"YUUICHI!" A familiar voice called out.
"Shiho? You're finally here." The boy smiled, stretching his arms out so she could jump into them.
"Sorry for being late, I had to do a few things before I came." She apologised, jumping into his arms.
"It's all good, it was funny seeing you run in such a panic though." He chuckled, separating from the girl to see her reaction. "Ha, your face is priceless."
"Next time I won't run, I'll walk." Shiho pouted, turning around so he couldn't see her face.
"Crawl you mean." He cheekily corrected her, gaining a soft kick to the stomach, which still floored him.
"Now look who's crawling." She teased him, placing her foot on his back. "Now Mr Katagiri, would you like to take me to our first spot for the day?" She asked him with her foot firmly on his back.
"Yes, I will." He answered, sighing in relief when she released him. Once he was back on his feet, he brushed himself off and then grabbed her hand. "Our first destination is the arcade, but before we go, I want to make a bet with you."
"And what's the bet?" She wondered, getting excited at what it could be.
"Whoever loses the most games has to pay for everything else for the rest of the day." He offered to which she accepted without hesitation.
"Deal." She proudly accepted, confident in her ability to beat Yuuichi.
"Alright, then I guess we'll be on our way then," Katagiri smirked, taking her to the arcade. When they arrived, both of them were shocked at the size of the arcade.
"This school doesn't know how to hold back do they?" Shiho muttered to herself.
"You can say that again." Yuuichi agreed, sharing the same consensus.
"Yuuichi look, let's go on that machine." The machine was a motorbike racing game, it looked interesting to Yuuichi since he's found motorbikes interesting.
"Yeah, let's play that." He agreed, paying for his motorbike and Shiho paying for hers.
(3.2)
Hours had passed and they had finished their exploration of the arcade, they had played many games. To list a few: Basketball, Hockey and a zombie shooter. In the end, though, there could only be one winner of their bet and the winner was.
"Ha Yuuichi, you're terrible at games. I beat you at practically every game." Sawaragi boasted, flexing her noodleceps (small biceps).
"You cheated," Katagiri swore, in denial in defeat.
"Being a sore loser are we?" She continued to tease, irritating the boy further.
"No, I'm being deadly serious." He doubled down.
"Yeah yeah whatever, I'm hungry, why don't we get something to eat?" She asked him.
"You wouldn't be hungry right now if you were the one paying," Yuuichi complained.
"Oh absolutely, but that didn't happen did it? Yuu-i-chi." She said while poking his cheek.
"Oh well, a bet is a bet." He sighed, going on his phone to find the nearest café.
"You know what's even better? It's the fact I came out richer and with cool glasses." She flaunted.
"Whatever." Yuuichi rolled his eyes, finding a café nearby. As they began to make their way there, he was texted by a certain someone. "Kikyo?" He whispered looking at his phone. When he opened his phone he was greeted with a picture of her in the t-shirt he gave her the day before. Along with it, there was a message attached to it, which read.
[Your T-Shirt is mine now.] (I really wanted to put a pic of Kushida here, but I can't find one.) Yuuichi smiled at her cute declaration and replied with something simple.
[That's fine with me.] Once the message was sent, he closed his phone and then continued his conversation with Shiho.
(4.3)
After a few minutes of walking, the pair finally arrived and was greeted by a rosy-haired waitress. "Where would you two like to sit?" Without much thought, Katagiri pointed to a table near the window. The table was free so the waitress escorted them there, pulling out both chairs for them."Now, what could I get this lovely couple today?"
Immediately, Shiho's face went red and she tried to tell the waitress that they were only friends, but Yuuichi had a different plan. "Well she's not really my girlfriend, but for today she is." He warmly smiled, making Shiho and the waitress blush, but for different reasons.
"You're a playboy I see." The pink-haired waitress giggled.
"Are playboys virgins and still believe that love is real?" He asked her, taking her by surprise.
"No, they're the opposite." She replied.
"Well then, I'm not a playboy." He cleared up, successfully defending against the sudden accusations the girl made.
"Alright then, what can I get you two then?" For a moment, the two looked at the menu and then answered her.
"I would like some soba with some tempura please," Shiho ordered.
"And you sir?"
"Yakitori please I wanna try it," Yuuichi ordered.
"Alright we'll get that on the go, it shouldn't be too long." The girl bowed, running into the kitchen to give them their order.
A few minutes went by and the waitress came out of the kitchen with their steaming food.
