The Infamous One-Date Rule

I knocked on the door a few times, the anticipation building with the unknown that laid behind that apartment door. Since we both had free time after school before the date tomorrow, Kotonoha thought it'd be a good idea to get acquainted with some friends of hers. With all the questions they supposedly posed to her in private, making a good impression on them was more important for me than ever.

The door wildly swung open with the help of a short, animated arm from one of Fumiko's friends. The short-haired brunette in front of me that scarcely stood over my shoulder appeared to miscalculate the force she used in opening the door and nearly tripped over her own two crossed feet, but threw up a peace sign and chuckled to try and save face.

The small brunette girl dressed in a V-neck periwinkle blouse extended her hand to shake mine, the rapid motions feeling like they happened at forty shakes a minute. She sure was eager. I could already hazard a guess as to who this was.

"You must be Kenta. It's so nice to finally see the new guy Fumi's spoken so much about--I mean, not that any of it was bad or anything."

"Oh, hey. There's no harm. And nice to meet you too--Kyoko. Was it," I said.

I let out a comfortable belly laugh. It was good that the talk about me was positive for a change. I was reaching the point that I was getting tired of mindless gossip.

"Oh, that reminds me. There's someone else that Fumi wanted you to meet," Kyoko said, happily pointing out another boy on one of the red square vinyl sofas that formed one of the centerpieces of the living room.

A boy around my age with straight light-blue hair, with one notable strand of hair longer than the rest of his bangs swept over his brow, and thick-rimmed glasses sat with his arms rested on top of the back of the two-seat red square vinyl sofa.

Similar to my first meeting with Kotonoha, I felt a similar uncomfortable sense that I was being assessed in great detail, whereas I struggled to glean even the simplest of details about this guy. I couldn't find a more neutral poker-face from a classmate if I tried.

But unlike Kotonoha, I wasn't being pierced by a robotic lens, I was being analyzed by an interrogator in waiting in a true-crime documentary, waiting for me to make a fatal error in a conversation that could incriminate me.

He scoffed when he finished his initial observation of me. He switched focus to Kyoko, who in turn approached him to introduce him.

"Kenta, this is Shun, my boyfriend," Kyoko said, pulling him off the couch with a jerk of her arm.

"I heard we're a lot alike," I said.

"I suppose we are, in some ways," Shun said, maintaining loose eye-contact with my forehead.

"Shun, aren't you going to shake his hand," Kyoko said, squinting her eyes.

"Right. It's nice to meet you, Kenta," he said, offering his hand.

When I met him halfway, forming a bridge with our hands, we recreated the equivalent of a bridge precariously hovering over a fault line during an earthquake. I struggled to match the strength of his handshake, and it looked like both of us were desperately trying to shake each other off, trapped in some sort of depraved arm-sized version of a Chinese finger trap.

Both of us came to a mutual understanding when we met each other's gaze. On the count of three we both let go of each other's hands.

"Strong grip, haha."

"Is there something wrong you two," Kyoko asked.

"No, we're absolutely fine," Shun said.

Kotonoha came into the room right at the end of our bizarre handshake ritual. She held a couple of non-writing related notebooks and a history textbook in hand. This time she took her turn and scanned me over with her metallic blue eyes, but this time with an added element of human warmth behind them.

"I see you two are already getting along," Fumiko said, her deadpan terminator mode on full display, but she added a subtle upturned smile for my benefit.

"Okay, Fumi, now everyone's here," Kyoko said.

We followed Kotonoha back to her room and began unloading our backpacks onto the kotatsu that was prepared for us to begin the hopefully painless exercise of studying together for a few hours.

***

Kyoko put on a pair of red reading glasses to read the first question on the list of study questions.

"Okay, what was Magellan's greatest contribution in his expedition of the known world," Kyoko asked.

This was one of fifty test questions. And the kicker, it wasn't a simple multiple choice or a simple free response test. Only twenty questions were multiple choice. We had to use these questions to also potential prepare us for four long-form essay responses that had to be 1 to 2 pages long. Not even the pre-study session in class gave us a hint as to how Mister Watanabe would structure the questions.

I took a sip of hot black tea that was served to us earlier by Kotonoha herself.

Some may ask why black tea and not straight black coffee.

I had a dangerous addiction to caffeine that started with studying all-nighters to pass my freshman midterm exams. This was my way of curbing my habit.

