Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Excuse me, miss, are you okay?”

Startled, Momo lifted her head out of her hands and looked to the source of the voice behind her. There stood a boy who appeared to be about her age. He had a funny bowl cut, glasses, and an expression of deep concern on his face. Quickly, she rubbed her eyes and turned back as she muttered, “N-no, I’m fine.”

He took hold of the rim of his spectacles. “Are you sure? It sounded like you were crying and your face is all red, like mine gets when I cry.”

Momo blushed. She had thought she’d picked a good spot on the playground to shed tears privately, behind the jungle gym. “Maybe I was crying a little. I just got some dust in my eye, that’s all.”

Perhaps it was her tone, or the sobbing he’d heard before, atypical of mere stinging of the eyes, but the boy seemed unconvinced. “Did someone do this to you?” he asked quietly.

The concern in his voice seemed authentic, but Momo wasn’t sure she could trust boys with her feelings after what she’d just been through, and so she answered with her own question. “Why do you care?”

The boy’s expression turned serious, as did his tone as he said, “Making a girl cry is a terrible thing to do. It’s not right.”

Momo felt something stir in her heart. “Well… okay. I was crying. A little bit.”

“Who did this to you?” asked the other child, displeasure on his face. 

At first, Momo thought of saying no one, but something about this kid’s attitude made her want to tell the truth. “A boy. He made fun of me.” Her voice lowered. “It was really mean.”

“Which boy?” Ken looked around, outrage in his eyes.

“He’s not here anymore,” Momo lied. She didn’t want this kid to get into a confrontation with Jiji; there was no way it would end well for anyone. “He’s just… this boy I…” Her voice became quieter still, until it was nearly inaudible. “He’s a boy I like.” 

“Oh, said the child in an odd tone. “What did he say?”

Momo averted her gaze. “It’s… it’s embarrassing,” she muttered, hugging her knees.

The boy stared at her for a moment. “He made fun of you for something you like, didn’t he?”

She blinked. “How did you know?”

“Because… people make fun of me all the time for things like that. I know how it feels. It hurts and it makes you feel bad, like they’re right to do it.”

Momo’s eyes widened. After a moment, she asked, “If I tell you what he made fun of me for, will you tell me what other people make fun of you for?”

The boy nodded. “I will.”

“Okay then.” She took a breath. “I… I do this pose. I do it when I walk to school. My granny says it’s supposed to help unlock my chi.”

“What’s chi?”

“It’s like, um…” She struggled to articulate it; she herself didn’t fully understand. “It’s like this power inside you that helps you not get sick and stuff.”

“Wow,” said the boy. “I’ve never heard of that. That sounds cool.”

“Yeah, well,” said Momo, eyes half-lidded, “I have to do a dumb pose for it, and I don’t even know if it’s real.”

“You think your grandmother is lying?”

Momo took a breath. In a quiet voice, she said, “No. Maybe. I dunno.”

“Well, I still think it’s mean to make fun of you for that. I also kinda do poses for… my thing.”

“What’s your thing?”

Now the boy looked shy. “It’s embarrassing.”

“I told you my thing. You swore you’d tell me yours!”

After a moment, he nodded. “Okay. I like… aliens.”

Momo tilted her head with a quizzical expression. “Like from the movies?”

“Sort of. I think there are real aliens on earth. I think they visit us sometimes and we just don’t know it. I read about some poses that let you make contact with them. Like this.” He raised one arm straight up and the other straight to the side, forming a ninety degree angle.

Momo smiled. “You look like a clock!”

“I guess I do,” he said sheepishly. 

“It’s okay, I look like a rooster when I do mine,” she said, standing up, the sadness in her voice dissipating with every word. She made the gesture her grandmother had taught her and raised it above her head. “Like this!”

“That’s cool,” said the boy. His cheeks reddened as he watched her expression turn delighted and he felt something grow within him. “I also like, um, cryptids.”

She looked confused. “What’s a cryptid?”

“They’re…” He struggled to think of how to describe them. “They’re like animals but we don’t know a lot about them and they’re, um, kinda weird. Only a few people have seen them.”

“Ohh,” said Momo. Suddenly, a thought came to her. “Wait! I think I know one! Do you know Nessie?”

The boy looked stunned. “The Loch Ness Monster? Yes! I do!”

“Nessie is the strongest!” Momo punched the air with one arm and flexed with the other as if to demonstrate. 

“Sh-she’s really powerful!” replied the boy enthusiastically.

“My granny uses her name when she needs to fight!”

The boy looked puzzled. “Your granny fights?”

“Yeah! She fights evil spirits with the power of her chi and Nessie!”

His jaw dropped. “Whoa! That’s so cool!”

Momo’s heart swelled. “Thanks, um…” She thought for a moment. “What’s your name?”

“Oh, um, it’s Ken,” he replied. “Ken Takakura.”

She smiled at him. “Thanks, Ken-chan. You’re really nice.”

With a blush, Ken put on a dopey grin as he scratched the back of his head. “Oh, um, thank you, uh…”

“Momo,” she said easily.

“Um… what’s your family name?”

Momo blinked. “Ayase. Why?”

“My dad says it’s only proper to call a lady by her family name when you’ve just met her. So… thank you, Ayase-san.” He gave her a small bow.

She put her hand on her chin. “Hmm. Then we should get to know each other better until you can call me Momo.”

His eyes widened. “R… really? But…” His voice shrank. “Nobody ever wants to be friends with me…”

“Well I do!” she said eagerly. “C’mon, Ken-chan, let’s play together!” Reaching out, she grasped his hand and began to run off.

“O… okay!” he said, his face showing disbelief as he let himself be pulled along. 

The two spent a good while playing, running around, climbing the jungle gym, trying the monkey bars — only Momo was able to make it all the way across — and ultimately riding the swings together. Finally, the voice of a woman called out to Momo, “Momo! Time to go!”

“Kay!” she called back, hopping off the swing. “I gotta go,” she told Ken.

“Oh,” he said with barely hidden disappointment. The day had gone so well for him; he didn’t want it to be over.

“This was super fun!” Momo added, beaming. “Let’s play again soon, okay?”

Ken’s face lit up as if he’d just received an early Christmas present. “Really?!”

“Yeah!”

“O-okay!”

“See you later, Ken-chan!”

His heart leapt. No one had ever told him that before. “See you…” he managed to whisper back as she ran off.

“Who was that?” asked Seiko as she took Momo’s hand. “A new friend?”

“Uh-huh!” Momo answered brightly. “His name’s Ken-chan! He’s really nice!”

“I’m glad to hear it.”

“Hey, granny?”

“Yeah?”

“Can you teach me more about chi later?” she asked, hope thick in her tone.

Seiko blinked. After a second, her lips curved into a grin. “Sure.”

Meanwhile, as Ken made his way back to his house, he looked at the hand Momo had grasped. It was the first time another kid had ever held his hand. He swore he could still feel her warmth from her grasp, from the kindness she’d shown when he’d divulged his interests, and from her sweet smile. 

A friend. He had a friend now. 

For a moment, he looked around. Then, quietly, he whispered to himself, “Momo.”

When Ken next went to the playground, he didn’t see Momo. He waited a long time for her, but she didn’t show up. Instead, he happened to find other kids, ones he knew from school. When they saw him, they raced over and laughed at him for being all alone, calling him a weirdo loser. Somehow, now, their words didn’t sting so badly. But still, as his allotted play time expired, he left with disappointment. 

Having had a taste of sweet friendship, he now craved it desperately. The thought of going back to friendlessness was painful. This was why he kept trying, going back to the playground whenever he had the chance. Time and again, she wasn’t there. Maybe he would never see her again. Maybe she was avoiding him. Maybe he had weirded her out after all…

But then, ten days later, as he sat alone on the swings, he heard a wonderful sound. “Ken-chan!” He turned and saw a miraculous figure: Momo running towards him, a bright smile on her face.

“A-Ayase-san!” he called back, his eyes lighting up in excitement as he left the swing to meet her. 

She stopped in front of him. “Hey! I’m glad you’re here, I kept not seeing you when I came before!”

His heart thumped. She had been looking for him? “I-I was here! We must have just missed each other.”

“Well that stinks,” said Momo with a frown. “I was hoping we could play together more.”

“I would really like that,” he was unable to stop himself from saying. 

She grinned. “Then let’s go!” Once more she took him by the hand and he let himself be pulled by her. “I’ve been practicing my chi more!” she told him exuberantly.

“Oh, cool!” he replied earnestly, though he didn’t really know what that meant.

She stopped suddenly. “Watch this.” Her eyes closed. 

A moment passed. Then another. Ken gave her a perplexed look. “Uhm… is something supposed to happen?”

“Try to push me!” she yelled, eyes still closed.

Ken recoiled. “What?!”

“Push me! Do it!”

“I-I can’t push a girl!” he protested.

“It’ll be okay, just push me!” He hesitated. “You won’t hurt me, I swear! Trust me, Ken-chan!”

He gulped. Her voice sounded so inviting. “O-okay…” With shaking hands, he gently applied a small bit of force to her side. To his relief, Momo didn’t move. 

“You can push harder,” said Momo, eyes still closed. “I won’t fall.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yep!” He hesitated for a moment before increasing the pressure. Still she withstood it. “Is that all you’ve got, Ken-chan?” she said in a teasing tone. Frowning, he put all his weight against her. For a second, nothing happened, but then Momo suddenly began to tip over. “Ah!”

Panic flooded Ken’s heart. “A-Ayase-san!” His arms darted out, grasped her hands, and pulled her hard; somehow, he managed to stabilize her. “S-sorry!” he stammered out as he released her.

Momo’s face was red and held an expression of surprise. She looked away as she muttered, “That’s okay… I guess I’m not a full chi master yet.”

“But that was super cool! I had to try really hard to tip you over,” he said with genuine amazement.

Her smile restored, she replied, “Hehe, thanks. It is pretty cool, isn’t it?”

“It is,” he affirmed with a nod.

“C’mon, let’s play!” she said, gesturing towards the center of the playground.

“Yeah!”

The two played for the rest of the afternoon. Momo ran around the playground at full break; Ken struggled to keep up and eventually had to stop and catch his breath. She giggled at him for this and he blushed, somewhat embarrassed for his lack of athleticism. 

“Hey, hey!” said Momo, eyes brimming with curiosity as they recovered on the swingset. “What kind of aliens do you think are on earth?”

Ken’s eyes widened, floored by her question. “You… you want to know about aliens?”

“Yeah! I’ve been thinking about them since the last time we played together.”

Ken felt his heart beat hard at this. She hadn’t made fun of him for his interest, but he hadn’t expected her to engage with it. “Well, uhm… there are these aliens people call the Grays…”

For a few minutes, Momo listened to Ken as he described some of the most common alien theories. She reacted with significant surprise as he explained some of their more outlandish traits, such as how they blend in with the population and hide their ships with cloaking technology. Seeing her react without negativity, with positivity, even, replenished his stamina in short order.

“Wow,” she said breathlessly. “You sure know a lot, Ken-chan!”

Once more his heart thumped hard. “Th-thanks, Ayase-san,” he whispered with a small smile. “Um, I actually have a magazine that talks about them… if you wanna see it.”

She looked at him with dramatic yet pleased surprise. “Really?! That sounds so cool! Bring it next time!”

His eyes lit up. “I-I will!”

Just then, Seiko called out, “Momo!” as she approached the two. “Ah, hey there,” she said, looking down at the suddenly nervous boy. “You must be Ken-chan.”

Ken blushed. If this lady knew who he was, that meant Momo had told her about him, which meant she talked about him by any amount; that thought was thrilling on its own. “A-are you Ayase-san’s mom?” he asked quietly.

Seiko chuckled. “Close.”

“She’s my granny!” Momo said cheerfully. “She teaches me about chi!”

“Oh!” Ken said, his expression brightening. “That’s so cool!”

“I’m flattered that you think I’m cool,” said Seiko with a smile. “You can call me Seiko.”

“Thank you, Seiko-san,” Ken replied with a full bow.

“I’m the one who should be thanking you. You helped Momo have a lot of fun, didn’t you?”

“Oh, uh, well, I didn’t really…”

“He did!” said Momo. “Playing with Ken-chan is super fun!”

Ken’s blush deepened under her compliment. “I-it’s really fun for me too…” he uttered softly. 

“Well, I’m grateful to you for making my granddaughter happy. C’mon, Momo, let’s get home for dinner.”

“‘Kay. See ya later, Ken-chan!” Momo waved exuberantly to Ken as she and her grandmother began to leave.

“See you!” Ken called back. With a full heart and a big smile, he ran back home, the memories of the afternoon playing in a pleasant loop in his mind.

He brought the latest volume of Poh to the playground after that. Of course, she didn’t show the next few times, but still he brought the thick tome with him in hopes of showing her and, ideally, impressing her.

On one occasion, he was met with the same bullies from his school that usually harassed him. “Whatcha readin’, nerd?” asked the tallest of them.

He gulped. “N-nothing,” he muttered.

“Poh? Is that the sound you make when you poop your pants?” The other bullies laughed at this.

“It’s not…” protested Ken weakly.

“Let’s take a look!” The tall kid snatched the book out of Ken’s hands.

“Hey, give that back!” Ken shouted, trying and failing to retrieve the magazine.

“What’s this? UFOs? Sea monsters? This stuff’s for losers!” Again the other boys laughed as Ken continued to grab at his property, only for the tall boy to pull it out of his reach. “You want it back, nerd boy?”

“Yes!” Ken yelled.

“Ask nicely!” the tall boy said with a grin.

Ken blushed, flustered at having to humiliate himself. “Please give my book back,” he said through grit teeth.

“Well, since you’re begging for it…” The tall boy extended his arm towards Ken. But just as Ken went to take his item, the tall boy dropped it and it hit the ground unceremoniously. “Oops!” he said with a smug grin. Ken looked on in horror as the tall boy then stomped on the cover of it, leaving a dirty footprint. “Enjoy your reading, Takakura!”

Ken watched as he and his evil posse walked off, laughing to themselves. With shaking hands, Ken picked up the magazine and dusted it off. He inspected the pages; some were torn, others had picked up a lot of dirt.

Anger and sorrow filled his heart. Why were they so mean to him? Everyone was mean to him, except Momo, and she wasn’t here. He didn’t even do anything to them. All he wanted was to read in peace and wait for his one and only friend. Why couldn’t they just let him be?

It was too much. Ken started to cry. He tried to suppress it, but the tears fell in earnest. He held the volume of Poh away from him so as not mar it further with the flowing fluid. God, on top of everything else, he was a crybaby, too. If Momo ever found out, she’d never want to speak to him, let alone play with him again, just like everyone else.

Eventually, he sobbed away all the pain, leaving only empty numbness. Deciding the day was lost, he dried his cheeks on his sleeve and turned to leave the playground, his posture slouched.

But then he heard it. Heard her. “Ken-chan?”

He swiveled around. Before him was an angelic sight: Momo, a look of concern on her face. “Ayase-san…?” he whispered, as though he wasn’t sure she was real or just a desperation-induced mirage.

“Hey,” she said softly, jogging up to him. “Are you okay?”

“Huh?” In his surprise and joy at seeing her, he had forgotten the entire bullying incident. “O-oh, yeah, I’m fine.”

She seemed unconvinced. “Your eyes are all puffy.”

“Oh, I just got some dust in my eye,” he said, scratching the back of his head.

Still she remained worried. “Are you sure?”

“Yes, I’m all right,” he said quickly. He put on a smile; it was genuine, thanks to her. “See? I’m super.”

His expression appeared to put her at ease. “Okay, good. I’d hate to see you sad. That would make me really sad.” The conveyance of such care for him made his smile even more authentic. She glanced at the item in his hand. “Oh! Is that the book?”

She remembered! “Yeah!” he said excitedly.

“What happened to it? It’s all dirty.”

“Ah, I, uh, I tripped and fell earlier,” he said quickly. “That’s when I got the dust in my eye.”

She nodded. “Gotcha. Can we still read it?”

Her eagerness was thrilling to him. “If you want to.”

“I do!” she said brightly. “C’mon, let’s sit and read!” Without another word, she plopped herself down on the ground and patted a space next to her.

As if walking on a tightrope, he settled himself next to her and opened the book to a page about cryptids. “So, um, this is it…” he muttered.

“Cool pictures!” she said enthusiastically.

“Yeah…” He began to scan the page, trying to keep his focus on the familiar text, but finding himself terribly distracted by the presence of the girl next to him. Besides his father, no one had ever read with him before. It was a totally new experience. What if he messed up somehow?

After a minute, Momo spoke up, “Wait.”

“Huh?” Oh no, had he screwed up already?

“Open your arms and legs,” she instructed.

He was confused, but obliged. “Like this…?”

“Perfect.” In a fluid motion, she stood up, adjusted her position, and sat down between his legs. Further, she settled in so she could nestle against his chest, her head just underneath his chin.

“A-Ayase-san!?” said Ken, immensely flustered.

“There,” she said plainly. “Much better. You okay?”

He gulped. No, was the answer; he was absolutely astonished at what was happening and his utter lack of experience in this uncharted territory terrified him. But, well, it wasn’t unpleasant. “Yeah,” he said despite his nerves.

“Good.”

It was even more difficult for him to focus with her like this. He began to sweat, hoping she wouldn’t feel his frantic heartbeat. This he wanted to screw up even less.

“Hey, Ken-chan?” said Momo softly.

Now he’d definitely screwed up. She was about to ask him to let her go. “Wh-what?”

“I don’t like reading that much.”

“Oh,” he said with disappointment, though not surprise. “We can stop now.”

“No, no,” she said hastily. “I mean… can you read to me?”

A strange, unknown feeling entered Ken’s body. It somehow jolted his nerves to new heights yet simultaneously relaxed him. “I don’t know if I’ll be good at it…” he said quietly.

“I’m sure you will,” she insisted. “Just try.”

He gulped. “Okay.” After clearing his throat, he began softly, “Sasquatch is a hominid known to roam the wilderness of North America…”

She didn’t interrupt him as he went on. Instead, she ooh’d and ahh’d as Ken revealed different facts about the various fantastic animals the text covered. Her reactions encouraged him, bolstering him to raise his voice to normal volume and smoothen his speech.

But all too soon for him, Seiko called to Momo, “Momo! Time to go!”

“Aww,” muttered Momo before she turned in the direction of her grandmother and called back, “Coming!” Ken opened his arms, allowing Momo to stand. “That was really fun, Ken-chan,” she said sweetly. “I wish we could read more.”

His heart soared. “I can bring it again next time,” he offered.

She beamed at him. “Sure! See you later!” With a wave, she ran off.

“See you,” he whispered. Clutching his dirty, torn volume of Poh, he walked back to his house with nothing but peace in his heart

Whenever he could, Ken would visit the playground, hoping to encounter Momo. Often he didn’t and wound up playing by himself, occasionally accosted and mistreated by other kids who could sense his loneliness.

Those times where he did see her more than made up for all the pain. Each was a glorious adventure. They played. They read Poh. They talked about ghosts, about aliens, about other things like their favorite cartoons and manga. Eventually, Ken noticed that she would meet up with him more and more frequently, which delighted him. It was everything he had ever wanted out of a friendship. Strangely, the mean boys never bothered him when Momo was around…

Months later, on one of those occasions, Ken and Momo sat with their legs dangling off of the jungle gym. Spread across their adjacent thighs was an issue of Poh, open to a spread of various star charts.

“That’s Polaris, also called the North Star,” said Ken, pointing to a spot of light on one of the diagrams on the page. “Some alien civilizations are said to use it as a waypoint between other star systems, including ours. But here on earth, sailors have also used it to triangulate their position during navigation, though now they mainly use GPS.”

“What’s ‘triangulate’ mean?” asked Momo.

“It means you look around to figure out where you are on a map, basically,” he explained.

“So people on boats use this star to know where to go?”

He nodded with a smile on his face, pleased she grasped the concept. “Exactly.”

“That’s so cool!” she said brightly. “I love how you know so much stuff, Ken-chan. I only know about ghosts and chi and stuff.”

Her phrasing caught him off guard and he felt a harder beat than usual in his chest. “I’m sure you know lots of other things,” he muttered. Then, turning his gaze directly in front of him, his hand at the rim of his glasses, he added, “You’re… kind of like that to me.”

She gave him a confused look. “Like what?”

“When we run around on the playground, you’re always ahead of me.”

She gave him a cheeky grin. “That’s cuz I’m super fast.”

“Yeah. I’m thankful for it. Because just like the sailors on those boats, when I look at you, I always feel like I know exactly where to go.”

Momo’s expression turned to surprise. “So… I’m your Risu?” she asked carefully.

“Risu?”

“You know. The North Star thingy.”

He didn’t understand. “Ri— Oh! I get it,” he said, realizing Momo had had trouble pronouncing the star’s name. He gave her a small smile. “Yeah. You’re my Risu.”

She beamed at him. “Cool.” Then, after a moment, her expression and voice took on the smallest hint of bashfulness. “Um… you’re my Risu too.”

Now it was Ken’s turn to be surprised. All he could think to say was, “Th… thank you, Ayase-san.”

For several minutes, they sat there in silence, looking anywhere but at each other. Momo’s gaze eventually landed on him. “Hey, Ken-chan?” She spoke softly, empty of the usual exuberance she had when talking to him.

“Yeah?” he replied, curious about her tone.

“I… I like playing with you,” she said.

Her apparent nervousness for such an innocuous statement seemed odd to Ken, but happiness filled his heart nonetheless. “I like playing with you too,” he returned simply.

“No, I mean…” Suddenly, she blushed. “I really like playing with you. A lot.”

Her continued nerves once more puzzled Ken, yet, once more, her words gave him joy. “I really like it too.”

Momo averted her gaze. Then, slowly, her hand reached to her side. After a long moment, it lowered to cover Ken’s completely. His eyes widened a bit at this; he was struck with uncertainty at the feeling this simple contact instilled in him. He couldn’t put it into words, but there was something about it that felt… big to him, somehow.

In a tiny, hopeful voice, like she was begging for a toy she’d wanted all her life, she asked, “Can we play together forever?”

Now he felt a powerful thump in his chest. Once more he didn’t fully understand it, as though his mind was on the verge of epiphany, but couldn’t quite cross the threshold. “Does that mean…” he whispered before swallowing hard. “Does that mean you want to be… each other’s Risu forever?” The words were so delicate, floating in the late afternoon air. A twinge of fear prickled in him, as though Momo might shatter them and cut him with their shards.

But instead, her blush deepened, her eyes downcast, and with a gentle but eager nod, she simply answered, “Mhm.”

A smile blossomed on his face. He felt heat coming to his eyes, but unlike when the mean boys made fun of him, it felt… good. Incredibly good, in a way he had never experienced before. He turned his neck away from her to wipe the single tear that fell from his eyes with his unoccupied hand. Even if it was a good feeling, he didn’t want to be caught being a crybaby.

Slowly, as though his voice were handling a priceless artifact, he replied, “I would like that.”

Momo’s eyes lit up and she beamed at him. She too wiped a droplet from her eye, but she did not hide it. Neither of them claimed it was merely dust that brought out their tears. “Thanks, Ken-chan,” she breathed.

Hand still on his, she leaned over until her head rested on his shoulder. A wave of peace came over him as he felt her weight, a sense of warm solace from the harsh cold of the world. They stayed there silently for a long time, simply basking in their respective feelings, until Momo was called away. But the spike of disappointment that usually skewered him at her departure felt blunt, diminished by the comfort their conversation had brought him.

That comfort lingered as he walked all the way home, as he ate his dinner, and as he laid in his bed. He wanted to stay with that feeling forever. Stay with her, his wonderful friend, forever.

As the days went on, they remained as such, playing together whenever they could. He would be her Risu and she would be his, for the rest of time. That was the beautiful future that lay before them.

Or so, at least, they thought.

It arrived like a sudden hurricane, devastating the landscape with terrible wind and lightning. A few months after their promise of eternal mutual fun, the unthinkable happened. Ken learned his father had gotten a new job, one which required relocation, far enough that Ken would no longer be able to go to the playground. He would never see her again. He cried and desperately begged his father not to do it, but his father insisted it was what was best for their family. 

Ken wept uncontrollably the night it happened, his entire body wracked with sorrow. All he could think about was losing Momo, his one and only friend and returning to cold isolation. He wouldn’t even get to say goodbye to her. Would she think he abandoned her? That he just stopped caring about their friendship, which he had sworn would be forever? The idea was abhorrent to him. 

The day of the move and for months after, that agony remained with him. He believed it would never leave.

Chapter Text

Ken sighed. He had been at sleepaway camp for just over a week and he hated it. He hated being woken up extremely early by a bugle. He hated his bunk. He hated how awkward things were with his bunkmates, who seemingly decided he was a loser on sight. He hated the physical activities the camp made him do. All he wanted to do was lay back and read about exciting UAPs and cryptids in the volume of Poh he’d brought along. 

And he had almost a week left. What a disaster. His father had been so insistent that he get some outdoors experience, leave his room for a change, and there was little he could do about it. So now he was stuck, forcing his way through the various activities, trying and failing to socialize as always.

Such had been the case for the last few years. His family’s move to a new neighborhood, far away from his old one, had been as lonely as he had anticipated. There was a playground nearby, like at his former home, but he never made any friends there. He tried often, hoping against hope that the world would deliver unto him another miracle, but the heavens refused to smile upon him again. The only people who talked to him were mean kids, ready and willing to mock him with fresh barbs at every encounter. Apparently, such bullies were populous everywhere he went, an inescapable invasive species strangling his recreation time.

Eventually, he aged out of going to the playground, noticing the other kids there started to look considerably shorter than him. He was left with a dearth of potential friend acquisition spaces. So awkward was he that even in places like arcades and bookstores he could never manage to befriend someone new. Most of the time he was too nervous to approach anyone and those few times he had mustered the courage had been met with indifference, ignoring, or outright rejection. With enough of these, he simply resigned himself to the conclusion that he would never find anyone else to be his friend again.

The only reason he had finally agreed to go to this camp was that, despite his aversion to the physically intensive aspect of it, being forced to occupy the same space as others his age was a sort of hail Mary to the prospect of expanding his social circle to anything beyond just himself. But that too had failed. It seemed he was destined for isolation for the rest of his life.

He sighed again as he stared at his dinner in the mess hall. He knew he could make it through this, it would just suck super hard.

“You know that girl from cabin C?” said a boy next to him to another one at the table. Neither of them acted as if Ken even existed, let alone sat next to them.

“Which one?”

“The one with the big earrings.”

“Oh, you mean Ayase?”

Ken’s eyes shot open. 

“Yeah, her. She’s super cute, don’t you think?” said the first boy.

“Oh yeah, totally. Probably the cutest girl here.”

“I’m thinking of asking her out. Y’know, making one of those summer camp memories.”

“Heh, good luck. She’s way out of your league.”

“Aw, c’mon dude, don’t be like—”

“Excuse me,” Ken spoke suddenly. “Did you say, ‘Ayase?’”

The two boys looked at him as though he had suddenly materialized next to them. “Uh, yeah,” said the first boy. “What of it?”

“Do you know if her given name is ‘Momo?’”

They thought for a moment. “Yeah, I think so,” said the second boy. “What, you know her?”

The question was shockingly massive to Ken. Memories from years ago, of simple childhood innocence, flickered faintly in his mind. His heart beat rapidly as they did and his breathing became unsteady. “I… might…” he whispered.

He stood up rapidly, took his food tray with him to the disposal area while the boys looked on with looks of disdain, and dumped it out. This was insane. Momo? Here of all places? After all these years? It couldn’t be true. It had to be another Momo Ayase. It had to be.

But no matter how hard his brain insisted that was the case, his heart compelled him to find her. If there were even the slightest fraction of a chance that it could be her, his long lost friend, he had to try. He would never forgive himself if he let that chance slip away.

He scanned the mess hall. All the campers were supposed to be here during dinner, so it followed that she would be here too. But how could he find her? He hadn’t seen her in years; it would be like picking a needle out of a haystack. He couldn’t give up. He needed to find that oh so important needle no matter how many bales of hay he had to dig through. 

But no matter how hard he searched, he couldn’t find her. His eyes simply wouldn’t focus well enough to pick her out of the crowd. Maybe she wasn’t here after all…

Wait. Big earrings.

He drew his gaze across the room again, this time looking not for a particular head, but for any ear adornments that could be considered large. After a minute, he spotted them: a pair of light green ovals dangling from a pair of ears. Only the back of their owner’s head was visible; he dashed around the room to get a better angle. 

When he finally had a good view, his mouth fell open. There she was. She looked a bit different now, but it was unmistakably her: Momo Ayase, the one and only person who had ever called him a friend.

The urge to run over to her welled up within him. He stifled it as best he could, choosing instead to approach slowly. But as he did, he saw her talking and laughing with the other people at her table. These other people were making her smile the way he used to. He didn’t really know what made her smile these days; he suspected climbing a jungle gym and crossing the monkey bars wouldn’t do it. A feeling of inadequacy began to overtake him.

He was only a few yards away from her when he stopped. He didn’t belong here. Not with her, in this world where she had other friends and he had none. He shouldn’t burden her with his presence. And so, shoulders slumped, he turned and began to walk away.

But then he heard a wonderful sound. “Ken-chan!?” His eyes widened as he turned back around. There he saw Momo, running at full speed towards him, a bright smile on her face. “Oh my god, it is you!”

He gaped at her, at a loss for words. “Ah… Um…”

“Ken-chan, it’s me! Momo! We used to play together at the playground! Do you remember?”

“A-Ayase-san,” he said quietly, overwhelmed by her energy. It was all his brain would allow him to say.

With a delighted expression, she threw her arms around him and pulled tightly. “You do remember!” His brain short circuited from the gesture. “I can’t believe I found you here! God, how many years has it been?”

“Quite a few…” he muttered, barely capable of speech as she released him. He cleared his throat, trying to recover. “I saw you before, but you look a bit different, so I wasn’t sure it was you.”

“I guess my hair’s a bit longer. Plus I’m stylish all around.” She grinned at him. “But you look the same as ever.”

His cheeks turned red. All of a sudden he was extremely self-conscious of his bowl cut and relatively short stature. He was about the same height as her still. He knew girls generally started puberty before boys, but he felt totally insufficient in front of her. “Ah, well, I suppose I could stand to change things up.”

“Just muss your hair up a bit.” She reached to the top of his head. His body locked up as she tousled his hair for a few seconds, his heart racing. “There,” she said as she withdrew, “much better, right?”

“I, uh,” he stammered, “I can’t see it.”

“Oh.” She thought for a moment. “Well, just check it out next time you get to a mirror. It looks good!”

He blushed harder, this time not out of embarrassment. “O-okay.”

“Did you eat yet? You should come and sit with us!” she said cheerfully.

“‘Us?’”

“Me and my bunkmates! We’re over there.” She jabbed a thumb at the table she’d left.

“Well, uh.” He thought about telling her had already dumped his food, but realized he would then have to explain why and the answer, his deep desire to verify her presence, was too embarrassing for him to reveal. He put his hand to his glasses. “Sure, I can join you.”

“Great!” She beckoned him and he followed her to the table, where she sat down, scooched close to the girl next to her, and patted the narrow seat she’d made. With a gulp, he managed to sit down, letting himself hang off the edge of the seat so as not to touch his thigh to hers. “Guys, this is Ken-chan. Ken-chan, these are my bunkmates.” She gestured to two girls in particular. “These two are Miko and Muko. They also go to school with me.”

“Oh, h-hello,” he said nervously. “I-it’s nice you can all go to camp together.”

“Hey,” said Muko with a wave.

“Wait,” said Miko. “Ken-chan? The Ken-chan? As in, Momo’s first love?”

Ken’s heart stopped.

Staring straight ahead, he did not see Momo blush furiously. “He’s not— you know I had a crush on Jiji!” she protested.

Ken’s heart resumed.

But now it moved at a slow, wistful pace. “Right,” he muttered. “I remember you mentioned something about that.” About how he made you cry. He kept this bitter thought to himself.

“Well, we never hear about Jiji,” said Miko. “Anyway, nice to meetcha, Ken-chan.”

“Y-you too.” He wanted to ask what they had heard about him, what Momo had said. Did she talk about him often? Enough to be the Ken-chan? The thought was tantalizing; he felt himself bursting with the desire to find out.

… But maybe it wasn’t all good things. After all, he was just her little playmate on the playground. Just the weird kid who liked aliens and cryptids. Maybe he was just that to her. Maybe that was all he could ever be.

He looked around as conversation took the table. Momo got along so easily with these girls from her school. They knew her in a way he didn’t, a way he never would. And they were girls. Momo was a girl. Of course, he’d known that when they played together, but his conception of what it really meant had been virtually nonexistent, outside of his formative notions of chivalry. Now it mattered. It mattered that she was a girl and he was a boy. It mattered that she saw him as a boy.

Did she?

She still used the diminutive honorific with him, even though they were teenagers now. From what her friend had said, that was how she referred to him whenever she mentioned him. He was just a little kid to her, wasn’t he? Same scrawny nerd with a bad haircut. Meanwhile, she was cool and fashionable, seemingly effortlessly.

“So, Ken-chan,” said Muko, “Got any interesting alien stories to tell us? Ever been abducted?”

They knew. Of course they knew. Momo must have told them what a freak he was. Did she do it maliciously? He swallowed, suddenly feeling the weight of his special interest pressing him down. “No, I, um, I’ve never actually seen an alien,” he muttered. “They might have used regressive hypnosis on me to remove my memories, however…” he added inaudibly.

“What about a— what’re they called? Cryptos?”

“Cryptids,” he uttered quietly. “And I haven’t seen one of them either.”

“Ah well. Must just be unlucky.”

She was making fun of him. She had to be. God, he was a laughingstock to them, wasn’t he? And Momo had brought him here to be, what, a spectacle? A joke? The thought of it made him sick, made the sounds in his ears distant, all but his own breathing. He couldn’t take it. “E-excuse me,” he uttered as he stood up and began to exit the table.

“Ken-chan?” asked Momo with a look of concern.

“Sorry. I’ll leave,” he mumbled, walking quickly out of the mess hall.

“Later, Ken-chan!” called Miko.

“Ken-chan, wait!” Momo called, standing to follow him. She caught up to him after he left the building, sprinting the last bit to catch his surprisingly fast pace, and took hold of his sleeve. “Ken-chan!” He stopped, but didn’t look at her. “Please, tell me what’s wrong!”

“I’m fine,” he said tonelessly. “Just feeling bad. Must be the food.”

She saw through that instantly. “Ken-chan, please don’t cry, I’m sure whatever it is—”

“I’m not crying,” he said, turning to her. His face was red, but sure enough his eyes were dry. “I’m a boy, you know. I don’t do that.”

“I know,” she said in a cautiously gentle tone. “I know you’re a boy.” She replayed the last few minutes in her head. “Did Muko upset you?”

Now he was doubly embarrassed. To have his fixation called out was one thing, but to admit it bothered him? Downright shameful. “No,” he lied. “No, she didn’t— I just… I got a little overwhelmed, there, is all. I can be an awkward fellow when I get overwhelmed.”

Her reaction was strange to him. Her lips parted, her cheeks reddened, and she swallowed hard. For a moment, he was worried he had upset her. “Okay, well, I’m sorry that happened. I didn’t mean to put you in an overwhelming situation.”

Her concern relaxed him in turn. “It’s all right. I was just a bit… surprised to see you after all these years. But,” he steeled his courage, “I’m really glad I did.”

She smiled. “Me too. Truth be told…” She hesitated briefly. “When I saw you, I was worried for a second that you had forgotten me.”

“Forgotten you?” Her? His one and only friend? The notion was unthinkable. Outlandish as to reside in the realm of fantasy. “I could never forget you, Ayase-san.”

Her smile brightened. “I was sad when you moved away.”

He blinked. He had not expected this. “Really?”

“Yeah. Really sad. I stopped seeing you at the playground and, y’know, that sucked. I actually… cried about it,” she admitted bashfully.

He couldn’t believe his ears. “You did?”

“I did. For a while. I started to get scared that something had happened to you. Maybe you were eaten by Sasquatch or something.” There was a teasing lilt to her voice, but he didn’t feel denigrated by it.

What she didn’t tell him was that it hadn’t been the first time she’d cried about him. Not by a long shot.

Instead of divulging this, Momo said, “Granny had to investigate and find out that you moved to get me to stop worrying.” She averted her gaze. “I was kinda hurt that you didn’t say goodbye.”

“I wanted to,” he said urgently. “I visited the playground every day after I learned we’d be moving. But I didn’t see you before we left. I would’ve told you, I swear.”

She looked into his eyes, something soft in hers. “I believe you. I kinda figured later that might’ve been the case.”

“I…” He gulped. “I cried too. When my dad told me, I cried all night.”

“Yeah?” He nodded. “I thought you said boys don’t cry,” she said with a smirk.

“Well…” His gaze traveled away from her, his fingers on the rim of his glasses. “We cry when someone like you leaves our lives.”

Momo’s eyes went wide. Her heart thumped hard in her chest. She felt herself inhale deeply and exhale slowly. Then her lips curved into a smile. “Hey, what are you doing tomorrow?”

“Uh,” he thought for a second, “I think I’ve got wall climbing in the morning and volley ball in the afternoon.”

“I’m doing volleyball too!” she said with surprising enthusiasm. “Maybe we’ll be in the same group!”

A wave of excitement overtook his body. Him and Momo, playing together again? The thought was surreal, as surreal as it had been to hash out their departures from each other’s lives years ago, but much more pleasant. “Th-that would be great!” he managed to get out.

“Yeah!” She beamed at him.

Sometime over the past few minutes, the air had shifted between them. Before it had felt warm and muggy, typical of a harsh summer. Now it seemed only pleasantly warm, like a gentle embrace from a loved one. The silence between them wasn’t awkward, either. It was peaceful, like the moment after an orchestra finishes a symphony just before the applause. Both of them wondered if the other also perceived the strange waves of energy that undulated between them.

“So,” said Momo, “are you going to bed?”

“Oh,” Ken replied, having forgotten that he’d stormed out of the mess hall in humiliation, “uh, yeah, I think so. I’ll probably do some reading before then.”

“Still reading Poh?” she asked with a teasing tinge.

“Y-yeah.” A bit of the embarrassment returned to him.

“That’s cool,” she said pleasantly, soothing him. “Then I’ll see you tomorrow, I hope.”

“See you,” he whispered.

They parted ways. Momo returned to the mess hall, an unnoticed skip in her step. As she sat back down with her bunkmates, the conversation between them faded into the background, overcome by thoughts of what the next day would bring. A warm smile remained on her face from these.

When Ken got back to his cabin, he checked his hair in the bathroom mirror. Huh. It did look better. How about that.

Chapter Text

Wall climbing was hell. Literal, actual hell. Whoever invented it should be shot. Dragged through broken glass, fed to starving dogs, and then shot in case the first two didn’t take. That was what Ken decided as he ate his lunch. Hanging from a bone-shattering, organ-splattering height in an uncomfortable harness, held up only by an old rope that looked like it could snap any minute? Forced to pull yourself up on tiny little rocks drilled lazily into a sheer surface? The inventor deserved eternal infernal punishment.

But that was okay. It was perfectly okay, because soon he would be playing volleyball. He had no special love of the sport, of any sport, really, but the promise of Momo’s presence made it his favorite, at least for the day.

When he arrived at the field, he looked around for her, but couldn’t find her. Disappointment filled him. She must have been at a different field after all. But then he heard her voice call, “Ken-chaaan!”

He looked behind him. Momo was running towards him, waving with a brilliant smile on her face. Even after the last night, he couldn’t believe how excited she was to see him. What a thrilling feeling it was, being the object of anticipation for another person. “H-hey, Ayase-san,” he said, waving back.

“Hey!” she said brightly. “Ready to play?”

“I think so,” he said with uncertainty.

“I hope we’re on the same team.”

“Me too.”

“‘Cause if we’re not, Imma totally kick your butt!” she continued with a playful lilt.

He laughed nervously. “Yeah, maybe…”

“I’m really glad we do get to play together again,” she said with a softer tone. “Even if it’s just for a little bit.”

His heart skipped a beat. He had been sure she would have moved on from simple playground frolicking by now. He had done so, to an extent. But as her words washed over him, memories of chasing each other around, climbing the jungle gym, challenging each other to see who could hit the highest high on the swing — it was always Momo — rushed into his mind. Memories that he had suppressed so as not to be pained by their end. At these, he felt the thinnest layer of pubescent cynicism peel away from from him, replaced by earnest, innocent hope.

“Alright, listen up!” said the camp counselor. “We’re gonna be splitting you into orange and blue teams. When you hear your name, move to one side of the net.”

He began to list off different campers’ names. Ken grew increasingly anxious as the numbers dwindled without he and Momo being called. He feared they would be pitted against each other, inevitably. And that drove an additional fear, sparked by the realization she’d provoked in her assertion of inevitable victory.

Ken was terrible at sports.

He had no muscle, no stamina, no coordination, no skill that could conceivably serve as an advantage in a physical competition. Years devoted to sitting alone and reading had done nothing to promote any sort of athletic physique in him. So consumed with the chance to be around Momo again had he been that he had completely neglected to consider the implications of this fact. Now he would be subjected to this intense trial for far longer than he could keep up.

“Ayase, team blue!” called the counselor. Momo trotted off to one side of the net.

Ken grew more fearful. He would be called for team orange, he just knew it. Then Momo would see what a pathetic whelp of a boy he was and never want to hang around him again. God, it would be so humiliating.

Little did Ken know, Momo’s heart thumped a bit more strongly, a touch of worry in her eyes that she wouldn’t get to be on his team. Playing on a united front would definitely be better than being pitted against one another. It would be just like old times…

“Takakura…” They both braced for impact. “Team blue!”

A flood of relief hit Ken and a shining smile appeared on Momo’s face. Even with the knowledge that he had no chance at anything resembling a strong display, just having avoided the alternate path at defeat at her hands was a massive weight off his shoulders.

“Same team,” was all he could manage to say as he approached Momo.

“Same team!” she repeated. “You’re lucky; now I don’t have to whup you.” He laughed, but secretly he was truly grateful for the same.

After explaining the rules, the coach blew the whistle. Ken gulped as the game began. The enemy team was first to serve. He felt himself sweat as he prepared to try his hardest not to make a fool of himself.

The ball flew over the net, speeding towards Momo. “Ayase-san!” he yelled.

But Momo formed a perfect bump pose and knocked the ball back over with a chipper, “Hup!” Ken’s mouth dropped open at how effortless it looked. The ball returned, once more to Momo. This time, she hit it with a set, and called, “Ken-chan!”

Time slowed. She had called out for him. This was his moment, his time to shine! She’d made it perfect for him; all he had to do was move. He leapt up into the air, swung his hand with all his might…

And totally missed.

The ball bounced along the ground as he landed. “Team orange, one point!” declared the counselor.

Ken stared at the ground. There was no way he could look Momo in the eye now. “S-sorry,” he mumbled.

“That’s okay!” she said, undaunted. “The game’s just begun. I kinda set it up messily for you anyway. My bad.”

God, she was self-deprecating for him. This was terribly, horribly, wholly and completely awful. “N-no, not at all,” he muttered.

The opposing team looked at one another for a moment, then grinned wolfish grins. Ken gulped at his suspicion of their thoughts. Indeed, he was proven right when, for the next several serves, they appeared to target him and him alone. Every time, he failed to react, either missing the ball completely or hitting it so poorly it failed to clear the net.

“Man, you suck, Takakura!” said one of his teammates. Ken bowed his head in shame. He couldn’t dispute it.

“Hey, back off!” Momo snarled. “He’s doing his best!”

He bowed his head even deeper. Having her defend him, damning with such faint praise, made his failure even worse. Fist clenched, he vowed he would do one thing right, contribute to one point for his team at least, or die trying, and he didn’t care how overly dramatic that sounded.

On the game point, once more the ball came speeding at him. He prepared himself to react, but when he moved, he was off course. Damn! Despair filled his heart as he waited for the ball to touch the grass.

Just then, Momo dove towards him, arms outstretched, and bumped it into the air. Ken’s eyes went wide. He felt a surge of adrenaline as it lazily traveled in its arc. This was his true moment. With as much dexterity and strength as he could muster, he set the ball just high enough to clear the net. Yes!

