Kokomi had been rushed to Chiyo's home on a "Code Red love emergency" and now sat next to her on her bed.

"Chiyo Yumehara, Love Master, at your service! Please spill all of the details," she said. The contrast between her upbeat enthusiasm and threatening command was almost frightening.

"Thanks for seeing me on such short notice," Kokomi said nervously, pushing her hair behind her ear. Her expression made it obvious to Chiyo that she felt more than a bit uncomfortable.

"What's wrong, Kokomi? I know you're usually a bit embarrassed about love talk but this seems to be on a different level," Chiyo asked gently.

"Well, I've been getting a lot closer to Saiki-kun recently…" That was all Chiyo needed to hear.

"Whaaaaaat!? Why didn't you tell me!?" Chiyo exclaimed, punching her arm a little too hard to be solely playful. Kokomi flinched and rubbed her tenderized arm.

"Yeah. I probably deserve that," Kokomi mumbled. "I didn't mean to keep you in the dark, but things with him have gotten more… complicated."

Chiyo rolled her eyes and shot Kokomi a knowing look. "Those dark, brooding types are always such a pain."

"Tell me about it," Kokomi huffed.

"So, what all has happened?"

"I'll do the best I can to explain it, but I still need to keep a lot of the details hidden."

"That bad?" Chiyo sighed, sympathetic to her friend's struggle. That Saiki was quite a pain to deal with.

Kokomi nodded. "What I can say is that we've been seeing each other outside of school for a few weeks now…" Chiyo fluttered her eyebrows with a mischievous grin.

"It's not like that!" It was Kokomi's turn to punch Chiyo's arm, provoking absolutely no reaction from the latter. Kokomi continued, "I can't believe it, but I feel like I've fallen even more in love with him now. The problem is… he knows."

Chiyo's eyes widened. Kokomi swallowed thickly.

"He's known for a long time now."

Chiyo's eyes narrowed. "What an ass."

Kokomi laughed bitterly. "You're telling me."

Chiyo rolled her eyes. "Whatever. You're more than a catch, Kokomi."

"It's hard to believe after what I just told you but he cares a lot more than he lets on. He just… couldn't return my feelings."

Chiyo nodded sagely.

"With Kaidou-kun it was pretty similar. I all but confessed to him, but he still had too many hangups to return my feelings. Why did we have to pick guys with the emotional intelligence of grade schoolers?"

Kokomi shrugged. "I have no idea. He still wants to be around me even though he knows…"

"Waiwaiwait. Stop. He WANTS to be around you? Knowing him, you had to figure it out, right?"

"Actually, no, surprisingly. He came out and said it; of course it came with a healthy dose of standard Saiki avoidance."

Chiyo squealed. "Kokomi, I'm so happy for you!"

Kokomi's eyes darted nervously. "The problem is, though, I'm a bit stuck. As much as I want to be with him, I've been doing my best not to pressure him because being willful is probably the best way to ruin the good thing we have. The romantic tension has been fun to play around with, but sometimes the… sadness just bubbles up uncontrollably."

"It's not fair for him to lead you on like that. You deserve better. At least Shun was honest with me," Chiyo said soberly.

Kokomi nodded. "I don't think he's trying to lead me on. He definitely knows that it hurts me, and he's trying his best to come to terms with it in his own way."

"I'm all for pursuing love until the ends of the earth, but both of us know how fickle it can be. I'll kill him if he hurts you," Chiyo said bravely, holding her balled fist in front of her face. Kokomi laughed.

"Well, I know he feels something because sometimes he gets this look that's difficult to describe. He stares at me in a way that feels relaxed, like he's let his guard down. He doesn't seem distracted at all; you could call it comfortable, gentle… tender even. Honestly I prefer that look to the way he looks at coffee jelly."

Chiyo's eyes widened, but narrowed when she flashed her friend a sly grin.

"That little shit's in love."

"N-n-no it's not like that!" Kokomi sputtered, waving her arms around frantically. Her face was hot enough to fry eggs. She found that it was becoming more than a bit difficult to talk about her relationship with Saiki without revealing his powers. She had to make Chiyo understand…

Chiyo shushed Kokomi, putting her finger on her friend's lips. "I don't care what he says. I'd kill to have any of my crushes look at me like that. And don't sell yourself short; you're gonna get that coffee jelly look too," she said, beaming a confident smile and a thumbs-up.

