The sky was blue. A soft breeze was blowing around me. I stood in the courtyard surrounded by chattering students and sighed. It was my first day of my first year of high school. So far, today has been like any other day up until now. Boring.
I yawned as I approached the new student area. Just as I reached the table my phone buzzed. I pulled it out as a girl's voice said my name. Without taking my eyes off my phone I responded "Ya." It was a text from my mom wishing me a good first day of school. The voice said something else but I wasn't really listening.
I responded as though I was when I heard a familiar screechy voice yell my name. "Naruse! I haven't seen you since middle school!" It was Ichii, a girl who followed me around in my prior school. As she reached me she pushed me. Her usual greeting but I wasn't prepared this time. I stuck my arm out automatically for balance. My hand landed on a full breast. I finally noticed the girl talking to me. Serious brown eyes stared back at me calmly as her breast filled my hand.
The girl was small, almost delicate looking but something about her demeanor made her seem anything but frail. Everyone around us stared in shocked silence. Even I was at a loss for words for a few seconds. I simply said the first thing to come to mind. "Pretty big." She stepped back and I dropped my hand. I forgot my hand was even there.
"Put this pin on." she said as though nothing out of the ordinary happened. I took the pin and moved out of the line. I looked back at her. She continued to hand out pins professionally and totally unbothered. Ichii followed me to the main building talking nonstop but I was barely listening. I was still thinking about the girl with the serious eyes.
I decided I wanted to find out more about her. She was interesting and it was so rare for me to be interested in anything let alone a girl. Most girls would kyaa at something like what happened between us. Or at least be embarrassed. Her reaction intrigued me...amongst other things.
It was easy to find out her name. Machida Yuki. She was a 2nd year and was the manager of the basketball club. I played basketball in middle school. I hadn't really thought about joining the high school basketball club. Now that I knew she would be there it seemed it would be at the very least more interesting. I signed up that day.
After a few days of practice I realized Machida Yuki was always like she was the day I met her. Serious. Focused. No nonsense. She was always the first one at practice and the last one to leave. The team members never had to want for anything because Manager Machida always took care of everything. Nothing escaped her notice. If something went wrong she always knew exactly what to do. And she did it all without her facial expression changing one bit. She was almost terrifying in her efficiency. Almost. Everybody in the club was a little afraid of her but she didn't scare me at all.
There were times when I'd catch a glimpse of what was going on underneath her calm exterior. The more I watched her the more she fascinated me. I never met anyone remotely like her. I wanted to get to know her more, something I never had the desire to do with anyone. I wanted to see if she could ever make other faces besides the wall of steel she usually wore. The only way I could do it, I found so far, was to play with her.
"Yuki-senpai, you always have such a firm face. The only thing that should be firm are your breasts." I teased. I remembered fondly the feel of her firm breast in my hand and smiled to myself. "Shut up, Naruse." she replied in her no nonsense voice. Once again unfazed by my playful banter. "Stop loitering around and get back in formation."
"Ya." I said as I walked back over to my practice group.
"Hey Naruse, is it true you felt Manager Machida's boobs?" one of my teammates asked.
"Ya." I replied. Some of them starting asking questions.
"What are they like?" someone asked.
"They're like melons but since they are firm I'll give them 56 points." I said. The grouped oohed and ahhed. I was pretty sure Yuki-senpai could hear our conversation and I smiled to myself.
"Its slippery over here." one of the 3rd year players called out. I watched as Yuki-sempai seemingly materialized out of nowhere, mop in hand. Within seconds the floor was dry. "Anywhere else needs mopping?" she asked, ever efficient. "N-no." he stammered out. Clearly he was still in awe at the speed at which she took care of the problem.
Kido, the team captain, came up to speak to Yuki-senpai but they were too far for me to hear them. Then something extraordinary happened. Yuki-senpai's face softened and a slight blush colored her cheeks. I stood there, frozen. It felt like the world stood still. It was the first time I'd seen such an expression. So she could make different faces. He patted her head and her cheeks reddened even more. Kido walked away but her face stayed the same. Amazing.
"I never seen you wear a wristband before, Captain Kido." someone called out. He looked at it and smiled.
"Oh this? My girlfriend gave it to me." Everybody made shocked noises. Whatever, who cares? I looked back at Yuki-senpai. She looked stricken. Ah, so she liked him. That explains the uncharacteristic blush. Interesting. I watched as she mopped her way to the storeroom and disappeared inside, shutting the door. She was obviously hiding. So the unfathomable Yuki had a weakness. I filed that away in my mental file dedicated to her.
