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Chapter 11: The Answer!

"Do you love me?"

She said it, Shou had asked, her voice was full of affection, and this brought surprise to him. Naegi couldn't believe the level of affection in her voice, it was obvious she was seriously asking, it wasn't a joke of any sort. From all the things, he had been expecting to hear from her, this wasn't what he expected. He was frozen, and she asked again.

"Makoto Naegi…do you love me?" The affection of her voice was the same, and Naegi found himself trying to form words, it was hard because he couldn't stop looking at her eyes, he lacked air, and he couldn't find the courage, but he started…on word at a time…

"I…"

Shou eyes were expectant, yet full of affection, no matter what Naegi would answer, she would take his answer to her heart, and if she was rejected she would be okay with it as long as things didn't change between them, as long as things keep going well between them she would be fine, of course she would try to be more affectionate now that she had spoken what was inside her heart.

"Yes?" she said without noticing herself how full of affection her voice was, Shou was always an explosion, literally being free and a powerful explosion, seeing her so calm and relaxed while never loosing focus of his eyes was totally different.

Naegi heart was beating wild, it was rushing and his mind couldn't make heads or tails of the situation, but he was sure of something, something deep inside of him perfectly knew his answer…

Like the bird know it needs the sky to fly. Like the fish swim in the sea. Like everyone know it needs the sun… Makoto Naegi knew deep inside of him that what his life had always been lacking wasn't luck…it was the happiness that came with Touko Fukawa and Shou.

Shou who was still on top of Naegi noticed how he seemed to be in thought and suddenly his disoriented eyes were full of confidence, she got ready and braced herself for the impact, surely, she would be rejected, she would be alone, maybe things would change and never come back, she was ugly and…

"I love you Shou" were the words that came out of Naegi mouth with those eyes full of friendship for the people he cared of…

Ah, rejection, she had been ready but to hear it was totally different and…wait…what?

Her red eyes opened and her smile grew as she couldn't contain the happiness she was feeling, she needed to hear it again, just to make sure of course.

"Say it again!" She didn't mean to be so loud this time, but she couldn't have avoided, she was happier than she ever thought she could feel from any other experience. Everything else seemed insignificant to her right now, her most important reason for existence was in front of her.

The words flowed easily for Naegi this time "I love you Shou" he closed his eyes in relaxation, sure, Shou was on top of him, and he was on the floor totally exposed to whatever she tried, but he was relaxed. He could feel the affection of Shou in her voice and the way her eyes looked at him. He felt the splash of small drops on his face and as he opened his eyes he was met with a scenario he never expected.

Shou was crying.

She was crying but with a huge smile on her face as she spoke…

"I love you too Makoto"

She couldn't believe it. He had said she loved him, and she loved him too. It was perfect, the whole moment was perfect, Shou wasn't a weak person, she never cried, never needed too. But at this moment she found herself crying, the explosion that was Shou was now a rain of tears as she cried in her happiness. She had gotten so ready for rejection she never expected to hear the opposite.

Makoto Naegi loved her.

Makoto found himself enveloped in a hug before he could even ask if she was okay. The hug was different from any other hug he had ever found himself in, right now he felt he was needed, Shou needed him and he found comfort being in her arms, he never felt such feelings in a hug, and those feelings weren't bad at all.

They stayed in their hug for long, there was no way of knowing how long they were enveloped in the hug under the tree, one thing was for sure, this would be the first of many hugs in the future for Shou.

Shou relaxed and felt a tug in her head, seems her time was off…she didn't mind as she broke the hug and used her hands to cup Naegi face.

He got surprised at the way she was still seeing him, her eyes full of affection, those red orbs that didn't allow lies nor anything to get out of their sight, were looking only at him. Her hands weren't soft, they had calluses that only proved how hard she worked in her craft…and yet to Naegi her hands were perfect.

Shou closed the space between their faces as she had Naegi face cup in her hands, they closed their eyes. She kissed him and gave her long tongue pass to Naegi mouth, the kiss wasn't anything like the soft and chaste kiss that Fukawa had given him in the cheek. This one was wild, and the long tongue of Shou made Naegi feel light headed at how she made him feel.

Yet, it might not be soft, but it was full of affection for him, the gesture itself said what Shou said:

"I love you Makoto"

As they were in their own moment Naegi could feel how Shou tongue got out of his mouth and suddenly the red eyes opened, but they weren't red anymore, in their place were the clear grey eyes of Fukawa. They opened in surprise noticing the situation she was in.

