Girl Next Door

Chapter Sixty-Two

Several months have past. It was Valentine's Day.

In Japan, it is customary that the girls be the ones who buy gifts for their Valentines. In that case, they spend the day looking for chocolates to give their boyfriends or close male friends to express their affection for them. That day, the suburb was a hustle-and-bustle with the girls as they go from store to store buying Valentine's gifts.

That day was the day Ichiro Toyama chose to make his move.

He and Yukie had been close friends for three years. He couldn't understand why, nor when it happened, but it was certain he had developed feelings for her. He had made up his mind, though, to confess them to her on Valentine's Day this year.

Ichiro had hoped he would find Yukie around the town looking for gifts to give for her Valentine (he had not raised his hopes up that it was him), but there was no sign of her anywhere. But this was a quite large town, and he had all day to look.

He ended up in the mall were he and his friends would come on weekends. This was also where he and Yukie would meet so they could look for nice books together, though when asked, they kept denying that they were on a date.

Ichiro looked around for Yukie, but instead he found Takeru and Mio going on a date. The two, of course, were officially a couple now. The two waved at him once they caught sight of him.

"Hey, Ichiro!" Takeru called out.

Ichiro waved back and walked towards the couple.

"Hi, you two," said Ichiro.

"Hey, Toyama," Mio greeted him.

"Are you guys on a date?" asked Ichiro.

"Yeah," replied Mio in a semi-embarrassed tone.

"She gave me chocolates, man," said Takeru with a grin, showing Ichiro a small red box of chocolates.

"Shut up," said Mio, poking him on the side with her elbow. "Anyways, has Yukie-chan given you some?"

"Uh, no," said Ichiro, scratching his chin with his index finger. "You don't happen to have bumped into her have you?"

"Well, I heard she was in a fancy chocolatier not far from this mall," said Mio. "Why?"

"It's just..." said Ichiro hesitantly.

"What is it, Ichiro?" wondered Takeru.

Ichiro uttered a deep sigh and put his hands in his pockets.

"I... decided... to confess to her today," he said softly.

Takeru and Mio gasped.

"I knew it!" said Mio. "I knew you had a thing for her!"

Ichiro blushed.

"No duh, Mio," said Takeru. "Ichiro had liked Yukie-chan the first moment he laid eyes on her."

Ichiro blushed even more.

"Listen, bud," said Takeru, taking Ichiro by the shoulder. "You should go get to her immediately. You might not be able to see her again after graduation, but who knows? You have to let her know how you feel right this moment."

"Hate to admit it, but he's right," put in Mio. "You mustn't be afraid now. You should go to her while you still can."

"There's just one problem," said Ichiro, looking melancholy.

"What?" asked Takeru.

"What if... she still likes Kyosuke-kun...?" he said with a sigh.

"You gonna let that stop you?" said Mio with her hands on her waist.