Chapter 6

The next day, Ryuichi received an email from Shiori shortly after breakfast, confirming the time they should meet. He blew hot air of regret through his nostrils, wishing he had lied before and said that he was busy, but since she had already gone through the trouble, he knew he couldn't disappoint. He dressed up in blue jeans, a blue long-sleeved T-shirt, and a fleece pullover with the collar popped, figuring he wanted to be comfy if he was going to be sitting in a crowded theater for an hour-and-a-half. After a quick stop at the bank, he went on his way to meet Shiori outside the movie theater.

The late winter morning was still chilly enough that Ryuichi regretted not bringing a scarf. And yet, he found a girl standing just outside the movie theater wearing a short, red, plaid skirt, a black blouse beneath a thick, red peacoat, and had a pastel yellow scarf loosely circled around her slender throat. At first, Ryuichi rolled his eyes at the girl, who was clearly shivering in the cold with much of her legs exposed, but when she waved to him, he choked on his saliva when he realized that it was Shiori.

"Sorry I took so long," he said, smiling while mentally apologizing for his judgment.

"I just got here, too, so you're fine," she replied, beaming. "We're still a little early, but at least we're guaranteed good seats."

They headed to the theater. As Shiori asked for two tickets and reached for her wallet, Ryuichi already had a few bills in his hand to pay for them both.

"You don't have to pay for me," she said quickly. "You already spent so much on us yesterday."

"I got it, so it's cool," he said, taking the tickets. He opened the door to the theater and let her pass through first, stopping to hold it for a young woman with two small children.

At the snack counter, he and Shiori selected popcorn, candy, and sodas, all of which Ryuichi paid for as well.

"Seriously, you don't have to," she protested again, pushing her money to him when the clerk had already taken his money.

"Don't worry about it," he said, grinning. "Got everything?"

They found their seats up near the top of the movie house against the back wall. The trailers had not yet begun to play, but advertisements to go to the concession stands and movie trivia popped up on the screen instead. So far, there were only a few people in the room with them, grabbing the high seats and some in the middle.

"So, uh, fill me in: What's the movie about again?" asked Ryuichi.

Shiori covered her mouth with her hand while she ate some of her popcorn. She held up a finger to let him know she still needed a moment to finish chewing.

"It's about a guy who finds out he's got super powers who gets recruited by a bunch of other people just like him," she explained, already preparing another buttery morsel. "But then, there are others out there using their powers for evil, so the guy and his team have to fight them and save the world."

He made a face. "Let me guess: Spoiler, one of the good guys dies?"

She popped the bit of popcorn into her mouth. "My money's on the tough guy with a heart of gold."

Overall, the movie had a few cheap laughs but a weak story, as far as Ryuichi could see. He had been intrigued with the whole teenagers with powers thing, but the execution felt more like he was watching a movie for kids or younger teens due to its predictability. He thought it had potential to be something greater, something darker, but in the end, Ryuichi regretted paying for their tickets.

After the movie they headed to Paulownia Mall, where Shiori expressed her own disappointment in the movie. Ryuichi ended up having more fun complaining about the movie with her than watching the darned thing.

"Right?" he agreed. "And what was up with that one girl with the fire powers?"

"Oh, her? I know!" she exclaimed. "She was all bold and everything, and then suddenly she was ready to throw herself off the mountainside when her boyfriend died! I mean, come on! He wasn't even worth it!"

At least they had something they could laugh and gripe about. At the mall, they went straight for the arcade, where Ryuichi bought them a bunch of tokens to share. The first game Shiori chose to play was a boxing one with padded targets that would come out for the player to hit. She removed her coat and threw the end of her scarf over her shoulder before dropping into a low stance with her fists raised. In rapid succession, the pads popped out. Her fists were blurs as she struck each one, never once slowing down.

Bambambambambam—Each hit sent the targets slamming against the metal cage. At the end, a larger bag dropped down from the top for the final hit. Shiori pulled her right fist back and threw all her weight behind the strike. The screen at the rear of the booth showed a meter that flashed a number and the label "Featherweight Champion" that was a quarter shy from the top.

"Impressive," Ryuichi said, nodding. "The boxing team could use your fists."

