Actually, I. . .

So how was you're date, Izumi-san?

Jeez Yasuna-san. It wasn't a date. . .

So it didn't go well?

I never said that. . .

So which is it?

It went well, but it wasn't a date.

Suuuuuure. . .

Ichika-san told me everything.

Oh good. I was hoping she would.

I don't think she wanted to. It was an accident.

I see. . . That sure sounds familiar.

Actually, about that, I. . .

_________________________

It's morning. I have a "date" with Yasu in two hours and I have no idea what to tell her about yesterday. She's going to be curious and ask questions. I fell asleep thinking about what to say and I still don't know. I don't want to lie about it, but how can I possibly tell her that Izumi-chan and me were cuddling inside of her dream?

I'm running out of time. What do I do?

"Hey. . . Ichika. . ." I guess it must be written on my face. Mom is looking at me concerned and her thoughts are all about me. "Is everything okay? You've barely eaten anything."

"I'm fine. . ." Somehow I don't think I look very convincing right now. Besides, I can tell from her thoughts that she's not going to believe me that easily anyway.

"You've been looking a bit down since you came home. Did something happen?" She's perceptive. Well she is my mother after all. I guess it must be easy for her to pick up on any deviation from my usual self.

"No. . . Not really. . ." I listlessly stir the remainder of my miso and watch as the particles slowly condense and sink to the bottom.

"Not really?" Yeah maybe I shouldn't have added that last bit. Forget not sounding convincing, it sounds downright suspicious. "Then is it about your date with Yasuna-chan?"

"It. . . It's not a date. . ." Apparently I'm not so listless that my face won't flush. Does she seriously think I'm dating them both? I'm not dating either!

"Hmmm. . ." She's just staring at me, half concerned, half curious.

"L. . . Let's just assume that something did happen. . ." What am I doing? I should just shut up until it's time to go.

"Okay."

"And that it would make Yasuna-san unhappy." No going back now I guess. . . "But I also don't want to lie about it. . ." Maybe she could give me some advice. "Should I hope she doesn't ask and avoid talking about it or should I just tell her and hope for the best?"

"I see. . ." I can hear your thoughts, you know? Well. . . I guess you don't know. . . But, regardless, I swear I'm not dating either of them. "So you're unsure whether or not you want to lie to Yasuna-chan about your date with Izumi-chan yesterday?" I said we're not dating!

"I don't want to lie to her. That would hurt her more." Besides. . . I promised her that I never would and I meant what I said.

"Then tell her about it."

"It wouldn't be best to just not talk about it at all?"

She looked at me sternly. "A wise man once said 'A lie of omission is still a lie'." Suddenly the image of a certain bald spaceship captain in red sprung to my mind. Seriously mom, you watch too much retro American TV. . .

She's right though. . . I have to tell her, don't I? "Thanks, Mom. I have to go get ready." I stand up to leave.

"You should invite your friends over some time." She's back to her usual carefree, happy-go-lucky self now.

"Maybe I will." I did say I'd teach Yasu how to cook, but that will have to wait until exams are over.

"Give me five minutes and I'll tell you which one is the one." She winked at me as I was leaving the room.

"Mom!" I turn around and shout in embarrassmanet before running up the stairs. Despite the teasing I really am lucky, though, to have a mother like her. It makes me happy to know that I could date either a guy or a girl if I wanted to and she'd just accept it. Even if I have no intention of dating anyone right now.

"It's a date." "I hope we get to go again soon, darling."

. . . I said we're not dating.

That said, though. . . I open my closet and start sifting through my tops. This is the first time Yasu will see me in something other than my uniform. I was just going to throw on a t-shirt and shorts. I mean, it's not a date, right? This should be fine, right?

I come across a slightly frilly sapphire blue dress with a white flower petal design and I stop. This looks. . . really cute. I don't remember ever getting this dress let alone wearing it. . . Yasu would look really good in this. . .