But instantly, the opposing team tagged it, rapidly setting up a spike. Somehow, Ken knew its trajectory. For once it wouldn’t be at him, but at Momo, still vulnerable on the grass— at her face, specifically. He could not, would not allow her countenance to be blemished by such a foul thing. As it came screaming at her, his body moved on instinct. His hands prepared to repel the devilish sphere, save her from the impact, score the point that would turn the tide. “Ayase-sa—”

Crunch.

Ken hit the ground hard, head first. Blood poured from his nose as his glasses fell away in two pieces, the bridge of them split in half. The ball landed unceremoniously beside him.

“Ken-chan!” Momo cried, springing to her feet and rushing to his side, deep worry on her face.

The counselor blew his whistle and yelled, “Time out!” before running over to Ken. “Hey, Takakura, you alright? You with me?”

“Urgh…” Ken-groaned, still seeing stars.

Reaching down to pull Ken up, the counselor said, “Let’s get you to the infirmary.” He turned to his assistant counselor. “You good here?” The assistant nodded.

“I’ll come with,” said Momo, voice thick with concern.

This snapped Ken out of his daze. “No, no, I’m fine,” he said urgently. “I’ll be okay on my own. I’ll… I’ll see you later, Ayase-san.”

Concern remained in her expression. “Okay… See you…”

Ken walked to the infirmary with the counselor, ultimate shame hanging over his head as he carried the broken halves of his glasses. Part of him hoped he wouldn’t see Momo again, that he wouldn’t have to face her after this humiliation.

Of course, that part of him was shouted down by his desire to spend every precious moment with her.

The ritual of the nightly bonfire was dull to Ken. The flame didn’t seem vibrant or warm at all. It did nothing to soothe the emptiness he felt inside.

He’d spent the rest of the day being treated by the camp nurse. She had insisted he stay through the evening in case he was concussed, and so he had eaten an even worse dinner than usual alone on his infirmary cot. Now he bore bandages around his head and one on his mercifully unbroken nose. He continuously had to readjust his glasses, the tape rejoining the bridge making them even more unwieldy on his face.

He stood alone, a circle of avoidance carved out for him even as the whole of the camp gathered around the fire. No one wanted to stand with him. Certainly not Momo. And how could he blame her? After his pathetic display, after stupidly getting whammed in the face with a volleyball, she probably wanted nothing to do with him ever again. Hell, she was probably laughing at his earlier floundering with her two school friends right now. And he deserved every derisive guffaw.

Sighing, he decided that if he was going to be alone, it would at least be on his own terms. He slunk away from the bonfire, unnoticed by all, naturally, and found a small spot on a nearby hill. There he gazed at the stars, his only companions over these past few years. His hope that an alien would appear and steal him from loneliness spiked in him has he did. It would be the only way he could have a friend after this, he knew.

But then he heard a voice. “Hey.”

He turned. It was Momo. She bore a smile that was at once sympathetic and concerned. “Hey…” he whispered in slight disbelief.

“How’re you feeling?”

“Oh, uh, better,” he said quickly. “It wasn’t as bad as it looked. Nothing broken, just some blood vessels burst.”

“I’m glad,” she said with genuine relief. “What’re you doing out here?”

“Ah, just… doing some stargazing,” he lied, concealing his alien-centric thoughts.

“Cool,” she said simply. “Mind if I sit with you?”

His heart skipped a beat. She still wanted to hang out with him? Alone? When there were others she could be around? “Not at all.”

“Great.” She set herself down beside him. “So. Whatcha thinking?”

Again he had to hide his thoughts on the paranormal. “Just… the stars are nice, you know?”

“They are. Especially out here. I don’t get a view like this in the city very often. It’s gorgeous.”

You’re gorgeous. The words entered his mind without his volition. He blinked in surprise at them. Gorgeous? Momo? All this time, all these years, the things that had stayed in his heart about Momo were her kindness, her energy and the fun they had together. Never about how pretty she was.

But, indeed, she was a girl. Undeniably a cute one, he knew as he gazed upon her. And he was a boy…

He felt like he should say something, but he didn’t know what. He’d been stunlocked by his realization of her beauty. Suddenly, she spoke up, “Y’know, a few years ago I watched a movie with an actor who had your name.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. I loved it. He was awesome. I binged all of his stuff after I finished.”

“Oh. Cool,” he said neutrally. “I’ll look him up when I get home.”

“He kinda reminded…” She stopped short and blushed, averting her gaze. “Um, I mean, I have something for you.”

His eyes widened. “R-really?”

“Mhm. Um…” Reaching into her pocket, she withdrew a small bracelet, a string with many different beads and crystals on it. “I made this.”

“For me?” he asked in disbelief.

She nodded. “Yeah. It’s…” She swallowed. “It’s a band of spiritual protection. It will keep you safe from malevolent spirits.”

He felt a strange feeling at this. She had put work into crafting something for him, for him, with her bare hands? To protect him? She cared about him that much? “Wow…” he breathed.

“So, um, do you want it?” she asked quietly.

“Yes!” he replied immediately. “I mean, yes, I would like it, please.”

She beamed. “Great! Here.” She grasped his forearm; he almost jumped off of the ground from that contact as well as the brush of her hand on his when she wrapped the bracelet around his wrist. “There. Now no nasty ghosts will get you.”

He held up the gift, inspecting it. It seemed, in all honesty, like an ordinary bangle, but if she said it warded off the supernatural, he wouldn’t doubt her. Besides, there was no way he could look down on a such a lovely gift.

“Thanks,” he said with a smile. “I’ll wear it wherever I go.”

Her own smile widened. “Good.”

“So,” he added after a minute, “you’re still into ghosts and stuff?”

Her cheeks tinted red. “Well, y’know, kinda.”

This brought him a wave of calm. If she still had her weird interest, maybe it wasn’t so stupid that he still had his. “Do you still train your chi?”

“Sometimes,” she admitted. Hesitating for a moment, she continued, “After you told me it was cool, I stopped being afraid of doing it around others.”

His heart fluttered. “I’m glad,” he replied quietly.

They sat there in silence for a while longer. This peaceful moment reminded him of a certain day years ago. Momo had told him that she wanted to play with him forever, to be his Risu forever. Did she want that, still? Was that even in the realm of possibility? He had to find out.

Gazing at a certain star in the sky, he said with a soft voice, “Hey, do you remember that day we sat on the jungle gym? With our legs hanging off of it?”

She grinned. “We did that a lot. It’s hard to remember a specific one.”

He frowned. He had hoped she would know what time he was referring to, the time when she had said those magical words. It had been the most significant one, far outstripping the rest. But of course, it wasn’t like that to her. Not anymore. Maybe it hadn’t ever been. “Oh, right. I mean… I just… never mind.”

Momo looked on as he turned away. Her eyes fell half-lidded, as if she had been expecting something. “Those times were good,” she added simply.

This gave Ken a droplet of comfort. “Yeah.”

For now, he was content to keep his eyes on the stars, even if the one he’d pinpointed didn’t look so bright anymore, as he felt the delightful new sensation of the bracelet on his skin. Momo, on the other hand, glanced at him periodically, as if struggling with something. At one point she leaned towards his cheek, paused, and then leaned back. He didn’t notice.

Eventually the counselors announced that it was time for bed. Reluctantly, the two stood from their spot on the hill and walked back to the gathering. They gently bid each other good night before departing for their respective cabins.

When she reached hers, Momo took a good while before getting to bed, thoughts of him bouncing throughout her mind. Ken, meanwhile, had his best sleep yet.

The remaining days at the camp flew by. Ken found he could tolerate all manner of physical exhaustion knowing that Momo wanted to hang out. They talked at meals, catching up on their lives in detail. Even her friends seemed nicer; perhaps she had said something to get them to ease up on him. Either way, he was relieved.

“You guys, Ken-chan knows so much about space and stuff,” said Momo at lunch one day.

“Oh,” he said, a smile and light blush on his face, “I-I don’t know that much.”

“He’s being modest. C’mon, Ken-chan, tell them about Proxima Centauri!”

Her request, both in its opportunity for him to dump information he was fond of and the fact that it was Momo asking, spurred his answer immediately. “It’s the closest star to earth, four point two five light years away. If you were to travel in a ship going one million kilometers per hour, it would take approximately four thousand, six hundred years to arrive.”

“Wow,” said Muko. “That’s a long time! Sounds like we’ll never get there.”

Ken was thankful that her tone didn’t seem mocking or sarcastic. “It’s true that by conventional means, our approach to any remote star system within a human lifespan is likely impossible. One solution towards human interstellar travel is the concept of generational ships, where humans reproduce and leave their descendants to arrive at their destination. But maintaining what would effectively be a micro-civilization with no expendable resources is a major challenge both in terms of engineering and societal regulation.”

“Yeah, I can imagine space babies not being great at taking care of stuff, long-term” replied Muko.

He nodded. “Another proposed solution is cryogenic sleep. Human metabolism slows down dramatically with cold enough temperatures, slowing the aging process to a near stop.”

“Freezing makes you age slower? Damn, I gotta get to Antarctica,” said Miko.

“It has been observed that when someone appears to have died, but they’re frozen, they sometimes revive when their temperature returns to normal. That is the basic principle of cryogenic stasis. However, when water freezes, it expands and forms crystals, which rupture the membranes of cells. Over time, the cell destruction degrades the structure of organs, causing system failure that results in human death.”

“So like, we’d just become human smoothies? Yuck. Don’t want that to arrive on an alien planet.”

“Indeed. Current research is investigating alternate methods which prevent crystallization, but naturally any chemical that must strongly interact with the water in our cells is likely to have toxic effects.”

“Sounds like we’re stuck on this lil green marble, then.”

“Maybe. But physicists have been investigating the idea of warping spacetime to shorten the physical distance between stars, making the travel time feasible.”

“That’s like something outta scifi,” said Muko.

Ken nodded. “It is fairly fantastical. But science fiction has predicted future developments in the past.” He hesitated for a second, pondering whether it would be okay to veer towards a more occult-heavy topic. “And some suspect that warp points already exist on earth, crafted by ancient civilizations.”

“So cavemen did space travel?”

“Perhaps a little later than cavemen, but yes.”

“Man, I never knew any of this stuff.”

“Looks like our new buddy here’s been studying up a lot,” said Miko with a grin.

Ken blushed. Buddy? That was a synonym for friend, wasn’t it? Had his friend count tripled without him realizing? That was another thing he could be thankful to Momo for. “I-I like reading about this kind of thing in my spare time,” he muttered with a nervous smile, a hand on his glasses.

Momo looked on with a smile as her friends listened to his exposition. Just as she had been years ago, they were entranced by his passion and digestible way of conveying the knowledge he had acquired in pursuit of his interest. She was glad, relieved, even, that this part of him hadn’t changed. She hoped it never would.

When it was time for them to leave camp at last, Ken couldn’t believe he found himself wishing it wouldn’t end. He didn’t want to say another goodbye to Momo, not after such a brief return to the glory of their friendship. But he knew now that this had just been a small reprieve from his life of loneliness. That was all it would ever be.

As they stood at the entrance to the camp, Ken noticed his dad’s car pulling in. “Ah, I think that’s me,” he said, disappointment in his voice.

“Oh,” said Momo, her tone also disappointed to a degree that surprised him. “I guess I’ll see— um, I guess this is goodbye, then.”

Sadness filled his heart. “Yeah… Goodbye, Ayase-san.”

“Bye, Ken-chan.” Her voice was soft, her eyes half-closed, no trace of a smile on her lips.

He turned to leave. Suddenly he felt a tug at his sleeve. Looking back, he saw Momo hanging onto him. “Ayase-san?”

She pulled him closer and pulled out a pen from her pack. “My granny says I can’t have a cellphone until I’m in high school,” she said as she began to write on his forearm. “So I’m giving you my email address.”

His eyes grew wide. “A… Ayase-san…”

Replacing the cap on the pen, she said, “Keep in touch, okay?”

He nodded vigorously. “I will.”

“Promise? Cuz I really wanna hear from you,”

“I promise!”

A smile blossomed on her face. “Good. See ya later, Ken-chan!”

His heart soared at her wording. “See you!”

Ken’s dad noticed that his son appeared to be in high spirits on the way home, much better than his usual demeanor. It seemed that sending him to camp was the right thing after all.

Chapter Text

It took Ken several months before he could send Momo an email. The delay wasn’t out of lack of interest or desire, but for two reasons. First, his family didn’t own a computer, his dad not needing it for his manual labor job. Had he had one, Ken would’ve given Momo his email address right when she’d given him hers. Ken had to beg his father relentlessly to buy one, any one, no matter how cheap, for ages before he finally broke down.

Indeed, he bought the cheapest on the market, a used heap of scrap whose fans roared like jet turbines at so much as a single web browser tab. And it turned out, despite his reluctance to buy it and its miserable performance, Ken’s dad liked using the computer a lot, and so Ken had few opportunities to explore its capabilities. As such, it took even longer for him to even longer to even be able to get an email address, let alone familiarize himself with its mechanical underpinnings.

But even after that, he had abstained out of fear of quality or lack thereof. He had never sent anyone or received a personal email before. He didn’t know what they looked like. All the emails he received after setting his address up had been companies selling things or scammers trying to convince him he could improve his body through means that were unconventional, to say the least. He may have been naive as a newborn deer in certain ways, but even he knew to discard these without hesitation.

He had tried composing it in his head many times, of course. Each attempt, he thought, was stupider than the last. Even the greeting was difficult. “Yo Ayase-san! How’s it hanging?” No, too casual. “Dear Ayase-san, I hope this letter finds you well.” What was he, a notary public? “Hey Ayase-san, it’s Ken, I hope you’re doing well.” That sounded okay…

But as he went on, he had no idea what else to write. “I’m…” What was he? Was he anything? “I’m doing great.” Yeah, right. “I’m back to my miserable, friendless life fantasizing about what it would be like if we lived near each other again after a few days of seeing you like a stupid idiot.” Honest, but somehow he felt it might not go over well.

Every time, his mind would hit a wall and he would give up. The longer he prolonged it, the worse his sense of obligation got. She had told him to keep in touch and he had failed. She must hate him now, must have realized she was better off not associating with scum like him. That thought plagued him, growing more and more painful with every fruitless attempt.

At last, he did it. Months into the third year of middle school, he finally sent something. In the end, the thought of losing her once more had won out over any kind of awkwardness he felt he would induce. He read the words he’d just sent, downing mouthfuls of rice and chicken as he went.

“Hi Ayase-san,

How are you? I apologize for not writing earlier; I have been somewhat busy these past months and only just recently acquired a computer.” This was mostly a lie, but he needed some cover for his negligence. “I had a great time at camp. It was fun seeing you again.” He held back on telling her she was the only reason he enjoyed the otherwise horrendous experience.

“Hope to hear from you soon,

Ken Takakura”

He had added his last name after some worrying that she might not know which Ken he was. Maybe there were more in her life and she wouldn’t remember.

For a few hours he stared at his inbox, refreshing it periodically, even though it updated itself without the need for that, until his dad came and kicked him off. Ken checked again in the morning. Nothing new besides more salespeople and scammers. Fear gripped his heart. He had been too late, hadn’t he? Momo had discarded him in his negligence to fulfill his promise and now she scorned him as a worthless, unreliable former friend. He should’ve been faster, damn it, he should’ve tried even with imperfect wording! Now she was lost to him forever. Again.

Such were his thoughts throughout his classes. The bracelet he wore every day, no matter how much mockery and emasculation he had to endure at the hands of his classmates because of it, felt hot on his wrist, like he was a malevolent spirit being exorcised by the purity of Momo’s gift. He deserved it, unquestionably.

When he got home, a few hours after school, he trudged over to the computer. He wanted to check again. He needed to. He knew it was futile; he knew he would see nothing there but people trying to legitimately and illegitimately fleece him of money he didn’t have. But he had to see if she had forgiven him, blessed him with her attention, no matter how small the chance was.

The damned machine chugged like an alcoholic in a vodka bottling plant trying to access his email. Why did his dad have to close the tab? Probably to save on the precious little RAM it had, he realized. “Come on, come on,” he urged the device. The longer it took, the more certain he was that he would be met with silence, the more a pit of sickness grew in his gut.

Finally, the page loaded and he saw it: a reply from [email protected]. Ken’s jaw dropped. Before relief could wash over him, however, he saw the message preview: “Hey, you jerk! 😡What gives you the right… ” His blood turned to ice and he began shaking. He swallowed hard, throat desert-dry. It was even worse than he had thought. She was furious with him, and rightfully so. What a terrible friend he’d been. What audacity he’d had to try after such failure. What an awful transgression he had committed.

He knew he needed to take his lumps like a man and so, after several deep breaths, he clicked the message. He braced himself for the full bore of her wrath as he read,

“Hey, you jerk! 😡What gives you the right to leave a girl hanging after you promised to keep in touch?

jk jk, I’m not actually mad. I’m really happy you reached out! 😊 But I was waiting for a while.

I miss you! I was worried I got on your nerves at camp. I thought we had a great time, but I know I can be kinda loud and pushy and sometimes I don’t think about other people’s feelings enough.

I’ve been doing okay. Stressed about high school entrance exams. I’m trying to get into Kami High. I wish I had joined more clubs to make my application look better! 😫 At least my grades are good.

What’ve you been up to? Tell me everything!

Cheers,

Momo

P.S. Miko and Muko say hi”

Ken felt as if the world, which had frozen on its axis, began spinning again. He laughed out loud to himself, alone in his home. She wasn’t mad at him. She missed him. She missed him. What an insane thing. What an insane, unbelievable, wonderful thing.

Immediately he began to type his response, telling her he missed her too — that was a magical feeling — but he got stuck when he thought of what he might tell her of “everything.” As before, he couldn’t just say his life was miserable without her — that would be weird and obsessive of him, even if he was weird and obsessive. And the only part of his life that wasn’t like that he wasn’t keen on telling her. Not yet, anyway. So he cobbled together something similar about exams and the like.

At the end, without thinking, he wrote that he wore the bracelet she’d given him every day. But after a moment, he deleted it and instead simply told her he missed her too. He hoped that would be all right and hit send.

She didn’t get back to him for the rest of the evening. But that was okay. She missed him. Everything would be okay from now on.

She did eventually reply, late the next day, not questioning his story or rejecting him in any way. She seemed genuinely happy with what he was telling her, happy that they were talking. And so was he. He was thrilled.

Their conversations continued as time passed. Ken became more comfortable talking with Momo, though he still called her by her last name. She would complain about school and he would agree that whatever she complained about sucked. He was carefully evasive about his lack of friends and about a certain other extracurricular. It was a friendship, a normal, ordinary friendship. And that was heaven to Ken.

Yet he longed to see her. He thought about asking if she wanted to meet up. But fear still took hold of him. It was too audacious to ask for such a thing. They were long-distance friends, that was all, he told himself. He didn’t want to pierce the comfortable veil of the internet and ruin that.

Towards the end of the year, Momo told him that she’d gotten into Kami High with seven exclamation points. Ken congratulated her. When she asked where he was going, he said that he hadn’t received any acceptance letters yet.

This was a lie. He, too, had secretly applied to Kami High. And he, too, had received an acceptance letter. Of course, this had just been done on a flight of fancy. Even if he wanted to, he couldn’t go. Kami High wasn’t near his current residence. The commute there would be far too long to be reasonable. He knew this to be true, despite the part of him that told him it would be worth it to see Momo again.

But then the miraculous happened. Ken’s father told him that he’d gotten a new job and they would be moving again. Ken didn’t dare hope as to the location, but when his father told him it would be near their old home, he nearly leapt out of his skin with excitement. His wildest dreams could become real!

The summer passed quickly, yet somehow agonizingly slowly for Ken as he awaited the beginning of the first of three years of high school. He hadn’t told Momo about his acceptance to Kami High or the move. No, he wanted it to be a surprise. Some part of him feared what would happen if it went poorly, but the thought of her shocked face turning into a smile at the sight of him was too tempting. He would gamble on this, bet the farm and all. Then, with enough time, he could surprise her with something else. Maybe.

And so, on the eve of classes, he sent her an email. “Hey. I have a surprise for you tomorrow.”

She responded, “Oh? What is it?”

“If I tell you, it won’t be a surprise.”

“Hmph. Fine. But it better be good!"

“I promise it will be.”

The next day, Ken mussed his hair just like Momo had shown him at camp last year. He made sure his uniform was wrinkle free. Most importantly, he donned the protective bracelet, her pricelss gift to him.

He ran to the entrance ceremony and stood in his designated spot. The words of the principal didn’t reach his ears; he was too busy trying to stealthily look around for Momo. She had to be here; she’d told him she was going to this school. But he couldn’t find her in the crowd. Maybe she was being blocked by other students. That was okay. He’d see her when classes started.

He was assigned to class 1-B. Where was she assigned? He looked into the class directory. Ayase, Ayase… There! 1-A. The plan was set. All he had to do was wait.

Mercifully, the first class of each subject was a simple introduction, expectations of the class, a walk through the syllabus — merciful because Ken could hardly pay attention. He was going to see her again. His friend. His friend! A friend he would be able to see every day now that they were geographically reunited. Life was sweet. And, assuming he didn’t mess up catastrophically, it would be for the foreseeable future.

At last the free period before lunch arrived. He almost sprinted out of his class, but caught himself. He didn’t want to come on too strong, reveal just how excited he was to see her. Be cool, Ken. You prepared for this. The night before, he had practiced various greetings. The one he’d decided was coolest was to walk up with a casual grin and say, “Hey, Ayase-san. Fancy meeting you here.” No more awkwardness, no more stammering, just a brand new Ken for her to appreciate.

As he arrived at class 1-A, what he saw stopped him dead in his tracks. She was there. But she wasn’t merely there, she was… different. Visually. A year had made a considerable difference on her. If she was gorgeous when he’d seen her at camp, now she was stunning. Had he changed enough? Changed at all? Was he still terribly outclassed by her? Self-consciousness flooded his veins.

Then he heard her speak to Miko, who had apparently also made it to Kami High, “Oh, I love him!”

“Oh really, Momo?” said Miko with a teasing smile. “You never mention it.”

Momo blushed. “But he’s just so hot and cool! Everything he does is awesome. I can’t get enough!”

“I guess it’s her scheduled gushing time,” said Muko next to her.

Ken gulped. Who could she be talking about? Some guy? Someone she knew from her previous school, or maybe even this one, new though she was? She was raving about him; she’d never heard him speak like that about anyone. Certainly not Ken.

He felt a hollowness open up inside himself at her words. There was no way Momo would have time or interest in a friendship with him. Not with this mystery man occupying her attention. Eyes half-lidded, his hand traveled the bracelet on his wrist. It was silly to think she would appreciate him wearing the trinket. She’d probably just made it for him on an idle whim in the first place and it didn’t mean anything to her. Slowly, he removed it and placed it in his pocket.

“We know, we know,” said Miko. “You’re gaga for Ken Takakura.”

Ken’s heart stopped.

“I aaammm,” agreed Momo enthusiastically.

Ken’s blood turned to magma.

“Sooner or later you’re gonna have to accept there aren’t any guys like him left,” added Muko. “He’s dead and his last movie was like ten years ago, right?”

Ken’s heart resumed. His blood cooled. Right. Right.

“Well, I’m gonna find the last one!” Momo declared with a fist pump.

Ken had looked up his namesake after the arrival of the family computer. What he found shouldn’t have surprised him: a tall, cool, badass, manly movie star. Of course, Momo had mentioned she enjoyed his films, consumed them ravenously. But he hadn’t realized the depths of her affection for him, that he had become the template for her taste in men. Now he knew. With the painful weight of this knowledge, he turned from class 1-A and began to walk away.

“K-Ken-chan!?”

He swiveled around. Momo was dashing towards him at full break, expression awash with disbelief. “A-Ayase-san…” he whispered.

She stopped, heels skidding as she reached him. “What th— what are you doing here!?”

“I…” He cleared his throat. “I go here.”

“What?” Momo’s eyes widened. “You— what!?”

“My dad got a job back in this district. I applied here and it turns out I got in.”

Her incredulous face turned to a bright smile. She gave him a light punch on the arm. “You jerk, you didn’t tell me!”

Her smile sparked his. “Surprise.”

Momo looked elated. “This is— this is awesome! I can’t believe it!” Her eyes shimmered with joy. “I’m really happy about this, Ken-chan.”

His heart swelled. Everything was better now. Well, almost. But that was more than good enough. Invigorated, he stood up straight from his formerly depressed slouch and said, “I’m happy too.”

Momo’s expression suddenly turned to one of… Ken couldn’t parse it. It seemed almost like surprise, but with some added undercurrent. Her cheeks were tinted red, too. She quickly averted her gaze. “You’re, um, taller,” she muttered.

“Huh?” He suddenly realized that, at his full height, he was in fact looking down at her at a slight angle. “Oh, yeah, I guess I grew a bit.”

“Yeah,” she whispered. “A bit.” An awkward silence came over them. He had no idea how to break it. Thankfully, she said, “So, uh… you wanna get lunch with us? Might as well see what the cafeteria is like at this place.”

He grinned. “Sure. It can’t be worse than the food at camp.” Her soft laugh at this warmed him like a summer breeze.

“C’mon!” She grabbed his arm and pulled him back to the classroom, towards where Miko and Muko were standing. “Guys, look! It’s Ken-chan! He’s going here too!” She gestured to him like he was a prize on a game show.

“What? No way!” said Muko. “Heya Ken-chan, longtime no see!”

“H-hey,” replied Ken nervously. Though they had been pleasant to him the last time he’d seen them, they still intimidated him a bit.

“You’re lookin’ well,” said Miko.

“Thanks, y-you too,” he muttered quietly.

“He’s coming to lunch with us,” Momo declared. “Let’s go!”

Lunch was surprisingly smooth. Though he was nervous at first, his and Momo’s correspondence over the last year had evidently fostered an easy dynamic between them. The conversation flowed easily, with few silences. It helped that her friends were there to facilitate things.

“Hey,” said Momo partway through, “why won’t you look at me?”

He gulped. This had been the only thing he hadn’t anticipated. Something in his chest made it hard to look at her for more than a sentence at a time. He had hoped she wouldn’t notice. Alas, she was too keen-eyed for that. “Uh,” he said, “what are you talking about?”

“You keep looking away from me.”

A hand on the rim of his glasses, he turned away. “I don’t know what you mean.”

“You’re doing it right now!” she said, annoyance seeping into her tone.

“I’m not doing anything,” he insisted against blatant reality.

“Show me your face!” Momo took hold of his chin and forcibly turned it to look at her.

Forced to gaze at her, he turned red and began to sweat. “Uh…”

A few seconds later, Momo, her cheeks also a light crimson, looked away. “Okay,” she said quietly. “That’s better.” As she released him, her hand traveled to her hair. Miko and Muko, unseen by the two, exchanged brief smirks.

After a small silence, the conversation picked back up. Momo and Ken steadily returned to comfort and soon they were smiling together, like not a day had passed since their last encounter.

The bell rang; lunch was over and soon they parted ways for class. Ken had to tamp down his instinct to believe that he would never see her again. You’re here. She’s here. You have time. But, looking at her, at her effortless social grace, some part of him, a part he didn’t fully understand, added, but maybe not as much as you think.

He ruminated on lunch as the rest of classes flew by. It had been a successful social encounter, hadn’t it? The first, he hoped, of many.

At the end of the day, he walked towards the school gates. The journey home wouldn’t be so bad; he’d have more time to plan for his next encounter with Momo.

It turned out it might be sooner than he thought. There she was, leaning against the gate, a pensive look on her face. She must be waiting for someone, he decided. Probably her friends. I’ll just sneak by her. He clenched his fist. No. No! I’ll pass her with a casual farewell. You can do it, Ken!

With resolve in his heart, he marched almost robotically to the gate. As he approached her, he took a deep breath. His head turned like on a rusty hinge towards her. But as he opened his mouth to speak, he suddenly felt her nudge him with her shoulder. “Hey,” she said with a small frown. “There you are. Been waiting for you.”

He turned red in a flash. “Me?” he whispered incredulously.

“Yeah, you. I wanna give you something.”

Once more he began to sweat. “O-oh, really?”

“Yeah. You got a phone?” She pulled hers out of her pocket, as if Ken didn’t know what they were.

“Uh, no,” he replied. “My dad hasn’t given me one yet. He thinks I don’t need it.”

“Well… that should change,” she uttered. “Roll up your sleeve.”

“What?”

“Just do it!”

“Okay…”

As he obliged, Momo retrieved a pen from her backpack. Ken’s heart thumped. This was familiar. Excitingly familiar. Could she be…?

As he suspected, as he hoped, she began to write something on his forearm. Once she was done, she capped the pen and said, “That’s my number. Get a phone and text me.” She gave him a pout. “Don’t make me wait like with the email, okay?”

Ken’s eyes widened. He felt a powerful thump in his chest as he looked at her. Instantly, he knew what his next quest would be. “I won’t,” he vowed. He swore it on his heart, on his soul, on his very life.

Chapter Text

At dinner with her grandmother, Momo sat quietly, lost in thought while she munched on her takoyaki. It had only been a year since she’d seen Ken in person. Yet somehow, he was different. Taller, for sure. Hair nicely tousled, absolutely. Jawline sharper, you bet.

But it felt like there was something else, something she’d seen when she held his chin and gazed into his eyes, something she couldn’t put into words. It had stayed with her through the afternoon, distracted her, and ultimately pushed her to write her number on his forearm. Could a person really change that much in a year?

Maybe he hadn’t. Maybe she had.

“Momo?” asked Seiko. “You okay? Got somethin’ on your mind?”

“Huh?” Momo looked up in a slight startle. “Oh, uh, nothing really.”

“Tell the truth.”

She blushed. “Well… I saw Ken-chan today.”

Seiko raised an eyebrow. “Really?”

“Uh-huh. He actually… goes to school with me, turns out.”

Seiko looked mildly surprised. “How nice. Must have been good to find out.”

Momo smiled softly. “Yeah…”

“You should invite him over for dinner.”

Her eyes widened and she blushed harder. “Here? For dinner?”

“Sure. I’ll make something good for him. We never did it when you two were tiny. Always felt a bit bad about that.” Seiko looked somewhat puzzled at Momo’s uncomfortable expression. “What, you don’t want him here?”

“N-no, it’s not— I just— I dunno!” Momo stammered out. “I… I’ll think about it!”

With a tilt of her head, Seiko asked, “What’s there to think about?”

“A lot!” Momo barked.

Seiko shrugged. “If you say so.”

Momo was relieved her granny took the explanation, if it could even be called that, at face value because Momo herself sure didn’t. She had no idea why she her reaction had been so strong. She had friends over for dinner all the time. Ken was a friend. You didn’t need a computer science degree to understand the simple logic.

Yet something had made her brain crash at the idea, something she couldn’t understand no matter how much she tried to crack it, gobbling takoyaki madly to cope with the stress of it. It impeded her ability to make a decision on the matter, which meant the default, i.e. him not coming over, would be her de facto choice. That brought its own odd feeling and the recognition of it worsened Momo’s mental state.

“I’m done!” she declared suddenly, bolting up from the table. “Thanks for the meal, granny!”

“Plates to the sink,” Seiko said casually.

Momo nodded and bent down to retrieve her glassware. After dumping it in the kitchen, she raced up stairs and threw herself on her bed. Stress energy lingering in her, she took hold of a large pillow and clutched it to her chest. Squeezing it as hard as she could helped a little bit. But not enough.

At the sound of a ping, she retrieved her phone from her pocket. Immediately she hoped it was— nope, nope, she hoped, she definitely hoped it was from her friends. And it was! Great. Super. Just what she wanted. Yep. A little bit of virtual chatter with her besties was just what she needed to cool off.

She almost burst a blood vessel when she read Muko’s message. “Ken-chan’s gotten kinda fine, huh?”

Momo froze up. She had no idea why she froze up, let alone what to say in response. Her thumbs hovered over the keyboard, ready to act, but unable for the absence of any directive from her paralyzed mind.

Another message came in, this time from Miko. “Yeah. Can’t believe Momo’s little nerd friend from elementary school ended up becoming a cutie in just a year.”

Momo froze even harder, dropping to absolute zero, every atom of her locked in place. Her thumbs wiggled free, somehow, and typed, “It wasn’t elementary school, we just played on the playground sometimes.” It was such a pedantic correction. Why had she sent it? A need to fill the space of some implied obligation? She hoped her friends would drop it.

“You don’t think he’s cute, Momo?” asked Muko. God damn it, they didn’t drop it. To them it wasn’t the scorching ball of molten metal it was in Momo’s hands. To them it was probably a fluffy, sleepy kitten, content after downing a bottle of kitty milk.

“I guess he’s all right,” Momo finally sent in desperation of covering whatever incomprehensible thing she was covering in herself.

“She’s blinded by memories of his childhood version,” said Miko. “It’s hard for her to see him as he is now.”

“So you wouldn’t mind if I asked him out?” asked Muko.

The absolute zero ice block Momo had become shattered into a million pieces. Then they reassembled into their polar opposite, a burning pillar of… some kind of intense emotion. Was it rage? Panic? She didn’t know. It was too hot for her nerves to handle. She typed out and deleted a couple of words several times, unable to formulate coherent thought for more than two syllables at a time.

“Wow, look at that typing bubble go!” said Miko.

“Damn girl, I was kidding,” said Muko. “Of course he’s all yours.”

For a moment, Momo felt the heat dissipate from herself as a wave of serenity washed over her. Then, at recognition of this serenity, she became a third elemental being: some sort of avatar of lightning. At least, it felt as much in her nervous system.

Finally, self-preservation kicked in and she closed the thread. Then she opened it again, sent, “NO,” and closed it once more. Her heart rate was wild — when had it jumped up so high? She squeezed the pillow again, harder than the heart of a dying star, and rolled around on the mattress clutching it, pausing every few revolutions to kick her legs wildly. He hadn’t become cute since summer camp. No way. Not possible. Unthinkable.

Eventually, she converted enough electrical energy to kinetic energy to revert back to human form. That, or her body’s coping mechanisms had activated and her brain had released a natural relaxant into her bloodstream. Either way, she was stabilizing at a steady pace, her heart no longer in danger of spontaneous combustion.

She looked at her phone again. Notifications from her friends' laugh reacts on her last message turned her cheeks red. Without questioning herself, she opened up her email app and found her chain with Ken. It was as natural as breathing. God, they had sent a lot of messages to each other over the last few months. She hoped she wouldn’t have to use this form of communication anymore soon.

“You get the phone yet?” she sent.

Within a few minutes, he replied, “You just told me to a few hours ago…”

She smirked at this and sent, “That’s plenty of time! 😡”

“I asked my dad. He said he’ll think about it.”

“Fiiine. Make sure to be persistent! Ask like you’re begging to see Nessie!”

“I’ll give it my all.”

She smiled. She knew that if incentivized, he could be passionate; he’d shown her as much when they used to hang out and talk the occult on the playground. Her smile faded into a frown. At camp last year he had been so skittish, like a dog that had been abused by its last owner. It wasn’t hard to imagine the kind of treatment he must have endured to become like that in the intervening years. Maybe he’d had the passion beaten out of him since then…

She typed out one more email: “You can do it. I believe in you.” It was the truth, one she felt deep within her soul.

With a sigh, she set her phone on her bed and gained a faraway expression. No, Ken hadn’t become cute suddenly. She knew that now.

—

This, of course, did not stop Momo from thinking about him more the next day.

She looked around for him as she entered the school gates, but he was nowhere to be found. With a sour expression, she made her way to class. You’ll see him again. He’s here now. This thought comforted her as she walked into her homeroom.

As class went on, she started getting antsy. She wasn’t sure how the day would unfold. The closer it got to noon, the worse it became. What if things went poorly? What if—

“Ayase-san!”

As the clock struck twelve, she saw him. Ken was standing in the doorway, a nervous smile on his face. “Ken-chan?”

“D-do you w-want to grab lunch with me again?” he asked, twiddling his fingers.

Her expression lit up. “Yeah!” She gestured towards Miko and Muko. “Is it okay if they…”

“Sure. I don’t mind.”

Her friends glanced at each other and grinned. “Actually, Momo, we have some stuff to take care of,” said Miko. “You two go on without us.”

“Really?” asked Momo. Part of her was skeptical, but a strange, tingly part of her didn’t mind the prospect so much.

“Yep,” said Muko. “Enjoy!”

“Looks like it’s just us, then,” said Ken with an uncertain yet upbeat tone.

Soon they were seated at a table in the cafeteria. Ken still looked slightly uncomfortable. “You all right?” she asked earnestly.

“Yeah, totally,” he said quickly, though his voice was slightly unsteady.

“Then why won’t you look at me?” she asked, eyebrow raised.

“Uh… I just space out sometimes,” he muttered.

“Am I not stimulating enough for you?” she asked with a teasing smirk.

“No!” he said quickly. “Just… thinking about the upcoming school year.”

“Yeah. I hope it’s not too tough.”

“I’m sure you’ll be fine. You’re really smart, after all.”

“That’s true,” she acknowledged.

As they ate and chatted, Momo took the opportunity to look at him, since he didn’t seem entirely keen on looking at her. She needed to confirm her thoughts on his appearance. She took in every angle of his face, every eyelash on his eyelids, every nicely messy strand of his hair.

Yeah. She had been right. He hadn’t become cute this past year. That was totally false.

But after lunch, she still thought about him. About that thing she couldn’t put into words, that thing that made her want to see him again right away.

And so she waited for him at the gates. When he arrived, he once again looked nervous. So did she. What she was about to do unsettled her, scared her a bit, even. But her fear wouldn’t stop her. She wouldn’t let it.

“Hey,” she said as he approached.

He gulped. “H-hey, Ayase-san.”

“You goin’ straight home?”

“Yeah, why?”

A hint of red spread across her cheeks. “You should show me where you live.”

Now it was his turn to blush. “Wh-why?” he asked again, more quietly this time.

She hesitated. “You just moved back, right? It would be cool to see where. Y’know, check if it’s a good neighborhood and stuff.” After a second, he told her the address. “I dunno where that is.” That was a lie. “You’ll have to take me there.”

“O-okay,” he replied softly.

They began to walk together. For several minutes, it was in silence. Then Momo reached out and gave him a light punch on the arm.

“Ow,” said Ken, though it didn’t really hurt. “What was that for?”

“Get a phone,” she uttered in a somewhat sour tone. “Get a phone. Get a phone. Get a phone.” Each repetition was punctuated with a punch. She paused, as if noticing something peculiar. Her eyes traveled from her hands to Ken’s arm.

Ken took the opportunity put up his hands in defense. “My dad said he would!”

“When?”

“Soon, I don’t know!” She punched his arm again. “Why are you hitting me?”

“It’s called negative reinforcement,” replied Momo. “It’ll stop when you get the phone. That encourages you to do it.”

“I’m already encouraged!”

“It’ll encourage you to do it faster.”

“Fine, fine, I’ll press the issue!”

Momo smiled. “I’ll give you some positive reinforcement too. When you do get it, you’ll get a reward.”

He blinked at this. “What kind of a reward?”

“You’ll see.”

“Okay…”

As they arrived at his house, Ken gestured to the building. “This is it,” he said plainly.

Momo took the sight in. “Cool,” she replied. “Not a bad neighborhood at all.” It wasn’t a big house, certainly not as big as her own. It conveyed the sense that Ken’s father wasn’t exactly rich. A twinge of guilt prickled Momo’s heart as this sank in.

But another thought overrode it. “Hey,” she said, “this is actually pretty near my place. That street we crossed a couple of blocks ago is right on my way to school.” Red cheeked, she added, “We could walk there and back together.” Her voice turned soft. “If you want.”

He looked at her with wide eyes, mouth open. “I…” He gulped. “I would like that.”

She grinned. “Cool. Then we’ll do it starting tomorrow.”

He nodded. “Got it.”

As he headed towards his door, Momo called, “Wait!”

He turned to her. “What?”

“You have to say, ‘See you tomorrow!’”

“Oh,” he said with a tone of mild surprise. “Um, see you tomorrow, then.”

With a satisfied smile, she said, “See you.”

She stood there as she watched him enter his home. Again she affirmed to herself, no, he hadn’t become cute this year. Definitely not.

—

The next morning, Momo waited at the spot on her path to school she’d indicated yesterday. He would be here soon, right? He wouldn’t have just gone by already and left her hanging, would he? The thought made her angry.

But then she saw him. “Ken-chan!” she called eagerly with a wave, not realizing just how eager she was until after she said it.

“Hey, Ayase-san,” he replied, waving back as he crossed the street.

“Almost thought you wouldn’t make it,” she said with a grin.

“I would never do that,” he answered resolutely in a way that made Momo’s heart beat just a bit harder than usual.

They chit-chatted easily on the way to school. Momo excitedly told him about places around their neighborhood he could go to, places he hadn’t learned about since moving away. With a nervous tone, Ken deemed each one as cool.

“These places are cool,” said Momo. “You know, if you want, we…” Suddenly visions of the two of them going to these spots together, laughing and smiling, walking and sitting next to each other flashed in her head, capped off by a vision of the two of them watching the sunset next to one another. Her words caught in her throat at this onslaught.

“We?” he asked.

“Uh, never mind,” she replied, turning her face so that he didn’t see her blush. “We’re here.” She pointed at the school.

“Oh,” he replied, somewhat disappointed that their journey had to come to an end. “Well then…” He gulped. “Do you want to—”

“Yes!” she said immediately before embarrassment covered her features. “Lunch, right? You were gonna say go to lunch?”

“Y-yeah,” he said, bewildered at her reaction.

“Then yes. I’ll see you then.”

“See you.”

Morning classes passed uneventfully. Momo just found herself looking forward to lunch; the experience of the last two days allowed her to ruminate on it while still paying attention in class, mercifully. Miko and Muko mysteriously couldn’t join them once again when the time came and that strange part of her didn’t question it. Ken came to pick her up, punctual as he had previously been, and the two headed towards the cafeteria.

As they walked, however, a female student said, “Hi, Takakura-kun,” in a cheerful voice as she passed them.

“Oh, hey,” said Ken with a small wave.

Momo felt an odd reaction in herself. “Who’s that?”

“Just a girl in my class,” he replied nonchalantly.

“I see.”

But just a few more yards down the hallway, a second girl smiled at Ken and she too said, “Hi, Takakura-kun!” even more cheerfully than the last.

Momo raised an eyebrow. “Another classmate?”

“Yeah.”

“Hmm…”

Just as they were about to arrive at the cafeteria, a third girl approached the two. This one was mousey and wore glasses. With a nervous smile, she said, “H-hello, Takakura-kun.”

“Hello,” said Ken pleasantly.

Now Momo wrinkled her brow. “Her too?”

“Yep.”

What is going on? The question was, Momo recognized, a bit strange. There shouldn’t have been anything weird about classmates saying hi to him. It shouldn’t have bothered her one bit. Yet she couldn’t help but notice a common thread across the three girls: they were all pretty, even the mousey one. But that was fine too, right? It should’ve been, anyway. Pretty girls could be friendly. Momo was, after all.

She put it out of her head. It was nothing, so it didn’t deserve any rumination. Besides, she just wanted to focus on her meal with him. That was much more important.

Lunch transpired much in a similar manner as it had previous day, pleasantly with an undercurrent of unidentified warmth. Classes were much the same and when she saw him at the end of them, he was less nervous than he had been yesterday. She gave him some more “negative reinforcement” as they walked to the place where their paths diverged. Again she noticed something odd about his arm as she lightly pummeled it, but she chalked it up to him wearing multiple layers of clothing. They parted, each saying they’d see the other tomorrow.

While Momo sat on her bed waiting for dinner time, she got a ping on her phone. It was a text from a number she didn’t recognize that simply read, “Hey, it’s Ken.”

Her eyes lit up and she immediately replied, “You got it!!!”

“I did. It’s a pretty old one, but it works.”

She typed out the words, “I guess it’s time for your reward, then.” Without another thought, she pulled the phone back, smiled with one eye closed, and took a picture. With the picture attached to the message, she hit send. A sudden unexpected wave of nerves hit her as the message bubble appeared. Was what she’d done really okay? What if he thought it was weird? Uh oh…

But then he gave it a thumbs up react and a few seconds later, she got a picture in return. It was Ken bearing his frequent uneasy smile. The text beneath it simply said, “Nice. Thank you.”

She grinned, gave it a heart react without thinking, and replied, “This is already way better than email.”

“Yeah.”