Shiori popped her knuckles. "Did better than I thought I would," she said triumphantly. "Think you can beat that?"

Ryuichi handed her back her coat and purse. "I'll give it a shot," he replied nonchalantly.

BAMBAMBAMBAMBAMBAMBAM—He savagely attacked each target with such agility and force that they bounced back out of the game from his punches alone, letting him strike even more times. There was no time to think, only reacting when he saw targets flying at him. At the last bag, he reared his hand back and struck the bag hard enough that it swung back out at him as if to retort. The meter on the screen shot up to read "Nuclear Fists" at the very top.

"You did it!" Shiori cheered.

He couldn't stop the embarrassed smile from spreading across his face. Secretly, he was very pleased with his results. "Yeah, this game's gotta be rigged. There's no way I'd get that kind of score."

"If they didn't give you 'Nuclear Fists', I would've definitely said it was rigged," she argued, and he didn't bother to try to dissuade her.

They played a couple more games, then went to Chagall Cafe to take a break. Ryuichi stared at the upright piano in the corner of the cafe, remembering when he would give flawless performances at that exact piano after he quit working at the restaurant.

"You used to play here, right? Back in middle school?" Shiori asked him. "Why did you quit?"

He stared down at his tea, searching for an answer. "Well, I got busy with school and clubs and sports that I just didn't have time anymore," he murmured.

"Do you still play? I mean, after your accident—"

Shiori seemed to regret asking. It took Ryuichi a moment to recall the "accident" that she was referring to when in fact it was only a cover up story that Mitsuru herself fabricated to hide how he truly injured his arm. The story she came up with told of him being in a nasty car accident that resulted in his right arm getting severed. It was a story he was asked to tell many times after the incident, and every time he did, he would always replay the true traumatic event in his mind.

Regret and apology crossed Shiori's face. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have just asked like that."

His right hand twitched. "No, it's okay," he said softly. "After I hurt my arm, I couldn't really play as well anymore. I can still write, but I have to concentrate hard just to make my handwriting legible. I even had to switch my chopsticks to my left hand, too."

Pity filled Shiori's eyes, making his stomach twist with discomfort. "I'm still trying to practice, though," he said quickly so she wouldn't feel too bad. "The doctor said that I should be able to regain dexterity in my hand if I keep practicing piano and stuff. I'll probably try to use my chopsticks in my right hand again to speed things along."

"That was just last year, wasn't it? Why weren't you practicing as much before?"

"Well, I had to let my arm heal. Until then, I was used to making my left hand do almost everything."

They left Chagall Cafe for the food court, where Shiori had him use chopsticks to eat his fries. She cheered him on as he fumbled with the cheap sticks, dropping them and his fries a number of times. When he managed to raise a fry to his mouth, she applauded, and he felt more accomplished than he initially thought he would.

"How come you're able to still do kendo but not other things?" she asked while he tried for another fry.

"My hand strength's pretty okay, but not the dexterity," he said, showing her by moving his fingers about. "See how they get stuck?"

They hung out a little longer, mostly just walking around the mall, talking and window shopping. Ryuichi saw that Shiori was actually pretty cool, where she liked some of the same games he played, understood his gripes about training their kendo teams for competitions, and shared in his appreciation of spicy foods. It was nice hanging out with someone who didn't expect him to pay for everything for a change.

By late afternoon, Ryuichi walked Shiori part of the way to her house before heading home to the dorm. Overall, even though the movie turned out to be lame, he still had a fun Sunday with someone he felt like he could call a friend.

At the dorm, he found everyone in the lounge, together but doing their own things. Yukari was having a light dinner with a salad and grilled pieces of chicken at the dining table while Akihiko sat on the couch feasting on a beef bowl. As usual, Mitsuru was seated at her favorite armchair near the front windows reading a book while occasionally glancing up at the TV. A half-filled steaming cup of tea sat on the table in front of her.

"Where've you been?" Akihiko asked Ryuichi when he entered.

"Hung out with a friend today," he answered as he started for his room.

Mitsuru looked up from her book. "Did you enjoy yourself?"

"Yeah, it was pretty fun, but the movie was kinda lame."