"I-I-I'm telling you though, there is no way he's in love!" Kokomi stammered.

"I don't believe you. Even if he's not, I guarantee that if you keep up what you're doing he will be," Chiyo said matter-of-factly.

Chiyo had finally pulled her out of denial. Kokomi allowed herself to settle back and smile from the bottom of her heart and remember all of those tender moments she shared with him for what they were.

"Maybe you're right."

Chiyo chuckled, satisfied with herself. "I know. I AM the Love Master after all. Wait, wouldn't it be Love Mistress… Never mind, forget I said that."

"Well, to be a Mistress you'd have to be dominant, and if I recall correctly you knelt in front of Kaidou and called him 'Master'," Kokomi teased, eyeing Chiyo mischievously.

"Now where did this snark come from? I don't remember you being much of a joker," Chiyo said, very amused. Kokomi jolted, unable to conceal her furious blush. Chiyo smiled wickedly.

"So what's he ACTUALLY like?"

"Well…" Kokomi started mousily, "like I said earlier he acts like he doesn't care, but in reality he's a lot more observant than he lets on. He doesn't like attracting attention, but still supports us from the sidelines like your little Shun so eloquently explained," she said, finishing with a taunting coo.

Chiyo huffed. "Your penance is to share until I'm satisfied."

Kokomi continued without missing a beat. "He really likes playing this silly game where he wants to be around but doesn't want to be acknowledged. He thinks he's a big buzzkill, but doesn't realize that his little quips lighten the mood and remind us for a second that high school drama isn't the only thing that matters. He's strong, kind, and funny. That sense of humor you commented on came from my time with him; he noticed how wound up I am all of the time and teased me to help me unwind a little bit. It made me feel very good, so I did my best to tease him back in case it worked the other way," she said, her head still high above cloud nine.

When Kokomi finally turned her attention back to Chiyo, all she saw was a chibi with tears streaming down its face and "HEART SQUEEZE" written in neon above its head. "Kokomi, if you screw this up, I'm going to kill YOU," the chibi said.

"L-l-let's not get so hasty now…" Kokomi laughed nervously while readying her hands for her habitual uncomfortable waving.

"But love is worth dying for, Kokomi. How could you be treating this with any less importance than it deserves, Kokomi? Are you not devoted enough, Kokomi?" she heard Chiyo say without moving her lips. Chiyo's face wore a placid smile; but her mind bore a vacant stare, open mouthed grin, and a terrifying violin accoutrement. They exchanged no more words until Chiyo's features softened to offer them.

"I'm seriously glad though, Kokomi. It's hard not to be blinded by your beauty, but I can definitely tell how hard you try to put your best foot forward every day. When you started learning everyone's names and everything about them, even I started to fear for your safety. You deserve someone who recognizes all the effort you put in," she said.

Kokomi nodded in agreement.

"So, Chiyo, how's it going with Kaidou-kun?"

"Well, I ended up saving him from some girls being mean to him the other day after the whole magazine incident and he seemed pretty happy about it, so I think that's progress!" Chiyo said, grinning confidently.

"That's amazing, Chiyo!" Kokomi said as she placed her hands together.

"I chickened out of talking with him afterwards, though, because I was pretty embarrassed by how open I was about it," Chiyo said, embarrassed not by her candidness but the fact that she was nearly caught stalking Kaidou.

"But still, that's something!" Kokomi chirped.

"I guess all I can do now is keep pushing forward. He already essentially rejected me but I'm not going to give up just yet. I'm willing to make it work. I think he's worth it. Despite the fact that he's weak, he stands up for others without fail. Even though the chuunibyou thing is a bit weird, it shows that he's very passionate," Chiyo said, tonally resolute but with a barely detectable hint of wistfulness.

I hope she'll be ok. I can tell the amount of effort she puts into getting boyfriends is really starting to take a toll on her, Kokomi thought while perfectly concealing an internal twinge.

With the more serious elements wrapped up, the two conversed as normal for the rest of the day until Kokomi went home.