of the hall, little Haru on his back, and Ryo swarming his legs.

“Ai-chan! Welcome home!”

Ai swung her backpack off her back and whipped it toward him, smacking him repeatedly as her brothers giggled loudly. “What! Are! You! Doing! In! My! House!” He laughed, dodging what pitiful blows he could, whilst making sure he neither tripped over Ryo, nor put Haru in her path of violence.

“I came to hang out!” He chortled between laughs, managing to grab her wrists to stop the onslaught. Ai boiled, face red with anger. “Aww, don’t be mad! We haven’t talked in days!”

“So you let yourself into my house without telling me?!” She hissed. He was unperturbed.

“I didn’t let myself in, silly,” he nodded once, asserting his confidence, “Your mom let me in! She’s so sweet!”

Evil. Disgusting. A stain on God’s green Earth. 

After that, Ai barely stopped herself from strangling him right there, in the middle of the hall. She cursed her mother, deciding she was going to make both her parents sit down with her and have a lengthy conversation concerning boundaries. If she was going to discuss it with her mother, her dad was certainly going to bear witness and see the horror she did.

Ai ignored her mom’s greeting, and went straight to her room. She had only meant to drop her book bag off inside, but Tsukimiya snaked right by her, and made himself comfortable on her bed. Ai paused, brain short circuiting as he lied back, crossing his hands behind his head. She didn’t know what tripped her up more—that the boy she had harbored a crush on for about a decade was on her bed, or that he simply had the audacity.

“You should really be used to it by now, Ai-chan. How was school?”

Ai narrowed her eyes at the evil mind reader, passing him to put her bag in her designated clutter corner. She stood awkwardly, backing against her dresser, knowing that any attempt to kick him out would end in failure. Instead, she tried not to look like she didn’t know what to do with herself—which she didn’t.

“It was fine. Other than the election stuff, it’s been pretty boring.” She told him honestly. Tsukimiya smiled a little wider for a moment. Then, he shifted to the side.

“You’re cute, Ai-chan. Come on.” He nodded next to him and Ai let out a breath, trying not to let her heart explode. 

That’s my bed! Why am I afraid to sit on it!

She only hesitated a moment before scooting next to him, not laying down, but sitting against her stuffy mound, adequate amount of space between the pair of them. She tried to remind herself she and Miki sat on her bed all the time together. This was fine.

Ah, he called me cute.

Now, blushing for an entirely different reason, Ai cleared her throat and snatched her book off the nightstand. “I planned on reading after school today,” she told him, “I’m about halfway through the book you recommended me…do you…want to hear my theories?”

Tsukimiya coughed one quiet laugh out before seeming to settle himself. “Of course. What do you think happened?”

Ai bounced her multitude of theories off of him, relaxing more as she did so. He offered rebuttals and asked questions, that of which Ai was more than happy to elaborate on. A quality that she really liked about Tsukimiya was that he asked and argued so well. Ai found herself flipping through the pages she’d already read, with a smile on her face as she did so, to cite him evidence to support her claims. She wished, as she did this, it was not a library book so that she could annotate it. She made a mental note to invest in some colorful sticky notes so that she could do it that way.

After a while of discussion, Tsukimiya tilted his head to look at her. “You really think hard about this stuff, don’t you, Ai-chan?” He teased. She shrugged.

“It’s fun! Besides, I never get to talk about stuff like this; Miki-chan isn’t exactly the book-y type,” she paused, biting the inside of her lip. For a moment she felt a twinge of insecurity, “You don’t mind, do you?”

He laughed, pulling out his phone from his pant pocket. “Of course not. You’re fun like this.” She didn’t respond to that. She pinched her lips together, pleased in a sort of shy way, and stared down at the printed text in her hands. She thought he was fun, too.

Ai closed her book deftly in the lap, watching for a beat as he texted on his cell. She saw Koyuki Seri’s name on his screen and found herself wondering how angry he’d been about Tsukimiya entering him in the presidential race. She asked him as much, and her peer shrugged carelessly, sitting up a bit, but still leaning back on his hands. 

“Seri-kun is fine. It’s more fun this way, too.”

Ai smiled, even if she sort of felt bad for the guy. “Are you having fun, Tsukimiya?”

Then, to her surprise, Tsukimiya did not answer with his usual smiling vigor, instead sighing. Ai frowned for a beat before Tsukimiya flopped back down, except this time using her lap as a pillow. 

The tremor that wracked Ai was visible, like a shockwave. Her eyes flew wide open, face heating as if it’d been burned. 

What the hell?!

She might have died right there if his next words had not hard-reset her brain. “I think Hanadori is mad at me.”

It wasn’t even what he said, really. Ai imagined many people could be angry with Tsukimiya for a whole score of reasons. In fact, her steady state was probably angry. Nevermind she had never seen Hanadori look at Tsukimiya with anything less than worship or genuine, honest appreciation; it was the small frown sitting on his face and the slightly remorseful tone of voice that made her pause.

She blinked. “Why do you think that?”

Tsukimiya paused just a beat. “Mm, I told him Seri-kun was the one that sealed Miguel in his right eye,” Ai nodded as if this made sense to her, “Seri-kin wanted an out so he asked me to help. Hanadori has never reacted like that before. He called me mean and ran away and he hasn’t said a word since.” The way he said it, looking straight up at the ceiling, gave the impression Tsukimiya was decidedly uncomfortable sharing this. She got the feeling he didn’t often divulge his worries or problems to anyone. This train of thought had her heart constricting warmly in her chest; for an instant, she felt glad he wanted to share in his difficulties with her.

Ai nodded, thinking for a long moment. “Does it usually bother him when you add to his fantasy world?”

Tsukimiya’s frown pulled a little further. “No—I was the one that brought Seri-kun into being Gestöber. Hanadori usually goes along with it.”

Ai realized what was going on immediately. She looked down at him, blocking his view of the white ceiling. Her short hair weighed down, haloing her thoughtful expression.

“I think you guys really hurt Hanadori’s feelings,” she told him decisively, “He’s a weirdo, but he’s still pretty smart…I think treating his and Koyuki-kun’s friendship like it’s so bendable made Hanadori sad.” Ai rolled her bottom lip between her teeth, trying to find a better way to explain her thinking, “I think if someone said I couldn’t be friends with Miki-chan…because of rules or reasons I set…I would be upset, too. I think Koyuki-kun fit in so easily to it all because Hanadori was so accepting of his friendship. I think he wanted a reason to integrate him, not necessarily because you brought him into it. And treating a friendship so lightly, as if you could just change it just like that, probably made Hanadori-kun feel dismissed. No wonder his feelings were hurt,” she dropped her voice a little, trying to communicate her seriousness without sounding accusing. It came out softly, with meaning. “Tsukimiya, that was mean. You should make it up to Hanadori-kun.”

The mind reader stared back at her, his pout dissolved into thoughtfulness. She almost felt uneasy for a stretch. Then Tsukimiya sighed, fixing her another pout.

“You’re really good at giving advice, Ai-chan,” he said finally. Then, a grin grew from his contemplative expression, putting Ai immediately on edge, “And you’re a really good pillow. Thank you, Ai-chan.”

At the acknowledgement he was, in fact, lying in her lap, AI’s mortification returned ten-fold, boiling her blood into her face. He didn’t budge when she whined, throwing her hands over her face to block out the embarrassment. 

“Off, off, off, off—” he interrupted her mantra with a delighted laugh, not allowing her to escape.

“Thank you for the advice!” She heard the click of his phone camera and removed her hands quickly, only for him to snap another picture.

“Tsukimiya, you bastard!” Ai snatched one of her biggest stuffies from behind her, bringing it downward as if she planned to smother him—she did—but he rolled sideways, dodging her attack, and dissolving into hysterics once more. Ai hit him pitifully, wondering what she had done in her past life to deserve him. 

He chortled, rolling to the edge of the bed so he could face her. He stuck a finger in her direction. “No, it’s what we did to deserve each other!” Ai was hit with another wave of embarrassed fury. She wound Kuma the bear back behind her.

“Stay out of my head!” She hit him with one last powerful strike, his laughter withstanding even after the thump that accompanied his tragic fall.

In the midst of Ai’s mortification and Tsukimiya’s hysterics, Ryo poked inside the room to politely inform them dinner was done. Ai thanked him, then turned on the mind reader once more. She pointed her finger straight out the door, a giant, exaggerated scowl on her face. “Out!”

Tsukimiya was still choking out small laughs between breaths, even as they seated themselves for dinner. He planted himself right beside her, across from her mother and the boys. Ai’s dad sat at the end of the table. Her mom set out a much nicer dinner than they usually had, and if she hadn’t done this for Miki a number of times, it might have sparked Ai’s rage once more. She did, however, seem to have done her hair up a little more than usual. Ai glared at her artificial curls with a particular disdain.

“Wow! Dinner looks amazing, Hanako-san!” Ai directed her glare at him.

Her mother waved a coy hand. “Oh stop!”

Ai grumbled under her breath. “Yes, please stop.”

Tatsume, her dear naive father, smiled kindly from the head of the table, looking tired, but happy at the same time. “Dinner looks very nice, dear,” he complimented, then turned his attention to the boy on Ai’s left, “I’m glad you could join us, Tsukimiya-kun.”

Her peer smiled in response, “I am too, Orihama-san!” He agreed, “I’m happy Ai-chan invited me.” 

She did no such thing, of course, and she was going to tell them just that, but all thoughts of sabotage fled when Tsukimiya turned his head slowly in her direction. His expression was just as chipper as ever, but it gave Ai the chills.

Ah, well. One lie won’t hurt anyone.

Ai allowed him to save face in front of her family and they continued to talk. Ai participated here and there, but mostly conversed with her brothers about what they did that day; Ryo won musical chairs in music class and Haru made a drawing in daycare. She was jealous of their freedom.

She barely noticed at first, the soft brush against her fingers beneath the dining room table. But she did look down at the sensation of skin against skin, trying not to let her expression change as she realized Tsukimiya was, in fact, gently palming her hand into his—in the middle of dinner with her family.

Really, she couldn’t control the heat that made its way to her cheeks. But she did try to ignore the frantic stutter of her heart in her chest once their hands settled, sitting atop her thigh. Her eyes instantly darted away, going right to his ever-present smile, this time directed toward her parents. She didn’t say anything to catch his attention, and didn’t do anything to add into his amicable conversation with her parents. Ai, instead, allowed herself to enjoy the warmth and quiet attention.

Tsukimiya Utsugi was awful. Tsukimiya Utsugi was a menace. She’d had a crush on Tsukimiya Utsugi for the better part of her life. For most of that time, her stupid, silly crush was the same kind of crush plenty of girls had when a boy gave them attention and bothered them in class. It was the kind where a boy would flick a girl’s forehead and she would pout and yell at him, but still go back to play with him the next day, because his attention made her feel special. But, it wasn’t really like that anymore.

Ai couldn’t put her finger on the moment it really changed for her. Her embarrassing crush on her classmate festered and burned like an open wound on her heart, tearing it open until every time he looked at her, or held her hand, Ai’s chest would ache. Her tummy felt nauseous and her body felt like it was prickling and buzzing beneath her skin. Being near him made her head dizzy and airy, as if she was floating in a room, but could never quite reach the ground or touch the walls no matter how hard she reached for it. But as gross and awful and uncomfortable as the sensations sounded in her head, she liked feeling that way. She liked being around him. She loved him.