She stared at his picture for a few more seconds. Her nerves returned. Then, with shaking thumbs, she typed out, “Do you want to come over for dinner tomorrow?” Her right thumb hovered over the send button. After a second, however, it moved to the backspace button and soon the message was deleted.

She gazed at his picture again. It was a bad shot, understandable for his first selfie, but it made her chest warm regardless. It reinforced what she knew, what she had realized and confirmed the past few days.

He hadn’t become cute this past year. No, he had not. That was her grand revelation, a vision as clear as day.

Because the truth was, to her, he had been cute since the day she met him.

Chapter Text

Momo’s heart stopped.

Ken hadn’t shown up to get her for lunch. She waited for him for a bit, thinking he may have been delayed by his last class. But then ten minutes passed without his appearance. A small stream of worry trickling into her, she went to the cafeteria. Maybe he had already gone ahead, assuming she would meet him there.

Indeed, he had.

But he wasn’t alone.

Sitting across from him, facing Momo’s general direction was a girl. She had pink hair, eyebrows and all, and dark eyes. And damn it, Momo had to acknowledge that she was cute. Worst of all, however, was the fact that she was smiling sweetly at whatever he was saying. And from what Momo could see of the his profile, he was smiling too.

A scythe of betrayal sliced through her. Her eyes widened, her jaw dropped. But then, a second later, her brow furrowed and she clenched her teeth. Her heart resumed its beat, pumping raw anger through her veins, burning her from within, and she began to stomp towards the two with pure fury in her gut.

After a few steps, though, she stopped. Her higher reasoning, only ninety percent shut down in rage, had managed to pull up the throttle. Her anger was unjustified, wasn’t it? Why did she feel betrayed? She hadn’t confirmed her lunch da— appointment with Ken today. It had simply been her assumption that it would be a regular thing between them. It had been so at camp. But that had only been for a few days…

She shook her head to regain control of her mind. He could have lunch with whoever he wanted. Even with a very cute girl. Wait, “even?” Why even? Why did it matter that she was very cute or a girl? She was just a normal person. Nothing unusual about her. No reason to linger on these things. Momo could go and have lunch with her other friends, anyway. Yep, her two besties, laughing and chilling over some nice snacks.

Two minutes later, Momo was in a secluded corner of the courtyard hugging her knees, a miserable expression on her face. Come on, snap out of it. This wasn’t like her. She was tough, physically and emotionally. But the sight of Ken and that girl sitting together wouldn’t leave her. That should’ve been okay, that should’ve been fine, it was just a regular image, of her friend and some random person she had no reason to resent. Why does it feel so bad?

She took a breath. She would see him at the end of the day. She would, she told herself. That much they had confirmed with each other. And if he didn’t show, well… she would deal with that her own way. That thought was ominous even to herself.

Eventually she heard the bell and plodded back to class. She slumped back in her chair and let her head fall to her desk.

“Momo?” asked Muko, turning to look at her. “You all right?”

“Errytinsfine,” she mumbled into her desk.

“Uh-huh. Something happen with Ken-chan at lunch?”

Momo felt an arrow hit a bullseye in her chest. “No…” she muttered.

“Well, if that’s not it, then my next best guess is food poisoning.”

Momo lifted her head and put on a smile. “I’m fine,” she said. “See? Perfectly fine.”

As they so often did for Momo issues, Miko and Muko shared a glance. “Riiiight,” said the former.

Once her friends’ heads were turned away from her, however, Momo’s expression dropped again. She forced herself to perk up whenever they would glance at her before, she hoped, they saw how down she was. This pattern repeated until the end of the day.

Her heart beat suspiciously hard as she waited for Ken. He would show, wouldn’t he? He had to. He promised. Okay, well, he hadn’t said the word “promise,” but he was as good as his word, wasn’t he?

As she leaned against the gate, she periodically glanced back at the school, trying to catch sight of him. After too long a time for her comfort, she picked him out of a crowd of students, mostly boys that were significantly taller than him. One of them got him in a headlock and started giving him a noogie. An instinctual fear prickled within her. Were they hassling him? Bullying him? She wouldn’t tolerate that. She would go over there, confront those douchebags, and—

But as they got closer, she saw they were grinning… and Ken was grinning too. What? A few seconds later, when the other boy released him, Ken looked towards the gate, smiled brightly, and waved at Momo. He turned to the rest of the group, said something she couldn’t hear, and they waved him off as he ran to her.

“Hey,” he said, pleasantly.

“Hey…” she said quietly, still surprised. “What was that about?”

“Oh, just talking to some guys from my class,” he said easily.

“I see,” said Momo. “Guess you get along really well with your classmates, huh?”

He smiled bashfully. “Ah, well, I don’t know about really well, but they seem nice.”

“As long as they’re nice to you, that’s what matters.”

“Mhm. Want to get going?”

“Sure.”

The two began their trek home. Momo felt a desperate urge to burst out with questions about who the pink haired girl was, how she knew him, and what their conversation was about that made him smile so goddamn much. But she let it pass, fearing the consequences if she didn’t. Instead, she merely asked, “So… how was lunch?”

“Oh,” he replied, “it was fine.”

Fine. Not good. Not bad. Just fine. Okay. “You… didn’t come get me today,” she uttered.

“I-I wasn’t sure we had anything planned,” he said. “And I also wasn’t sure if I was annoying you by taking up your lunch every day, so…”

“You weren’t annoying me,” she said quickly. “I like having lunch with you.”

He blushed. “Oh. Good to know,” he muttered. “But, um, I also kind of got roped into having lunch with someone else.”

“Who was that?” She tried to hide how eager she was to find out. She wasn’t sure how successful she was at that.

“Ah, just a student from class C.”

“Is she nice?”

Ken gave Momo a curious look. “How did you know she’s a she?”

Momo’s cheeks reddened. “Uh, just a lucky guess. Fifty-fifty odds, right?”

“Oh, sure.” She was relieved he seemed to accept this. “Well, she seemed very nice. It was a pleasant conversation.”

This wasn’t good news to Momo. “Cool…” she said softly.

“I hope you had a good lunch without me,” Ken said earnestly.

“Ah, yeah, it was fine,” said Momo, putting on a smile. “Just chilled with Miko and Muko.” She hoped to god he would never find out that was a lie, tiny though it was.

“Good, good.”

I like it better with you. She couldn’t muster the strength to say that. Or anything else, for that matter. She hoped he was telling the truth, that he had been afraid of annoying her and felt obligated to have lunch with someone else. She hoped it wasn’t really that her big, forceful personality had worn out its welcome and he had sought refuge in the embrace of another girl. She hoped this desperately.

When they arrived at the branch point on their way home, Momo decided she wouldn’t simply sit back do nothing. About what, exactly, was unclear, but she felt she needed to do something, and so she said, “Hey, why don’t I show you my house?”

“Huh?”

“Well, you know, you showed me yours, it’s only fair that I show you mine. Plus, it’s pretty neat, if I do say so myself.” She put on a small grin.

He nodded. “Sure. Lead the way.”

A few minutes extra on their walk was nice. It ended too shortly when they reached the Ayase house, its massive torii gate guarding the entrance. “Well, here it is,” she said with a sweeping gesture.

“Whoa,” said Ken as he took in the sight of it. “This is where you live? Like your whole life?”

She nodded. “Yep. It’s got a shrine and everything. Pretty cool, right?”

“It sure is…”

Silence fell over them. Another urge welled up in Momo. She wanted to ask him to stay for dinner. She wanted it; she realized she really did want it. But after today, she couldn’t bring herself to say it. Instead, she merely said, “See you tomorrow?”

He nodded. “See you.”

As she arrived in her room, Momo threw her bag on the bed and flopped down next to it. What a day. Her first bad day of school. And it definitely seemed like it might not be the last.

She remembered the first time she’d met Ken, how he said he got made fun of all the time. That, among other things, was part of the image she’d held of him for the past several years. Did she have it all wrong? Was he a playboy, and Momo was just one of many girls vying for his attention? The thought of that made her upset.

She shook her head. No. She wouldn’t believe that. Not of him.

She did, however, refuse to take this, whatever this was, lying down. The next day, she marched towards their rendezvous point with determination. “Good morning, Ayase-san,” he said pleasantly as he approached her.

“Good morning!” she said in much louder a voice than she’d intended. “Let’s get to school!”

“Oookay,” said Ken, a touch puzzled at her attitude.

The walk to school was pleasant enough, except for the two words repeating on loop in Momo’s head: Ask me, ask me, ask me, ask me, ask me. But he didn’t. No words were said about lunch at all before they parted ways.

That was okay. Momo could be proactive. So she had to be more proactive than she thought. That was fine by her. At the final class before lunch, she kept watching the clock and waiting for her teacher to shut the hell up about the Tokugawa Shogunate already. It seemed to take forever. Since when were minutes this long? Sixty seconds used to go by a lot faster.

“That’s all for today. You are dismissed,” said the teacher at long goddamn last. Momo bolted up from her chair and rushing out the classroom, he teacher calling after her, “Ayase-san, no running!”

Momo sped towards class 1-B. She’d pick him up this time, and they’d have a good ol’ lunch together. Simple as that, no fuss, no muss.

But when she turned the corner to the hallway with class 1-B, she only made it a few yards before her view stopped dead in her tracks. It was the pink-haired girl, bearing a sickeningly sweet expression and wrapped around the arm of none other than Ken, who, though clearly nervous, was smiling.

Momo’s eyes widened at the sight. She felt foolish; suddenly she was the intruder on their domain. Clearly this was more than just a one-off occurrence. Clearly it was going to be a regular thing. Clearly she had no place here.

The pink haired girl caught Momo’s eye. Perhaps it was Momo’s imagination, but for a split second it seemed like the girl’s face turned smug. It was enough to make Momo turn around and begin to walk away.

Ken followed Aira’s gaze and looked towards the end of the hallway. Spotting the back of Momo’s head over the crowd, he said, “Ayase-san?”

As she turned a corner, he began to take a step to follow her, but Aira held him tightly and said, “C’mon, Takakura-kun, we don’t want them to take all the tables!”

Momo felt a renewed wave of misery, worse than it had been yesterday. She’d been outgunned by that girl, beaten to the punch. And maybe that was the way it should be. Clearly she liked him. Liked him, in that special way. And Ken, well, it was probably nice for him to have someone who liked him like that. Momo had no business interfering with that kind of thing. It wouldn’t be right. It would make her a bad friend.

She made her way back to her classroom where she saw her friends again. “Hey,” said Muko, “Not eating with Ken-chan?”

“Nope,” said Momo flatly.

“Then you wanna come with us?”

“Mm,” she said in a vaguely affirmative tone.

They traveled to the court yard after grabbing some snacks from a vending machine. Momo idly munched chips and sipped Pompy, a blank expression on her face all the while, periodically making low monotone noises.

Miko sighed. “Okay, Momo, you gotta tell us what’s wrong.”

“Nothin’,” she said, voice void of emotion.

Shaking her head, Miko replied, “Nope, nope, drop the Momo shield. You’re obviously upset and it’s obviously about Ken-chan. We’re gonna help you. But you gotta open up, okay? Otherwise this shit’s gonna keep going and we’ll never get anywhere.”

Momo perked up. “… ‘Momo shield?’”

“You know exactly what I’m talking about.”

Taking a breath, Momo reluctantly said, “Fine.” Then she told her friends about the events of the past two days, of the last two lunches, specifically. It felt good to get it off her chest, though the pain was more real.

“Damn, so this chick’s trying to steal him out from under you,” said Muko. “What’re you gonna do?”

Momo blinked. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, that girl’s trying to horn in on your man. What’s your plan?”

“Nothing. He’s not my man,” said Momo with a light blush. In a smaller voice, she added, “Definitely not.”

“Yeah, well, he won’t be if you don’t do anything!” Muko insisted. “C’mon, Momo! You’re like the toughest girl I know. You’re not one to roll over and die. So don’t! Get up, dust yourself off, and kick her ass!”

“I’m not gonna fistfight her.”

“I think she was being metaphorical,” said Miko. “Tomorrow’s Saturday, so he’s probably safe from her for a couple of days. Use this time to put a strategy together.”

Momo looked away. “It’s not my place…”

“Okay, whatever, so you’re just friends, technically. Do you really want her pushing you out of that? After all your history? You have to fight!”

History. Memories ran through her mind, memories of a young boy who deigned to extend his kindness to a girl at her lowest point. Maybe they were outdated, maybe they shouldn’t still be meaningful to her, but damn it, they were. “Okay. I’ll think about it,” she said, some measure of determination in her voice at last.

“Attagirl,” said Miko and Muko nodded alongside.

Momo’s spirits were still in the process of lifting from the nadir of the day during the walk home. Ken’s presence helped accelerate that; even with her complex feelings around him at this moment she still truly enjoyed his presence. She managed to keep up the conversation in a manner she thought was believably pleasant until they reached the split in the path.

“Well, we survived our first week of high school,” said Momo.

“Hard to believe,” said Ken.

“Not that hard,” she said playfully. “We’ve got a lot left to go.”

“True. See you Monday?”

She looked at him, trying not to let her anxiety over the future reach her expression. “See you.”

Once he was out of sight, her posture descended into a slouch. The remainder of the walk back to her home and up to her room was a dull blur. This week, which had started off so nicely with the incredible surprise of his physical return to her life, had ended in misery. Who knew what would happen if that girl got her talons into him? Maybe they’d stop walking to and from school together. The thought of that was truly depressing.

She decided she needed a pick-me-up. Rummaging around in her closet, she found a Ken Takakura movie. It was comfort food for her soul. She slipped into her pajamas, popped the disc into her Blu-ray player, pulled a blanket around herself, and sat back to watch. This was the perfect thing to soothe herself.

As the movie began, she was reminded of the first time she had watched a Ken Takakura flick. He had played a cool, kind man who helped a woman in her hour of need. At the time, it had reminded her of— no one. It reminded her of no one. And that wasn’t the movie she was watching now anyway. Here he was a cool assassin, kicking ass and taking names left and right. Exactly the kind of thing to get her blood pumping regularly again.

Partway through, however, she felt a buzz in her pocket and pulled out her phone. Her eyes widened slightly as she saw the notification: a text from Ken. It read, “Hey, are you okay? You seemed kinda down on the way home.”

Her heart thumped. He had noticed. He’d been paying enough attention to her to see through her cheerful facade. With her first genuine smile of the last forty-eight hours, she replied, “Yeah, I’m just a little tired. Didn’t get good sleep last night.”

Within seconds, he returned, “I see. Well, try to get to bed early tonight, okay? And if you need anything just let me know.”

This care for her warmed her heart. Their friendship did mean something after all. “I’m good,” she typed, “but thanks. I appreciate the concern.” He liked her message. A few seconds later, she added, “Can we have lunch together again on Monday?” Her heart rate rose as she waited for his response.

Finally, it came: “I would like that.”

Relaxation took her, as though a massive weight was lifted from her shoulders. She felt her nerves steady as she exhaled slowly. With a heart react on his message, she let herself enjoy her movie and the rest of her evening.

Chapter Text

Monday morning had been delightful, much better than the previous two walks to school, and classes had blown by pleasantly. With the promise of lunch with Ken, Momo’s spirits were high.

Still, when it turned noon, a fragment of worry that he may not show remained lodged in her mind. It turned her stomach an unexpected amount.

Mercifully, it was dispelled as she saw him enter the doorway to her class and call her name. She called his back, smiling brilliantly, and the two walked to the cafeteria. A few more female students and one male one greeted Ken along the way, but they didn’t matter to Momo. Nothing mattered but the meal ahead of them.

But then catastrophe struck. No more than a minute after they were seated, food in front of them, a disgustingly cheerful voice pierced their shared space. “Hi, Takakura-kun!”

Momo and Ken turned towards its source. There she was: the pink haired girl. A defensive instinct rose and lingered within Momo, despite her attempts to tamp it down.

“Oh, hello,” said Ken cordially. He gestured to Momo. “Shiratori-san, this is Ayase-san. Ayase-san, Shiratori-san.”

“Hi,” said Momo flatly. “Nice to meet you.”

“Oh, you’re Ayase-san!” said Shiratori brightly. “I’ve heard so much about you!”

Momo blinked at this unexpected development. Maybe she’d misjudged this girl. Maybe that superior look Momo had spotted on Friday had just been her imagination projecting her dismay at having her lunch da— appointment usurped. “Only good things, I hope,” she answered quietly.

“Mhm!” Shiratori turned to Ken. “Do you mind if I sit with you, Takakura-kun? I’m ever so hesitant about sitting with strangers.”

“Ah, I wouldn’t mind,” he said carefully. “If Ayase-san doesn’t mind.”

I do. “I don’t,” said Momo.

“Great!” She plopped herself down next to Ken, sitting close enough to him that there was plenty of bench space left on the other side of her. Their proximity made Momo’s eyes narrow for just a second before she caught herself.

“So,” said Momo, “how do you two know each other?”

“We happened to meet during a free period last week,” said Shiratori. “Takakura-kun was just so sweet and strong that I couldn’t help but want to get to know him!”

Strong? It wasn’t a word Momo would use to describe Ken. Not outwardly, anyway. Inwardly, well, that was a different story. She glanced at him and he nodded, a slight blush on his face under the praise. “I see.”

“And you’re his friend from elementary school, right?”

Momo thought she noticed an odd emphasis on the word “friend,” but put it out of her mind. Surely she was just imagining it. “Right.”

“We didn’t go to the same school,” corrected Ken annoyingly. “We just met each other on the playground and played together. We were separated for many years after that.”

“How tragic,” said Shiratori with a sorrowful tone.

Maybe too sorrowful, from Momo’s perspective. “But we met again at summer camp last year,” she said hurriedly. “And we’ve been exchanging emails since then.”

“Aw, what a sweet reunion. It’s so nice you got to reestablish a connection with a friend.”

There was that emphasis again. Did this girl have some kind of speech tic or was Momo onto something? “Yeah. Really nice,” she said in as neutral a tone as she could manage. A silent moment passed as thoughts poured into Momo’s head. Struck with an idea, she turned to Ken. “Hey, Ken-chan, you get the latest volume of Poh yet?”

He nodded. “I picked up the newest issue this weekend, in fact.”

“Poh?” asked Shiratori.

“It’s an occult magazine. His favorite thing to read. Right, Ken-chan?” Momo’s expression turned smug. Let’s see how well you get along with the real him.

“Yes,” said Ken quietly. “I… I do like to read it…”

“Do you know much about the occult, Shiratori-san?” asked Momo pleasantly. “Ever read anything about aliens, for example?”

“I’ve only ever seen aliens in movies,” Shiratori said, an uncertain tone in her voice.

“Oh, so you don’t know about the Roswell incident of 1947?” Momo asked rapidly. “Or about the tombs of Martian pharaohs on Olympus Mons?” She planted her hands on the table and unconsciously leaned towards Shiratori, her expression wild. “Or the secret base of the Grays in the Luther crater of the moon?”

Shiratori looked bewildered at this deluge of obscure questions. Before she could answer, Ken muttered, “Well, I wouldn’t expect that to be common knowledge…” Inside, however, he was shocked, delightfully so, that Momo so clearly still remembered the alien “facts” he had read to her once each over half a decade ago.

For a few seconds, no one said anything. Then Shiratori, a contemplative look on her face, asked, “If the Grays have a base in the Luther crater, why hasn’t footage from any space agency that has been to the moon shown it?”

“Oh!” Ken said brightly, “The theory is that they are extremely well camouflaged. Some have suggested that the base is surrounded by a psychorepellant field that forcibly removes any perception and memory of the base from non-Gray witnesses, but I think that’s less likely than the other main theory, which is that they use hologram technology to project an empty crater, using the full visible spectrum as well as infrared and ultraviolet wavelengths so even our most sophisticated scanners can’t pick it up!”

“Wow!” said Shiratori, “That makes so much sense! Gosh, you’re so smart, Takakura-kun!”

“Ah, well, I’m no expert, just an enthusiast,” he said with a blush and a nervous smile as he scratched the back of his head.

“And you’re sooo modest!” Shiratori squealed with a face showing raw admiration. Then, while Ken wasn’t looking, she glanced at Momo and gave her a grin that clearly, unquestionably said, “Nice try.”

“Yeah. He’s real humble,” Momo uttered with barely hidden displeasure.

Then Shiratori said, “Oh, silly me, I forgot to get my lunch! Takakura-kun, would you do me a huge favor and grab me some melon bread? I’m scared that the big crowd will be rough with lil ol’ me. I promise I’ll pay you back!” She gave Ken an undeniably cute imploring look that bugged the shit out of Momo.

“Ah, sure thing.” Ken stood up. “I’ll be right back.”

Momo and Shiratori sat without speaking for a few seconds. The former, uncomfortable in the lull, spoke up, “So, Shiratori-sa—”

“Aira,” said Shiratori. “You can call me Aira. We’re galpals, after all, right, Momo?”

Momo blinked. Aira’s entire tone, posture, and expression had changed in an instant. Now she was looking at Momo like a serpent staring down a wounded mouse. Momo practically expected her to lick her lips with a forked tongue in anticipation of a meal. “Sure…” Momo muttered with a cautious lilt.

“How about we cut the bullshit,” said Aira, still smiling, eyelids fallen by half, “and talk about this thing between us?”

Momo raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”

Aira chuckled. “You know. Takakura-kun.”

“He’s not a thing,” said Momo flatly. “He’s a person.”

Aira rolled her eyes. “We’re above mincing words, aren’t we, Momo? Let’s get to the heart of the matter. I don’t like you. You don’t like me. Both of us like him. What are we going to do about that?”

Momo stared at her with a defensive expression. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she said carefully.

With a soft laugh, Aira replied, “Oh, don’t act as dumb as you look. Though, even if you are that dumb, I think we both know the truth about this situation.”

For a moment, Momo debated further denial, but decided it was ultimately pointless. Besides, she was curious as to what Aira would say. “I’m guessing you already have a solution in mind.”

Aira’s grin widened. “There we go. I believe we can come to an arrangement of sorts.”

“What, you want a truce or something?”

Aira shook her head. “No, I’m afraid we won’t be doing that. I’m talking about your full, unconditional surrender.”

Momo’s brow furrowed. “The hell are you saying?”

“You stop trying to go after Takakura-kun, stop trying to get him alone, and I’ll go easy on you. I’ll even sweeten the deal and let you into my posse.”

Momo looked at her quizzically. “You have a ‘posse?’”

“Naturally,” said Aira cheerfully. “A pretty girl like me never has any trouble assembling a group of followers. Of course, I wouldn’t expect you to know that.”

“And what if I refuse?”

She gave Momo a pitiful look. “Oh, Momo. Sweet, naive Momo. You don’t want to find out the answer to that. All you need to know is it will be bad for you. Very, very bad.”

“Yeah?” asked Momo skeptically.

“Oh yes. I’ve ruined the lives of better girls than you,” Aira asserted confidently. “It will be trivial to handle.”

Something in Momo snapped. “You think you can just take him for yourself? You’re delusional.”

“You’re the delusional one if you think you can stop me.”

Momo frowned. “You don’t even know him!”

Aira scoffed. “And you do?”

“Yeah!” insisted Momo. “I’m his—” She cut herself off, unable to resurrect that final word. When it had come to her, she had realized she had no idea whether he even remembered it. “His…”

“His what?” asked Aira, her voice even haughtier. “His little playmate on the playground when you were toddlers? His camp buddy for a week one summer? Don’t you know how fast boys and girls change at this age? Grow up and face reality. You’re just the childhood friend. And the childhood friend never wins against the real heroine.”

The ease with which Aira said all of this, like she was a server at a restaurant going over the day’s specials, made her words unnerving. Momo hated that she believed at least some of what she was implying. It congealed into a dense pit in her stomach, sickening her, forcing bile into her throat. “You should read less manga and spend more time in the real world,” she growled through grit teeth.

“Stories are based on the real world,” Aira countered. “And your story is going to end in tragedy if you don’t give up. Trust me. By the time I’m done, you won’t even get to be his friend, let alone his lover.”

Momo’s rage peaked. “If you think I’m going to let a rotten, narcissistic bitch like you get her hooks into Ken-chan, you’re out of your goddamn mind!”

Aira looked nonplussed, that same shit-eating grin still plastered on her face. “Then the game is afoot.”

Momo scowled. “Why do you even like him?”

With a tsk, Aira wagged her index finger at Momo. “I’m afraid I won’t give vital intelligence to the enemy that easily.” Her eyes shifted to the side for a second. “He’s walking back. Let’s keep this little parley between us, shall we? If you breathe a single word, all I’ll have to do is put on my cutest sad face and deny everything. Whom do you think he’ll believe?”

Before Momo could decide on an answer, Ken arrived back at the table. “Sorry that took so long,” he said as he handed Aira her bun. “The line was pretty big.”

“That’s okay, Takakura-kun!” Aira said, her tone so hideously saccharine that Momo wanted to vomit. “You’re such sweetie! Thank you!”

“N-no problem,” said Ken, cheeks a touch red. Then he looked at Momo. “Ayase-san? Are you okay?”

Momo realized she was still scowling. Unable to shut it off, she picked up her chopsticks and grunted, “Just. Hungry.”

When they were done eating, Momo stomped over to the dish return and had to stop herself from slamming her bowl down. She eyed Aira the entire time, making sure she didn’t latch onto Ken or pull any other underhanded bullshit.

Momo made no bid to try to isolate Ken as they walked back to class. Thankfully, neither did Aira. They walked as a trio, Momo stealthily staring daggers at her newly crowned rival, whose face looked so obnoxiously confident Momo had to resist the urge to unleash a nose-shattering punch on it.

They passed class 1-C first, something Momo was grateful for, as it meant she would have at least a little more time alone with Ken. “See you later, Takakura-kun! It was a pleasure meeting you, Momo!” called Aira with an enthusiastic wave.

After Ken and Momo waved back, the latter with a harsh frown as she stood behind the former, they resumed their walk. Class 1-B would be next. Just a minute left, if they took it slow. Momo didn’t want it to end, especially as she couldn’t shake the foul mood Aira had left her with. That stupid goddamn bitch…

“Ayase-san?” asked Ken. “Are you all right?”

“Oh, uh, yeah. Totally,” she said, unable to put on a more than half convincing facade of positivity.

“Did Shiratori-san say something to upset you while I was gone?”

Momo felt a touch of something in her heart at his concern and didn’t answer for a bit. Half of her wanted to spill everything that loathsome asshole had said to her, about her, about him. But the other half feared the threat Aira had made. Still shaken by the last few schooldays, Momo let the latter half win. “Nah. I just… don’t know her super well yet.”

“Oh, I see,” said Ken without questioning it. “Well, I’m sure we can all be friends with just a bit more time to hang out together.”

His smile both soothed and frustrated the living shit out of Momo. “Yeah. Probably.” She looked off to the side, a faint shade of red on her cheeks. “Do you… y’know, like her?” She couldn’t believe she had asked that right out, but such was her desperation, driven by the depth of her uncertainty of her position in this frightening new dynamic.

Ken blinked. “Sure. She’s very nice. What’s not to like?”

Momo sighed. Of course he hadn’t understood the real nature of her question. “Nothing,” she said quietly. “Nothing at all. I’m glad you have another friend.”

“Me too,” he said happily. They reached class 1-B. “See you at the end of the day?”

Such a small gesture, remembering their commuting agreement, was still somehow a small balm on her soul. “Yeah. See you.”

“Whoa, Momo, you okay?” asked Muko as Momo entered the classroom, hunched over. “You get stood up by Ken-chan again?”

Momo shook her head, stood up straight, and then shook out her arms to relieve the depressive weight on her. “Nah. We ate together.”

“So what’s got you bummed?”

“Well…” Momo briefly struggled with how much she wanted to divulge but her inner outrage won out and she divulged the events of the last hour to her friends.

“Wow, what a psycho,” said Miko, eyebrows raised as she reflected on the story. “Straight up serial killer shit, that one.”

“But don’t tell him or anyone else, okay?” asked Momo.

“I mean, I’m pretty sure he’d believe you over her,” Miko said with a shrug. “But alright, if you insist. We’ll keep it confidential to the war council.”

“War council?” asked a confused Momo.

“Yeah. Shiratori declared war on you. We’ve gotta be ready to mount a rapid defense and plan an offense too.”

“I dunno if that’s necessary,” muttered Momo.

“Come on!” said Muko. “You’re still not back to 100% mental stamina? Get it together, Momo! Light that fire that you always have in you! Don’t just let this deranged lunatic win!”

Momo averted her gaze and remained quiet. “If you can’t do it for yourself,” said Miko, “then do it for Ken-chan. Isn’t he worth it?”

The question triggered a flood of memories in Momo, memories of his nervous smile when she asked him to play with her, of the feel of his hand as she pulled him along the playground, of his prepubescent voice, so gentle in her ear as he read to her that it lulled her into a trance of security. They were tainted with a sense of foolishness now that Aira had called out how insignificant they seemed in retrospect.

But even with the doubt that followed them came other feelings, feelings that had burned brightly within her for years. “You’re right,” said Momo, clenching her fist. “If it’s war that bitch wants, it’s war that bitch is gonna get. Game on.”

For the first time days, Miko and Muko looked relieved and satisfied. Finally, Momo Ayase was back.

A couple of periods later, Ken was free. Idly, he retrieved his copy of Poh and laid it on the desk. Having already spent one free period today on a different, more productive habit, this seemed like a good opportunity to reward himself.

As he settled in, however, he heard a cutesy voice to his side say, “Takakura-kuuun!”

Surprised, he turned his head to see Aira. “Ah, Shiratori-san, how can I help you?”

“I just thought I’d come hang out,” said Aira brightly. She leaned over his desk. “Hey, is that that magazine you were talking about at lunch?”

“Oh, y-yes,” he muttered, still somewhat embarrassed about the subject matter. “I was going to read it during this free period…”

“Cool! Would you mind if I read with you?” she asked, eyes shimmering with an excess of hope.

“N-not at all,” he replied, still reflexively nervous about introducing someone to his interest, even if she had responded well to it earlier.

“Great, thank you!” Aira pulled up a chair from another desk until it was adjacent to Ken’s. Then she leaned over slightly, then a bit more, then more after that until she was leaning on Ken’s shoulder.

He began to sweat at the contact. “Um, Sh-Shiratori-san, do you need to be this c-close?” he asked quietly.

In truth, she didn’t; she could see the book fine from where she had pulled the chair up to begin with.“I just wanted to make sure I can read the text. Is that okay? Unless…” She put on a pout so exaggerated that anyone besides Ken, even a congenitally blind person, would have seen through it. She topped it off by putting her index finger to her bottom lip. “You don’t like me touching you?”

“Ah, no, I didn’t mean to— um, you can stay there,” he managed to say.

Her smile returned, brighter than ever. “Yay!” A few minutes passed as Ken desperately tried to keep his focus on the pages before him. Idly, he remembered a time, long ago, when another girl had read with him — more accurately, he had read to her as she sat nestled between his legs, her head against his chest. The memory of those days was warm, even if he knew it was childish to linger on it so much.

“This is so interesting!” said Aira. “I didn’t know any of this stuff!”

“G-glad you think so,” said Ken, jarred from his trip down memory lane.

“By the way,” said Aira, a certain edge to her tone that went unperceived by Ken, “Momo seems very nice.”

This brought him some measure of calm. “She is. She’s a very good friend.”

“She’s much less childish than I thought she would be.”

Ken puzzled at this. “What do you mean?”

“Well, I heard she believes in ghosts. Isn’t that a bit, you know, immature?” Internally, Aira was pleased at how easy it would be to degrade Momo’s image in Ken’s mind.

But then unexpectedly, he replied, “No. I don’t think it is. I think it’s pretty cool, actually. I’ve looked into it myself.” He’d done so to impress Momo, naturally.

Aira recoiled in surprise. “Oh, um, well, I-I didn’t mean she was, like, immature for believing it. I’m kinda into it too, you know. I’d, um, just heard she liked spirits in an immature way, you know?” she flailed desperately. “Like she put on ghost costumes outside of Halloween and stuff.”

“Ah. I see. No, I don’t believe she does that. Whoever told you that might have been confused because her family does spiritual practices. Her grandmother is even a medium. But I think Ayase-san is pretty mature about it.”

“Yeah, I can totally see that,” Aira muttered, trying to get back on course. Another tactic, then. “Anyway, she’s very nice. I’m almost surprised at how nice she is.”

Ken gave her another quizzical look. “Why?”

She lifted herself off his shoulder. “Well, it’s just, I’ve heard some things about her.”

With a narrow gaze, Ken asked, “What sort of things?”

“Just things that might make me wonder about her… if I didn’t know her, that is.”

“Like what?”

Inwardly, Aira was gleeful that he was taking the bait. “Well… I’m not sure I should be saying this, but I heard she’s kind of… loose.”

Ken blinked multiple times. “What?” he asked quietly.

“Yeah. I’ve heard she slept with three different guys in the last trimester of middle school and already one in the first week here. ” Ken didn’t respond. Aira had to resist putting on her smuggest grin.

But then he asked in a soft voice, “Who said that?”

His tone was level, but had such a serious edge that it sent a chill through Aira’s veins. “Um, uh,” mumbled Aira, thrown off her game for the first time today.

“Shiratori-san.” He looked at her, his gaze hard, harder than she would have suspected he could make it. “Who said this?”

Aira gulped, surprised at this turn in the conversation. “O-oh, I don’t know, I just overheard s-some guy in my class, I-I don’t even know his name…” Her voice shrank with every word.

“Whoever said it,” said Ken with the undertone of a growl, “should know that it’s completely false.”

“A-are you sure?” she squeaked. Despite the fear that flooded her veins, the ego in Aira kept her from completely abandoning her course. “I mean, y-you knew her when she was little, but d-do you really—”

“Shiratori-san.” Ken leaned in close; the proximity of such a harsh expression made her blood pump hot and fast with anxiety. “It. Is not. True. Ayase-san would never do that. I guarantee it. Please tell whoever said that that they would be wise not to spread such awful, unfounded rumors.”

Finally recognizing her position, Aira nodded slowly. “I will,” she whispered. “I promise.”

Like that, Ken’s menacing aura evaporated. With a gentle smile, he said, “Good. Thank you. Would you like to get back to reading?”

“Uh-huh…” Aira muttered. As Ken turned his face back to the magazine, Aira leaned in again, but stopped short of resting on his shoulder this time. Her heart still beat frantically at the way he had sounded at the rumor. His reaction had filled her with panic, genuine panic that shook her confidence for the first time since… since as far as she could remember.

As much as the fright still lingered in her, other emotions did as well. One was frustration. She had thought this opening salvo would be a bunker buster, ensuring her victory in an instant. She had not expected it to backfire, especially not this badly. The second was deep worry. She had already spread the false rumor to her classmates — if they spread it more, Ken would undoubtedly be furious, and if it got traced back to her… The thought made her breath unsteady.

But last was a feeling on the opposite end of the emotional spectrum. Watching his demeanor flip from light and gentle to dark and harsh, hearing the edge in his voice grow sharper and sharper, sensing his displeasure grow with every second she did not recant… it did something to her heart. And so did one more thing.

The sheer unwavering faith he had in Momo only made Aira want him more. Staggeringly, dramatically more.

Chapter Text

Walking with Tsubame and Anzu on their way to their way to class the following morning, Aira spotted Momo, her recently sworn nemesis, ambling down the hall. A spear of fear skewered her as Aira recalled Ken’s words from the day before, his restrained yet clear anger at the idea of someone badmouthing Momo. With this fear came a reflexive wave of fresh animosity towards her. How dare she make Aira feel such an awful emotion? Insolent bitch.

And so her initial impulse was to scowl at her. Luckily, before her face moved, she caught herself. Instead, she put on her best look of smug superiority, as if everything had gone perfectly according to plan and Momo was unwittingly walking into her doom. That was the right way to do it: no weakness no matter what. Momo, meanwhile, countered with her tongue stuck out and her eyes shut tight. Aira was pleased by this. The fool wore her emotions on her sleeve like an infant. That made her an easy target.

“Ugh,” said Tsubame in a hushed tone, “I can’t believe she just walks around like that.”

Aira paused her mental monologue. “Like what?”

“Pretending like she isn’t a huge slut,” replied Tsubame.

Aira’s eyes became saucers. Shit, shit, shit! “Uh, I don’t think she is, actually.”

Anzu looked at Aira curiously. “But you told us she was.”

Aira tensed. With a playful smile, she said, “Whaaat? No, no, that’s crazy, I wouldn’t say something like that.”

“I’m pretty sure you did,” said Tsubame. “You sent us that text, remember? Here, I’ll show you.” She pulled out her phone. “Yep, one PM yesterday, you said she—”

“Oh, that!” Aira laughed as authentically as she could manage under the circumstances. “That wasn’t— I got confused, that was just something some guy said he wished would happen.”

“He wished she had slept with four guys?”

“Uh, yeah, you know boys, they’re total perverts, they have all kinds of weird fantasies. Anyway, we shouldn’t say that kind of thing; we don’t want people to get the wrong impression, right?” Aira laughed again, more nervously.

“I guess if it’s just some guy’s fantasy…” Anzu muttered.

“And it is! So there, case closed.” An awkward silence emerged. “But, um… I did hear she cheated on her entrance exam,” Aira said in a smaller voice.

“Really?”

“Yeah, but, you know, don’t spread it around. She’ll probably flunk out on her own.”

“Got it.”

Aira’s smugness truly returned, though she did not let it reach her expression. All she had to do was slip that rumor to someone else and her friends would see it as corroboration. As long as Ken didn’t find out Aira was the origin — and he wouldn’t — soon enough, Momo would have a reputation as an untrustworthy cheat who got into their school on false pretenses. Maybe she’d even be expelled!

The failure of her first attempt had merely been a fluke, nothing more. The wheels were in motion. It was child’s play.

Momo frowned as she sat in her last class before noon. Seeing that smarmy, pink-haired rat again reminded her of the war declared yesterday and, further, how Momo had failed to come up with any kind of tactics for defense or offense. She needed to think. Aira’s threat of ruining her life loomed more ominously than Momo had expected. She had no idea what that deranged girl would be planning. Had she already executed something and Momo just had no idea?

She took a breath and centered herself. There was no sense in worrying about some unknowable danger. She’d have to just react as best she could. That left only her offensive strategy. But the idea of attacking Aira didn’t sit well with Momo, despite her abject awfulness.

Maybe she didn’t have to. Instead, she could focus on advancing her Ken territory, force Aira to retreat of her own volition. And that would start with securing their lunch-whatever together.

As the bell rang, she once again dashed out of her class, not heeding the teacher’s command to walk, and made her way to 1-B as quickly as her legs would carry her. To her dismay, through the dense crowd she saw that Aira had once again beaten her to the punch. If anything she had gotten there faster, as the two were already approaching the corner leading towards the cafeteria. How did she do that? Was 1-C really that much closer? Did she know some kind of shortcut? Was she a secret track star? Could she phase through walls or something?

It didn’t matter. Momo’s expression became determined. She wouldn’t run away this time. Not when Ken was on the line.

As usual, Aira had her high fructose corn syrup smile on. Her arms were wrapped around one of his as she had done before. Momo hated how readily she latched onto him. Well, two could play at that game.

Putting on her brightest smile, Momo stepped out of the crowd and planted herself in front of them. “Ken-chan! And Aira’s here too! How nice!”

Ken smiled. “Ayase-san!”

The slightest hint of displeasure made its way to Aira’s brow. It disappeared before she said, “Oh, Momo! Good to see you. Takakura-kun and I were just headed to lunch.”

“What a coincidence,” said Momo. “So was I. What say we all go together?”

A near undetectable moment of hesitation preceded Aira saying, “That sounds lovely. We can all have lunch. Together. If you don’t mind, Takakura-kun?”

“Sure!” he said enthusiastically.

“Great!” said Momo as she fluidly made her way to Ken’s unoccupied arm and snaked her own around it.

“A-Ayase-san!?” yelped Ken, jolting and blushing deeply at this sudden contact.

“What?” asked Momo with some indignation. “You can deal with one girl on your arm but not two?”

“Ah, n-no, it’s— it’s just—”

Aira seized the opportunity. “Oh, Momo, maybe you should walk by yourself. We don’t want to make Takakura-kun uncomfortable, do we?”

“No!” Ken blurted loudly. “No, I’m okay.” He gulped. “Y-you can hold onto me, Ayase-san…”

Despite her frustration that Ken had seemed so reluctant to let her hold him, Momo smiled cheerfully. “Then let’s get going!”

Everything was going great for Ken.

Here he was, sitting at lunch with two friends, one old, one new. He’d scarcely allowed himself to believe a day like this would ever arrive. On top of that, his classmates hadn’t yet started abusing him the way the ones at his old school did regularly. Maybe high school would be a different beast from middle school. Maybe this was the promised time of maturity for kids his age.

Momo and Aira stared at each other bearing some almost off-puttingly friendly expressions. After he had sat down, each one insisted the other sit down first with a surprising amount of cordiality. Aira eventually accepted Momo’s generosity and sat across from him, leaving Momo to sit next to him.

It was nice, Ken thought, that they could be friends, especially with how uncomfortable Momo had seemed the day before. Then again, she seemed like the type of girl who could befriend anyone easily. She’d befriended him in less than an hour all those years ago…

“Why, Momo, don’t you feel a bit crowded?” asked Aira, voice thick with concern. “Takakura-kun, she doesn’t seem to have much room to sit.”

Ken looked to his side. Now that he looked at it, Momo was pretty close to him. She hadn’t been that close when they sat down, almost like she had moved towards him slowly over the last few minutes. But, well, maybe he had slid towards her without realizing. There seemed to be a decent amount of room on the opposite side of her if she wanted to move down. Maybe he wasn’t being properly respectful of a girl’s need for space. “Ah, sorry Ayase-san, I’ll—”

Suddenly Momo’s hand darted out and grabbed his wrist. “There’s no need for you to move,” she said. She was smiling with grit teeth, creating a somewhat unsettling visage. “I’m fine. Thank you for worrying, Aira. You’re so thoughtful.”

“Anything for a friend,” Aira spat back. A quiet moment passed. “Oh, Takakura-kun,” she said pleasantly, “do you remember that thing we read about the lizard people in Poh?”

Momo’s brow wrinkled. “When was that?”

“During our free period yesterday.” Aira’s smile seemed extra sweet for some reason. “Do you not hang out with him on your free periods?”

Damn it, Momo didn’t. Until now she’d just goofed off with Miko and Muko. She should’ve known better! “Well, Ken-chan and I see each other every morning and every afternoon since we walk to and from school together.”

Aira’s eyes widened, just enough for Momo to catch it. “H-how nice,” said Aira, less energetically than she had before.

Momo stealthily reached into her sweater and withdrew something. “Oops, Ken-chan, I think my wallet fell out — can you pick it up for me?” She tossed the item on the ground underneath the table.

“Oh, sure,” said Ken, sliding down the bench to reach for it.

Momo took the chance to lean in and, with a wolfish grin, hissed, “You flinched, bitch. Big mistake.” Aira quietly grumbled her displeasure.

“Here you go,” said Ken as he handed Momo her wallet.

She smiled sweetly at him. “Thanks, Ken-chan.”

“Takakura-kun, why don’t I feed you?” said Aira. “You seem a bit tired. Let me spare you the extra effort.” Momo’s facade of pleasantness wavered at this.

“I’m not really—”

“It’ll be hard for you to feed him across the table,” Momo said quickly.

“Good point, Momo!” said Aira cheerfully. She stood up and made her way to the other side of the table where she sat very close to Ken, opposite Momo. “There we go.” She grabbed her chopsticks and brought a bite of noodles to his lips. “Say, ‘Aahh!’”

Momo’s fear kicked in. Aira’s chopsticks had already been in her mouth. An indirect kiss! “Aira, you don’t have to do that. I can handle it,” she said, grabbing her own chopsticks.

“That’s generous of you, Momo, but I insist!” Aira said, aggression building in her tone.

“Well, I have to insist you don’t insist!” Momo fired back.

“I can eat on my own!” Ken asserted, having turned red as the girls had pressed more and more tightly against him.

Both Momo and Aira’s faces turned sour. “Okay then,” said Aira, “we’ll all feed ourselves.”

“Right,” agreed Momo reluctantly.

A quiet moment passed but for the slurping of noodles and munching on buns. “Say, Momo, will you join me in the bathroom?” asked Aira. “You know, for some girl talk?”

