Sona's mouth hung open like a dead fish as she stared at the chess board in front of her. Kyousuke was sitting across from her, idly inspecting a chess piece like it was a priceless artifact.
The reason for her expression? He'd beaten her. Her. In a game of chess. And to make matters worse, it was his first time playing. He'd won not by wit, or intellect, but by being so overwhelmingly dumb and unpredictable that she couldn't figure out what he was going to do next. He used only his pawns and then for some unexplainable reason,chose to use his King. He put himself in check to defeat another piece.
It was so mind numbingly stupid that it was honestly kind of amazing.
She rubbed her temples as she remembered her older sister's advice.
"An idiot is a genius' worst nightmare, teehee~!"
Which was an awful thought because she was fairly sure her sister and Kyousuke would get along. Both were decently smart, but they were downright scary when they turned their brains off.
"Kyousuke," she said stiffly. "Do you know what this means?"
His eyebrow rose. "Hm?"
"In the Sitri family, only those who can beat us in a game of chess can marry us. You've basically just proposed to me."
He blinked a few times.
"I refuse."
"HAH?!"
"I said I refuse."
"Why? You do know this is a chance to marry into royalty."
"Yeah, but. If you don't want it, I don't want to force it on you. That'd make me no better than that Chicken Dance guy."
She simply stared at him as she processed what he said.
"But I do want it," she said flatly.
"Oh, okay then."
Her forehead hit the desk as she groaned. "I hate to ask this, Kyousuke. But do you want it? I admit that I . . . like you. But it'll mean nothing if you don't like me in return. I don't want to be a hypocrite."
She lifted her head to see him gazing at her, almost as if he was trying to read her like a book. She felt vaguely uncomfortable.
"Well," he said as he crossed his arms, "I can't say that I like you in that way. Not yet. I like you as a really good friend and I'd definitely die for you, as proven, but I want to get to know you a bit more. Perhaps a few more of those coffee shop dates first?"
The fact that he referred to it as a date made her heart skip a beat. Sure, it was nice that she didn't have to hide her crush anymore, as she wasn't a fan of stringing things along, but him using the word date was just like a jab in the heart.
"I'd like that, yeah."
"Cool. Got a question, though."
"Yeah?"
"Someone named Levi-tan approached me the other day and invited me to a photo shoot or something. Should I trust her?"
Sona choked. This wasn't happening. Not this soon. She wasn't ready!
"You . . . can trust her," she spat out. It was physically painful for her to throw him to her sister like that. She could only hope that she didn't convert him.
"Cool."
"She's my sister."
"That so?"
"Yeah. She's kind of a big deal."
"Ah. You're cuter though."
She nearly fell out of her chair.
He was too much for her!
