Prologue
"No way, Satou. You're full of crap," said a high school boy during lunch hour. "You don't have the balls to ask out one of the hottest girls in the school. Even if you did, you'd just get rejected right off the bat." He took a bite of his rice then went back to polishing the camera lens on his desk.
"Oh, yeah? Like you're one to talk, Tobi," the boy called Satou responded. "Have you even talked to a girl?"
Satou Takanashi was you average sixteen-year-old high school student: Plain looking face, short black hair, dark purple eyes. Nothing really stood out about him, though he did excel at academics. A soft-spoken boy who avoids conflict for the most part. He partook in no extracurricular activities and had no real hobbies or interests to speak of. Well, except for one.
Across the room sat the girl Tobi mentioned: Ageha Esperanza. Satou gazed over at her, she was the Spanish beauty of Maisen Acedemy. Mocha colored skin, wavy green hair that went down to her knees, golden-yellow eyes that shone like the sun, full lips that were always smiling, and breast that were just…
"Hey, Satou! You alright there?" Tobi called to him. "You were spacing out a bit there."
"Huh? What?" Satou broke out of his daze. "I'm gonna do it."
Satou stood up with a determined look in his eyes.
"Wait no. That is a horrible idea," Tobi interjected.
"Why? Tobi, I'd rather try and fail, than go my whole life regretting not doing something!"
He straightened his hair, fixed his tie, and marched over to the girl of his dreams. There were four other girls sitting with Ageha, talking excitedly. The all-American bombshell Yoshimitsu Halaway, the short Russian Tsubame Pavlischevich, the sharp-eyed Chinese Meimei Ishikawa, and the quiet but pensive Native American Matsuri Havasupai.
Satou stopped in front of them and nervously licked his lips. "Um."
The girls broke off their conversation and all looked at him.
"Can we help you, yes?" Tsubame inquired, silver twintails bobbing as she cocked her head.
"Esperanza-san?"
"Hm?" Ageha raised her head to get a better look at the boy.
The room grew quiet, and the students watched the scene unfold. They sat with baited breath, waiting for Satou's next move.
"Um. W-will you go out with me?" Satou exclaimed.
The brief few seconds before her reply felt like an eternity. Satou was mentally prepared for the rejection that Ageha was undoubtedly going to give. However, he wasn't prepared for what happened next.
"Alright."
An audible gasp of exasperation went around the room. Satou stood there in utter astonishment, mouth agape. The students all began to whisper to each other.
Ageha stood up and moved toward Satou. "Is this Saturday good for you? I think I have some free time then," she asked him.
"Uh, yeah," he answered, nodding absently.
"Okay, give me your phone. We'll exchange numbers."
Saou obediently pulled out his plain black phone and handed it to Ageha, who also had her own rose decorated phone out. Ageha tapped at the screens for a few seconds, then handed Satou back his phone. "And done. Now we got each other's numbers. I'll text you later," she smiled and sat back down.
"Okay," Satou said blankly. He turned and slowly walked back to his desk. The room was buzzing with gossip.
"Holy crap, I can't believe you got her to say yes. How did you do it?" Tobi asked him. "Um, hello? Earth to Satou?"
But Satou just sat there in a silent stupor, unable to process what had happened. He stayed like that for the rest of the day until he finally got home and looked at his phone. Two unread messages were there.
The first one: [Hey it's Ageha] and there was a little image of a cartoon smiley face.
The second one, more recently: [Hey you excited for Saturday? I know I am. Can't wait] This one had a winky face at the end of it.
Satou texted her back saying he was.
"I have a date with Ageha Esperanza," he reflected, scratching his head. "What the hell do you do on a date?"