The TWO WOMEN Talk.

The rest of the day, I tried to convince Agatta to go meet Sume instead of going to practice. I asked her to go talk with her because it was because of me that she asked her to do it in the first place, but at the beginning she wasn't very enthusiastic about it.

"I don't know. I mean, what exactly would she like to talk about in the first place?"

"Well, I told her about our situation because I had no idea on what to do, and she actually was really kind and listened to everything I had to say…"

"But this is between you and I, and I really don't want any other people getting involved in our relationship. Plus we are already making progress on our own."

"Yeah but…"

"Let me guess. You don't want to leave them hanging now."

"Yeah exactly."

"Ok, I'll do it. But we need an excuse for me not showing up to practice."

"Yeah, I'll come up with something to tell the teacher about it."

"You two are really not aware of anything that's happening around you, right?" Said another voice interrupting our conversation.

We both looked at where it was coming and discovered it was our math teacher and the men's swimming club advisor, whose name I just realized I have never told you. His name is Yasa Shī, and I don't know how long he has been standing there listen to our conversation.

"Sensei, sorry, we didn't know you were here." I said.

"You just had class with me. But I guess you didn't notice that either."

That's actually true, all the class I was distracted looking in Agatta's direction, and the worst part is that she was doing the same thing.

"I'm truly sorry sensei. We promise it won't happen again." Said Agatta.

"Listen, I understand that both of you are going through some things right now, so I don't really mind if you two are a little distracted during class or even if you miss practice." He said. It made me really happy to know that we had such a kind teacher. "However… you should know that showing much affection here in school can get you into trouble." He said pointing at us.

I was hugging Agatta from behind the entire time, I don't know when I started doing it but I really wasn't willing to let go of her, and she wasn't too keen on that idea either. I had my hands around her stomach and she put hers on top of them. My palms were being held by hers, so we were sort of holding hands in a strange but nonetheless beautiful way. But he was right, that sort of behavior was clearly forbidden by the school's rules, so we were forced to stop.

Finally I convinced her to meet Sume on the rooftop. Once classes were over and the halls got crowded by all the students trying to get to their clubs or go home, the two of us made our way through them and got to the final set of stairs. All the way up there we were holding our hands together, I try to put up an excuse and said it was because of the crowds, but in reality I still wanted to keep holding onto her for as long as possible.

"She might be a little too direct, but she isn't a bad girl." I told Agatta once we were ready to open the door.

"Ok, understood."

I opened the door and Sume was already sitting on the bench that was on the opposite side of the one where we talked during lunch time. I nodded my head to greet her and she answered by waving her hand.

"Then…" I said turning towards Agatta. "I'll be at practice."

"Ok, I'll meet you there once we finish."

"Understood. Then…" And I let go of her hand.

I left and went to practice, meanwhile the two of them started to talk.

"Thank you for coming, Agatta-chan!" Said Sume with a big smile on her face. "C'mon, take a seat here next to me."

"Ok, but there's something you need to know first."

"What is it?"

"Once I learn the reason as to why you hit Impo, I'm going to return you the favor."

"Ok, sounds fair." Replied Sume, losing her smile, then with a smaller one she showed Agatta the empty seat by her side.

Agatta took a seat there and their conversation started.

“First of all, I want to apologize for what happened yesterday on the stairs. That was entirely my fault. You see, I haven’t had such good experiences with men all my life, my dad left my mother when I was little, and all the other men that I have met are mere animals that just feel lust for my body and nothing else. So that’s why I thought your boyfriend was exactly the same and me and my friends tried to seduce him.”

“But he is not like that in the slightest.” Replied Agatta, full of pride.

“Yeah, I noticed that.” Repied Sume, who was expecting that Agatta would feel a bit sorry for her past instead of getting cocky immediately.

“Yes, he is so much different than that. He’s kind, calm, and generous. A true gentleman. He’s a man that always uses his brain, he never acts just on impulse.”

“Yeah, I guess he is…”

“And such a great athlete as well, he has always represented our city in swimming competitions.”

“Oh, I see…” Said Sume, who was growing tired of listening to Agatta just ranting about good things about me.

“And he is always so fun to be with. All of the friends he has made so far are always looking to hang out with him and asking him for advice. He’s such a great man there is no doubt about that.”

“Then why do you want to break up with him?” Asked Sume frustrated.

Agatta shut like a clamp after she said that. That was the last thing she wanted to hear at any time. However, she found the courage and answered:

"Because I'm stupid. That's why."

Sume didn't say anything back, she was stunned by the reason she gave.

"I have told you all that stuff about him, but he possesses another quality that is better than anything I have said."

"What is it?"

"He loves me." Said Agatta clenching her hand and holding it next to her heart. "He loves me, as a friend, as a neighbor and just today I learned that he also loves me as a woman." Then a tear came down her eyes.

Sume was moved by her answer and her reaction, so much so that she forgot how frustrating it was to hear her glorify me.

"Of course he does. Why wouldn’t he?” Then she gave her a little friendly hug. “You are a beautiful girl, you look just like a doll.”

