One lazy summer night, the gang was hanging out in Christine's room. They were all there: Chris, Miyu, Kanata, Aya, Nanami, Santa and Nozomu. And they were all very bored.
"Let's eat," suggested Miyu.
"We just ate!" exclaimed Kanata. "Your stomach's like a garbage truck."
"Is not!"
"Is so."
"There they go again…" murmured Aya to Nanami, who replied, "It's a good thing that Nozomu's going out with Chris or else she'll have a fit. You know how jealous she was of Miyu."
Suddenly, Santa said, "Hey! I have a great idea! Let's play truth or dare!"
"That game is so old and overplayed," complained Aya. "There's nothing interesting about it anymore. Besides, the dare you give is always 'kiss the person you like'. You're such a pervert…"
Santa grinned. "It's not as if you didn't like it when I dared you to kiss that new guy in section 2-A." Aya threw a pillow at him.
"Oh, come on, guys, it's a great chance to get to know each other better," Chris said.
Miyu's insides squirmed. Oh, no. I hope they don't ask anything too personal.What if they ask me how I feel about him
The gang sat in a circle on the floor while Nozomu spun an empty water bottle on the floor. It pointed to…
"Santa!" Nozomu exclaimed in delight.
"Dare," Santa said.
As revenge, Aya decided to make Santa wear a bra over his clothes and run around the mansion screaming. It was so hilarious, they could hardly breathe for laughing! "I think that's enough," chortled Nozomu.
Chris giggled. "Okay Santa, you can stop now! Hey, I said you can stop now! Oh no," she said, peering outside, "our bodyguards are chasing him!"
As Chris went to sort out the mess outside, Miyu started to panic, I don't want to admit it in front of him! That would be too awkward! He'll totally freak out!
Kanata interrupted her thoughts. "Miyu, are you okay? You look pale."
"Me? Pale? I'm totally fine." Miyu was too distracted to notice the concern in Kanata's voice.
"Are you sure? Would you like to lie down? You should eat something, again. You look faint and really pale."
"I'm not faint… I'm fine…"
Christine came back with a braless Santa. "I can't believe your guards tried to mace me!" he grumbled.
"I can't blame them, seeing as how you looked pretty baka out there," joked Aya as she spun the bottle. It pointed to Nanami, who decided on truth.
Immediately Christine asked, "If you were to choose, your boyfriend would be…?" Everyone waited eagerly.
After several minutes of deliberation, Nanami answered, "S-S-Santa."
The room erupted in shocked cries and cheers as the guys patted a dumbfounded Santa on the back.
"Santa? Why Santa?" asked Aya incredulously.
"Hey, Santa's not that bad." Miyu was shook from her reverie as she laughed at Aya's tone.
Nanami's face turned scarlet. "Because he's funny and he always makes me laugh. I like guys who make me smile."
Santa actually looked flattered and said happily, "At least I know someone is laughing at my jokes."
It took some time for the room to settle down. Nanami was still blushing when she spun the bottle.
It stopped, pointing to--
"Miyu!" exclaimed Aya.
Miyu was trapped. If she chose truth, she would have to reveal her darkest secret. If she chose dare, she would look foolish. Either way, it looked bad. She decided to take the chance that her friends won't ask the dreaded question. "Truth."
"Good!" Chris said with a wicked smile. "You keep too many things to yourself, Miyu Kouzouki."
"It's time to own up!" cheered Nozomu.
Everyone thought hard. Then Nanami asked, "Who is the most important person in your life right now? Important meaning you love him."
Miyu's chest seemed to constrict. "Um, well, there's Luu--"
"--who isn't a person! He's an alien. Come on, Miyu, you know what we mean," demanded Santa impatiently.
Oh no! I can't answer this! I can't look him in the eye after this. Miyu answered slowly. "He's… someone you know."
A groan came from the group. "Just say his name, Miyu!" Christine said, exasperated.
I'm trapped! "Promise you won't make a big deal out of it?"
"Promise!" echoed the group. Santa grinned wickedly.