I take it out, walk over to my full length mirror and hold it up in front of me. It looks like it would end a few centimeters above my knees. And this neck line. . . It's not exactly revealing, but this is still more skin than I'm used to showing. My shoulders would be covered at least. The shoulders are a bit puffed out and the chest area is covered by large frills. Chest. . . I press it against my chest. My very modest chest. I get the feeling it would look very. . . unflattering on me.

T-shirt and shorts it is! I don't think I could wear something that embarrassing in public anyway. Where did it even come from? It looks so out of place in my closet.

. . . Maybe I should buy some new clothes soon.

_________________________

I arrived ten minutes early and occupied the same booth as last time. Three people are working today. I guess they have an extra person working on the weekend? It's also almost lunch time so that could be why as well. Only one of the two girls from last time is here today. Of course it was the girl who served us. The other two are actually guys.

She recognized me right away and instead of immediately offering a menu asked if I was waiting for my friend today. Thank you for not saying precious friend. When I said "yes" she said she'd come back and take my order after Yasu got here.

There were actually four people in another booth when I entered but they left about a minute ago. It's much quieter now, thankfully. Unfortunately, though, this means the thoughts of the other three have become clearer. It seems they're all in agreement that I should have worn more feminine clothes. I'm so sorry not sorry that I didn't consider your taste in fashion before coming here. Ugh.

Almost as soon as my phone hit 1100 I heard the door open and I peeked around the corner of the booth. I'm wearing the hat Yasu gave me for extra cover. It was her. Her punctuality was very impressive.

She was wearing a canary yellow, sleeveless top with shoulder straps and a puffed out chest which she's filling out much better than I ever could. I never noticed with our uniforms, but her chest is. . . I'm guessing a C-cup? Puts my humble little A's to shame. Not wearing that dress was absolutely the right call after all. She was also wearing a flared, knee length, bright orange skirt. Her clothes looked bright and cheerful. It suited her.

I wave and she comes over with her usual smile. "Were you waiting long?"

I check my phone. "Ten minutes. Give or take. I decided to come early."

She gave me a quick hug and instead of sitting across from me sat right next to me. Our shoulders were touching at first, but she gave me a little room after that. Hey, now! If you're this forward people are going to start talking about us! Then she took my hand in hers, intertwining our fingers, and hid our hands under the table between us.

I am so embarrassed. . . This is a whole new level of lack of respect for my personal space. She's not taking the whole date thing seriously is she? I am way to conscious of her presence now.

"Sorry." She said while blushing. Well at least it looks like she's aware of how forward she's being for a change. "But this way. . . It's just us today." Ah. There's that unfair beaming smile again. This smile, plus the blushing, it's a super effective combination.

I guess this is her way of trying to be considerate? I don't think I've ever been this confused about her true feelings before as I am right now. Doing things that lovers do, but for my sake? Trying to stay level headed, though, if I can get used to the embarrassment of holding hands in public, covertly or overtly, it would make for some pleasantly quiet outings. We could literally go anywhere, crowd be damned.

"S. . . Sure." No one can really see it anyway, so I don't really think I can complain too much. Our blushing faces though. . . Is probably a dead giveaway. That's what I thought about it later, but in the moment all I could think about was this soft, warm hand grasping mine, how happy Yasu looked when she held my hand and how happy that unfair smile made me feel.

"You two are just as friendly as always." The waitress was here to take our orders. She smiled at us warmly, but teasingly at the same time. I swear we're not dating. At least. . . I think we're not.

Yasu ordered another latte macchiato. I guess that's her usual order here? I decided to try something different, a hazelnut cappuccino. Since the first time went so well I decided to keep trying different drinks and see which one(s) I like best.

Our orders arrived fairly quick and we were left alone. She's been holding my hand the entire time, but the embarrassment slowly began to fade as we enjoyed our drinks and casual chit chat.

"Hey I just wanted to apologize in advance." She looked at me quizzically. "Not that we talk in class anyway, but I take my exams in the infirmary, so you won't see me in class again until next week."