“But…” Said Agatta, more calm. Clearly Sume’s hug was really helping her. “But in the swimming club there are these girls-” She paused, as if the words just didn’t want to come out.

“What girls? What do they do? Are they picking on you?” Asked Sume, who as you can see is just amazing at getting people to talk. Even if they seem completely determined to not do it.

“No, no, they aren’t… they just…” Agatta was still not willing to say what she had on her mind. Sume noticed this and held her tighter to let her know there was nothing to be afraid of. “They have been checking on Impo ever since we joined the club, they are always talking about how good he looks and how muscular he is… and I hate it whenever they do that.”

"I see. But if you don't like it, you should totally let them know.” Said Sume letting go of Agatta. “There's a chance they are trying to test your limits. And if you don't do anything about it, they will surely try to move on to him."

"I know but… but they scare me, not only are they older than me, they have better bodies and are definitely more girly than I ever could be, but I'm also scared of them taking Impo away from me." In her face you could see that she wanted to cry. However she held that feeling back and lifting her face she continued: "But… after all that happened today, I'm starting to believe that won't be that easy."

"They will definitely won't get in your way!" Said Sume smiling. "Believe me, I have now talked with both of you, and there is no one else in this world that is more destined to be together than you two."

Agatta smiled. It was clear that she wanted to hear those words more than anything else in the world.

"I still don't know if I'm the right person to be by his side." Replied Agatta remembering what happened at the end of lunch.

“Why not?”

“Because I still don’t feel any sexual attraction towards him. I mean, I definitely would like to have children one day, to have a family with him, and I’m sure he would be a great father. But that thing is extremely big, and I just… can’t…”

Sume noticed that Agatta was turning a little red just talking about that so she gave her another hug, this time she just held her for a moment and then let go immediately, then she continued:

“You know it’s going to be bigger once you see it in the flesh, right?”

Agatta’s face turned blue and she let out a squeak that sounded exactly like the one made by a mouse. Sume laughed at her reaction. Then she looked up to the sunset sky. Her eyes were wide open and the smile on her face showed more than just the aftermath of a good laughter. She found something in the conversation she had with Agatta, something that she was looking for her whole life, but without knowing she was looking for it, an answer to a question that she had buried in her mind, but since she never found the answer when she looked for it she just stopped asking said question, but it was there. It had always been there.

"The reason why I hit him is because I thought he didn't understand what being in a relationship means. But I guess I just judge him based on my own standards." Said Sume. "Maybe I have rushed my relationships too much and that's why they don't last long, maybe all I have ever searched for is guys that I feel sexually attracted to, because that’s the main reason guys ever approach me, just for my body.

“There is nothing wrong with feeling sexual attraction to somebody, but there is more than just the body in a person, there are a lot of qualities that you only get to know once you really fall in love with someone. Maybe I don’t really know what being in love is, because I think I have never really been in love with someone, but I have the feeling that you two know exactly what it is.

“The way you came up to help him when he needed you, and then he also came to help you because you needed him, even though you are scared of not knowing if you should be his girlfriend and even when you tried to break up with him that same morning. Even then you two faced someone who you didn’t even know you could beat, because you two love each other. Maybe that’s what love is, to fight for the one you love, against all odds maybe, but fight.

“So listen, take your time and you will eventually solve every problem you face. No one does it on the first try, but if you really love someone then it doesn't matter how much you try."

Agatta’s eyes were filled with tears after hearing what Sume said, and she couldn’t hold it any longer, so she burst into tears and hugged her.

“Thank you! Thank you very much!”

Sume also let some tears run down, both of them shared a beautiful moment that anyone who would see it could have sworn they were two life-long friends, not knowing that they started their conversation as the worst of the enemies. Once they felt they had hug each other for long enough they let go and continued talking:

“Don’t worry.” Said Sume. “He truly is a good guy, so I’m sure if you talk about it with him he will understand, he won’t try to do anything crazy with you.”

Agatta’s face turned red, but not because she imagined something like that to happen, no, it was more as if she remembered that something like that happened. Sume identified this immediately and she tried to question her about it.

“What happened?”

“N-n-n-n-nothing…”

“Tell me!”

“N-n-no, it’s really nothing.”

“Did he try to take you by force?”

“N-no! He just…he just said something a little bit weird this morning…”

“What did he say?!”

“I’m not sure why he did it, but he hugged me from behind tightly and then he said that yesterday he had the bath and the dinner, so… he said that… he was going to have… me… before breakfast… this morning…”

Sume stood up worried about what she just heard, then with a worried face she told Agatta:

“That’s terrible! We need to go see him and tell him to not do stuff like that!” Then she grabbed her backpack and tried to walk towards the exit, but Agatta held her hand, not allowing her to do so.

“It’s ok… I mean… he didn’t really do anything… so… I think there is no need… to tell him not to do that.” Said Agatta, with a face even more red than before. She was so red that she didn’t even look at Sume in the eyes.

Sume stood there speechless, she couldn’t believe that she heard that from such an innocent looking girl like Agatta.

“Oh my god.” She thought. “This girl is into that kind of thing.”