'So, what do you think of it?' Sunako asked proudly.

Kyouhei didn't reply. He couldn't take his eyes off of Sunako's decoration. Suddenly, a very weird grimace distorted his face. His eyes had become two huge ovals and he was completely still as if he was not breathing anymore. Sunako was beginning to worry he might be suffocating when Kyouhei burst out into a joyous laughter. He couldn't hold it in anymore. He had to hold on to the chest of drawers situated next to the door in order not to fall. Sunako, at first puzzled, became very annoyed.

'What?' she asked. His reaction was beyond her understanding. 'Do you think there's too much pink?'

These questions didn't quiet Kyouhei down. On the contrary, he laughed with greater intensity. Sunako had to wait for another two minutes for him to finally stop. He breathed in and breathed out slowly, and was at last moderately calm.

'Too much pink? You think that's the problem? I mean, look for yourself!'

Sunako didn't obey at first, but reluctantly, her eyes followed the direction Kyouhei was indicating. Realization sank in. WHAT THE HELL HAD HAPPENED? Sunako was too horrified to speak. She just stood there, her mouth wide open, her eyes about to jump out of their orbits. There must have been a mistake. How could she not have realized what she was doing? The problem was not the pink colour, even though it was indeed nauseating. No, the real problem was the prominence of this thing. She couldn't bring herself to try remembering the name of it. This was a kind of white cat without any mouth – a concept which was already nightmarish in itself according to her. And it was everywhere. Posters on the walls, teddy bears on the chair. Gosh, even the set of bed linen had this cat face patterned. How could her dark haven have been invaded by such impurity? Because Sunako believed that if one thing in the world was evil, it was this. Well, it was true that she had been a bit carried away. All she knew was that her friends liked fluffy stuff, and her room, even though she loved it the way it was, would have frightened them. So she had decorated it with enthusiasm, to please them. But maybe she had been too afraid to look at the result.

'So? How did you even get this idea?' Kyouhei asked.

Sunako replied more to herself than to Kyouhei. She didn't care about him much. She had already forgotten she had been acting lady-like a moment ago, even blushing. The girlish colour of the room had influenced her behaviour, a thing that reinforced the evilness of all this.

'I should not have listened to the grandma. But she was so glad to help me! She even asked her grand-daughter to lend me some stuff to decorate the room…'

'And how old is the grand-daughter?'

Sunako jumped and looked at Kyouhei for the first time since she had realized the disaster of her new decoration. She didn't even care to see him in her room. She didn't feel like home anyway. She didn't ignore him this time.

'She told me she was 8.'

Kyouhei seemed aghast.

'Are you kidding me? You're fif… thirteen, remember? Of course there would be a difference.'

'Well, my tastes didn't change that much since I was eight.'

Kyouhei smirked.

'You mean you've always been into gore stuff?' He met her gaze. 'Okay, I didn't say anything. Anyway, your friends will really mock you if you keep this room the way it is. And if, by some miracle, they do like it, you will never be able to feel comfortable in a room like this.'

Kyouhei was about to leave the room when Sunako called him back.

'What? You're gonna leave me like this?'

She didn't give him enough time to answer and kept talking.

'Okay, okay… I will go to that… thing. But I will choose where we are going. And if you try to touch me, I will kill you.'

At first, Kyouhei didn't know what she was talking about. But then, he remembered. She was giving her consent to the date. He had to repress a big smile. He had almost forgotten about the deal. He was on his way to bring her stuff back from the cellar, but she had thought he was blackmailing her or something like that. He didn't know whether he should be vexed by it, but he didn't care. Before long, he would go out with her, and he was certainly not going to tell her that he would have helped her re-decorate her room in any case. He told Sunako he would be back in five minutes, and indeed he did, carrying the plastic bins.

'We will redecorate the room,' he told Sunako, 'together.'

…...

From what Sunako understood, Kyouhei meant to keep most of her things as decoration. She didn't like the idea of being together with him. Not at all in fact, she shivered at the very thought of it.

'But still,' Sunako thought while she was preparing the ingredients for the omerice, 'if he can help me keep my precious friends, it's worth it.'

Kyouhei had gone to the mall in order to buy some elements of decoration. Wallpaper for the most part. He had no real idea of what would be adequate. What he knew was that he wanted the bedroom to be more befitting to Sunako's world. What he wished for, even though he would never dare admit it, was for her to keep the new decoration the way it was, even after her friends' visit.

He spent a lot of time in the mall. He would wander between the shelves, picking a piece of wallpaper, leaving it, choosing another. Moreover, even though he tried not to pay attention, he felt many gazes from the people surrounding him. He had been asked out about fifty times by men, women, even children. A six year-old girl had said she had recognized in him her future husband. He had meant to insult her parents for the weird ideas she had gotten, but both of them were in awe of him. All of this was pointless. Kyouhei hurried out of the store and came back home as soon as possible. After dinner, the two teenagers found themselves into Sunako's room, not noticing Keiko's questioning look as she saw them leave together.

When they were into the room, Sunako immediately wanted to leave, but she didn't move. First, she had nowhere to go. She spent her days in her room, and now, she couldn't even look at it without being freaked out. Moreover, she really needed this guy's help. She had promised her friends they could come over. And she had promised herself never to make a promise if you can't keep it. Thus, she would have to cope with him anyhow.

Kyouhei was too busy to realize her inner dilemma. He was taking the stuff he had bought out of the bags. In spite of herself, Sunako asked him what it was.

'You'll see later, but first, let's take care of it,' he said, indicating the plastic bins containing Sunako's stuff.

'There is nothing to take care of. They will never like it.'

'I'm sure there are things that are really cool. Look at it.'

He was holding a candlestick that had skull patterns.

'If you let it on your desk, your friends will not even notice it. And it will resemble you more than this freaking cat.'

Sunako felt a surge of energy and enthusiasm overcome her. If she could keep some of her beloved friends with her, everything would be fine! She would feel more at ease to confront her female friends' judgment and more at home. She had never considered keeping it. She was so certain she would be hated by the girls that she had tried a decoration that was light years away from her taste, but which was completely inadequate for a teenager. Sunako had no real notion of a young lady's tastes, since she had never really been one herself. But this guy seemed to know his business. The advantage of the brightness of the room was that he didn't seem so dazzling himself. At least, she could talk with him without any nosebleed.

'Before thinking of the new decoration, let's get rid of the old one,' she said with a broad smile.

Kyouhei didn't say anything, but watched her remove the sheets of the bed, which were really truly of bad taste, even for an eight year-old girl. He was considering helping her, but it was so much fun watching her. He saw her throw away the teddy bears that had invaded the chair and pull it to the middle of the room. Looking at the ceiling, he was horrified to see she had gone so far as placing a lampshade that was patterned with the cat as well. When she did things, she did not stop half way. Moreover, she must have had many difficulties installing it since she could barely reach the lampshade, even on tiptoe.

Kyouhei was beginning to worry she would fall off the chair, which was pitching dangerously. He hurried swiftly, just in time to catch her in his arms.