"Ah. . ." She did seem a bit disappointed, even though, as I said, we don't interact in the classroom at all. "I'd ask if we could study together, but. . . Hi-chan really needs my help." I still haven't really met Akita-san yet. I've seen her. I know who she is. She sits in front of Yasu in class. We've just never been introduced.

"Maybe we could go for a coffee on one of our days off?"

She shook her head softly, still looking rather disappointed. "She needs to improve by at least fifteen points across the board or she has to take supplementary classes."

"That bad?" I have to admit I wasn't expecting her situation to be that dire.

"That bad. I was going to tell you I couldn't see you again until after exams but it seems you beat me to it."

"After hearing that I'm surprised you found time for me this past week at all. . ." I couldn't help but think that if I were "normal" we could all just study together. . . Not that I need the help, I just want to spend time with Yasu.

She sighed. "At times like these I wish there were two of me so I could be with both of my precious friends at the same time."

You shouldn't have to choose between your friends. . . This is all my fault. . . Because of my ability. . . Because of my selfishness in protecting my persona. . . Once again I am hurting the ones closest to me. This really can't continue, can it?

I lost my chance to speak, though. "So how was the super deluxe choco banana sundae?"

Right. Yesterday. This was inevitable. "What do you mean? Izumi-chan was the one who ordered it."

She laughed. "Uh-huh. So how was the super deluxe choco banana sundae?" I'm definitely getting the impression she knows first hand what it's like to have that monster placed down in front of you. She knows Izumi-chan couldn't eat it all by herself.

"I. . . may or may not have had nightmares last night of being stalked down a dark alley by chocolate covered bananas in trench coats. . ." I know I joked about it yesterday, but it actually happened. . .

"Pfft." She burst out into laughter, because of course she did. Who wouldn't? Meanwhile, I was eyeing my hat and wondering if I could somehow disappear in it. "Well I guess it went well after all." You mean it could have been worse?!?

"I made the mistake of ordering a milkshake thinking that the sundae couldn't be that big. . ." I still don't know why the waitress didn't even try to warn me while I was ordering. . .

"Oh my gosh how could you even move?"

". . . I didn't. For quite a while. And I didn't even eat close to half of it." I'm starting to feel a bit sick just from thinking about it.

"Yeah. Izumi-san told me about it." Right. They're friends now too. It's not just me anymore. I have to tell her about what happened.

"About Izumi-chan. . ." Her expression soured. She's not laughing any more. "I told her. Everything. Even about my ability." She squeezed my hand. I'd almost forgotten we were still holding hands.

"I see. . ."

"And you were right. I had nothing to worry about."

She smiled again. It didn't look like her usual gentle smile. It looked forced. "See? I told you so." She's not even looking at me now. She's just staring at her coffee cup.

It kind of looks like she doesn't want to talk about it. . . Should I maybe not tell her about what happened? My promise to her and my mother's words kept echoing in my mind. I don't want to lie to Yasu. Ever.

"Actually, I didn't mean to. It just kind of. . ."

"You should have told her from the start. Have more faith in your friends!" I'm pretty sure she just cut me off intentionally. . .

"Uh. . . Yeah. . . About that. . . You see I. . ."

"Ah what a relief! Really!" Really, you are not relieved. At all. Our hands are still connected so I can feel you starting to shake.

"Yasu. . . I promised I wouldn't ever lie to you." I squeezed her hand back and she looked my way again. She looked conflicted.

"That doesn't mean you have to tell me everything. . ." Is she scared to know what happened? She looks like she is.

"A lie of omission is still a lie." Something just occurred to me. . . Does she already know? "Did Izumi-chan tell you anything?"

She was struggling to find the words. "She. . . All she told me was that you told her everything. That it was an accident."

That was it? "So she didn't tell you what happened? Why I told her?"

"She asked if I wanted to know. . . I said no."

