Behind the school building, there were three people standing still while a strange and awkward tension enveloped them.
There was one who was quiet and no expression on his face. Another person was quiet however, you could see in her face the look of guilt and hesitation and her hands were trembling. Meanwhile, the last person was looking down with her bangs covering her hair while her shoulders were seen trembling. You couldn't see it but her lips were quivering as she bites it as an attempt to stop herself from screaming.
However, one person made the first move.
"Ichinose and I... We're just friends." said the lone boy as he observed the changes in the almost crying girl.
"Ayanokouji-kun..." mumbled the pink-haired girl.
"Ichinose. I'm not gonna lie, she needs to know the truth." He looks at Ichinose for a moment. "Shiranami Chihiro came up to you and gathered her courage just to confess her feelings for you. It isn't a big deal for others however courage isn't something you get whenever you can. And confessing isn't easy because there is a certain consequence and that consequence is fear."
"Fear?" Kiyotaka nodded.
"Fear caused by rejection. Fear caused by anxiousness. Fear caused by thinking that all of these were just illusions. Fear caused by pessimistic thoughts. Fear caused by the truth. Fear caused by the pain. And most of all, fear caused by lies." He said.
"It's better to tell her the truth or would you rather lie to her and hurt her even more when she finds out the truth? It would scar her deeper than just by your rejection. If you truly care for her, you should not lie because either way it will hurt her. I think she deserves to know the truth because it is hard to confess your feelings especially to someone of the same gender. In general, confessing makes you think of the worst. Perhaps, she has practiced how to tell you her feelings but she couldn't before. She must've faced herself and practiced to gain confidence to be able to tell you her feelings."
"........." Ichinose who had listened to him had her mouth agape.
"Of course, you could also ignore what I said. I could also be just a presumptuous guy after all." He walked away casually leaving the two girls to their talk but the two didn't move for a few moments.
Ichinose slowly closed her mouth and it became a smile after a while. She closed her eyes and walked towards Chihiro who was looking at Kiyotaka's back since then.
"Chihiro-chan–" she noticed Chihiro looking at Kiyotaka's back and her smile got wider. "I guess, you don't need my answer now, do you, Chihiro-chan?"
Chihiro absentmindedly nodded her head.
"Did you get attracted to Ayanokouji-kun? I can help you–"
"No, thank you. I just noticed how he knew that you're going to reject me so..." Chihiro abruptly charged at Ichinose and leaned her face very close, with only a few centimeters between their faces. Her eyes were wide and angry as she glared at Ichinose.
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"You're not in a relationship with MY Ayanokouji-kun, are you, Honami-chan~?" She asked with a raspy, rough yet still girlish voice.
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"R-Relationship...? W-What do you mean, Ch-Chihiro-chan?" Ichinose, feeling scared, stuttered.
"Answer me. You don't have a crush on My Ayanokouji-kun, do you, Honami-chan?" She asked again with a bright glaring eyes.
"Crush? Ch-Chihiro-chan, why are you asking like this–" Chihiro grabbed her collar and pulled her aggressively.
"Answer! Me! Now!"
"Hiiii! Nooooo! No. I don't like Chihiro-chan's Ayanokouji-kun like that! We're just friends, no, actually we're less than friends but more than acquaintances!" Ichinose Honami nervously screamed out those words that she wouldn't say usually.
Ichinose closed her eyes awaiting for some violence but when she peeked at Shiranami, she was looking down while she was loosening her grip on her collar. Ichinose got free from her hold and got relieved but she was worried about Shiranami so called out to her.
"Chihiro-chan?"
"Hehe..."
"Chihiro-chan...?"
"Hehehe...hehe..."
"Ch-Chihiro-san?!"
"Heh!" Shiranami looked up and Ichinose looked so pale like she just saw a ghost. "Heheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheh!"
Ichinose, creeped out, disappeared from her position before Shiranami does anything else to her while Shiranami continued giggling creepily.