“Ai, sweetheart, are you there?”

The girl looked quickly from the space between her brothers’ heads where she’d been staring. She pulled a funny smile at her father, communicating her sheepishness.

“Sorry, Dad, what was that?” Tsukimiya’s hand suddenly felt very hot in hers.

Tatsume laughed briefly at his daughter’s lack of attention. “Tsukimiya-kun was telling us about your class’s festival project. I asked how you participated.”

Ai blinked a couple times, realizing she hadn’t actually gotten the opportunity to talk about this with her parents. She had been so wrapped up in her own head at the time that she must have let it slip by; that and her parents’ inconsistent work schedule kept family dinners like this scarce. That made her a little sad.

“Oh, I was a waitress,” she told them, “It was a lot of fun. I guess I didn’t get the chance to tell you about that…did you want to see a picture of my costume?”

Her mom sat up a little straighter, nodding. “Of course, sweetie,” she said, "did Miki-Chan waitress as well?”

Ai deftly slipped her hand from Tsukimiya’s, avoiding looking at him as she did so. She pulled her phone out to scroll through her camera roll. “No, Miki-chan worked the kitchen. But she did get to wear a chef’s apron.” 

Ai found the photo of she and her best friend posing with one another, flashing peace signs at the camera. It was taken before her little row with the boy beside her. She showed it to her parents and they awed in turn, and then her brothers asked sweetly to see it as well.

“You’re so pretty, Oneechan!” Ryo piped up, and Haru agreed. 

Tsukimiya interjected, “Ai-chan made a good waitress,” he informed them, “She sold the second most out of the waiters and waitresses.” Ai didn’t mind his little brag on her behalf, knowing well she would have been first if not for Hanadori’s interesting customer. Her parents got a small laugh at that, teasing about her lack of grace.

“I’m plenty graceful,” she lied, “I didn’t drop a single order!”

Her dad snickered. “Not like you dropped Ryo’s third birthday cake?” 

She didn’t even mind the way everyone laughed at her. Tsukimiya didn’t try to grab her hand again. She was sort of disappointed.

Dinner passed and it came time for him to leave. Ai walked him out the door at his request, and she obliged, mind still spinning uncomfortably from her thoughts of affection and love. She hoped he really couldn’t read her mind.

“Thank you for dinner, Ai-chan!” He said happily, fixing his usual grin on her. Ai rolled her eyes, letting herself mirror his smile.

“It’s not like I invited you or anything.” She didn’t mean it seriously, and they both knew it.

Then, his grin lighted, not disappearing, but definitely shrinking. Ai felt her heart thrumming as she watched his hand lift from his side and travel slowly toward her face. Her eyes didn’t leave his weak smile, even as his fingers brushed gently from her cheek to her hair, tucking it softly behind her ear, then back the way it came. His skin was warm and light against her skin, and she could still feel the trail of his touch on her, though his hand fell back to his side.

“Goodnight, Ai-chan.” His tone didn’t vary from how he usually said her name, but it felt different in another way. 

“Goodnight,” she echoed, watching him wave and walk off. 

No, she would never be able to look at anyone like she did him. Even if she really didn’t love him, and even if they never ended up going anywhere, Ai was going to let this feeling happen.

“…were you still going to vote for Hanadori-kun?”

For everyone leaving the student council meeting, the intense display by Hanadori Kabuto was all they could think about. Following his dramatics, the rest of the running candidates gave their own speeches, the only normal of which belonging to Tsukimiya.

You don’t even need your committee girls, Ai thought, Your victory was guaranteed when those guys became your competition. Then again, that could have been the plan all along. Ai wouldn’t have been surprised. 

Ai shook her head quickly at her best friend. “No way. Sometimes I wonder how he gets the courage to do that kind of thing.”

Miki nodded in agreement. “I guess courage is a word for it,” she mused, “I think I’ll vote for Tsukimiya-kun. What about you?”

“Maybe…Hibiki-kun; I felt kind of bad when he started crying.” It had indeed been a pitiful display. Ai’s instincts as a big sister screamed when her underclassman had burst into tears after Hanadori was knocked out by Koyuki Seri. He couldn’t even give his speech.

Miki raised an eyebrow. “You’re kind, Ai-chan.”

She smiled at that. She changed the subject. “By the way…can we hang out after school? I have some things I need Miki-time for.”

Her friend squealed suddenly, swinging around to grab her hands. Miki hopped, beaming. “Yes! Yes! Is there something important you have to tell me?” Ai hushed her, still feeling her nerves, but giggling at the sudden enthusiasm.

“Shhh! I guess, but probably not what you’re thinking!”

Miki squealed again, and Ai laughed out loud, ignoring the few looks they got from classmates, and pushed her friend down the hall.

The pair of girls ended up going back to Miki’s place. Ai greeted her parents and they her. Miki’s mother was a lot like her daughter; she was into fashion and makeup in a way that Ai couldn’t really connect with. They liked to look at fashion magazines and keep up with cosmetics, while Ai just liked buying and wearing cute things that made her feel pretty. It was for this reason people often mistook Ai as younger than she actually was—fruit-themed earrings and sundresses didn’t exactly scream mature. But she still couldn’t help but admire Chikyo’s elegance as she waved hello, fixed up and lounged on the sofa like a model.

Miki’s room matched her interests, too. In comparison to Ai’s cuter sense of decor, hers was made up of modern furniture and a pretty white vanity with rows of nail polish and lipsticks. Her open closet was packed full of clothing items, and shoes lined the floor around it. It was the kind of bedroom one would see in those teen magazines.

Ai barely got two steps into the room before Miki slammed the door shut behind them. The other girl then launched herself onto the bed, spinning around to look at Ai with a grin that must have been painful. She patted the bed next to her.

“What did you want to talk about? Tell your Miki-chan everything!” She chirped excitedly.

Ai pouted, thoroughly embarrassed, and joined her with a meek slide onto the comforter. “You’re always so invested in my problems…why don’t you ever complain to me?” She whined.

Miki giggled, drawing her knees to her chest. “Because you’ve already listened to all of my boy problems! I’ve been waiting for years for you to finally have some! Don’t take this from me!”

She was probably right on that account; Miki was pretty popular with boys. “How do you know it’s a boy problem?”

Her friend gave her a look. “Ai-chan, almost every problem you have can be traced back to Tsukimiya-kun.”

Ah, Miki-chan, you know me too well.

“Fine, fine,” Ai groaned, “It has to do with him.”

Miki squealed, flopping back to kick her feet in the air in an excited dance before she popped right back up. “What happened? Did you finally kiss? Was it romantic?” 

“No! No!” Ai denied with vehemence. Her face turned crimson at the thought, and she couldn’t help imagining just that, “Nothing like that!”

Miki pouted. “Too bad. What is it then?”

Ai fixed her expression with determination. “I want to do something for Tsukimiya’s birthday!”

Of course Ai knew his birthday was December 12th. She couldn’t help it—her crush spanning a decade, combined with the fact she had been in the same class as him since she started school, made it practically impossible not to know. With his birthday coming up, Ai wanted to do something nice.

Because, yes, she wanted to make him happy.

Miki ‘oooh’d clapping her hands together once. “I’m so proud of you! The character development is amazing!” Ai rolled her eyes, bumping her friend weakly. “So did you want to get him a gift? What does Tsukimiya-kun even like?”

Ai knew the answer to this one. “Torture people,” she mumbled, then straightened up, “No, I don’t think I want to get him a gift. I wanted to do something for him.”

Miki gasped. “Ai-chan!” 

“Not like that!” She tried to dismiss that train of thought quickly, shooting a glare. “Miki-chan, you’re gross!” She just stuck out her tongue in response.

“So you mean like take him on a date?” Miki asked. Ai flushed instantly, wanting so badly to deny it.

“Y-yes,” she affirmed quietly, “But I don’t have a lot of money…” her cash from a week straight of doing chores for her grandparents and their elderly neighbors was finally dwindling. It’d lasted longer than she anticipated, but coffee after school really put a dent in it.

Miki hummed, looking upward in thought. “Well…you can do dinner and an activity. Maybe…let him choose the restaurant…then maybe find some kind of winter activity?”

Ai blinked. “Like what?”

“I don’t know! Something wintery!”

After being elected to the student council, Tsukimiya seemed a whole lot busier. A-year-ago-Ai would have positively loved this development, which meant he had less time to harass her. However, present-day-Ai couldn’t help being the slightest bit disappointed.

Other than a grin when she entered the classroom, Tsukimiya seemed to be glued to his notebook, even throughout their morning lesson. It was exactly as it’d been every other day of the week, with him too preoccupied to make his usual aggravating comments. Staring at his back, Ai couldn’t help feeling…lonely.

Thinking this, in the middle of their math lesson, Ai suddenly bristled. She realized, too late, this line of thought was dangerous in the vicinity of the evil mind-reader himself. Thoughts like that weren’t safe—that fact apparent when the devil himself slowly turned his head back, wearing an unmatched grin on his evil face. She could feel the blood drain from her. Quickly, she put her head down, staring at the half-copied notes on her notebook.

Idiot! She thought to herself, You should know better by now!

Ai didn’t get the chance to retreat in the back with Yae, Kotoko, or Miki. Before she could even shove her notebook in her bag, a bento box was slammed on her desk. Ai looked up, terrified, meeting the ever-closed eyes of her worst enemy.

“Ai-chan! Let’s eat together!” Ai tried to turn away.

“A-ah—I was going to eat with Miki—”

“Ehh? But you’re feeling neglected by me, aren’t you? That’s what you were thinking, right?” Ai sputtered, lighting up red. Tsukimiya sat down in the desk in front of her, spinning in his chair to face her. “You’re a little clingy, aren’t you?”

I hate you I hate you I hate you 

“No you don’t!” He chirped, then opened his notebook again, “Student council ended up being a lot of work…they’re so unorganized.”

Ai breathed slowly in, then out, trying her hardest not to bite his head off right there. She questioned again, if she even liked his company, and why she wanted him around. 

“Because we have fun together, obviously,” he answered her again, and she narrowed her eyes.

“Stay out of my head,” she commanded, “Are you enjoying student council, though?”

 Tsukimiya hummed, dragging out the noise, “I don’t know yet,” he answered, “It is lots of work. We talked about bringing more help in, too.” Ai nodded, figuring it must be an insane workload, if even he was struggling with it.

She resigned to sitting with him for lunch, sending a quick wave in her friends’ direction. Miki and Kotoko’s excitable grinning was too obvious, so she turned around quickly to open her lunch. Ai had leftovers from dinner the previous night. She had been exceedingly lazy that morning when packing her lunch. 

“Would that be the runner-up in the election, or would you hold another?”

He shrugged, “We haven’t talked about it yet, but I think we would take the runner-up.”

Ai glanced to the front of the class where Hanadori had been burning holes in Tsukimiya’s back. His angry pouting told Ai everything. “For your sake, I hope that’s Hanadori-kun,” she remarked, “He seems a bit…jealous.” Or at least that was the impression she got at the beginning of the school week, when they announced Tsukimiya’s place as their Auditor and Hanadori cried and told Tsukimiya he would never forgive him.