After practice ended, everyone packed up and left but I didn't see Yuki-senpai leave. Abe wanted to grab a bite to eat. I agreed to go and started to walk to the storeroom to grab my wallet when I had an idea. Instead, I walked outside with Abe then stopped and told him I left my wallet.
"Aw man. Hurry up. Im hungry and its cold." he whined.
"One minute." I told him and headed to the storeroom. Unsurprisingly, Yuki-senpai was still there. She sat on the floor, open magazines scattered on the floor in front of her. Her shoulders were shaking. I took a loud slurp from my drink to alert her of my presence since it didn't seem like she noticed my approach. Her shoulders tensed. I bent in front of her. Her eyes were bright, the unshed tears in her eyes at that moment before they fell.
"Yuki-senpai, why're you crying?" I asked. As if by magic, the tears disappeared, as though through sheer will she sucked them back in. If anybody could do that, it was Yuki-senpai.
She looked back at me, the iron face I was use to back on. "I'm not crying." she replied seriously.
"What move did you just use? It was super effective. Optical illusion, maybe?" I asked wonderingly. "Well anyway, Senpai, what are you doing here? It's already so late." She fidgeted nervously. If you watch her closely and wait for the right moment, you could easily see past her constant wall of defense and see what she was really feeling. She looked down at the open magazines spread out in front of her.
"I was looking at articles about the other team. What about you? Why are you still here?" she asked while not looking at my face. I turned away from her and headed towards the lockers.
"I was going out to eat with Abe and forgot my wallet." I squated down to reach my locker on the bottom row. Another idea hit me.
"By the way, I just saw the captain and his girlfriend kissing outside the club room." She turned her head towards the door and groaned miserably.
"Just kidding." I said as I found my wallet right where I left it. She turned her face back towards me, the shock turning into surprise.
"Eh?" she murmured.
"Wow, so even Yuki-senpai has things she cries or gets worked up about...but liking the captain in that kind of way...it's kinda weird." I teased hiding the small spurt of jealousy I felt now that my suspicions were confirmed.
"No, it's not." she replied shakily. I looked at her face.
"How funny." I said nonchalantly to see what face she'd make. I was rewarded with yet another expression I was pretty sure no one else had ever seen as the surprise on her face changed into quiet horror.
I stood up and headed towards the exit. "Bye. See you tomorrow." I called back to her. Her silence followed me out the door. As I headed back to Abe I wondered at the feeling I had at the thought of her liking Kido. I remembered the blushing face she showed when he spoke to her and felt that jealousy again. I brushed the thought aside as I rejoined Abe who looked like a frozen popsicle. "Finally. Let's goooo. I can't feel my fingers or toes." he got out between chattering teeth. "Maybe that'll improve your game." I joked. "Hey, you wanna fight punk?!" he threatened. I smiled while looking back at the light coming through the window of the storeroom.
They next day at morning practice, I watched her quietly as she observed everyone more closely than usual. Probably to see if I had told anyone. She had her notebook with data written on the front furiously writing notes as usual. The captain showed up behind her. "Whoa!" he said over her shoulder. She jumped in surprise at the sound of his voice. This time, I wasn't surprised as that jealous feeling returned. He was way too close to her.
"The manager has to do all that? That is amazing." he said. His head practically on her shoulder. She blushed profusely as he continued to study her notes. I didn't like the way she still blushed for him. I felt my hand clench. What the hell? Why was I so mad? It wasn't like I was targeting her or anything. I've actually never targeted a girl nor had the inkling to do so. But I also never had a girl inspired these types of emotions in me either. I continued to watch them quietly as I dribbled the ball unconsciously.
"When did you make this?" he asked.
"Earlier this year." she replied. Her voice was the always steady and direct tone she always used but as I watched her face go from pleased to pained it was obvious she felt anything but steady. It was time for me to break up this conversation. I walked over to them.
"Not only that Captain Kido but last night she..." She suddenly grabbed me by the arm and yanked me outside. I dropped the ball I was dribbling in surprise. Once outside, she grabbed a fistful of my shirt and pushed me against the wall. "Ouch." I said as the hard bricks dug into my back. The sudden turn in events shocked the breath out of me. She was so close I felt the heat coming off her skin. She gazed directly into my eyes sternly. I realized her eyes were the brown like milk chocolate. As I stared into them my heart thumped loudly in my chest. Was it the shock of the speed that she yanked me out here? Or was it how close she was standing to me?