"Here is your food. Oh before I go, could you give me your name?" She requested, looking at Yuuichi.
"Katagiri Yuuichi." He responded, gaining a weird look from her.
"I thought you were Shiba-san's cousin or brother. Oh well my bad." At the mention of Shiba, Yuuichi froze.
"Shiba? What do you mean Shiba?" He demanded to know, suddenly shifting his tone, taking both girls by surprise.
"Well there's this boy in my year and he's called Shiba Shinji, I thought you were his brother or at least related to him since you look a lot like him when he used to have his hair messy." Many emotions rushed through Yuuichi's body as the girl continued to speak, but one emotion stood out the most. Fear.
"I see." He replied, trying to stay composed. For all he knew, this girl could be a spy. "If I ever see him I'll tell him he's copying me." He laughed.
"Hehehehe, well see you guys."
"Wait before you leave, it's impolite to not give me your name after asking for mine." Turning around, the girl gave him her name.
"Mizuse Maria."
"I see, alright then, bye." The two waved at each other before the girl had to serve some more customers.
"What was that all about?" Shiho said leaning over the table, which left her boob area exposed to Yuuichi's eyes.
"I don't know."
"You look pale Yuuichi are you okay?" She interrogated him, putting her hand on his forehead to check his temperature.
"I'm okay Shiho don't worry." Although the girl didn't take his response as a proper one, she decided to leave it alone.
"If there's anything you want to tell me, you can tell me you know. I'm good at keeping secrets." She winked.
"I promise it's nothing, if it was I would tell you."
"Okay, whatever you say." She rolled her eyes, stuffing her face while doing so.
(4.4)
When the two finished eating, they made their way to the pool "I bet I'm a faster swimmer than you." Shiho claimed.
"I don't know about that, my time has gone up since April." Yuuichi backed himself up.
"Well, we'll see." Sawaragi smiled, getting excited to race her date. Once they had finished changing and were ready to swim, they made their way to the deep-end pool.
"Ready to lose Shiho?"
"Yeah, whatever I'm gonna set a countdown, once it beeps we have to swim." She explained, taking out her phone and setting the countdown.
"Okay." Yuuichi nodded, stretching his arms and legs in preparation. Not too long after, they heard a beeping noise, signalling that their race started.
From the moment they dove into the pool until they touched the end, it was clear who was going to win. "HA TOLD YOU." Shiho laughed, getting out of the pool, and flexing her legs once they were both out.
"At least those legs aren't for show," Yuuichi commented, analysing her legs.
"I train them every day you know." She continued to flex.
"Yeah, no wonder your ass is so big." Yuuichi thought out loud.
"What did you say Yuuichi?" Sawaragi questioned him, curious to find out what he said.
"It was nothing, I was saying how impressive your legs are." He replied. "Anyway, you're not better than me at swimming just because you got a win over me, it doesn't mean you're better." He complained, making her giggle.
"Awhhh Yuuichi the sore loser, how cute." In a petty act of frustration, Yuuichi pushed her into the water.
"HA, LOOK WHOS IN THE WA-" Before he could complete his sentence, she grabbed his feet, dragging him into the pool.
"Yeah take that! HYA!" She shouted, kicking him in the stomach and then tackling him. The two found this moment funny, but couldn't stay underwater to laugh as the water would enter their systems.
"ACK!" Katagiri spat, nearly vomiting water.
"That wasn't... A good idea..." Sawaragi stated, coughing up water.
"Yeah, I agree heavily. Wanna fight?" Yuuichi offered her.
"Yeah let me just-" Before she could finish her sentence the boy tackled her into the water once again. Unfortunately for him, this backfired as Shiho used her monstrous strength to swap positions with him.
Yuuichi tried to get out of her deadly leg choke that was suffocating him, but there was no use. He did get one benefit from it though, he felt her lovely thighs. In the end, he ended up tapping, forcing her to release him from her grip.
"HA! I win again, Yuuichi just admit you're below me." She pointed to herself, mimicking Vegeta from Dragon ball Z.
"I wouldn't do that pose if I were you, bad things happen after doing that." He informed her, making her laugh.
"I'll break the curse." She claimed, twirling in the water.
"Yeah, whatever, be happy that you snuck me."
"Sore loser." She retaliated.
"Okay let's go again, but let's be fair this time." She nodded and then they separated, counting to ten in their head.
