Ryuji woke up feeling like he hadn't slept for a second. This was bizarre--while the events of the past night had been taxing, to put it mildly, they hadn't actually kept him up that late. In fact, as soon as he got back to his room he'd totally passed out. Now, it was the next morning, day two of their trip, and he was awoken suddenly by Kitamura, energetic as always and ready for another incredibly productive day of skiing.Though the class presidents demeanor was impeccably bright, Ryuji felt a sense of suspicion around him--careful side-eyes from his male friends as they dressed and got ready for the day before breakfast. Ryuji hadn't felt a tension like this since the school's pool had opened the previous summer, though that situation was decidedly scarier because it was Taiga who treated him with distance and wariness--a fate he didn't dare think about now.
"Okay, what gives?" Ryuji suddenly burst, the mounting atmosphere finally proving too much for him.
"Hmmmm... what do you mean, Takasu?" Kitamura asked him smugly.
"What's with the looks? You're all treating me like some kind of spy or something."
"Oh-ho-ho, Takasu, my friend, for all we know you are some kind of spy," Kitamura replied.
"Yeah, dude. Be honest, where'd you run off to last night?" Noto asked him casually.
"Huh? Oh... nowhere important." Takasu deflected.
"No way that's true, man! You were probably with your ~girlfriend~!" Haruta sang teasingly.
"W-What?" Takasu shouted, blushing, "It was nothing like that at all!"
"Mhm, sure. So you just got a text message at the same time as you happened to be taking a 20 minute bathroom break. Makes sense to me!" Noto chided, now fully embracing their interrogation."I swear it wasn't anything to do with that," he stated seriously. Ryuji sighed deeply. "Alright, maybe you guys can actually help me with this. I'm still pretty confused by it myself..."
"Yo, what happened? Did you get dumped last night, bro?" Haruta asked, leaning in toward Ryuji far closer than he was comfortable with.
"Not cool at all, man. We're here for you." Noto stated plainly, placing his hand on his friend's shoulder.
"Guys, I don't think that's what happened. Besides, Aisaka wouldn't do that to someone, especially not our Takasu!" Kitamura reassured them.
"Well, geez, maybe I'd tell you what happened last night if you'd all let me?!" Ryuji grumbled, his patience wearing thin.
His friends went expectantly silent.
"Alright... So as far as I understand it something happened between Kawashima and Kushieda last night, and it made her really upset. Kushieda I mean. She ran off..."
"So anyway, Taiga texted me to help find her, and I guess Kawashima found her first and apologized. Then she found me and told me I had to talk to her, so I did," Ryuji continued.
"Okay, and what did she say?" Kitamura asked, his arms crossed and his hand on his chin.
"Well... I guess the easiest way to explain it is... she rejected me."
"Huh? Rejected you? Aren't you dating Taiga now?" spouted Noto.
"Well, yeah. But... it isn't that simple. It sounds weird but the only reason we started spending so much time together is because... I had a crush on Kushieda and... Taiga was trying to help me get closer to her."
"Hang on, this is before you started going out with Taiga?" asked Noto.
"W-Well... yeah." replied Ryuji sheepishly.
"That doesn't sound like Taiga to me. You know, I was interested in her last year and she totally rejected me! She just isn't the compassionate type, so there must have been something in it for her," Kitamura stated, sounding sort of like an attorney.
"Uh, w-well I guess she might have had an ulterior motive at the start..." Ryuji stammered.
"Anyway, that's neither here or there. The important part is..." Kitamura made a flamboyant pose, standing up in front of him, "Do you still have feelings for Kushieda!?"
"Of course not! If I had any doubts about being with Taiga I wouldn't be with her!" Ryuji replied confidently.
"Then what's the issue?" Haruta asked casually.
"The issue is that Kushieda is my friend, and I care how she feels, idiot!"
"Anyway, what do you mean by Kushieda rejected you? Even for someone like her, that seems totally out of character!"
"Well... On Christmas Eve, when the student council had that big party, I planned to get Kushieda to go so I could ask her to go out. I even got her a present..." Ryuji sighed, heavily, "and I think she knew what I was planning."
"Anyway, instead of going to meet her I went back to Taiga's... and I think she knew I'd do that too, and she finally told me no."