The week went by insanely slow. Every single day that passed, Kyoko could feel a rope around her neck tighten. Everytime she glanced over to Makoto and Sayaka, it felt like Monday never even happened. That he never went to her house. That he never was crying in her kitchen.
It was Friday. Kyoko had figured by now she was definitely falling for Makoto, as much as she didn't want that. So she did what she could best. Repress it. And it would fade again. She was making some notes in her notebook, as someone leaned on her desk. She looked up, seeing Leon.
"Hey, Kirigiri. What time should I pick you up this evening?" Kyoko's hand met her face.
"Ah, I forgot about that. My apologies, Kuwata. How does 7 sound?" He nodded, smiling.
"Sounds great! Be ready for me~", he said, as he walked back over to Mondo and Chihiro. Not even ten seconds and the next person was already there to demand Kyoko's attention. A knee gently met her arm. Kyoko looked up, seeing Sayaka. A wave of nauseousness consumed her.
"What are you two up to?", Maizono asked, as she grabbed the chair next to Kyoko's and sat down.
"He's been persisting I go on a date with him. So, I'm going out with him tonight."
"Whoa, really? I wouldn't expect Leon to be your type!"
"He isn't. I don't really have a type, anyways." She sighed. "How are things going between you and Makoto?" Sayaka smiled as she looked at her hands.
"We got in a small fight earlier this week, but that's cleared up. We're doing great again." Kyoko forced a smile.
"I'm glad to hear that. How come you got in a fight?" She let out an awkward chuckle.
"It's something dumb, really..." Sayaka sighed. "He kind of forgot our 11 month anniversary... I got really mad at him for that."
"Eleven months? That's quite the while." Kyoko felt like she could vomit, preferably in Sayaka's face. The fact she was lying about why her and Makoto got in a fight pretty much confirmed everything to her.
"It is, huh? I honestly couldn't picture him or me with anyone else anymore." This whole situation was so strange. Kyoko knew she was lying, because why would he? Yet there was still that glimmer in her eyes.
"I'm glad you two are happy together." God how she hated lying. Being lied to or telling them herself, she hated it. And somehow she felt forced to lie in this moment. Kyoko jumped as Sayaka laid her hand on her leg.
"I know one day you'll find someone who looks at you the way Makoto and I look at eachother." She smiled. "Perhaps you've already found him." She glanced at Leon, then back to Kyoko. She said her goodbyes as Yukizome walked in, and went back to her seat. Kyoko noticed Mukuro looking at her. They shot eachother a sympathetic smile.
Slowly but surely, the day came to an end. Kyoko was packing up her backpack, as Yukizome walked over to her. She waited for everyone to leave. She placed her hand on Kyoko's arm.
"Kirigiri, I'm worried about you. You've been very absent the past week, your classmates have noticed too. Is everything alright?" She nodded.
"I'm fine, Mrs Yukizome. Thank you for worrying. I'll tell the rest that, aswell." She swung her bag over her shoulder, but was stopped.
"I'll take you on your word for now. But you can always talk to me about it. Have a nice weekend, Kirigiri."
"Thank you. You too."
The walk home felt so tiresome. The rain didn't help, either. Kyoko was soaked when she got home. She threw her bag on the couch, and headed upstairs to the bathroom. She glanced in the mirror. Her hair was dripping, and there were mascara tracks on her cheeks. She sighed, filling up the bathtub with warm water for a much needed bath. Once it was full, she got in and grabbed her phone. It was about two hours before Leon would be there to pick her up, so she had some time to kill. Her phone buzzed, with an incoming message.
Makoto Naegi: Hey there!! How are you feeling? You seemed pretty down this week :((
She smiled.
Kyoko Kirigiri: Nothing that matters, thank you for worrying.
Makoto Naegi: What a relief!! For this weekend, maybe you'd like to have dinner at my place once we finished cleaning your parents' room? :L
Kyoko Kirigiri: Sure.
Glancing at the time again, Kyoko figured it was time to get out of the bath. She quickly washed her hair before doing so, and got up. Wrapping a towel around herself, she went to her room to find something to wear. Inspecting the closet, she decided to go with a pink dress she got from Junko. She pulled on her clothes, throwing some tights on aswell, and went back downstairs. She killed some more time doing her dishes from that morning, and soon her doorbell rang. She went to open it, meeting with Leon.
