Warm Winters

The snow fell on the nose of Kei Inoue, as she scrolled through her phone. Though the ground below her was covered in the white icy rain, her layers of clothes kept her warm. But that wasn’t the only thing keeping her warm, for due to her increased heartbeats, the blood in her body was hotter than usual.

“What’s taking him so long?” She muttered under her breath as she checked her messages. But suddenly all turned dark as gloves covered her eyes.

“Guess who it is?” A voice called from behind her. Kei’s heart skipped a beat, as this was the first time they met after a night full of revelations. Though the few days they were apart, Kei was just on her phone, texting or calling him. But now, he was behind her, in the flesh.

“A Prince whose mood swings all the time?” She tried to taunt as she got rid of the hands on her face. But when she turned around, all that bravado went down as their eyes met.

“Correct, though I am not just A Prince, I am your Prince,” replied Iscodaya as he cheekily smiled. Kei’s face turned more red, as she uncharacteristically frowned.

“Really? That’s the first thing you say to me after we meet up?” She grumbled while turning around. But what she didn’t expect was when two hands went under her arms, embracing her in a comfortable hug.

“Why? You don’t like it? I thought you did after seeing you smile while we were on a call yesterday,” Iscodaya replied as he rested his head on her back, “Though you were trying to hide it from me didn’t you?”

Kei was beyond embarrassed as many people were looking at the two, “Could we… please move to somewhere more private?” She suggested as Iscodaya let her go.

“Sure, you want to go to that cafe place we always go?” He asked, causing Kei to bashfully nod, “Great.” A hand reached out to the young girl, as its sight caused her to skip a beat again. Iscodaya was smiling as he waited for her, and after a few seconds, Kei accepted it.

Iscodaya Kousa and Kei Inoue, after being friends for a little under a year, started dating only a few days ago. Kei was very bashful at Iscodaya’s confession at the ball, but after seeing the boy’s determination, she couldn’t help but accept it.

So as the two sat against each other by the cafe window, just sipping their hot drinks, Kei couldn’t believe that the black-haired boy across from her was now her boyfriend. When they started as friends, she really thought the grumpy sharp-tongued transfer student would never develop feelings for her.

But clearly, that boy was replaced by a smooth-talking pretty boy who made her heart stop every few seconds. Kei couldn’t help but feel conflicted, “Did I really just accept his confession because of that night?” She constantly asked herself.

But constantly she would prove herself wrong, as they would enter in their own world, “Hey, did you see the anime adaption of My Wonderful Life?” Iscodaya asked, getting Kei out of her daze.

“Yeah, I didn’t really like it though, I thought the animation was pretty bad compared to the manga’s art style.” But after hearing what she had said, Iscodaya gave her a strange glare.

“At least it was animated,” he snapply replied, causing Kei to scoff.

“I would’ve rather it not be to be honest, now people who see the anime might not even read the manga, and not appreciate the author’s art.” Kei saw Iscodaya’s brow curl and start to wrinkle as he sipped on his drink.

“You’re being too broad, I’m sure it garnered more attention to the manga,” he retorted, causing Kei to arrogantly chuckle.

“You do not know these things more than me Iscodaya, I have seen these things before.” The two went on and on, their conversation topics were random, but somehow it made sense to them.

But when the two had finished both their conversation and drinks, Iscodaya went up to pay for the whole thing, something Kei didn’t like, “Don’t worry about it, save your money. I won’t be able to live with myself if on my first date, I’d let my girlfriend pay for the food.” And as Iscodaya finished what he was trying to say, Kei was brought back down to Earth.

She had completely forgotten the fact they were dating, due to her being lost in their conversation. But as she saw Iscodaya in the reception paying for the drinks, she remembered something. When Iscodaya asked her about how she felt liking Yusuke, she thought of how maybe Iscodaya asked that to see if he liked her.

“Damn smartass,” she murmured to herself, a little embarrassed. But as she thought of it more, she realized that maybe that’s when the feelings started, and all the memories of her confiding her crush on Yusuke to Iscodaya started to pile in. Her guilt was immense, as she remembered his facial expressions during those conversations.

She only thought that Iscodaya was either disinterested, or that it was his grumpy day, but now that she knows how he feels about her, it was now so apparent. As the blissfully unaware boy came back, he saw Kei looking kind of distressed, “You, okay?” He asked.

“C-could we go to a more private place?” She asked, causing Iscodaya to get a bit confused. But as the two got to a less populated area, Kei asked Iscodaya something, “H-hey, Iscodaya… uhh, when we weren’t dating, and I constantly talked about Yusuke, were yo-”

“No I wasn’t okay,” he quickly replied, even without Kei finishing it. She looked at his face, it wasn’t angry, just a bit annoyed, “You know how much I had to suppress myself from blowing up with anger? And you wonder why I rage so much when were gaming.”

Kei felt bad for the whole thing, “S-sorry,” she stammered. But with a sigh, Iscodaya lightly pinched her cheek.

“I accept your apology. Plus, I think I won’t have to worry about Yusuke, since there’s a high chance he and Rin are dating,” Iscodaya’s statement surprised Kei a bit, but surprisingly for her, she didn’t feel hurt. “Now that I think about it, why did you accept my confession in the first place if you didn’t know I liked you beforehand?”

Kei’s face turned bright red, as she tried to look away from Iscodaya, “I-it’s too embarrassing.” But Iscodaya wasn’t getting any of it.

“Speak, Inoue,” he demanded, using his second hand to pinch her other cheek, “Tell me.”

Kei’s face was being swirled like a circle, as Iscodaya was forcing the information out of her. And after a few more swirls, Kei finally spoke, “O-okay you win… I did it because… because I like spending a lot of time with you.”

Though Kei’s confession was genuine, Iscodaya was still not satisfied, “So what? Am I like your best bestfriend or something?” He sassily asked, causing Kei to shake her head.

“N-no! It’s not like that… you know how embarrassing this is for me?” She stated, but Iscodaya glared at her.

“You deserve it, Princess, I’ve done so many embarrassing things trying to make you know I like you, so pull some of your own weight,” he retorted. Kei stared at the determined Iscodaya, his eyes waiting for her answer, and when she summoned most of her confidence, she finally gave him one.

“I just didn’t want anyone taking you,” she confessed, her eye contact breaking from Iscodaya’s. “I just feel more like myself every time I’m with you, and seeing you smile or laugh is so precious to me. At that moment when you confessed, I wanted to be the only person to share that… intimacy with you.”

Even Iscodaya was bashful at her statement, “A-alright, I’m satisfied now,” he remarked. But as the two continued their walk, there was an impulsive thought on Iscodaya’s mind, “So~ no Yusuke anymore right?”

But as he said this, Kei gave him a side-eyeing glare, “You constantly want affirmation don’t you.”

“Only from you,” he swiftly replied.

Kei sighed, as she held Iscodaya’s hand, “Yeah, no more Yusuke.”