He hung out with the others in the lounge and talked about the movie they saw. Even they agreed that it had to be poorly written if the characters were so inconsistent. Yukari joined the conversation, saying that her friends wanted to see it and that she was glad she didn't bother going. It surprised Ryuichi that she was talking to them again.

"So, who was the friend you went with?" Mitsuru asked him.

"Shiori Hayabusa."

Mitsuru nodded. "Tell me, was she dressed up?"

He cocked his head at her. "Uh, she looked normal, if that's what you mean."

Ryuichi scratched his head. "Then again, I've only ever seen her in either a school or kendo uniform, so it's not a fair comparison."

Yukari gasped. "Wait, so you two went to the movies and spent the whole day together?" she asked.

"Yeah, why?"

Her face twisted in annoyance. "You really don't know? She might've thought it was a date!"

"Nah, there's no way," he said as he headed to his room. "Hanging with her was like hanging out with a buddy."

He lingered at the dorm long enough to grab his helmet and keys for a last bit of review before his motorcycle license test. Not once did he second guess himself on all the different requirements, making sure he didn't skid when he tested the emergency brake and executing the perfect acceleration up an incline without rolling backwards. It was the first time he was able to perform every task correctly on the first try. He feared that he used all his luck on his practice run.

The next day, he spent the entire school day running through the obstacles in his mind in preparation for his test. He could almost feel the way his motorcycle would jerk forward when he accelerated up the incline. It was when he started falling asleep and dreamt he hit the brakes that his whole body thrust forward into his desk. His teacher wasn't impressed.

"Sorry," he said bashfully as he got up and bowed.

Their teacher folded her arms over her chest in disapproval. "Okazaki, for Kirijo's sake, please stay awake so you don't accidentally crash into her."

Despite his mishap during class, he made it through the rest of the school day without any more nightmares. His nerves actually didn't bother him for the first half of his day. It was only when he was on his way to the test site that his nerves finally started to ignite like sparklers.

Somehow, despite nearly getting side-swiped by a car driven by a nervous test taker, Ryuichi was awarded a passing grade. He contained himself enough to not hug his examiner, doing the more polite smile, bow, and giving thanks. When the examiner left him alone, he rapidly messaged Mitsuru a quick "I passed!" before doing a little victory dance. When he arrived home at the dorm, he was greeted by Kikuno who brought a celebratory dinner for him to share with Mitsuru.

On Tuesday, the results for final exams were posted during lunchtime. Ryuichi and Mitsuru headed downstairs to check the results on the board just outside the faculty office. Already, students clustered around the boards to see how well they did or if they had bombed their exams. One guy bumped shoulders with Ryuichi, muttering and swearing under his breath as he left the hall.

By the time they reached the board, there weren't as many students clogging up the hallway. Ryuichi peered over the head of a first-year girl with pale green hair, squinting slightly to read the names. He brimmed with pride at Mitsuru's name taking the number one spot.

"A job well done, Mitsuru," he said to her with a grin.

"C'est très bon," she replied, gesturing to his name at the number two spot. "You've done well maintaining your position. Next time, I want to see you at number one."

Ryuichi's broad grin turned almost painful. "Yeah, because that's totally possible with you around," he murmured through clenched teeth. "Besides, I couldn't have scored as high without you."

As they left the hallway, he asked her, "So, how do you wanna celebrate? My treat!"

Mitsuru chuckled at his offer. "You're always offering to pay for everyone. Did you do the same for Hayabusa?"

He had to search his mind for the name. "Who? Shiori?"

"On your date last Sunday."

"'Date'? That wasn't a date. That was two friends hanging out."

They headed up the stairs to the Student Council Room. On the way there, Ryuichi saw a girl who wept on her friend's shoulder for scoring just outside the top ten. When she raised her face, she appeared devastated by the news.

At the Student Council Room, Ryuichi opened the door for Mitsuru first. It was only after he had closed the door behind them that Mitsuru resumed their conversation.

"So tell me: Did Hayabusa also think it was only an outing with a friend and not a date?"

He watched as she went to one of the shelves full of thick binders. "I'm pretty sure she did. We just watched a movie and goofed off. There was none of that lovey-dovey stuff, and I don't even feel that way about her."