"You. What the hell were you going to say?" she asked darkly.
"I was going to say 'Yuki-senpai stayed behind last night collecting data from other teams'." I was so glad my voice sounded normal and didn't reflect how I felt at the moment.
"Look. I'm asking you nicely. Could you mind your own business and shut it?" she replied tersely. I was starting to get my bearings back to a level where I could at least tease her a bit.
"Ah, you mean that time you got dumped and cried about it?" I said lightly. She gripped my shirt tighter pulling me closer to her. I felt my heart thump harder in my chest as she gazed deeper into my eyes.I needed to make her back off a little, I thought, as I felt my body grew hot.
"Don't talk about it. Don't you dare say anything about it." She was so close. I started to feel lightheaded. I knew what to do.
"If you want me to keep it a secret I can, but... Let me see your boobs." As expected, she let go of my shirt and took a step away from me.
"Don't get cocky." she replied irritably. Her stone face back in place. She began to walk away from me. I slid down the wall weakly. I never had that reaction to a girl before. Ever. It both scared and excited me. I watched her walk away. The urge to see her face again overtook me.
"How boring. And yesterday you were so upset too..." She turned back towards me.
"Is badgering your senpai's that much fun for you?" she asked scornfully. Her face showing annoyance. Somehow it was super cute. My heart squeezed. I immediately looked away from her. "Whatever." I said while I pulled myself together. I had no immunity against her when she showed me her cute side. I made the unfortunate decision to tell her the truth. "Maybe I want to see all the faces you make just because it's interesting." I replied. I waited for her to say something. She said nothing but blew out a tired sigh. A few seconds later I heard the sound of her steps moving back to the gym.
She probably thought I was playing with her. I was and I wasn't. I didn't know what made me tease her so much but the more I did the more I learned about her. And the more I learned the more I wanted to know.
Once I was sure my body cooled back down enough to where I could function properly, I got up and went back into the gym. As I walked in I immediately spotted her issuing drill orders to the team completely unshaken by what just happened. It kind of irked me that I was totally shook up by it while she remained unfazed. I still didn't know what made her stand out so much to me. But what I did know was what I felt for Yuki-senpai was more than just an amused interest. If my reaction to her was anything to go by, much more.
Later at lunch the guys and I were on the low roof of the cafeteria overlooking the quad. They were passing around a nude magazine one of them gleaned from their older brother. I wasn't really interested. Once you've seen one nude magazine, you've seen them all. I turned around and noticed Kido with his girlfriend being all lovey dovey. She looked as boring as any other girl in the school. Too much makeup. Too much frilly stuff. I thought of the stern tidiness that Yuki-senpai exuded effortlessly. Is that my type? I thought to myself. I never thought about "my type" before. I wondered idly where Yuki-senpai was and what she was doing. As if on cue, I saw her walking across the quad to the cafeteria. Her steps determined and sure. She noticed Kido almost immediately and kind of stumbled a bit. I watched as a pained look swept over her face. I felt my heart squeeze again. She created so many new emotions in me already and now I felt a new one. Sympathy. I took the magazine, pretending to leaf through it and waited for her to reach me then I skillfully dropped the magazine on her head to divert her attention to me. Abe cried out in dismay behind me. "You did that on purpose, you idiot." he moaned. She picked up the magazine as if it was any other magazine and looked up at me. The pained expression was gone.
"What are you doing up there? It's dangerous. Climb down immediately." she said as she handed me back the magazine. Her cool, trim indifference was impressive and slightly aggravating at the same time. I liked it when she directed her rare outbursts of emotion towards me. I ignored her maternal scolding.
"Do we have practice today?" I asked her. I knew we didn't but I wanted to keep her talking to me for a little while longer.
"No. But the coach is coming tomorrow so you'd better not be late." she replied briskly as she continued to the cafeteria. I watched her as she walked away, her steps steady and focused once again. She never looked back at Kido and his girlfriend.
Later that day, even though we didn't have any club activities I went to the gym. No one was there. I went to the storeroom and as expected, I found Yuki-senpai, once again bent over on the floor. This time she was bent over a banner, paintbrush in hand. The banner had the word 'focus' painted beautifully in large calligraphy. Was there anything she didn't do perfectly?