"Go!" They both announced, rushing at each other. Thinking on his feet, Katagiri grabbed her body from under the water, forcing it down, but before he could successfully do it, she grabbed his hair, dragging it down with her. She kneed him in the stomach, which lead to him releasing his grip on her, separating the two since she let go of Yuuichi's hair in the process. Since they were fighting the black-haired boy decided it was fine to hit her, but only hard enough to win.
The two floated back up to the surface and stared at each other for a moment before rushing each other again. Wanting to end their battle, Yuuichi grabbed both of her arms, spinning both of her around, allowing him to choke her. Before he initiated his choke, he grabbed her arms and then locked them with his left hand, leaving his right hand to do the choking. This wasn't enough to put a stop to the girl though, and the boy knew that. "We're going under." He declared, leaning back into the water, taking her with him. Once underwater, she began to flail her legs, but Yuuichi managed to evade her monstrous legs. A few more seconds of flailing and Sawaragi knew she was beaten. In defeat, she tapped his arm signalling he won. "So who's the loser again and who was going to break the curse?" He asked her, waiting for her response.
"You got lucky." She claimed.
"Someone's a sore loser." I laughed.
"Yuuichi, I think you've forgotten the power I hold." She smiled, making a money gesture.
"Please go easy on my wallet." He pleaded.
"Nope that's it, we're going to the jewellery store, cmon let's go."
"Don't dent my pocket too hard." He begged her, only gaining a snicker from the plotting Shiho.
"I won't don't worry." She promised him as they got out of the pool.
In the end, he ended up spending 75,000 points. They both got a bracelet that had each other's initials on it. It was a nice way to remember their date.
(4.5)
"Today has been so fun." It was around 3 pm, and the duo still had a lot of time left, but it felt like it was going by so quickly.
"Yeah I agree, I wonder what Kiyotaka is doing?" I pondered.
"Probably kissing Honami or something, damn love birds," Shiho replied, whispering her jealous remark.
"Maybe if you weren't busy with student council work all the time, you could've been just like her." The girl sighed in agreement.
"Yeah well, it's a sacrifice I've got to take."
"I guess so." Yuuichi sighed in agreement, looking at the sea alongside Shiho.
"Hey Yuuichi, do you-... n-never mind." The black-haired girl stuttered, letting her nerves take control of her actions.
"What is it Shiho?" Yuuichi asked her with a curious look.
"It was nothing don't worry." It was clear as day to him that she was hiding something.
"Are you sure?" She nodded. "One million percent sure?" She nodded again. "Okay, then I guess it's nothing." He gave up, sighing in defeat.
(4.6)
(Kiyotaka pov)
"I wonder what Airi wants me for," I muttered under my breath, curious why my friend told me to meet her. If I had to guess what she wanted to talk to me about, it would probably be her improvement, but I don't want to start guessing and get things wrong.
As I exited the stairwell, I saw her room number and walked to her door, knocking on it once I was there. Not too long after, Airi greeted me at the door.
(Imagine everything without the white bag)
"Erm, come in Kiyotaka-kun." She seems nervous, I wonder what that's about. When I entered the room, I took off my shoes and sat on her bed while she made me some tea.
Shortly after, she left the kitchen with two tea cups and handed me one of them when she arrived at her bed. "Thank you." I nodded, expressing my gratitude. I took a sip of her warm tea and then put it on the table, the tea was sweet, but a nice kind of sweet. I may need to buy the brand of tea she uses, it's unexpectedly nice.
"So erm, I wanna talk to you about two things." She informed me, avoiding eye contact with me.
"Airi, what did I tell you about avoiding eye contact with people?" I asked her, grabbing her chin and forcing her to face me. During our many tutoring lessons, I've been giving her life tips on how to approach and talk to people. It seems like it goes out of the window here and there.
"T-To face them." She stuttered, answering correctly.
"And what's with the stuttering? I didn't teach you to add "erm" or stutter when talking to people." I scolded her, making her upset.
"I'm sorry." She apologised as tears welled up in her eyes.
"Don't cry," I demanded, calming her down.
"Sorry Kiyotaka, can I ask my questions now?" She asked me in a confident tone.
"Yes, ask me anything," I replied, making her smile.
"My first question is, when should I reveal my identity?"
"Whenever you feel comfortable and ready, the sooner you do it the better in my opinion." The identity Airi is hinting toward is her Shizuku identity, which is technically her real identity. When she's in "Shizuku" mode, far more bold and courageous, the opposite of the Airi we all know. The difference between Airi and Shizuku's physical appearance isn't that drastic. While Shizuku has her hair down and doesn't wear glasses, Airi wears glasses and keeps her hair up. It's like her glasses and hairpins are a limiter, locking up her true self and potential.
