"Ready?" Nanami asked her companions, who nodded. She raised her fist and knocked three times.
Miyu opened the door and said in surprise, "Nanami-chan! What brings you here again?"
"We have business to do, Miyu-chan." Nanami barged in, followed by the others.
"Business?" she asked, puzzled, as she closed the door.
Santa looked grave. "Yes. Serious business, Kouzouki-san. Now if you don't mind, have a seat…"
"Nice of you to give orders in my house, Santa," Kanata joked as he entered. "What's going on here?"
"You should sit down, too, Saionji-kun. This might shock you." Aya said solemnly.
Completely bewildered, Miyu and Kanata sat side by side, looking at their five friends' grim looks as they took seats.
Miyu managed to say, "You're all acting really weird. It's freaking me out!"
"Yes, well," Santa began as he pulled something from his bag, "you'll freak out more when we post this all over town." He showed it to them.
Leaning in, Kanata and Miyu gasped in unison. It was a picture of them, the scene familiar: Kanata shirtless, on top of Miyu, with their faces less than a foot away. To anyone, it would look like something was going on between them.
Kanata's blood boiled. "What the devil is this?!"
"If you don't admit to your relationship, we will post this all over Heiomachi."
With a flash of understanding, Miyu recalled the click sound they heard. "Nanami-chan… This is insane. Please, stop this."
It was Aya who responded to her. "Miyu-chan, you and Saionji-kun have kept too many things to yourselves. I think we can be trusted enough. Please stop lying to us."
Miyu was staring, transfixed, at the photo. The happy bubble that she felt inside her heart when she and Kanata became best friends, popped suddenly, leaving her cold and miserable.
She could hardly believe that she and Kanata look like lovers. She understood, now, why her friends were so suspicious.
"This is crazy!" Kanata raged, slamming the table with his fist. "It's you guys who should trust us! Miyu and I are not together. Why would be keep something like that secret?" He cursed and cracked his knuckles.
No one spoke for a while. Then, frowning, Nozomu whispered to Nanami, "They look pretty convincing to me."
He cleared his throat. "I'm sorry we bothered you, Miyu-cchi. We'll be leaving now." he stood up and left, dragging a reluctant Chris with him.
Santa, Aya, and Nanami didn't know what to do. They stared into their hands as Miyu stood and broke the tense silence. "I never would have believed this of any of you," she said, her voice unusually harsh. She left.
Unexpectedly, Nanami burst into tears. "Saionji-kun… I'm so sorry… This is all my fault! I urged Aya and the others into doing this. I'm sorry!"
"Don't apologize to me," Kanata replied in a low voice. "I'm okay. But it's Miyu I'm worried about."
"You're really concerned about her, aren't you?" Aya said. He nodded.
"Keep taking care of her," she said as they prepared to leave.
Nanami, who was still sobbing, hiccupped, "Tell her I'm sorry."
"Hey, man," Santa said awkwardly. "I'm sorry we messed you up."
Kanata brushed it off with a wave of his hand. "It's fine, Santa. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to see Miyu…"
Will things between Kanata and Miyu stay the same? I hope so! Haha.
