"Are you going to ask her or what?" Chika asked monotone as he twirled his pencil between his fingers. He leaned onto the comfort of his palm as he waited for Satoshi's response.

"I don't know," Satoshi said as hastily munched his bento.

"Don't talk with your mouth full," he scolded, "It's disgusting."

"Sorry Chika, I'm just nervous." Satoshi made a quick glance across the cafeteria. There she was. Satomi Miyamoto was seated across the room, surrounded by her other classmates. It was primarily boys, which made Satoshi feel a squeeze on his chest.

"Those boys don't mean anything to her," Chika stated matter-of-factly. "She's captain of the judo club. They just want to climb up the social ladder without working hard." He glanced at Satomi from the corner of his eye. She had wavy black hair pulled back into a ponytail and sparkling sapphire eyes. She was pretty, but he would never admit it.

"You don't know that for sure," Satoshi said. "Miyamoto-chan is very popular…I know that Jigoro likes her."

"That's only because he thinks since he has the same name as the judo creator, he's destined to take over the judo club."

"Let's just go to class," Satoshi stood up and left his lunch tray on the table. He made one last glance at her smiling face before leaving the room.

Satoshi spent the class going crazy. How was he going to ask the girl he's had a crush on to go to his birthday party?

"Are you going to ask her or not?" Chika asked for what seemed like the millionth time.

Satoshi bit his lip and watched the clock. The bell had rung only seconds ago. Satomi would leave to go to judo club in less than a minute. He shook his head. "It was a stupid idea."

"I'm going to ask her then."

"Wait, what?"

"You heard me. I gave you a week to ask her, now I'll ask her." Without another word, Chika walked off towards Satomi. Satoshi sat back down defeated and watched as his cousin approached the girl. He felt a familiar squeeze on his chest, but it was tighter and made him feel more uncomfortable than ever.

Satomi smiled at Chika as he approached her casually. "Hello Haninozuka-san."

"Hello Miyamoto-san," Chika responded in a bored tone. "Satoshi's birthday is this Saturday. His parents are hosting a party at his estate."

"Oh, I didn't know. I would have given him a present!" Satomi cried out. "I hope he isn't mad at me!"

"You can give it to him on Saturday," Chika stated.

"But I'm not…are you inviting me to his birthday party?"

Chika shrugged his shoulders and walked away saying, "It starts at 10am, don't be late."