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When Makoto Yuki first transferred to Gekkoukan High School, he was talked about with slight interest at best. Despite this, over the course of his stay at Gekkoukan the buzz around him didn’t die off, in fact it only grew larger.
It was largely in part due to the notoriety he slowly gained for being somewhat of a genius, as he had yet to answer a question wrong in class. This ‘fame’ went so far that some students were even calling him a prodigy due to his participation in multiple clubs, in fact, he was in the most clubs out of everyone in the school.
Another factor to consider were his rapidly improving looks. The Makoto who transferred in was certainly far from ugly, but the one that most people met now was damn near flawless in appearance, or at the very least, had the confidence to make it sell the idea.
The addition of a choker to his fashion sense made even more people interested. It was a simple choker, no design or real notable aspects of it, but it still made Makoto stand out just a bit more.
Another part of standing out was his aura of mystery, everyone at the school talked about it. He barely spoke to anyone outside his small social circle, and despite having opened up his shoe locker to confession letters multiple times, he always gave no reaction to them. One time he even handed one to Junpei Iori, with a small “Can you go in my stead?” Junpei responded with a quick “Hell no!” as he bashed Makoto for not accepting such a “sincere and innocent act of love” as it was described by the ace detective. Furthermore, Makoto hid an eye behind the fringe of his hair, and people had their theories about it, ranging from him simply being emo, to heterochromia, to even him having a devil’s eye behind the hair… The last one was suggested by Junpei.
Still, despite Makoto’s aloofness about life, and Junpei’s general discouragements to all the girls who asked him to introduce them to Makoto, he was undeniably a popular kid. Girls wanted his number, and boys wanted him to hang out with them.
Yet, despite all this, Makoto only saw one person regularly.
Someone who he spoke to often, and trusted to give him exactly what he wanted: his manager at Chagall Cafe.
Sure, Makoto often talked to his friends and helped with club activities, but whenever he didn’t have anything else going on, he went to Chagall Cafe, and worked till late at night. Who knows where he goes after midnight, “Actually, he probably just goes home.” The more logical Gekkoukan students suggest to the theorists of their groups. Regardless, when he is working at the cafe, the girls from Gekkoukan often go there in an attempt to talk to him with a cup of Pheromone Coffee.
The trend began when a third year laughed at a first year for being ignored by Makoto, and got challenged to see if she could do any better. The third year then told the story to a friend of hers, who decided to try the first year’s challenge herself. After she failed, she spread the idea to an entire group of friends, who then spread it even further. Eventually, Makoto found himself serving a minimum of 3 of his classmates a day.
Some of his friends had also come in and tried the challenge, they usually got further along than others, but still not far. Yuko Nishiwaki even had a few seconds of fame when her friends saw her actually exchange several words with Makoto, though she quickly wiped out any funny ideas by explaining that the two just knew each other because of track.
Eventually, the challenge reached the Archery club, news that was not fun to the captain of the club, Yukari Takeba.
Yukari wasn’t thrilled by the prospect of hearing her clubmates try to hit on Makoto, on account of the fact that the two had begun dating recently. However, due to that fact being one that Yukari preferred to keep secret, she was unable to dissuade her team from making plans to attempt the challenge.
The conversation was still stuck in her head…
“Yo! Guys!!” A first year member excitedly called out to the group of archers, who were currently busy putting up their items.
“Hm? What’s up Watanabe-san?” Yukari answered as Watanabe arrived at her spot within the group.
“Well… I just so happened to have the “Chagall Challenge” passed onto me!” Watanabe explained with pride, sticking her nose in the air, almost in superiority.
“Oh, like the one where you try to hit on Yuki-kun?” Sato, a second-year member, asked.
“Yep! That exact one!” Watanabe looked directly at Sato with a grin.
Yukari repressed the urge to roll her eyes as she sighed, “I’ll pass. I’ve got work to do…” Yukari had no work to do, she just didn’t want Makoto to accidentally expose their secret relationship to the other members of her club.
“Aw c'mon, don’t be like that, Takeba-san!” Sato slightly giggled as Yukari shifted her weight.
Saito, a third year student, then spoke up, “I think it would be fun to all go together!”