“Sure. Thing,” said Momo flatly.

“We’ll be right back, Takakura-kun!”

“O-okay,” he said as he continued his meal.

When they arrived in the bathroom, the facade of pleasantry immediately vanished. “What the hell do you think you’re doing, you stupid little upstart!?” Aira growled, her face full of rage.

“Back at you, nutjob!” Momo returned, expression identical.

“You think you can outfox me? You’re dreaming!”

“Even if I was, I could outplay you in my sleep!” said Momo with a confident grin.

Aira’s frustrated face turned to a sinister smile. “Oh, you don’t even know. You have no idea what’s coming to you! You’re totally unaware of how done you are!”

“Gimme your best shot, skank!” Momo barked. “I’ll take whatever you’ve got and stuff it right back in your ugly face!”

“Oh yeah. That’s it. Keep digging,” Aira taunted. “Keep making it worse for yourself.”

“You know what I think?” asked Momo. “I think you’re scared. I think you know that this isn’t gonna work no matter what you do. Know why? Because no one can keep up a fake appearance forever.” Momo’s expression turned haughty. “Sooner or later, your pure-precious-pretend act will crumble and he’ll see the real Aira. You think a guy like Ken-chan would ever be able to love such an awful bitch like you?”

This seemed to strike Aira. Quietly, and with much less confidence, she replied, “The real me is perfect. Everyone would love her. Especially Takakura-kun.”

“Oh sure,” said Momo. “Tell yourself whatever bullshit you want. You know the truth. All I have to do is wait for your mask to fall and then it’s game over for crazy.”

Aira’s eyes narrowed. “We’ll see.”

“We will!”

The verbal combat ended with scowls between the belligerents. Quietly, the two exited the bathroom and returned to the table.

The rest of lunch proceeded as the earlier part had, with Momo and Aira both striving for Ken’s attention, pretending to be amicable all the while. Ken, unaware of their true intentions, was partly bewildered at their exuberance, but also happy that they seemed to be getting along.

During class the next morning, Momo’s blood was hot with the drive to beat Aira back.

Fortunately, with her friends’ encouragement, Momo had been able to ask Ken if he wanted to get lunch on their morning commute. Now she just had to get him alone and leave no chance for Aira to invade their space.

An idea came to her. Subtly pulling out her phone, she sent Okarun a text reading, “Meet me on the top floor of the school near the stairs.”

In seconds, he texted back, “Uh, sure, why?”

“Just do it!”

“Ayase-san, please put your phone away,” said the teacher.

Momo tucked her device away with some embarrassment. “Yes, sorry sir…”

When class finally let out, Momo sprinted to the vending machines, retrieved some sustenance, and then raced up the stairs until she reached the top. Panting, she spotted Ken. “There… you are…”

“Hey,” he said, a bit concerned at her tiredness. “Why did you have us meet here?”

Taking a second to recover, she replied, “Because we’re gonna have lunch on the roof.”

“The roof? Are we even allowed up there?”

“Nope. That’s why it’s perfect,” said Momo with a grin. That fake skank wouldn’t ruin her perfect image by getting caught where she shouldn’t be.

“Okay…” he muttered.

They absconded to their destination. Momo looked around. No skanks in sight. Perfect. “This is kinda like something out of an anime, huh?” she said pleasantly.

“Indeed,” agreed Ken. “I wouldn’t have thought to come up here.”

“Good thing I’m around to come up with this stuff, huh?” she said with a sweet smile.

He returned her expression. “Yes, it is.”

The two enjoyed lunch and one another’s company after that. It was peaceful without having to engage in subterfuge against the pink-haired menace. Now he and she could just talk like they used to. Score one for Momo.

The next day, however, when they arrived at the roof, Aira was already there. She gave some excuse about wanting to see the view from up top and unfortunately Ken ate it up readily. Momo was flummoxed. How had she found out? Damn it, this girl was surprisingly wily for such a delusional freak.

The rest of the week was more of the same. Every move Momo made to seize solo time with Ken was temporary at best. It was like Aira had a tracking device on him. Frankly, it was getting exhausting. Momo didn’t know if she would be able to keep it up. If there was anything to say about Aira, it was that her persistence was annoyingly, frustratingly, detestably strong.

On Friday, Ken and Aira made their way to the front of the school. Usually, Ken went alone to go meet Momo, but Aira decided to tag along this time, which was pleasant for him. It left Ken in high spirits, getting to go with one friend to meet another.

But then he saw something at the exit of the school. Two tall boys were standing menacingly over a shorter, heavy set boy. Ken recognized one of the former two as Hase from his class.

Suddenly, one of the tall boys shoved the heavy one, sending him to the ground. A small cardboard box fell out of his hand and landed next to him. “Pshh, what a loser,” uttered Aira with a sadistic smirk.

Without replying, Ken dashed over to the three students and got between the fallen one the other two. “What are you doing!?” he asked, anger already building in his voice.

“Yo, Takakura,” said Hase with a grin, pointing at the box his victim had dropped. “Check out this dork. He still buys those model kits!”

“They’re called Gunpla!” said the boy on the ground.

“And you shoved him for that?” Ken questioned with incredulous outrage.

“Yeah, I mean, that shit’s for little kids, right?” said Hase derisvely. “What kind of dork still plays with them in high school?”

“There’s nothing wrong with that!” Ken insisted. “Everyone has their interests! So what if he still likes his? It shouldn’t just be beaten out of him!”

This gave Hase pause. “You sure you wanna stick up for this kid, Takakura?”

“Of course!” Ken replied adamantly. “It’s wrong to do something like this to anyone, even someone you look down on for their hobby!” His gaze became serious. “You should apologize to him!”

At first, it seemed like Hase was going to respond negatively to Ken. Then he looked around. A crowd had started to gather around them as Ken gave his passionate defense. Aira was among them, looking on with a mix of concern and shock. An uncertain look crossed Hase’s features. “Alright…” he muttered. “Sorry. My bad.”

A second passed before he nudged his friend next to him with his elbow. “S-sorry,” the friend said quietly.

“Alright. Good,” said Ken. Hase and his buddy looked at each other before walking away, sour looks on their faces Ken turned to the student on the ground and offered a hand. “Hey. Are you okay?”

“Hmph,” said the boy, his disposition seemingly unaffected. “I am perfectly well.” But after a moment, he grabbed Ken’s hand. Ken pulled the boy up seemingly without much effort, despite the boy’s weight.

“Glad to hear it,” said Ken with genuine relief. He bent over and picked up the box that the boy had dropped and handed it to him. “Here. I hope it’s not damaged.”

“No, the pieces are held together in plastic frames before assembly. This, along with the particular rigidity of the cardboard, protect the internals from damage that may come from such an impact.” A second passed before he reached to take the box. “What is your name?”

“Ken,” he said. “Ken Takakura.”

“I am Kinta ‘The End of Joytoy Pegasus’ Sakata, also known as Gale Wind Albert. But you may address me as Kinta Sakata.” He looked away, hand on the frame of his glasses, expression still undaunted. Then he extended his hand back to Ken. “Takakura. Your efforts were… admirable. And appreciated.”

Ken was confused for a moment. Then he reached to shake Kinta’s hand and said, “No problem. Nice to meet you, Sakata-kun.”

Snapping out of the trance she had fallen into, Aira sprinted over to Ken. “Takakura-kun, what were you thinking?!” she asked in a panic. “Those guys looked tough! And there were two of them! You could’ve gotten hurt! And for what? Him?”

“He was in trouble,” Ken explained. “I couldn’t just do nothing.”

“But he’s just some geek!”

“So am I,” said Ken simply. “It doesn’t matter who it is. If I see someone in danger, I have to act.”

“Weren’t you scared?” she asked in disbelief.

“Of course. But if I didn’t do anything, the shame would be worse than the fear.”

Aira blushed. Her heart thumped as she took in his words. Why does that make me feel this…?

“Ken-chan!” called Momo, running up to him suddenly. “Are you okay? Is everything all right?” Her tone was thick with worry.

“Yes, I’m fine,” he said in a reassuring tone.

Momo had seen the end of the confrontation as she had approached the exit to the school, even heard a bit of it. She had watched Ken face down two bullies fearlessly to halt their aggression against an innocent. She had been fully ready to jump in and back him up; now that she saw it had resolved, she let her aura relax.

He was being so casual about the incident. The memory of his tiny self, intervening to cure her sorrow for no other reason than his belief that it was wrong someone had inflicted it upon her, flashed in her mind.

“Is this guy your friend?” she asked, gesturing at Kinta.

“Ah, we just met,” said Ken. “But maybe he can be?”

“Hmph,” said Kinta again. For a second he eyed Momo, Aira, and their proximity to and demeanor towards Ken. “Your comradeship would not be… objectionable to me.”

“Cool,” Ken said. “I think.”

Now it was Momo’s turn to blush. So he was a stranger… “Ken-chan, I’m…” She smiled warmly at him. “I’m really proud of you.”

Ken’s cheeks tinted red as well and he gave a bashful smile. “Oh, uh, thank you,” he said quietly. “Shall we get going?”

Momo nodded. “Let’s go.” Without even acknowledging Aira, she turned towards the gates and began to walk.

“See you, Shiratori-san,” said Ken to Aira with a wave.

Aira, still rocked by his words and deeds, waved back weakly with a quiet, “See you.”

All the way on their walk home, Momo’s heartbeat remained elevated, thinking about his courage in the face of potential pain. The feeling it evoked in her mixed with her desire to get away from her tangle with Aira, to finally have a moment of peace with him without having to worry about their invisible war.

She clenched her fist. If he could be brave, so could she.

They approached the break in their path. With a pleasant smile, Ken said, “Well, this is it. I’ll see you—”

“Ken-chan,” said Momo.

There was something in her tone, something he couldn’t recognize, that made him very curious as to what she would say. “What?”

Fist shaking, Momo took a long breath. Then, with red tinted cheeks, she said, “Would you like to come over for dinner?”

Ken’s face slowly transformed from curiosity to shock. Was this real? Was he dreaming? Did she really just say that? She was looking at him expectantly, a slight hint of something in her expression — was it worry? “I would,” he said at last.

Relief flooded Momo’s veins and she beamed at him. “Great. C’mon,” she said, gesturing him to follow her down the path.

Ken still didn’t fully believe this was happening. Surely he had to be dreaming. He waited for the moment he would wake up, but it didn’t come.

Maybe, just maybe, life had given him a true gift. He vowed not to squander it.

Chapter Text

Dinner. It was just dinner. That’s what Momo told herself as they removed their shoes at the entrance to her home. It wasn’t anything more than that. She and Ken would have a nice meal prepared by her grandmother and that would be it. Basically no different from their lunches, really. Except that it was in her house. And she had personally invited him there. But that didn’t mean anything. Not at all.

So why was she so nervous?

“Momo, is that you?” called Seiko from down the hall.

Momo jumped. So invested in telling herself how not special this evening would be was she that she had totally forgotten to announce her return. “I’m home!” she called. After a moment, she added, “Ken-chan’s with me!”

The sound of a few footsteps preceded Seiko poking her head out of the living room, a lit cigarette in her mouth and a mildly surprised look in her eyes. “Oh?”

“H-hello, Seiko-san,” he said with an uncertain smile. He double took as he absorbed her image. It had been over half a decade since he had seen her last but she looked not a day older. If anything, she might have looked younger. Maybe his memories were faulty after so many years. “Do you, um, remember me?”

She smiled. “Of course. How could I not remember the sweet boy who made Momo so happy?”

Both Ken and Momo blushed, averting their gazes from one another. “You’re, uh, looking well,” he said quietly, trying not to show too much shock at her youthful appearance.

“And you too. Look at you, all grown up, becoming a proper man,” she said with ample warmth. “You stayin’ for dinner?”

“Ah, yes, at least, I think so… Ayase-san said…”

“He is,” Momo added quickly. “I asked him to. Is that okay?”

“Sure. I’ll make an extra serving tonight. I’ll call you when it’s done.” Seiko’s head withdrew from the hall.

“Thanks granny!” said Momo brightly. One obstacle solved. Still somewhat nervous, she turned to Ken and asked, “You, um, wanna hang out in my room while we wait for dinner?”

He looked like she’d just offered him five thousand yen. “Sure…” he whispered.

“Cool. Um, follow me, then.” With a gesture, the two headed up the stairs.

Ken was practically sweating as they approached the door. Ayase-san’s room… It would be the first time he would be in any girl’s room, let alone the room of someone as important as her. Was there special etiquette he was expected to follow? The thought was paralyzing.

“Well?” Momo said, waiting on the other side of the doorway. “You comin’?”

“Oh, yes,” he answered, not noticing Momo’s visible relaxation as he crossed the threshold.

“You can just sit on the bed,” she said, pointing to the piece of furniture. Inwardly, she felt her heartbeat accelerate. This was the first time she had brought a boy into her bedroom. It was almost scandalous when she framed it like that. How had she not thought ahead to prepare herself emotionally for it? She’d been so focused on just getting him in the house…

Ken did as she had instructed and took in the view around him. There was a lot of paraphernalia of that celebrity who shared his name. This, he supposed, was unsurprising. But mixed in were a fair number of items relating to aliens as well, such as the small green alien plush on her bookshelf.

A particular poster caught his eye: a flying saucer in the sky. Underneath it, all caps text read in English, “I WANT TO BELIEVE.”

“Is that the X-Files?” he asked curiously.

Momo looked where he pointed. “Huh? Ah, yeah.”

“I didn’t know you watched that show. I don’t think it even got an official release here. I had to import it when I watched it.”

“Oh, uh, I haven’t watched it. I actually didn’t realize it was from a show when I bought it. I didn’t even know what the text meant at first,” she admitted sheepishly. “I wasn’t that good at English back then. I’m still not, I guess.” She gave a bashful laugh.

“I see,” said Ken. “Then why did you get it?”

Because it reminded me of you. The words were in her mind before she realized. They almost spilled from her lips until she caught just barely herself. “Um,” she said with a blush, “I just thought it looked cool.”

“I think it does too,” he said with a smile. Finding a representation of some common ground here helped put him at ease. Unbeknownst to him, it had the opposite effect on her. But then he saw something else. “Oh, is that a Switch?”

Momo brightened at this, thankful for the easier topic. “Yeah! Granny got it for my birthday. Do you have one?”

He shook his head. “I only have a WiiU.”

This made her snicker. “Really? From like 2014? That thing was a flop, right? Are you a Nintendo console collector or something?”

“The opposite, actually. My dad didn’t want to get me a modern console so he bought me a refurbished one, since it was cheaper. Well, for Nintendo, anyway.”

Momo nodded. “Makes sense.” She gulped. “So… do you wanna play something?”

Now he looked like a starving man just offered some food. “Yes!” he said eagerly. Maybe too eagerly, he thought.

With a smile, Momo stepped over to the console. “Cool. How about Mario Kart? Since, y’know, it was also on the WiiU.”

“That sounds good.”

Momo set up the game and handed Ken his controller. “You need to start at 50cc?”

“I think I can handle 100 at least…” he said, a bit of uncertainty in his voice.

“Ooh, high octane,” she replied with a slightly teasing tone. “Let’s do it.”

They selected their characters — Peach for Momo and Mario for Ken — and, after locking in their karts, began the grand prix. Throughout the race, Momo effortlessly wove around the computer players, while Ken was stymied in his attempt to pass them. Unlike him, she cleared the race with ease.

“Booyah! First place!” she said with a fist pump. She looked at Ken’s half of the screen and grinned smugly. “Last? Wow, you suck, four-eyes.”

“I-I’m just warming up!” he protested with red ears. “I’ve only played the WiiU version!”

“Is it that different?”

“No…” he admitted quietly.

She chuckled. “Well there you go.”

With intense focus, he did much better in the next race. While they played, Momo was lulled into a peaceful calm. Something about this situation eased her earlier nerves. Something about it made it okay that there was a boy, this boy, in her room. It felt natural, now, as if he came over to play with her all the time.

As the game went on, she started to understand. It was play. Play like they had done so many years ago, innocent and free, with no underlying expectations or presumptions, just the two of them in their own little world. At recognition of this, Momo felt a bit silly. Aira’s taunt from a week ago about the insignificance of her time with him during their childhood still shook her. This playtime, now, was far removed from back then.

But she couldn’t help how she felt. The bed was soft beneath them, but in Momo’s mind, they were on the hard concrete of the playground. The room was cool with air conditioning, but in Momo’s mind, the sun shone brilliantly overhead, warm enough to make them sweat as they climbed the jungle gym. The only noise came from the television, but in Momo’s mind, he was reading to her, wrapping her securely in his gentle embrace, and she was totally entranced by his words.

These things were foolish to hold so precious in her heart. She knew that. She would allow herself to do it now, only for a bit, but if she lingered on them, she would risk overestimating what she was to him. The memories were nice for what they were, beautiful and pristine in her mind, unmarred by the cynicism of her teen years. But that was all they were. Just memories.

Little did she know, he was remembering them too.

At the final lap of the final race, it was neck and neck between the two, with Ken taking a slight lead. Having indeed warmed up to an impressive degree, he had come close to matching her in points. Worry that he might actually overtake her filled her veins.

She glanced at Ken as her fingers moved on the controller. Suddenly, his hair fluttered, as if blown by the wind. He looked around, confused at this strange breeze. Momo took the opportunity of his distraction to seize the gap and carry herself to victory.

“Ah!” said Ken as the final results of the grand prix rolled in, affirming his place as second to hers. “Darn.”

“So close!” said Momo earnestly. “But I gotcha in the end.”

“Well, you were always better at this hand-eye coordination stuff,” he admitted.

She tilted her head. “Huh?”

“Remember when you brought that ball to the playground so we could play catch? I was so hopeless that you had to teach me how to throw it.”

Surprise overtook her features, her cheeks lightly tinted red. Her heart thumped hard. An unanticipated volume of warmth ran through her.

It was small. It was such a small thing. He couldn’t know, couldn’t possibly know that his tiny, minuscule invocation of a shared memory from years past meant something profound to her. That he still held it in his conscious mind, hadn’t discarded it for its irrelevance to the present, struck solace and appreciation like gold in her soul.

She grinned as she replied, “I remember. It took all afternoon for you to get it half decent. But then the next time we did it you could do it really well.”

He took on a bashful smile. “I practiced really hard afterwards. Tossed a ball against a wall over and over until I could throw and catch it consistently.”

She chuckled. “You put in that much effort?”

Now his cheeks became softly crimson. “I didn’t want to be caught lacking.”

Her smile became sweet and gentle. “You were never lacking around me.”

Ken felt his heart rate jump at this. “Th-thanks…” he whispered.

Silence overtook the room as both of them wrestled with their emotions. Each wanted to say more, but felt themselves at a precipice, past which they could easily fall into a deep chasm.

Mercifully, Seiko’s voice rang out, “Momo! Ken! Dinner time!”

With great relief, Momo called back, “Coming!” Turning to Ken, she nodded her head towards the door. “C’mon, let’s get while the gettin’s good.”

Within a minute, they were seated at the table. “Eat your fill,” said Seiko. After scanning Ken up and down for a second, she added to him, “Especially you. You need it.” Momo thought this was odd, but she supposed Ken had always been scrawny and it was stereotypically grandmotherly to want to fatten up children for which she held affection. She had rarely done it with Momo, though.

“Thank you for the meal,” he replied as he picked up his chopsticks.

“Thanks, granny,” chimed in Momo as she followed suit.

Ken took a bite of his takoyaki. “Wow, Seiko-san, this is amazing!” he said as the taste permeated his tongue.

“Why, thank you,” Seiko said coolly. “It’s a shame it took you so long to get my cooking in you. Bit of a surprise, too, considering, you know.”

He looked at her quizzically. “I don’t know.”

“Oh, she didn’t tell you?” Ken shook his head. “She used to get so upset if she couldn’t go to the playground.”

“Shhh!” hissed a beet red Momo, trying to gesture for Seiko to shut the hell up, goddammit.

“It was always,” Seiko put on an exaggerated impression of a small child and pantomimed crying, “‘I wanna see Ken-chan! Ken-chan’s waiting for me!’” Her voice returned to normal. “Nonstop, really. Never understood why she didn’t just bring you here instead.”

“Stop! Stop it!” Momo desperately yelped.

Ken too had turned crimson. He had no idea how to react how to Seiko’s words. “Ah… I… see…”

“Y’know, she’s really into that movie star who had your name. The dead one.”

The reminder of her obsession with a man who, name aside, did not resemble him in the slightest sobered him up quickly. “Oh, right. She told me.”

“Did she tell you how he reminded her of you when she watched her first movie with him?”

And like that, Ken was gone again. “No…”

“Oh yeah. She couldn’t get enough after that. Used to say she’d be ‘Momo Takakura’ one day.”

Next to the re-reddened Ken, Momo suddenly shot up from the dinner table and said, “Excuse me!” Then she marched up the stairs, entered her room, grabbed a pillow, and screamed into it as hard as she could. Once she was out of oxygen, she took a deep breath, walked back down stairs, and sat at the table. Her expression held a bright smile, as if the last five minutes hadn’t happened. No one said anything for a moment. She grabbed a bottle on the table and pleasantly asked, “Soy sauce, Ken-chan?”

“Ah, um… sure,” replied Ken uncertainly.

“Here,” she said, no negativity in her tone as she drizzled droplets of the black liquid onto his plate.

“Th-thanks.”

As they ate, once her heart calmed down, Momo felt differently than she would have expected. When she had invited him, she’d expected herself to be a nervous mess over the meal, just as she had been then. But just some play, just a little bit of play between them, and the nerves were gone, Seiko’s teasing notwithstanding. Now it was just Momo and Ken-chan, like it used to be. Like she remembered. Like…

Like it should always be.

Momo’s eyes shot open. The thought in her head shocked her more than any of her grandmother’s comments, so much so this time that she started choking on the octopus ball in her mouth. “Ayase-san, are you okay!?” asked Ken, severe worry on his face.

“I’m — hack — I’m fine,” she replied quickly after dislodging the piece of food from her windpipe. “Just — ackk — just went down the wrong tube.”

“You gotta chew your food better,” uttered Seiko.

“G-guess so,” Momo muttered.

“Here,” said Ken, offering his glass of water.

She smiled at the gesture. “Thanks, Ken-chan.” She took a swig, and then another, soothing the burn the morsel had inflicted.

But looking at him, so concerned for her, even over such a small thing, did nothing to soothe the burn in her heart.

“Thanks for having me over,” said Ken at the Torii gate.

“Of course!” Momo said cheerfully. “I’m glad you came. After all, when we were little we never had playda— uh, playtime. At each other’s homes, I mean.”

“Yeah. Good to make up for lost time,” he replied with a smile.

There it was again. Tiny, minuscule, itty-bitty acknowledgement of that time in her life that she forbade herself to, yet could not help but cherish so heavily. Surely it was just an offhanded comment. Surely it didn’t mean that much to him.

But what if it did…?

It was just nostalgia. It had to be that. Not anything else in her heart. Certainly not.

“We should hang out like this again sometime,” she found herself saying.

“Yeah,” he said easily. “I would like that.”

“‘Kay. See you later, Ken-chan.”

“See you, Ayase-san.”

He turned to leave. But then he heard her say, “Ken-chan,” and looked back.

At his acknowledgement that they should have more solo time, she had felt an odd urge. An urge to do something, to cap off this evening with some kind of special gesture. But with that urge came an instinctual fear, enough to paralyze her if she pursued any such course of action. So instead, she withdrew from the impulse, smiled warmly, and simply said, “I’m really glad you’re back in my life.”

He blushed. After a second, his lips curved upward. “Me too,” he replied.

Once she had watched him leave, she returned indoors and began to make her way to the kitchen to do the dishes. As Momo passed her, Seiko asked, “So, how’d it go?”

Expression still bright, she replied. “It was great. Thanks for dinner, granny.”

“You kiss him just now?”

Momo blushed furiously, eyes like the dinner plates she was about to wash. “Wh-what?! No! O-of course not! Why would we—”

“Hmph,” huffed Seiko. She took a long drag of her cigarette. After releasing the puff of smoke, she continued, “How long are you gonna keep me waiting?”

“Keep you— what!?” Momo sputtered in her fluster.

“Why do you think I didn’t mess with you tonight? I been waiting since you were babies,” she uttered with a faint hint of exasperation.

Momo double took. “Sorry, that was you not messing with me?”

“If I wanted to mess with you I’d’ve shown him the drawing you made of the two of you holding hands.”

“You still have that!?”

“Of course. It’s art by my beloved granddaughter. It’s precious to me.” Momo opened her mouth to speak, but Seiko cut her off. “No, I’m not gonna tell you where it is and you’ll never find it.” As Momo’s face showed plain frustration, Seiko continued, “Seriously, though. You were always crying for Ken-chan, and now that you have him you’re not gonna do anything?”

Momo began moving her hands in front of her as if warding off a nosy tabloid reporter. “Have him!? I don’t— I’m not— We’re not—”

Seiko waved her off, as if dispersing both the smoke and her granddaughter’s denial. “You used to get so upset about making him wait for you. Now you’re gonna make him wait even more?”

Momo felt dizzy. Her face redder than ever, her gaze turned downwards. More calmly than her prior flailing, she said, “But I’m not… I mean, he doesn’t…”

Seiko sighed and turned to walk towards the living room. “I wonder how much spiritual training you’ll need before you truly become aware…”

Momo’s brain was locked up as she did the dishes. Her focus on the simple manual labor restored some measure of calm as her mind processed things in the background. When she was done, she retreated to her room and flopped on her bed.

The events of the evening played on rapid loop in her mind. Every time she arrived at Seiko’s final comments felt like a car crash and she had to start again.

She closed her eyes and focused. She pictured a laser coming out of her abdomen and shooting out of her head and fingers. As the memory loop continued to repeat, as the order of events became more sensible, Momo felt herself falling into a zen-like trance, one that reminded her of that incident. She could feel the high voltage current of her nerves, but not let it control her.

Her phone came to her face and, without any pause, her text thread with Ken opened. Letting her body move on autopilot, she wrote, “So what do you wanna do next weekend?” and hit send.

Immediately he replied, “Next weekend?”

“Yeah. We said we’ll do it again soon. Is next weekend too soon?”

The calm that came over her as he immediately replied, “Not at all. How about we go to the mall next Saturday?” cooled her frayed nerves like aloe on a sunburn. The feelings that came with that relief were immense.

“I would like that 😜,” she replied. She smiled as he laugh reacted her comment, happy that he had gotten her joke of saying his usual affirmative response.

Her thumb dragged from the top of the screen to the bottom. She watched as their messages slid down. They had sent a lot of them to one another since his recent acquisition of his device. She had to scroll back a long while to reach what she was searching for.

Then she found it. His first selfie, sent in return of one of her own.

Like it should always be…

That thought echoed inside her. With every mental wall it bounced off of she felt an emotional impact. She couldn’t acknowledge the full magnitude of them, not just yet. But she had to admit at least something to herself. The sheer sense of denial was too great for her to bear otherwise.

She had wanted to kiss him at the gate. As she watched him walk away, she had felt that devastating hunger for the feeling of his lips on her own. And worse, so much worse, catastrophically worse…

She still did.

Chapter Text

Something was odd about Momo to Aira. Aira had taken the weekend to refresh herself and renew her ongoing battle with Momo, who, she had to admit, had proven to be more tenacious and formidable than she had anticipated. Just a bit. A tiny bit. If that.

But indeed something was off. Momo wasn’t quite as quick to anger. She didn’t meet as many of Aira’s jabs with her own. While she still laid annoying affection on Ken, who reacted frustratingly strongly from the contact every time, she didn’t burst out as violently to Aira’s less strongly received attempts at the same.

On the surface, it looked like Aira had advanced the line enough that Momo was simply retreating against her unyielding offense. Yet somehow Aira felt like something else lay beneath the relative lack of resistance. A sense of superiority, almost. It was as if Momo had acquired some kind of asset — information, perhaps an ally of sorts? But no one in Aira’s extensive network had returned anything from her subtle prodding for intelligence.

This all set Aira on edge. If she couldn’t win in a direct conflict, she had to employ greater subterfuge. And so, when a girl in her class she hadn’t given any rumor divulged that she had heard Momo cheated on her entrance exams, Aira acted shocked. “Oh my!” she said, her hand at her mouth. “I can’t believe that!”

“I believe it,” said the student. “She’s got that rough way of speaking, no respect for rules of politeness. People just like her because she’s pretty.”

Aira resisted a visible reaction to the assertion that Momo could get by on her looks. “I suppose that does fit with something I’ve heard…” Aira muttered, putting on a look of worry.

“What’s that?” asked the other student.

“Well…” Aira began, “I don’t know if this is true, but I’ve heard she’s actually kind of a delinquent. Goes to the pachinko parlor after school. Smokes and drinks with other delinquents.” She leaned in, her voice turning hushed. “She might even have tattoos under her uniform.”

The girl in front of her gasped. “Oh my god! That totally makes sense! I mean, look at the way she wears those big earrings, her and her friends. The rest of us wouldn’t wear earrings at school, so why does she?”

“They say you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover,” said Aira. “But I do wonder sometimes…” She pressed her palms together and gained a plaintive look. “Don’t spread it around, okay? I wouldn’t want anything unfair to happen to her.”

“Sure, sure,” said the girl.

But Aira knew by the look on her face that she’d tell someone else at the first opportunity. Perfect. Just a matter of time now.

Aira was more right than she knew. Momo was a bit more smug. Having had Ken at her home, all to herself, as well as the promise of having more extracurricular time with him alone later, had buoyed her confidence in their friendship to heights not seen since… well, back then. Her rival’s taunts felt less caustic, her attempts to isolate him less threatening. Of course, Momo was unaware of Aira’s other machinations.

And so the two were able to let their war cool to an extent. Months passed with little overt escalation, only hidden attacks on one another. Both thought the other was being fooled and in for a rude awakening when their plans came to fruition.

All the while, Momo felt more of those desires she’d felt at that first dinner. They grew stronger with every day she spent with him, especially when they were alone. The way they talked together, the way they walked together, every moment just worsened — or perhaps improved — that burn she felt in her heart.

Other strange things happened throughout these months. Momo started to notice more people talking to Ken when she’d approach him for lunch or when they would meet up at the school gates, pretty girls and handsome guys from his class alike. The girls smiled at him and the boys clapped him on the shoulder and even high-fived or fistbumped him. She wouldn’t have paid it any mind — it was fine for Ken to get a few more friends, and hey, maybe there were more fans of the occult in the school than she thought — but he seemed not to particularly want to hang out with any of them outside of school. Only her.

Naturally, however, this contributed to Momo and Aira’s tensions still boiling over every now and then. One day, some months into the school year, Momo and Aira had decided they each wanted to spend time studying with Ken, and were currently each pulling on one of his arms.

“Forgive my weakness,” said Aira said through grit teeth, “but I truly need help with my chemistry homework and Takakura-kun would be a perfect teacher for it.”

“Well I’m sorry,” Momo growled, “but I’m about to fail English and I need Ken-chan to help me!”

“What if we all studied together?” murmured a red in the face Ken weakly.

“No!” the two girls barked at once.

“You must choose, Takakura-kun!” insisted Aira.

“Yeah!” said Momo. “Make a decision, Ken-chan!”

Ken gulped as they paused their yanking of his limbs. He started to sweat, his heartrate erratic. In a tiny, shaky voice, he muttered, “W-well… I’m better at language than I am at science… So I think I can help Ayase-san more.”

“Ha!” laughed Momo triumphantly. Aira dropped Ken’s arm, shock plain on her face.

“B-but Ayase-san is very good at chemistry!” Ken told Aira hurriedly. “Maybe she could help you with your homework later!”

“Yeah…” she replied in a defeated tone, eyes downcast. “That would be… great…”

With a satisfied look, Momo pulled Ken along until they found a secluded corner of the courtyard. “We can study here,” she said, sitting herself on the grass.

“Okay,” said Ken, joining next to her. “What do you need help with?”

“Just some reading and translation,” said Momo. “It’s a passage from Shakespeare. Why do we have to study a weird version of the language? Regular English is hard enough.”

“Shakespeare is an important playwright in the western canon. It’s good for cultural appreciation,” Ken answered plainly.

Momo shrugged. “I guess.”

“So, what’s the passage?”

She brought out her workbook and opened it to an earmarked page. “It’s this thing from Romeo and Juliet. The teacher wants us to translate the Japanese version into modern English and then compare it to the actual words.”

“Romeo and Juliet…” Ken muttered with a blush. “I… I know it a bit.”

“Same,” said Momo. “Just a bit, though.”

He swallowed. “Uh… how about we read the passage in full and then you can try translating line by line?”

With a nod, Momo replied, “Sounds good.”

He leaned over to look at the script. Noticing the size of his angle, she shifted towards him until they were touching shoulders. He jumped at the contact but did not attempt any form of escape. “L-let’s get started,” he whispered.

He began to scan the page. It was that scene. That monologue. Why did it have to be that one? He was sweaty enough as it was.

“Hey, Ken-chan?” Momo said quietly, interrupting his thoughts.

“Hm?”

“Um…” She paused, idly biting her lip. “Y’know, I think the reason I’m not good at English is… I still don’t like reading very much.”

Immediately, a memory, a warm memory filled with comfort and relief, flashed in his mind, an image sharp as the most advanced television on the market. But surely she was just making conversation about her worst subject. Surely that was all.“Oh,” he said distantly.

“So…” she continued, face turning red, “could you read to me?”

Her voice, timid and unsure, might as well have been glorious trumpets of angels blaring from on high. She wanted it. That thing he had done for her so many years ago. She wanted it again.

“Ken-chan?” she asked at his lack of response.

“Yeah,” he said quickly. “Yeah, sure.”

She smiled. “Great.”

He cleared his throat. “But soft, what light through yonder—”

“Wait,” said Momo.

“Hm?” Suddenly, he felt a small tug on his arm. Momo had grasped his wrist and was, with the gentlest force, seemingly trying to pull it away. “What are you…”

Another memory materialized in his brain. It was of what she had said right before she first asked him to read to her. But that means…

This wasn’t happening. It couldn’t be happening. Not again. Not after all this time, all the intervening distance of years. He was delusional. He was seeing things, his mind seeking any way he could get closer to her. He had to be. It was confirmation bias, pure and simple.

Then he looked into her eyes. She was worried about something, clearly. Fearful, even. Her breath was slow and her cheeks were crimson. After a few seconds, she turned her gaze away, a small disappointed frown on her lips. Seeing her displeasure triggered an instinct in him, the desperate desire to cleanse whatever malady plagued her thoughts. Slowly, with shaking limbs, he opened his arms.

Momo’s eyes widened, a fresh glimmer of hope shining in them. She looked at his face, as if in search of confirmation. Whatever she saw there did not deter her. Instead, her hand traveled to his knee and tugged, just as it had done with his arms. And as with them, he slowly opened his legs.

Heart pounding madly, Momo stood up. She could not pull the same fluid motion she had done as a child. Too much had changed in her to allow that, physically and emotionally. But the dream of trying again, of establishing that level of contact, flickered brightly inside her. And so, with utmost care, she settled down right in front of his torso, such that her head was under his chin.

A quiet moment passed. Sensing no negative reaction in the other, each relaxed until the tension within was mostly dissolved, leaving only their elevated heartbeats and slightly reddened cheeks. “You okay?” she asked quietly.

No, was the answer. This was no longer uncharted territory technically speaking, but the context of their current ages may as well have put the territory on Mars for how new and terrifying it felt. But as before, as it always had been in their younger days, it was not remotely unpleasant. “Yeah,” he replied.

“Good.” She nestled in, leaning back against his surprisingly hard chest. “You can read now.”

After clearing his throat, he took a deep breath. With as steady a voice as he could manage, he began again, “But soft, what light through yonder window breaks…”

He continued reading the passage until he reached the end of Romeo’s lines. Feeling a little embarrassment, he paused. In the gap he left, however, Momo chimed in, “Ay, me.”

Ken blinked. “Huh?”

“I can be her,” Momo replied softly. “I can be Juliet. If that’s okay.”

He felt a thump in his chest like a canon firing. “I-if you want to…” he muttered.

She smiled. “Then go ahead… Romeo,” she said with a playful lilt.

So hard did Ken’s heart pound at that moment that he thought it might explode through his ribcage and bruise Momo’s skull. He wondered if she felt it. Surely she must have… “Okay.” He cleared his throat again. “She speaks.”

Throughout the rest of the week, both of them replayed the Shakespearean dialogue they had read in their heads. That they couldn’t help but cast themselves in the roles of the star-crossed lovers made them even more nervous around one another. On Thursday, as they walked to school, she noted, “So… tomorrow’s the sports festival.”

“Yep,” he replied plainly.

“And then Saturday is… the dance,” she continued with a softer tone.

“I-I suppose it is,” he muttered.

“Um…” She looked off to the side. “Have you asked anyone to go?”

He blushed. “No, I haven’t… Has anyone asked you?”

Momo thought about the several boys who had asked her to be their date. Naturally, she had turned them all down without a thought. “A couple of guys,” she admitted, lying only through understatement.

“I see…”

They remained silent for a moment. Momo glanced at him for only a moment. Ask me, ask me, ask me!

He glanced at her just as long. Ask her, ask her, ask her!

But still in silence, they arrived at school. “Well… I’ll see you at lunch?” he said weakly.

She let out a heavy sigh. “Yep.”

Aira stood holding Momo’s bag, a dark look in her eyes. She’d had one of her friends bring it to her for reasons that were, in all honesty, poorly explained, but rationalized under the pretense of delivering the “cheating delinquent” to justice. Momo was busy at the moment; it was the perfect opportunity for Aira to strike.

She would be crossing a Rubicon with this and she knew it. This was a step beyond her usual tactics, far beyond. But what choice did she have? After what she had seen the other day, her sitting in his lap, in his lap, in his lap, there was no other end she could pursue. It was time for the nuclear option.

And so she retrieved the item she had brought to school for this goal. It was small, as small as it could possibly be while still accomplishing its mission. It didn’t look like anything special. Aira had made sure to choose something so perfectly mundane Momo almost certainly wouldn’t notice it. And of course, neither would anyone else, until it was too late.

Aira found the deepest part of the bag, where forgotten pens and other objects never retrieved from it lay and held it open. For a second, doubt crossed her mind. Maybe this was too much. Maybe she should just stop before it was too late.

But then the image of the two of them flashed in her mind. It hadn’t been enough that they were cuddling — that that word could describe them was already foul enough to her sensibilities. No, they had fallen asleep in the courtyard, so disgustingly cozy and comfortable together. Comfortable in a way Aira had never been with anyone, least of all her beloved Ken.

She wasn’t wrong. This was for the good of all. Except, of course, Momo. But she would get over it. Eventually.

At lunch, Aira held no hesitation as she put on a cutesy face and asked, “Takakura-kun, are you going to the dance on Saturday?”

“Ah,” Ken said with a stiff tone as he reached for his glasses, “I’m… I’m not sure. I’m not very good at dancing.”

“You don’t need to be good at dancing to dance!” she replied cheerfully.

“Well, I don’t know if it’s my kind of scene… I might get a little overwhelmed.”

“Oh,” said Aira, voice thick with disappointment. “Well, all right. I thought I would ask you if you wanted to go with me, but if you’re not going, I’ll probably just go alone.”

“S-sorry,” he muttered awkwardly. He did not see the even greater disappointment on Momo’s face.

On their way home, Momo’s expression was still down. As they approached the end of their shared path, she muttered, “So, you’re not going to the dance, huh? Shame. Kinda thought it’d be fun to see you all dressed up.”

“Well,” he said quietly, “are you going?”

She blushed. “I mean… I might… Miko and Muko are going. They have dates and they want me to come with.”

“I see,” said Ken. With resolve in his eyes, he added, “I am too. I’m going.”

Momo’s eyes brightened up immediately. “Great! Then all we gotta do is get through that dumb ol’ sports festival.”

“You don’t like the sports festival?” he asked curiously.

“I mean, it’s not terrible. It might even be fun. I just wanna get to the dance already. I actually got roped into being on one of my class’ teams.” She took on a facetiously haughty expression. “I guess I’m just too talented for my own good.”

“Which team?”

“Volleyball.” She hoped mentioning it wouldn’t dredge up painful memories for him.

He seemed to be all right. “That’s cool.”

“Yeah. I think we’re gonna kick ass, personally.”

“Right. See you then,” he said as he ventured towards his house.

“See you!” she waved back and, with her smile restored, she returned home.

The sports festival went over fine, from Momo’s point of view. It wasn’t her favorite thing, but she didn’t mind it too much, either. She spent the majority of the events just goofing off with Miko and Muko behind the bleachers, missing most of her class’ performances. Ken was seemingly nowhere to be found, meanwhile.

Then the final event of the day came: the volleyball tournament. Momo, it turned out, was the ace of the team. Her years of chi training had yielded fairly high strength and agility on the field. She felt a little bad about it; it was almost like performance enhancing drugs, or perhaps performance enhancing energy, and so she tried not to utilize it as much as possible.

Even so, her class was able to whomp class C easily. Despite her relative apathy towards the whole thing, she couldn’t resist giving the frustrated Aira a smug look for it.

“Nice job, Momo!” said Muko as their team cleared the field.

“Thanks,” she said with a grin.

“Next round oughta be a cinch too,” said Miko. “Ken-chan’s class somehow won their match and, get this, he’s on their team!”

Momo was flabbergasted. The teams were supposed to be composed of the best players in each class. “What!?”

“Yeah, I mean, I dunno how they beat class D, but if he managed to get on the team, they had to have been hurting for talent, right?”

Momo pursed her lips. She didn’t want to acknowledge how right Miko was. Ken was many things, but an athlete was not one of them. “Maybe…”

“Whaddya mean ‘maybe?’” said Muko. “You told us how he got demolished at camp. No way he can put up a fight against you.” Momo remained silent. “C’mon. Don’t go easy on him just because he’s your sweetheart.”

“He’s not my—” Momo began to protest. “Fine. I won’t. I promise.”

The time came for their game. Indeed, against all reason, there on the other side of the net stood Ken. “Ken-chan!” she called out.

He waved at her nervously. “H-hey, Ayase-san.”

Running up to him, she said, “You didn’t tell me you were on the team!”

“Yeah, well, I am” he said nervously.

“Why would you hide that?”

He took on a sheepish look. “Um… it was a surprise?”

For a moment, she puzzled at him before the gym coach blew his whistle. “Alright, class A versus class B! First to fifteen points wins. Class B, you won the coin toss so you serve first.”

“Go, Momo!” cheered Muko from the sidelines.

Momo blushed. She didn’t want to take it easy on Ken — that would be an insult in its own way — but she didn’t want to brutalize him either. She decided she’d try to redirect shots away from him if she could.

When the ball came over the net, she bumped it back, away from Ken. One of his teammates dove for it, bouncing the ball high into the air. Momo expected one of the other members to set it, but then Ken leapt into the air, startlingly high, and spiked the ball. It soared across the net and landed in the back of class A’s side with none of their players able to intercept it.

The whistle blew. “Point to class B!” said the coach.

“Nice, Takakura!” said one boy on Ken’s team.

Momo looked wide-eyed at where the ball had landed, then back at Ken. He gave her an awkward smile and wave.

“Huh,” said Miko, “Didn’t see that coming.”

“Must’ve been a fluke,” said Muko next to her.

Momo thought the same. It was nice, at least, that he could have one good moment from what would otherwise be an embarrassing defeat. It eased her preemptive guilt about what was sure to follow.

But then the next serve came. Once more, Momo repelled it and then once more, impossibly, Ken sent it back, where it crashed into the floor. “Point to class B!” called the coach again.

Momo blinked. Was she dreaming? Was Ken possessed by a yokai?

“Ken-chan’s getting pretty lucky,” noted Miko.

“Guess every nerd gets a moment to shine from time to time,” said Muko next to her.

“Bah. Luck has little to do with this,” said Kinta, whose presence near them had gone unnoticed until that point.

“What do you mean?” asked Miko.

“Didn’t you watch the earlier events?”

“No…” said Muko quietly.

“Hmph,” said Kinta, expression disdainful. “Then you don’t know the terrifying power of Ken Takakura.”

Unnerved, Miko and Muko looked back at the game, uncertain expressions on their face.

Momo still had trouble believing that the last two points were anything more than a fluke. She just couldn’t square it with the image she had of his face getting bludgeoned by a ball so hard his glasses snapped in half from two summers ago.