Ryuichi scratched his head. "Why are you so interested in her, anyway? You've been asking about her a lot lately."

Mitsuru pulled out a binder to leaf through. "I'm concerned that she might think you're leading her on," she answered him. "She might think that you do have feelings for her."

"Why would she think that after hanging out only once?"

"It's not just you two spending time together, but the fact that you have a tendency to pay for everyone."

"I was only trying to be nice!" he protested. "And I was forced into paying for everyone last Saturday!"

She closed the binder and put it back before taking out another one. "I know that, but she might not."

Groaning, Ryuichi pulled out a chair and dropped into it, making it squeak under his weight. "What're you so worried about, anyway?" he muttered. "It's just a misunderstanding on her part."

"True, but there's more to it." Mitsuru took her seat next to Ryuichi and looked through the binder. "There's been a lot of talk lately among the students about the two of you. Rumor has it that the captains of the boys' and girls' kendo teams are dating."

"More rumors?" He nearly slammed his face down onto the table. "So what? It'll probably fade off like that other rumor about us dating."

"That rumor hasn't faded off yet."

"It's been over a year. How's it still a thing?"

Mitsuru stopped on a page in the binder, not saying a word. Ryuichi sat up and teetered on his squeaky chair, hoping the noise would urge her to tell him what people were saying, no matter how grating the sound was to him. Still, she took her time, taking out a pen from her pocket to scribble a note directly onto the page.

"I overheard some girls in the locker room before gym class," she began, her tone steady and stoic. "They seem to think that you have been going behind my back with Hayabusa."

Ryuichi snorted. "For real? They think I'm cheating on you?"

"Yes, and they said a few more things about you that I would much rather not repeat."

He laced his fingers behind his head, still chuckling. "Forget about them, Mitsuru. Those guys will dig up drama no matter what."

"That's where I'm concerned." She took out an invoice from the binder's pocket to staple to the page. "Now that they've involved Hayabusa, I'm afraid that such rumors could damage her reputation and yours."

"Don't forget yours," he pointed out as he dropped his hands to his lap. "If I'm the cheating husband, then you're the wife who has no clue about what's going on."

He shuddered. "Wait. That means your fans might already be scouting for the perfect place to dump my body."

She didn't even blink at his poor joke. "All the more reason for you to clear things up with Hayabusa. Out of all of us, she's the one who'll get hurt the most by these rumors."

Ryuichi hung his head and sighed. "Dammit. Well, I guess the wife triumphs over the mistress in this tale of drama and tragedy."

Mitsuru flipped to another page. "You mustn't keep her waiting."

"Said no wife, ever."

"Then it's a good thing we aren't married, isn't it?"

He flashed her a playful pout. "That's mistress talk," he joked, getting up. He thought he saw Mitsuru crack a tiny smile. "But, you're right. I'll go have a talk with her."

Ryuichi took one step out the door when he spun on his heel to turn back into the room.

"About that celebration—"

"We can talk about that after you've rectified the situation with Hayabusa."

"Fine." He hesitated, frowning so deeply he thought his face might fall off. "Well, I guess I'm off to shatter someone's hopes and dreams."

At that, Mitsuru looked up from her work. "At least have some tact, Ryuichi," she sighed.

"I know, I know."

Once he slid the door closed, he checked his phone. There was still twenty minutes left for lunch, but he had no idea where to find Shiori. As he headed for her classroom, he stopped to use the toilet, taking his time selecting which urinal to use, making sure he squeezed every last drop out of his bladder, and goodness! He wouldn't dare face Shiori with filthy hands. He ended up soaping twice, just in case.

Despite all the extra time he spent delaying the inevitable, he still couldn't figure out a way to introduce the topic of them not actually dating. In his mind, he went from "Hey, can I talk to you for a sec?" to "Hey, you! I don't like you, but we can still be friends!"

When he finally had some sort of idea of what to say, he sent her an email that read: "Where you at?" At least that way, he could locate her in the remaining fifteen minutes of the lunch period and use that time to refine his explanation. Not even a minute after he sent the email she responded back, saying that she was in the courtyard between the main building and the gym.