The other two smiled in appreciation, as Yukari grumbled an acceptance. “Fine… if we’re all going…” It seemed peer pressure had gotten to Yukari at this moment, though perhaps it was something (or someone) else.
The entire group arrived at Paulownia with their spirits high, with the exception of Yukari, whose spirit was dramatically low.
The four had to decide on turns, deciding based on the crane game near Game Parade. “It’s quite simple!” Watanabe exclaimed, “We’ll all take one turn trying to get a Jack Frost Doll; the order will then be based on who gets the closest to winning the jack frost doll. So, if ya snatch and drop it, but someone else snatches it and carries it, but then drops it, then you’re behind that person! Got it?”
The other two enthusiastically affirmed their understanding, while Yukari simply nodded her head.
Watanabe went first, and was able to grasp the doll, but it didn’t quite move the thing. Sato was next, and she was able to drag the doll a few inches closer, but dropped it before she scored. Shortly after a few “eloquently put” words, Sato sat back down on the fountain bench, while Saito went up to the machine. Saito only barely didn’t nab the doll for herself, as it seemingly fell out of nowhere despite the claw having a strong grip on the thing. It was Yukari’s turn, in a second she had to decide between completely missing, or getting first place and leading the whole shebang. she aimed, and hit the claw, completely grabbing air.
“Ha!” Watanabe began laughing loudly at Yukari’s failure. “Oh my goodness, Yukari, did you even aim?! Pfft- Ha ha ha!”
Watanabe continued laughing as Yukari nervously chuckled, “Ha ha, yeah…”
“Well, then.” Saito spoke from the bench, “Shall we begin heading over?”
“Yeah!” Watanabe and Sato both agreed, Yukari simply followed them with a look of exasperation on her face.
The 4 took advantage of the free seating, and prepared a stakeout booth, as well as a challenge booth. Yukari noticed Makoto behind the counter, though he hadn’t seen her yet. Even if he did, he was busy with a customer's complaint at the moment.
Saito was first in line, the third year wasn’t nervous as she sat, a direct contrast to the first year, Watanabe, who was positively vibrating in her seat from both nervousness and excitement.
Saito placed an order for the signature “Pheromone Coffee” and waited patiently. Yukari saw her fidget with her hands but besides that, Saito was still.
Sato groaned after 3 minutes, when nothing had shown up yet, “Ughh how long’s the coffee gonna take, it’s my turn next, don’t they know that!?”
“Calm down Sato-san,” Yukari sighed.
“Still though-'' Sato was then cut off by a quick “Shh!” from Watanabe, as Yukari looked over, she saw Makoto delivering the Pheromone coffee to Saito.
“Ah, you’re Yuki-san, right?” Saito asked, receiving a small nod from the boy, whose eyes lingered for a split second, but not any longer, as he walked away with the tray in hand.
Saito sighed, looking slightly down.
Yukari had gone through a whirlwind of emotions with the first person alone. First she was nervous about if Makoto would do something he shouldn’t, then she was relieved that he didn’t, but then she was upset at herself for being scared that Makoto would dare do something like that.
With all these emotions, Yukari decided to go to the bathroom while Sato went up. The second girl had promised she’d get a reaction, but all of the girls doubted it... Lo and behold, while Yukari was in the bathroom, Sato experienced an almost carbon copy of Saito’s attempt.
Yukari walked back to the stakeout table to a seething Sato, complaining about how he just ignored a woman with such charm as herself.
Watanabe then snickered as she proclaimed that it was now her turn.
Making her way to the table, Watanabe was the one who shifted in her seat the most- well, Yukari hadn’t seen Sato sit down in the challenge seat, but she figured that even if Sato shifted in her seat, it likely would still have been less than Watanabe currently was.
When Makoto brought her coffee, he actually stopped, Watanabe opened her mouth to hit on him but he spoke first.
“Is the entire archery team here?” He spoke in a monotone voice, sounding disinterested in the answer, yet his face conveyed a genuine curiosity.
Watanabe was left speechless, Makoto had initiated conversation with HER. This was something she’d gloat about later on, but for now all she could muster up was a few words in response, “Just a few of us… and the captain…” Makoto’s face slightly lit up at the mention of the captain. However he said nothing more, and simply walked away.
