As we stepped through the threshold to the arcade, Ai clutched my wrist and stopped me dead in my tracks, though my heartbeat remained constant. "Let's compete for tickets, how about whoever has less has to do one thing that the winner says."

The inside was completely sealed off from the environment outside. With opaque windows and a climate-controlled temperature. This was the type of place where it could've been easy to spend a whole day and not even realize it.

"Alright, fine. Within reason." I agreed because that was what a normal high school boy would do when an attractive girl offered him a chance.

She let me go and giggled. "Wow, you're really taking this whole, acting like normal high schoolers seriously."

I shrugged sheepishly. "I don't do half measures. I didn't even check the weather forecast this morning." I puffed my chest with mock machismo.

"That would be an odd thing to brag about in any other context," Ai said while running her hand through her blonde locks. "What do you think we should play first?"

I glanced around and pointed at an empty machine. "Okay, that's the one." It was a fighting game that I'd once seen an ad for.

Eventually, we grew tired of fighting games and switched to racing games then luck and finally a few shooters.

Ai systematically outperformed me, in all of the games that required reaction times and mechanical skill.

We played for several hours before, Hayasaka stopped me and asked if I was hungry, we exited the arcade after gifting our tickets to a grateful child.

We grabbed a bowl of ramen and reminisced on our precociously spent youths. When Ai tentatively shared an anecdote about working with Oka, I nodded along and refrained from commenting.

Afterward, Ai suggested a movie, to which I reluctantly agreed. I would be cutting it close if I still wanted to get home and cook for Komachi.

Hayasaka selected a vapid romantic movie which I wordlessly paid for despite her protests.

We sat silently in the dark theatre. I rested my arm against hers as we shared an armrest.

~/~

Yui raced through the club door, startling me. "Yuigahama, please knock next time."

"Sorry, Yukinon." She apologized half-heartedly.

"Now what's so urgent that you needed to sprint here?" I relented my glare as she pulled a chair as close up as physically possible. Her left thigh and shoulder were flush with my right side.

She smiled and leaned closer. "Nothing major. I was just excited to see you."

Despite myself, I could feel the creeping warmth of a blush on my cheeks. I scoured her face for any sign of mockery but found none.

"Thanks, Yui. I'm happy to see you as well." I gave her a more reserved but still affectionate nudge with my shoulder.

Her hand caught mine and I gasped. "That's nice of you to say. Really nice of you to say." She toyed with my fingers for a moment before letting go and leaning a few inches away.

I almost leaned towards her chasing the warmth that she brought. I caught myself just in time, confused by the errant desire. "Why don't we start lunch while we still have time?" I croaked.

We ate together, not touching but closer than before. Neither of us acknowledged the other's tentative glances and I ignored the nervous butterflies in my stomach each time we made eye contact.

I still didn't understand why my gaze kept drifting towards her lips.

~/~

We lingered outside of the movie theater. The rain poured down around us in thick ice cold sheets; we both crowded under the small diameter of my black umbrella.

I could feel the warmth of AI's curvy body resting against my chest. The flow of pedestrians skated around us.

Faceless bodies moving past us on each side, people beside us, people in front of us and behind us. We were alone together in a crowd.

She craned her neck and brought her lips to my ear. "The trains are stopped; I've got a hotel room arranged for the night. Let's get out of the rain."

Hayasaka softly grabbed my hand and led me through the throng toward one of the towering skyscrapers that loomed above us. Her grip was tight enough for some security but not so strong that I couldn't escape from it if I wished.

I followed without resistance as we fled from the damp cold into the warm glow of a hotel lobby. The bespectacled secretary inspected us with a condescending gleam. Her graying hair was pulled into a severe bun, I could observe the stress on her roots even from a distance, that was how tight and pristine her hairstyle was.

She didn't like us. Her sharp eyes traced our path as two waterlogged high schoolers tracked water along the burnished marble floors. "Can I help you two?"

Hayasaka smiled with a practiced congeniality, the kind designed to put others at ease. I knew all about it; Fujiwara had taught me. "Hello, I'm Ai Hayasaka. I have a room for the night."