The adherence to that image, however, would end up costing her team. She watched him carefully after the next serve as he leapt up, not merely with high altitude but with a surprising amount of grace, and once more smacked the ball hard into her territory. However, this time, she kept her eyes on him, knowing the ball was already a lost cause. She caught sight of his torso, a glimpse of skin visible underneath his billowing t-shirt as he fell.

What she saw then rocked her to her core, shook the foundations of everything she knew about him. It was a sight she would never forget for the rest of her life.

Abs!?

Momo’s jaw dropped and her face reddened. She hadn’t been mistaken. A six-pack. He definitely had a six-pack. Not the kind scrawny guys got just from undereating, either. It was a genuine, hard-built, muscular six-pack, one that could only have been formed in the crucible of true dedication to fitness. Where the hell had that come from!?

Her heart began to pound with different kinds of feelings, feelings that made her feel unsteady on her feet. She pushed them all down with one more: the desire to win this thing. She could figure it out later. Victory came first. Her eyes narrowed. “Alright,” she whispered. “Game on, four-eyes.”

The match intensified. With Momo actually trying, there was an actual back and forth between the two teams, often prolonged for over two minutes. Yet every time, it ended the same way: someone set up Ken and he brought the ball down like the asteroid that killed the dinosaurs.

Momo realized she had to do something. Her competitive side finally kicked in and now she was willing to play dirty. She concentrated, picturing light rising from her abdomen and out of her head and limbs. She would win this, even if she had to “cheat” to do so.

On the game point, once more Ken spiked it towards them. This time Momo had no faith in her teammates to repel it and dove for it herself. It appeared for a moment as though only the barest edges of her fingertips brushed the ball, but somehow, it went flying up, enough for a teammate to set it while she pushed herself back on her feet. With her chi flowing fully, she leapt high into the air and smashed the ball with all her might, crying, “Nessie!”

But before the ball could hit class B’s side, Ken was already there, diving to bump it up. Momo couldn’t believe it. He couldn’t have reacted to the speed of her chi-empowered spike. It was impossible. That could only mean… He read my moves!?

As she had done, he leapt to his feet, shaking off what must’ve been one hell of a tingle in his arms at the impact while another class B member got below the ball. He set it up for Ken for the grand finale of spikes. As Ken leapt into the air, Momo prepared to block it, trying to follow the path of his arm. She positioned herself where she knew he would send it and braced herself.

But instead of a spike, Ken gave it the gentlest possible tap. The ball leisurely fell just an inch over the net and hit the floor.

One final whistle blew. “Game, class B!” called the coach, gesturing to the winning side.

While Momo blushed, embarrassed at how she’d been deceived, she watched class B suddenly mob Ken en masse, cheering excitedly and forming a crowd so dense Momo lost sight of him. In a few seconds, their cacophonous cheers distilled into a chant of just one word, or more accurately, a name. “Ta-ka-ku-ra! Ta-ka-ku-ra! Ta-ka-ku-ra!” Idly, Momo noticed Aira shooting her her own smug look before joining class B at the edge of the gathering. Still chanting, the crowd shuffled away, taking Ken with them.

A few seconds later, Miko and Muko approached Momo, also in disbelief, but not completely stunned as she was. “So,” said Muko. “Ken-chan’s, uh, pretty fit, huh?” Momo gave no response. “Hello? Momo?”

Miko waved her hand in front of Momo’s eyes and snapped her fingers twice. When she didn’t react, Miko simply said, “She’s gone.”

“I don’t really blame her,” said Muko. “I mean, if my boyfriend turned into an Olympic athlete overnight I’d probably freeze up too.”

Momo didn’t come out of her stupor to correct Muko. Instead, she still struggled to wrap her head around what she had just witnessed, what she had just experienced. It was like she had stepped into the finale of a sports anime without watching the previous eleven episodes or something. The theory that Ken had been possessed by a yokai seemed more plausible now. But his aura had been identical to how it was every day. His chi hadn’t erupted. All he had was what she now knew was his tight, muscular body.

But it wasn’t just his strength. It was his dexterity, his agility, the way he always knew exactly where to be and how to get there. And on top of that, his classmates celebrated his achievement like he was the most popular kid in the grade. Exuberant though they were, they didn’t do it with any amount of surprise. It was as though they had expected it.

“Ken-chan…” she whispered blankly.

“Hey, she’s back,” said Muko, but on examination of Momo’s still wide, distant eyes, added, “sort of.”

“Momo,” said Miko gently, as though she were a nurse talking to a mental health patient in the midst of a particularly bad episode, “how about we change out of our P.E. clothes and the two of us will wait until he comes out of the gym? Does that sound good?”

“Uh-huh…” she muttered.

Momo got dressed and walked out with her friends on autopilot as her brain defragmented itself. She had to start from the only thing she knew for sure: Ken was fit now.

Some things started to make sense. The pretty girls in his class that greeted him so warmly — they must have seen his performance in gym class. But they had done that very early on, in the first week of school, which meant that Ken’s athleticism wasn’t new. It had been there for months at least.

That made what Aira said when Momo had asked how they knew each other make more sense. She’d called him strong. And Momo knew he was… emotionally, anyway. But Aira didn’t know that. She had somehow witnessed him be strong physically. What exactly had she seen, Momo wondered?

The boys in his class must have eventually gotten on the bandwagon too — he probably helped their teams win when they played soccer or something. The bullies… Of course. Those two douchebags tormenting that heavier student had backed off when Ken intervened. They weren’t just swayed by his passionate defense. They were afraid of his rising social capital, driven by his athletics. And Ken had helped their victim off the ground so easily…

God, she’d even felt his muscles before! Her negative reinforcement to acquire a cell phone had her fists digging into what she had thought was strangely hard flesh. She’d written it off as just him being bony or wearing multiple layers, the foolish girl she was. Yet more foolish was that she’d put her head against his hard pectorals just this week when they read the passage from Romeo and Juliet and still not realized it! But at least there she had had a good reason for being distracted…

“Ken-chan…” she whispered again.

“Speak of the devil,” said Muko, pointing to the entrance.

Momo looked. Ken was walking out of the gymnasium, two of his male classmates at his side, all three smiling as they talked. He looked like he was from a completely different universe in this context. When he saw Momo, he told the other boys something and they exchanged waves before he ran over to her.

“Ayase-san!” he said, beaming at her.

“Hey,” she breathed. “Um. Good game.” It was all she could think to say.

“Good game,” he replied with a nod.

They looked at each other in silence for a while. She had no idea what to do here and if he did, he wasn’t telling.

“Yo, Takakura!” said a voice behind Momo. She glanced back at it; another boy from Ken’s class was approaching. He passed Momo and put his arm around Ken’s neck before pulling him close. “I’m throwin’ a party at my place — you’re comin’, right?”

“Ah, um,” Ken mumbled awkwardly.

“C’mon man, you’re the hero of the day! Ya gotta!”

“You should go,” Momo said quietly.

At her gentle tone, Ken looked at her as if surprised she would say it. “Ayase-san…” he said softly.

“Yeah dude, listen to her!” said the boy. He turned to Momo. “You wanna come too? I think it’d be your kinda scene.”

The question somehow caught her off guard. She hadn’t realized it until this second, but her mind had put a mental wall between Ken and herself after the game. Some part of her saw him in a different world. One where she wasn’t sure she belonged. “Oh, no, that’s okay. I’ve gotta…” She thought quickly. “I’ve gotta help my granny with something.”

“Y’sure? It’s gonna be pretty wild!”

“Yeah, sorry, you know how family is,” she said with as best a smile as she could force. “But you should go, Ken-chan! Have a great time.”

He gazed at her with a still uncertain expression. After a moment, he said, “Alright…”

Momo turned, letting the smile drop from her face, and began to walk away. “Ayase-san!” she heard him call. She swiveled around to look at him. “I’ll see you at the dance, right?” he asked, his voice full of need for confirmation.

Her smile returned, this time genuine. “Definitely.”

The two parted ways. Momo walked with her friends until they arrived at the school gates, then began the lonely trek home. All the while, she ruminated on Ken. His final question had warmed what she only then realized was a cold pit she’d fallen into. Still she felt a distance between them — there was a whole world of his she didn’t know.

Why had he kept it from her? After everything they had shared these past months, did he still not trust her with his complete self? He could share his passion for the occult, but not for physical fitness? What did that say about how he saw her?

She ate her dinner, washed the dishes, and rested on her bed pondering these things. After a while, she couldn’t resist the urge to pick up her phone and text him, “How’s the party?”

She figured she wouldn’t get a reply back anytime soon, but his ping came in almost immediately. “It was fine. I already left.”

This cracked the shell of ice that surrounded her. “Why?”

“It wasn’t that fun. It was just kind of loud. I think some of them were drunk too. I stayed away from the punch bowl just in case.”

Her heart, her selfish heart, filled with warmth at this. She had seen him have fun around her, she was certain of that. Maybe she was being overconfident, but she felt that if she had been there, they both could have had fun. And maybe, just maybe that meant that she was still in his heart after all. Whether or not it was the exact place she wanted to be, she didn’t know. But she wasn’t gone. Not completely.

“I’m sure you’ll have more fun at the dance,” read her simple message.

“I think so too,” he replied.

Tomorrow. She would see him again tomorrow. Then she would understand exactly who he was and where she stood with him now.

She hoped he would still be Ken-chan. The one she’d known all along. Her Ken-chan.

And no one else’s.

Chapter Text

When Ken caught sight of her, he was floored. Momo wore a deep red dress with long white gloves and high heels, a far cry from her usual gyaru flair. Her hair was done up as well, its shape so distinctly styled away from her purposefully messy bob. Most strikingly of all was her makeup. The color of her lipstick, matching her dress, stood out to him in particular.

By contrast, all he’d done to prepare for the dance was comb his hair and put on a cheap dark green suit. As he had done so many times with her, he felt inadequate. His instinct was to walk away, to let her splendor shine unimpeded by his insufficiency. Somehow, he caught himself and clenched his fist. No. No more. Still, it didn’t make his legs feel any less like jelly, nor did it makes his breathing any lighter as he approached.

But then she saw him. A smile blossomed on her face and she waved to him. Instantly, he felt his blood carry more than enough oxygen to sustain him. “Hey, Ken-chan,” she greeted as he reached her.

“Hey, Ayase-san,” he returned.

“Nice suit. It looks good on you,” she said softly.

His heart thumped. He looked good? Him? To her? “Y-you too,” he whispered nervously. “I mean, you’re not wearing a suit, of course, but what you’re wearing— I mean, your whole appearance is…” He cleared his throat. “You also look nice, is what I mean to say.”

She suppressed a giggle at his verbal stumbling. Instead, with a sweet tone, she said, “thanks.”

Silence fell over them, walling off the music of the dance floor. “So,” said Ken after a minute, “where’s your, um, date?”

Momo gave him a puzzled look. “Huh?”

“Your date? The guy you came with? Is he getting you punch?”

She smirked. “I don’t have one. I came alone. Well, with Miko, Muko, and their dates, but I didn’t wanna fifth wheel it, so I’m just hangin’ out, people-watchin’.”

His expression brightened by a few shades. “Ah, I see.”

“What about you?”

He shook his head. “I’m not here with anyone either.”

She raised an eyebrow. “Really? Mister popular sports star didn’t get a date?”

He gazed off to the side, hand on the rim of his glasses. Several girls had approached him to be their date at the dance. He turned down all of them, politely as he could. “Well… not many people knew I could do that before yesterday. Most girls probably already had dates.”

“Most,” said Momo, “but not all, clearly.”

“Right.”

Another minute passed with only the music in the background to fill the air. Just then, the DJ’s voice came over the speakers, “Alright, partygoers, this next song’s gonna be a slow one, so get ready to grab your partner and sway to the gentle beat!”

Both Momo and Ken blushed at this and their eyes grew wide. Ken started to sweat. A slow dance was romantic, wasn’t it? At least it was something couples did; the DJ just implied as much. If he could dance with Momo, then…

The thought of her rejection pierced his mind as soon as he considered it. It shook him, knowing that if she did refuse, that would be it for him. Forever. He glanced at her. I’m sorry, Ayase-san.

Then he took in her image. Truly took it in. She was so unbelievably beautiful, the most gorgeous thing he had ever seen. And in her eyes, there was something… it seemed almost unfulfilled. Wanting. Could it be…?

Once more he clenched his fist. This was the moment. His moment. This was when he would not back down, when he would muster all his courage, all that he had ever had and all he ever would.

Taking a deep breath, he looked at her and shouted, “Ayasesanwouldyouliketodancewithme!?”

Momo recoiled from the startle of it. Then she blinked twice before asking, “What?”

Ken felt his confidence deflate. Hunched over, he began to turn away and walk.

But then he felt her gloved hand grasp his and pull, the way it had years ago when she first invited him to play. Even insulated by cloth, it felt as magical as it did back then. “Wait,” she said urgently. “Sorry, sorry, I didn’t understand you at first. Did you ask me to dance?”

He looked at her like a bespectacled deer in headlights. “Um… uh…”

“Because I would like to,” she added, seeing him struggle. “I really would.”

His eyes widened. His posture righted itself until once more he stood over her. “Yes,” he said quietly. “Thank you.”

She smiled. “Great!”

She led him to the dance floor. The slow song had just begun. Ken felt like he was walking on a cloud, so incredible was this situation. However, something occurred to him at that moment. How do I slow dance?!

As Momo relinquished his hand, he planted his feet and began to lean left and right in time with the beat. Momo almost laughed. “What are you doing?”

“D-dancing?”

“Right. Great technique. But I think I have some pointers.”

“Oh, okay,” he said with genuine relief.

She took his hand again. Slowly, she guided it to her hip. Ken’s head nearly exploded from the sudden rush of blood as his palm made contact with her dress. “You put that here,” she said gently before reaching up to lay her hand on his shoulder. “And I put this there. Then…” His heartbeat accelerated to a rate at risk of a cardiac event. Her free hand grasped his. Instinct took over and he let their fingers interlace. “Just like that. Now we move to the rhythm.”

Ken swallowed harder than he ever had in his life as he watched her begin to put weight on one foot, then the other in time with the melody. As if sensing his nerves, she gave him a bit of force, prompting him to sway and step with her. “I-is this okay?” he whispered, just loudly enough to be audible.

She nodded. “Mhm. That’s perfect.”

As they continued to dance, however, Ken felt his foot drag and he nearly stumbled. “Ah, sorry,” he said as he caught himself.

Momo chuckled. “You can pull all kinds of sick volleyball moves but this makes you klutzy?”

“I practiced a lot for those. I’ve never done this before,” he protested with some embarrassment.

“You’re psyching yourself out,” she said. “You’re in your own head, aren’t you?”

When wasn’t he? “I guess so.”

She felt his hand on her hip; it had been shaking ever since he began the contact. She gave him an imploring look. “You don’t need to be nervous,” she said with tender reassurance. “You’re not doing anything wrong.”

“R-really?” he asked in total disbelief.

“Yeah. In fact,” she blushed lightly, “you don’t ever have to be nervous when holding me.”

A wave of simultaneous shock and calm washed over Ken as his mouth fell open. He let himself give into the latter feeling. “Okay,” he said with some measure of self-confidence. His hand stopped shaking. His feet stopped dragging. Suddenly, he was in perfect sync with her.

She smiled. “There you go.”

They danced peacefully for a bit, simply gazing into each other’s eyes. Hers were so beautiful. He could look into them forever, if she let him. Little did he know, she thought the same about his.

“So,” she said, trying to offload some of the burgeoning burden on her heart, “how did you get to be so skilled at volleyball?”

“Ah, well…” He looked away. “Do you remember when we played it at camp?”

She nodded. “I do.”

“That didn’t exactly end well for me, if you’ll recall.”

That was, of course, an understatement. “Right.”

“I felt like I was really uncool then… and I didn’t like that feeling.” His gaze became faraway as he recollected. “So as soon as I got home I researched fitness regimens. Strength training, aerobics, diets, everything. I joined a few different extracurricular sports teams to get extra work in.”

“You joined sports teams?” asked Momo incredulously. “I never would’ve imagined. No offense.”

“None taken,” he replied. “I wouldn’t have predicted it either. But that’s how awful I felt about looking bad in front of you.”

She took in his words, feeling a heavy beat in her chest. “It doesn’t make zero sense,” she said evenly. “Your passion has always pushed you to master whatever you want. Whether it’s aliens, cryptids, throwing a ball or, I guess, exercise, when you want something, really want it, you give it your all.”

Now he was the one being affected by her words. “I guess so,” he said quietly, eyes half-lidded. My passion is you…

“And you didn’t join any of the sports clubs? They could probably use someone like you.”

He glanced to the side. Hesitating for a moment, he replied, “Well… it’s not exactly what I want to do with my time after school.”

“Why didn’t you tell me about all of this?”

With slightly red cheeks, he said, “I just thought… it would be cool if you saw me get stronger without realizing.”

She gave him a surprised look. “You did?”

“Yeah,” he answered. “I have pride, you know, as a man.” I wanted to be good enough for you. “So… am I cool now?”

She laughed softly, her fear from the previous night partially soothed by his words. “Didn’t yesterday answer that for you?”

He gained an uncertain expression. “Well… maybe…”

“I was really surprised. You’re so different now,” Momo said with a tone Ken didn’t fully understand. Her voice was soft and her words were slow, as if it was hard for her to say them. “When we met, you told me no one wanted to be your friend. Now everyone wants that.” She averted her gaze. “You don’t need lil ol’ Momo anymore.”

He didn’t respond. Her eyes returned to him, looking for some kind of response. He looked gobsmacked, as if she had the sun was made of ice, and offended like she’d just slapped his mother. “That’s not true,” he said in his most confident voice of the night. “That couldn’t possibly be true. Please don’t ever say that again.”

His words, so strongly given, filled her heart with relief and she felt heat collect her around her eyes. “For the record,” she said, her voice muted by the feeling in her throat, “I don’t think you were uncool at camp. You were trying to protect my face from getting hit by the ball instead, weren’t you?”

He blinked. She had read his intention? She didn’t think he embarrassed himself? “Y-yeah, actually.”

“For that reason… and so many others,” she added with a smile, “I’ve always thought you were cool.” She looked down. “The coolest guy I know. Since the day we met.”

Once more he looked surprised, but this time not in any kind of outrage. Suddenly, his body knew what to do. His hand traveled from her hip, up her flank, and behind to her back. Her breath hitched at this, but something about that didn’t deter him; instead, it encouraged him. With just enough force to convey his intent, he pulled her in until her head rested on his shoulder.

For a moment, her eyes grew large and she tensed up. Then the warmth of his body spread through hers and she relaxed. “Ken-chan…” she whispered.

“Thank you, Ayase-san.” He pulled just a bit more tightly. “For everything.”

A few seconds passed. Momo wanted to — no, she needed to say something. If she didn’t, her heart would rupture her ribcage and she would die right there on the dance floor. “Hey,” she said in a somber tone. “I want to tell you something.”

“What is it?”

She gulped. It wanted to come out. It wanted to escape confinement and be free at last, even if it had to destroy her in the process. “I… I really like having lunch with you, you know.”

He smiled. “I like it too.”

“I mean it. I look forward to it every day.”

“So do I.”

Relief and happiness filled her. In an even smaller voice, she said, “We’ve never formally said it, but…” She could feel herself trembling as she prepared to say what came next. “I… I always want to… have lunch… with you.”

His lips parted as disbelief took him. “Ayase-san…”

“It’s okay if there are other people. It’s okay if something gets in the way sometimes. I won’t mind. But whenever I can, whenever we can…” She looked up at him, eyes shimmering with raw feeling. “I want to eat with you. Together. For as long as possible.”

Emotion flooded his mind. He felt pinpricks around his eyes. The hand at her back moved upwards again. With it and his forearm, he pulled and held her head against his chest. Taking a breath to steady himself, in a soothing voice, he replied, “I would like that.” The tension seemed to leave her body as his words washed over her, replaced by pure serenity, which she welcomed readily. “It’s not just lunch, you know,” he added quietly.

“Oh?”

“When we walk to school every morning and home every afternoon… whenever we hang out on weekends… I look forward to that too. In fact,” he steeled himself, “The idea of not getting to walk home with you is… part of why I haven’t joined a sports club.”

Momo’s blood turned hot in her veins, almost overwhelmingly so. “Really?” she whispered, so soft as if it were the most sensitive of secrets.

“Really.” His tone held no reservation. “Every time I get to see you is special to me, Ayase-san.”

Her pulse quickened. Her cheeks turned crimson. Her heart leapt into her throat. With immense, near worshipful gratitude for him, she settled back into the gentle rhythm of the dance.

Then she heard him laugh a single light laugh. “What’s so funny?” she asked.

His voice was steady, absent his usual uncertainty, as he replied, “Just thinking… even after all this time, you’re still… my Risu.”

Momo’s lips parted as her eyes went wide. The word, their word, ancient but unforgotten, pierced her heart with the shock of a bullet, but in the place of pain, there was only joy.

She hadn’t said everything. No, far from it. But even that answer to the release of this small sliver of her feelings became too much for Momo, just barely too much, and a single tear escaped confinement. She nuzzled his chest, letting his suit dry her cheek. “Thank you, Ken-chan.”

They swayed together slowly as the song reached its final chorus. Momo felt total peace in her heart. For a moment, all of her worries were gone. They would return, she knew, but here, now, with him, she could let them lie beyond the gates of her mind.

But then, just as the song ended, she heard something: a soft thud. She looked over Ken’s shoulder to find its source. There, with an expression of shock, of betrayal, stood Aira, her handbag on the ground in front of her.

So struck by Aira’s countenance was Momo that she couldn’t even mold her own to that of victory or superiority. Aira took a slow step backwards, then another, before turning and walking out of the gymnasium as fast as her high heels would allow her.

A pang of frustrating sympathy struck her and Momo sighed. “Hey, Ken-chan?” She pulled away from him.

“Oh, are we done?” he asked, his voice laced with disappointment.

“No, no, I just… I have to go to the bathroom. I’ll be right back. Don’t dance with anyone else, okay?”

He relaxed with a smile. “I won’t.”

Momo picked Aira’s handbag up before she took off after her. In seconds, she found her outside the building, sitting on the steps, clutching her shoulders, her body visibly shaking. As Momo approached, she could hear clear sobs coming from her. “Hey,” Momo said as she hefted the purse, “you forgot something.”

Aira turned. On her face were a look of startle, running mascara, and twin streams of tears. Her expression flipped to anger. “Wh-what do you want?” she asked aggressively. “Come here to gloat? Lord your victory over the pathetic loser?”

“Nah,” said Momo. “I’m not you. I’m the kind of person who doesn’t like it when something makes someone cry. Even when it’s a loathsome skank like yourself.”

“Hmph,” Aira huffed, turning away from her.

Momo sat down next to her. “You wanna talk about it?” she inquired gently.

“What, with you?” Aira spat bitterly.

“I’m probably the person you’re most real with, sad as that is,” replied Momo. “So this is your best chance to get it out.”

Aira looked away from her. After a moment, her tone much softer, she muttered, “I don’t get it. Why does he like you more than me? What do you have that I don’t? Is it really just the fact that you met when you were babies?”

Momo shrugged. “Maybe that’s part of it. But you know what I think?” Aira looked at her, hesitant but curious. “I think it comes down to this. I want the chance to love him. Love him with all my heart, honestly and completely. But you? You want to be loved most of all.”

Aira bristled at this. “No…” she whispered weakly. “That’s… that’s not true.”

“Isn’t it? Look at you. You surround yourself with as many followers as you can, pretty girl that you are with your perfect purity routine, and they all fall for it. None of them like the real you and you know that, deep down. You’re so addicted to the attention that you can’t bring yourself to show who you actually are because some part of you knows that they would leave if they saw that deep down ugliness. It’s probably so automatic at this point you don’t even realize you’re doing it.”

Aira swallowed, eyes half-lidded. She could formulate no rebuttal against Momo’s analysis. “Just… shut up,” she murmured.

“But, well,” said Momo, glossing over Aira’s command, “there is a part of you that genuinely loves Ken-chan. I hate to admit it, but I can see it inside you. It’s just overshadowed by the big mean bitch part of you. If you could cut that part out, really just embrace the love inside, you might start down the road of becoming a real person.”

Eyes downcast, Aira was silent for a long moment. “You know, you’re not as bad as I thought you were,” she uttered softly.

“You are as bad as I thought. Maybe worse.” Momo took on a small smile. “But maybe you’re not totally hopeless. Maybe.” Again they sat without speaking. After a minute, Momo spoke up, “By the way, you never did tell me why you fell for him. Care to divulge this bit of intelligence to the enemy at last?”

Aira weighed her question. Eventually, she answered, “It was the first week of school. Obviously.”

“Right.”

“I was in the exercise machine room, on the treadmill. I saw him across the room and thought he was just some nerd. I wrote him off right away. But then, when I was running, I accidentally pushed the speed up too high and slipped.”

“Yowch,” Momo said earnestly.

“I didn’t hit the ground. Before I knew it, he had caught me in one arm. Just one. Easily. I was still scared by the fall, but when I saw his face, so genuinely worried for me, my fear vanished and I felt… something. Something I’d never really felt before for anyone.”

Momo nodded. “I can believe that.”

“He asked me if I was okay. He looked into my eyes and asked if I was dizzy, if that was the reason I fell. I… played into it and pretended my blood sugar was low,” Aira admitted sheepishly.

“I can believe that too.”

“And he… he went to the vending machine and bought me a sports drink. Without me asking or anything. He just… did it, no hesitation.” Aira said this like he had scaled a dangerous mountain or crossed a broken down rickety bridge for her. “I’ve never been cared for like that without having to…”

“Put on an act?”

Aira’s brief silence was a tacit confirmation. “I just couldn’t get enough of that unknown feeling inside me. I wanted more of it. A lot more. When he was convinced I was okay, he went to go lift weights, and, well,” she blushed, “that was its own treat. I could’ve watched him forever, just reveling in that feeling. I knew right away he was something special. And I…” She stifled a sob. “I wanted that specialness all for myself.”

Momo found herself nodding along to Aira’s story. “I really, really understand that.”

Weakly, Aira asked, “Was it the same for you?”

“Sort of. I met him before he was athletic. He was pretty scrawny, actually. Couldn’t even throw a ball right without me teaching him.” Her recollection begat a smile. “But he did show me concern without reservation or judgment, just like you. And when that nerd cares for you, especially in a time of need, it’s like…” She searched for the words. “It’s like the sun shines through a tiny gap in stormy clouds just for you. When everything is dark around you, how can you not love the thing that gives you light?”

Aira began to weep in earnest once more. “You can’t…” she choked out before sniffling for a moment. “That’s why, when I saw you with him, already clearly so close to his heart… I felt a desperate need to intervene. To stop you from carving out the space I wanted. So I learned about you and made my plan to get you out of my way.”

Momo chuckled softly. “You don’t have to remind me of your craziness,” she assured her. “But you can’t capture the sun. Keep it in a cage. Take it for yourself and no one else. It has to stay in the sky, where it can warm everyone.”

Aira sat with this for several seconds. Her voice still quiet, but more resolute, she said, “I’m not giving up.”

Momo let out a long breath. “Yeah, I figured I wouldn’t be that lucky.” She pushed herself up off the stairs. “But I’m ready for you. Do your worst. It won’t change how this ends.”

Back in the gymnasium, Momo spotted Ken looking around worriedly. He caught sight of her and his expression relaxed. “Ayase-san!” he said with adorable excitement.

Momo smiled as she approached him. “Sorry about that. The line was really long.”

“Oh, that’s okay.” His anxious face returned. “They’re not playing slow songs anymore. Do you… still want to dance with me?” he asked in a worried tone.

Her expression brightened further. Indeed, the tune blaring over the speakers now was a fast paced pop song. “Absolutely.”

“I-I’m not sure I can do a fast dance,” he admitted. “I had enough trouble with a slow one.”

Still smiling, she rolled her eyes before reaching out to grab his hands with both of hers. “Shut up and dance with me.”

She began to cut a rug. Somehow, in this limited embrace, he found himself regaining the comfort she’d given him earlier. He felt the rhythm in his body. He felt her energy augment his own. He listened as song after song played and when one came on that she loved, she would sing along at the top of her voice, not caring if anyone heard. In short order, he was following her lead, letting himself move in time with the beat without any self-consciousness. All thanks to her.

Everything about her was wonderful. Everything about her made him happy. He hoped, one day, he could make her that happy too.

Their hearts and minds carefree, they danced the night away.

Chapter Text

Never had Momo had a more pleasant Sunday than the one she was having at this moment.

At the end of the previous night, Ken had simply said, “So, tomorrow, do you want to…”

She immediately replied, “Yep!” And that was enough. The next morning, he was at her doorstep, dressed for a day out.

The atmosphere around them as they walked through the mall was magical. There was no other way to put it. Sure, she hadn’t said everything the night before, but what she had said — what he’d said — had done wonders to alleviate some of the stranglehold around her heart she hadn’t realized she’d felt. It was as though she hadn’t been able to breathe properly before. Now that she could, the air around her was almost intoxicating.

She glanced at him. He was so cute. Always had been, she was comfortable recognizing now. The giggle that came out of her at the sight of him made his head turn towards her and he asked, “What’s up?”

“Hm?”

“You were laughing.”

“Oh, that? That was nothing,” she replied innocently.

“Come on, tell me,” he urged.

She shook her head. “Nuh-uh.” A bright smile crossed her features. “It’s a secret.”

Something about the way she said this made him blush lightly. “Well, okay then.”

God, he was so cute. She felt high on his adorableness, on the new dynamic she felt between them. Indeed, high as she was, she felt her inhibitions dip ever so slightly. With a gesture full of whimsy, she reached over to his hand and tapped it with the barest force.

He looked down at his extremity, then at her. “What was that?” he asked with a bit of uncertainty.

“Hm?”

“You… you touched my hand,” he explained.

“I don’t think I did. Must have been the wind,” she replied sweetly.

“I didn’t feel any wind…” he muttered.

“Oh, didn’t you? You must have been distracted.”

“Right… distracted.” He turned his gaze forward. “You’re the distraction,” he whispered inaudibly.

Or so he thought.

His words only encouraged Momo’s playfulness. She brought her hand to his again; this time she drew her fingers across the back of it in a long stroke. He twisted to his side, but Momo had pulled her wrists behind her back and was looking off to the side, her lips puckered as she whistled inconspicuously. She pretended to notice his gaze and said, “What? What’s up?”

He sighed. “More wind?”

She nodded. “Yep. Maybe a storm’s coming in.”

“Maybe…” he uttered, once more facing forward. After a moment, he said, “You know, my hand is pretty warm. I wish I could tell… the wind… I don’t mind the breeze.”

Momo’s heart thumped. Yet again, she reached for his hand. This time, hers was slower and trembled slightly as it approached. The instant it made contact, without looking, he moved his hand with the lightning reflexes he’d demonstrated at the sports festival and caught hers fully.

Her eyes shot wide, her mouth fell open, and her face turned beet red. He looked at her, at her startled, flustered expression, his own bashful features a touch crimson. “The wind… sure feels good,” he said softly.

A drum roll played in Momo’s ribcage. She swallowed heavily and felt a bit faint. Amazingly, she resisted the instinct to pull away, and let him keep his prize instead. “Y-yeah,” she said in a tiny voice. “It’s a nice, windy day.”

Quietly, they continued to walk down the path, hand in hand. The sensation they shared triggered their fight-or-flight responses. Amazingly, they chose neither.

The rest of the day was nothing but lovely. They visited a lot of stores, mostly to window shop. They stopped by a bookstore and checked out manga they were interested in but had zero intention of buying. The only money they did spend was at an arcade, where Ken insisted on playing a good amount of games.

At first, Momo thought he was merely indulging in some merriment, maybe showing off his skills at games like basketball or Skee-Ball. However, after he won a specific amount of tickets, he brought her to the prize counter and asked the clerk for a certain prize. Momo almost jumped out of her skin when she saw it was a pink, heart-shaped pillow.

But then Ken flipped it over and revealed the green cloth leaf that came out of its valley and she realized it was actually a peach. This also made her blush, but not panic. After she gave him some quiet, stuttering thanks, she held the pillow tightly to her chest while they walked out.

Whenever they entered any store, they naturally had to relinquish each other’s hand to look at the wares. Whenever they left, Momo would pout, eyes like a puppy begging for a treat, until Ken grasped her hand again, putting a smile and still a bit of red back on her face.

At the end of the day, they shared dinner. It wasn’t a date. Of course it wasn’t. Neither of them had said it was, so it couldn’t be. Besides, they hadn’t sat at a restaurant or anything; they had just picked up some fast food so they could eat it on a bench. No way that, or even the whole day, could be misconstrued as any kind of date. No one would think so. Even with the majesty of the sunset they watched together while they ate.

That didn’t stop Momo from wishing it was one, though.

He walked her home in the quiet of the cool night air. Momo was sad the day had to end, but not wretchedly so. She knew that things were different now. They held hands now, and even though it had been a leap for both of them at the start of the day, by the end it was perfectly normal, perfectly right for them.

Was it the real final step she wanted? No, of course not. Their farewell at her door, a simple chaste, platonic appreciation of the fun they’d had, would have been substantially different if it was. But it was different from how it would have been before the dance. Wonderfully, splendidly different.

And so, with a smile on her face, she fell asleep clutching the pillow he’d won her, looking forward to the next day when she would see him once again.

“Is there a Momo Ayase-san here?” asked the security officer who had entered the classroom the next day.

Momo perked up. “Um, I’m Momo Ayase,” she said with a wary tone.

“Please come to the front and bring your backpack.”

“Okay…” she muttered. Was she being called out of class? Had something happened? Was her granny in trouble or something? As she approached, the officer snatched her bag out of her hands. “Hey!” she said with a startle. Without responding, the officer started pulling things out of it rapidly. “Wh-what’re you doing? That’s my private stuff!” she protested.

Finally, the officer seemed to find what he was looking for: a small cylindrical object Momo didn’t recognize. “What is this?” he asked her.

“I don’t know,” said Momo. “I’ve never seen it before. Is it a weird lipstick or something?”

“Hmm.” The officer pressed his thumb into a spot on the cylinder. A small blade flipped out of the top of it. “A switchblade knife. Why do you have this?”

“I-I don’t know!” she said again, panic rising sharply in her voice. “I told you, I’ve never seen it!”

“Bringing deadly weapons onto school grounds is strictly prohibited,” said the officer, accusation in his gaze.

“I didn’t— it’s not mine! Someone must have put it in my bag by accident!”

“Right. Please come with me to the principal’s office.”

“No, I—”

“Please come with me or I will bring you by force.”

Momo began to sweat. “Okay, fine, but I swear I didn’t bring it here!”

“The principal will handle the matter.”

With worried looks on their faces, Miko and Muko watched as Momo was escorted out.

Meanwhile, in class 1-C, during a free period, Aira sat lost in thought, eyes half-lidded. All weekend long, she had ruminated on her talk with Momo. She would never have expected she could have such a genuine, unguarded conversation with her rival, about their rivalry no less. Momo’s words still lingered in her mind: “You want to be loved most of all.”

“Most of all…” she whispered. Maybe Momo wasn’t 100% wrong. Maybe she was only 99% wrong. 99.9%.

“Whoa,” said Anzu, looking at her phone next to Aira and Tsubame.

“Hm?”

“Momo Ayase just got suspended.”

Aira’s eyes widened dramatically. Oh shit. “Wh-why?” she asked quietly, though she was certain she already knew the answer.

“Apparently she brought a knife to class.”

“Sh-she did!?” Aira squeaked, putting on as much of an act as she could given her internal panic. She had totally forgotten about the switchblade and her anonymous report of it to the principal in the wake of her talk with Momo at the dance.

“It makes sense,” said Tsubame. “We all knew what a delinquent she is. Still, I didn’t think even she was that bad.”

Aira’s heart pounded as conflict built within her. Teeth clenched, she stood up and bolted out of the classroom, leaving behind her friends calling after her. “Fuck, fuck, fuuuck!” she hissed as she sprinted through the school, not caring about the teachers who told her not to run in the hall. In a minute she was at the gate, looking around frantically.

She spotted her target. “Momo!” she called to the girl in the distance.

Momo turned around. Her expression was filled with pure, unfiltered outrage. Somehow, however, it darkened even further when she laid eyes on Aira. “What do you want?” Momo snarled.

Aira ran up to her. “I…” She gulped. She couldn’t believe what she was feeling: guilt. Guilt at her actions against Momo, whom she hated. “I heard about… things. I… I’m sorry that happened.”

Momo raised an eyebrow before her gaze narrowed. “You,” she growled. “It was you. Of course it was you. God damn it, how did I not see that immediately?”

Aira recoiled. “N-no, I—”

“Shut the fuck up.” Momo’s tone allowed no disagreement. “Let’s cut the bullshit. I know you did it. You know you did it. I don’t know how, but you did. And now you’re here to laugh at me.”

“I’m not, I swear—”

“God, I can’t believe I felt bad for you!” Momo shouted in exasperated disbelief. “Talked to you about your feelings like your friend! What the fuck was I thinking? As if a sociopath like you would even have feelings.” She glowered at Aira with as much wrath as she could muster. “Well guess what, asshole? It worked. You win. You ruined my fucking life just like you said you would.”

Aira couldn’t respond. This was not the glorious victory she had planned. If anything, it felt like a devastating defeat.

“What, got nothing else to say? Cat got your tongue?” asked Momo sardonically.

“I…” Aira whispered. “I’m sorry.”

“Oh really? You’re sorry? Super duper sorry? Then how about you march on over to the principal and admit you framed me?” Momo watched her avert her gaze. “Yeah. That’s what I thought. You know what?” She gave Aira a facetious smile. “I was wrong. You are completely hopeless.”

With that, Momo resumed her walk away from campus, leaving behind Aira, who could bring herself to do nothing but look on.

Hours later, Momo was in her pajamas, scowling at a Ken Takakura movie. Normally such an expression would be unthinkable here, but it had not changed since she’d left the school. She suspected her mood would not lift any time soon.

With a glance at her phone, she checked the time. It was a few minutes after classes let out. Maybe there was one thing that could raise her spirits.

She opened the text thread with Ken. He had sent several messages, having heard what happened, but she had been too upset to reply. Rather than respond to any of them, she sent a message reading, “Can you come over?”

Within seconds, she heard a knock at the door. Puzzled, Momo called, “Coming!” as Seiko wasn’t home to answer. When she opened it, her eyes widened. Ken was standing there, eyes full of concern. “How did you—”

“I was already on my way,” he explained. “I wanted to see you. I was worried. I am worried.”

As always, his care for her touched her weary heart and her scowl dissolved. She still held a frown, but it was more vulnerable and less bitter. “Come in,” she muttered. He removed his shoes and followed. Then Momo wordlessly grabbed his arm, pulled him up the stairs and into her room, sat him down on her bed, and wrapped her arms around him like he was an upright body pillow.

“A-Ayase-san…?” he whispered, having turned beet red the second he entered her room.

“Just…” she murmured into his shoulder. “Just be here with me like this for a bit.”

“A-alright,” he muttered. Some instinct rose up in him and the arm nearest her snaked around her, arriving at her back, which he began stroking gently. “Is this okay?” he asked quietly.

“Mhm,” she replied. “Keep doing that.”

Aira paced back and forth, periodically looking at her phone. Her encounter with Momo still sat heavy on her mind. Was she really going to go through with the rest of her plan? The plan that had resulted in these bizarre, painful feelings? Maybe it was wrong. Maybe she should just call it off.

Then again…

What was done was done. It didn’t mean everything had to be lost. Maybe a happy ending was still possible for someone. Two someones, even. And two people’s happiness was worth one person’s pain, wasn’t it? If the happiness was big enough? Yeah. That sounded right. And they would be happy. Happy in a very big way.

Momo would get over it, just like Aira had thought. Sure, her prospects in life may have been diminished, but she was tough. She’d proven as much over these past several months! Aira had to acknowledge it.

So Momo would bounce back and be okay, in the end. But Aira wouldn’t be okay if she let her one true love get away, would she? And neither would Ken if he didn’t end up with the most perfect girl for him. Aira couldn’t let that happen — that would be wrong. Morally speaking.

Right. Then that was that. The way forward was clear.

“So what happened then?” asked Ken. After a while, Momo had managed to gain some measure of comfort thanks to his presence and had begun telling the story.

“I told them the knife wasn’t mine, but the dumbasses didn’t believe me!” she raged. “Then they said there were allegations of me being a delinquent and cheating on my exams and they’re gonna launch their own ‘investigation’ into it! Can you believe that bullshit!?”

“A cheating delinquent? You? That doesn’t make sense.”

“I know! I only ever spend time outside of school with you, Miko and Muko and my grades are fucking good, besides English! If I were a cheater, wouldn’t I have cheated there too!?”

“I’ll testify that you don’t spend your time in unseemly ways and I’m sure your friends will too,” said Okarun resolutely.

He was so sweet. His earnest kindness pierced her anger. “Thanks. I just can’t believe this happened to me. If it doesn’t get settled the right way they might fucking expel me!”

“We’ll get this sorted,” he reassured her. “How did the knife get into your bag, anyway?”

Momo wrestled with her response. Even now, with the enormity of Aira’s transgression, Momo was disinclined to talk shit about her behind her back to someone who cared about her. But damn it, she had gone too far. It was time for the facade to crumble. “I’m pretty sure it was Aira,” she muttered.

Ken double took. “Sh-Shiratori-san? What?”

“Yeah. It was her. I’m certain of it.”

“But why would she do that?” Ken asked, confusion plain on his face.

“Because she’s fucking crazy and she hates me!” Momo spat.

“Hates you?” Ken blinked. “But you two always get along so well…”

“No we fucking don’t!” Momo returned. “She hates my guts. She wants to get with you and she sees me as a threat to that happening.”

“I… this doesn’t make sense with what I’ve seen. She’s always so nice…”

“It’s a lie. Her entire personality is a lie. She’s the fakest person I’ve ever seen and that includes literal mannequins!”

“But then… how do you know?”

“Because she fucking told me,” Momo said as if Ken was failing to understand the concept that one plus one equals two.

“She told you she planted the knife?”

“No!” Momo yelled in frustration. “Damn it, just— just listen, okay?” She took a breath. “You remember when I met her and we had lunch together? And she had you get her some melon bread?”

He nodded. “Yeah…”

“Well, while you were away, she told me to stop trying to spend time alone with you or she’d punish me. She threatened me with the prospect of not being your friend anymore. She said she’d ruin my life and she may fucking well have. She’s a lunatic, Ken-chan! A deranged lunatic without a shred of goodness in her!” Momo watched Ken sit in silence. “What?”

“It’s just… I’ve never seen any proof of this.”

Momo gave him an incredulous look. “You… you don’t believe me, do you?”

“No, it’s not that—”

“What, you think I carry a knife to school? You think I did it to myself!?”

“No!” he cried. “I’m just saying, it’s… it’s hard for me to condemn her when she’s only ever been a friend to me!”

“I’m your friend!” Momo screamed. “What about my fucking feelings!? Do they not matter to you!?”

“You know they do,” he said with a serious tone.

“Really? Because you’re sure making me wonder. What am I to you, that you can’t trust me on this? Maybe I really am just your ‘childhood friend’ and I’m destined to lose to the ‘real heroine,’” she said in a mocking tone. “Is that what our relationship is to you, Ken-chan? Is that what being your Risu means to you!? Because I thought it meant a hell of a lot more than that!”

He flinched at her invocation of their old shared name and couldn’t respond for a moment. When he recovered, he protested, “It does! I swear it does. It means everything — you mean everything to me, Ayase-san!”

“There! That’s even more proof!” She thrust a finger towards him. “You still call me that! You told me that you call a lady by her family name until you get to know her! You said that! So I guess you still don’t feel like you know me, then, do you!? We must not be close at all!”

“That’s not it!”

“Isn’t it? Isn’t it, Ken-chan!?”

“You…” His voice became small. “You still call me that.”

She blinked. “What?”

“Ken-chan. You still say ‘chan’ like I’m a little kid. You don’t just call me ‘Ken.’”

She blushed. The truth was that calling him “Ken-chan” had become of refuge of sorts. If he was just Ken-chan, the boy she met as a child, she would never have to acknowledge… “Th-that’s different!” she said with heavy fluster. “How dare you try to turn this around on me!?”