I desperately needed something stronger.

I noticed that even Kyoko seemed to be yawning in anticipation of an answer.

"Oh, it established commercial contacts between the East and West," Fumiko answered.

"That's correct. Good job as usual, Fumi," Kyoko said, trying to shake off her lethargy.

We were productive for about the first several questions until half the study group was beginning to nod off.

"C'mon guys, this is going to be a quarter of our final grade. I know you don't want to spend a whole year relearning the material by yourself if you fail, Kenta," Fumiko said, glaring at me.

The energy from her scowl was enough to shock me out of my sleepy stupor.

"Hey, why are you singling me out, Fumiko-san," I said, not realizing what I just did.

The rest of the study group became deathly silent around the kotatsu. Even Kyoko, in her perennial sleepy state, had an agape look of shock.

"Fu--Fumiko-san," Fumiko repeated.

"Ah, I'm so glad you two are starting to get along," Kyoko said.

"It's not a big deal. Friends call each other by first name, don't they!"

Fumiko eyes dilated, and her hands eclipsed the bottom half of her face. The sharpness in her metallic blue eyes changed to the smoother luster of a pearl on commercial display in a jewelry shop. Come to think of it, I haven't felt like I was being analyzed by her since my last visit to her home yesterday.

"Say it again," Fumiko demanded.

"Kotonoha-san."

"That's not funny, Kenta," she said, twisting and pinching the cartilage of my ear.

"Okay. Alright. I'm sorry Fumiko-san," I said, feeling the sweet release of my reddened earlobe.

***

"Hey, since we're not studying anyway, I think this is the perfect time to get to know you better, Kenta," Kyoko said.

"Sure. What do you want to know?"

I noticed a grunt from Shun as he straightened himself to get comfortable.

"How about I start? How long do you see yourself being with Fumiko," he asked.

"Hey, that's an oddly specific question, haha. I don't know. It's sorta a trial run for us, ya know."

Fumiko honed in on the conversation, her eyelids ever so subtly narrowing. Kyoko sat up and tried pulling Shun's upper arm to deter him, but he sat rooted in place, his shoulder not budging an inch in response to her leverage.

"I see. Then we have nothing to worry about then. She'll dump you and put an end to this experiment by the end of the first date."

"Huh? What's that supposed to mean," I asked, both of us standing up simultaneously.

"Do you know why Fumiko doesn't give a guy more than one date?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Every guy that she dated in the school, not a single one of them went on more than one date with her. The infamous 'one date' came to be as a result of a personal test. If you don't pass it, then she won't pursue a romantic relationship with you."

"Wait, is that true," I asked Fumiko, who watched us with narrowed eyes.

"So, my question for you Kenta is this. How serious are you about this?"

One date seemed to be a steep learning curve to become a romantic partner, but Fumiko was never considered a regular girl until now. But even so, I wanted to see this through to the end. I had no reason to stop now. She hasn't done anything to deserve that.

"Well, I'm not really sure how Fumiko-san operates, if I'm being honest with everyone. And I'm not sure your grandstanding is warranted in this situation, but what I do know about Fumiko-san is that she wouldn't choose me for this 'experiment' if it weren't for a good reason," I said.

"You still haven't committed to an answer yet. Are you a winner or loser?"

"Shun!"

Kyoko tried to rein him back in, but this time she was stopped. Fumiko tugged her arm and shook her head at her. Kyoko reluctantly sat down, a steady fire in her eyes as she watched on.

"Heh, you know what, Shun. You don't know anything about me. I'm not the type to give up on people I just met, and I know Fumiko-san isn't either. Whatever it takes, I'm willing to be the guy that finally shows her what true love is. As her friend, I owe it to her to try."

"Oh?"

Fumiko gasped as the lines around her eyes began to soften.

"By the end of tomorrow's date, I'll be sure to show her what true love looks like," I said, gesturing to myself with my pointed thumb.

"Pssh, don't screw up your biggest chance, that's all I have to say," Shun said, blinking as he sat down to rejoin Kyoko, who looked at everyone with concern.

The outrage that built up in my stomach had left me feeling motivated, perhaps more than I ever have in a long while. The sensation of dribbling a basketball stood at the forefront of my mind. I could see Hayato moving off-ball to get ready to grab the pass. Now that I look back, it wasn't that different. A teammate needed my help, and I was going to help them.