The receptionist arched a dubious eyebrow and tutted. "Young lady, do you have identification? There is an age requirement to rent a hotel room for the night."

Hayasaka reached into her back pocket and produced a small plastic card. The woman at the desk reached out and grabbed it with razor-sharp-manicured nails.

She typed in the card's printed name and hit the enter key. As soon as the results came back, you could see the change. She straightened slightly and brushed off her blazer. "Ah, I see that you have the executive suite. Please enjoy; the executive suite comes with complimentary room service; feel free to order something from the kitchen."

Hayasaka kept her fake smile as the woman babbled. Ai extended her hand with the open palm facing skywards, and the woman quickly caught herself. The receptionist grabbed two deep green cards from her desk and swiped them through a small machine before passing them over. "We also have a complimentary fitness center and pool. The pool is open from 8 in the morning until 10 at night. The fitness center is available all day."

While the woman spoke of every possible feature that the hotel had to offer. I opened my phone and shot a text to Komachi, warning her that I wouldn't be home tonight. Almost immediately, she replied with a winking emoji, and I chuckled. By the time the electronic exchange was over, the cards were safely held inside Ai's hands, and the concierge had stopped talking.

We both entered the elevator, and Ai hummed softly along to the elevator music. It was inoffensive and generic. The elevator climbed upwards, but when it dinged, nothing else happened; Hayasaka first tapped her card against a small panel below the buttons. It chirped merrily, and the door then opened to reveal a lavishly furnished suite with an elegant sitting room serving also as the foyer.

"Since when were you eighteen?" I said, slipping off my shoes before walking into the room and glancing around until I saw the hall that likely led to a bathroom.

"We can talk about that later. I promise." Ai brushed past me. "Right now, I want a hot shower."

"I take it that there are some complimentary clothes we could change into," I replied while shedding my slightly damp coat.

She nodded her head and hummed something that sounded affirmative. "There are full bathrooms connected to both of the bedrooms. You can find a few small packs of clothes in the dresser. At least one should be your size."

"Got it." We both trailed down the hall; she turned right while I turned left. I slipped past the thick beige door and into the bedroom. It was full of wood. Wooden boards on the floor, wooden panels on the walls and ceilings, with all wooden furniture to boot. A thick carpet cradled my feet and silenced the sound of my clothing falling onto it. I searched through the sturdy wooden dresser, finding one vacuum-sealed package of clothing with a big M and a picture of a man.

I took it with me and entered the bathroom; I entered the shower and let the warm water rejuvenate me. I used some of the diminutive glass vials of soap that the hotel had provided. Lathering bubble across my body and rinsing it off before stepping out. I toweled off with one of the fluffy white towels that had been provided. Once that had been done, I pulled on the complimentary clothing. It was simple fare, just a plain white tee shirt, and black lounge pants. They likely were a minimal cost that guests remembered and appreciated. I walked back to the lounge and waited; I lounged on one of the sofas, distractedly reading through an article about international contract law. I'd blitzed through several articles about legislative changes before Ai came to join me.

She'd wrapped herself in a robe on top of the free clothes. She joined me on the sofa before craning her head to see what I was reading. "Really, Hachiman? Tax law. That's boring even if you can read it in a few seconds."

"You're not wrong there, but it is useful to know." I replied, eyes never leaving what I was reading.

If I had been younger, I would have been enraptured by the chance to share a hotel suite with my dream girl. But I no longer had a 'dream girl' and wasn't even the tiniest bit enraptured. Hayasaka didn't pull back from her extended position, instead choosing to rest her head on my shoulder.

I tensed slightly, and her breath caught. But I didn't try to pull away, and soon her respirations were back to their normal rhythm. We stayed like that for a while before she finally spoke. "Hachiman, I have to tell you something."

I didn't reply but instead set my phone down, showing her that she had my attention without breaking her train of honesty. "Hachiman, I love you. Please, go out with me. I know that I messed up and I'm sorry. We've both grown and I think that we could-" Her voice cut out as I pinched the bridge of my nose.