He looked down. “I-I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have done that.”

“Damn right you shouldn’t have!”

“But—”

They were cut off by the sudden ringing of Ken’s phone. He looked at his pocket, then at Momo uncertainly. “Go ahead,” she said, frustrated though she was. “But we’re not done yet.”

Nervously, he retrieved his phone. “Hello?” He paused. “Oh. Hi. What’s ha— slow down, slow down. What’s going on?” Another pause. “You are? Where? … I see. I’ll come as soon as I can.”

“Who was that?” asked Momo as he hung up the phone.

He gulped and averted his gaze. “It was… Shiratori-san,” he whispered.

Improbably, Momo’s expression hit a new low. “What the fuck did she want? Is she already making a move on you with me out of the picture?”

“No, no,” he said quickly. “She said she’s in danger and needs my help.”

Momo rolled her eyes. “Oh, yeah, sure, she’s totally in danger,” said Momo, voice dripping with sarcasm. “Right on the day where she gets me suspended. And instead of calling the cops or someone, she calls you! You’ll be right there so she can leap into your big, manly arms! Wow, what a magical coincidence!”

“I don’t know, she could really be in trouble…” muttered Ken.

“She’s lying!” howled Momo with absolute disbelief. “What are you not getting about this!? She’s a lying liar who lies all the time! It’s all she does! It’s all she knows how to do and she’ll never stop! You think I’m just mad at you? Believe it or not, I’m trying to fucking help you so you don’t get ensnared by that psychopath’s tendrils like I did!”

Ken did not respond for a second. “It’s not that I don’t believe you,” he said in a measured tone. “I don’t think you’re lying. I don’t think you would. But be that as it may…” He gave her a serious look. “If there’s even the slightest chance she really is in danger, I can’t just leave her alone.”

Momo hated what she felt for him at that moment, the memories that followed. She hated it so much that she buried it underneath the mountain of anger that came with it. “Then go!” she barked. “Go be with your precious lying skank! If you believe her over me, maybe you deserve to have her ruin your life too! So go! And don’t bother coming back because if she’s going to be in the picture with you, I don’t want to be!”

This struck Ken hard. Pain ran through his heart like a spear. His eyes showed ultimate shock, like he’d just been shot point-blank. Momo felt some amount of regret as she watched the hurt permeate his expression, felt an urge to reconsider, but she refused back down from her position. As his lips parted, all he could say was, “Ayase-san…”

“Go,” she repeated. The reduced volume of her voice somehow made it more cutting. “And close the door on your way out.”

“Okay,” said Ken softly, his tone hollow. “Goodbye, then.” With a look of pure misery, he turned around and left Momo’s room. As instructed, he shut the door behind him. Seconds later, Momo buried her face in her pillow, tears flowing in rivers from her eyes.

Chapter Text

Several minutes after Ken had left, Momo lay on her bed, taking in shaky breaths. Her tears had largely run their course, giving her some measure of soothing numbness, but her heart was nowhere close to at ease. “Idiot…” she whispered into her pillow.

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. Briefly, she hoped it was— no. She didn’t hope it was anyone. “Momo?” came Seiko’s voice.

“Go away!” Momo called back.

“I’m coming in, okay?” said Seiko, turning the knob.

“What’s the point of knocking, then…?” Momo groused as her grandmother stepped into her room, a sheet of paper in her hands.

“Hey. You doin’ okay?” Seiko’s voice was gentle.

“Mfine,” Momo muttered. “You can go now.”

Seiko sighed. “Okay, we both know that’s bullshit. I heard you screaming at Ken earlier when I got back. What happened?”

Momo thought for a moment. “He was being an asshole,” she decided.

One of Seiko’s eyebrows rose. “Really? That doesn’t sound like him.”

“Well, he was!” Momo insisted. “He sided with that bitch who got me suspended!”

“He did?”

“Yes!” She paused. “Well, kind of, anyway…”

“So that’s why you kicked him out, huh,” said Seiko.

Momo huffed. “No. She called him and told him some bullshit about being in danger. He went to go get her like the boy scout he is.”

“I thought he was an asshole.”

“He— he can be both! Some boy scouts are assholes!”

“Maybe. But from what it sounds like, he was really worried about this girl.”

“Tch. Yeah,” Momo said bitterly, “more worried about her than me.”

Seiko didn’t reply for a moment. Then she said, “I wanna show you something.”

“What?”

Seiko presented the piece of paper. Momo saw on it a crude crayon drawing of two children holding hands. Above the brown haired one was written “Momo,” while above the other, bespectacled child was a small blue scribble and the word “Risu.”

“Remember this?” asked Seiko.

Momo suppressed the emotions that came with seeing the illustration. “Yeah. I do. It’s garbage. You might as well tear it up now.”

“I could never do that,” said Seiko earnestly. “It’s such a precious thing to me.” Momo said nothing. “You know, I never understood what ‘Risu’ meant. I thought for a while you’d just written ‘Ken’ with terrible handwriting, but your penmanship wasn’t that bad even back then.”

Momo’s voice fell to a somber tone. “It’s like a title we gave each other.”

“Oh, just some nonsense nickname you kids came up with, huh?”

“It wasn’t nonsense.” For some reason, it was important to Momo that she correct that. “It’s from Polaris.”

“Ah,” said Seiko, giving her a nod. “The North Star, used by navigators to triangulate themselves for centuries. A faithful light in the darkness. So that’s what this light blue thing is above that, then?”

“Yeah…” uttered Momo softly.

“Why did you only write it above him if it was for both of you?”

“Because…” She took a deep breath. “The day I met him, Jiji and some other boys made fun of me for doing the chi training pose you had me do all the time. It hurt a lot. I even cried about it. But then Ken-chan showed up and told me it was okay. That I could do it without being embarrassed. And I… believed him.”

Her eyes grew distant in recollection. “If he hadn’t, I would’ve been mad at you. Really, I was mad at Jiji, but, y’know, I didn’t want to be mad at my crush. So I would’ve taken it out on you… if not for Ken-chan.” She said it as if realizing it just then.

“Sounds like he saved me a lot of trouble,” said Seiko.

Momo chuckled despite her mood. “Yeah. Me too. I wouldn’t have wanted to continue my training if he hadn’t.” The tiniest hint of a smile crept to her lips. “And it didn’t stop there. He told me all kinds of cool things. Not just about aliens and stuff, though that was his favorite. He told me about stars, like Polaris. I couldn’t pronounce it properly; that’s how we came up with the name. And he always cared for me and supported me. In a real way, not like those guys who fake it just to get attention from girls.”

“So you were his faithful light in the darkness and he was yours,” said Seiko. “And that’s why you fell in love with him. Because he’s the kind of boy who will see a girl in trouble and rush to help her without thinking twice.”

Momo blushed and looked away. “I never said I love him…” she muttered weakly.

“Momo, you’ve never once needed to,” said Seiko matter-of-factly. “What you feel for him is obvious. And it’s been obvious for a long time. So what’s changed? Do you think he’s not that kind of boy after all?”

Hesitating for a second, Momo replied, “I didn’t say that…”

“It sounds to me like he went to check on this berserk chick because he’s exactly who you thought he was. Right?” Momo didn’t respond. “Think it over. I’m gonna go get groceries for dinner. I’ll pick up some crab legs for you.”

In a small voice, Momo replied, “Thanks, granny.”

Seiko smirked. “It’s what grannies do.”

Minutes later, Momo looked at her phone. Her rage from earlier had mostly simmered and now her mind lingered on the memories of her diatribe against Ken. She hadn’t been wrong to be upset. She was sure of that. But, well, maybe he had a point about wanting to give a friend the benefit of the doubt. And maybe she had vented some of her insecurities about their relationship in the midst of it.

She already knew what she needed to do. There was no point in denying it. Tapping her phone’s screen, she pulled up Ken in her contacts. She didn’t want to do this through text. Not something this important.

After several rings, the call was answered. “Hello?” came Ken’s voice.

“Hey, Ken-chan,” she said in a somber tone.

“Oh,” he said, as if trying to hide his surprise. “Hey.”

Momo thought about making small talk, then decided it was just fluff when she wanted to get to the heart of the matter. “Listen, about earlier…”

“Yeah?”

She steeled herself for what came next. “I’m…sorry. I got really mad and yelled at you pretty bad and maybe… I shouldn’t have, so much. I shouldn’t have doubted our friendship. I know it’s real.” A worrying silence followed. “I… I put you in a pretty unfair position, too. Even if I know it was Aira who framed me, I also know it’s hard for you to turn against a friend.”

“I’m the one who should be sorry, Ayase-san,” he replied in a similar tone. “I should’ve been more supportive of you in your time of need. You needed that and I failed you.”

Her heart swelled at this. “It’s okay. I forgive you. You…” She hesitated, a blush coming to her cheeks. “You’re my Risu. And… I’m yours. I don’t want her to get in the way of that.”

“Thank you… I’m really glad to hear that,” he said, his tone brightening.

She smiled at that. “So… is Aira okay?” she asked idly.

“I’m on my way to her now,” he answered.

“Still? Where are you going?”

“There’s a tunnel in Shono City. It’s closed off. Apparently someone was chasing her there.”

Momo’s eyes widened and her stomach turned into a knot. “Shono City? You’re sure about that?” she asked, the concern in her voice rising rapidly.

“Yes. Why?”

“Ken-chan, you can’t go there. You have to stay away,” she said, her tone suddenly urgent.

“I can’t do that if Shiratori-san is in danger,” he insisted.

“I’m serious. There’s a yokai there. Her name is Turbo Granny. If she gets her hands on you, you’ll be cursed, and that’ll be extremely bad for you and probably others.”

“All the more reason for me to go help Shiratori-san,” he replied, his voice calm.

“Ken-chan, please listen!” Momo begged. “You can’t fight Turbo Granny! There’s no way you can win against her, even if you had ten of you!”

“I’ll be okay,” he said evenly. “I have the bracelet.”

She puzzled at this. “What bracelet?”

“The one you made me,” he answered. “Remember? At camp?”

Momo’s eyes widened. Her heart skipped a beat. “You still have that?” she whispered.

“I carry it with me everywhere. Every day.”

“I… I thought you threw it away,” she breathed in gentle disbelief.

“How could I do that? It’s a gift that you made me,” he said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

“Ken-chan…” Despite the severity of the situation, she felt overcome with emotion. She felt the lingering remnants of her anger dissolve away, leaving only the affection for him that was always at her core. “Okay,” she muttered. “The bracelet will give you some protection. But I don’t think it’ll be enough to beat her. I didn’t have as much training in making spiritual wards when I made it as I do now and I only had so many materials to work with.”

“Then I’ll just get in, grab Shiratori-san, and run.”

“No!” said Momo. “That’s the one thing you can’t do! Don’t run away, no matter what!”

“Then what should I do?”

“You have to act like everything is fine. Don’t take any of her deals and don’t run from her.”

“I see. I’ll be sure to avoid that.”

Momo was still worried. “Listen, I’m gonna come help you. Just wait until I get there, okay?”

“I can’t do that. Every second I wait is one where Shiratori-san might be hurt.”

After a quick grumble, she said, “Alright. Just try to keep things stable when you find her. I’ll get changed and be right there. Got it?”

“Got it.”

“Okay. See you in a bit.” Hanging up the phone, Momo called out, “Granny? I need you to take— oh shit!” She remembered that Seiko had gone grocery shopping and couldn’t drive Momo. “Shit, shit, fucking shit!” On foot it would have to be.

Ken arrived at the tunnel and looked around. Aira was nowhere to be found. “Shiratori-san?” he called.

“Over here!” came her voice from within the darkness.

Turning on his phone’s flashlight, he walked into the tunnel. After several steps, he found Aira, hands clasped as if in prayer, a distressed look on her face.

When she saw Ken, her expression lit up immediately. “Takakura-kun!” she squealed, skipping over to him and throwing her arms around him.

“Sh-Shiratori-san, are you okay?” he asked.

“I am, thankfully,” she replied, squeezing him tight. “I was so scared!”

“What happened?”

“Well, you know, I’ve got a bit of an interest in the spiritual. I thought I would find an interesting ghost sighting spot and take a look.” She took on a slightly embarrassed expression. “I shouldn’t have come alone, I guess.”

“Yeah… I’ve heard this place isn’t very safe,” he muttered.

“Oh, you know about it?” Aira was a bit surprised. She’d done plenty of research on the internet, trying to find the perfect story to facilitate her plan. Wanting to appeal to him more, she thought she would pretend to adopt a trait of Momo’s, namely her supernatural beliefs. Then she would bring him to a secluded spot, play the scared damsel card, and use it as a pretense to be affectionate with him. The dark tunnel of the Turbo Granny urban legend seemed perfect for it. Momo must have educated him on its details.

“Yes. The yokai that haunts this place very dangerous, from what I’ve been told.” He looked away. “Weren’t you aware of the danger?”

“I-I was,” Aira said quickly. “I just thought, you know, I could handle it…”

“Without any sort of protection?”

“Um, I have this,” she said, pulling out what appeared to be a metal crucifix. It was the perfect piece of evidence to support her story, despite its awful smell.

“I see.” Ken couldn’t ignore the suspicion that had arisen in his gut. “Shiratori-san, I need to ask you something.”

“What is it?” Aira hid her gleeful anticipation. Maybe it was a request for a date!

He took a long breath. “Did you put the knife in Ayase-san’s bag?”

Aira’s eyes widened. In a small voice, she asked, “What?”

Her reaction gave Ken an unfortunate impression. “Did you plant the switchblade they found in Ayase-san’s bag so she would get in trouble?”

It should’ve been no issue for Aira to lie. On a normal day, she would effortlessly put on her most innocent face and deny it while showing deep concern for her “friend.” But the confrontation with Momo, her assertion that Aira was truly hopeless, still plagued her thoughts. “I… I…”

Ken closed his eyes, realizing how foolish he had been to doubt Momo for even a second. He opened them and put his hands on Aira’s shoulders with a tight grip. “Shiratori-san, please be honest. Please tell me you didn’t do it.”

“I… didn’t…” she whispered weakly, her eyes shifting off to the side.

Ken may have been on the naive side, but even he could sniff out this lie. “Shiratori-san…” he muttered. Gathering his courage, he said, “You did it, didn’t you?” Aira gulped, remaining speechless. That solidified Ken’s conclusion. “Why would you do that?” When she didn’t answer, he gave her a small shake. “Please, tell me why you would frame her like that!”

“Because… because…”

“And you spread the rumors about her cheating and delinquency…” he whispered. Aira’s breathing grew shallow in response. “Shiratori-san… if there’s any reasonable explanation, I need hear it right now!”

The dam burst. Eyes moistening, Aira cried out, “I did it for you!”

Ken blinked, feeling both dismay and confusion. “What?”

“I did it for you,” she repeated, tone taking on panic. “For us! So that we could be happy together! Don’t you see? We don’t need her! We’re better off without her!”

“Shiratori-san…” Her words drove a sick feeling in his belly.

“Can’t you see? Can’t you see how much better I am than her?” Her voice was frantic as she continued. “I’m prettier! I’m more popular! I’m nicer to you!” Ken didn’t respond. “You and I would be perfect together, a match made in heaven! I’ve known it from the moment we met! Please, just remember! I was there, I was always there, before people started to realize how wonderful you are! Don’t you get it? I was the first one to recognize your good side before anyone else!”

Ken still remained silent. Her words had provoked something in him: a flow of memories, of feelings dating back years and years. He felt the comforting embrace of the bracelet on his wrist. With a soft, sad smile he told Aira, “I’m sorry. But you weren’t.”

She looked stricken and began to weep in earnest. “Please… please, just give me a chance,” she begged unabashedly. “Give me a chance and I’ll make you happy forever! I can be whatever you want me to be, I can be more like her, I swear!”

“It’s not about how you are,” he replied with a quiet but firm tone. Aira’s only response was to sob. His voice took on a serious tone. “You have to confess to your crime.”

Aira recoiled, as if he had pulled a gun on her. In a tiny voice, she replied, “I… I can’t do that.” She looked away. “I’d get in trouble…”

He grasped her shoulders forcefully. “You got Ayase-san in trouble! Deep trouble! It’s not right for her to be punished for something you did! Please, Shiratori-san, tell the school the truth!”

His expression was hard. Harder than it had been even when she had tried to spread the rumor about Momo’s promiscuity. Much harder. It pierced Aira’s soul. The doubt that had emerged from her last talk with Momo began to swell. Her heartbeat pounded hard. “I…” she muttered.

Suddenly, a noise came from the tunnel: a long, slow, rasping breath.

Aira jumped in startle. “What the fuck was that!?” she shrieked.

Eyes narrow, Ken looked towards the source of the sound. “It must be Turbo Granny.”

“What!? That’s crazy! That story’s total bullshit!” Aira cried in disbelief.

“I thought you believed in the legend,” said Ken.

“I— I didn’t really think…” said Aira, panicking yet more at being caught in another lie.

“Stay back,” said Ken, putting his arm in front of her. “We have to be very careful here.” He looked into the darkness of the tunnel, the reassurance of his bracelet suppressing the immense fear he felt.

“What are you talking about!? Let’s get the fuck out of here!” Aira screeched.

A figure emerged from the darkness: a demonic looking old woman with dark, wrinkled skin, long, white hair, and glowing eyes. Yet more fear gripped both Ken and Aira’s hearts. “I’ll let you suck my teats,” said the woman, “if you let me gobble your schlong.”

Aira immediately let out a blood-curdling scream and bolted. Ken turned to her and called, “Shiratori-san!” Turbo Granny began to move. “Damn it!” Faced with no choice, Ken began to run after Aira. Looking to Turbo Granny, he said, “Don’t take her! Take me instead!”

“Heh,” chuckled Turbo Granny. “Fine by me.” Just as he reached the mouth of the tunnel, she pounced on him.

Momo breathed hard as she sprinted towards her destination. She’d been running at full break since she left her house. Despite with her chi-enhanced stamina, she felt the strain. It seemed like it was even affecting her vision; the sky appeared discolored with odd light patches overhead. So deep was her worry for Ken that she’d only realized she could’ve put on some protective clothing her granny had after covering half the distance. Too late now.

She was almost there. The tunnel was in view. A figure came running out of it. “Ken-chan!” she called desperately.

But it wasn’t Ken. It was Aira, a look of terror on her face as she approached. “M-Momo!?” she shrieked. “Y-you have to help, there’s a g-ghost, and Takakura-kun is—”

“Get the fuck out of my way!” roared Momo. With a wave of her hand, Aira was pushed aside and fell to the ground on her ass. Aira’s terror became mixed with confusion at the sudden invisible force.

Momo entered the tunnel. “Ken-chan!” she called again. “Are you here?”

“A-Ayase-san,” came his strained voice. “S… stay away…”

There he was, on the ground, writhing disturbingly, limbs twisting unnaturally. His hair had turned white and grown longer. On one half of his face, a red line extended from his jaw, just to the side of his mouth, up to his hairline. The other was covered in what appeared to be a horrifying mask full of jagged teeth, his eye glowing brightly.

“Oh god, Ken-chan,” she breathed. “D-don’t worry, I’m here to help!”

“Watch… out…” he groaned.

She raised her hands. Before anything could happen, however, she realized he wasn’t warning her about Turbo Granny. Momo was suddenly grabbed from behind. Ken could see several men, all seemingly identical, gathered in a mob around her, tearing her clothes apart. “Ayase-san!” he called.

“You bastards picked the wrong girl to attack!” growled Momo. Her expression grew focused, but after a moment, it turned panicked. “Wh-what? Why can’t I—”

One of the attackers put his mouth over her mouth. Momo struggled for a second longer before falling unconscious. The group began to drag her away. “Ayase-san!” cried Ken, reaching futilely for her.

“Too late, boy,” rumbled Turbo Granny’s voice. “You’re mine now.” Just then, a light began to glow from Ken’s right wrist. Turbo Granny’s flesh seemed to dissolve around it. “What the—!?”

“It’s her bracelet! It’s a band of spiritual protection!” Ken exclaimed, feeling a surge of relief as the trinket’s defense kicked in. “Let me go or it’ll exorcise you!”

Turbo Granny laughed. “You think a puny thing like that is enough to get rid of me?”

“Maybe not,” said Ken. “You are powerful. I’ll make you a deal. Help me save Ayase-san and I’ll take the bracelet off! You can have my body then!”

“I don’t need your permission, you shitty little brat,” she spat back. “I’ll break through this piece of junk soon enough. I already have your dick.”

“I know a powerful spirit medium!” countered Ken. “Powerful enough to destroy you! She’ll find me before you can penetrate the bracelet’s defense!”

“You’re bluffing.”

“I’m not!” Ken thought for a moment. “You came out when you saw me accosting Shiratori-san, right? You thought I was going to harm her, didn’t you?” Turbo Granny remained silent. “I wasn’t! But those men who took Ayase-san will hurt her! So please, help me stop them!”

“Hmph,” said the yokai. She gave no other reply.

Momo was in trouble. These Serpoian bastards had stripped her down to her underwear, bound her limbs, and told her they wanted her “banana organs.” Her idea of what those might be sickened her. Needless to say, this was not how she imagined contact with aliens would go.

“We have been in pursuit of you for quite some time,” said one of the Serpoians. “Our sensors picked up your psychokinetic abilities. You were hard to pinpoint until you used them multiple times within a few days. Your banana organs will be prime research material.”

“Go to hell!” she barked. “There’s no way I’m letting you assholes take my virginity! I’m saving it for…” The words were surprisingly hard to get out. “For Ken Takakura!” But try as she might, she couldn’t use her power. It was as though something were suppressing them; an invisible force seemed to be pressing on her ever so slightly whenever she tried to activate them. She guessed that the odd stances of the three identical Serpos facing her several feet away had something to do with it.

“In order to—” A noise rang out in the strange room. The Serpo looked. “Her phone?” he asked. “A person with bad timing, it seems.”

Suddenly, a dark figure emerged from the phone and launched itself at the Serpo nearest Momo. She gave it a confused look, grateful though she was for her possible savior. When it stopped moving, she saw that the figure wore a dark cloak of some kind, which flickered like flame around the edges. He had white hair, two red lines on his face, and a differently toothy mask that covered his jaw.

But the glasses and eyes were familiar, despite their different coloration. Realization hit Momo. “K-Ken-chan!?”

“You bastards assaulted Momo-chan,” he said in a low voice she’d never heard before. “You won’t get away with that.” He began to dash around the room at high velocity, attacking Serpo after Serpo.

One of the ones that had been focused on Momo turned to Ken and called out, “Six sensory organs!” Ken went flying into a wall, embedded in an impact crater.

“Ken-chan!” cried Momo. But then she felt it: the force blocking her powers diminished. “You assholes are gonna pay for taking me and hurting him!” she cried. Visible only to her and Ken, ethereal green hands emerged from her back and began grabbing the remaining Serpo, forcing them into a bundle.

Ken dislodged himself from the wall. “You got psychic powers, Momo-chan?” he groaned. “That’s wild, yo.”

“Be impressed later!” she yelled. “Let’s take care of these fuckers first!”

“Got it. Hold ‘em right there. I’ll take ‘em all out in one blow.” He concentrated on his muscles, the way he did when lifting heavy weights. Strength surged through his muscles like lightning. It was more than he’d ever felt working out, more than had ever come even at maximum exertion. Suddenly, he knew exactly what his powers could do.

With blinding speed, he charged at the gathered Serpo. The sheer momentum of his attack bisected them and their halves fell to the ground, blood and oil spilling from their mix of cybernetic and biological parts.

“Holy shit, Ken-chan!” said Momo with wide eyes. “That was amazing!”

“Be impressed later,” he returned, dashing back to her and tearing her out of her restraints. “Let’s get out of here.”

“Right.” Momo looked around. “How?” She pushed on the walls with her ability. They didn’t budge. “Damn it, I can’t get through!”

“Leave it to me,” said Ken. Once more feeling the burst of energy, he charged the nearest wall. It crumbled under his force, leaving a massive hole that revealed the night sky. Ken was left in mid air from the remainder of his rush. “Uh-oh,” he muttered.

“Gotcha!” said Momo, catching him with a psychic hand. “Good work, Ken-chan!” Examining their altitude for a moment, Momo extended her other hand to the ground before lowering both of them onto it gently.

“Thanks, Momo-chan.” he said casually. “You really saved my ass.”

“Never mind that. What is this?” She gestured to his body. “I thought you were cursed by Turbo Granny.”

“I am, yo,” he replied. Holding up his glowing wrist, he added. “Your bracelet did the trick. Paused the curse. But I had to make a deal with her to get her to let me use this power. Depressing when ya think about it.”

“You made a deal with her!?” Momo asked in a panic. “What kind of deal!?”

“Told her I’d give up my body if she helped me. Time to make good on my end.” His hand reached for the bracelet.

Momo snatched his wrist. “No! What the hell are you thinking!? You’re just gonna let her take you!?”

“A deal’s a deal, Momo-chan.”

“You— I can’t let you do that! You shouldn’t have taken that deal, even if it was to save me!”

“Momo-chan,” he said in a soft tone. “You’re dreamin’ if you think there’s anythin’ I wouldn’t give up to help the girl I love.”

Momo’s heart pounded. Her eyes grew wide. Her lips parted. She hadn’t misheard, had she? Did he realize what he’d just said? In a tiny voice, she said, “You… what?”

“I love ya, Momo-chan. I’d do anythin’ for ya,” he continued. “Even become a monster.”

Momo felt the pinpricks of tears around her eyes. Then, with a furious expression, she roared, “You idiot! What gives you the right to do this!? Your life is not just yours to throw away for no reason!”

“But—”

“No! I’m not listening!” Her psychic hands wrapped around Ken, restricting his hands. “And I’m not letting you do this, end of story!” As her power ensconced him, she saw a swirling ethereal force emerge from him, resembling a twisted face. “Turbo Granny!?”

“Who are you, you worm?” hissed Turbo Granny.

Momo glanced at Ken. Though the darkness had mostly left him, he still had red lines on his face. “The curse hasn’t lifted even though Turbo Granny has left his body?”

She listened as Turbo Granny explained the terms of her curse, how it would remain in place until Momo challenged her at the tunnel. One quick escape from the crashing Seproian spaceship later and she and Ken were finally safe. More or less, anyway.

“A-Ayase-san…” Ken moaned as Momo held his curse at bay.

“Ken-chan!” Relief flooded her veins. “Are you back to, uh, mostly normal?”

“I think so,” he whispered.

“That was insane,” she replied. “I can’t believe that was my first encounter with a spirit and an alien. They’re way shittier than I would’ve guessed.”

“You never saw a spirit before?”

Shaking her head, she replied, “Nope. Granny always kept me away from them, except when she had me help with an exorcism. Said they were too dangerous to handle until my training was complete.” Her eyes narrowed. “Guess she was right.”

“Well, I’d never seen them either,” said Ken. “I had hoped first contact would go better than that.”

“You think all aliens are like that?” she asked with genuine wonder.

“I don’t know. Poh never covered that species.” Silence fell over them. “What do we do now?”

She sighed. “Pretty sure I need to keep this curse suppressed until we take care of Turbo Granny. Let’s go to my place and try to figure something out. I’m sure my granny will know what to do.”

“Okay,” said Ken. “But first…” He removed his school uniform jacket and pants and handed them to her. “Please put these on.”

She took his jacket. “Keep your pants. You’ll be cold if you’re naked.”

“I need you to take both,” he told her seriously. “Or… I might not be able to think straight…”

With a blush, she quietly acquiesced.

They began the trek home. Despite the danger of the night and the darkness of the situation which yet remained, other feelings swirled in Momo’s heart, making it beat harder than usual. “You think Aira’s okay?” she asked in an attempt at a conversational tone. “We kinda left her behind by accident.”

“I’m pretty sure she is,” answered Ken. “By the time Turbo Granny agreed to the deal, Shiratori-san was long gone and she wasn’t on the alien ship.”

“Okay. Good.”

“She…” Ken looked away. “She admitted she planted the knife on you, before that.”

Momo gave the barest glimpse of a smile. She couldn’t resist replying, “Told you.”

“I’m sorry I didn’t believe you right away.”

Momo waved him off with her unoccupied hand. “You already apologized. I’m just glad the truth came out.”

“I hope the school believes me when I tell them…”

With a resigned expression, Momo said, “Yeah. I don’t think she’s gonna fess up any time soon.”

“Me neither, unfortunately.”

A minute passed. “So,” said Ken. “You have psychic powers.”

Momo let out a nervous laugh. “Yeah. Uh. Surprise.”

“Is that part of your spiritual training? Can Seiko-san do it too?”

“No,” said Momo. “Only me, for some reason. But I think they did come from the training.”

“Does anyone else know about them?”

“Just me and granny. I figured I shouldn’t really tell anyone. Don’t want the government dissecting me in a lab or something, after all. Or aliens, I guess.”

“How long have you had them?”

She hesitated. “Well… ever since you first emailed me, actually.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. I really wanted to hear from you after camp. Then months passed and I kinda just thought you’d given up on me. But when I saw your message, I just…” Her cheeks tinted red. “I got really emotional. I was so surprised and happy and then suddenly I was levitating.” She neglected to say that it truly had made her feel lighter than air. “That’s why it took me a day to respond. I needed a bit to calm down and figure out what was happening.”

“I see…”

Given the topic, she felt it was the proper time to ask. “Um… what you said when you were transformed… about sacrificing yourself…”

The hue of his face matched hers. “Yeah?”

Her voice became quiet. “Did you… mean it? Or was it just the curse?”

His silence bred worry in her heart. Then he said, “I meant it. Every word.” Though his volume was low, his tone did not waver at all. “I’ve felt that way for a while now. I—”

“Wait!” interrupted Momo urgently. “Don’t… don’t say it again.”

Despair overtook him in an instant. “Oh… okay… sorry,” he muttered.

“No, no,” she continued quickly. “I mean, don’t say it again yet. Not while we’re in this shitshow. Say it to me properly when everything’s settled.” She blushed harder. “I… I really want to hear it then.”

His heart swelled in diametric opposition to his prior feeling. “I will,” he replied, fully resolute.

“Promise?”

“Yes.”

“Say you promise!”

“I promise.”

“Say it again!”

“I promise!”

“Good.”

They continued along the journey back to the Ayase house. Momo had to keep her gaze on him to suppress the curse, her hand raised to focus her powers. But she didn’t need both hands to do it, did she?

After a few silent minutes, Ken felt a force pulling at his hand nearest hers. He looked — the ethereal wing that was the manifestation of Momo’s power was tugging his extremity closer to her. But then the power stopped just before he reached her. He glanced at her. She was blushing and her expression was unsteady, same as it had been the previous week when she’d wanted him to let her sit in his lap. He smiled a gentle smile and closed the distance between his hand and hers.

As their fingers interlaced, her expression matched his. “Thanks for saving me, Ken-chan,” she said in a soft voice.

He shook his head. “You’re the one who saved me.”

She smirked. “C’mon. I would’ve been screwed if you hadn’t shown up. Maybe literally.”

For a moment, he contemplated this. “We saved each other,” he decided.

Momo thought back, not merely on this evening, but on the years before, her mind traveling all the way to the day they first met. Then, leaning her head until it rested on his shoulder, she replied, “I guess we did, didn’t we?”

A gentle breeze blew. As they walked home together, the warmth of their connection, of all kinds of it, guarded them against the autumn evening air.

Chapter Text

The battle had been rough. Turbo Granny was as fearsome as Seiko had described. Several times, Ken and Momo thought they would meet their gruesome end. It was only by being perfectly in sync with one another that they managed to make it out alive. That, and the fact that Ken, with his ultra-fit body, ended up being a prime candidate for a host of yokai power. Thrice he was able to push his body to the absolute limit and use Turbo Granny’s power to the fullest against her, which ultimately secured their victory.

Afterwards, somehow, Momo was able to gorge herself on crab legs, despite their near murder at the claws of the spirit Turbo Granny had fused with. Ken couldn’t believe how she could stomach such a thing after they had so narrowly defied death.

Now they stood at the gate of the Ayase home, with Momo ready to bid him farewell. “I can’t believe we’re just going to go back to school tomorrow like nothing happened after all of that,” said Ken.

“Well, you will,” said Momo. “I’m suspended, remember?” She frowned. “Now that I think about it, this whole thing was basically Aira’s fault, isn’t it? Makes me even more pissed at her.”

“I’m sorry,” said Ken. “It’s my fault too. If I hadn’t gone to get her, Turbo Granny probably wouldn’t have attacked her.”

“Or maybe she would’ve and the world would be better off,” Momo muttered bitterly.

“Maybe. Anyway, I’ll… I’ll see you soon, okay?” he said uncertainly.

“Yeah,” she replied. “See you.”

He turned and began to leave. After only a few steps, however, he heard her call, “Ken-chan!”

He looked back at her. “What?”

She had a nervous, somewhat worried look on her face, and her cheeks had tinted red. “Um… you can come over tomorrow after school, you know,” she muttered.

“Oh. Sure thing,” he said pleasantly. In truth, he had already been planning on it. He wasn’t sure why she seemed so worked up about it.

“And then…” She looked away. Suddenly she felt unsteady on her feet, the pressure of what she wanted to say flooding her mind. She clenched her shaking fist. With a small voice, she gazed into his eyes, those deep, soulful eyes that filled her with such warmth every time she saw them, and said, “And then you can say it again.”

A look of mild surprise overtook Ken’s features. After a second, his expression turned resolute and he nodded. “Okay. I will.”

She beamed at him, feeling a tsunami of relief. “Good.”

When she saw him at her door the next day, however, he looked completely different. Gone was the resolve in his posture and face; now he was hunched over, anxiety plainly visible all over him. “H-hey, Ayase-san,” he greeted weakly.

“Hey,” she said softly. “What’s wrong?” Momo had been so excited to see him, had planned to meet him with energetic exuberance, but the sight of his withered state gave her pause. Maybe he was just nervous. It wasn’t a small thing to say what he wanted to say, after all.

“I don’t think…” He gulped. “I don’t think I can say it today.”

Disappointment crashed into her like a truck and an aftershock of worry followed shortly. Only his specific wording gave her any hope. “Oh… Can you say it tomorrow, then?” she asked carefully.

He shook his head slowly. “I don’t think… I can say it anytime soon…”

Momo’s veins turned to ice. A frozen pit filled her stomach. He was getting cold feet. “Wh… why?” she asked quietly, trying to keep herself level despite the despair that encroached upon her.

“You said I could only say it when we were out of this mess… and I don’t think I’m out of it yet.”

She blinked. Only his strange phrasing held her fear at bay. “What do you mean, you’re not out of it? You’re not cursed anymore, are you?” He looked to the side. Momo could tell he was trying to build the courage to say something. “C’mon. You can tell me,” she encouraged, despite her own discomfort. He muttered something. “What? I can’t hear you.”

“I said,” he began, “I lost… my balls.”

Momo double took. The sudden reversal from her abject terror into this ridiculous notion was so stark that she doubled over and began howling with laugher.

“Stop laughing!” he yelled, face entirely red.

She did not stop. In between guffaws, she managed to say, “This is — pff — this is a joke, right? You’re trying to make me — snrkk — feel better about the suspension?”

“No! I’m serious!” he replied, embarrassment growing with every chortle. This only made Momo laugh harder. “Come on, haven’t you been trained for this kind of thing!?”

“No, of course not!” Momo said with delighted disbelief. “I’ve never even heard of this happening to anyone!”

“Some spirit medium you are,” he muttered sourly.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” she said, trying to get herself under control. “I know this is serious. I’m sure my granny will be able to… get your… balls bahahaha!” She doubled over again, slapping her knee from the sheer force of her amusement.

“Great,” he said, both sarcastically and earnestly. Graciously, he waited several minutes for her to get over her fit. When she finally calmed down, he said, “You done?”

“I think so. Yeah,” she panted, finally able to pick herself up. “Phew. Even if you didn’t mean to, that definitely helped me feel better about being suspended.”

“Glad one of us gets to enjoy this.”

“Sorry, sorry. I just never expected to hear that when you said…” She trailed off. Both of them blushed and gazed away from one another as they realized what she was going to say.

“Right,” he said quietly. “So, anyway, that’s why I can’t…”

“You can,” she said quickly.

He looked puzzled. “Huh?”

“You can say it. Maybe things aren’t totally resolved, but it’s okay. We’re not in imminent danger. I…” She gave him an imploring look, her voice soft. “I want to hear it.”

His heart skipped a beat. “Are you sure?”

She nodded eagerly. “Granny won’t be back for a while. We have time. Come on in. Unless…” Her expression grew a touch worried. “You don’t want to?”

“I do!” he replied instantly.

The energy in his answer made her smile. “Great. Then let’s go.”

He followed her indoors and up the stairs. When they stopped at a certain door, he blushed and asked, “I-in your room?”

“Yeah. Where else?” she replied pleasantly.

“N-nowhere, I suppose…” he muttered.

As they sat together on her bed, both of them felt nervous. They weren’t sure why. He had said what he wanted to say before, hadn’t he? It should be easy to say it again and even easier to hear it.

“I’m having trouble coming up with the right words…” he admitted quietly.

“That’s okay,” she replied kindly. “You don’t have to rush.”

“I’m not sure if more time will help me. I am an awkward fellow, after all.”

Momo put every ounce of willpower within her towards resisting the urge to shake her limbs, leap into the air, do something to expel the sudden surge of energy that overtook her at his words. “Then just say what you feel,” she replied in a soft voice. “I promise whatever it is, it’ll be good.” She blushed. “If you do still feel that way…”

He blinked. How could she possibly doubt that he did? “Alright. Then I’ll begin.” He centered himself. “When I’m with you… I feel…” She waited with bated breath. “I feel like a little kid. The little kid who used to get picked on, who no one wanted to be their friend.”

Momo’s face fell. This was completely outside any expectations she had had… in a pretty bad way. “Oh…” she said tonelessly.

“But it’s okay,” he added quickly. “It’s good, even, because that kid isn’t getting bullied. He isn’t alone anymore. He has an incredible, wonderful friend who makes his life… amazing.”

Her heart leapt up from the hole it had fallen into and began beating rapidly. She took a deep breath to steady herself. “Ken-chan…”

“When I’m with you,” he continued, “I feel like I want to be my best self. Like I can be better. I want to be stronger, faster, smarter, cooler… improved in every way. But at that the same time, I feel like I’m good enough just the way I am. Like there wasn’t anything wrong with me in the first place.”

Momo’s lips curved upward. “There wasn’t,” she whispered.

“I know that now. I know that I can do some pretty amazing things, thanks to you. I really trained like hell to get stronger, to become a person who was worthy of you… the most wonderful person I’d ever met.”

You were already perfect. She couldn’t say that quite yet, deep though she felt it in her soul. She didn’t want to interrupt him.

“And it worked.” He gained a faraway look. “I wouldn’t have have half of what I do now if it weren’t for you, if I wasn’t chasing that image of you all these years. I’m really grateful for that… for everything you’ve given me.”

His gaze turned towards her, his smile as warm and comforting as the gentle springtime sun. “But the truth is, whatever else I have now isn’t what matters. What matters is the person who saw me, really saw me, before anyone else, who looked at an awkward kid on the playground and decided she would care about him without reservation. I would be fine without the rest of it. I could be perfectly happy… as long as you were in my life.”

Momo felt tears coming on and couldn’t mount a defense against them before one escaped her eye. “Oh, Ken-chan…” she whispered again.

“I didn’t know what it meant for a while, in those early years. I don’t think I had the maturity to know, back then, what this feeling inside me really was. The way I felt when you smiled for me. When you held my hand. When you let me hold you and read all kinds of things to you. But looking back… when I really think about it… I know what that feeling was now.”

Slowly, he brought his hand to rest on hers. “You always ran in front of me, showing me where to go. You lit the path that I walked to become who I am today. You were my guiding light, my North Star… my Risu. You never stopped being that to me.”

Now his hand held hers fully. Momo felt like she might burst from the heat that flowed through his gentle grasp.

“So now I know for sure. It really began long ago. From that day all those years back to today and every single day in between…” He gave her a helpless smile, as if he had no choice but to say what came next, lest it cost him his mortal soul. “I have always loved you, Momo.”

In an instant, Momo’s life flashed before her eyes. The harsh rejection and mockery from her first crush, followed by the innocent, unguarded acceptance from the man who would become her second. The joy of playing with him, of reading with him, of simply being with him every time they saw each other. The anguish she felt when she thought she would never see him again and the colossal, unstoppable elation that came with their reunion. Every moment together, learning what her own ever deepening feelings meant, until now, when finally, finally, finally they could join with his.

Wordlessly, with the desperate urgency of a woman on fire, she pulled his face to hers, closed her eyes, and crushed their lips together. Tears flowed in hot rivers down her cheeks, relief pouring into her, simultaneously dousing the flames of unbearable tension yet stoking the fire of adoration for him inside her into a roaring inferno.

She couldn’t stop with just one kiss any more than a person could stop with just one breath. His words had opened a yawning pit of hunger for him within her. She brought her lips down upon his furiously, trying to impart as much of the gargantuan column of emotion inside her as she could, even knowing whatever she could give him would only be the tiniest fraction of the whole.

Within a few touches, he removed his glasses and started kissing her back with nothing but equal fervor, intensifying her own desire manifold. The cravings they had felt had only been shadows of the true mountains of need for one another. They had already been addicted to each other, that much was certain. Now, however, they had unrestricted access to one another enough to feed their addictions for a lifetime. At least, they hoped with all their hearts that it would be a lifetime…

Eventually, though neither were anywhere close to being sated, they had gained enough from their affections to form coherent thought. Pulling away from him, an act whose agony was only soothed by the promise that there would be more imminently, she said, “I love you, Ken. I love you so much. I love everything about you. I love being with you. I love talking about aliens with you. I love it when you read to me. It could be whatever — Poh, Shakespeare, an encyclopedia, I don’t care. You could read me anything and I would listen forever.”

Tears still streamed down her face. She took a second to wipe them, futile though it was with their seemingly endless volume, and said, “And I know it’s true for me too. I’ve always loved you. I didn’t know it before, but I definitely have. Ever since that day when you told me it was okay to be myself, you’ve been in the deepest part of my heart. You are… everything to me.”

“Momo…” he whispered, tears coming to the corners of his eyes now.

There was so much more to say. There always would be. She could babble endlessly about her feelings for him and, just as easily, so could he. But the air was saturated with words now, enough to float them on a cloud of their meaning, and so they returned to the simple physical. For how long they remained like that, they weren’t sure. Both would be okay if it lasted forever.

And maybe, just maybe, it would.

After some unknowable time, they parted, both of them panting, holding each other for dear life, so much energy had they poured into one another. They were totally spent from it, languid like after a hard workout. Neither wanted to break the moment with something as mundane as speech.

But eventually, Ken said, “So you’re really okay with me not having balls?”

Momo had to resist the urge to laugh, lest he think it was at his expense again. “I think you have plenty of balls, Ken-chan.” she replied. “It’s kinda obvious.”

“Well… maybe,” he said with a blush. “But not physically.”

“Whatever. I’m sure we’ll get them back in no time,” she said cheerfully. “I’ll be there to help you every step of the way.”

He smiled. “Thanks.” He looked off to the side. “So… I’m Ken-chan again?”

With a grin, she replied, “Don’t worry. You’re Ken, the man I’m in deeply love with. But to some part of me, you’re still the boy I met on the playground. So no matter what, on some level, you’ll always be my Ken-chan. Because…” Her cheeks reddened. “The little girl inside me loves that little boy too.”

“Momo…” he whispered breathlessly, his face showing total awe.

“I can’t believe you were gonna give yourself up to Turbo Granny,” she added with an incredulous tone. “We never would’ve gotten here if you did! Think about how sad I’d be!” She looked at him with puppy dog eyes.

“I would hate to make you sad,” he admitted. “I’ve done that enough, I think. But I like to stand by my promises. I already broke a really important one…” he muttered.

“You didn’t,” she told him seriously. “It just got delayed for a bit. But we’re together now. We can both hold up that promise…” She blushed. “To be each other’s Risu… forever.”

His heart thumped. “Momo…”

“Ken…”

They leaned towards one another, capturing each other’s lips in a fresh kiss, the brief dialogue sufficient to have re-energized them. In a flash, they were ready to be on each other with renewed zeal.

