Katsumi's Declaration

Upon receiving the earful that Miss Mitsuru had to give me in regard to my actions, I started heading back to P.E class without anything else stopping me.

"Even though I would have loved being there with her without having to worry about classes, I guess not going to class for a bit would be way worse"

With a single sigh, I continued walking down the vast empty hallway that laid before me, but as I turned the corner, a figure made me stop in place and start thinking about the biggest coincidence that could have happened.

"Hey there, Makoto"

"Hey, Katsumi" "Of course it had to be her... Can't I escape her for one single day at the very least?"

"Coming back from Miss Mitsuru's desk?"

"Yeah, she just wanted to vent out her frustrations on me, nothing out of the ordinary to be perfectly honest"

She let out a small giggle and gave me a small smile in place of that laugh soon after "By frustrations, I'm guessing you mean her giving you a small talk, right?"

"Right on the money"

She let out a small sigh and looked away from me for a brief moment "I guess you solved the issue at hand, but at a big cost"

"Big cost?"

"You ended up ruining a relationship that could have been something more with them, right?"

I stared into her eyes, and I couldn't help but let out a small chuckle on my end "Me? Ruined a relationship with them? Yeah, not happening"

"What are you talking about?"

"Nothing was going to happen between us. After all of this, I wasn't wanting anything to do with them again"

"Why not...?"

"Because friendships are useless at the end of the day" "Sure, they're good for a set amount of time in life, but there then comes a point where that friendship will disappear into thin air for a couple of reasons, so what's the use of working on a single bond when it can easily break apart by the most meaningless of things?"

"You're wrong... That's not how all friendships are..."

"You and I have completely different reasons to believe what we believe. Let's not try and make each other change that about each other, how does that sound?"

By my simple words alone, I could immediately tell that she didn't want to agree with what I had declared, and I couldn't blame her. Just from the little I had talked with her; I could tell that she was just as dense and strong willed as I was when it comes to our own ideals.

"I can't accept that proposal of yours"

"Well, we can always-"

"I'm going to make you change and see what it was that you were missing!"

"..."

"I'm going to show you that people can be friends even when they split apart and on top of that, I'm going to show you the wonders of human beings~!"

"The wonders... Of human beings?"

"That's exactly what I said"

I stared into her eyes for a brief moment, but even then, I could tell that her mind had already been made up "It's no use. She's going to do whatever the hell she wants regardless of what I say"

A sigh escaped my breath, and I scratched my head for a few seconds wondering what I was going to respond with next.

"If I try to reject everything that she just said, it'll be useless since she can just try and make another comeback with whatever she can think off... The only other option taht I have is to go with the flow and let her do as she pleases"

"Sure, go ahead and do what you can, but I doubt it'll actually work"

"I'll find a way, just leave it to me~"

With that out of the way, she started walking away with a slight jump to her step. Seeing her acting in such a manner was more than enough to send chills down my spine, but even then, I couldn't allow her to take advantage of everything and get away with it.

"I'll show her the real feelings and actions that people take when their pushed to the brink of ending up in fear"

I waited there in the hallway for a bit and then started heading towards the field where everyone else was. Luckily, P.E that day wasn't that tough, and we managed to finish without any problems at all.

The rest of the two other periods that we had went by fast without any situations occurring in the midst and upon hearing the bell for lunch, I stood up from my seat and started heading towards my usual spot.

Upon making my way there, I couldn't help but start thinking for whatever reason on the expression that Katsumi had.

"Why am I thinking about her words right now? It's not like she can prove anything"

I let out a sigh and continued making my way up the stairs towards the door leading to the rooftop. Upon opening the door, I headed towards the same bench, sat down and pulled out my lunch without a care in the world.

"Thank you for the food"

I gave thanks and started eating the food without feeling in a rush at all. On top of that, the feeling of having lunch alone was better than having lunch with other people.

"I really don't understand how people can eat with others and talk at the same time. That just looks like a pain in the ass"

"You're here early"

"I was just fast, that's all"

"We'll leave it at that then"

The voice was of course none other than Kano and in her hand was a bento of her own. She headed over towards the bench and took the other far end seat of it.

"The princess had her eyes on you today"

"She did?"

"She looked like she was up to something, so heads up"

"Thanks, I appreciate you having my back"

"I don't have your back; I just don't want you dragging me into your problems"

"That was quite a way of putting it..."

"I'm just being honest, that's all"

"Yeah, I can tell"

With that little talk out of the way, we both continued having our lunch in the serene environment that surrounded us. The only reason that I hadn't left the rooftop as my spot was because both Kano and I were the same. 

