The Maggot and the Ice Cold Witch (3)

"Katsumi...?"

Standing before us was Katsumi in her casual clothes and in her hands, she was holding a few bags which didn't seem to be that heavy.

"What are the both of you doing here...?"

"Well..."

"We're on a date"

"...!"

"Is it really fine for you to be saying this just like that?"

I whispered those words to her and waited for her to give me a response, but she simply nodded and turned back towards Katsumi "I invited him out and he decided to accept"

"I-I see..."

Katsumi continued staring at Kano as she declared those words and I couldn't help but notice that she was acting a bit differently to how she was usually.

"A-And how is it going?"

"It's going fine"

"..."

"W-We just went shopping a bit, had some lunch and now we're just walking around"

"Arm and arm, huh?"

I looked over at our arms and sure enough, we were walking around arm in arm. I had completely forgotten that we were doing such a thing that upon hearing her say that the urge to let go of Kano washed over me.

"It's only normal for people who are on a date to do such a thing, don't you think, Katsumi?"

"Yeah... It is, but shouldn't that be with the person who you're planning on dating for real?"

"I don't see why I can't do that with just anyone, as long as I trust them, I think it should be fine"

"..."

"Why do I feel awkward in this situation?" I couldn't comprehend the feeling that was washing over me in the moment, it wasn't something that I had felt before and just trying to describe it was taking all of my willpower alone.

"Now if you'll excuse us, we have somewhere-"

"Makoto...?"

"Yeah?"

I turned my gaze towards Katsumi and when I did so, I couldn't help but find myself simply staring directly into her eyes. Her gaze wasn't one of sorrow, but at the same time, it wasn't the gaze that she had every single day in school... Somehow, it felt off.

She seemed like she wanted to say something serious in the moment, but she shook her head and smiled at me "I'll see you in club tomorrow, got it~?"

"Y-Yeah..."

"Bye Makoto, Kano"

With that, she turned around and started walking off with a smile on her face.

"I wonder what that was all about..."

Just when I had believed that everyting had been resolved or dealt with accordingly, Kano let go of my arm and started walking off just like that.

"Hey! Where are you going?!"

"..."

She didn't answer me when I called out to her and simply continued walking off without a care in the world.

I tried to keep up with her, but to no avail. The people surrounding me were impending me from reaching her and before I knew it, I had lost her.

"I guess that happened..."

I let out a sigh and glanced around for a bit. I still had the chance to see her and catch up to her for the reason that she wasn't good with crowds just like me, but even then, I couldn't see a damn thing.

"Crap... I really did lose her"

I let out a sigh and was about to give up when a thought crossed my mind. It was a shot in the dark, but it was better than nothing "I'll go for it. I have no reason not to"

I continued pushing forward and instead of heading deeper into the city, I decided to start making my way towards a nearby park. There wasn't anything special about it, but for me, it was a bit of a memorable place.

After walking around for a bit, I arrived at the park and started walking around in search of Kano and just like that, I had managed to find the person I was looking for sitting on an empty bench all the while looking up at the sky.

I took a seat in the other empty spot on the bench and decided to let out a sigh of relief "This is a nice park, don't you think?"

"..."

"Not a lot of people come by this park, especially not at this time. It's the perfect place to relax and simply take in the fresh air, don't you think?"

"..."

Regardless of what I said, she continued ignoring my words which I was more or less used to, but in the moment, it was the one thing I didn't want for her to do.

"I've actually visited this park before when I was a young kid"

"..."

When I said those words, there was small movement on her part which was a good thing, with that in mind, I decided to continue talking about that moment.

"If I remember correctly... I had gotten into the whole incident, and I had come here to vent out my frustrations"

"..."

"Sitting on this bench, there was another girl... She was around my age and for some reason, I had started talking with her about what had happened. She wasn't paying attention to me, but just having her there for me back then was a good thing"

"Before I knew it, it was already really late, and I had ended up talking the entire time without the girl saying anything... Just when I was about to get up and leave, she spoke up to me"

"... What did she say?"

"That got her talking... That's good" "She told me that she wanted to talk about her problems as well and that I needed to come by the next day to hear her out this time around"

"Sounds like a pretty demanding girl..."

"You've got that right, but even then... It was nice being with her during those days"

"And what happened to her?"

"She stopped coming by and after a few days of her not coming here, I decided to stop visiting this park, but even then, there are those days where I stop by and simply relax all the while venting out my frustrations if I have any"

"..."

"That's why I guessed that if you were wanting to vent out all your frustrations and what not, you would do it in a place like this where not a lot of people would be"

"I see... Good thinking"

"I know, right?"

"But you're only half right about the reason"

"Huh?"

"I'm telling you that you have 50% of the answer correct"

"Then what's the correct answer?"

"I can't say"

"Huh?"

Before I knew it, she stood up and looked over at me with a smile of her own "Come on, let's end this date on a good note"

"Huh? I thought we were already done with it"

"Not like this"

"What a pain..."

With that, she wrapped her arm around me and the both of us headed back into the city doing whatever it was that she wanted to do and once it was getting to a good time to start heading home, we did so.

"I had a lot of fun today"

"Glad to hear that..."

"Did you, Makoto?"

"Yeah, but I'm really tired right now..."

"It's not that bad"

"It is..."

"You're just lazy and weak, that's why you feel like shit"

"Hey, there's no need to be so rude"

"Yeah, sorry about that"

I clicked my tongue at her words and when we arrived at her place, I was about to leave, but she stopped me in my place "You're just leaving?"

"Huh? Yeah, the date's over, isn't it?"

"It is, but there's still something that you have to do"

"What's that?"

"My goodbye kiss"

"Not happening"

"..."

"You can't be serious..." I felt chills run down my entire body at the mere thought, but just when I had started believing everything, she let out a giggle and smiled at me.

"I don't want that from someone like you"

"Way to lower my self-esteem"

"It's already low enough, something like that wouldn't do anything"

"You..."

She let out one more giggle and waved at me "Good night, Makoto. I'll see you in school tomorrow"

"Yeah, night"

With that, I turned around and started making my way home, as I was doing so, I couldn't help but think back to everything that had happened in the day.

"I think today was quite an eventful day to be honest..." I rubbed my head and sighed "I just hope the rest of my school week is nice and relaxing, I can't deal with all of this back-to-back"

As Makoto walked away from my house, I found myself simply staring at his back. The story he told me in the park, the words that he told me, absolutely everything was something that I had lived through myself.

"I can't believe he remembers that..."

I was the girl from that day... I was the first person with whom Makoto had vented out his frustrations and I was the one person who knew about what he had done not only in his childhood but also during his time in middle school.

"I should feel happy that I'm the only one who knows, but I can't..." Something about Katsumi's expression was off, but even then, I couldn't surmise anything just yet without actually asking the person in question.

"Should I do that...?"

In conclusion... Small events can change one's way of seeing things and it can also change a person's heart. By Morino Katsumi