"Ai, if you'd said that to me a month ago, I would've been thrilled. But I just don't feel like that about you anymore" I confessed as the rain pattered down.

Ai tensed and then moved away from me. "Okay, I see. I can't say that I didn't see that coming. Thanks for indulging me today, Hachiman."

I sat still and waited for her to do something. To do anything, really. Would she go? Did she want me gone?

I began to reach for my phone, but her smaller hand caught mine. "Hachiman, don't. Please."

I withdrew my hand from reaching out, but her palm stayed wrapped around my wrist. "Do you remember when you confessed to me, Hachiman?"

"That's not an easy thing to forget," I answered honestly.

She sidled next to me again. "I never meant for everyone to find out. One of the girls from the track club was returning to her shoe locker when she overheard us."

"I figured that it was something like that." I made to get up. "I never assumed that you had spread it on purpose." I picked up the room service menu. "What do you want to get?" My eyes quickly scanned over the brochure detailing our room service options.

"I'll take something light." Ai replied without much interest, her voice trembling slightly as she spoke. "Sashimi or maybe a salad. Something like that."

"Okay." I was ravenous and picked several items that looked good. I walked over to the phone and rattled off the order.

I sat with Ai and swapped the occasional story as we waited. Her hands rested on me but didn't wander. She stood when the elevator dinged and retrieved the cart of food from a worker clad in black in white.

Hayasaka set the tray down with the practiced ease of someone who'd done it thousands of times before. "You ordered a lot."

"I did. Now do you care to tell me about the fake id?" I scooped a hearty spoonful of fried rice into my mouth. I followed that up with a bite of steak and then a gulp of miso soup.

She pushed the fileted seafood along her plate with her chopsticks. "I have it just in case of an emergency." Ai sighed, long and slow. "It isn't a big deal."

I kept a diplomatic silence. She kept speaking.

"It's not meant to be anything more than a last resort. It has its advantages seeing as how all the trains are shut down, we would've been forced to stay in a love hotel. Can you imagine the scandal?"

"There wouldn't have been any." I stop for another sip of Miso while Hayasaka's picked over sashimi lays forgotten. "No one would've believed you'd be into me; everyone heard about the rejection anyways."

I toyed with the last few pieces of beef before sliding them into my large bowl of fried rice. Ai stared at the ceiling. "Is that why you turned me down? Were you worried about what other people would think?" She laughed, bitterly. "That doesn't seem like you but you've changed so much it's hard to know what actions are in character."

"That wasn't why I turned you down." I spoke quietly but she was near enough to hear me. "After everything that's happened the feelings that I had for you dissipated. Honestly, I don't know if I'm ready for any kind of relationship right now."

"Hachiman, you said that you'd do anything that I asked." Her warm hands cradled my face in a velvety embrace.

"I did, within reason." I murmured breathlessly. Terrified and excited, I wanted to pull away or push forward, either way. Regardless of what I wanted, I was still frozen with anticipation.

"Then I want you to kiss me, Hachiman." She whispered it like a secret.

"Ai - don't- I mean, this won't change … my feelings." I stammered as her face drifted closer.

Her eyes were resigned and dull when she answered. "I know that. Just for tonight, indulge me. Please."

My stomach churned and flipped as I closed the distance and met her lips with my own. Our lips pushed gently against each other as she cradled my face and straddled my torso with her legs.

Her lips felt impossibly warm. Like pressing a gentle kiss to a warm mug of tea. She let out a throaty giggle muffled by the kiss as her hands intertwined with my messy hair and she moved her hips. Hayasaka's pelvis ground over my rising erection and I gasped slightly as she kept writhing atop me.

We pulled away from each other with a gasp, her eyes were half-lidded and dilated as she looked at me from a nose distance away. "We can regret our mistakes tomorrow."

She moved atop me again and I groaned. As I licked my lips and prepared to devour and be devoured, I leaned forward slightly until my moist lips rested right next to her earlobe. "Just for the night. Let's stay in this fantasy."

The rain pattered down outside as I ripped off her clothes and her nails scratched down my back.