Tsukimiya laughed, “It seems that way, doesn’t it?”

“What are you working on now?”

He shrugged noncommittally, jotting one last thing down before he closed the notebook, and sat up straighter to look at her. “Nothing important. I’m just trying to get ahead on work so I don’t have to worry about doing any tomorrow.”

Ai hummed. “That’s smart. Did you have plans?”

He pointed his chopsticks toward her, “Don’t worry, Ai-chan, no need to be jealous; me, Seri-kun, Hanadori, Mogami-kun and a couple others are doing our community service for school at a preschool.”

She rolled her eyes. “Shut up,” she grumbled. She and Miki had already finished their community service early that year. They did a community clean-up event at the park. It had been a lot of fun. “What preschool?”

“The one on the corner near the fire station.”

Ai perked up, a small smile growing on her face. “Oh, Ryo goes there,” she told him, “Maybe you’ll get his class…he would like that. He really likes you.”

Tsukimiya nodded. “Mm I’ll have to try to get that class, then. Your brothers are cute.”

Ai perked up immediately, pride for her angel baby brothers blooming in her chest. “Aren’t they?” She smiled widely.

Tsukimiya just smiled. “You’re cute.”

Ah, why does he do that?

Ai couldn’t help but pause at the abruptness of his comment. His words brought that twisting aching feeling in her chest, and Ai suddenly felt the urge to yell. But, she didn’t, instead pinching her lips and taking another bite of her cold soba.

“Your birthday is coming up, isn’t it?” She changed the subject quickly, “Did you have anything planned?”

Tsukimiya shook his head. “Nothing yet. I think my dad works that weekend. Unless Hanadori wants to go somewhere this year…we usually do.”

Ai nodded slowly. Now was her opportunity—she just had to ask. Though, that was easier said than done; her insides felt like they were melting from the anxiety that spilled from her chest and into her stomach. It was one little question, but rejection would absolutely be one of the most painfully embarrassing things he had ever put her through. And, being it was him, that was really saying something.

Ai took a deep breath, trying to pull on all of her courage.

“Did you…want to do something, maybe? I mean…you and me?” Her voice was smaller than she would have liked. Shier than she would have liked. But beyond her burning ears, she had done it.

Tsukimiya raised his eyebrows. He leaned his head on his hand. “Are you asking me on a date, Ai-chan?”

It was a very typical response for them. It was a very surefire way of making her combust from the inside-out and causing her a whole ton of embarrassment. She would deny it with a soldier’s resoluteness, and he would laugh. Hysterically.

“Y-Yes.”

Ai even surprised herself with that one. 

Tsukimiya froze. The teasing grin had fallen right off his face. He stared at her for a long, painful moment, and she began to sweat a little. Not for the first time, she wished she could see his eyes, as if that would give his pause some explanation. Then, slowly, a smile returned to his face. This one wasn’t the same mischievous curl of his lips, like the expression he’d previously worn. Instead, he seemed happy. It was soft, but happy.

“Mm, mm,” he hummed finally, “That sounds like fun.”

Following Ai’s bravery in asking the evil mind-reader himself out on a date, Miki almost cried, insisting she treat her to a coffee after school. Ai accepted, of course, and they sat cozy in a cafe sipping their hot drinks, looking out at the chilling street. Ai wouldn’t have been surprised if it started snowing sometime soon.

School the next day was unusually quiet. The cause was apparent, however; the three biggest troublemakers in the class were away doing community service. The rest of them got a glimpse of what a normal class could be. 

During their independent time in math, Sensei paused by her desk. “Orihama, come to the teacher’s lounge during lunch, would you? Sensei has a few things he needs to talk about.”

Ai sighed, a little disappointed she couldn’t eat lunch with her friends a second day in a row. She looked behind her, where Miki was sticking her tongue out with a thumbs-down motion. 

Once it was time for lunch, Ai collected her bento box and wandered to where Sensei usually ate in peace like a recluse. She knocked once and entered at his call. He was ready, sitting at the table in the middle of the room. He patted the spot across from him.

“Ah, Orihama, come sit,” he beckoned, “Let’s gossip. Do you have any sweets?”

Ai’s expression went blank. “Did you call me in to gossip?”

“Yes. Sensei is invested in his students' lives. Sweets?”

She huffed, sitting down. She opened her bento and pushed the fruit jellies she’d packed that morning. He took them gladly. “You need friends, Sensei.”

He ignored her. “So, Mogami Suzuran said some pretty interesting things.” He prefaced. Ai grimaced.

“Mogami Suzuran needs to mind her own business,” she spat, “She’s causing problems where there don’t need to be. What she did was incredibly rude.”

Sensei made a noise of understanding. “Don’t be too upset, Orihama. She's just a kid—she can’t help but be jealous of her rival in love, yknow?”

Ai directed her glare at him then. “Sensei, I’m a kid too, then, and I’m not about to tell her business to everyone,” she sniffed, sitting a little taller, “Besides, we aren’t ‘rivals in love’.” Ai wasn’t sure if she really believed that last part, but she had to save face in front of her teacher.

“Oh? So I didn’t hear Hijame telling Sumiso you two are going on a date for Tsukimiya’s birthday?” Evidently, Miki had already ruined her before she even got started.

Ai cringed, covering her face. “Senseei!” She whined out.

He grinned with that all-knowing expression. “I’m happy for you, Orihama. Tsukimiya is a good kid.”

Ah.They must have not been thinking of the same Tsukimiya, then. 

He pointed a chopstick at her. “So how did he ask? Was it cute?” He paused thoughtfully, “Should I move your desks? Would that help my students? Or would you have a hard time concentrating on class? I guess since it’s Tsukimiya he can just help you out.”

She didn’t even try to hide her redness then. “No way! Don’t put me by that guy, he’ll never leave me alone!” She burst. Then, she cleared her through, her next words coming out a little shyly, “And he didn’t ask me…I asked him.”

Sensei whistled lowly, looking too impressed. “Wow, Orihama. Good for you.” She acted as if she wasn’t exceedingly proud of herself, too. “My students are growing up right before my eyes…next thing I know, you’re all going to be getting married and having kids.”

Ai groaned. “Sensei!”

After a long, hard day of being a teenager, Ai got to return to her large, cozy couch. She’d changed into pajamas immediately after getting home, and brought herself a big fluffy blanket to wrap herself in while she watched her drama. Yosuke and Maria were giving it their all this time around, but Maria’s ex-lover broke out of prison and was on the move.

“Oneeee-chan!” Ryo called as she settled herself down, steaming cup of tea at the ready at her side. He climbed up onto the couch beside her, crawling over her lap so that he could look her in the face. “Guess what!”

Ai smiled, “What?”

“Utsugi-kun came to help teach my class today!”

Ai gasped, as if this was complete news to her. “Did he really?”

He nodded matter-of-factly. “We got to play and read and they made cake for the December birthdays and Utsugi-kun because his birthday is in December, too!”

“Wow!” Ai exclaimed, “That sounds like so much fun!”

He nodded. “Yeah, we even got to draw pictures. Utsugi-kun is really good at drawing and he even gave me one for you!” Ai’s heart dropped a little; coming from Tsukimiya, she had a feeling it wasn’t something she wanted.

“O-oh?”

He grinned, hopping off the couch. “Let me get it!” Ryo ran off and returned a minute later with a taped-closed folded paper. “Look! Utsugi-kun said he wanted you to open it!”

Ai hesitated for a moment before slowly reaching for the slip of paper. She took it carefully, but Ryo seemed to disregard her hesitance, running down the hall once more.

“I’m grab my picture, too!” 

Ai bit her lip, watching her little brother race away. Then, like a bandaid, she ripped open the paper, trying to look before he came back. Her eyes scanned the page quickly, a shadow like a cloud hanging over her.

The paper was partitioned like a manga panel, with a few different scenes scattered throughout. The first couple were colored in like exclusives, catching her eye first. She had a sudden flashback to the notebook Tsukimiya filled with romantic drawings and fake love-letters from her—this paper was something similar.

It read like some kind of cheesey shoujo manga. The scene was snowing, opening up with a girl, obviously meant to be her, running through a dark, snowy scene. She looked frantic, tears rolling down her frost-nipped cheeks. She came to a sliding halt as a figure appeared underneath a street lamp before her.

‘Utsugi-kun! I need to tell you before it’s too late! Before you choose Milf-san!’

He reached out as if to touch her, a tragic expression overtaking his features. ‘Ai-chan—’

‘Just listen!’ She cut him off, ‘I love you Utsugi-kun! I have always loved you and even if you love Milf-san, I wanted you to know!’ Utsugi-kun grabbed her face suddenly, making her look at him.

‘I broke up with Milf-san. You’re the one for me!’ The final panel depicted to two of them, wrapped around each other beneath the streetlight, lips pressed—

Ai folded it shut again with such a force that her palms stung. Embarrassment rolled through her, and she cursed Tsukimiya and his evil manga and his evil teasing and his evil face.

Before she could act in her sudden fury, Ryo entered the room again, grinning broadly with his picture held out in front of him. It was a series of scribbled lines and a distinctly creature-shaped figure in the center. “Look! It’s a elephant, Oneechan!”

Ai gasped, “Ryo, that’s amazing! Did you get that from a famous artist?”

He giggled, shaking his head hard enough so that his whole body twisted. “No! I drew it!” Ai praised him some more, and told him to put it on the fridge so that everyone could see his art.

Once he left, Ai opened her phone, tapping furiously in her messages. To Tsukimiya, she sent: I hate you. Die.

Not a moment later her phone chimed.

Evil Mind-Reader: I’m so excited for our date!!! (｡♡//ε//♡｡)

She pinched her lips together, pouting. Then, against her better judgement, she peeked at the final panel one last time, hating that she kind of liked it.

On one hand, Ai was glad she had worked up the nerve to ask Tsukimiya on a date. She had honestly not been sure she could. She had used up every ounce of courage and pride she had left to do it. After all, if he rejected her, Ai had a feeling the teasing would be absolutely merciless. But, she had done it, and she was a bit proud of herself.

However, on the other hand, she wished she had waited until a little closer to the event. She gave herself an entire school week between the two events, and an entire week to be teased by Tsukimiya. He was extra insufferable: acting exaggeratedly flirty, winking, loudly declaring he couldn’t wait until ‘my Ai-chan’ took him on a date. It was equal parts embarrassing as it was exhausting. She was sure by then that the entire school had been informed in some capacity that they were going out. Which was weird, seeing as she’d gone places with him alone before and he hadn’t made that large of a fuss over it.

A small part of Ai hoped that this one was different to him. It was for her.

But then again, it was very in-character to torment her.

Sitting in homeroom, Ai sunk into her desk, wishing the week would pass quickly. Miki, too, was full of winks and nudges to pass onto her. Ai let her gaze drift back to Tsukimiya’s back at the head of the classroom. He was leaned over his notebook once more, and after a little more asking, he’d revealed to her that he was planning for the annual Christmas party.

“Ai-chan, you’re staring agaaain!” Ai shivered at the sing-songy voice of her best friend, spinning around to glare.

“Am not!”

Miki giggled, leaning against her desk. “I hope you know all your drama has been the best thing to ever happen to me,” she grinned, “It’s like watching a romance drama in real-time!”