"Why do you like Captain Kido?" I asked in place of a greeting. She looked at me. Steel face firmly in place.
"Didn't I tell you to rest today? Why are you here?" she asked instead of answering.
"That's my line." I said as I walked towards her to see her banner more closely.
"Beautiful writing. Scary message." I said after my inspection. She scowled.
"I'm making a cheering banner even if it is a small thing since the club doesn't have an official cheering group." she said. "I am doing what I can do until the competition the day after tomorrow."
I squatted down so that I was somewhat more eye level. She was half my size so even bending down I towered over her. I looked at her for a moment. She looked back, unflinchingly.
"Do you really think we can win the preliminaries?" I asked. She narrowed her eyes at me. She pursed her lips briefly as she studied me.
"What are you trying to say?" she asked, the beginnings of her temper faintly lacing her question.
"Actually, you just don't want the captain to graduate, right?" I baited her. She turned bright red as she shouted "So what if I do?" I watched her as her eyes widened in surprised then lowered in regret. I studied her down casted face.
"Your face when you saw Kido and his girlfriend was almost hard to bear at lunchtime today. So full of pain." I said. Her eyes flew back up to my face in surprise. She really didn't realize how transparent she was. Suddenly, I felt annoyed again. "If you like the captain so much why don't you just confess to him?" I asked. That would be better than watching her get depressed every time Kido appeared. That cute scowl returned and I forgot what I was thinking for a moment.
"That is obviously impossible." she answered, returning her attention to her banner.
"Why?" I asked to get her attention back. "Because he has a girlfriend?"
She put her brush down and turned back to me. "Not everyone is like you, Naruse. We all can't just say whatever is on our mind like a child." Her referring to me as a child annoyed me.
"Why?" I asked again to annoy her back.
"When one hides one's true feelings there is no choice but to give up on so many things. There are a lot of people like that. You don't know anything. Don't talk on your own here." she replied sharply. She went back to her banner effectually ending the conversation.
After a short silence I asked "Why are you mad?"
"I'm not mad!" she yelled back looking very much the opposite of not mad. I watched her work for a little while longer then I got up and quietly slipped out the door. I didn't want to make her any madder. I'll give her break for today, I thought. There's always tomorrow.
I thought about what she said about hiding one's feelings and giving things up as I headed home. I never considered doing either. I didn't know if that was a good or bad thing. I did, however, get a deeper look into what made Yuki-senpai the steel pillar of resolve that she was. Everyday she got more interesting. I looked forward to seeing what else she would reveal to me tomorrow.
Before practice the next day, the coach, a doddering old man, finally made an appearance. "Seems like the game is tomorrow. Well, in reality you guys weren't even suppose to be playing so why don't you all just go out there and have fun? Right Kinou-kun?" the coach said while turning to Kido.
"It's Kido and we'll do what we can." he replied. The coach then turned towards me.
"Plus we have a talented new freshman. You're Yanase, right? You're so big. How tall are you? We'll be counting on you."
"Uh huh." I replied.
Abe tapped me on the back. "You gotta tell him 'I'm Naruse'." he scolded. Just then a couple of girls came to the gym door and squealed my name. I turned towards them.
"The game is tomorrow, right? We'll be cheering for you!" they said.
"Ya." I replied. I didn't care. I turned to see Yuki-senpai looking at me. She quickly turned away when our eyes met. I watched her as she walked away to tend to something. She hadn't really spoken to me but about club stuff since our talk in the storeroom the day before. She was probably still mad at me.
After practice, as everybody packed up and left, I noticed Kido talking to Yuki-senpai in the hallway.
"The game is tomorrow at 10 so we'll leave at 7." he told her.
"Got it." she replied. I watched her watch him walk toward the exit. "Um...Senpai...for tomorrow good..." she was cut off by Kido's girlfriend suddenly making an appearance. Yuki-senpai's voice trailed off. She watched them intently for a moment. I walked over to her and bent close to her ear and whispered "Caught you staring." She gasped in surprise.
"Dont stand behind someone like that! Its creepy." she cried out.
"You're the one being creepy. And you're by my locker." I replied as I headed towards it.
"So Yuki-senpai, do you ever smile?" I asked as I got my shoes out of my locker.
"Huh?" she asked blankly.
