I woke up in the evening, at about 4 PM. Actually, it was Mai that woke me up.

  “Hey…how long are you going to sleep? The sun is almost setting.”

  I open my eyes slowly.

  “Oh…yeah, you’re right.”

  Mai sat beside me, arms crossed, staring like she was trying to read my soul.

  “You look awful. Did something happen with Mizuki?”

  I forced a laugh.

  “No, nothing like that. Just…tired.”

  “Tired enough to pass out on your bed fully dressed?”

  “…maybe.”

  “Enough of that gloomy look. Come on, cheer up! How about I invite Akane and have a movie night together?”

  “Sounds good. Call her and ask if she’s free.”

  Mai goes to the terrace and calls Akane.

  Akane was at the huge shopping mall with two of her friends, Maya and Maki, looking around while enjoying their food.

  Maki was a girl slightly taller than Akane, with semi-short light blue hair, light blue eyes and a shark hair clip, one of Akane's best friends, known as a very kind girl in the school, to whom you could easily turn to in case something happened.

  Maya on the other hand, was slightly shorter than Akane, with red long hair and red eyes. She was a friend of Akane's since junior high. Maya was also known as "Mother Mary" in her classroom, due to how involved she was in the classroom's duties, being the class president, helping out people on the street and making sure everyone feels great. She is the one to ask Akane to hang out most of the time.

  "Akane, Maya, what do you want to do after this?"

  Maya stands there thinking about what the group would enjoy the most.

  "Well...how about we go to a movie? Or maybe take a look through some shops?"

  Akane's attention peaked when she heard shops, but she wanted to do something else.

  "How about we play pool?"

  "Uh, I don't really know how to play that..." said Maya in an embarassed tone, rubbing her neck.

  "I will show you!" flashed Maki a smile to Maya.

  "Really?!" rose Maya up from her table.

  "Really!"

  "Thank you Maki, you are the best! Let's finish our food and then we will go!"

  "Sure!"

  The phone buzzed in Akane's purse. She picks it up and sees a call from Mai.

  Mai? What happened?

  She answers the call and is greeted warmly by Mai.

  “Hey, Akane, are you free right now?”

  “Hey, Mai, I’m out with my friends at the mall right now. Anything happened?

  “I am having a movie night with Kaito. He seemed a bit depressed about something…want to join us?”

  Akane was shocked. “M-MOVIE NIGHT?! JUST THE TWO OF THEM?!”

  She pictured them falling asleep on each other and cuddling. "No way!"

  “Y-yes, I will be there in 30 minutes. Don’t start without me!”

  Akane goes to her friends and excuses herself.

  “Sorry girls, I have to go right now! I’ll make up for it next week!”

  "Oh...I see. I will teach Maya how to play, then." said Maki slightly dissapointed.

  “Okay! No problem, be careful!” said Maya in her usual tone.

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  And she started rushing through the vast streets of central Tokyo towards Kaito’s place.

  "What are those two up to?! I'm sure they're all cozy by now! Or at least Mai is doing something like that again, even if Kaito doesn't necessarily want it!"

  She busts the door open upon arrival, panting from exhaustion.

  "Hey, you two-"

  Kaito was fixing some popcorn and Mai was preparing some drinks.

  She lets out a sigh of relief.

  “Hey, Akane! Any particular popcorn flavor you want?”

  “No, I’m fine with anything really.”

  Mai looked at her while holding the bottle.

  “Lemon Tea works?”

  “Sure. Pour me a glass, please.”

  They all sit now in Kaito’s living room. It’s quite spacious, and his TV is big. After all, his parents were rich.

  I start thinking what movie we should watch. “Well, any ideas on what movie to watch?”

  Akane replies almost instantly. “How about we watch a rom-com anime? I saw a trailer of one, and it was pretty cool.”

  Mai looks at her teasingly and starts laughing.

  “Whaaat? Akane, you wish that would be us?”

  Akane started blushing like crazy. When she blushed, she rubbed her fingers along the edge of the couch, a little habit from when she felt cornered, something she’d done since we were kids.

  “N-no…it just looked cool. I never saw Kaito like that and I never will!”

  I look at her with a tear rolling down my face.

  “Thanks…for being honest.”

  So far with my dignity. It feels like I’ve been stabbed by my closest friend alive with a harpoon.

  “That’s not what I meant…leave it alone for now! Mai, any suggestions?”

  I come back to my senses and pay attention to Mai.

  “Well, your suggestion sounds good. Let’s do that.”

  And so I found myself watching a rom-com anime with my childhood friends. We eat popcorn, drink some tea, and laugh as hard as we can at the comedic situations in the anime. I can’t say it was weird; I actually enjoyed that we had a night like the ones from when we were young.

