Kokuhaku: Part 1 of A Tanabata Story

Chapter 9

Jack drew back, his suspicions flaring. "That's funny, Sato-san said you wanted to ask me a question. You don't think she is playing a trick on us do you?"

"No!" Miko blurted. "No, I also wanted to ask you a question."

"OK."

Miko's eyes flitted about as if afraid to meet his. "We were wondering...wondering if...you might like me." She blushed, her light skin turning a deep red.

Jack smiled involuntarily. It's not possible for her to be any cuter. He stepped closer and she lurched back against the field-house wall. Her wide eyes shot up.

"The question is: do I like you?" He braced an arm against the wall and leaned in closely over her. The manga had called the gesture kabe-don. The "wall thud" was guaranteed to cause Japanese girls to swoon and send their hearts racing. Judging from Miko's reaction, the manga seemed to be correct—though he suddenly wondered ifher heart was racing for the desired reason.

"I don't know how to answer that. Tsukino-san, in our class, has always been nice to me. I think I could say I like her."

Miko's wide eyes expanded, though whether in alarm or insult, he couldn't say.

"And Takashi-kun always shares his gyoza with me. I know I can say I like him, and I really like gyoza, but I don't know if I could say like to you."

He was playing with the meaning of the word "like." Just as she had teased him through Junko he had only meant to tease her a bit, but the light seemed to dim in her eyes. A different kind of panic rose up in him.

"It's true that you are a very kind and thoughtful person," he added hurriedly. "You're very smart and work hard. You're the top student in our year—aside from Haruto-kun—though I'm not sure he's entirely human..." Jack stopped himself before he babbled on in fear.

With each compliment, her head sank lower, her fringes covering her face. Crap! I'm blowing it, Jack thought. She must think I'm trying to let her down easy.

He caught her chin and raised it until he could look into her eyes, remembering another expected gesture and praying he was doing it correctly. "...and it is absolutely true that you are the most beautiful woman in Japan."

Miko's eyebrows rose to their limit; her eyes were truly enormous.

"So, no, like is too insufficient of a word to describe how I feel about you. I'm fairly certain—if I were able to spend more time with you—that I would quickly come to love you more than any other person in the world."

"Oh." Her eyes glistened and her mouth pursed in a round oh of surprise.

Staring at those lips, Jack felt as if something tore loose inside him.  Forgetting all the manga advice he'd read, he asked, "Has anyone ever kissed you?"

"No," she whispered.

"May I kiss you?"

To his surprise, she said, "Hai."

Jack bent and kissed her. Her lips were soft and warm. A small voice in the back of his head shouted This isn't possible! She opened and closed her mouth slightly, pulling at his lips and he brushed the tip of her tongue with his own. His senses were overwhelmed by her presence. He felt as if he stood outside his own body or as if he had fallen into a dream. With one hand he caressed her cheek, his thumb tracing the curve of her ear and his fingers sliding into her soft hair. As his lips slid across hers, she let out a low sound between a moan and a sigh.

Distant sirens or the howl of wolves sounded somewhere in the distance behind them.

After a moment, oxygen deprivation forced Jack to pull back. He had forgotten to breathe. He stared into her glazed, heavy-lidded eyes, her pursed lips, open and waiting.

"Will you be my girlfriend?"

"Hai," she breathed, and lunged forward, burying her head against his chest. She clutching the front of his shirt with one hand and wrapped her other arm around him, binding herself to him.

Her response shook him to the core.

The wailing grew louder.

"No way!"

"I don't believe it!"

Takashi's voice rose above the crowd. "Go Jack-kun!"

Miko's ear lay against his heart and Jack thought she must surely hear its frantic pounding. "Ah. I was afraid of this."

Miko looked up. "What?"

"I can actually feel myself falling in love with you. I told you, I might come to love you more than anyone else in the world." He smiled down at her. "You've already surpassed all the women in Asia and I can feel my love for you sweeping over Europe and Africa as well."

Miko didn't laugh, she just looked up at him with a wondering expression. She probably didn't even realize his hyperbole was supposed to be a joke.

How is it possible for her to be so cute? "I have to kiss you again."

"Hai."

She rose to meet him and he pressed his lips against hers as pure joy exploded in his head. She made the sound again and her knees buckled, forcing him to cling to her tightly to keep her from falling.

"What do you think you're doing?"

"How dare you defile our Miyamoto-chan?" The voices were both amazed and amused and edged with genuine outrage.

With one arm still wrapped around her shoulders, he broke away and looked straight back into the camera lens of Daisuke's phone.

On the other side of the low hedge, only a couple of meters away, Daisuke stood with his camera arm fully extended toward them. He grinned like a fool at his discovery. With incredulous expressions, Takashiand the other first-years slid to a stop behind him.  The senpais on the soccer team sprinted toward them.

"Sorry guys," Jack said. "You'll have to finish practice without me. I have to walk my girlfriend home."

"Girlfriend?"

"No way!"

"Miyamoto-san, are you really his girlfriend now?"

They walked away slowly, their arms wrapped around each other. In a culture that saw two high school kids walking together hand-in-hand as an excessively public display of affection, Jack could only wonder at the scandal he was causing.