"Sekai gave me those tickets," Itou explained.
Kotonoha noticed he called her by her first name. "Se-Saionji-san is a nice girl."
"She really wants us to be together it seems," Itou said.
"I wonder why."
Itou shrugged. "She said she enjoys watching romance bloom. But I can't understand why she would…" His voice trailed off.
"Do what?" Kotonoha pressed
"Nothing." He looked away.
"Tell me," she said, unusually persistent. "I want to know more about Saionji-san."
Itou took a deep breath and turned back to her. "Have you ever heard about the Cellphone Charm?"
"The one where you take a picture of someone you like and set it as your background?"
"Yeah. And if no one finds out for three weeks, your love will be realised."
"Did you… take a picture of…"
"Uhm," he looked away, blushing. "I sort of did. It meant nothing, it was just a… I don't know. It doesn't work, of course. I just, took a picture of you because I thought you looked cute. But then, the first day, Sekai saw it."
"Oh."
"She felt really guilty about it and insisted on bringing us together. I would never have asked you out if not for Sekai. I was fine just watching you from a distance, I was fine just being…"
"The Boy on the Train?"
He smiled softly. "Something like that."
"But, if she-"
They were interrupted by a screeching sound.
The train had arrived at their stop.
Luckily, this 'date' was right after school, meaning she didn't have to go through another nervous breakdown to pick an outfit, since both of them were still in their uniform.
They walked the short distance to the movie theater in silence.
"Which one do you want to see?" Itou asked.
There seemed to be some silly romance playing, along with a fantasy and… her eye had immediately fallen on the giant poster with zombies.
She was a sucker for horror movies. Also, from scientific research she knew that being scared promoted feelings of intimacy. In other words: the easiest way to get a girl to hold you close is to take her to a horror movie.
"I uhm…" She looked longingly at the poster.
"I know," he interrupted her. "It has to be that one, right?"
\
\
Kotonoha let out a sigh.
"When you're with a girl, it has to be a romance," Itou said, overly enthusiastic, as usual.
Idiot. Maybe you should pay some attention and get to know the real Katsura-san. Or should she have spoken up more? If she had simply told him…
Well, she couldn't tell him now of course.
This date was already going down and it hadn't even started yet.
The movie itself was, needless to say, terrible. It was a stupid story about a guy who was being pushed into a relationship by another girl, but halfway through she realised she loved him as well and…
Wait a minute.
What if…
Oh no. No, no, no, that couldn't be true. Yet… it had to be. It explained everything perfectly.
What if… Saionji-san liked Itou? And she set them up in an effort to get closer to Itou herself. That also explained why…
Her thoughts were interrupted by Itou taking her hand.
"Uhm, I… Itou-kun? You're touching my hand."
He nodded. Then, he leaned in closer.
Hey, calm down. Her brain went to panic-mode.
The slap resounded through the whole room. He was completely stunned.
Needless to say, it made the rest of their date even more awkward.
\
"I'm really sorry," Itou said. "Sekai said I should, uhm, you know."
"Sekai's advice doesn't seem very helpful," Kotonoha pointed out, her voice was cold. Of course not. She was pretending to set them up, but actually, she wanted to be with Itou herself. This was so wrong.
"But," Itou said. "She wants us to be together."
"If she wants us to be together, then why did she kiss you?"
His eyes went wide. It took him a few seconds to regain his composure. "H-How," he swallowed hard. "How do you know that?"
"I saw you the other day. She was kissing you, at the station."
"I uhm. I thanked her for bringing us together, and said I owned her one. She said she would take me up on that and then uhm, kinda kissed me, out of nowhere."
"Itou," she said. "I think you should date her instead. I can't hold your hand, I can't… kiss you and I certainly can't… fulfill your other desires. You and Saionji-san are better suited for each other. And she likes you, that much is obvious now."
"I… yeah, probably."
"She set us up because she felt guilty, but, it's not working. You can see that, right?"
He touched his cheek, where she had slapped him. "Yeah, I can see that now."
