Saiki K PeePee

Ch. 23: Code Red Love Emergency

Kokomi had been rushed to Chiyo's home on a "Code Red Love Emergency" and now sat next to her on her bed.

"Chiyo Yumehara, Love Master, at your service! Please spill all of the details," she said. The contrast between her upbeat enthusiasm and threatening command was almost frightening.

"Thanks for seeing me on such short notice," Kokomi said nervously, pushing her hair behind her ear. Her expression made it obvious to Chiyo that she felt more than a bit uncomfortable.

"What's wrong, Kokomi? I know you're usually a bit embarrassed about love talk but this seems to be on a different level," Chiyo asked gently.

"Well, I've been getting a lot closer to Saiki-kun recently..." That was all Chiyo needed to hear.

"Whaaaaaat!? Why didn't you tell me!?" Chiyo exclaimed, punching her arm a little too hard to be solely playful. Kokomi flinched and rubbed her tenderized arm.

"Yeah. I probably deserve that," Kokomi mumbled. "I didn't mean to keep you in the dark, but things with him have gotten more... complicated."

Chiyo rolled her eyes and shot Kokomi a knowing look. "Those dark, brooding types are always such a pain."

"Tell me about it," Kokomi huffed.

"So, what all has happened?"

"I'll do the best I can to explain it, but I still need to keep a lot of the details hidden."

"That bad?" Chiyo sighed, sympathetic to her friend's struggle. That Saiki was quite a pain to deal with.

Kokomi nodded. "What I can say is that we've been seeing each other outside of school for a few weeks now..." Chiyo fluttered her eyebrows with a mischievous grin.

"It's not like that!" It was Kokomi's turn to punch Chiyo's arm, provoking absolutely no reaction from the latter. Kokomi continued, "I can't believe it, but I feel like I've fallen even more in love with him now. The problem is... he knows."

Chiyo's eyes widened. Kokomi swallowed thickly.

"He's known for a long time now."

Chiyo's eyes narrowed. "What an ass."

Kokomi laughed bitterly. "You're telling me."

Chiyo rolled her eyes. "Whatever. You're more than a catch, Kokomi."

"It's hard to believe after what I just told you but he cares a lot more than he lets on. He just... couldn't return my feelings."

Chiyo nodded sagely.

"With Shun it was pretty similar. I all but confessed to him, but he still had too many hangups to return my feelings. Why did we have to pick guys with the emotional intelligence of grade schoolers?"

Kokomi shrugged. "I have no idea. He still wants to be around me even though he knows..."

"Waiwaiwait. Stop. He WANTS to be around you? Knowing him, you had to figure it out, right?"

"Actually, no, surprisingly. He came out and said it; of course it came with a healthy dose of standard Saiki avoidance."

Chiyo squealed. "Kokomi, I'm so happy for you!"

Kokomi's eyes darted nervously. "The problem is, though, I'm a bit stuck. As much as I want to be with him, I've been doing my best not to pressure him because being willful is probably the best way to ruin the good thing we have. The romantic tension has been fun to play around with, but sometimes the... sadness just bubbles up uncontrollably."

"It's not fair for him to lead you on like that. You deserve better. At least Shun was honest with me," Chiyo said soberly.

Kokomi nodded. "I don't think he's trying to lead me on. He definitely knows that it hurts me, and he's trying his best to come to terms with it in his own way."