Chapter 14
"I'm really sorry, but I lied to you Kyouko san."
His pulse accelerated when he called her by name.
He didn't notice, but inside of her, the grudges too were battling to keep her sane after those words.
If she had thought that Corn telling her name with Tsuruga san's voice was too much, the real deal almost made her faint.
"This date wasn't actually my white day gift" he said "this is." he added, handing her a refined box.
Her small hands reached for the box, shaking. What? Why? Wasn't it enough, that he used up an evening of his time with her? Why did he still have to give her the same cellphone charm he gave to everyone else?
"You shouldn't have." she said, as she took the small package. Really he shouldn't have, she thought. It made her kind of sad, that after such a night, he felt obligated to give her his standard return gift.
"You have no idea" he said "this is the minimum." He put his hand on hers, as she was holding the box tight. "Tonight..." he said, with an unsure voice "tonight was about showing you…" he pulled back and looked outside the window opposite her. "You're very special to me, Kyouko san."
Her heart stopped with this phrasing. "I love Kyouko Chan" Corn had said in Guam. It felt the same. Tsuruga san really was an airhead of a prince too. Did he even realize what the words he said sounded like? What was she supposed to say back? He was special to her himself, actually, special didn't begin to cover it.
Her hands clenched on the gift box. She was too uncomfortable to open it in front of him. She didn't want to show him her disappointed face when she'd find herself facing the expected gift.