"What's going on here! Why I'm kissing Naegi!? What happened Shou!?" She pushed Naegi without saying any word and left running as her face burn in a bright red as being embarrassed at how she had come back.

Naegi fell on the grass with his back on it, he could only see the top of the tree and its leaves avoiding the sunlight to pass by. "What happened…how I'm supposed to explain this to Fukawa?" He was lying on the floor, still lightheaded from his kiss with Shou. It had been different to anything he might have been expecting. But one thing was for sure.

He wouldn't change that moment for anything else.

On the other side of the spectrum, Fukawa was the whole opposite of Naegi relaxed self. She was a mess, her thoughts couldn't keep in one place, she couldn't really control her thoughts, it all flowed back at what she knew of friendship and trying to understand what had Shou done to end in such a situation.

"Do friends kiss like that? Why did Shou do that? Naegi looked happy…did he likes Shou?" The last thought made her stop for a moment when she was now in her room again. She didn't notice how fast she had made it back to the school. But that thought made Fukawa chest ache, as if it was being grasped by an invisible claw.

"Am I… angry at Shou for kissing him? Am I…. jealous?" She wasn't sure what she was feeling. Why would it bother her, Shou was free to do whatever she wanted, and Naegi was their friend…so whatever Naegi decided to do wasn't her business…right?

She was confused. And decided to do the only thing she thought would give her answers. Research.

As she stayed to read more books around the subject of friendship and the aching feeling she had on her chest Naegi was still on the grass when he received a visit in the tree.

"Naegi what are you doing here?" Ikusaba Mukuro, the ultimate soldier asked. Few knew of their so-called friendship. Truth be told Mukuro wasn't one for socializing with others so she often found herself thinking she would spend time alone always. Not that it bothered her, but having someone to chat with that wasn't her sister would have been really welcomed.

She loved her sister dearly, but she could only deal with her so long before she wished to be alone again. That is when Naegi appeared. Asking for help with a project, Junko didn't show any desire to help but she jumped at the opportunity to get distracted. From then on, she had become a friend to Naegi.

Honestly, she had been a bit out of the loop on his friend activities, they would often chat and the last week he had heard Naegi was always out and even missed a class, weird on him, but it had been weirder finding him in the park, she often came for the peace and quiet and never saw anyone, she would remember if Naegi visited the park.

"Oh, hello Mukuro" she nodded at him and simply decided to sit at his side. Not many knew except for her sister, but she had what some people would call a silly little crush on the luckiest student. She wasn't sure what caught her attention, but it simply happened, she liked the guy for his simple attitude. He was a relaxing breeze on the normal and boring weather surrounding her.

"You look happy, did something happened?" Naegi tensed for a moment before relaxing. "So, something did happen" Were the thoughts of Mukuro as Naegi decided to speak up with her "I got kissed by my friend" Naegi decided he could trust her with his secret, after all they were friends.

"Oh" Ikusaba Mukuro was many things. She was a calm person, collected, and often was always considered to be great at what she did. She was calm, and when she liked something, she loved that with a passion, and when she hated, she hated with the full scorn of hellfire.

"Congratulations Naegi. Who was the lucky one?" "Yeah who is the lucky one who even tried?" Were her thoughts as she waited to know who was her competition for the heart of Naegi. She had been making a huge plan on how to approach Naegi and it all ended in the conclusion of the two ending up in a relationship by the end of the year. But it seems someone sabotaged the plan.

"You wouldn't believe it…she is really great." Naegi smiled thinking of Fukawa and Shou as he relaxed in the shade of the tree. "I won't believe she is better than me for sure" Were the jealous thoughts of Mukuro. "Don't tell anyone else for now though, is kind of a huge secret, Im telling you because I know I can totally trust you Mukuro" she nodded excitedly at knowing the name of her rival.

"I was kissed by Fukawa" as Naegi smiled Mukuro image of her possible rival broke in a thousand pieces. "Oh" Oh indeed, she couldn't believe her rival for the affection of Makoto Naegi was Touko Fukawa.

"Congratulations Naegi" She smiled as she started to think how to solve this problem that appeared on her plan. Because she would solve it, there wasn't any problem that Ikusaba Mukuro could not solve.

CUT! Yesh! Finally published this, hopefully you guys will like it, we are done with the arc of knowing each other! We are out for the next arc of this story! This will take more part in the classroom interactions with the others, hopefully you will enjoy it everyone, have a great day, keep being awesome as always and enjoy.