Ai pouted, but knew she fed off Miki’s personal life in the same way, “You’re so mean to me…” Miki wiggled her eyebrows. “What about you? It’s been a while since you’ve told me about any boys.”

Miki shrugged. “I’m taking break from boys; these highschool guys need to mature a little before I waste any time with them.” Ai rolled her eyes with good nature. They both knew that Miki would entertain the first cute boy to say something nice to her. Not that Ai thought any less of her, though—all it took for Tsukimiya was some hand-holding and Ai was in love.

Ai glanced back at the front and then returned to Miki, then back again. Tsukimiya’s seat, where he’d been writing so fervently, was now empty. She blinked, wondering where he went, seeing as he’d literally just been there.

That should have been her sign to run.

“Orihama Ai. I must speak with you.”

The sudden voice behind her had Ai’s heart plummeting into her stomach. 

Oh. Oh no.

Terrified, Ai whipped around, looking up to see Mogami Suzuran staring down at her. She was expressionless, but Ai could feel the animosity rolling off her in waves. She got the distinct feeling that the other girl was there to inflict some kind of mortal damage.

“A-Ah, Mogami-chan! I don’t think we’ve ever properly been introduced!” It was a weak attempt, and one glance sideways at Miki, hand slapped over her mouth, had Ai sweating. 

“I don’t need introductions; I know who you are,” Ai shrunk, “I’m here to tell you to stay away from Utsugi-sama.”

Miki suddenly made a short, high pitched squeaking noise, and Ai became aware that their classmates that were present all had their eyes trained on the scene that they anticipated was about to unfold. Panicking even worse than she had been, Ai waved her hands around frantically.

“I really don’t think we need to talk about anything, really—” Ai floundered, “It was really nice meeting you—”

“Your pursuit of Utsugi-sama—”

“Ah! Let’s go somewhere else!”

Suzuran at least accepted this, and Ai led her out and toward the roof, keeping her head ducked as she did so. She could practically feel the eyes following her as they left the classroom. After all her time avoiding Suzuran, Ai couldn’t help the anxiety from filling her from head to toe. This was a confrontation she had fought to avoid. She figured someone had told Suzuran about her asking Tsukimiya on a date and that he accepted—it was probably the nail on the coffin that sealed the fate of this interaction. Oh, how she wished she could just leap off the roof and fly away.

Once the pair of girls made it, and Ai could see they were alone, she reluctantly pivoted to face the other. Suzuran’s lack of expression somehow conveyed hostility more than an absence of emotion. Ai could feel herself sweating a bit, unused to actual confrontation. Sure she bickered with the evil mind-reader, but it was rarely anything serious. But Mogami’s stare told her the conversation they were about to have was nothing but.

“Suzuran-san, I really don’t think there’s anything we need to talk about,” Ai pressed, fixing a frown on her face. The other girl narrowed her eyes.

“You need to stay away from Utsugi-sama,” she responded firmly. Ai knew it was coming, but the resoluteness she said it with still surprised her.

Ai floundered for the right thing to respond with for a moment, blinking quickly. She opened and closed her mouth twice before settling with a simple, “Why?”

“I know you have asked Utsugi-sama on a date, and that he has accepted,” she started, “But you, Orihama Ai, cannot truly understand Utsugi-sama…he’s god. How can you meet Utsugi-sama’s needs when you have not seen the truth?”

Oh, is that all? She thought, Tsukimiya, you bastard; you really did a number on her.

Ai really had to keep her composure at that. She hadn’t seen the true Tsukimiya, then? Library trips, relentless teasing, coffee, jokes, evil laughter, warm hands, soft smiles—Ai thought she might just know him a little better than most people did. Or at least she liked to think so. 

She took a deep breath, trying her hardest not to set a tone that would upset the clearly delusional girl. “Suzuran-san…” she trailed off, “Tsukimiya is just a guy.” 

Something flashed in the other’s eyes and she took a step forward. “And that is why you can never understand him.”

Ai wasn’t done. “Tsukimiya is just a guy,” she repeated, “And he’s kind of an annoying one at that,” outrage touched the corners of Suzuran’s eyes, but Ai kept going, “I like Tsukimiya. And I did ask him on a date. And he did say yes. But that was his own choice to accept my invitation. He’s completely able to make his own decisions, and I’m definitely not going to cancel…I like him, Suzuran-san. It doesn’t matter what you say to me; you aren’t going to give up, but I won’t either.”

It was hard to get out her admission of affection to someone so random and so against her. It was like she was pushing cotton balls out of her throat as she spoke, but she was confident, too. She meant it.

Suzuran stared back darkly, determined. “If you have not seen his eyes, you would not understand…Utsugi-sama is the beginning and the end. When I peered into his eyes, I saw the future…I saw the fleetingness of life. Existence is futile, and surface level feelings are a waste of this brief reality. I will not waste it by sitting by and watching Utsugi-sama be seduced by some blind girl. I will exist in the infinities of His eyes long after everything is done.”

Ai was sweating; her feelings really were something intense. Ai wished she could give her the name of a good therapist.

Ai sighed sadly, wringing her fingers together in front of her. “I’m sorry, Suzuran-san. There’s nothing you can say that will make me stop liking him.”

Mogami fixed a cold stare on her, chin tilting a degree upward, as if to convey a challenge. “I will not give up, Orihama Ai. My love for Utsugi-sama runs deeper than any foolish schoolgirl crush.” She didn’t wait for Ai to respond, turning on her heel to quickly stalk off.

The moment the door to the staircase closed, Ai slumped her shoulders in relief, that burden of a conversation having been taken care of. She wasn’t sure if Suzuran’s relentlessness was intimidating to her, but it would be an issue for the future, she guessed. She was just glad her pride escaped relatively unscathed; she has been worried the girl would air all her insecurities to her face this time. Or, rather, she was afraid her decision to stand in front of the roof’s edge had been a hasty one.

The brief comment about his eyes did, however, make her wonder. There had been a couple times in knowing him that Ai had thought she had seen a flash of his eyes, but she never really saw them. A curiosity she didn’t know she had crept into her mind, accompanied by just a tiny inkling of jealousy. Tiny. Barely there. Because it didn’t matter. Right?

Ai groaned, slumping against the railing overlooking the school yard. Being a teenager was hard. Life was hard.

She evidently forgot the time, too, and the girl jumped in horror as the bell suddenly rang, signaling the start of the school day. Ai almost cried out, rushing toward the door, hating that stupid mind-reader for putting her in this position to begin with.

“O-Oneechan! He-He’s prah-bly hurt!”

Ai hushed her little brother gently, returning his trembling hug with grace. Haru stood by, his own eyes watery in empathy for his big brother. Ai patted his back, heart aching.

Somewhere in his route home from preschool, Ryo’s favorite stuffed lion had fallen off his bag. Shishi was the last gift from their grandmother to him before she passed away two years prior. Ryo was too little to remember much of her, but he always asked for stories and told Shishi how special he was because of it. He even had a special strap to secure him on the outside of his backpack, which evidently snapped somewhere on his commute.

Their father was out on a work trip for the next few days, or Ai was sure he would have gone out to look. Hanako already told him it was much too late to go out searching, no matter how much the boys begged. But Ai’s heart couldn’t take her dear baby brother’s sadness—what was a big sister for, if not to help her dear siblings? The way she saw it, it was her duty.

“No. No way.”

Ai groaned, slumping her shoulders forward in defeat. At her side, tucked under her arm, Ryo gave another wet whimper, practically unable to breathe through the snot dripping from his nose.

“B-But Mom,” she insisted, “It’s not a school night!”

Hanako frowned, wiping her hands on a hand towel. She had just finished cleaning up after dinner, and was already in her pajamas and ready to unwind for the night. “Sweetheart, that’s not the issue,” she sympathized, “I know you just want to help your brother, but it’s just not safe for a young girl to go out walking alone at night!”

Ai huffed. “Mom, I’ll be perfectly fine…it’s not that big of a town.” Their hometown was probably the least scary place in Japan, in fact.

Hanako didn’t relent. “What if there are traffickers? Huh? I’ve been seeing them in the news, you know.”

“Traffickers? Really?” This wouldn’t get her anywhere, “Mom, what if I told you I had a friend to go with me?”

It was a complete lie, of course. She already asked Miki, but her parents shut that down immediately. She considered asking Yae or Kotoko, but she doubted the pair would be comfortable with scouring the dark streets at an hour before midnight to find a stuffy. 

Hanako shook her head. “Ai, having Miki-chan with you doesn’t make a difference; it’s still unsafe.”

Ai bit her lip, debating whether or not she was going to commit to the lie. She glanced down at Ryo, meeting his dark blue eyes that matched hers, rung red and streaming with tears. She looked back to their mother. 

“It’s not Miki-chan,” she said, “T-Tsukimiya said he would meet me downstairs.”

The lie had just the effect she thought it would. Hanako paused, pursing her lips. Ai knew her parents’ opinion of Tsukimiya was a little too high. However, as long as they stayed oblivious to the true maniacal nature of that evil mind-reader, she might as well use it to her advantage.

“Utsugi-kun?” She asked, as if to confirm. Ai wanted to cringe at the familiarity, but nodded instead. She almost expected her phone to ding with a message about how bad she was. “I mean…” Hanako sighed, rubbing her brow. “Fine, alright. You just text me when you find it, and don’t be staying out too late!”

Ai, Ryo, and Haru all jumped for joy at that, joint together for a brief hop of happiness. “Thamk you so muuuch!” Ryo cried, and Ai made sure to comfort him one last time before she was tearing off to her bedroom to throw on a warm outfit. She slipped on a pair of baggy, thick jeans, a warm sweater, her long coat, and a pair of boots. In no time at all, Ai was calling her goodbyes, her phone in hand, and racing out the door.

It didn’t take more than five minutes of walking in the dark before she got scared and called Miki.

“This is for Ryo! For my sweet baby brother!”

Between Ai’s terrified stream of self-encouraging words, she could hear Miki’s equally as nervous whining. “Ai-chaaan be careful! Is anyone out there?”

Ai’s eyes traced the sidewalk as she went, trying to ignore the nervousness rattling her spine. “Miki-chaaaan,” she whined in response, “Don’t make me more scared!”

The route to and from Ryo’s preschool was a familiar one. When Ai’s mother couldn’t get off of work early enough, the teenager would have to run across town in the fifteen minutes between when they got out. Ryo loved when his big sister was there to walk him home.

What was usually a nice twenty-minute stroll stretched into thirty as Ai slowly shuffled down the sidewalk. It was like she had told her mother—there wasn’t a soul outside in their quiet town. Still, that didn’t calm her pounding heart.

Miki dutifully stayed on the phone, chattering quietly, trying not to sound as nervous as Ai felt. It was almost like she wasn’t alone, which was reassuring, but somehow almost scarier.

Really, it wasn’t too bad of a night. The chill was biting, and with the buildings overshadowing the sidewalk, the night was almost black, but when Ai looked up at the sky she felt a little peace. The stars glittered in the blackness surrounding them, winking like Christmas lights above. The moon was full and bright, offering her just enough light so that she felt okay without her flashlight on. If not for her lonesomeness, she might have considered stopping to stare. She didn’t, though. She didn’t have that kind of courage alone.