Watanabe's face was red when she walked back to the table, despite, in the grand scheme of things, nothing really happening.
“Woah! Look at you, Ms. Heart stealer!” Sato joked as they had all noticed Makoto speaking to her.
“What’d he say?” Yukari immediately asked, unknowingly blocking Saito from joking along with Sato. Yukari had a slight pout on her face, but no one noticed, as they were too focused on Makoto speaking to one of them.
“Umm… he just asked if the entire archery team was here.”
Yukari’s pout immediately turned to a slight blush as she realized what that meant.
Makoto asking that definitely meant two things: First, it meant he was actually listening when Yukari told him about the members of the Archery Club and their progress. Second, it definitely meant he was asking if she was there.
While Yukari was lost in thought, Sato snapped her out of it to tell her it was her turn. Yukari took a deep breath, but then refused to move.
“No!- I mean- No, w-we’ve already gotten a response from Yuki-san, that should be enough, right?”
“No way!” Sato retorted, “Besides, with you, he might actually stick around!”
“What does that mean?” Watanabe asked in Yukari’s stead.
Sato smiled as she explained, “Well Yukari’s another popular kid at our school... she could get more of a response from Gekkoukan’s favorite quiet boy!”
Watanabe clearly wanted to argue, but couldn’t find any words to do so.
“Alright fine…” Yukari relented, semi-curious as to what kind of response Makoto would give her.
The three others quietly cheered as Yukari sat down at the challenge booth.
Yukari ordered the coffee, and waited for a few moments. In the shortest amount of time yet, Makoto appeared to bring her her coffee. His face was lit up in a way unrecognizable as being happy to most, but Yukari knew it after one look.
“Your coffee.” Makoto said, mimicking the tone of an American waiter on TV he had seen once.
“Thank you, Yuki-kun.”
“Are your club members still watching?” Makoto asked, hoping to hear a no.
“Yeah, they probably have a tape recorder or something too.” Yukari slightly giggled, which eased Makoto’s initial concern that Yukari was being serious. The ease in his tension led to him lightly laughing alongside her, before both of them stopped at a similar time.
Makoto smiled at Yukari, who smiled back, and then leaned down, close to her ear, and spoke. “After you go back to them and they leave, come back and I’ll treat you to something.” Makoto promptly leaned back, away from Yukari. As he smiled, a tint of red appeared on her face, she nodded instead of responding, which Makoto was content with.
Makoto walked back into the kitchen, where another employee complained, “What took ya so long with that one?” Makoto simply answered, in his same monotone voice, that they had a small complication that he was able to sort out. The other employee grunted in annoyance, but said nothing else, instead giving him another order to take out. When delivering the order, he saw Yukari at another table being surrounded by the other 3 girls. He then felt bad for more than likely putting her in the limelight.
As Yukari approached the table with the other 3, they all had an agape mouth.
“What was that?!” Watanabe asked, louder than Yukari expected.
“Um, just talking. Y’know?”
“Takeba, that was more than talking.” Saito said with a smirk.
By this point, Yukaris could feel her cheeks warming up, so she began to drink the coffee that she took with her.
“Seriously!” Watanabe began excitedly demanding, “What’d he say to you?”
Yukari thought for a second of the best way to cover up what was practically a date invitation, before she remembered the rest of the talk.
“W-well, he told me that he knew the Archery club was here, and…” Yukari had to think about the last part. “… and asked that we switch booths next time so that it’s less confusing for the kitchen.” Yukari gave a half hearted smile to the rest, who were satisfied with the answer.
“Wait, why’d he tell you?”
“Ohh that’s right,” Sato suddenly said.
The other looked at Sato as she lightly hit her head to signal that she just remembered something. “Takeba and Yuki are classmates! It’d make sense that they knew each other!”
The other archer members both collectively went “Ooh!” while Yukari sighed in relief that they were beginning to get off her tail.
Shortly after everyone finished their drinks, they all began to leave the cafe. Yukari caught Makoto’s eye as she walked out, and he smiled and waved at her, she only smiled back, but mouthed “be right back” to him, which he gave a thumbs up.
