Alkimia ~the Craft of Love~

5. +EQ and +SQ (Mako + Shuya)

Mako, a not-so-dimwitted girl whose best friend is Sakura, is now facing her parents after dinner. It is for a confession.

Dutifully, I take out my smartphone and choose Arata's photo for them to see. Mama takes my phone for a look then passes it to Papa.

"You are not young anymore," Mama says, crossing her arms, "Don't go playing around,"

"I thought he is good enough," I reply, a little dejected to hear Mama words it that way

"Mako is still young," Papa refutes Mama's words gently, "I am proud that you are sensible enough to decide what you have to do,"

I nod, accepting my smartphone back from Papa. Finally deleting Arata's photo, I report, "I made sure he would be too ashamed to face me, at that time when I caught him cheating on me,"

Papa and Mama broaden their grin at me.

I smile back, innocently.

Together, we hold a small party to celebrate my first romantic relationship, even though it doesn't end sweetly for me.

5.

Everything goes on as usual. I am sitting beside Shuya now.

Every day, in the irregular hours, Shuya will ask whether I believe him.

I will just smile and shake my head. Shuya will nod and turn away from me.

After some months, Shuya stops wearing glasses. He says he can't get used to having glasses, after all. I ask isn't it to protect his eyes? He replies that his eyes have been healed perfectly now.

Amazing.

Shuya gets a lot of confessions, from classmates and girls from other classes, once people know he is healthy now.

Shuya rejects them all.

I ask him, "Don't you have something called libido?"

Maybe I time the question wrongly, because Shuya chokes on his drink, since we are having lunch together right now.

Coughing, hitting his chest repeatedly, without my assistance, Shuya cures himself.

Hiccuping, Shuya eyes me with watery eyes, "Mako,"

I bobble my head to show that I hear him while slurping noodle.

Shuya doesn't continue. He seems to have given up midway. I narrow my eyes at him, feeling suspicious, "What?"

Shuya carefully drinks water again, to ease his burning throat. I wait then, until he is ready to continue. This guy likes to delay the inevitable, isn't he?

Something like snatching Sakura. Shuya is not doing anything, even saying that he has given up on Sakura. Is it true? Is it false? If it is true, then what is he doing here, right now?

Why is he with me? So mysterious...

"Don't you have libido?" Shuya returns my question to me, in low volume to not be overheard

I think about it seriously. I haven't felt any desire that is caused by libido. Why is that? To Shuya, I shake my head then. His eyes widened in honest, incomprehensible, shock.

Then, Shuya mumbles, "Maybe it's because you are still a kid,"

I reply without humour, "Then, what does that make you, someone who always accompanies a kid?"

Shuya stares at me without blinking as his mind processes it. I return to slurping my noodle. Nodding calmly, Shuya replies, "A pervert,"

I laugh heartily.