Ai was but a block away from the preschool when she gasped, rushing forward. “I found him! Shishi!”

There he was, the little stuffed lion, propped up on the curb by the grass, lying as if he had just been taking a cat nap. Ai picked him up with joy, brushing him off as she grinned. She was pleased to find he was hardly dirty at all, and held him closely. 

“Good job, Ai-chan! You’re a hero!” Miki praised, and she giggled in response. She turned on her heel, bravery fueled by the successful rescue of Shishi the lion. The dark was somehow less scary now that she had him—maybe Ryo was onto something here. Maybe this lion was magic.

Ai texted her mother really quickly and set off, telling Miki just how unbeatable she was. Even so, she kept a brisk pace down the sidewalk, keeping her voice low as she started her venture home. Higashi Park marked the three way where she would turn left. Or she would turn left, if there wasn’t a dark figure making their way from that direction.

She stopped suddenly, cringing at the sound of her boots scraping the small sidewalk stones. “M-M-M-Miki-chan!” She stuttered out, her skin breaking out in goosebumps.

The figure was fast approaching, its silhouette was large, waving a long, curved object in the air. It was as if Death itself was approaching her, and Ai could do nothing to run away.

“Ai-chan! What’s wrong? Are you okay?”

Wait, Ai paused, squinting in the darkness. Death? Reaper?

“Hibiki-kun?”

The figure stuttered to a quick stop, and in the low light, Ai was finally able to make out the face of her cute junior. He looked shocked to see her, blinking quickly. “O-O-O-Orihama-senpai?”

Miki, on the other line huffed, “Hibiki-kun? What’s going on?” Ai ignored her for a beat, frowning sternly at the younger boy.

“Hibiki-kun, what in the world are you doing out so late?” She asked, tone akin to the one she used when reprimanding her brothers, “It’s dark out, and you’re all alone! It’s dangerous to be out like this, what if something happened to you?”

He sniffled a bit, pouting. “Senpai, aren’t you doing the same?” He asked, and if it were anyone else, Ai would probably have bristled. But his innocent expression told her he wasn't, in fact, calling out her hypocrisy.

“Still,” she argued, “it’s late! What are you doing out?”

He clutched his scythe with some shame. Twisting his body back and forth. “Well—”

There was a sudden scuffling noise from behind, and Hibiki turned—suddenly Ai was fighting not to drop her phone as a pair of voices screamed.

“Ai-chan! What in the world is happening!” Miki cried from the phone. It took a couple seconds for Ai to recover from the sudden shock, but when she did, she peeked around Hibiki’s shoulder to see those three idiots.

Hibiki wailed. “Gestober! Miguel!” Really, why was she always put in situations like this? “I changed into my winter cloak and scared you! I’m sorry, I’m sorry!”

Tsukimiya seemed to have realized she was there first. Ai rocked forward with a quiet ‘oof’ as he stepped behind Hibiki, and threw his arm around her, settling it across her chest. From his place behind her, it was almost like he was holding her—needless to say, Ai’s cheeks burned.

His same laugh shook his chest against her shoulder. “Ai-chan! No way!” He chortled, “This is perfect!”

Miki was confused. “Is that Tsukimiya-kun?”

Ai deflated a bit as Tsukimiya drew their eyes to her. “Miki-chan, can I text you later?”

Tsukimiya moved his face by her ear, “Hi Hijame-chan!” Ai didn’t like Miki’s sudden giggling.

“Hi! Okay, you better text me later! Have fun! Bye-bye!”

Ai hung up the phone, sighing. Tsukimiya slid to the side, making it so that his arm just hung over her shoulder. She wondered if he knew how badly her nerves were bubbling under her skin at his closeness—no, he knew. He always knew. 

“What are you doing out here, Ai-chan?” He asked as his other two friends interrogated Hibiki. Ai pursed her lips a little sheepishly, glancing his way, but unable to fully face him so closely. She held up Shishi the lion in explanation.

“Ryo dropped his favorite stuffed animal on his way home from school,” she said, “I came out to find it.”

Tsukimiya hummed. “Alone? That’s not very safe,” he scolded lightly, saying exactly what she’d been telling their underclassman just a minute ago, “Your parents were okay with that?”

She cleared her throat. “I told them I was going…with a friend…” she trailed off. One glance at his face told her he was unimpressed. Her heart fluttered. “I mean I had Miki-chan on the phone the entire time! So I was only kind-of alone!”

Tsukimiya leaned sideways, tripping her up a moment. “That’s dumb,” he decided, “I guess you’ll just have to stay with us for now! Oh well!”

Ai stuttered a protest, but he ignored her, opting to instead removed his arm from her shoulders and grab her hand. Hanadori looked a little scandalized as Tsukimiya pulled her forward to lead their group forward, in the opposite direction of her home. Ai just sent one last look over her shoulder before giving up and allowing him to drag her onward.

“Where are we going?” She asked reluctantly. Whatever adventure she was being brought along, Ai wasn’t too upset. Now that she wasn’t alone, she felt significantly safer. Even if she was surrounded by weirdos, they filled the silence. Not to mention the fact Tsukimiya was once again holding her hand so blatantly in front of his friends. After that conversation with Suzuran, Ai couldn’t help a big of smugness blossom in her.

“We’re going to investigate!” He declared, using his other hand to point forward. “There’s been sightings of a woman in white in Higashi Park. They say she sings a sad song…and when you hear it…you get trapped in darkness!”

Ai shivered violently at his implication, suddenly no longer so brave. She almost wanted to turn around and run back home, but now she wasn’t sure if she had the courage.

“Y-You mean like a g-g-ghost?” Came her meek voice, holding Shishi a little tighter.

Tsukimiya grinned. “That’s what we’re going to find out! Look! Higashi Park!”

Oh, why did she always end up in situations like this? Tsukimiya secretly despised her, she thought, he wanted to watch her suffer.

“If I heard right…” Hibiki started from down the line of boys, and Ai was offended at how calm he seemed, “They say the woman in white is a hannya wearing white…”

They all seemed to realize at once. She, Hanadori, and Koyuki Seri let out long breaths, suddenly relived. Hanadori tried to appear confident.

“A hannya wearing white, huh? The truth of the rumor must be that it’s Mogami Kimikage,” he declared, but Ai ceased listening as a figure approached him from behind. “He must have gone insane after his loss during the student council election. Obviously he should be punished—”

The demon clamped a hand on Hanadori’s shoulder, terrifying him into falling onto the ground with a croak of pure fear. Ai was likewise frozen in her cowardice.

Naturally, the culprit was Mogami Kimikage, there to nail his own voodoo doll to a tree in punishment for something or another. Apparently it was a regular thing for him. Tsukimiya’s incessant laughing was accompanied by the shutter of his camera phone as this all transpired, of course. Ai naturally had the device shoved into her own terrified face for a moment, but she was still too spooked to relax anymore.

Ah, Shishi, you’ve become more trouble than you’re worth, she thought tearfully, take responsibility. 

Koyuki looked thoughtfully into the trees. “So, you’re the white figure,” he mused, “Then what was the rumor about the singing?”

Mogami blinked. “Oh, I’ve heard that singing,” Ai reached out to the side to grab a fistful of Tsukimiya’s coat sleeve. This was too much. “That sad, sarrowful singing…”

As if by command, an eerie, soft song carried its way through the wind. The voice was sad, and beautiful, as if a lonely angel was calling them deeper into the forest. Then, a white figure appeared, prompting Hanadori, Koyuki, and Hibiki to scream. Hanadori shoved Koyuki Seri in front of him. Ai burst into tears.

“W-Wait! I know this song!” Hanadori called out, looking suddenly hopeful. Then, they all looked a little closer and Ai wanted to cry harder; the figure wasn’t an angel at all, but a boy dressed up in an elaborate angel outfit, golden wings and everything. It didn’t take her long to place him as that weird customer from their school fair that Hanadori sold all that dango to.

While they had their sickening reunion, Ai turned slowly to Tsukimiya, still clutching his sleeve. Her eyes were still streaming with tears, the most pitiful pout she might ever have worn pulling down on her lips. Tsukimiya was chortling hysterically behind one hand, while snapping photos of her with the other. She shook him with all of her weakened strength. 

“I—wanna—go—home!” She cried pathetically. She didn’t even care she sounded so pathetic; she had enough jump scares to last a lifetime.

There was another snapping of twigs behind them, and a flash of light over the trees surrounding them. Ai gasped suddenly as Tsukimiya grabbed her back, pulling her as they ran for the tree cover, away from the lights.

“Tsu—”

“Shhhhhh…” he hushed with a grin, pulling her behind him. They crouched down, peaking around the tree trunk. Ai saw the others, excluding Koyuki, doing the same in front of them.

“What are you doing out here?” Ai slapped a hand over her mouth as a pair of policemen approached their abandoned friend, pointing their flashlights directly on him. The thought of trespassing in the park at night hadn’t even crossed her mind until that moment, let alone a curfew. Her raging nerves from that entire night intensified at the suddenly real chance of getting in trouble.

“Who are you? What school do you go to, kid?”

Koyuki waved his hands frantically. “W-We we’re just passing through here! Nothing suspicious, I swear!” He seemed to not have realized they’d all hidden.

“We?” The officer asked, “Who’s ‘we’?”

At that prompting, Tsukimiya grabbed her hand and pulled her back further, keeping them low as they hurried away from the scene. His grin told her they were abandoning the rest of them, and she kind of almost maybe wanted to laugh a little too at his cold-heartedness towards his friends, relieved she wasn’t with them.

They could hear the rest of them being chewed-out behind them , but the pair just ran faster, laughing quietly under their breaths, even as they climbed the stone fencing of the park. Ai followed him up, keeping Shishi the lion tucked snuggly under her arm as she pulled herself up the wall. She slid between the short metal posts on top, and accepted Tsukimiya’s outstretched hand downward, meeting his grin with a one of her own.

Oh, she felt bad. Miki was going to absolutely die when she heard about this.

“You’re awful!” She laughed out as he pulled her by the hand once more, this time in the direction of where she lived.

“So are you, then,” he said, “Would you rather get in trouble?”

She giggled, bumping his arm with her shoulder. “No way! My parents would kill me!”

Most of the short walk back to hers was filled by her nonstop giggling. She really couldn’t stop; the in disbelief of escaping two policemen kept her absolutely reeling from the insanity of it. Tsukimiya didn’t try the fill the silence either, just content to watch her laugh. 

As they traveled slowly down the sidewalk, the cold night came to a head when small tufts of white snow came twirling down from the sky. Ai’s grin grew as the drifted down and hit her face, melting on her reddened cheeks the moment they made contact. She looked up at her companion once she’d noticed, not commenting, but wanting to see if he saw, too. He was looking at her.

They came to a slow stop outside her place, pausing under the streetlight.

“Thank you for walking me back,” she said, breathing in deeply, “You’re insane!”

He shrugged not quite letting go of her hand yet…not that she noticed, or anything. “That was fun,” he conceded, “the rest are probably going to get into a bunch of trouble.”

She nodded, only feeling a little guilty. “Yeah, that’s too bad.”

Tsukimiya gave her hand one last squeeze before letting go, patting her head once with a smile. Ai’s eyes fluttered rapidly at this movement. “See you tomorrow, Ai-chan,” he smiled, “For our date!”