The other archery members invited Yukari to karaoke, feeling rather energized, but Yukari rejected the offer, instead saying that she had to pick up some medicine from the Pharmacy across from the Cafe. The others simply shrugged it off, Sato sarcastically told her to have fun, but besides that, they went to Karaoke themselves with little attention on Yukari.
Yukari waited for the others to enter Mangdollin, and after 3 seconds passed, she turned on her heel and headed straight for the cafe again, hoping to not be seen by the members popping back out for something or other.
When she got into the cafe, she first looked at the table they were at previously, seeing no bags or lost items, she went up to the counter, which was luckily empty besides for Makoto.
“Back so soon?” he slightly teased.
Yukari rolled her eyes with a smile forming on the corner of her lips, “The others wanted to go to Karaoke, so I lost them pretty quickly.”
Makoto smiled, “I’m glad.” Yukari smiled back at him as Makoto began to speak again, “So then, what do you want to have?” he asked, as pulling out a small notebook with the kitchen tickets on it. “I’ll pay for it.”
Yukari smiled a bit wider, “Well then…”
After taking Yukari’s order, Makoto leaned back into the kitchen as he loudly told someone (presumably a manager) that he was taking a break, and that person responded in a gruff “okay!”
Makoto smiled back at Yukari, as he told her to come with him.
“Are you sure? It says employees only…”
“Worst comes to worst I get fired from a part time job.” Makoto smiled as he spoke, which combined with the confidence in his voice, convinced Yukari to walk behind into the employee’s quarters.
Before they went anywhere, Makoto fulfilled Yukari’s order and handed it to her. “Alright. Now, follow me.”
Makoto led Yukari to the break room that the cafe provided for its employees. It was empty, which slightly unnerved Yukari, but when she looked back at Makoto, she felt safe again. Aa she noted to herself that that was probably a Makoto-exclusive feeling, she sort of giggled to herself.
Makoto heard the giggle, and raised his head in curiosity- he was just reaching into his bag for a spare 1UP he bought that day- When he saw Yukari’s face begin to blush, he grew curious.
“What was the giggle for?” He asked, only a hint of curiosity in his voice, but an abundance of it in his eyes.
“Oh, nothing…” Yukari said, but after a second of silence, she decided she had no reason to withhold such a small piece of information, “Well, actually… I just kind of thought about how safe I feel with you. Cause I was kind of unnerved by this place at first, but then I saw you and I just… I dunno… felt safe again… despite being in an empty room. I think… If it was anyone else, I’d be leaving the room within seconds.”
Makoto stared at Yukari for a second, before a smile cracked on his face. “I love you too.” He smirked as he sat down on one of the lounge chairs.
Yukari didn’t know exactly how to respond, so instead she simply walked over and plopped herself right next to him.
“Not a word of this to anyone else. Got it, Mister?” The emphasis on “mister” was so pointed, Ken could use it against a shadow.
Despite that, Makoto simply agreed with a small smile. “No one else will ever hear of this.”
Yukari, content with his answer, leaned against him and put her head on his shoulder. “I’m honestly exhausted, do you mind?” She said with her eyes already closing.
“You know the answer…” He said, his eyes closing with hers as he rested his head on hers.
After a good few minutes of rest in which neither of them spoke, Makoto lifted his head off Yukari. She slightly lifted her head in confusion as he did.
“I’ve gotta go back to work… Break isn’t that long.”
“Noo…” Yukari said in a small voice, already half asleep, and unaware of the fact she wrapped her arms around Makoto’s arm to stop him from leaving.
“Yukari…” Makoto smiled. He wished to stay with his girlfriend, but he still had another hour on his shift, and his manager would definitely be mad if he saw Yukari just sitting here. With little other options, Makoto had to resort to using Yukari’s one big weakness, being embarrassed.
“Open your eyes Yukari.”
She slowly obliged, and realizing how she was practically buried into his arm, she quickly let go and jumped up.
“Oh- Oh my god, I’m sorry! I didn’t-”
Makoto slowly reached out and cupped her face in his hands, which made Yukari cut herself off abruptly.
“Do you mind if I…?” Makoto asked, slightly leaning towards her, but not by much.
Yukari’s face erupted into a blush, “Go ahead… please.”
Makoto smiled as he leaned in close, and wrapped his lips around hers. The two kissed for a long while, or at least it felt like a long time, it was actually only half a minute.