"I've seen you cry and I've seen you get angry but I've never seen you smile." I replied. I turned back to look at her.
"That...I'll smile if something good happens, you know." she bit out. I saw Abe by the doorway. I walked towards him
"I'm so hungry." I said aloud.
"What are we getting?" he called out. I didn't look back at Yuki-senpai and left out with Abe. I knew I was being rude. I wanted her to think about me and not him even if it was just thoughts of annoyance. I didn't look back at her but I could feel her eyes burning a hole in my back. She was probably thinking she'd never smile just because I asked her about it. I smiled to myself as Abe talked about different restaurants we could go to. We'll see how long it takes to see her smile for the first time.
The next day was the tournament against Meisei. The first half was pretty bad. Meisei was a pretty good team, and this being our first real game together we had not yet found our natural rhythm. I was playing okay. I wasn't really throwing myself into it though. It was just a game. Either we'd win or we'd lose. I glanced at Yuki-senpai. She looked tense. And disappointed. We huddled up, most of the team was dripping sweat and panting. "We're down 20 points." one of the 2nd years said.
"No, no you're doing fine." the coach replied calmly.
"There is twenty minutes left. Play hard." Yuki-senpai said sternly.
"Only twenty minutes? Damn it!" someone called out.
Abe looked over at me. "Say something, Naruse. Are you even trying?" he asked me.
"A bit." I answered nonchalantly.
"Don't just try a bit! Go all the way man!" he yelled back.
I looked at Yuki-senpai again. She was studying her databook, her steel mask on as usual but this time, I could see how anxious she was. Would she smile if we won this game? It was worth it to try and find out.
The whistle blew signaling the end of halftime. We all formed up on the court.
"Match start!" the referee called. This time I actually played like I care. I never really expended a lot of energy in the games I played. I used little effort in basketball and video games. I did the same with school and relationships. I was use to never having to work hard for anything because I could do everything effortlessly. I was 8th in my class last semester. I was the best basketball player in my middle school. Girls were in such abundance that it was annoying. Everything just came to me. I realized then when you get everything you don't want anything. I never desired anything so much that I'd do anything to get it until today. I wanted to win this game just to see the look on Yuki-senpai's face.
I played harder than I ever played. My sudden outburst of renewed energy seemed to energize my teammates as well. We were closing the gap steadily. I was passed the ball and was blocked by an opponent. I sidestepped him but he stepped on my foot in the process. Pain shot up my leg and I collapsed. My teammates surrounded me making sounds of concern.
"Hey Naruse, are you ok?" someone asked. I ignored the pain and started to get up.
"It's nothing." I said keeping the pain out of my voice.
"It's obviously not nothing." they replied. I was about to tell them to fuck off when I heard Yuki-senpai's voice cut through the noise of the gym.
"Naruse. You just twisted your ankle, right? Hit the bench. I'll sub someone else in..."
"I didn't twist anything. No need to switch." I cut her off. I started back towards the middle of the court.
"Naruse, if you are injured you should..." Kido started.
"Shut up." I replied. Everybody was so noisy. We had a game to win and it wasn't going to happen if I wasn't playing.
"What? Shut up? You say that to my face!" he shouted after me.
"If I get subbed out aren't we going to lose?" I replied. "If we lose aren't you going to retire?" I continued towards the court. "If it's like that then you'll always have that expression on your face." I knew Kido would wonder what that last statement meant. It wasn't meant for him but for senpai who was watching me silently. The rest of my teammates finally let my injury go. My ankle was hurting but I could deal. I could still play. Once the game resumed we played even harder. Despite my throbbing ankle, I was playing in top form. But it was too late. We managed to close the gap to ten points but there was only ten seconds left. It was nearly impossible. But I didn't want to give up. It wasn't completely impossible. At five seconds left, I stole the ball, landing on my foot resulted in another surge of pain moving up my leg. I grit my teeth and tried not to think about it. Three opponents were heading my way. I weighed my options on what to do. Pass it? Shoot it? Let the clock run out? All of sudden I heard out of nowhere.
"Naruse, if you let that ball get stolen I will spank you!" Yuki-senpai yelled. The gym's noise level fell by 10 decibels. Me, the rest of the team and probably everyone in the gym looked at Yuki-senpai in shock. "Regardless of whether we win or lose, do not let go of that ball!" she yelled. Her face was lit with a fire only a warrior in the middle of battle would have. For a fraction of a second I marveled at this new face I witnessed. I mentally added it to my collection before focusing on the matter at hand. If Yuki-senpai didn't want me to lose the ball then there was only one option. I charged towards the goal and stopped short of the three point line. I shot with one second left on the play clock. I watched as the ball sunk in. I scored but the result was the same. We lost by seven points, 72-65.