Her cheeks reddened a bit at that, having completely forgotten about that in the night’s events. She returned his smile with a shy one. “Yeah! See you…tomorrow.”

He turned to leave, but paused before swinging back. “Ah, one last thing.”

Ai stayed still as he back up next to her and pulled out his phone. He leaned close, grinning at the camera. “Say cheese!” Ai smiled too, a little confused, and he took the picture. “One last picture to remember tonight,” he explained, “Goodnight, Ai-chan!”

She watched him walk away, waving over his shoulder as he went his way. The snow was coming down a little harder, and she briefly thought, between her laments over her full heart, that it would make that next day so pretty.

“Goodnight, Tsukimiya.”

“Ai-chan! You-you rebel! You’re so bad! I can’t believe this! Are you serious? My sweet Ai-chan a criminal? Running and hiding from the police?!” 

Ai giggled into the phone, her blanket pulled high under her chin. “Miki-chan it wasn’t as bad as you make it sound!”

“Kind of romantic though, right? Right?”

December 12th.

Ai had been preparing for this day since she asked her darling Miki for advice. Now that it was here, Ai was a complete wreck.

Following her late-night excursion, she faced some difficulty in falling asleep. At first, she dismissed it as adrenaline from being such a rebel. Then, as midnight turned to one and then two…then three…Ai thought maybe her chattering jaw wasn’t from the cold at all, but perhaps a touch of nerves. Soon enough, Ai found herself tossing and turning, eyes wide in the darkness of her room. Puripuri stayed squeezed dutifully in her trembling arms.

It wasn’t the first date she’d been on, really. Disregarding those days she spent with the evil mind-reader, the only official date she ever attended was with Yukihara Asahi. And while it was technically a date, it felt more like hanging out with a friend than any other day spent with Tsukimiya ever had. But this was way different than then; she couldn’t dismiss this as just hanging out. She ruined that for herself by telling him her intentions right up-front—not that she wanted him to think it was not a date. Oh, she was hopeless. Truly.

Ai fell asleep late and woke early. She could feel the exhaustion lingering on her face as she dragged herself into the bathroom. Once she got a good look of her haggard face, Ai knew she would have to work overtime to fix herself into a presentable state. She was half-tempted to beg Miki to come over.

Ai didn’t leave the bathroom until her hair was pulled down into its usual soft bob, and her face had been scraped clean of sleep. Only her mom was awake in the kitchen. Ai mumbled a goodmorning, going straight to the freezer.

“Goodmorning, Sweetheart,” Hanako greeted, pouring her daughter a cup of coffee, “You’re up early.”

Ai pressed a frozen bag of veggies against her face, accepting the coffee graciously. Her mother had been the one to introduce her to the timeless remedy of frozen veggies for a puffy face—she didn’t comment. “I couldn’t sleep…” Ai sighed, sitting at the table. Hanako joined her.

“What’s wrong? Are you feeling okay?” Hanako asked, tucking a strand of hair behind her daughter’s ear.

Ai nodded. “I’m fine, really,” she contemplated her next words, debating on whether to share her plans that day. After a beat, she deflated, “I’m going on a date today…I’m nervous.”

Hanako gasped, throwing a hand over her mouth. Her daughter cringed. “A date? With who?” 

Ai groaned. “Don’t make a big deal!” She protested, despite also wanting to make a big deal, “A date with Tsukimiya.”

Hanako gasped again, but cut herself off at Ai’s look. She visibly settled herself, clearing her throat quickly. “Sorry, sorry…” she said, “I mean, that’s wonderful. Your father and I really approve of Utsugi-kun, you know…” Ai rolled her eyes, taking a sip of her coffee, prompting a small smile on her mother’s face. Her voice softened. “It’s going to be just fine, Sweetheart. Have fun.”

Somehow her mother’s simple assurance did help.

Tsukimiya was going to meet her that afternoon at about three. That gave her plenty of time to choose an outfit and decide what cutesy-themed accessories she was going to wear. It also gave her and her brothers time to run outside and hop around in the thin sheet of snow the night left them. The three of them left a line of comical snow-angels for passerbyers to admire.

“What do you think?” Ai asked both Miki, propped up on her dresser on a video call, and Haru sitting patiently on her bed. His short legs swung happily in the air. “Should I break out my snowflake earrings? Or go with pearls?” She showed both options, holding them against her ear in turn. Miki and Haru hummed in unison.

“Snowflake!” Haru decided first, “It’s snowing outside!”

Miki nodded. “Haru-kun is totally right,” she declared, “Pearls are like way fancy. You should keep them for Christmas!”

Ai took their advice, opening her closet. “Got it. Then…how about…”

Miki and Haru gave their earnest advice, and the three finally settled on an outfit for her date. She, of course, opted for her midi-length navy skirt, thick tights, and her off-white cozy sweater tucked in the front. Ai felt a little less color-coordinated than she usually did, but at least as long as they were outside she could wear a scarf to match the skirt. She didn’t even need Miki’s convincing to put on a bit of makeup, too. It wasn’t much, but just enough to make her feel a little prettier.

Evil Mind-Reader: Almost there (*\\0\\*)

Ai, unable to find the proper channel for her nerves, squeezed Haru tight upon receiving the message. He thought it was funny when she shook him around, but the act was honestly therapeutic on her nerves. She triple checked her side bag for her wallet, counting the remaining cash from her work with the elderly, and took one final breath.

There was a knock on the door. Ryo let everyone know.

“Someone’s heeeerrreeee!”

Hanako grinned encouragingly, holding a thumbs-up as her daughter passed her toward the door. Ai didn’t let herself hesitate before whipping it open.

“Hi, Ai-chan!” Tsukimiya grinned, hands shoved in his coat pockets, “Ready for our date?” Ai wondered why that word felt like a curse.

She cleared her throat. Her cheeks were rapidly warming up—Ai! Control yourself!

“Hi Tsukimiya. Let me grab my coat,” she said. Cool, Ai, you’re so so cool. The moment she turned around, she released her breath. There was no way she was going to survive that entire afternoon. “Ryo! Haru! Come tell Tsukimiya happy birthday!” She called.

That kept him distracted while she ran into her room for her jacket, knit hat and scarf. She did one last turn in the mirror before coming back out, smiling a bit at the earnestness in which her brothers were talking to her date.

“You’re so old!”

Tsukimiya laughed, offering Ryo a shrug. “Your sister is my age, too, you know.”

Ryo looked back at her, horrified. “You are? How old are mommy and dad?”

Ai patted the boys away. “Old. Like super super old,” she said, “Alright, Tsukimiya and I are leaving. Bye!”

They all called their goodbyes, and she and Tsukimiya made it outside on the sidewalk before either of them said anything else. Both of them had their hands shoved in their coat pockets, and Ai hid the bottom of her face in her scarf.

“So, what are we doing?” He asked her, looking a little too smug for her liking, “You’re the one with the plans, right?”

She almost wanted to tell him no, just because he looked so excited about it. She wondered if that made her a bad person. 

Ai dug into her purse, pulling out her wallet in show. “We can get dinner anywhere you like!” She declared, “We’re doing something else later, and it’s a little early for dinner, but since it’s your birthday, you can choose wherever you want!”

His expression took on surprise as a show. “Anywhere I want?” He asked, and Ai’s wallet suddenly hurt. She felt like he might take her to the most expensive place he could think of, just to be a jerk. It was a classic Tsukimiya move. But, she stayed strong.

“Anywhere!”

Tsukimiya held out his hand between them, wearing a grin. She didn’t know why that gesture made her heart leap. Maybe she was just used to him grabbing hers out of nowhere. “I know just the place.”

She took a deep breath and took his hand, growing redder as he put his fingers between hers. Everything felt…different.

She didn’t ask where they were going, content to let him lead her along while she admired the dusting of snow still sitting on the surrounding structures. This wouldn’t be the worst of the snowfall—that would come a little later. What was there now was just enough to hide the leafless trees and yellowed grass. A few kids were messing around with the powder covering their parents’ car, tracing shapes into the hood. One tried to roll a handful into a snowball, but when that didn’t work, he flung the loose pieces into his sister’s face.

“That looks like fun,” Tsukimiya mused suddenly, evidently watching the same scene as she was. Ai fixed a suspicious glare upward.

“Tsukimiya, if you throw snow in my face you’ll be eating dinner alone.” 

He bumped her shoulder, pouting. “Aww, you’d let me eat alone? On my birthday?” She bumped him back—harder.

“If you throw snow in my face, yes. Yes I would.” She totally wouldn’t, actually, but she wouldn’t be nice about it. He could probably drop a handful of snow down the back of her coat and she would still be sitting across from him, paying for his meal.

“You’re so sweet, Ai-chan! I knew you wouldn’t!” He grinned, “You’re kind of a pushover, aren’t you?”

Evil. “Stay out of my head!”

When they finally slowed to a stop, Ai took a few moments to realize where exactly they were. She hadn’t questioned why they weren’t walking toward the part of town where the mall and restaurants were; she hadn’t been thinking of much really. The building in front of them did give her pause.

“The…grocery store?”

Tsukimiya nodded happily, taking her blatant confusion in stride. “The grocery store!”

Ai blinked. “I said we can go wherever you wanted…”

He nodded wisely. “I want to eat at home.”

Ai suddenly had a vision of the pair of them in the kitchen cooking. Admittedly, it was a very cute image, and her heart may or may not have actually fluttered at the thought, but one minor detail kept her from completely giving in without question.

“Didn’t you say your dad was gone for…work…”

He nodded. “Mhm!”

“Did you…want to go to my house?”

“No, let’s go to mine!”

“But wouldn’t we be…” her voice dropped in volume, “alone?”

He nodded again. “Mhm!”

Danger alarms went off in her head immediately. She had been alone with him probably a hundred times. But that was always at least semi-public where no nefarious deeds could be done. Sure, she might be maybe perhaps a little bit—barely—head over heels for the absolute psychopath, but she trusted him just about as far as she could throw him. Not to mention she seriously doubted that even with their very blatant approval for her classmate, Ai’s parents would be less than thrilled to have their teen daughter alone with a boy in his house.

“I’m kind of offended you think so low of me,” he pouted. Ai didn’t even reprimand his mind-reading. He saw she was still looking at him with a palpable suspicion. “You’ll get to meet Schrödinger.”

Well, what her parents didn’t know wouldn’t kill them.

Ai pulled him forward. “What are we making?”

After a quick discussion, they decided on chicken katsu curry. It was simple enough to make, and Tsukimiya said he wanted something warm and with a little bit of spice. They collected what ingredients he didn’t have already at home, which ended up less than what Ai had hoped to spend getting dinner. Pleased with this, she insisted they stop by the bakery a few stores down and grab something sweet for dessert; it was his birthday, after all. They got a small strawberry personal cake to split. Pleased with their purchasing, she almost forgot to be nervous.

Ai had no idea where he lived. She had no knowledge of anything about his home life, except that it was just Tsukimiya and his dad, he had a cat and a dog, and that he had an impressive tea collection. She only knew about his tea collection because of a photo he showed her in passing while he swiped through his camera roll of terrorized classmates and friends. So, of course, meeting Schrödinger the cat wasn’t the only motivation for accepting his invitation. She was curious about all those small aspects of his life that he was so tight-lipped about. Secretly, she wondered what kind of embarrassing things she could find—he had to have something, right? He already violated her sanctuary and saw the picture of her naked baby butt. It was only fair. Right?