Carefully avoiding everyone's eyes, Miyu murmured the name very softly.
"What?" asked Nanami. "Louder, Miyu."
Swallowing, Miyu whispered, "Kanata."
Kanata felt like an electric shock coursed through him, rendering him unable to speak. Me? I'm the most important person in her life? Wait--she loves me? Miyu loves me?
The entire room fell silent. Time seemed to freeze as Miyu stared at Chris' plush pink carpet. Finally, Aya said, "It took you long enough."
"What?"
"It took you long enough to admit it."
Miyu was stunned. "How did--"
"--we know? It was, like, so obvious."
"It was?" Miyu felt shocked and embarrassed. "Why didn't you tell me?"
"We wanted you to tell us on your own terms," Nanami said gently.
The group fell silent again. Miyu hung her head. Am I that obvious? I don't think I'm obvious, but if they noticed then I must be obvious! I look so baka.
Santa seemed to feel that the evening was turning out too somber, because he suddenly let out a gigantic burp. "Yuck!" yelled Aya while Kanata scolded, "Santa!" Nanami, however, was laughing.
Amidst the commotion, Miyu slipped out of the room.
As soon as she got outside, she screamed, "Aaaah! Miyu, you are such a baka!" She breathed heavily, feeling a bit better. Screaming felt good, like it would make her stop liking Kanata just so she could take back what she confessed to her friends. And now it's too late, our friendship is ruined! "How are you going to face him now? Baka!" she shouted again.
"How come you can't face me?" a familiar voice said.
Miyu whirled around. "What the--"
Sure enough, Kanata was there, facing her. "I went looking for you. You disappeared."
"Um…" What am I supposed to say? 'Sorry, Kanata. I want some quiet because I just confessed my true feelings for you.'? Miyu decided to keep cool."I just wanted some quiet."
"Now you know how I feel, living with you. You're so shrill and noisy, quiet is so rare around the temple."
This made Miyu mad. She had exposed her innermost feelings, and still he likes to piss her off! If he wants to see if he can take advantage of me, he can forget it! Maybe he'll ask me to do all the housekeeping chores. What a jerk! "What the heck do you want anyway?"
Kanata hesitated. "Um… Just checking on you."
"You probably had a laugh in there after what I said." Miyu said bitterly. "Yeah, go ahead and tell everyone how much I like you."
Kanata's expression was unfathomable in the dark. He quietly replied, "I didn't laugh at all."
Miyu's heartbeat quickened. "Why not?" She didn't dare hope to hear what she wanted to hear. After all, it was impossible for popular and handsome Kanata Saionji, the brilliant student and great cook, to like her, Miyu Kouzouki, an average, childlike girl and a terrible cook.
"Because…"
"What?"
"Because it's not funny."
Miyu's heart sank. Does Kanata feel awkward around me? "It was such a stupid thing to say. You should forget about it."
"I… I can't."
"Why?"
"Um… Because I can't, I really can't."
He can't seem to talk to me openly! What an idiot. An idea struck Miyu. She pulled a pen from her pocket and spun it on the ground. It pointed to Kanata.
"Kanata? Truth or dare?"
"Truth." Kanata's voice was quiet.
"Why can't you just forget about it? It's not like it's something significant to you."
For several minutes, he was silent. Then he said softly, "That's not true. It's significant."
"But why is it a big deal to you?"
Kanata seemed to be going through an internal struggle to reply.
"Because I feel the same way about you, Miyu!" he yelled as he pulled her in a hug.
Miyu felt lightheaded with shock and happiness as Kanata held her tighter. Sohe loves me! I guess I'm not useless to him after all!
She felt safe in Kanata's arms, but she needed to be sure, absolutely sure, that he loves her. She looked up at him, her arms around his neck, and whispered, "Dare."
He understood at once. He wanted to be sure, too.
Looking into Miyu's eyes, Kanata gently lifted her chin and kissed her.
"Kanata?"
"Yes, Miyu?"
Miyu smiled a beautiful, contented smile. "I wish we played this game sooner."