Suddenly, the door cracked open and Seiko peeked her head in. “Hey, Momo, for dinner I was thinking—” She paused as Momo and Ken turned beet red, separating from one another instantly. “Oh, hey, Ken,” Seiko added casually. “Good to see ya. You stayin’ for dinner?”

“This is why you knock!” raged Momo.

“What? Not like you’re doin’ anything unacceptable. Anyway, Momo, I’m thinkin’ miso pork tonight.”

“Get out!” Momo snapped, throwing a pillow at the door.

“Took you long enough…” Seiko muttered with an amused expression before disappearing back into the hallway.

“Geez! I can’t believe her!” Momo fumed.

“Ah… we should tell her about my family jewels,” Ken muttered, recovering from his embarrassment.

Momo sighed. “Yeah, probably.”

As they got up from the bed, something occurred to Ken. “Oh! That’s right!”

“What?”

“I forgot the other thing I was going to tell you!”

“So Shiratori confessed to framing you, huh?” said Muko.

“Yep,” said Momo. “And to spreading the bad rumors, too.” Evidently, some tiny shred of guilt within the psychological car crash that was Aira had won out. Whether it was Ken’s confrontation or the impact of the supernatural incident she’d partly witnessed, Momo didn’t know.

“Planting a knife on someone… That really gives me the creeps.” Miko shuddered. “I’m telling you. That girl? Serial. Killer.”

“She at least felt bad enough about it to come clean,” Momo acknowledged. “And she’s the one who’s suspended now, so all’s well that ends well.”

“Until she comes back to school and peels off your skin with a flensing knife to make a Momo suit.”

Momo scoffed. “I’d like to see her try.”

“She didn’t just lose access to school,” said Muko. “You took Ken-chan from her too.”

“Total victory for the allied forces,” added Miko.

Momo chuckled. “It does feel good.”

“I bet he feels good too. Probably getting high-fived by all his little bros right now,” said Muko.

“I’m not sure he’s the type to kiss and tell,” said Momo. “He is a proper gentleman, after all.”

“Man, if I was a boy and I was lucky enough to get a girlfriend as pretty as you, I’d be telling everyone!”

“I think I’m the lucky one out of the two of us, actually,” Momo said with a soft smile.

Miko rolled her eyes. “Ugh. You’re both lucky. Ridiculously, unbearably lucky.”

Momo beamed. She couldn’t help but feel it was true.

If they’d been inseparable before, Ken and Momo were glued together after their relationship officially began. Between them was perfect harmony, every piece that they individually lacked provided by the other. They knew each other’s deepest hearts and cherished them as if they were their own. Indeed, they truly were as they had been on the playground, two lovestruck children with boundless affection for one another, finally free to express as much of it as they could.

With Ken’s athletic prowess now known throughout the school and the rumors about Momo dispelled, they quickly became known as the most popular pair in their grade, the very definition of a power couple. Of course, they barely acknowledged their status as such, at least not openly. Momo was glad to see Ken getting all the reverent admiration he deserved, but other than that, she couldn’t care less about what everyone else thought. Only what he thought mattered, and he made that delightfully obvious every single day.

In time, Ken and Momo would forgive Aira, who found herself as an outcast when she eventually returned to school. The principal made her write up a formal apology and read it in public and though she clearly hated it, she read it with dignity, at least the kind she could put on with her lifetime of cultivating an artificial persona.

Naturally, the literal and figurative specter of Turbo Granny remained in their lives. She agreed to help Ken gets his nuts back for the promise of the return of her powers, which Ken had managed to retain after the battle. She inhabited a small manekineko and struck up an unexpected friendship with Seiko in due time.

When a certain former crush of Momo’s appeared very suddenly one day in the next school year, Ken couldn’t help but feel jealous. This boy was taller and somehow even more muscular than Ken, after all, and his connection to Momo technically predated Ken’s as well. But mercifully and quickly, Momo was able to convince him he had nothing to fear, both intentionally and unintentionally, both physically and emotionally.

The quest for Ken’s balls took a long time to complete and involved many battles, some of which were truly dangerous, threatening not only their lives but the fate of the world itself. Momo nearly murdered a certain alien girl for the move she pulled on Ken shortly before one of these, but as Momo had done for him, he was able to convince her she had nothing to fear, both intentionally and unintentionally, both physically and emotionally.

They made many more friends as time went on, friends that felt more real to Ken than the ones who simply thought well of him for his physical abilities. There were times when things appeared dire, when a happy ending didn’t seem guaranteed. But throughout it all, Ken and Momo openly loved each other, even when they were apart. Their relationship was the nexus of the family that gathered around them, holding the group together even during the hardest of hardships.

Eventually, Ken and Momo were wed. Momo wore a beautiful dress, quite traditional for her sensibilities, but kept her gyaru flair by wearing a pair of white sneakers to the wedding. Ken, by contrast, merely wore his tuxedo and admired his bride. He could have looked at her forever. He certainly planned to.

At the ceremony, Seiko told Ken he had already become family years ago. He wasn’t sure when exactly she was referring to, but in her heart, it had been in the couple's early childhood. It was a great show of her affection for Ken as her new grandson that she accepted her granddaughter had become Momo Takakura, as she had wanted to for ages.

Their vows were reminiscent of what they had said during his second confession to her, but with yet more depth condensed from the years they had officially been together. They renewed the promise they had made on the playground all those years ago and further reaffirmed that, whenever they could, they would always “have lunch” together.

Ken was elated when Momo told him she was pregnant. He lifted her into the air and spun her around, a look of pure adoration in his eyes. She had been certain he would be as overjoyed as she was, but the relief at the extent of his celebration was immense nonetheless. He was a worrywart of a father-to-be, sometimes overly so, but the care he showed Momo always filled her heart to the brim.

“God, she’s so beautiful,” said Ken, his voice hushed, hoping to keep the scene before him peaceful.

“Isn’t she?” said Momo. Her hair was messy and the sweat of her earlier ordeal still lingered on her skin. From the way Ken looked at her, and that which lay in her arms, though, she might’ve been the most gorgeous woman in the universe. Of course, to him, she was. “She’s perfect.”

“She looks just like you,” he added, in awe at what he was witnessing.

Momo gave him a curious expression. “Really? I think she looks more like you. Her hair is black like yours.”

“Sure. But her eyes and nose are just like yours.”

“She’ll look more like you when she gets glasses.”

“Maybe she won’t need them.”

“Nah, she will.” Momo turned to face the little thing in her embrace. “You’re gonna be a cute little four-eyes like your dad, aren’t you?” She looked back at Ken. “By the way… we’re gonna need a name soon.”

“I think we can add it to the birth certificate retroactively.”

“Okay, sure, but if she shows up to kindergarten as Blank Takakura, the other kids are gonna pick on her.”

“Right. Well. I thought we decided you would choose the name.”

“And I was pretty sure that I let you be the one to decide.”

He gained a faraway look. “I do have a name in mind,” he muttered.

“Oh?”

“Even though I’m scared of everything that’s coming in the future, of whether I’ll be good enough to her and to you… When I look at her, I feel like I know exactly what to do.”

Momo beamed. “Me too. Even when she was in my belly, I could just feel her there and know the way I want to be with her.”

“Then… you think it’s a good name too?”

She nodded. “It’s perfect. Plus, she has those chubby little cheeks.” Bearing a smile filled with the kind and quantity of love only a mother could hold, Momo looked at her sleeping newborn daughter. “Hi, Risu,” she whispered. “I’m your mom.” She gestured at Ken. “That’s your wonderful father.”

“Hi, Risu,” he repeated, leaning towards his child, in his eyes a love of a different but no less voluminous kind. “I’m the one who reads to you.”

It is a rare thing for two people to fall in love in childhood, separate, and reunite later in life. Rarer still is for both lovers to still feel the same way, still admire each other so deeply and completely even after the years have passed. Even rarer than that is to renew that love at an older age, when the innocence and naivete of the past has faded, sanded away by the cruel realities of the world. Perhaps rarest of all is to carry that love into the future, never letting it fade by even the slightest shade. Only a love as pure as Ken and Momo’s could do that.

In the end, that’s all they really were. Just Ken and Momo, the two kids who found each other one day. No matter how old they got, they were those two children inside. Playing together, reading together, holding one another, loving one another.

Even the strongest love carries with it no guarantee of lasting success. Some amount of fortune is, inevitably, required. Indeed, Miko had been right all those years ago. They were both lucky. Lucky to have stayed together, lucky to have found each other again after so many years, lucky to have met on that fateful day when it all began. Ridiculously, unbearably, beautifully, miraculously lucky.

Thus did they write the story of their love, on and on, in a tome that became so massive no one but them could ever hope to lift it. And they never took that fortune for granted, not even once, that which persisted through their lives and stretched back all the way to…

When They Were Little: A Love Without End

Chapter Text

Epilogue #1: The Ex

“You comin’, Momo?” asked Jiji.

“I forgot something in the classroom,” Momo replied. “Go on without me. I’ll be there later.”

He looked mildly disappointed. “Okay,” he said as he began to walk home.

Ken looked at Momo curiously. “What did you forget?”

“Nothin’,” she answered simply. “I just wanna know what’s up with you.”

“Huh?”

“You’ve been sulking all day.” Her voice was heavy with concern. “What’s going on?”

Turning away, he muttered, “Nothing, really…”

“Hey. No bullshitting me,” she said flatly. “You really wanna make your girlfriend worry?”

He sighed. “It’s just…” His voice became small. “Jiji.”

Momo puzzled at him. “Jiji? What’d he do?”

“Nothing,” he replied quickly. “It’s just…”

“Just what?”

“He… he was your first crush.”

Momo blinked. “Is that bothering you?”

“Well… a little…”

She let out a whooping laugh. “Seriously? I had a crush on him for like a few months when we were tiny. You came along and deleted that pretty quickly, you know. I pined for you for years after that. Didn’t even think about Jiji, really.” She saw him unconvinced. “C’mon, don’t be jealous of a little boy when you’re my big, strong man.”

“He’s bigger than me,” Ken uttered quietly. “Good looking, too.”

“Oh, please,” Momo replied with exasperation. “You’re more than tall, handsome and muscular enough for me. Stand up straight.”

“What?”

“Just do it.”

“Okay…”

As he obliged, Momo wrapped her arms around his neck. Then she pulled him into a deep, passionate kiss that lasted several seconds. “See how I have to bring you down to me to kiss you?”

He blushed. “I do like that…”

“Sounds like you need more convincing.” Now she stood on her tiptoes, grasping his face to give him an even more fiery kiss. “You feel that?” she asked softly. “Is there any doubt whatsoever on my lips?”

He couldn’t help but smile. “No.”

Beaming back at him, she replied, “Good. So you know there’s no chance of Jiji or anyone else even coming close to stealing me from you. You’re a million times better than all of other boys put together. They might as well not exist to me.”

His smile growing deeper, he said, “Thanks, Momo.”

“And I would choose you even if you were a short, scrawny nerd,” she added. “As long as you were you, I would love you with all my heart no matter what. Got it?”

“Got it.” After a moment, he followed up, “Can we kiss again?”

She grinned. “As many times as you want.”

Epilogue #2: The Homewrecker

“I can’t believe you,” Momo fumed. “I can’t fucking believe you!”

“Momo, please, just listen!” Ken said urgently.

“To what? My cheating boyfriend?”

“I didn’t cheat!” he protested.

“Bullshit! You kissed that alien bitch! You kissed her right in front of me!”

“She kissed me! I had no say in the matter!”

“You sure didn’t pull away!”

“I was shocked! I got off of her as soon as I could react!”

“Oh, you got off, huh?”

“You know what I mean! I never expected a kaiju to have a cute girl in it or for her to come at me like that!”

“You sure it’s a good idea to call her cute right now?”

“No, I mean, obviously she’s not as cute as you!”

“Hmph!” With a pout, Momo turned away from him.

“Momo…” he said quietly. “Do you really think my love for you could ever waver, even just for a second, after all these years?”

His words struck something in her. The anger started to fade from her expression. “I dunno… Maybe you’re bored of me now…”

“Bored of you?” He was flabbergasted. “You’re the most incredible person I know! I love you more every day!”

More did he soothe her heart with this. “Say more nice things,” she said quietly.

This request brought a smile to his lips. “You’re the most beautiful, most wonderful girl in the world — in the universe. No one, human or alien, could ever top you.”

Finally, her expression lightened and she turned back to him. “Keep going.”

“No matter how many times I see you, it’s always a gift. This relationship is my most prized treasure. I’d die before I give it up.”

She wiggled in happiness. “I like when you tell me these things.”

“And whenever I get to look at you, I always want to do this.” He cupped her cheeks and pulled his lips to hers, firmly, warmly, and deeply.

“Ah…” she sighed as they parted.

“Do you believe me now?”

With as loving expression as she’d ever made, she answered, “Okay. I believe you.” Then she frowned slightly. “But I want more kisses. Just to be sure.”

He grinned. “As many times as you want.”

Epilogue #3: The Question

Momo smiled as she and her boyfriend of many years ambled aimlessly through town. It had been a truly lovely evening. He’d taken her to her favorite restaurant and bought her her favorite meal. They’d talked the evening away and now were simply enjoying the cool air of the summer night. It was the perfect kind of peace she cherished, especially amidst their life of battles.

She looked at their surroundings. “Hey! Know where we are?” she asked excitedly.

Ken looked confused. “Where?”

She gave him a smug look. “Oh, you don’t remember?”

With a shake of his head, he answered, “I’m afraid not.”

Waggling her finger at him, she replied, “Tsk tsk, mister forgetful. Looks like I’ll have to remind you. Come on!” Without waiting, she grabbed his hand and pulled him along as she ran.

In a minute, they had cleared the next few streets and now came to an open part of the city. In the center of the clearing was a small, empty children’s playground, all its usual inhabitants having gone home for the day. With a flourishing gesture, she announced, “Here!” A moment passed. “Still don’t remember?”

He snapped his fingers. “Oh yeaaah, we used to go here as kids, didn’t we?”

She scoffed. “‘Used to go here.’ This is where we met, dummy! How could you not remember?”

He shrugged. “I guess my memory’s gotten worse in old age.” This made Momo roll her eyes, continue to smile though she did. Pointing at a structure in the middle of the playground, he added, “But now that you mention it, that jungle gym does look familiar.”

“Race you to the top of it!” Momo called, breaking into a sprint away from him. But as she made her way towards the plastic and metal frame, she felt a gust of wind blow past her and saw a black blur dash to her destination. When it slowed, she saw Ken standing atop their target, grinning. “Hey!” she griped with a pout. “No fair using your powers!”

“You didn’t say I couldn’t,” he replied plainly.

“Hmph!” Momo crossed her arms. After a second, she said, “Fine,” and pulled herself to where he was with her psychokinesis. Then she sat down, letting her legs dangle off of the top platform, and patted the space next to her. “Let’s chill for a bit.”

He obliged, taking his place next to her. “This does bring back memories,” he acknowledged.

“It sure used to look a lot higher up from here. Felt like we could see the whole world,” she said with a nostalgic smile.

“Our world’s considerably bigger now. Our whole universe,” he noted.

“Yeah. I guess so.”

“You know what I remember about this place?” he asked.

“What?” She knew what he was going to say. He was going to say this was where they came up with their shared title for each other and promised to play together forever. She loved going over that memory with him, even now, years after they had graduated college, and couldn’t resist smiling in anticipation.

“This is where you held my hand for the first time,” he said quietly.

She blinked. “What? No it’s not. I held your hand the first day we met.”

“You pulled me along like you did just now,” he granted. “But the first time you grabbed my hand in a real way was right here.”

She thought back. Indeed, shortly before their promise, she had put her hand on his in a way that she intended to be more meaningful. “That’s true, huh…”

“I felt something back then, you know. I had no idea what it was at the time. But you holding my hand felt like something big. Now, of course, I know it was my reaction to instinctively understanding a bit of what you felt about me.”

She beamed at him. “And what was that reaction, exactly? In hindsight.”

He gave it a moment’s thought before replying, “Amazement? Disbelief? Gratitude? Hope? The same things I felt whenever you showed me any affection, just more.” Turning to her with a sweet smile, he added, “The same things I still feel.”

Touched so deeply by his words, she reached over to him and planted a soft kiss on his lips. “I love you, you know that?” she whispered once they parted. “I always have.”

“And I you, Momo,” he replied easily. A tranquil moment passed between them. Eventually, he spoke up, “I thought about the way you held my hand that day all the time after that.”

“Oh?”

“It stayed in my brain for a long time. And when you held my hand after, it was all I could think about. I really, really cherish that connection.”

“The way you hold mine isn’t bad either.”

“I’m glad. I want to hold it more in the future.”

“You’re free to do that,” she said with a grin.

“Good. Because I really, really want to.”

His tone had a strange edge to it. It gave Momo slight pause. “Ken-chan?”

She watched as she retrieved something from his pocket. It was a small, black box. Momo’s eyes became saucers as her brain pieced together what it was. He looked deep into them as he opened the box, revealing a small golden band with a large gemstone at its top. “Momo,” he said quietly as he offered the ring to her, “will you give me your hand once more?”

Time froze for Momo. It was as if she could think at light speed, every moment of their relationship blitzing her mind nigh simultaneously. Her hand covered her mouth as she felt heat collecting around her eyes. His own were full of hope, yearning, the slightest bit of fear, but most of all, an ocean of love.

“Momo?” he asked after a few seconds.

Momo launched herself at him, tackling him to the surface of the jungle gym, and began kissing him furiously. “I love you,” she uttered urgently in between kisses. “I love you, I love you, I love you so much!” He had to be careful to make sure they wouldn’t fall off the structure, as she was much too invested in her affection for caution.

Once they had expended enough romantic energy, they parted, though she still lay on top of him. “You jerk,” she said with a pleased but tear-stained look. “You didn’t forget anything. You totally brought us this way on purpose. You knew I’d bring us here!”

He smiled sheepishly. “I might have had a suspicion. If you didn’t, I would have.”

“You’re incredible,” she said breathlessly. “Seriously, the most wonderful guy in the universe.”

Taking in a moment to soak up her praise, he asked, “So is that a yes?”

She laughed. “Of course it is! What, you think I’m kissing you like this and I’m not going to marry you?”

“Can I hear you say it?” he asked, as if he could not rest without the explicit confirmation.

She grinned. “As many times as you want.”

Epilogue #4: The Tale

“Daddy, I want another story!” yelled Risu as she lay in bed.

“Another one?” Ken asked with fake exasperation. “I’ve already read you three.”

“But I want another!” his daughter protested.

“You’re not tired of me telling you stories?”

She shook her head. “Nuh-uh! Daddy’s stories are the best!”

“Well, okay, if you’re going to be so flattering,” he said with a smile. “Hmm… what kind of story should I tell?”

“I wanna hear a story about a princess!”

“A princess, huh?” He supposed she was getting to be that age. “Let’s see…” He thought for a moment. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted something and grinned. “All right. Once upon a time, there was a beautiful princess. She was more beautiful than anyone else in her kingdom or any other. She was also brave, smart, and kind. She fought alongside other warriors without any fear.”

“She’s cool!” said Risu.

“She was very cool. She also had the guidance of a magic star above her that always showed her where to go. But one day, while fighting a monster, one of her soldiers betrayed her and stole her sword.”

“What a meanie!”

“Indeed, the soldier was cruel. This made the princess very sad. So sad she thought she might leave her kingdom forever.”

“No!”

“But then, by a stroke of luck, a knight from another kingdom appeared. He had seen her star and followed it until he saw her. This knight was very afraid — he didn’t have any other knights to fight alongside, you see. He was a lone warrior, just trying to make it on his own.”

“Sounds sad.”

“It was. But he found the princess, alone without her sword. He knew he couldn’t just leave her by herself. So he gave her his sword instead.”

“Wasn’t he scared?”

“Of course. But this princess was in danger, and a true knight always helps a princess in danger, no matter how risky it is.”

“How brave!”

“Maybe a little. The princess was very grateful for the knight’s gift. She wondered what she could give him in return. Then she remembered she knew a spell of protection and cast it on him. As long as he could see her, no evil could harm him.”

“Wow, she’s magic too?”

“The most magic. And together, she and the knight fought off many monsters, always protecting each other with magic and steel.”

“Yay!”

“But then one day something awful happened. The knight…” Ken gained a faraway look. “The knight was called away to another battlefield. He couldn’t see the princess anymore. And that meant her spell didn’t work.”

“Oh no!”

“The knight struggled for many years. He fought hard, but the monsters had grown more powerful, and he soon became tired of fighting them. But just when he was at his weakest, he saw something that gave him back his strength.”

“The magic star!” Risu was vibrating with excitement.

Ken patted her on the head. “Clever girl. Have you heard this one before?”

She shook her head. “Nuh-uh, I’m just smart.”

Ken chuckled. “You are. Yes, it was the star. Again he followed it, and once more he found the princess. They were happy to see each other after such a long time. But the knight was worried he wasn’t strong enough to help the princess. So the knight began to train.”

“Did he get stronger?”

“He did, little by little. But what he didn’t know was that the princess had already secretly deemed him her most important, most powerful knight of all. And she had learned to cast another spell, one that gave him infinite strength whenever she was around. So he didn’t need to be that strong when he was with her.” Ken’s expression turned to a soft smile. “She made him that strong just by being there.”

“Wooow!” said Risu, eyes wide. “They should get married! Then they can be together and strong forever!”

Ken chuckled and gave his daughter another affectionate pat on the head. “That’s my smart girl. You’re right. They should’ve gotten married right away. But first they had to fight off armies of monsters and evil knights who tried to separate them.”

“Did the bad guys split them up?” Risu’s tone was genuinely worried.

“They came close. Too close, at times. But in the end, the princess and the knight had a strong enough connection that they were always able to find each other and slay all the monsters that bothered them.”

“And then did they get married?”

Ken nodded. “They did. They had a big wedding and everyone from all the neighboring kingdoms showed up to celebrate. Under the light of the magic star, they kissed each other.”

“Gosh!” said Risu, putting her hands over her eyes as if shielding herself from witnessing something obscene, but still leaving a gap between her fingers to peek.

“When they kissed, the magic star came down from the sky and jumped into the belly of the princess. She became queen right after the wedding, and the knight her king. Then, nine months later, they had a daughter. Their love had transformed the star in the now-queen’s belly into a beautiful baby girl.”

“Hooray!” Risu cheered. “Then the star can be with them forever too!”

Ken nodded. “That’s right. And you know what the new star princess’ name was?”

Risu puzzled at her father. “What?”

He smiled. “Her name was Risu.”

The look on his daughter’s face at that moment was more beautiful to Ken than all the masterpieces of every master artist in history. Her cheeks had turned red, her eyes had grown wide, and her jaw had fallen, as if someone had just told her she could eat candy for every meal for the rest of her life. “Wow…” she breathed.

His heart swelled at her true awe. “And they lived happily ever after.” He leaned down and planted a soft kiss on his child’s forehead. Then he gently pulled her blanket over her and tucked her in. “Good night, star princess.”

“G’night, daddy,” she murmured.

Ken turned and left her room, turning off the light as he did. Just outside, however, he saw his wife facing away from him. “Momo?” he asked curiously.

Momo made some kind of gesture Ken could only half see, moving her hand somewhere near her cheeks. Swiveling around, she said, “Hey,” with an almost too authentically casual tone, smiling an unsteady smile.

Ken could see that her eyes were just a bit red and puffy. He smirked. “Were you listening?”

“What? No,” she said hastily. After a second, she added, “Maybe a little bit.”

“It’s a good story, isn’t it?”

“It’s my favorite,” she replied. “In fact, I kinda want to hear it again.”

“Oh? Already?”

She nodded, then wrapped her arms around his shoulders and brought her face close to his. “This time, though, you can tell me the unabridged version. You know, with all the knight’s thoughts laid out plainly.”

“You like the knight, huh?”

“The most powerful, most handsome, most brave and wonderful knight in the kingdom?” she asked with a cheeky smile. “I love him. Who wouldn’t?”

Wordlessly, he put his lips to hers. His kiss was soft, warm, and full of adoration. Momo sighed happily as she let herself melt into it. When they parted, she gave him a saccharine, imploring look and asked in an equally sugary tone, “Please? Can you tell it once more for your loving wife?”

He grinned and told her, “As many times as you want.”

Chapter Text

It takes a village to raise a child, they say. Unfortunately, some children go without such a thing, and must fend for themselves against the uncaring world. But some children are lucky, so very lucky, to be surrounded by those who would care for them even at the cost of their life. Witness now one such child, born of love, a love that touched so many, enough that they would pass it on to the child without reservation.

Ken

At last, the three, merely two just a few days prior, arrived home. Momo was exhausted, understandably so, having just brought a fresh life into the world. Ken was also weary, the stress of worrying about his wife and newborn daughter having compounded on him, but he knew he had had it infinitely easier than his wife. Risu, mercifully, was docile. Her parents knew they were in for years of crying and interruption, but they didn’t care. She was here, finally, and they knew for certain they would endure all hardship for her.

“Alright,” said Momo as they walked into the bedroom, Risu in her arms. “She’s fed, changed, and tuckered out. I think she’s ready to be put down for the night.” A smile crept onto her lips. “Her first sleep in her home.”

Ken’s expression matched hers. “You head into bed. I’ll get her in the crib.” He was glad he’d assembled the thing weeks before Momo’s due date.

“You sure?” Momo asked, hoping for one answer.

Luckily, he gave it. “Absolutely. You need the rest and she’s peaceful right now. She’ll be right in the room with us.”

A visible wave of relief washed over her. “Thanks. You’re the best.” She gave him a soft kiss and handed over the bundle of joy to her husband. “G’night, Ken-chan.”

He had long since gotten over his insecurity over that epithet, even as an adult. Now he felt the full affection of it, a persistent reminder of their shared history. “Good night, Momo.”

As Momo flopped into bed, Ken turned towards the cage-like object that would house their child in her sleep for the next half year at least. With utmost gentleness, he laid her down, making sure to support her head until she was perfectly flat.

Once his hands left her, he remained watching over her. He could look at her for the rest of his days. And just as he had decided to do so with his wife, he so vowed for his life’s new most important figure. “I love you, Risu,” he said softly.

Idly, his mind traveled towards thoughts of the future. He was so excited to raise her, to watch her grow and develop into her own identity, the incredible person he knew she would be.

But then he remembered his own past. The days before Momo changed everything for him. The intervening years between their youngest era and their first reunion. How miserable he had been, shunned by the world, so desperate for companionship he had looked towards the extraterrestrial for it.

His fist clenched. That child lingered in his soul, but gone were his days of loneliness. Now he had many friends, true ones he knew he could rely on, as well as the most wonderful wife he could ever ask for. He could now shine brightly thanks to her. She and the life he spent with her had given him everything he needed to guide Risu along the path she deserved to walk. He would not let her suffer the same torment he had. He swore this on his soul.

He drew a gentle finger down his daughter’s chubby cheek. “Don’t worry,” he whispered, voice full to the brim with resolve. “You will never be alone, my precious star.”

Aira

“Who’s my sweetest little Takakura-chan?” asked the pink-haired girl, voice full of sugar.

“Me!” Risu replied brightly.

“That’s right! It’s you! C’mere, give auntie Aira a hug!” Aira opened her arms wide. Risu ambled towards Aira and embraced her as tightly as her little body would allow. “Ohhh, I love you so much, Takakura-chan!” Aira said, hugging her just tight enough as to not hurt her.

When they parted, Aira looked her over. “Do you like the clothes I bought you?”

“Uh-huh!” Risu twirled in place, arms outstretched, as if to demonstrate their value. “They’re so fancy!”

“Only the best for you, my dear!”

From the entrance to the hallway, Momo gazed upon her former rival and her daughter with narrow eyes. So focused on them was she that she didn’t notice her husband appearing behind her. “You okay, Momo?” he asked.

“Ah!” yelped Momo, jumping from the startle. “Yeah, yeah, I’m fine,” she said as she calmed down. “Just, uh, keeping an eye on things.”

“Are you sure you have to watch them?”

“Well, y’know,” said Momo, “I just want to make sure everything’s okay.”

“I’ve noticed you only do this with Shiratori-san. Do you not trust her with Risu?”

“Do I not trust the woman who tried to get me expelled by framing me with a deadly weapon so that she could steal you away from me? Hmm, let me think about that,” Momo replied sarcastically.

“That was a long time ago,” said Ken. “We’ve been through a lot with her. I think she’s changed for the better.”

Momo huffed. It was true she’d been through thick and thin with Aira and the two were now close. But still the memory of their early enmity remained. “Maybe.”

“Do you think she’d do something to Risu? I think she cares about her a lot.”

“That doesn’t mean anything. Hell, it might mean she’d run away with her to raise her as her own.”

“Surely she wouldn’t do that.”

Momo paused. “Maybe,” she said again. She decided she would keep watching for now. At least until Risu was eighteen.

Jiji

“Whoa!” exclaimed Risu. “How did you do that?”

“Oh, that? That’s called wavedashing. It’s an advanced tech the pros use all the time! Check it out!” Jiji began rapidly moving his fingers on the controller, inputting all kinds of complex maneuvers. On the screen, his character slid back and forth.

“I wanna do that!” Risu declared excitedly.

“You sure? It’s pretty tricky,” said Jiji. “Even I have trouble with it sometimes, and I’m a genius at Smash.”

“I’m sure!” Risu’s face became determined. “I can do it!”

With a grin, Jiji replied, “Alright, Riri, if you insist. Here. You have to jump, then immediately air dodge back to the ground — that’s one of the shoulder buttons. If you do it right, you’ll see your character move in the direction you airdodged to.”

“Got it!” Risu took the controller from Jiji and tried to execute the maneuver as instructed. However, the result was her character simply stalling in the air and falling back down. “Wait,” said the girl, “I’ll try again!” Once more she hit the inputs, but once more it failed. “Nnggh,” she grumbled.

“I’m tellin’ ya, it’s difficult!” said Jiji. “It might be beyond you at the moment.” Indeed, the girl was not very good at the rest of the game, so young was she.

“I can do it!” Risu insisted. “I’m not giving up just because it’s hard!”

At these words, Jiji felt a sudden sense of nostalgia. The image of her parents appeared behind her in his mind’s eye. He knew Momo had continued her spiritual training in spite of the regrettable teasing her’d so mercilessly given her. He’d heard the tale of how Ken had worked himself to the bone to become stronger for Momo just before high school, giving him power that let him suppress the Evil Eye in the early days of his possession.

Neither of them gave up when it was hard. When something mattered to them, they always gave it their all no matter the odds. And he was lucky enough for them to call him their friend. They’d done so much for him over the years, he felt he would never be able to pay his debt of gratitude.

But at least he could help their daughter have some fun.

“Here,” said Jiji. “Let’s go into training mode. We’ll set the speed to one quarter so you can practice the rhythm. Then when you can do it — when, not if — we’ll increase the speed to one half. Once you’ve got that, we’ll go full speed. Sound good?”

She nodded. “Let’s do it!”

Jiji navigated through the game’s menus to the practice mode and adjusted the settings as he’d described. “Alright, Riri. Give it your all. I’m sure you’ll be winning supermajors in America in no time!”

“Okay, whatever that means!” said Risu unflappably. “Thanks, uncle Jiji!”

With a smile, Jiji reached over and mussed the girl’s hair affectionately. “Don’t mention it, Riri. It’s the least I can do.”

Kinta

“Hmph,” said Kinta, expression full of scorn. “And why must I become guardian to your spawn?”

“Everyone else is busy,” answered Ken. “We’ve been planning this date for ages and we ran out of people to call to babysit.” Ken pressed his palms together and bowed his head. “Please, Sakata-kun!”

Kinta sighed. “Very well. A superior officer must deign to assist his subordinates from time to time. Major Takakura, you have my word, no harm shall come to your offspring.”

Face brightening, Ken replied, “Thank you so much! I promise it’ll be fine. Risu is a really well behaved girl. And you can call us if anything happens.”

“Yes, yes, I understand the procedure,” said Kinta with a dismissive wave. “I am not so unfamiliar with the protection of youths that I don’t know the basics.”

When the day arrived, Kinta sat in the living room. He and Risu had locked eyes. His face was hard, as if watching for any signs of misbehavior. Risu’s face was totally neutral by contrast. “Uncle Kinkin, what’re we gonna do tonight?” she asked pleasantly.

“I will occupy myself with construction of sophisticated models,” he said plainly. “What you do, so long as it remains within the boundaries of reason, is none of my concern.”

“Kay!” said Risu before running off to play with some of her toys.

Kinta sighed and pulled out the unopened gunpla kit he’d brought to while away the hours. It was a mid-tier model, above the cheapest variety but not so expensive that its complexity would lend itself towards easily breaking should the child become overly exuberant in merriment.

A few minutes after he began to detach components from the frame, however, he was startled by the sudden voice of his charge asking, “Ooh, what’s that?”

Recovering from the surprise, he cleared his throat and told her, “As I said, it is a model. I will be assembling it.”

Risu looked at the box next to him. “You’re making a toy?”

With a scoff, Kinta answered, “It is not a toy. Toys are for playing with. This is for understanding clever engineering and admiring artful construction in an interactive way.”

“Oh,” said Risu. Kinta wasn’t sure she fully understood. “It looks cool!” she added cheerfully.

Caught off guard, Kinta paused before he replied, “Indeed. It is cool. That is… an astute observation.”

“What does astute mean?”

He thought for a moment. “It means you are smart about what you see.”

She beamed. “Yeah! I am smart!” With hopeful eyes, she followed up, “Can I watch you make it?”

Mulling over the question for a second, he answered, “Very well. So long as you don’t interfere.”

“Kay!” Risu sat herself down a foot away from the kit, opposite Kinta. “Thanks, uncle Kinkin!”

After a brief silence, Kinta spoke, “Colonel.”

“What?”

“I am Kinta ‘The End of Joytoy’ Sakata, also known as Gale Wind Albert, masterful pilot of the Great Kinta. But I suspect that is too complex for a mind as young as yours, so you may call me colonel.”

“Got it, Colonel Uncle Kinkin!” she replied, her tone serious as she gave an earnest salute.

“At ease,” he muttered.

A few minutes passed as Risu peacefully watched Kinta assemble the model. “Do you have a lot of these?” she inquired.

“Indeed,” said Kinta. “Why do you ask?”

“You’re doing it really fast. Like you’ve done it a lot before.”

He nodded. “My hands are well versed in the delicate construction of such items.”

“That’s so cool! I wish mommy and daddy would get me one!”

Another silence followed. Quietly, Kinta spoke, “Would you… be interested in assisting me with this one?”

Risu’s eyes went wide and her jaw dropped. “Really?” she asked breathlessly.

He nodded. “Yes. I suspect your acumen is sufficient for this task. But you must follow my every order to the letter. Is that understood?”

Pure amazed excitement took her features. “Yes sir, Colonel Uncle Kinkin!”

A few hours later, Momo and Ken returned home. “Risu? Sakata-kun? We’re back,” Ken announced. There was no response. “Risu? Sakata-kun?” he called again.

“I think they’re in the living room,” said Momo. “I can hear them in there.”

They walked towards the noise, only to stop the second they reached the doorway. Kinta was leaning over to Risu as she held an assembled Gundam in her hand, a look of admiring wonder on her face. “You see, this is the beam saber,” Kinta explained, pointing to the sword in the figure’s grip. “It is a high energy weapon that can pierce armor.”

“Why do they use swords when they have guns and missiles?” asked Risu.

“An excellent question, as expected of you, Private First Class Takakura the Second. You see, during engagement, the mobile suits scatter Minovsky particles. These interfere with radar and so prevent the use of conventional weaponry. Thus, there is a need for manual combat, which is enacted through means such as the beam saber.”

“Ohhh,” said Risu, as if Kinta were an enlightened being imparting sage wisdom. “So there’s like dust in space and that makes it hard for computers to find them so they gotta get up close?”

“Heh,” Kinta chuckled, reaching over to pat Risu on the head. “Exactly correct. You’re quite capable, beyond what one would expect of someone your age. With this level of comprehension, you’re sure to climb the ranks in no time.”

She grinned. “Thanks, Colonel Uncle Kinkin!”

From the doorway, Momo and Ken looked at each other, both bearing a smile. In the future, they would call on Kinta for babysitting again, and when it came time for Risu’s birthday, from him she would receive her first ever gunpla. It would not be the last.

Vamola

“Auntie Vamola, I have a question,” said Risu.

“Yes?” Vamola asked pleasantly.

“Are you an alien? Daddy said you’re an alien.”

Vamola nodded. “I am. I come from the planet Sumer. Sumerians are like humans, but a little different.”

“Do you all have those thingies on the top of your head?”

“Yes. Sumerians evolved antennae after leaving earth.”

“Leaving earth? You were here before?”

“A long time ago. Many, many years.” She had trouble remembering the exact history; it was never her strongest subject in school.

“Like a hundred years?” asked Risu earnestly.

“More than that,” Vamola replied with some amusement.

“Two hundred?”

“Even more.”

“More than two hundred!?” Risu’s face showed astonishment.

Vamola laughed. “It was very long ago.”

“Wow,” said Risu. “That’s a long time! Were you around back then?”

“I’m not that old,” said Vamola. “I’m your mommy and daddy’s age.”

“Oh.” Risu paused. “Why did you come here?”

The question gave Vamola pause. Memories of genocide and conquest, of despair and hunger and fear flooded her mind. Suddenly, next to Risu, she pictured the image of her younger self, crying and desperate among the ruins of her birth home. “My planet… had some trouble,” she uttered softly.

“What kind of trouble? Were there monsters?”

“There were,” Vamola replied somberly. “They were very mean. They hurt a lot of people. So I left. It’s much nicer here. There are still mean people here, but there are a lot more nice people. And great food.”

“I like food,” Risu noted idly. “Great granny Seiko makes really good food.”

This brightened Vamola’s mood. “She does. I’ve eaten a lot of food since coming here but I’ve never had better cooking than hers. I ate it all the time when I was a kid.”

“You knew great granny Seiko as a little kid?”

“Not as little as you, but yes. She took care of me when I arrived here. So did your parents and all our friends.” A nostalgic smile crossed her lips. “They were truly wonderful. They helped me when I didn’t have anything.”

“Your mommy and daddy didn’t take care of you?”

Vamola’s smile turned melancholy. “I don’t have a daddy. And my mommy stayed behind to protect me. I came here alone. It was really scary.” She turned her face away from Risu, not wanting her to see the effect of those painful memories.

But then she felt tiny arms wrap around her and a small head pressing against her. “I’m sorry that happened,” said Risu. “I love my mommy and daddy very much. I would be really sad if they weren’t here.”

This gesture, so small yet so sincere, provoked a single tear from Vamola’s eye. Wiping it, she returned Risu’s embrace, holding the small child gently but with full tenderness. “Thank you, Risu. Your mommy and daddy are truly wonderful people.”

“Yeah,” said Risu. When they parted, she gave Vamola bright smile.

Vamola smiled back. “Hey. Do you want to see something cool?”

“I do!” replied Risu excitedly.

Vamola stood and activated her suit. Her clothes shifted, transforming into its miniature kaiju form. “Ta-da!” she said, gesturing to herself.

“Woooow!” said Risu, eyes wide and bright. “It’s just like Godzilla!”

“Do you want to ride Godzilla?” asked Vamola.

“Of course!” Risu ran towards Vamola and climbed up her back onto the suit’s shoulders.

“Hold on tight,” Vamola instructed.

“Okay!”

As the small child rode atop her armor, Vamola felt a warmth within her. This little girl was the perfect synthesis of the kindness she knew her parents to have within them. She knew Risu would grow up to be just as strong as them too.

Rin

“Auntie Rin, I’m bored!” cried Risu.

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Rin replied. “What would you like to do?”

“I dunno! Something fun!”

“Do you want to play with your toys?”

“I already played with all of them.”

“I see.” Rin thought for a moment. “Then how about… we sing?”

Risu’s eyes brightened. “Yeah! I love singing! Will you sing with me, Auntie Rin?”

Rin smiled. “Of course.” Pulling out her phone, she searched for some songs for small children. A few videos by children’s performers came up. It was simple music, easy for a young child to digest. She pressed play on one of them. As it began, she asked, “Do you know this one?”

“I do!” Risu began to sing, loudly, proudly, and without any reservation.

Rin watched her with delight, clapping along to the beat. The girl’s joy was infectious. When the song ended, Rin’s rhythmic clapping turned to full applause. “Very good, Risu-chan!” said Rin with affection.

Risu beamed. “Thank you! I love singing!” she reiterated. Then her expression fell. “But you didn’t sing with me.”

“Oh, I don’t know these kinds of songs, I’m afraid,” Rin explained.

“Then you should play a song you like so I can learn it and then we can sing together!”

Rin blushed. “Ah, the, uh, songs I like aren’t that easy to sing to,” she said quietly.

“I wanna hear one! Please?”

At the girl’s expression of pure pleading, Rin had to acquiesce. “Well… okay. But if you don’t like it, tell me and I’ll turn it off, all right?”

“Kay!”

Rin brought up her music app and found a song. For her, it was fairly mellow, but for the average listener, it was still quite beyond the norm. She thought about playing a more popular song, an easy listen, but she didn’t like the idea of lying to a child unless she had to. “Okay. Here goes.” She hit play.

What came out of the phone was a brutal shredding on a distorted guitar, a blitzing drum, a bass that could only be called dark in intonation, and most strikingly of all, the throaty growl of the lead vocalist. Risu’s eyes shot wide as the storm of noise reached her ears. She looked absolutely gobsmacked by the sound. Rin saw her reaction, blushed in embarrassment, and moved to turn it off.

But then Risu started moving her head up and down to the beat. Soon it became unmistakable. The girl was headbanging. “Where did you learn to do that?” Rin asked.

“Dunno!” said Risu, still moving to the tune. “It just feels right!”

Rin was stunned. Had she just created a metalhead? “So you like it?”

“It’s awesome!” Risu replied enthusiastically.

Rin was worried that she had accidentally inflicted a genre of music many found intolerable upon the Takakura household. But the selfish part of her was okay leaving that worry for later. For now, she simply joined the little girl in headbanging, to this song and to the many that would follow.

Zuma

Risu was walking back to her house, licking the ice cream off a cone Momo had given her the money to buy. She loved the taste of it on her tongue; so eager was she to consume it that she couldn’t bring herself to savor it and thus licked as fast as she could.

But then, as she walked by an alleyway, she heard a voice. “P-please! I don’t have anything!” it said with deep fear.

Risu looked. She saw two older boys, one black-haired, the other a dyed blonde. They wore school uniforms, jackets open as they stood over a third boy slumped on the ground. “Why you gotta lie, bro?” said the blonde one. “We know you’re carrying some cash.”

“No, I swear, I have nothing!” the boy on the floor protested.

“Well then, maybe we gotta give you a little reminder not to walk outside unprepared,” said the brunette delinquent as he cracked his knuckles.

Risu frowned. Stepping into the alley, she called out, “Hey!” As the three boys turned to her, she yelled, “Leave him alone!”

The two aggressors looked at each other before bursting into laughter. “Little girl, go home. This doesn’t concern you,” said the blonde.

“I can’t! Not until you let him go!” Risu insisted.

With a sinister smile, the brunette stepped towards Risu. “And what’re you gonna do, kid? Throw ice cream at me?”

Risu gulped. The boy was much bigger than he’d looked when he was far away. “I’ll…” She did her best to remain steadfast. “I’ll stop you!”

“You think I’m afraid of hitting a little girl?” said the bully. “Think ag—” He stopped short, eyes going wide in sudden terror. His blonde compatriot shared his expression. With a scream of fear, the two bolted from the alley.

Risu blinked with complete uncertainty. Then she got a proud smile and let out a puff of air through her nostrils. “Hmph! They weren’t so tough! They didn’t wanna mess with me!”

“Maybe,” said a voice behind her. Risu jumped, swiveling around towards its source. There was a man there, tall with a hard expression, the sides of his head shaved and his ears bearing many piercings. “Or maybe they just thought better of their decisions.”

Risu swallowed again. “Wh-who are you?” she asked nervously.

“No one you need to fear, kid,” said the man. After a moment, he asked, “You’re the Takakura girl, yeah?”

Risu’s fear ebbed. “You know me?”

“I’m a friend of your parents. Name’s Unji Zuma. Nice to meetcha.”

Truth be told, Risu was still a little afraid, but something about Zuma was calming to her. “Nice to meet you too,” she muttered.