Walking up to his house, Ai observed it thoroughly. He lived a little close for comfort, just a brief fifteen minute walk from her. The house was small, but modern and immaculate in appearance on the outside. Their walkway was shoveled, so he must have done that earlier. There was nothing especially personal on the outside from what she could gather. It was very magazine. 

Tsukimiya unlocked the front door, and she followed him cautiously inside, like a cat creeping into a room, each paw placed meticulously, as if they might stand on a mine if they weren’t too careful. She followed his lead of shaking off their shoes before placing them neatly in the shoe rack beside the door. That was the first thing she noticed—neatness.

Ai’s family was not a particularly messy one. Being that she had two very young brothers, of course, meant that nothing could stay spotless for long, but their home was never a complete mess. It felt “lived-in”. Tsukimiya’s didn’t.

She felt like she had to be on her best behavior for some reason, following him into the kitchen. All the utensils we put away, the counters sparkling spotless. Where her refrigerator was full of magnets, pictures, and drawings from the boys, his was stainless steel and without even fingerprints. She felt like she was in an example home—the ones used to advertise new neighborhoods, or show off an interior designer’s work.

“You can set the cake there,” Tsukimiya told her, pointing to the counter. She did as he said, still scoping their surroundings as he put the groceries away. “Did you want to see the cat?”

Ai forgot about being nosy. She perked right up, eyes sparkling. “Please?”

Tsukimiya led them into what must have been the living room. Like the kitchen, it was immaculate. The only sign it was lived in were the few professional photos in picture frames hanging on the wall; it was Tsukimiya when he was younger, standing by who she assumed was his father, though the pair looked almost nothing alike. She realized that she’d never seen him in all her years around Tsukimiya. That made her a little sad.

Also in the room was the cute little cage with an even cuter little dog wagging his tail inside. “Here’s Cerberus.” Tsukimiya let the dog out and Ai sank right to her knees to greet the canine, immediately going to scratch his chubby puppy cheeks.

“Aw you’re so sweet!” She cooed, “You’re really Hanadori’s dog, aren’t you? What doggy wears an eyepatch, huh?” He barked, as if responding to her words. “Oh I know!”

Tsukimiya was grinning, watching her shower the dog in attention from above. Just as he thought, Schrödinger appeared from the hallway, alerted by the comotion. He picked the cat up off the floor, carrying him toward Ai, who gasped upon seeing the tuxedo.

“Here, you can pet Schrödinger while I take Cerberus out.”

In the five minutes it took him to put the leash on the dog, take him outside, and bring him in, Ai ended up on her stomach, kicking her feet in the air as she drowned the cat in affection.

“Aren’t you just the sweetest baby ever! Oh, look at those ears~~” she sighed, “Do you want to come home with me? I’ll be your new mommy. Tsukimiya can visit you once in a while, yeah? What sweet baby!” The cat rolled onto his back, batting her fingers playfully. Ai almost died.

Tsukimiya, who was very much enjoying her fawning over the cat, crouched next to them, patting his pet’s head. “It’s just a cat, Ai-chan.”

She gasped, acting outraged. “And that’s exactly why Schrödinger needs to come live with me! I’ll appreciate you, Schrödinger!”

Tsukimiya laughed, standing straight, but still leaning to talk to her. “Did you want to start dinner? Or wait?”

Ai thought about this, glancing at him from the corner of her eye. She knew she was about to be painfully obvious about her intentions of snooping some, but she figured since he was an evil mind-reader, he probably already knew.

“We can start dinner,” she suggested, “But give me a tour first!”

Predictably, he gasped, waving an accusing finger at her. “Ai-chan wants in my bedroom!” Redness burned her face almost instantly.

“Shut up!”

He pouted, “I didn’t know you were forward like that, Ai-chan,” he said, crossing his arms over his chest, “This is only the first date; I don’t know if I’m ready—”

Ai sprang to her feet, fists clenched at her sides. The metaphorical steam poured from her ears. “Shut up! Jerk!”

Tsukimiya laughed his usual maniacal laugh, unphased by the fury rolling from her in waves. He waved her off, turning her with his hands on her shoulders, and gently pushed her further into the house.

“Joking, joking,” he conceded, answered only by her huff, “I’ll give you a tour.”

Ai followed him into the different rooms, looking around curiously as she went. All the rooms, for the most part, had the same unused feeling as the kitchen and family room. The study, however, gave her pause.

It had a lot more furniture than the other rooms. She took a couple curious steps forward, scanning the nearest bookshelf with wide-eyes. The room housed a desk in the center, stacked with some papers she guessed were his dad’s. There were two bookshelves, situated on opposite walls. From first glance, she noted a good majority were either law books, which might have been a clue as to what his father’s career was, or other various textbooks. A spattering of biographies of important people stood out, but nothing she would look to read.

“What does your dad do?” She asked with some curiosity. Tsukimiya leaned against the doorframe while she explored.

“He’s a municipal worker,” he replied, “But he teaches some law classes at the local university; that’s why he’s gone this weekend. He’s at a teaching conference in Tokyo.”

Oh, so he was really smart, Ai thought. Her poor dad was a salaryman. He spent a lot of odd hours running around making sales in different places. Her mom, too, worked in an office as a Secretary. It gave her a regular schedule, but her boss still kept her later more often than Ai liked. Tsukimiya’s father sounded busy. She hoped he didn’t leave her classmate alone too frequently.

“Don’t worry about me, Ai-chan, I stay busy, too.” He said lightly, but the thought still displeased her enough that she didn’t snap at his mind-reading.

Upstairs, he pointed out his father’s closed bedroom door, and the bathroom. Then they entered the most dangerous room in the house.

“Finally, my room.”

Ai stepped slowly inside, as if it might be booby-trapped in some way. Her eyes darted around quickly, taking in the normalcy. He had a full bed, pushed in the corner. It was neatly made and flanked by a nightstand with a lamp and bookmarked novel. She didn’t recognize the cover, and there was nothing especially personalized in that area, so she looked the other way. His desk was opposite the bed, faced away against the wall. Beside that was his bookcase, also filled with books. He must take after his dad, she thought. Upon inspection of the bookshelf, a smile grew on her face.

He had his organized neatly, with nonfiction titles along the top. There were a few familiar novels mixed in, and a few that were on her ‘to read’ list. Under those were a myriad of textbooks, help-books, and niche encyclopedias that positively screamed Tsukimiya. Then, she was surprised to find a row of manga at the bottom. She never took him as the type to collect manga, though she shouldn’t have been too surprised, having seen him draw a million dumb comics over the years. Instead, she pulled out a book from the top, showing him with a smile.

“You should have told me you read it already!” She said good-naturedly. It was the first novel she had recommended him to read. Tsukimiya shrugged, his ever-present smile sitting on his face.

“I didn’t,” he said, “I bought it after.”

A little warmth grew in her chest, and she turned away. “Oh.” Was all she said, and some part of her hoped she might have been part of the reason he did.

She set it back in its place, eyes falling downward to his desk. There were a few of his convenience store magazines piled in the corner, and a larger stack in a basket on the floor between the shelf and desk. In the center of the desk were a handful of loose papers—

Ai’s jaw dropped.

“H-H-Hentai?!” She recoiled, jumping away, toward him. When she whipped her head in his direction, eyes open wide, she backed away from him, too.

“Hmmmm?” He peeked around the bookcase, “Oh, yeah.”

“Oh yeah?!” She slapped a hand over her beet-red face. “Why are you drawing hentai?!”

He shrugged casually, as if she had not just seen his illustrations of naked women on his desk. “It’s a hobby. I commission doujinshi for popular series.”

“Pervert!” She crossed her arms in front of her in way of defense, “I’m alone with a pervert in his house!”

Tsukimiya pouted at her reaction. “I’m not a pervert,” he whined half-heartedly. When she didn’t relent, he took a step toward his desk, shuffling a magazine to the side before holding a small slip out toward her. “It’s not a bad hobby to have; it can pay pretty well.”

Ai narrowed her eyes onto the slip, completely dropping her arms when she realized it was a check. “Is that real?” He hummed a confirmation and her eyes darted toward the explicit drawings, and back to the paper. “… otakus are dedicated, aren’t they?” She asked with some wonder, “And I’m still pulling weeds for money…”

While Ai reevaluated her thoughts and feelings pertaining to Tsukimiya, he led her back downstairs to the kitchen. Cooking was apparently something he did often for himself, so Ai obeyed his instructions as he commanded her, collecting pans and utensils so that they could get to work.

I already knew he was gross, Ai rationalized to herself, washing the rice idly, I suppose my feelings are strong enough to look past the fact he’s a pervert.

“Ai-chan, you’re the one that asked me out. Stop thinking mean things about me.”

She stuck out her tongue, turning the rice cooker on. “Stop giving me mean things to think about.”

He frowned, tilting his chin up, and pointed at the chopping board and knife. “Get chopping!”

Ai giggled, coming next to him. “Yes, chef!” She responded playfully, pleased to see him grin back.

Curry from scratch was simple enough to make. Ai set about chopping ingredients under his instruction, while he filleted the chicken for their chicken katsu. They swapped places after that, and Ai made up the batter and dipped the individual fillets between that and the panko. She wasn’t sure what all Tsukimiya was throwing into the curry cooking away in the pan, but the smell was enough to make her mouth water.

Ai took her plate of fillets to his other side, joining him in front of the stove. He had a pan ready for her, and she put the oil in to heat up.

“That smells amazing!” She marveled, peeking inside the simmering mixture. “Do you like cooking?”

He shrugged, still smiling, “Sometimes. I like other people cooking for me more.”

Ai rolled her eyes a bit, though without malice. “I would offer to bring you lunch sometime, but if this tastes as good as it smells, I might have to ask you to bring me lunch, chef.”

Right as she said this, she turned away quickly, eyes wide in disbelief over her own audacity. That was such a manga thing to do. Not to mention, it was totally a romance manga thing to do. With like…couples.

“Pfffffft—” she cringed at his inevitable guaff, hunching her shoulders in anticipation of the teasing she was about to receive. “You’re so cheesey! But, okay, let’s trade one day!” She looked up quickly, jaw dropping a hair. “You can bring me one, and I’ll bring yours.”

Her mouth snapped shut, lips pressed in a pleased smile. “Okay, let’s do that.”

Ai wanted to cry actual tears at the meal on her plate. She didn’t know if it was the enticing smell, the cold weather, or the fact they made it together, but nothing had ever looked as appetizing as chicken katsu curry with rice.

When it tasted just as good as it looked, she looked up at him from across the table, so happy there were practically sparkles dancing around her head. She didn’t even really know what to say—she just smiled hard enough so that her cheeks hurt. Tsukimiya tilted his head to the side.

“Good?” He asked, as if her face didn’t tell him everything he needed to know.

“Mmm!” She answered, nodding firmly, “Let’s quit school and open a restaurant.”

“What will we call it?”

Ai caught sight of the cat wandering into the room, looking cooly at the pair of them. “Schrödinger’s of course!”