"Hi Kirigiri!" He smiled. "You... You look amazing."
"Thank you, Kuwata. Where are we headed?"
"Oh, there's a nice Italian restaurant a bit further down the street. I assume you've been there?" The two of them started to walk in the direction of said restaurant. Kyoko shook her head.
"No, I never really go out. Kind of peculiar to go to a restaurant by yourself."
"Fair, fair." The walk to the restaurant was relatively awkward and quiet. It was almost as if Leon was intimated by her presence. Once arrived at the restaurant, they were seated very quick.
"This is quite a nice place.", Kyoko said as she laid her purse at the side of the table.
"I know, right? My friend on the baseball team recommended this place to me, we go here a lot after practice." He grabbed one of the menus. "You should come watch us sometime." Kyoko smiled, grabbing a menu herself.
"I'm not that into sports, but I won't doubt it's interesting. I'll see if I can make the time for it."
"That's what I wanna hear, heh. Say, do you drink or is it like a big nono?" Kyoko shook her head.
"Definitely not. At least, not yet."
"Bummer, this place has some nice wines."
"A virgin cocktail seems in place for now." Leon chuckled.
"I expected no less of you. Like a true classy lady!" She let out a small laugh. The waiter came to grab their orders, and left as soon as it was written down. "So, if I may ask.", Leon started. "You seemed out of it this week, you okay?"
"God, everyone is asking me that." He raised an eyebrow. "Everything's fine, really. It's a girl thing."
"Oooooh, that's all I need to hear.", he laughed. The waiter brought their drinks.
"Say, Kuwata.", Kyoko said as she stirred her drink with the straw. "How come you were so dead set on going out with me?" He smiled.
"Haah?? Is that even a question?" He rested his elbow on the table, leaning a bit closer. "Have you seen yourself, Kirigiri? You're quite the catch, any idea how much I could brag with you?" He laughed, as Kyoko looked annoyed. "But no, for real. You're really interesting, and I'd love to get to know you better." Leon took a swig of his drink.
"Thank you, Kuwata. I'd like to get to know you better, too." He raised an eyebrow.
"Hmmm, are you sure?" Kyoko slightly tilted her head, asking what without needing to say it. "You seem to have your eye on Makoto." His name stung. It reminded her of how Sayaka, who she would consider a friend, treated him and how she lied to her.
"I do not." Leon laughed. There was some sadness in there.
"Don't bother, I can tell." He sighed. "I know the feeling."
"... You have your eye on Makoto?"
"N-No, that's not what I mean! He's my bro, but not like Mondo and Taka are eachother's bros! I don't swing that way.", he chuckled again. "No, uhm... I have a bigass crush on Maizono. Kinda sucks she's dating my best friend though." Kyoko hummed.
"They seem happy together."
"They're adorable. It stings, though." Kyoko smiled into her drink. She felt understood, if only a little.
"It does..." She caught Leon's attention with that.
"So you do like him?" She sighed, putting down her drink.
"I don't know. It's incredibly confusing- why am I even telling you this?"
"It's because I'm so charming, hehe~"
"...Keep telling yourself that."
"What? It's true!" They had a chuckle. Out of all people, Kyoko never expected to share a connection with Leon. It was nice to know that there was someone that felt the way she did, someone she could talk to. Sure, she could talk to her friends. But they would go on to smack talk Sayaka, simply for being with Makoto. Leon understood the situation they were in, that there was no way the two of them could be broken up anytime soon, unless something major happened. Though Kyoko still couldn't share her suspicions. Not to her friends, they would freak out. Not to Makoto, it would ruin him. And not to Leon, since he had a crush on the thought-to-be culprit.
The rest of the night was quite pleasant. The food was good, and Leon had managed to crack her up a couple of times. It soon came to an end, and the two found themselves back at Kyoko's doorstep.
"Thank you, for tonight, Kuwata. I had a lot of fun."
"Me too, Kirigiri. I'm glad I convinced you to come." He awkwardly kicked some stoned at his feet. "This is the part where I would kiss you or something, but seeing as we both like someone else-"
"Yeah don't do that." He nodded, looking up at her.
"See you on Monday." She nodded.