"I think I should reveal it after our holiday."
"That would be great." I thought out loud, gaining a smile from her. "Also when we're alone take off the glasses and hair tie, you look much better without them," I commanded which she heeded. After a minute of fixing her hair, she took off her glasses, revealing the real Sakura Airi. "There you go Airi."
"You've helped me so much Kiyotaka-kun thank you." She blushed, maintaining eye contact.
"Now what's the other question?" For a moment Airi paused, but followed through with her question.
"I don't know if it's a question but I'm just gonna say it." She took a deep breath and then spoke. "Kiyotaka-kun, I'm in love with you." Yeah, I already knew that, it wasn't hard to tell. "I know it's selfish to tell you now, but I've liked you ever since I first saw you and if I don't tell you this now, I feel like I'm gonna be ripped apart by it. I know I'm going to get rejected and that's fine, I just wanted to get this off my chest." Her delivery was perfect. Despite her face being redder than a tomato, she kept composed and delivered that speech really well.
"That's fine, I'm glad you got that off of your chest, things like that should be released. Anyway, I'm proud of how you delivered that. Well done Airi. Although I can't show you love intimately, I would happily display my love for you in many other ways, you can do the same too." I replied, earning a smile from her.
"I would be okay with that." She smiled, looking at the positives of the situation.
"Good," I said, hugging her.
Once we separated, Airi began to twiddle her thumbs. "I know this is selfish, but can I do something to you."
"What is it?"
"Close your eyes, it'll be a surprise." She smiled, taking out her lip gloss.
"Okay." I hesitantly agreed, closing my eyes. After a few seconds, nothing happened until I felt a pair of glossy lips clash with mine. Immediately, I was taken aback, but I stayed calm. When we separated, Airi looked away, in shame but in happiness at the same time.
"Did you like it?" I would lie if I said no.
"Why did you do that?" I asked her, grabbing her chin once again, forcing her to face me.
"I've wanted to do that since the very beginning of school," Airi confessed.
"If that's all you're gonna do, then I'll let it slide." I sighed, making her happy.
"Thanks, Kiyotaka-kun." She celebrated.
"Yeah, but next time I won't be so generous," I warned her. In response, she gave me a thumbs up. "Alright well, I've got things to do so I'll see you later," I told her, walking over to the door and slipping on my shoes.
"Bye~" She waved.
(4.7)
(Airi pov)
"Well done Sakura-chan, do you see how easy it was?" A voice spoke from my hidden phone.
"Yeah it was, I feel slightly bad about it though," I replied, picking up my phone as she began giggling.
"Sakura you want him, don't you? This is your only way. Slowly ease your way into his life, boys and girls only stay friends for a certain period of time. Especially since you seem to be his type." She continued.
"You're right, I want Kiyotaka. I'll do anything for him." I spoke, gaining a smile from her.
"Good girl, I got the recording so I'll send it over soon." She waved, about to end the call.
"I'll see you later." I waved back, sighing once she hung up. "I'm sorry Kiyotaka but this is the only way."
(4.8)
(Kiyotaka Pov)
It was the next day and there was only one thing that was plaguing my mind, "Did I cheat yesterday?" I asked myself, curious about the answer. If the kiss was totally one-sided and I felt no attraction toward her, it would've been fine, but it wasn't that simple. Although I'm in a relationship with Honami, I'm still attracted to Airi physically, and that's something I can't change, especially since she's very similar to my girlfriend physically. "Should I tell Honami about it?" I asked myself once again, pondering whether I should tell my girlfriend about my massive mistake. "I do have to admit, although Airi is bold when her real personality is out, I don't think she's that bold. Maybe something's up," I wondered, grabbing Yuuichi's attention.
"Why what's wrong?" Yuuichi questioned me, sitting on his bed smiling. It seems his little 'date' with Shiho went well.
"Complicated." Luckily, Akito was still asleep so we could talk freely.
"Explain it, I'm all ears." I stayed quiet for a minute, figuring out a way to put what had happened in a good way. "Did you fight with Honami?"
"No, if I did I would be outside her doors on my hands and knees." I joked, making him laugh.
"Then what is it?" He pressed, leaving me with no more time to think. "I can't think of anything, it has to do with Honami."