Tsukimiya nodded his acceptance. “You get your food in a box, and don’t know if it’s there or not until you open it.”

After cleaning off their plates, the pair split the personal cake, commenting playfully on the taste and texture like judges did on television. Ai thought it was absolutely delicious, and she was completely full by the time they finished. The pair rounded off their meal in the living room, where Tsukimiya brewed them some of his fancy luxury green tea. They sat across from each other on the loungers, with the coffee table between them. Ai was pleased when Schrödinger came to sit beside her.

“Are you enjoying your birthday so far?” Ai asked, cupping her warm mug. He nodded.

“Mm, but I’m curious what we’re doing next.” Ai hummed, looking smug.

“You’ll just have to wait and see.”

They stayed some time longer drinking tea in the family room. Ai practically inhaled her drink, having discovered luxury tea was no joke. The richness smoothed her down to her soul, warming her in a way she had never been before. She thought she might have had the tea god in that first sip.

This, of course, prompted Tsukimiya to give her a tour of his tea collection. Ai never thought about a hobby like that before, but after experiencing what she had, decided it was an S-Class venture. Tempted to start her own, she asked how much the tea they just had was, and decided just as quickly she would settle for the cheap stuff; with prices like that, writing risqué doujinshi made a little too much sense.

Eventually, tea browsing turned into more talking, and Tsukimiya shared more and more information pertaining to his hobbies. She thought he might be annoyed at her never-ending questions, but he seemed to enjoy answering them, so she didn’t feel too bad. She asked about tea brands and shops, the proper way to brew and store them. She learned that some teas were supposed to be exclusively served in certain kinds of materials, but he didn’t worry so much about that. He told her about his derelict side job and how it wasn’t always so raunchy. Reluctantly, she asked about how he published and got into it—apparently this was a long-standing hobby since he was fifteen, and he had an editor who was always getting on him about deadlines. She told him if college didn’t work out, he could always become a mangaka.

They hadn’t even realized the time until Tsukimiya took out his phone to check a text. Outside’s darkened sky hadn’t registered with either of them.

“Eight?!” Ai gasped, looking at her phone to confirm, “How in the world did time go by so fast?”

“We didn’t miss your other plans, did we?” Tsukimiya asked, but she suspected he wasn’t too worried. She shook her head.

“No, they should be open pretty late. We should be fine if we get ready and leave now.”

The pair dressed back up in their winter gear. Ai advised him to add a coat and gloves to his ensemble, to which he whined about her nagging him. He listened, but not before Ai nearly choked him. After taking Cerberus outside one last time, Ai bid a tearful farewell to the tuxedo cat Schrödinger. She felt her heart shatter into a million pieces at his retreating face in the front window. Tsukimiya laughed at her.

It was snowing again, the same way it had the night prior. When she remarked this with a wide grin, Tsukimiya just looked at her before offering a hand, waving it insistently until she took it. Ai hid her bashful smile under her scarf. He walked just a bit closer than earlier, close enough so that their arms overlapped one another. She prayed he couldn’t feel the pounding of her heart from the contact.

Ai led the walk this time, pulling him to and fro. There were a few people out and about, it being a weekend. Once they got into the busier part of the town there were more, mostly hanging out by the few cafes still open that late. Ai walked right by, heading closer to Higashi park, where they'd been the night before. They took a side path, into the open park. However, once they reached their destination, Ai’s smile dropped.

“Oh,” she frowned, “It’s closed…”

When she was younger, before her brothers were born, Ai’s parents would take her to the small ice rink a few times a winter. It was something she had always looked forward to, and something that she’d been excited to try again. Miki had gone just the previous week and shared it was, in fact, open already, but the empty ice and vacant skate rental booth said otherwise.

“Ice skating?”

Ai hummed sadly, reading the small hand-written note taped against the rental counter: Out of town. Closed the 11-13th come back December 18th

For the first time that evening, a stone of disappointment settled in her stomach. She really had been looking forward to skating again, and she thought it’d be a fun, atypical activity for the pair—instead of the library, or walking around. Trying to push away her disappointment, Ai looked sideways and up at him.

“Did you have anything you wanted to do tonight? Or we could call it—Tsukimiya?” He let go of her hand, approaching the rental booth. It was a small wooden shack kind of stand, the kind where you enter through the side and pull up the window to serve customers. She watched him peek around, before reaching out and pushing the window upward. To her surprise, the hood went up, exposing shelves of rental skates inside.

Tsukimiya looked back over to her, grinning. “It’s unlocked!”

Ai gaped at him, trying to determine if she was seeing what she thought she was. When he hoisted himself onto the counter and swung his legs around, she gasped, waving her hands frantically.

“Tsukimiya!” She panicked, “What are you doing?!”

He glanced back, unbothered. “Hm? Getting us ice skates. What size are you?” She sputtered incoherently, and he shrugged. “Nevermind, it’s these ones…”

He placed two pairs of skates on the counter, smile too innocent for the circumstances. When he realized she was still too nervous to join him he pouted, leaning against the counter. 

“Come on, Ai-chan, don’t be boring,” he urged, “Let’s keep having fun!”

Ai pursed her lips, contemplating. It really was just innocent fun, right? No harm would be done because they’d return the skates, right? In all honesty, cutting the night short was the last thing she wanted to do. 

Reluctantly, a shaky smile grew on her face, and she stepped forward. Tsukimiya’s grin returned in full. “You’re really trying to get me in trouble, aren’t you?” She asked with some humor, “This is two nights in a row, Tsukimiya…”

He laughed, hopping back over and the pair took off their boots and laced their skates one foot at a time. They wobbled the short way to the ice, stepping on carefully when they made it.

The outdoor rink was small, about the size of a pond. It was made to look like one in appearance, too, where there were no railings, and someone could step on anywhere. It was raised from the ground just a few centimeters, so that if it rained it wouldn’t flood, and when it snowed, it would be easy to clean off. Somebody had evidently done it that morning, too, because the only snow left on the ice was from the flurries that currently fell around them. There were a handful of tall snow mounds that were left sporadically where they’d been shoveled off.

Ai was displeased to see Tsukimiya stepping onto the ice with much more grace than she did. Because of course, of course, he would be perfectly balanced. Heaven forbid he wasn’t good at everything.

“I’m not good at everything, Ai-chan,” he called, gliding away, “I really can’t get the hang of sewing.” She mocked him at his back, almost falling as she did so. She decided to blame him.

It didn’t take too long for her to find her balance. For a few minutes the pair of them skated idly in circles around the rink. Ai tried to catch up to him as she did so, making a sort of game for herself. That, of course, spurred him to stay away, and eventually it turned into skate-tag. Ai forgot they weren’t even supposed to be there, laughing loudly as she tried to avoid him. He was much better at catching her—not that she would admit it.

“Youreee too slow!” Tsukimiya taunted, tagging her quickly as he passed. Ai shrieked, nearly falling over. She spun around.

“No, you!” She insisted, “Race me!”

The pair lined up and raced back and forth, taunting one another as they pushed forward. Ai grabbed fistfuls of her nice skirt to hold up as she raced so that it wouldn’t trip her up. This made her look especially awkward when she tried to lean into her frantic glide, forcing her to flap her other arm to balance. Tsukimiya, naturally, found this hilarious. 

Ai, feeling equally embarrassed as she did mischievous, cut sideways in their race, directly in front of her opponent. Caught off guard, he tried to stop, but his momentum tripped him up and he slid backwards, landing with a loud thump on his behind.

Something about Tsukimiya’s completely bewildered expression, combined with what was probably the least graceful thing he’d ever done, stopped her from laughing right away. Then, when he looked up and made eye contact with her, still skating away, the dam broke and Ai was hollering in laughter. She had to hold her stomach at the force of it, tears springing in her mirthful eyes. Tsukimiya was not amused—until she slid right off the side of the rink, tripping face-first into one of the snow mounds piled around the ice.

Ai couldn’t even get her face out of the snow before Tsukimiya’s hysterical laughter filled the air, accompanied by the familiar shutter noise of his phone camera. Frantically, she lurched back, blowing snow out of her mouth and slapping the chill off her skin. Her face turned such a red that she was sure it would all melt off before she could brush it away. She rounded her body back toward Tsukimiya; he was beating his fists on the ice, he was laughing so hard. Then, despite herself, she did too.

They called the skating quits not too long after, both wet with melted snow, though Ai considerably more so. They took off their skates and cleaned them off. Tsukimiya hopped back over and put them away, grinning a bit when he saw Ai leaning over to tuck a handful of bills beside the register.

“What?” She asked shyly, “For the rental…”

He walked her home, the pair of them soaked through their clothes and freezing, but still joking merrily as they went. They held hands once more, but Ai tucked her arm between his and his side as she did so, unbearably shy, but also too cold to care. He was warm, and she liked being as close as they were like that.

“I hope you had a good birthday,” she told him as her house came into view at the end of the street, “I know we didn’t do a ton, but I had fun.”

He gave her hand a small squeeze. “I did, too,” he agreed easily, “You planned this one, so I’ll get the next.”

Her eyebrows jumped into her hairline. She peeked meekly to the side. “Next…one?” She asked innocently.

“Our next date.”

That was what she thought he said. Her head felt like there were a dozen bees bouncing around in there, that bit of shocked delight filling her from head to toe. She felt sure, for the first time, that he must really actually kinda sort of like her back—just a little. She knew he did things and said things that were just too obvious. She knew the attention he gave her wasn’t like any he’d given any of their classmates or friends. She knew this all, but for so long the thought of him liking someone like her was just so bizarre.

Ai didn’t dislike herself. But she didn’t really think there was anything particularly amazing about herself, either.

“Oh,” she said finally, “Okay.”

They slowed in front of her house and her eyes lingered everywhere but him. Gingerly, she pulled her hand away, replacing the grip with her other. She wrung her fingers with some anxiety before finally turning to face him, not liking how much colder she was untucked from his side. She took a sharp breath, trying to push away her shyness. A year ago Ai would be appalled at the weakness she showed her evil classmate.

“I’ll see you Monday!” She declared, sounding just a bit awkward for her liking.

Tsukimiya grinned back, but it wasn’t his usual. He seemed amused, but slightly patronizing in his humor. “I’ll see you Monday!” 

He turned around, making it just a few steps, chortling under his breath, before Ai’s arm shot out and grabbed the fabric over his elbow. He turned around curiously, taking in her weird, uncomfortable expression. Her brows were creased, lips pursed to the side—it was almost intense.

When she didn’t say anything, he laughed a bit more. “What? Hm? Did Ai-chan forget how to speak?” She looked almost pained. 

“Mmmmmm…” It was as if she was arguing with someone inside her head. Then, quickly, she reached with one hand for his shoulder and pulled it downward. With the other, she reached out and touched his opposite cheek, fingers just ghosting against his skin. Ai placed one warm, chaste kiss against his other cheek, and let go just as quickly. She spun on her heel and he watched her march up the walkway, clenching her fists at her sides.

“H-Happy Birthday!”

Tsukimiya stood there even after she closed the door, mouth barely open in a bewildered gape. He cupped his cheek where it still felt warm.

She choked. “Tsukimiya!” She hissed, lighting up red, “Well now I wouldn’t, just because you said it like that!”