Chapter 15 – “Midnight Texts and Mixed Signals”

Riko tossed and turned, burying her face into her pillow like it could smother the memory replaying in her brain.

> “Because she’s mine!”

Every time she remembered Daichi shouting that in front of everyone, her face burned hot enough to power a small city.

“Why did he say that?!” she mumbled into her blanket. “Was it… like, a slip? Or… no way, he didn’t mean it that way… right?”

Her heart refused to listen to logic. It thumped, wild and uneven, every time she heard his voice in her head.

She groaned and sat up, hair sticking out in all directions. The clock blinked 11:42 PM.

Way too late to be thinking about stupid boys.

Across town, Daichi was having an equally miserable time.

He sat at his desk, staring at the ceiling, then at his phone, then back at the ceiling again.

> “Because she’s mine.”

He grabbed his pillow and screamed into it.

“What the hell was that?! Who says that in public?!”

He picked up his phone, thumb hovering over Riko’s name.

Should I text her? Nah, that’s weird. But also… she probably thinks I’m an idiot.

Finally, he typed:

> [Daichi: You got home safe, right?]

He hit send before he could talk himself out of it.

Riko’s phone buzzed immediately. Her heart jumped like it had just been electrocuted.

She grabbed it and read the message, biting her lip.

> [Riko: Yeah. You?]

[Daichi: Yeah.]

[Riko: …Thanks for the game today.]

[Daichi: You mean the match?]

[Riko: Yeah, that. You were… pretty good.]

She stared at her own message and groaned. Pretty good?! Wow, smooth, Riko. Totally doesn’t sound like you have a crush or anything!

Daichi smiled at the text, typing something, deleting it, typing again.

> [Daichi: You too.]

[Riko: lol just “you too”?]

[Daichi: …What else am I supposed to say?!]

She laughed quietly. Somehow, this stupid back-and-forth made her chest feel light.

Then—ping!

A group chat notification.

[Mina✨]: GUYS GUYS GUYS!!! LOOK WHAT I GOT!!

[Kento⚽]: oh no what is it this time

[Mina✨]: VIDEOOO!!! Daichi yelling “Because she’s mine!”

[Kento⚽]: LMFAO legendary

[Mina✨]: SOOOO when’s the wedding Riko~??? 💍💕

[Riko🔥]: MINA DELETE THAT RIGHT NOW OR I’LL BODYSLAM YOU!!!

[Mina✨]: Ohhhh someone’s defensive~ 😏

Riko threw her phone onto her bed, face red as a tomato.

“Oh my god I’m never going to school again…”

Meanwhile, Daichi saw the same messages.

He groaned and flopped back on his bed. “Why is Mina like this…?”

His phone buzzed again — Riko.

> [Riko: So… about what you said earlier.]

He froze. His fingers trembled over the keyboard.

> [Daichi: What about it?]

[Riko: You didn’t mean it, right?]

For some reason, reading that made his chest sting.

> [Daichi: I mean… I didn’t not mean it? I just… got caught up in the game.]

Riko stared at the text for a long time, her lips curling into a shy, complicated smile.

> [Riko: You’re such an idiot.]

[Daichi: Yeah. I know.]

A comfortable pause followed.

Daichi was about to put his phone away when, without thinking, he typed:

> [Daichi: You looked cute today.]

His thumb hit send. His soul left his body.

“NO—NO NO NO—WHY DID I—!!”

He frantically sent another text:

> [Daichi: WAIT I MEANT like—uh, you looked cool! NOT CUTE! COOL!]

[Daichi: I mean not that you’re not cute I—F—JUST FORGET I SAID ANYTHING]

Riko read the string of panicked messages in silence… then burst out laughing. Her face hurt from smiling too hard.

> [Riko: Wow. So the great Daichi finally called me cute.]

[Daichi: DELETE THAT MESSAGE FROM YOUR MEMORY!!!]

[Riko: …You didn’t look too bad either.]

For a long moment, neither typed. Neither wanted to ruin the moment.

Daichi leaned back, exhaling slowly, a small, helpless grin spreading across his face.

He didn’t understand why just texting her made his chest feel warm, but it did.

Riko rolled over and hugged her pillow, whispering into it,

“…This is so weird. Why does my heart keep doing that?”

Her phone buzzed one last time.

> [Daichi: Goodnight, Riko.]

[Riko: Night, idiot.]

Both smiled at their screens, cheeks warm, hearts racing.

> They didn’t know what this feeling was called yet.

But both realized this… felt nothing like friendship.