"Give me a second," I replied, giving myself a few minutes to think. If I look at this from a logical standpoint, I could come to two conclusions. The first one is, Airi could've done what she did and really meant we would stay as friends or it could be the second one, she did everything yesterday on purpose in an attempt to get me. If I'm being honest, I have been less cautious since entering this school and that needs to stop. Since it was Airi as well, my guard was extremely low, I don't expect her to do anything harmful or plot anything that could affect me negatively, sadly that is the wrong way of looking at things. For all I know, she could've had a phone recording everything and I wouldn't have known. Although it's unlikely, my senses are telling me that might be the case.
"Well, I'm going out with Haruka today." Yuuichi blurted, getting up to brush his teeth.
"Different girl every day huh?"
"Shut up." I'm glad I hit a nerve.
"How are you and Kushida?" He didn't bother to reply, getting into the shower once he was done brushing his teeth. "This is stressful," I whispered to myself. The best way to deal with things like this is to find out from the source. "It seems like I'll have to do that." I sighed, texting Airi.
(4.9)
After an hour both, Yuuichi and Akito left, leaving me alone, just as I entered the shower. Not too long after, Airi turned up, but unfortunately, I wasn't prepared. "K-Kiyotaka-kun, I can come back later if you wa-" I decided to cut her rambling short and dragged her into my room, closing my door behind me.
"Go sit on the middle bed, I'll be ready in a second." Now that I'm more switched on, this should be easy.
"O-Okay." She complied, sitting on my bed. After a minute or two I came out of the bathroom with my clothes and sat next to her.
"Airi."
"Y-Yeah?" So she's stuttering again, let's get rid of that.
"Take off your glasses and tie." She took them off and then looked back at me.
"I-It's not my glasses and hair bands, I'm just a little nervous since you randomly invited me." She explained.
"Ah, I see, well relax, nothing is gonna happen. All I want to do is ask you a few questions of my own today."
"I'll happily answer them." She smiled, acting her usual self.
"Alright, I'm curious, what were your real intentions yesterday?" I asked her, staring her dead in the eyes.
"It was to get everything off my chest, I wanted to get rid of my pent-up feelings." She answered, matching her explanation from the day before.
"I see and that kiss, you admit that you initiated it and it'll never happen again?" I continued, not breaking eye contact for even a second.
"Yes, and yes, I know you're in a relationship with Ichinose-san so it would be wrong to go any further. Plus we already went over how things would be in the future. That kiss was... it was something I had been wanting to do for a long time, all of those pent-up emotions were released through that kiss." Her answer has no holes, this is genuine. Although, something is up. Where was her phone yesterday? She always has it in her hands.
"Where was your phone yesterday?"
"Under my pillow." She fired back with minimal hesitation.
"Why was it under your pillow? You usually have it in your hand or somewhere close to you." I noted.
"It's because I didn't want to be distracted by it when I was talking to you. Just before you came I had posted an image so my phone was blowing up." That's a valid excuse. If she had done something, I don't think she would be this calm. Then again, I don't know Airi's full potential when it comes to acting. I've heard Idols are quite the actresses.
"I see, can I look at your phone then?" Immediately, she nodded, handing over her phone. For a minute or two I browsed her phone and found nothing, her photos were filled with her and other random things like our group, my revision material for her and a random brunette-haired girl I had no clue existed. "Alright, you can go Airi, my bad for calling you out so randomly." I apologised, handing her phone back.
"It's fine Kiyotaka-kun." She assured, hugging me.
"Alright well, go have fun for the rest of the day." I waved as she left the room.
"You too." She waved back before closing the door. Once she left, I pulled my phone from underneath my pillow and stopped the recording. "And with this, my innocence is secured." I sighed, laying on my bed. For the rest of the day, I relaxed, preparing myself for the next day, which was "Island day."
(Past Kosu: Whew, I was meant to release this earlier but took a nap, so it prevented me to publish it but it's only by a few hours. The next two chapters with be the beach arc and then we'll be getting into vol 4.
I feel like I've focused on the romance side a bit too much so after this Vol imma be focusing on the class thinking and other things like that. But don't worry I'll definitely not forget about the romance I'll just dial it down a notch
Also, last thing who do you think Airi was on the phone to?
See you guys.)
Uk= 09/06/2022 US= 06/09/2022
Present Kosu: Yeah there was definitely a lot of unnecessary romance in this volume. I had to cut half of these chapters to actually make it make sense. Anyway, the ship part of the volume is done, next is the island and after that is an exam. Hopefully, I can push these out more frequently.
19th March 2023