“Thank you, thank you!” said the bullies’ would-be victim. “You saved me!”

“Wasn’t anything. Go on, get goin’,” said Zuma plainly. The boy nodded and ran off. “You shouldn’t go around picking fights with bigger kids,” Zuma advised Risu. “That was brave, but too much bravery can be a bad thing.”

“But they were gonna hurt him!” Risu protested.

“And if they hurt you, wouldn’t your mom and dad be sad?”

Risu looked away. “I guess so… but I would feel bad if I didn’t do anything.”

“I get it. You feel powerless. But I know your parents. They’re really strong. And that means one day you’ll be big and strong too. So just be patient, okay?”

Her expression brightened. “Kay!”

“How about we get you home?”

With a nod, Risu again replied, “Kay!” They resumed the walk back to the Takakura house. After a few minutes, Risu extended the cone in her hand to Zuma. “You want some of my ice cream?” she offered.

With a smirk, he answered, “Sure.” Taking the cone, he gave it a small lick. “Thanks, kid.”

“You’re welcome, Uncle Unji!” she replied cheerfully as he handed it back.

He chuckled. “Uncle Unji, huh? I like it.”

“So how do you know my mommy and daddy?”

He smiled in remembrance. “It’s… a long story.”

“I’m good at listening!”

“Okay. It started when we were in high school…”

Risu quite enjoyed the revelation on the journey home. When they arrived at her home, Momo was surprised to see Zuma. As he told her of the circumstances of their encounter, Momo was shocked and sternly echoed Zuma’s advice to stay away from trouble. She also told her not to trust strangers so implicitly, even if they claimed to know her parents, despite the fact that Zuma was a true friend. Risu pouted again at this, but Ken assured her Momo was just worried, as was he, and that soon enough she’d be allowed to help whoever she wanted.

For Risu, it couldn’t come soon enough.

Kouki

“This is what’s called an arpeggio,” said the woman who sat beside Risu on the bench in front of the miniature piano. Her fingers traveled up and down the keys, hitting the 1-3-5-8-5-3-1 pattern.

“Ar-pej-o?” asked Risu.

“Close. Arpeggio. It’s where you hit the notes in a chord in order from bottom to top. Do you remember what a chord is?”

“Um…” Risu thought for a second. “It’s like… when you play different notes at the same time and they sound good, right?”

Kouki smiled. “Very good.” Risu beamed under the praise. “Why don’t you give it a try?”

Risu laid one hand on the keys. “Okay. Here I go.” She began to mash keys, but they were the wrong ones, and so the attempt came out dissonant.

“Take it slow,” said Kouki gently. “You have to let your hands learn it first.”

Risu nodded with determination. “Just like wavedashing!”

Kouki had no idea what she meant, but nonetheless replied, “Sure.” Reaching for her phone, she brought up a metronome app and turned it to a very low tempo. “Hear that clicking? Try to do it in time with that.”

“Kay,” said Risu. Even at the extremely unhurried pace, she still struggled to hit the right notes and to not hit two notes at the same time. After several minutes, she grumbled, “Grr. I’m no good at this.”

“It’s all right,” said Kouki. “Here. Instead of trying to move your wrists, try moving your arms.” She brought her fingers to the keys and began to play a rapid series of notes. “See? It gives you easier control.”

“Wow, Auntie Kouki, you’re amazing!” said Risu with excitement. “You’re like an expert!”

Kouki found herself blushing at how impressed the child was. “I’m pretty good,” she uttered.

“I wanna be that good!”

“It’ll take practice.”

“Then I’ll practice until I’m the best!”

This struck Kouki. Memories of a concert, of failing to be the peak of performance, of the near life-ruining aftermath of it flooded her mind. After a moment, in a somber tone, she asked, “Do you like playing piano, Risu-chan? Even though you’re not that good yet?”

“Hmm.” Risu thought for a second. “Yeah! It’s fun.”

Kouki released a sigh of relief. “It’s okay if you’re not the best. What matters is that you work hard and enjoy it on its own. If you can do that, the piano will be an amazing thing for you.”

“Cool!” said Risu, not fully grasping the weight of Kouki’s words. “I’ll work super hard!”

Kouki smiled.

A week later, Momo told Kouki how impressed she was at how strongly Risu had taken to the piano. Kouki merely chuckled and reminded Momo that she had a knack for talking to little creatures.

Seiko

“Thank you for the meal!” said Risu brightly.

“Eat your fill,” said Seiko casually.

Needing no further invitation, Risu dug into the meat that had been served in front of her. Taking a large bite, her eyes closed and she gained an ecstatic expression. “Mm-mm!” She turned to Seiko. “Great granny, your food is the best!”

Seiko grinned. “I make it special for you, little starlight. Extra love always makes everything taste better.”

“I love it!”

“I’m glad. But make sure you chew, okay? Don’t want you choking on anything.”

“Kay!” In short order, Risu tore through her meal until she was good and full. “Ahh… that was great,” she sighed, leaning back.

“You still have room for dessert?” asked Seiko.

Risu bolted upright. “Yeah!”

Seiko stood and walked to the kitchen. Then she returned with a large quantity of mochi ice cream. “Here. All yours,” she said as she set the bowl down.

“I can have all of this!?” Risu asked in disbelief.

“Yep. That’s what ‘all yours’ means.”

“Yay! Mommy and daddy never let me have this much ice cream!”

With a chuckle, Seiko replied, “Well, that’s because great grannies get a special privilege when it comes to their great grandchildren. They’re allowed to give them as much ice cream as they want.”

Eagerly, Risu dove into the sweets. But partway through her first serving, she asked, “Hey, great granny?”

“What’s up?”

“You knew mommy when she was little, right?”

“Sure did.”

“What was she like?”

Seiko thought back, smiling in recollection. “Pretty much the same as she is now. Strong, smart, kind, and energetic. Just like you.” Seiko loved the way Risu giggled as she reveled in the comparison. “You know, she met your father when she was about your age.”

Risu’s eyes widened. “She did?”

Seiko nodded. “Yep. Right at that playground we sometimes go to.”

“What was he like?” asked Risu with great curiosity.

“Totally different,” said Seiko. “He was nervous and scared and awkward. Really lonely kid.”

Risu’s face fell. “That’s sad… How did he stop being that?”

With a sweet smile, Seiko said, “Your mom. She changed everything for that boy.”

“Mommy did?”

“Yup. See, he was really different back then, but there was one part of him that was always the same. He had a good heart. Your mom saw that right away, clever girl that she is. It was so beautiful to her she fell in love with him right then.”

Risu’s jaw dropped. “They fell in love that long ago?”

“Boy, did they. They were head over heels for each other on day one. They took a while to see it, but, well, I’ve been around the block a few times and I know when two kids fall in love.”

“Wow…” breathed Risu. “Their love is really strong, huh?”

“Like steel,” replied Seiko. “You know, she used to cry when she couldn’t go see him at the playground.”

Risu looked delighted as if she’d heard quite juicy gossip. “Really? Mommy cried?”

“Oh yeah. All the time. She was so in love with that awkward little boy it tore her apart to not see him. When she couldn’t see him for a few years, she was heartbroken. She watched a movie with an actor whose name is the same as his. She ‘fell in love’ with him instead, but really, she was just redirecting her feelings for your dad.”

Now Risu bore a look of awe. “And daddy felt the same way?”

“Absolutely. Kid did everything he could to impress her. Turned himself from a scrawny stick into an Olympic athlete for her. Saved her life more than a few times. But of course, he never had to do any of that stuff for her to love him. He had her hook, line and sinker from the start. And she had him.”

A blush adorned Risu’s features. “Wow…” she said again. “Do you think I’ll meet someone like that?”

Seiko raised an eyebrow at this. “You in a rush to get married or somethin’?”

“No!” said Risu quickly, becoming flustered. “I just wonder if I might…”

Shrugging, Seiko replied, “Well, if you do, first he’ll have to get past great granny’s test. If he’s no good, I’ll beat him with my Nessie bat.”

Risu looked worried. “Don’t do that!”

“Then you’ll have to only bring good ones over,” Seiko said plainly. “You’re a real good kid, Risu. Best I’ve ever met. Your mind is sharp as a knife and your heart is bright like the sun. A lot of kids will see that. And they’ll wanna get close. So you gotta learn how to pick the ones whose hearts are at least a bit as good as yours.”

“How will I know?”

Seiko contemplated her question. “You see how your mom and dad are with each other, right?”

With a nod, Risu replied, “Uh-huh. They love each other a lot.”

“When you find someone who makes you wanna act like that, who isn’t mean and doesn’t want to hurt you or anyone else, that’s when you’ll know. It might take you a few tries; not everyone’s as lucky as your folks. But when the right one shows up, he’ll be different from all of them.” She gave Risu a gentle smile. “And I know, even though they’re rare, there will be a boy like that for you someday.”

Risu felt a strange emotion as Seiko’s words washed over her. It wasn’t unpleasant. It was like reassurance, but more important than that. “Thanks, great granny,” she whispered.

“Of course. Now, how about I give my little starlight more dessert?”

“Yay!”

Risu always loved visiting her great grandmother. Seiko spoiled her rotten, no matter how much Momo protested. But this time was different. With that thing she felt earlier listening to Seiko, Risu knew that she had been given some of the best advice of her life.

Momo

The sound of the door opening reached Momo’s ears, followed by a few heavy footsteps. “Risu, is that you?” she called. There was no answer. “Honey?”

“I’m here,” came her daughter’s reply at last. Her voice was thick with displeasure.

Momo went to investigate. Indeed, matching her tone, Risu’s demeanor looked unmistakably sour. On top of her hard frown, her eyes were red and puffy. Momo crouched down to meet her eye level. With heavy concern in her voice, she asked, “Risu? What’s wrong, sweetie? Were you crying?”

“No,” Risu said quickly. “I just got dust in my eye.”

Those words brought back a memory, a memory of a time which had, in the moment, been quite painful, but which now felt warm and comforting, knowing what followed. His words from back then came to her. “Did someone do this to you?”

“I said it’s just dust!” Risu yelled before stomping off to her room.

Momo watched her child ascend the stairs with deep worry. Her answer had been confirmation enough, but the door slam that came after only sealed it further. Sweeping her long hair behind her shoulders, Momo followed Risu’s trail until she arrived at the closed door that bore the girl’s name. She knocked softly. “Risu?”

“Go away!” came Risu’s angry reply.

Momo sighed. Okay, granny, I get it now. “I’m coming in, okay?” Slowly, she opened the door. Inside, Risu was lying on her bed, face buried in a pillow. “Sweetie, please talk to me,” Momo said with as tender a tone as she could muster. “I know something made you upset. I love you. Please tell mommy what happened.”

Nothing happened for a second. Then Risu pushed herself up on her mattress and glowered at Momo more furiously than she had ever seen. “You know what happened?” said Risu. “Your stupid pose happened!”

Momo blinked. “Pose?”

“The one you said I have to do when I go to school! The one that makes me look like a stupid rooster! It’s dumb and I hate it!”

Ah. “Did someone make fun of you for doing the pose?”

Risu blushed. “N-no! I just looked in a mirror and saw how dumb I looked! I never want to do it again!”

“I see,” said Momo. “Do you mind if I tell you a story about that pose?”

Risu let out a long breath. “Fine. Whatever.”

“Okay.” Gingerly, Momo walked over to the bed and sat down next to her daughter. “So, your great granny made me do that pose when I was your age. She said I needed to do it to unlock my spiritual powers.”

“That stuff’s fake,” Risu muttered.

Momo couldn’t argue. Not because Risu was right, but because spiritual awakening took years to occur even for the trained. Jiji overflowed with chi, yet he only became able to sense spirits in high school. Seiko speculated that Risu would be similar, as the child of two spiritually powerful beings, but there was no guarantee whether her power would blossom early if at all. Momo had shown her as much proof as she could, including her own psychic powers, but, having never seen a specter personally, Risu thought it was all induced by alien technology, not the powers of the dead or demonic.

“Well,” said Momo, “I wasn’t sure about it either. I just did it because granny said to. And I did it every day, like a good girl, like you. But there was this boy I liked.” Her eyes fell half-lidded. “And he made fun of me. Him and a bunch of his friends.” She omitted the fact that it was her Uncle Jiji, not wanting to tarnish Risu’s image of him.

For the first time since her return home, Risu’s face showed something besides anger. “They did?”

Momo nodded. “Yup. It was really mean. It hurt my feelings a lot. I started crying right there on the playground. I was angry and sad. I suddenly resented granny and the pose and the whole spiritual training. Because I felt like she had caused it. Like if it wasn’t for her, the boy I liked wouldn’t have been so cruel to me.”

Softly, Risu asked, “Did you yell at great granny?”

“I wanted to,” admitted Momo. “I made a whole plan in my head to tell her I never wanted to do the pose or any training ever again. But before I could do it, something happened.”

“What was it?”

Momo smiled. “Your father appeared.”

This struck Risu. Seiko had told her they’d met at this age, but she didn’t know the specifics. “Really? Right then?”

“Right then. He asked me if I was okay. I told him it was ‘dust in my eye.’ Of course, that was a lie — unlike you. You’d never lie about that, right?”

Risu averted her gaze. “N-no…”

Momo smirked. “But your father knew the truth. He knew I’d been hurt by someone because he’d been hurt by others. He knew what the pain was like. And he thought it was terrible that someone had made me feel that way. He was so…” She let herself sink into the wave of warmth that that memory gave her even now. “Kind. Just because that’s the way he was. The way he’s always been.”

“You fell in love with him because of that, right?” asked Risu.

Momo gave a look of surprise. “Who told you that?”

“Great granny.”

With a chuckle, Momo said, “Of course. Well, she’s right. I didn’t know it at the time, but he was already the man of my dreams. He told me the pose I did was cool. He showed me his own pose and that made mine feel okay. I felt like I didn’t have to stop being who I wanted to be, who I really was, thanks to him.”

“Daddy’s so nice…” Risu whispered.

“He really is. I love him so much.” She felt like a little girl again, talking about her crush. Only now, she was married to him. “And he saved me. I wasn’t just planning on yelling at granny, I was going to push her away completely. Everything would’ve been worse between us, I know it. But instead, we’ve been incredibly close for all my life. I cherish that.”

“I love great granny too.”

“And she loves you. Both of us. So I kept doing the pose. After what your father said, I didn’t care what anyone else thought. And because of that, like you said, I fell in love with him. Eventually, we got together and years later we got married. And because of that pose, because he saw me crying and comforted me when I got made fun of for doing that…” She gave Risu a look of pride, adoration, and peace. “We had you. Our most precious treasure.”

Risu’s eyes were wide, her mouth open, her cheeks tinted red. There it was again, that feeling she’d felt at Seiko’s, even stronger than it was before.

“Listen,” said Momo, “I know you think it’s dumb. But it’s really important that you keep doing that pose. And it’s not just me who thinks so. It’s your dad, your great granny, all your aunties and uncles. They all want what’s best for you.”

Risu thought back on the memories of her parents’ friends. She always had fun with them. She could tell they cared about her immensely. She knew they weren’t really related, but they felt like her family, as if all of them loved her like she was their own flesh and blood, as if she could rely on them for guidance and protection. And if that care came from knowing Momo and Ken, and their relationship began from that one incident…

“I…” she muttered. “I don’t think it’s dumb. I’m sorry I said it was. I can keep doing it.”

Momo gave her a sweet smile. “I’m glad. You’ll see how valuable it is soon enough. Now, how about you go wash your face? You should get all that ‘dust’ off of it.”

“Okay,” Risu replied quietly, rising to walk to the bathroom.

Soon, Ken returned home. Momo greeted him at the door and gave him their usual welcome home kiss. “How was your day?” he asked pleasantly.

“It was good. Risu had a bit of a bad day, but we talked it out.”

“What happened?”

“Oh, she just got some dust in her eye,” said Momo with a sly grin.

“I see.” Ken returned her expression. “And you helped her clean up?”

“I did, with a bit of help.”

“Oh? From whom?”

“Ah, you know.” She wrapped her arms around his neck and leaned in close. “Just the memory of the most wonderful husband, father, and man in the universe.”

He grinned. “Glad I could assist.”

They shared another kiss, more tender than their homecoming ritual, as Momo let the gratitude of the last few decades pour into him through her lips. He returned it in kind, wrapping his arms around her waist to pull her in. All in all, it wasn’t their longest kiss — they had to part before Risu caught them — but it was one of the most loving.

United by their precious star, the Takakura family enjoyed a truly special dinner that night.

Chapter Text

“Turbo Granny?” asked Momo.

“Whaddya want?” said the surly manekineko.

“I sent Risu to the grocery store to pick up some things for dinner. Could you go check on her, just to make sure she got there okay?”

Turbo Granny chortled derisively. “Like I give a shit about yer little brat. Get yer husband to do it.”

“He’s not back yet, otherwise I would. Can you do it?”

“Sorry, I have a very busy schedule of sitting on my special cushion and eating snacks,” said Turbo Granny, turning towards the living room.

“C’mon, please? At your speed it would take you a second.”

“Yer bein’ a worry wart. In my day, kids her age were already fightin’ and dyin’ on the front line in wars.”

Momo raised an eyebrow. “Is that a… good thing? Also, I’m pretty sure you’re exaggerating.”

“Whatever. I ain’t doin’ it, end of story.”

As the small cat figure exited the kitchen, Momo growled, “Thanks for nothing, freeloader.”

“Hmm, let’s see… Eggs, milk, butter, flour,” listed Risu, looking at the text message her mom had sent her. “Okay. Flour first.”

She figured she would begin with the least perishable of the lot. It was easy enough to find. A bit heavy when she picked up the bag, but she considered herself tough enough to muscle it out. Eggs were next. Fragile, but she was a coordinated girl. She wouldn’t drop them. At least, she resolved not to when she put them in her basket.

Last was the dairy. Humming a small tune from her favorite cartoon, she sauntered over to the frozen foods, past which would be the refrigerated section. When she arrived, however, she saw something that made her eyes go wide and her lips curl into a bright smile. “Uncle Jiji!” she called out, dashing over to the man looking into one of the freezers with a scowl and hugging his leg.

“What th—” Jiji turned looked down the girl wrapped around him. “The hell are you?” he asked in a gruff voice.

“Uncle Jiji, it’s me! Risu!” she said excitedly. “Mommy sent me to get some stuff for her! I didn’t think I’d find you here!”

“Oh,” said Jiji. “I ain’t who you think I am. I’m—” Suddenly, he turned his head way. “What? Oh. No! No, I’m not gonna— fine! I promise! But you owe me one! Now shaddup already!”

“Um… Who are you talking to?” asked Risu.

“Dumb Jiji thinks I’m gonna murder ya. But I’m not. You wouldn’t be any fun to murder.”

“Oh. Thanks,” said Risu carefully, a bit of worry on her face. “But, um, aren’t you Uncle Jiji?”

“Nah. I just share his body. They call me Evil Eye.”

“Oh!” said Risu. “Daddy told me about this! He said there’s another person inside Uncle Jiji who’s really strong and kinda scary but good on the inside.”

“I am really strong and kinda scary,” said Evil Eye. “Wait. Is your dad Takakura?”

“I’m Takakura.”

“I thought you said you were Risu.”

“I’m Risu Takakura.”

“So your dad’s the other Takakura, right?”

“There’s three of us. My mommy’s also Takakura.”

“Oh. I thought your mom was Momo.”

“She is.”

“I see…” He put his hand on his chin, contemplating this as if it were mind-blowing scientific knowledge.

“What’re you doing at the grocery store? Did Uncle Jiji ask you to get stuff too?”

“Nah. He said I could come out to do whatever I wanted, if I didn’t murder anyone.” His expression sank. “I wanted to buy some ice cream but I ain’t got any cash. Dumb Jiji kept his wallet empty.”

“Oh,” said Risu. Reaching into her pocket, she retrieved the money Momo had given her to purchase the goods. “Here,” she said, extending one bill. “This should let you buy something.”

“Oh, awesome,” said Evil Eye, snatching the money from her. “Thanks. You gonna get some ice cream too?”

She shook her head. “I can’t. Mommy gave me a little extra to buy myself at treat as a reward for helping her. But I just gave it to you.”

Evil Eye eyed her curiously. “So you’re giving me your ice cream money?”

“Mhm.”

“You don’t want it?”

“It’s okay. Mommy will probably give me dessert anyway. It’s better if you take it.”

Evil Eye thought for a moment. “If you’re Momo’s kid, then you’re Seiko’s grandkid, right?”

“Great grandkid, but yeah. Why?”

“You’re nice like her. Seiko said she’d make me family too, a long time ago. That means we’re family.”

Risu beamed. “Then it’s nice to meet a family member, uncle Evil Eye!”

After a second, he replied, “Cousin.”

“What?”

“I know I look old, but I’m really more like your age. Kinda. It’s all screwy. So I’m your cousin.”

“Oh!” Risu nodded in mostly complete understanding. “Got it.”

Evil Eye reached into the freezer in front of him and retrieved a pint of ice cream. “Thanks again, cousin Risu. See ya.”

As he walked away, Risu waved and called, “Later, cousin Evil Eye!”

A few minutes later, she had retrieved the butter, but it appeared there was no milk left. With a shrug, she began to make her way towards the checkout.

“Next customer,” said a man’s voice from one of the lanes. Risu walked over and began taking things out of her basket. At her height, she was just barely able to reach up and put each item on the conveyor belt. But as she reached the flour, it was a little too heavy to raise over her head. A few seconds into her struggle, the clerk leaned over and said, “Would you be needing some assistance?”

“Yes please,” said Risu.

“One moment.” A few footsteps followed as the man made his way to the other side of the counter. “Now, allow me to— ah!”

She looked at the man. He had neat hair, a placid though slightly unnerving smile, odd eyes, and two dark lines running up either side of his face. His perfectly stiff expression did not betray the surprise his vocalization had. “What is it?” asked Risu.

“Might you be the Takakura girl?” inquired the clerk.

“I’m a Takakura girl. My mommy’s another one.”

“Would that be Momo Takakura, then?”

Risu’s face showed surprise. “You know her?”

“Indeed. Your mother and I have… some history. Mostly pleasant.”

“What’s your name?”

“I have been called Rokuro in the past.”

“Nice to meet you, mister Rokuro. I’m Risu.”

“A pleasure to make your acquaintance.” He paused. “Would you mind if I inspected you? It will be painless and noninvasive.”

“Um… sure,” said Risu uncertainly.

Risu heard a sound like many tiny mechanical pieces clicking and whirring into place. What appeared to be some sort of lens appeared on the clerk’s eye, a small targeting reticle in its center. A number of characters Risu didn’t recognize ran over it. “I see. I detect no energetic anomaly from you.”

“I’m still training my chi,” she replied.

“Indeed. Well, for now it is fortuitous. This lowers the likelihood of danger arriving in your vicinity. Though I suspect your environment is such that most any danger would be thwarted handily.”

“Oh. Okay.”

“I also suspect that as the child of Momo and Ken Takakura, you are quite special… in ways that are less empirically quantifiable.”

“Thank you?” Risu replied uncertainly.

“Here. A token of my good will.” He pulled a small piece of paper from his store apron and handed it to Risu.

“What’s this?” she asked, grasping it.

“It is a coupon. A most convenient item allowing one to bypass normal price limitations. You will spend less money with it, allowing you to buy additional goods if you so choose.”

“Oh!” said Risu. “Does that mean I can buy some ice cream?”

“That depends on your available funds.”

Risu’s expression brightened. Fishing for the bills in her pocket, she showed them to Rokuro. “This is what I have.”

Rokuro nodded. “More than enough, even without the coupon.”

This made her realize something. “Wait! You’re out of milk, aren’t you?”

He gazed in the direction of the dairy aisle, the scope on his eye whirring more. “Indeed, it would seem that way.”

“Do you know where I can get some?”

“Hmm. I happen to know a proprietor of dairy products who would likely be amenable to giving you some without payment. I will write his address and give it to you.” He retrieved a piece of paper. His fingertip narrowed until it was a dark point and he began to write.

“Can you watch my stuff so I can get some ice cream, first?”

“Very well. It is against store policy but I will hold your place in line. Consider it another token of my good will.”

Risu ran back to the freezer aisle, grabbed an ice cream bar, and quickly returned to the counter. “Thanks, Mister Rokuro!”

“My pleasure.”

Once Rokuro had finished helping Risu check out and given her the address, she ambled down the sidewalk, cheerfully munching away on her frozen treat. Soon the path took a turn and the buildings became less frequent, until eventually she found herself at a green field.

“A farm?” Spotting a dairy cow, she ambled over to it. “Excuse me, miss cow, can I have some milk?”

“Hey, can I help you?” said a voice behind her.

Risu turned. In front of her stood a stocky boy with wide eyes but an otherwise plain face. He held a jug of milk with a straw sticking out of the top and sipped it idly. “Oh, hi. Are you mister, um…” She looked at the paper Rokuro had given her. “Peeny Weeny?”

“That’s my dad,” said the boy. He looked Risu over for a second. “Wait, are you Risu? Risu Takakura?”

“That’s me!” she said with an excited tone.

The boy smiled. “You probably don’t remember me; you were really little when I last saw you. But I know you! I’m Chiquitita.”

“Nice to meet you, Chiquitita! Or meet you again, I guess,” said Risu brightly.

Over his shoulder, Chiquitita called out, “Dad, it’s Risu! Risu’s here!”

“Risu?” replied a voice from within the barn. What stepped out of the building was an older man who bore a striking resemblance to the boy before her. On his face was a friendly smile, full of appreciation for what he saw. “Risu Takakura, as I live and breathe! Aw, it’s been years since your folks brought you around!”

“Mister Peeny?” asked Risu.

“That’s right!” Peeny said as if being recognized by a celebrity. “Boy, look at how you’ve grown! You were such a tiny thing when I saw you last. Your parents send me pictures, but they don’t do you justice.”

“You know my mommy and daddy too?”

“Sure do. Them and your great granny really saved me and my boy here a lot of trouble back in the day. Still can’t ever repay ‘em for their kindness. Here, look.” He pulled out his phone, swiped through it for a few seconds, and then showed it to Risu.

She saw a picture of Peeny holding a small infant with familiar messy black hair, the smile on his face brilliant like the baby was his own. Next to him were her parents, also smiling but simultaneously somewhat nervous, as if ready to leap into action at any moment. “Is that me?” asked Risu.

“Sure is. Momo-san and Ken-san let me hold you; you were just this precious little angel. I bet you’re a great kid even now.”

She nodded. “I’m a very good girl.”

“I believe it!” He tilted the brim of his hat. “So what can I do for you, Risu-chan?”

“Mister Rokuro told me you could give me some milk.”

“Rokuro, huh…” There was a slight edge to his voice. “Well, he’s not wrong. I got the finest milk this side of Tokyo Tower. Chiquitita, be a good lad and grab Risu-chan some of our top quality stuff? And make sure it’s already pasteurized, none of that raw junk.”

“You got it dad,” said Chiquitita, taking off towards another farm building.

“So how’s your family?” asked Peeny, turning to Risu.

“They’re good. Mommy’s making some dinner for her friends tonight. That’s why she sent me to get some stuff.”

“Ah, she’s lucky to have such a sweet and responsible daughter,” he replied earnestly. “I really can’t ever thank them enough, Risu-chan. If it wasn’t for them, my boy wouldn’t be alive right now. Heck, I might not be alive right now.”

“My family is really great,” Risu agreed. “I love them very much.”

Peeny grinned. “I bet that’s true. Tell you what, you need anything, anything at all — some milk, a ride to school, a bad guy for me to punch — I’m there. No questions asked.”

Risu smiled. “Thanks, Mister Peeny. Lots of my aunties and uncles tell me they’ll punch someone for me if I tell them to.”

Chuckling, he replied, “I bet that’s true too.”

“But I won’t tell them to punch anyone unless they’re evil.”

“Attagirl.” He gave her a thumbs-up. “Violence is no good.”

In short order, Chiquitita returned with Risu’s milk. She bid farewell to the two farmers; Peeny asked her to give her parents his best and she assured him she would.

“Okay, time to head home,” she muttered. She had to get back to the streets of the city to properly orient herself. Unbeknownst to her, she had been closer to her home at the farm, but she only knew the one way back from the grocery store and so needed to resume from there. She walked for several minutes until things started to look more familiar.

Then, suddenly, she heard a voice call out, “Risu!”

She looked. An anatomical mannequin was sprinting at her at full break. “Uncle Taro!” said Risu with surprise.

“There you are! I’ve been looking for you!”

Risu tilted her head. “You have?”

“Your mom sent me to check on you. But by the time I made it to the grocery store, you were gone. Then a guy there said you went to the Mantis Shrimp’s place. Had to run around figuring out where that was for a bit. But I guess you were just on your way back from the store.”

“Oh.”

“Anyway, is everything okay? No trouble?”

Risu smiled. “Nope! Everyone’s been really nice to me today! They keep saying how great mommy and daddy are!”

Taro nodded. “Yeah, your folks are swell. That’s why I’m willing to run around looking for you like this. Let’s get home, alright?”

“Kay,” said Risu. The two began to walk. “Oh, actually, I know a shortcut around here.”

“A shortcut?”

“Yeah. Through those ruins.” She pointed towards some decrepit buildings. “It goes from here right to my house. We’ll be back real fast. Just do what I do.”

“Sure.”

Risu clapped twice. Palms pressed together, she bowed her head and said, “I’m sorry. We’re only passing through.” Taro squinted, but followed suit. “Now when we go in, don’t walk in the middle. Walk on the sides, okay?”

“Okay…”

As they made their way through the abandoned area, Taro looked around nervously. “Risu, I’m not sure we should be here. It doesn’t seem very safe.”

“It’s fine,” Risu reassured him. “We’ll be out real soon.”

“But—”

As they turned a corner, they stopped in their tracks. Before them was a massive woman, several feet tall. She wore a long dress and a crown. Her eyes were covered in pointed darkness. At the end of one of her disconcertingly muscular arms was a mirror. The other applied lipstick to her most striking feature: a long, slit-like mouth with far too many jagged teeth.

“Am I pretty?” she asked in an otherworldly voice.

Taro leapt into action. “Risu, get behind—”

With a wave of her hand, the tall woman smacked Taro away at lightning speed, sending him flying into the sky in countless pieces. “Begone, man-thing,” said the woman.

“Taro!” cried Risu, panic filling her heart.

“Now then, child. I asked you a question. Am. I. Pretty?”

“Um,” mumbled Risu, strangled by fear. “Uh…”

“What’s the matter? You should be able to appreciate a beauty like mine easily.” The slit-mouthed woman bent over, bringing her tremendous head right before Risu. Her teeth looked much larger up close. “Unless… you think you’re better than me?”

“N-no,” said Risu, desperately wishing she had heeded her mother’s warning not to walk through here. “I don’t think I’m better than anyone…”

“Liar,” accused the woman. “I can smell the lies on you. Now, such arrogance should be punished, shouldn’t it?” Risu gulped at the implication. “I wonder what would be best.” She began to pace around Risu, her heavy footfalls like thunder in the little girl’s ears. “Perhaps I should gouge out your eyes so you never see anyone more beautiful than you after me. Or maybe I’ll slice those lips into a permanent smile so you won’t be able to make such an ugly expression. Or maybe…” She leaned in once more until she was inches from Risu’s face. “Maybe I’ll just crush your skull so you won’t offend anyone ever again. Choices, choices…”

“I-I’m sorry,” Risu choked out, tears beginning to stream down her face. “I’m sorry, K-Kashima-san… p-please don’t hurt me…”

The demonic woman blinked. “Excuse me?”

“You’re R-Reiko Kashima-san, aren’t you?” asked Risu with maximum caution in her voice.

Reiko eyed her curiously. “You’re quite young. How do you know of me?”

With a gulp, Risu answered, “M-my mommy told me you’re the strongest… she said I should never come here…”

Reiko chuckled. “Your mommy is wise. She’s…” Something struck her suddenly. “Wait… those eyes… that hair…” Reiko’s expression turned to shock. “Are you the child of Momo Ayase?”

“Momo T-Takakura, m-ma’am,” Risu corrected.

“But she was born Momo Ayase, wasn’t she?”

“Y… yes…”

Reiko laughed again. “My, my. How the years go by. To think the child of Momo Ayase would come meet me…”

“Y-you’ve met my mommy?” Risu asked. At the very least, keeping Reiko talking meant she wouldn’t murder her.

“Oh yes. Your mommy and I go way back. I’ve rarely hated someone like I hated her.”

“Oh…” said Risu, the brief respite from her terror ending with a pit of despair in her stomach.

“But, well… I suppose I got the wrong impression from her at first.”

A tiny spark of hope lit within Risu. “You did?”

“You see, I met her when she was by herself. Or rather, with this other annoying girl… She tried to vanquish me with a simple pomade spell. Me. Can you believe it?”

Momo had specifically told Risu never to use pomade against Reiko. “Uh-uh.”

“She was ridiculous, of course. And I tried to kill her after that. Oh, it was going to be glorious. I’d pop her head like a grape. Watch the blood spill everywhere. Use it as rouge for a while.”

Risu’s stomach turned at this description, but she urged herself to remain calm. “But… you didn’t.”

“No, no, I changed my mind. Because of him.”

“H-him?”

Reiko put her hands together and gained an expression that, on a non-hideous creature, would’ve looked like adorable swooning. “Oh yes. That brave, dashing young man with the glasses. Weak little thing thing though he was, he stood before me as if he would fight me for her! Can you believe that?”

“I… I can’t…” said Risu quietly. Risu was bad at lying, but this was a critical situation. The minuscule non-terrified part of her did in fact believe her father would fight the world, the whole universe, including the living and the dead, for her mother. To a great extent, he already had.

“I found out that was her boyfriend. And she tried to protect him just as strongly.” Reiko’s expression turned decidedly somber in a strikingly human way. “It had been… some time since I had seen a love that fierce shared by two people. And so if Momo Ayase could have such a love in her life, I thought, maybe she wasn’t bad enough for me to murder after all.”

“S-so you let her go?”

“That’s right. She inspired me to go find my own love. I’m… still working on that,” she admitted sheepishly. “Now tell me.” She looked at Risu with an expression that Risu could only guess was supposed to be sweet curiosity. “Did she end up marrying that boy?”

“Uh-huh!” Risu said, nodding rapidly, thankful that she could tell the truth. “That’s my daddy!”

“I thought so!” Reiko said with great delight. “You look like such a perfect blend of them. What is your name, little one?”

“R-Risu,” she replied, the hope that she might make it out of this danger rising unbearably high.

“Risu Takakura. From now on, should you have need, you may come through here whenever you wish. It will be nice to have a reminder of such pure love.”

Risu felt more relief than she had in her entire life. “Th-thank you, Kashima-san!”

“Please. You can call me Reiko.”

“Thank you, Reiko!”

“Of course. Now then.” She reached down and grasped Risu’s hand between her fingertips. Fear instinctively surged through Risu at this, but Reiko was astonishingly gentle. “Let’s get you home, okay?”

“Okay,” said Risu.

Holding the little girl’s hand with softness in diametric opposition to her appearance, Reiko guided Risu out of the ruins.

“I’m home!” called Risu, slipping off her shoes.

“There you are!” said Momo as she approached. “I was getting worried. Where’s Taro?”

“Oh, um,” said Risu, “I think he got a little lost. He’ll probably be back later.” She knew that he could reconstitute himself even from total dismantlement, so her worry over him was minimal.

“I see. Did you get the things?”

“I sure did!” Risu hefted her grocery bag.

“Ah, that’s my girl,” said Momo affectionately as she took the bag. “Thanks, sweetie, you helped mommy out so much. Did you run into any trouble? You didn’t talk to any strangers, did you?”

Risu shook her head. “Nope! I just saw a bunch of friends on the way.”

Momo smiled. “How nice. Well, I’ll get to work on dinner. Why don’t you go be with your aunties?” With a nod, Risu ran off towards the living room. Momo began to inspect the items in the bag. “Huh. Didn’t realize they had glass milk bottles at the grocery store…”

Just then, Turbo Granny ambled down the stairs with a sour, “Grrngh.”

“Oh, look who’s awake, our local good-for-nothing,” Momo said snidely.

“Shaddup,” said Turbo Granny. “I’m exhausted.”

“Yeah? You get tired from all your vigorous napping?”

“Shaddup,” Turbo Granny repeated. “I’m just here for dinner.”

“It’s gonna be a bit because someone decided she didn’t want to check on Risu.”

“Whatever.”

Turbo Granny’s exhaustion was not physical. Indeed, her day’s exertion had been easy in the corporal sense. What had been taxing was the emotional part of the day. After dismissing Momo’s request, Turbo Granny had been struck with a strange sense of unease. It sickened her, but she couldn’t ignore it: she was worried about the little creature that Momo had birthed. And so, secretly, she left the house to go find Risu and make sure she was okay.

She had thought it would be a mundane thing. See the girl, verify nothing wrong, maybe shoplift a snack or two and bolt back home for a nap. But as she arrived, Turbo Granny saw Risu talking to Evil Eye. Not wanting to reveal her care for Risu, she stepped back to listen in as best she could, but the sound of the cooling of the freezers drowned their conversation out a bit.

She heard Evil Eye mention murder, but Risu didn’t appear afraid. Maybe this was simply due to naivete. Turbo Granny then prepared to step in and thrash the mountain yokai, but she saw Risu give him money. Both of them smiled and the boy in a man’s body walked off peacefully.

Threat cleared, Turbo Granny was about to leave the store and return whence she came, but then she saw the clerk at Risu’s checkout lane: that alien from a real bastard lot of a species, Rokuro. She had heard he had turned away from his genetic duplicates, but perhaps his desire for a special specimen would override his redeemed philosophy. After all, no one but Turbo Granny seemed to sense it, but there was enormous dormant power waiting to awaken inside Risu.

But instead, the alien gave the girl a coupon, guarded her things while she grabbed a cold treat, and sent her on her way. Turbo Granny had hoped she would simply go home, but she took a detour that was unexpected. Turbo Granny had to increase the distance of her tailing; there became fewer and fewer buildings to hide behind.

Eventually Risu stopped and, foolish girl that she was, talked to a cow as if it would talk back. And of course it happened to be the cow Turbo Granny had hidden behind. She had to latch onto the other side of the cow for dear life to avoid being exposed.

Another alien son of a bitch and his kid then talked to Risu. This one Turbo Granny was less suspicious of as he effusively praised Momo and her family. His words about how they helped him, saved him and his child’s life, touched Turbo Granny to a frustrating degree.

Once Risu had acquired her milk, she returned to the metropolitan parts of the city and it once more became simple to stealthily follow her. Then that weird mannequin guy showed up to accompany her. Turbo Granny thought her job was done, but some deeply annoying part of her still wanted to make sure Risu got home safe.

Then a massive threat to that idea appeared: Reiko Kashima, the most powerful yokai. Turbo Granny didn’t know if it was possible for a manekineko to have a heart attack or shit herself, but she came damn close to finding out when Reiko swatted Taro away like a fly and began circling Risu. Turbo Granny held great pride in her abilities; she knew she could wallop any yokai or alien threat that appeared before her. But Reiko was not just any yokai.

And so she hesitated. Hesitated for too long. Hearing Reiko describe the ways she would brutalize Risu instilled simultaneous terror and outrage in Turbo Granny. She wanted to rush in, grab the girl, and beat it before both of them were flattened and likely beaten to a pulp by Reiko’s giant fists.

But just as she was about to leap into action, Reiko’s demeanor turned soft. She gave Risu her word of protection and escorted her through the ill-advised shortcut. The relief that Turbo Granny felt was gargantuan and, she hated to admit, it wasn’t just for herself.

Nerves worn out, Turbo Granny finally made her way back to the Takakura household, secretly sped up the stairs, and laid herself to rest on the cushion. Momo and the rest of them were none the wiser.

She wanted to tell them how she’d watched Risu from afar, but her pride and veneer of indifference were too important to her. Damn it, when did she get like this? She’d accepted her friendship with Seiko long ago, and even come to care about her grandspawn and the grandspawn’s husband. But one more degree removed from that? Bah. Waste of energy to consider.

Yet she had seen the girl grow, bit by bit. From a beautiful baby — Turbo Granny couldn’t lie about that — to an energetic child, full of love and light, Risu had developed into the perfect distillation of her parents’ and Seiko’s best qualities.

No one knew Turbo Granny cared about the little brat like this. No one knew of the times where she gazed at the child as she slept in her crib or sang centuries old lullabies. And certainly no one knew of the few incidents where she had allowed Risu to cuddle her.

And, so long as she still drew the yokai-cat doll equivalent of breath, no one would. She had a reputation to maintain, after all.

“Hey, look, it's Risu-chan!” said Miko brightly as Risu entered the living room.

“Ah, the best little girl in the world!” added Muko.

“Hi auntie Miko, auntie Muko!” said Risu with a big smile.

“Give us a hug!” Muko demanded. With open arms, Risu ran to her mother’s best friends, who embraced her tightly.

They did the usual adult-with-friend’s-beloved-child thing of admiring how Risu had grown, telling her how great she was, insisting she could come visit them at any time.

Then Miko said, “Risu-chan, did you know we’re the reason your mom and dad are together?”

Risu’s head tilted. “Really?”

“Uh-huh. Your mom’s a strong willed lady, always has been, but there were a few times where she lost her confidence and almost gave up on pursuing your dad.”

“A certain someone got in the way of that for a good while,” said Muko.

At her side, Miko mouthed the words, “Serial killer.” Both of them knew Aira had turned over a new leaf relatively quickly after the switchblade incident, but as Momo and Ken’s biggest supporters, they still retained some degree of skepticism of the girl’s morality and sanity.

“But we encouraged her,” continued Muko. “We made sure she got her stuff together and gave it her all to get your dad to be with her.”

“So basically, if it wasn’t for us, you wouldn’t exist, Risu-chan,” said Miko. “Or you’d have a different, less awesome dad.”

“We’re basically your guardian angels,” added Muko.

“Wow! Thanks, aunties! I’m glad daddy is my daddy,” replied Risu with full gratitude.

Overhearing this, Turbo Granny scowled and rolled her eyes. They had no idea how wrong they were.

Suddenly, Taro burst into the kitchen at full break. Sticks, leaves, and bits of grass poked out through the edges between his various parts. “Momo!” he said with an urgent tone.

“Taro? What’s up?” asked Momo.

“It’s Risu! She’s in danger!”

“What’re you talking about? She’s right there.” She gestured to the living room.

“She went through this abandoned area and met a huge yokai there. She might’ve been cursed!”

Momo’s eyes widened. She dropped the utensil she’d been using to prepare dinner. “Abandoned… area?” she whispered. “Did this yokai… have a slit mouth?”

“Yeah! She looked crazy! She launched me a mile away with one hand!”

A look of simultaneous deep concern and anger overtook her face. Marching to the living room, she called, “Riiisuuu!”

“Yes, mommy?” asked Risu innocently.

“Who exactly were these ‘friends’ you saw today?” she asked, rage barely concealed behind her tone.

“Oh, just cousin Evil Eye, mister Rokuro, mister Peeny and Chiquitita, and miss Reiko!” Risu’s smile was unabashedly wide as she said this.

Momo put her face in both hands and muttered, “Oh my god.”

“Mommy? What’s wrong?”

Lifting her head and taking a deep breath, Momo replied, “We are going to have a talk later, young lady. And from now on you’re not going outside without a grownup!”

Risu’s demeanor was placid. “Oh. Okay.”

Ken arrived for dinner shortly after that. He asked Momo what was wrong, noticing her lingering anxiety. Momo answered, quite transparently falsely, that everything was fine. Of course, when she later told him of Risu’s misadventure, he agreed the girl would never leave the house without supervision again.

Risu, meanwhile, reflected on the events of the day. It had been fun, meeting all of her new friends. She loved how they all treated her nicely because of how much they cared about her parents. She hoped she would get to hear the story of all the good deeds they did to earn such friendships someday.

And indeed, when Risu was a bit older, Momo and Ken would tell her everything. They did so partially out of nostalgia, but mostly to warn her about just how dangerous their world really was. Armies of aliens, terrifying poltergeists, curses and cryptids of all kinds littered these stories.

Reiko had been enough to convince Risu of the threat of such beings. But at the same time, the love of her parents had been enough to save her there.

For the most part, it always would. And in those few times when it wasn’t, the power that would eventually awaken within her would be more than enough to make up the difference.