"Let's just stay friends," Kotonoha finished.
"Yeah."
Wow. She had actually said it. Despite being scared as hell, she had said what she wanted to say. Well, mostly.
\
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"So, how did it go?" Sekai asked. She had called after their 'date'.
"Uhm, not so good."
"How so?"
"I… uhm, he… tried to kiss me."
"Oh. Don't worry. I'll tell him tomorrow."
'We're no longer dating'. She just had to say it, it wasn't that hard.
Instead, she made a strange sound that could be interpreted as 'ok' with some imagination.
"Don't you worry about it," Sekai added. "I'll tell him to stop doing stuff you don't like."
"It's not that I… don't like it. But…" If it was you, then maybe…Her mind went back to the swingset. To Sekai suddenly standing behind her and touching her chest. If she had tried to kiss her at that point, she probably wouldn't have objected. Actually, she should have kissed Sekai back then. Why had't she done that? But maybe it was for the best she hadn't. Sekai probably would have slapped her.
"But?" Sekai pressed.
"I'm not really ready for it." She cursed herself. Even on the phone she couldn't tell her. The words she wanted to say just couldn't pass her lips. "I'm being bad to him."
"That pervert is just getting ahead of himself. Don't feel bad, Katsura-san."
"I can't respond to his feelings." So we stopped dating. For fuck's sake, get the hint.
"You're being to considerate."
She facepalmed herself in silence. Why was she so dense? Why couldn't she just say such a simple thing. It was never Itou she liked.
"But, Katsura-san?"
"Yeah?" Please tell me you realised.
"You don't plan on doing anything like that then? Like, kissing and… other things."
Like touching someone's chest on the swingset?
"I would." If it's with you.
"You would?"
"Ah, uhm, well, if it was the right moment." She was improvising now.
"At a wonderful place," Sekai added. "With a good mood."
"Yeah, like Europe."
"Europe?"
"Yeah." If she made it super unrealistic, Sekai would realise, right? "You know, like, riding a horse in the mountains." She might as well go all the way now. "The boys riding a white horse always got me going. They were so gallant."
"You ride horses?"
"I used to be in a horse-riding club. I can just picture it, in the mountain paths in Europe, he is riding a dazzling white horse, and we're caught up in a storm, so we take shelter in a cabin. Obviously, we need to take off our clothes to make them dry by the fire and then, wrapped in the same blanket, our bodies pressing together, it just, happens."
"You really are a maiden in love, aren't you?"
Yes. But not with Itou.
"I guess." Why couldn't Sekai pick up a hint?
"I'll talk to him tomorrow."
"Yeah, ok."
Certainly Itou would tell her they had decided to stop dating.
Everything was okay. There was no need to do a pointless confession. There was no need to get rejected. Sekai was going to date Itou anyway.
"I'll see you tomorrow."
"Good night, Sa…" She gathered her courage. "Sekai-san."
Sekai chuckled. "You can just call me Sekai."
"Y-You can call me by my given name as well, S-Sekai."
She chuckled again. "Good night, Kotonoha."
Kotonoha slowly lowered her phone and put it aside.
Well. She had done it. She had called Sekai by her first name and she had told Itou they probably should stop dating. Not bad at all now that she considered it.
'Good night, Kotonoha.' The words echoed in her mind.
Oh, if only Sekai had been there instead of Itou. She could imagine Sekai taking her hand instead and trying to… kiss her.
Her thoughts drifted back to the swingset. Sekai's hands had felt so good. It was wrong, but it had felt so right.
She looked at the clock. It was already pretty late.
Kotonoha reluctantly got up and went to the bathroom to brush her teeth.
When she was done, she returned and changed into her favorite pyjamas.
"Uhm. Saionji-san? Do you remember how I told you there was someone who interested me?"
"Yes, I remember. That's not good! You can't be thinking about him when dating Makoto-kun."
Him? Oh Sekai, you were so wrong. She was thinking about her when dating Itou-kun.
But Sekai was right about one thing: Kotonoha really was a maiden in love.