Since she wasn't the type of person to make unnecessary noise or anything of the sort, I didn't mind eating in the presence of someone else, for her, I didn't know the reason as to why she continued staying in the same place as me and every time I would ask, she would give me the cold shoulder and continue doing her own thing.

Just when we both finished having our lunch, we were both going to do our own little pastime when out of nowhere, the door to the rooftop busted open and a pair of footsteps started resounding through the quiet environment we were just in.

"I finally found you!"

"..."

"What the hell?"

"Is that any way to react to me looking for you?"

"Yes, it is"

"That's a bit rude"

"I could care less" I wanted to say those words out loud, but at the same time, I really couldn't say it without a solid reason "What's wrong?"

"I know what we can do to show you that humans are nice and worthy of being alive~!"

"And that is...?"

"Let's go out on a date together~"

"..."

"..."

"What's wrong?"

"Are you kidding me?! Why the hell would I waste my precious weekend on something like that?!"

"Come on, it won't actually be a date, it'll be like an example of one"

"I don't know why, but that kind of hurt a bit" "But even then, it's a date whether you want to call it something else or not"

"I guess you have a point there... I guess we'll just call it a date" "We'll be going this Saturday, we'll meet up in front of school since it's easier for the both of us, how does that sound?"

"Can I reject the offer?'

"You can't"

"Then there's no point in asking how it sounds"

"Then it's settled" She was about to leave when her gaze met Kano's "Sorry that I didn't see you, Kano"

"No problems here"

"But it really is a surprise seeing the both of you together, are you two-?"

"No"

"We have no relationship to one another"

"I-I see... I guess you both are already used to those questions" Katsumi scratched her cheek somewhat awkwardly and then waved a goodbye at us before leaving.

"..."

"..."

A moment of silence befell the both of us and I couldn't very well find a good moment to speak up myself, but thankfully, Kano was the one to break the silence.

"You're lucky to get a date with the princess. You'd better not screw up if you want anything with her"

"Are you an idiot or what? I don't want anything to do with her, besides, she's the one wanting to do all of this crap"

"But you didn't reject her offer"

"There's no way in hell I can get away from her when she's like that and you know that"

"I guess you have a point" Kano put her things away, slowly stood up and started heading towards the door heading back inside the school.

"You're leaving?"

"Yes, I have to do some girl things"

"That is?"

"Nothing for you to be concerned about, maggot"

"Damn, harsh as always" I let out a sigh and gave her a quick wave "Well, I'll see you back in class"

"... Yeah"

She left the rooftop and before I knew it, it was simply me sitting there wondering what to do in the spare time that I had left.

Normally, I would have liked to continue doing my own thing, but with Katsumi coming here and declaring such a thing had taken a toll on my mental state more than what I could imagine. And on top of that, the way that Kano was acting had seemed off to me.

"I wonder if she doesn't feel good... She seemed a bit off ever since Katsumi came here" "Maybe it's because she's not used to her? Well, I can't blame her. That aura of hers can be intoxicating and suffocating for anyone else like us two"

I continued hanging around the rooftop for a little more time and then started making my way back towards the classroom all the while thinking abotu every worst thing that could happen while being around Katsumi.

Upon leaving the rooftop, I was going to head towards the girl's restroom when out of nowhere, I bumped into Katsumi who seemed to have been making her way out of the restroom.

"Sorry about interrupting you guys' lunch"

"There's nothing to apologize about"

Just when I was going to weave my way past her, she called out to me once more "I never knew that the both of you would eat together, that was quite a shock"

"It's the only place where it's completely quiet and since we both don't make noise, we thought it would be fine to stay there doing our own separate thing"

"I guess that explains it" She fell into thought for a brief moment and snapped back into reality "Well then, I'll see you in class"

Just when she was about to leave, I took in a deep breath and called out to her "Why did you declare on going on a date out of nowhere?"

"Huh?"

"If you wanted to show him that humans are nice and what not, you could have done something else, couldn't you?"

"It wouldn't have been the same... He wouldn't have gotten to see certain things if I hadn't called it that"

"..."

"Does it... Bother you?"

"No, it doesn't. I just didn't comprehend it, that's all"

"Sorry about not explaining it better"

"..."

"Well then, I'll see you later"

With that, she finally left me and headed off towards our classroom. I stood there for a few seconds and sighed to myself "What am I doing...? Did I really have to say that?"

I made my way inside the bathroom and stared at myself in the mirror for a brief moment "Why didn't you try and fight her declaration, Makoto?"

In conclusion... There are things that we desire, yet we do not try and grasp it. Instead, we let it disappear from our grasp. -By Kano Arisu