After my adrenaline slowed I remembered the pain in my ankle. I crouched down to cradle it in my hands. While doing that, I remembered senpai's face and her words. I started to laugh. I laughed harder than I ever remembered laughing. She was so cute. So ferocious. So amazing. It was clear to me then. I had fallen for Yuki-senpai. For the first time in my life, there was someone who inspired this type of emotion in me. I thought of how I was going to get Yuki-senpai to even think about me that way. I thought of the ever disciplined, ever serious senpai and started to laugh even harder. Impossible.
"Naruse. What's wrong? Is your ankle hurting?" Kido asked concerned.
I kept laughing uncontrollably. I didn't know if it was because I was nearly delirious from the pain or because of the hilariousness of the fact that I fell in love with Machida Yuki of all people.
"Hey, you're creeping me out. Are you sure you're ok?" he asked. No doubt he thought I was cracking up. I wasn't all that sure I wasn't. I covered my face with my hands.
"No." I replied. "I'm in trouble."
After a few minutes, I finally got up and limped to the locker room. Yuki-senpai was waiting for me.
"Are you an idiot?" she asked darkly. I sat on the floor and pulled my sock down revealing my ankle. It was swollen twice its size and all kinds of shades of black, blue and purple. I looked up at her.
"It hurts." I said.
She sighed exasperatedly. "Of course it does, look at it." She began to bandage it up expertly. I watched her hands as she worked. So small and delicate yet so steady and capable. She had such pretty hands. I belatedly realized we were alone in the locker room.
"Where is everybody?" I asked.
"In a meeting." she answered while finishing up the bandage. "Then we're all going to the hospital."
"What? Why?" I asked.
"For you, of course. Don't pull anything crazy like that again." she said in her stern, teachers voice.
"But senpai, didn't you say you were going to spank me?" I teased. I couldn't resist bringing that up. She gave me a withering glance.
"Enough. Shut up and forget that." she said. Her voice scary. She finished up my ankle and got up, moving towards the exit.
"But I heard a good spanking could be good for me." I said suggestively. Her shoulders tensed with suppressed anger. I smiled to myself. She was so easy.
"Shut up already. Go to the hospital." she replied tightly. She really was adorable, my first love. I was going to make her mine but first I had to get her attention. "Ah, Senpai." I said. She whirled towards me, her temper now fully activated.
"What?" she cried exasperatedly. I quickly bent down and kissed her gently on the lips. My first kiss. She recoiled in shock. I looked into her brown eyes, wide with surprise.
"I've fallen for you." I told her sincerely. My first confession. She silently stared at me for a few moments. I waited for her response prepared for nearly anything.
"What?" she said blankly. She shook her head. "Before that, apologize for what you just did to me." she said. Her face was blank, even more neutral than her face of steel. So she wasn't going to answer me. I wasn't surprised. I didn't think it'll work on the first try. It was Senpai, after all. I shrugged.
"It's not like I used tongue or anything." I said lightly. I didn't want her to see I was a bit disappointed in her non response.
"As if I would've let you. There's a limit to how far pranks can go."
"Pranks?" I repeated darkly. She thought this was a prank? How direct do I have to be? She could be so dense sometimes. I was about to correct her when a group of girls showed up at the locker room door squealing about my ankle and how I needed to go to the hospital. I looked back at Yuki-senpai. She was wiping her mouth with her jacket sleeve. What the hell? I wished the girls would go away so I could spell it out for her but I realized it was pointless. It was going to take a lot more than a kiss and a confession to convince Senpai that I meant what I said.
I turned around and left out the door walking past the girls leaving Senpai alone in the locker room glaring after me. They followed me talking about how cool I was in the game. I wasn't really listening. I had a lot of work to do with Yuki-senpai, I realized. If she was going to be mine, I needed a plan. I revised my thoughts. She was already mine she just didn't know it yet. I smiled to myself. I seemed to be doing that a lot since I met her. Getting Yuki-senpai to fall for me, I thought. An impossible goal. I was more than willing to accept that challenge.
End of Ch 1.