I wasn't expecting this. . . I had steeled myself to tell her what happened, but she already knew that something happened and doesn't want to know the details. I already promised I wouldn't lie to her. But I can't just force it on her either.

"Okay. We won't talk about it." I put my other hand on top of ours. She's still holding on tight.

She looks half relieved, half dejected. "Okay."

We sat there silently for a while and I couldn't help but wonder, just how much does Yasu really know about what happened? Then she laid her head on my shoulder. "H. . . Hey." I look around, but it doesn't look like anyone noticed. We've been the only customers the entire time she's been here.

"I'm sorry, Chika. This was supposed to be a fun, happy date. I guess I ruined it. . ."

I check again to make sure no one is looking, then I give Yasu a hug. "Don't be silly. Just being with you makes me happy." That made her smile a little. Smiling Yasu is the best Yasu. I hold up our hands, still linked. "You are my peace after all. How could I not be happy?"

With that she turned away blushing with a wide, bashful smile. "Oh myyyy!" That would be the waitress. She was right next to us. We immediately let go of each other's hand and turn to face her.

"Th. . . This isn't wh. . . what it looks like!" I got careless and like a ninja the waitress ceased the opportunity and pounced on my one moment of weakness.

"Mhm." Now that I'm no longer touching Yasu I can hear the waitress' thoughts again. She ain't gonna believe anything I say at this point. Pretty sure she's convinced now that we're dating. "So who's paying for today's date?" This is embarrassing. . .

"Se. . . Separate. . ."

"I'm paying." What? I stare at Yasu in shock. She's still blushing with that sweet, bashful smile, but she was being serious.

"B. . . But you paid last time."

"It's okay. Next time can be Chika's treat." Maybe she's not quite the glass cannon that I thought she was. She's certainly more composed than I am.

The waitress chuckled. "You two are so cute together." It seems Yasu has reached her limit now, though. She's trying to cover her embarrassment by hiding behind her hands. I'm sorry, but your hands just aren't big enough.

The waitress handed Yasu the bill and went back to the counter chuckling and giggling all the way. "Um. . . Well. . . Sorry. . . That was my fault for being careless." I'm the one who revealed our hands for all to see and said those embarrassing things.

"I. . . It's okay. I think. . ."

"M. . . Maybe we should pay and leave." I put on my hat and try to hide in it as best I can. "A. . . Are you sure you want to pay? I can do it."

"N. . . No I'm fine." I stayed in the booth as she got up to pay. I don't need to see or hear to know that she's getting teased by the waitress. I can hear her pretty clearly even with two other people here. If I were in Yasu's place right now I'd probably die from embarrassment.

_________________________

"So how was your date with Yasuna-chan?" My mother greeted me at the door.

"I told you it wasn't a date. . ."

"So how was your not a date date with Yasuna-chan?" That's a smile I don't know if I've ever seen on my mother's face before. She was beaming with excitement and anticipation. She's also blocking the hallway and is not going to let me pass unless I say something.

"It was fine." Can I please leave the entrance way now?

"Only fine?" See seemed disappointed and unconvinced.

"I'm not sure what you expect from me. . ."

She moved aside and let me enter. "So, did you tell her?" It seems I'm not completely off the hook yet, though, as she's following me around the house.

"I tried. But she didn't want to know."

This made my mother pause for a moment. "I see. . ."

"I said we're not dating." Please make your thoughts less transparent. . .

"Then why wouldn't she want to know?" That's. . . Actually I don't really know. She was kind of acting strange the entire time we were there. If I had to put a word on it. . . Jealousy? Maybe? I have to be overthinking things. "It's a date." It can't be.

I couldn't answer.

"Say, Ichika. I have a meeting with an important potential client in Kyoto late Monday afternoon." This is rather sudden. "So I'll be spending the night with an old colleague of mine."

In other words I'm going to have a nice, quiet, peaceful Monday night after my tests are over. "You don't have to worry about me. I can take care of myself for a night."