"Okay," he said to himself. "Just hit her hard and fast—Wait, no. Don't say it like that. Just, um, be gentle, but be firm?"

He ground his phone into his forehead in frustration. "Dammit! How does Mitsuru turn people down?"

The last thing he came up with was finding Shiori, pointing a finger at her, and in a flat, firm voice, telling her "No" before fleeing the scene. When he reached the double doors leading to the courtyard, he paused so he could rethink how he would talk to her. Somehow, he came up with a simple solution: Just be honest.

"All right. I can do this," he said to himself, and headed to the courtyard. He held a hand over his eyes as radiant sunlight threatened to burn his sight. When his vision adjusted, he found Shiori sitting with three of her friends, all of whom were girls. Shiori spotted him right away and waved, but as he waved back, he glanced to the other girls and realized that he couldn't go through with it.

"My mom made more than usual, so I could use some help," Shiori said, offering her lunch to him as he approached.

He hesitated to eat her food and then crush her heart after. As he sat down, he and the other girls greeted each other, and he noticed that some of them smiled a little too broadly at him.

"I saw that you got the number two spot," Shiori said gleefully. "Congratulations!"

"Thanks," he replied half-heartedly. He had not thought to check what spot she got. "How about you?"

"Twenty-two." She shrugged. "Not as high as I would've liked, but—"

"Hey, that's still pretty good. Congratulations."

His tiny voice in his head kept telling him to talk to Shiori, but with her friends right there, he knew it would be wrong of him to drag her off and then send her back in tears.

"You should celebrate," one of her friends suggested.

"Next time, you might get the highest score," another encouraged him.

"Nah, not with Mitsuru around," Ryuichi said with a bashful grin. "I couldn't have done as well without her, to be honest."

Shiori's eyebrows shot up high on her forehead. "What do you mean?"

"She's the one who tutored me," he explained. "Actually, it's been that way since middle school. We usually celebrate our scores together, too. It's kinda like tradition."

He watched as her face fell, plunging a stake into his chest. "Yeah, she's been a great friend to me, so I'm glad I can show her that she's not wasting time tutoring me," he added hastily, hoping he hadn't said anything too damaging.

Shiori still hung her head. He took notice of the deathly glares he was receiving from the other girls.

"So, Mitsuru-san is just a friend to you?" one girl asked in an accusing voice.

"Yeah," he said with a shrug. "I mean, what else would she be?"

"A girlfriend, maybe?"

"Nah, no way!" he said, probably too eagerly. "Why would she settle for someone boring like me?"

"Because you're not boring," Shiori chimed in, catching him off-guard.

He wasn't sure what to say, except: "I'm really not all that."

He could feel his face burning, unsure of what to do anymore. It became clear to him that the rumors Mitsuru warned him about were definitely alive, but even more alarming was Shiori's friends' vehemence towards his friendship with Mitsuru. Shiori offered him some of her food again, but he felt terrible for taking even a tiny morsel from her, knowing that he would have to clear things up very soon.

Lunch ended, and everyone went back to their classes. Ryuichi thanked Shiori for lunch, ashamed for eating a few bites of her food and panicked that he still had not had a chance to clear things up between them. When he returned to his classroom, Mitsuru was already there in her seat.

"She had friends with her," he murmured as he passed her to get to his seat.

"Then you can wait until after school," Mitsuru answered him.

For the last few hours of the school day, Ryuichi tried to think of the best way to tell Shiori that he just wasn't interested in her. He wasn't even sure if she did like him more than just as a friend and didn't want to put either of them in an awkward situation.

"Just be frank with her, but don't forget to use tact," Mitsuru said once the final bell rang.

Groaning, he flattened his face onto his desk. "I'd rather face a hundred Shadows naked."

"You can do that after you've taken care of Hayabusa."

He went to Shiori's classroom, only to find that she had already gone home. Mitsuru was not pleased when he reported his second failure.

"It can't be helped," she sighed. Despite not wanting to talk to Shiori in the first place, he felt badly for disappointing Mitsuru.

Ryuichi followed her out into the hallway, but instead of heading to the Student Council Room, they headed down the stairs. It was when they went straight to the shoe lockers that he became even more confused.