"Until Monday." She proceeded to go inside, watching as Leon hopped on his motorcycle and left. She didn't expect to have had this much. Feeling some yawns coming up, she decided to go to bed early. Well, early. It was already 11pm. She put on her pyjamas, and got into bed. She checked her phone, and saw some unread messages from the group with Junko, Hina and Mukuro.
himedere: mukuro shut up!!! im picking an outfit for my shoot tomorrow
kuudere 1.0: Huh? I'm having a snack. Sorry if the pots are loud.
just hina: GUYS KYOKO'S ONLINE
himedere: KYOKO!!! HOW DID IT GO
just hina: DID YOU KISS
himedere: IS HE IN YOUR BED
kuudere 2.0: Calm down. It was nice, but we're not interested in eachother like that. Nothing happened.
himedere: aww look at you saving yourself for Makoto :3
kuudere 2.0: I'm not "saving myself" for anyone. I'll be going to sleep, figure you should do the same.
kuudere 1.0: Goodnight, Kyoko. Glad you had fun.
just hina: goodnight!! uwu
himedere: sleep tight nerd :P
~~
An awful stench filled Makoto's nose as he came down the stairs. What a nice way to start your Saturday morning. Walking into the kitchen, he saw the origin of the horrible smell. His father was hunched over by the door, a roll of paper towels at his side. His mother was petting the dog, as Komaru cried. He hurried over to his sister, and hugged her.
"Shh... What happened?" She hugged him tight.
"Kneecaps threw up, and he's having some diarrhea.", his mom said. "We're getting him ready for the vet." Makoto smiled.
"He'll be fine, Komaru." She nodded. He let her go, ruffling her hair. "Call Toko. It'll make you feel better."
"Y-Yeah.", she sniffed. "She always cheers me up." Komaru grabbed her phone off of the table, and walked in the bathroom to call her girlfriend. Makoto took a peek over his dad's shoulder, scrunching his face at the horrible smell and sight.
"I assume you're not too hungry anymore, bud?" He shook his head.
"I'll pass for breakfast today, I think." His mother stood up.
"Oh, speaking of food." He looked at her. "Your friend is staying for dinner, right? Anything I can't make?"
"Hmm, she mentioned she's allergic to peppers. She isn't too fond of onions, either."
"Oh, a she?" Komaru walked back in the room. "Is Maizono alright with that?", their mother joked.
"Mom, she hangs with other guys all the time, I'm sure she won't mind."
"Wait, who's coming over?", Komaru asked as she grabbed her jacket.
"Kyoko is. I'm helping her clean out some stuff at her house, and she's having dinner here." His sister gasped.
"Yay, Kirigiri's coming!" Her mother raised an eyebrow.
"You know her?"
"I've seen her like once, when we went to the mall. She's really nice."
"That's good to hear. Can't wait to meet her." Makoto smiled. "Alright, Komaru, you ready to go?" She nodded, and the three of them went out the door. With the smell of vomit and poop finally out of the dining room, Makoto decided to go grab himself a small breakfast. He sat down at the dining table, checking his phone. He saw a bunch of notifactions from his groupchat with Leon, Mondo and Chihiro. They were talking about the date Leon had with Kyoko. It seemed to have gone really well. The group was spammed with gifs of lovebirds and other typically romantic things. Makoto felt a small pit in his stomach. He put his phone down, and went to put his dishes in the dishwasher. He made his way into the bathroom, and hopped in the shower. After a couple of minutes, he got out and dried himself off. Once fully dressed, he went back in the dining room to check his phone. He had one text.
Kyoko Kirigiri: What time are you coming over? I'm sort of at McDonalds, incase you're here for lunch.
Makoto Naegi: McChicken :)) quickly grabbing some stuff and I'll be there :D
A minute later he received a reply.
Kyoko Kirigiri: I've already left. You're lucky I know you well enough, got a McChicken and some fries.
Makoto Naegi: i love you <3
Kyoko Kirigiri: Don't say that.
Makoto chuckled. He made his way up the stairs and entered his room. He grabbed a sweater and his backpack. His eye fell on a picture of him and Sayaka, framed on his desk. It was a picture of past summer, of them at the beach. He smiled, yet it stung. Even though he's pretending nothing happened, he can't help but feel upset about it. It definitely isn't healthy, he knows that. But he can't lose her. Not in the same way he lost his ex. He sighed as he checked his phone.
Kyoko Kirigiri: I was walking home and saw this cool duck. I took a photo of it, I thought you'd like it.
Makoto smiled. It was indeed a cool duck.