“There… Something to remember me by until we see each other again.” Makoto said to Yukari. The two then smiled again, before Makoto began swiftly leading Yukari back to the cafe’s dining room. He was quick to make sure she got out so that neither of them got into trouble.
As the two were standing in front of the counter, Yukari saw the empty cafe, and in a quick decision, drew Makoto’s attention with a “Hey Makoto.” Makoto instantly turned his head to look at her, as she lifted her head to make contact with his cheek, planting a kiss on it. “I love you.”
Makoto took a second to process the quick act, before returning both of those favors by kissing her cheek and saying “I love you too, Yukari.”
The two of them smiled dopey smiles at each other, before the voice from earlier began emitting from the kitchen, “Hey Yuki! Your time’s up!”
He quickly turned his attention to the kitchen and called out “Understood!” before turning back to Yukari. “I’ll see you at the dorm…” He smiled once more at his girlfriend, who also smiled, before walking out.
“Bye Makoto!”
Yukari poked her head out of the cafe first before leaving, seeing no sign of the other Archery members, she quickly walked out of Paulownia Mall. The sun was starting to set as she rode the monorail back to the dorm.
When she arrived back at the dorm, Mitsuru greeted her half-attentively. Which allowed Yukari to slip into her room without anyone stopping her.
This was good for Yukari, as she was still sleepy from resting on Makoto’s shoulder. and wanted to take a small nap, even if it would disrupt her sleep cycle. Yukari laid in her bed and closed her eyes, drifting to sleep within seconds. Then, suddenly she began dreaming.
The dream was simple, she was in a house much like the one she lived in when her dad was alive, though a little different. She walked around for a bit, before finding Makoto in the kitchen. He had an apron on, like when they cooked together. He said something to her, and she nodded, then walked closer to him. They were at the sink all of a sudden, and Makoto wrapped his arms around Yukari, who reached up to kiss Makoto, despite the awkward angle.
After the kiss, it seemed like they were going to go somewhere else, but Yukari was unable to find out where they were going, as she was woken up by a knock on her door.
Upon waking up and realizing what she had just dreamt, Yukari buried her rather pink head in her hands. Usually she’d be upset with herself for thinking about someone like that, but with Makoto-
Another knock on the door interrupted her thoughts, which irritated Yukari. She was trying to think about her boyfriend damn it! Sure, the knocks were gentle, but they were still loud enough to disrupt her train of thought.
Yukari went to the door, frustrated by the knocking, she had a pout on her face. Opening her door, she immediately asked the visitor “What?!” Before realizing that it was Makoto, “Oh- Makoto- I- I didn’t…”
“May I come in?” He responded with his usual monotone voice, however his pupils were clearly dilated.
Yukari nodded and opened the door wide for him to enter.
“Y’know…” Yukari began, “I was just thinking of you.”
“Same.” Makoto quickly responded.
“Really?” Yukari asked him, more excited than the her from April would’ve ever thought to be about the idea of Makoto thinking of her.
“Yeah… I’m always thinking about you to be honest.”
Yukari stood stunned before giggling into her hand. “I wouldn’t think you to be a romantic, Makoto!”
Makoto smiled as he saw Yukari's blush forming in her cheeks. “You bring it out of me. Maybe it’s because I’ve never been in love before, not like this…”
Yukari slightly raised her eyebrow at Makoto’s words, but he simply stepped closer and reached out his hands for her to grab. When Yukari grabbed his hands, he shuffled ever-so closer.
“Yukari, I’m deeply in love with you. My perfect world is impossible without you with me.”
Yukari’s light blush immediately turned a dark red. She couldn’t believe her ears. Makoto, Mr. Perfect, the guy that all of SEES trusted, basically just told her that he wants her in his life forever; he was practically one step away from proposing then and there with the way he was talking.
The part that makes it worse? Yukari feels the exact same way.
Yukari couldn’t muster up any coherent retorts, so the very first words that came to her mind would have to do.
“Makoto… Kiss me right now.”
‘Well, that will have to do.’ Yukari thought, as her eyesight became fully occupied by Makoto Yuki, and their lips locked together.
Yukari spent a long time with Makoto that night.