"Did you already finish all the preparations for graduation?" he asked Mitsuru. In all honesty, he already knew she was efficient when it came to preparing for events; he just hoped to change the topic.

"Yes, we did," she replied, stopping at her shoe locker. "That invoice I took note of during lunch was among the last few items I needed to take care of."

"Wow. That fast, huh?"

"Of course. They need the auditorium after school to practice for the ceremony, so we had to finish everything by today. We just happened to finish ahead of time."
Even if it was only to get them to stop talking about Shiori, he was still impressed. "So, you finished a day early? Damn, that's fast."

He left her to find his shoe locker a few aisles away. He reached overhead for one of the lockers on the top row, and out of traumatic habit, gave his shoes a few taps to check for any tacks. Shortly after, the two met up again at the entrance.

"So, how do you want to celebrate?" Mitsuru asked on their way out.

He raised an eyebrow at her. "I thought you didn't want to discuss that until after I talked to Shiori."

"You won't be able to talk to her until tomorrow, so we might as well decide on how to celebrate our scores now."

Ryuichi studied her, unsure if she was just being nice or efficient. "I chose last time," he said. "You pick."

They left the school together, and Ryuichi felt a sensation like a finger was being pressed into the back of his head. He whipped around and barely caught sight of a girl ducking behind the shoe lockers.

"What is it?"

He turned forward again. "It's nothing," he said with a shrug. He knew it was the girl who was a huge fan of Mitsuru's, known to be relatively harmless, save for a few mutterings he caught from her when she had not noticed him passing by. He was just grateful that it wasn't Shiori.

Back at the dorm, Mitsuru received a call from Ikutsuki on her way upstairs to her room. Ryuichi was in the kitchen preparing tea and snacks, still unsure of whether or not Shiori did indeed feel something for him. For all he knew, everyone else was just playing up things to make it sound like she liked him when she still hadn't said anything about it. The more he thought about it, the more irritated he became.

He had everything laid out on the coffee table when Mitsuru returned from her room.

"The Chairman says that they found another person with the potential," she announced.

His face lit up. "A new recruit? All right!"

"Yes, but we can't be too sure just yet." She smoothed out her skirt as she took a seat at her chair. "They only know that he has the potential."

Ryuichi poured her some tea. "So, when does he move in?"

"Not until April, I'm afraid. He's coming from out of town, and so he needs some time to prepare for the move."

"Speaking of moving," he began as he passed her the full teacup, "once break hits, I have to help my sister move back into our parents' place. It could take a day or two."

"That's fine." Mitsuru started to raise her cup to her lips when she stopped. "But don't forget: as soon as possible, you need to straighten things out with Hayabusa before those rumors get out of hand."

"I know." He peered down into his own full teacup, seeing his face reflected in the steaming, green beverage.

Mitsuru looked upon him with compassion in her hard stare. "If it's too difficult a task, then if there is a chance that you might be interested in her, then by all means, court her."

His expression soured. "'Court'? No, thanks."

"Why not?"

Ryuichi set his cup down on the table. "For the last time, I'm not interested in her," he murmured with a weary sigh. "Isn't that enough of a reason?"

"You'll never know," she said, reaching for a finger sandwich. "But, on to more pressing matters."

He looked to her in amazement. "And, that would be—?"

Mitsuru's unexpected smile made him nervous. "How shall we celebrate our exam scores?" she asked. "After all, this is the first time you've scored second place all year long. Such a feat deserves recognition."

The tingle of mild anxiety for his talk with Shiori left him for the moment as the two planned out what they wanted to do to celebrate their exam scores. Usually, they just watched a movie from either Ryuichi's or Mitsuru's collections and feasted on a dinner prepared by Kikuno. They entertained other ideas that afternoon, Mitsuru laughing when Ryuichi suggested they try a cake buffet, but in the end, they just wound up talking about strategies for upcoming battles against Shadows.

"Actually, could I bother you for a moment?" Mitsuru said after a time. "I finished writing my speech for graduation, but I could use a fresh pair of ears to help me make some improvements."

"Sure thing." He got up and stretched. "Go ahead and get your notes; I'll make more tea."