  About 3 hours have passed. We all fall asleep on the couch.

  I wake myself up to both of them having the rest of their lives…but with my lap being their pillow.

  What?

  I can’t say I was surprise to find Mai in this position, but…Akane? I guess she was just very tired.

  I raise their heads up slowly, put actual pillows under their heads, turn off the TV, and go to sleep in my room.

  Those two…reminds me of the times when we had sleepovers.

  I fall asleep fast.

  Meanwhile, in the living room, Akane woke up in a lazy motion. Confused about the situation, she starts working it out.

  Did I...fall asleep on Kaito?!

  Panic hit her like cold water. Without any further hesitation, she puts on her red track shoes, puts her tracksuit over the clothes she wore earlier and went for a run.

  "No...way. I fell asleep on him! I need to calm down!" said her continuing to run for a little while, before returning to my house, falling asleep again on the couch.

  Akane sometimes went on late-night runs, but none like this one, at such an hour. It was her own way of chilling out and relieving stress, something she picked up since we were all small kids. This time she kept having trouble inhaling and exhaling like usual, possibly due to the fact that her heart was still pounding fast from the earlier scene.

  The night passes by smoothly, the soft light of the moon creeping through my windows.

  I find myself awoken by Mai the next morning, ready to leave for school.

  “Good morning, Kaito!”

  “Good morning…Mai.”

  “Let’s hurry up and go to school! Akane is also joining us today!”

  I stare fazed at her, surprised by such a rare decision.

  Well, that’s new. I didn’t expect that to happen anytime soon, given how cold she is to me.

  I get dressed up, grab a sandwich and hurry out the door. As stated by Mai, Akane was waiting in front of my door.

  “Took you long enough. Let’s go already.”

  Does she not know she fell asleep on me? Talk about an ice queen.

  “Sorry for making you wait. Let’s go.”

  The same cold, crisp morning air made its presence felt. Just what you would expect of spring.

  We made our way to the classroom, but this time we didn’t argue. What a change.

  The first period started. It was the chemistry class.

  The teacher started to pick out students to answer questions.

  “Kaito. Could you please respond to the 9th question on page 108? What is the chemical composition of salt?”

  I panicked. I was not paying attention whatsoever.

  I look at Kaguya. She was doing maths. One of my hopes was shattered. She was an honor student after all.

  Then I turn to Akane. She was staring me down. With an angry face, she whispers the answer to me and turns her head away.

  “Sodium (Na) + Chlorine (Cl)”

  The teacher, confused by the silence, asks me in a serious tone which would've scared anyone:

  “So?”

  “Uhh…Sodium + Chlorine?”

  “Correct. You may sit now.”

  I turn my head to Akane, who was smiling with the corner of her mouth.

  “Thank you, very much!”

  “It’s not like I could’ve left you for dead. Don’t get the wrong idea!”

  She was looking happy, that’s what I could definitely tell.

  "Yay, I helped him!". But then she came back to her senses. "Wait, what am I thinking?!" , says Akane in a low voice.

  "Well…that’s that.”

  Then something kind of odd happened. On the interphone, I was called to the student council office.

  “Kaito Minase of class 1-C, please refer to the student council room immediately!”

  I stand there without any idea why I was called.

  “Teacher, may I go?”

  “Yes. You’re excused from the class.”

  I walk up the stairs, and after a short while, I reach the student council’s room. I nod, gather up my courage, and knock.

  “Entering! Please excuse me.”

  What I saw in front of me left me stunned.

  The Student Council Vice President was…impressed with me? Looking at me like at a shooting star.

  I was confused as to why, though.

  “Minase-kun, I don’t know how you pulled it off but…I must praise you.”

  “What…exactly did I do?”

  “Don’t act like you don’t know.”

  “I genuinely have no clue what you are talking about.”

  “She mentioned you are the reason why she transferred here.”

  “Huh? Who are you talking about?”

  “Oh man…I guess she mentioned you’re a dense guy.”

  “Excuse me?”

  “Nevermind. You’ll find out soon enough.”

  I left the student council room confused. Who was she talking about? I decided to shrug it off and just return to my classroom, and go on with my day.

  I sit down at my desk. It was break time.

  Kaguya came to me.

  “What happened?”

  “Something about someone that transferred here because of me…or something.”

  “Well, aren’t you a hot topic?”

  “Come on, stop it.”

  She started laughing silently.

  “I wonder who it is. Any idea?”

  “Nope.”

  “I guess we will see tomorrow, then. I bet it’s a girl.”

  “And what girl would do that for me..”

  She turned back to her desk, while I’m out here questioning who would do such a thing.