"Actually I was wondering if you wanted to invite your friends over for a study sleepover."

That was completely unexpected. "You're okay with that? I mean, you've never even met them before."

"I trust you. <3" I kind of get the feeling that maybe she's just really happy that I finally have friends again. I mean, they are nice and trustworthy girls, but, still, you don't know them. Don't let your happiness for me cloud your judgement!

". . . I'll ask them."

"Good. <3 Hopefully I'll get home early enough in the morning to size 'em up for you." She gave me a wink. "I'll let you know which one is the one." That again. . . Seriously? Is this why you want me to invite them over?

I let out a long, heavy sigh and make my way to my room. I could hear her excited giggles up until I closed my door. She seems much more excited about a sleepover she won't even be attending than I am.

But I should be grateful. This gives me a chance to do something I was thinking about earlier. . .

_________________________

I lied to Chika. . . Why did I do that? I flopped down on my bed and stared at my phone. I still have Izumi-san's messages open from last night.

Actually, about that, I. . . Well, it seems she can see my daydreams!

I see.

She accidentally fell on me. And we entered the daydream I had earlier.

Entered?

It's hard to explain. . .

It's okay. I think I get it.

Nothing really happened. We just talked. That was when she told me everything. I just thought you should know.

Knowing Chika, she's probably planning on telling me anyway.

That's true. Maybe I shouldn't have said anything. . .

It's fine. I'm glad she told you everything.

All I had to do was tell Chika that Izumi-san already told me everything. . . So why? And why wouldn't I let Chika tell me in the first place? What was I afraid of? I've been strange ever since I met her. I'm becoming selfish. I don't like this feeling.

"Yasunaaaa! Hi-chan is here to study!"

"Okaaaay!" No time to brood about it. Tomorrow is a new day.

It sounds like a stampede is charging up the stairs. I see Hikaru is just as energetic as always. My door slams open and I am greeted with a sight as radiant as the sun itself. Honestly, her mere presence is enough to drive away the darkest of clouds.

"Yasuchi! I'm here to play!"

"Noooo. . . You're here to study." I laugh and she comes in and flops down in front of the table I put in the middle of my room in advance.

"Same thing!" I really do envy her energy.

**bzzt**

A text? It's from Chika. . . Should I even check it? . . . "Just a second, Hi-chan. I got a text."

"From your boyfriend?"

"You know I don't have one. . ." She laughs as she takes out a text book.

Mom is spending Monday night in Kyoto. She said I could invite my friends over for a study sleepover.

You know I can't do that. . . So I guess that means I'll be leaving her alone with Izumi-san. . . "It seems she can see my daydreams!" . . . "We entered the daydream I had earlier." I know she said nothing happened. . . but I can't help but feel uneasy at the thought of them being alone together overnight. . .

I have to help Hi-chan study. You and Izumi-san have fun by yourselves. <3

I felt ugly as soon as I sent it. . . Please don't notice anything. Just think I'm teasing you like always. . .

I know. Bring Akita-san too.

What?!?

But won't she find out about your image being a lie?

Well, yeah, but you trust her, don't you?

I look over at Hikaru. She's looking over one of her notebooks and gives me a big smile. "Take your time. I'm just looking over my notes from last week."

I sigh and smile. "I'll be quick." Do I trust her? That's a silly question. . .

With every fiber of my being.

After all, she couldn't be my precious friend otherwise.

Then so will I. She'll be shocked at first I'm sure, but this way you don't have to choose between your friends anymore.

. . . She's doing this for me isn't she? Because of what I said earlier. I feel so awful for lying to her. But it would be awkward to bring it up now. Someday. . .

I'll ask her. I'll let you know.

Okay. Izumi-chan already said yes.

As if there was ever any doubt about Izumi-san.

I turn my phone off and watch Hikaru silently reading her notes. "Say, Hi-chan? Remember that new friend I told you about? Actually, I. . ."