“Hey you two.” Kouji said nervously as Himawari and Teru eyed him. “Man, it sure is a nice night, isn’t it?” He said, trying to calm the tense situation. From the looks on their faces, it was clear to him how unhappy they were. And his actions were in complete and utter futility.

“Kouji.” He sure didn’t like the tone come from Himawari’s mouth right now. “Have you been up some unsavory activities lately?” She said it in a way to basically accuse him of the fact, rather than simply just asking a question. He didn’t think that he was, but she definitely felt he was being a little bold at the dinner table. She was also pretty suspicious of the girl standing next to her with the way she was acting.

Said girl that was with them, also had her own suspicions confirmed on who it was that captured Kouji’s attention. Which kind of filled her body with disgusted from the thought of it.

“You like Himawari, don’t you!” She yelled out, which scared both Kouji and Himawari.

“Wh-wh-what are y-you talking about?” The blonde girl had lost all of her anger towards Kouji. It was now replaced with bashfulness over the thought that someone had figured out the truth. “Him like me? That’s laughable, did you hit your head or something?”

“Oh really? Then why are you here?” She countered. “Unless that is, you like him and he’s interested in someone else.”

“As if.” Himawari took offense to that statement. “Have you seen the others? They’d be lucky if any boy took the time to look their way. That includes you by the way.”

“Okay you two, please stop this.” Kouji knew he needed to put an end to this. “You’re right, Teru.” He admitted the truth. He couldn’t lie about this, even if Himawari felt differently. “Himawari’s the girl I was talking about with my uncle.”

“Oh? Uh, I mean… Hahaha… A confession.” She had on the most fake laugh, as the girl tried to play this situation off. But she felt a little elated that he mentioned her to family, even if it was someone that he hate just a week ago. “Well, I’d never go out with you or anything.”

“So you wouldn’t mind if I asked him out then?” Teru could read through that poor acting of hers.

“What?! You can’t just… I mean, go ahead…” When she caught herself, the only thing that lead to was Himawari running into another trap. It’s not like she just wanted Kouji to get stolen from her, but there was no way she’d just outright admit the truth of her feelings. “But I don’t think he’d be into such a boyish girl like yourself.”

“She likes me too.” He told Teru simply, which caused her to recoil in embarrassment over how easy he was saying these things.

“Don’t say that.” She half-whispered, half-yelled that at him. “Have you ever considered that people who don’t need to know might hear you.” Of course, that finally confirmed Teru’s suspicions, but he also gave her away.

“And… Teru like me too.”

“I knew it.” Himawari bragged about it, since she had figured it out back at the dinner table. Of course, all the girls kind of thought that was the case after her outburst. Not to mention that they were all looking at each other with suspicion, due to their paranoia after falling for him. “Well, go ahead and reject her so we can get this over with.”

“What?” Teru didn’t take too kindly to that declaration from her. “Reject her, so you can move on.” She commanded him. Which he wasn’t the world’s biggest fan of, since it’s his feelings on this matter that should matter the most. “I don’t know how she tricked you, but I doubt a stuck-up girl like her is good for you.”

“Stuck up? Kouji, you can’t let this delinquent drag you back down.” This insulting match would continue for far longer than it should have. In fact, with how long they’ve been gone. The others were probably going to wonder what was taking them.

“So just get it over with, and pick me!” They spoke in unison. Finally finished with what making their cases.

“I… Can’t.” He said in response. While he stood here with his back to the wall, things were looking pretty tight to him.

“Eh?” That wasn’t the answer they were expecting from him.

It’s not that he wanted to drag things out. It’s more that, how could he really just make a decision like this so suddenly? After he had just gotten a real confession from Himawari, to everything that had happened with Teru.

Two people he had considered friends. Now standing before him asking to make it more than just a simple friendship. How could he choose between either of them?

On one hand, there was Himawari. The well-known queen of the school. The one that convinced him to stay in the first place, sealing it all with a kiss. Then there was Teru, who helped him with his uncle problems. She showed him a new way of living life that was much better than the path he set himself on.

But then what? Not only could weighing the options not help him on what’s the right choice. Was there even a correct path to go on here? What about his relationship with the one that wasn’t chosen?

It was pretty obvious what would happen there. Whoever he didn’t choose, would end things between them. Not just in the sense of love, but even as friends. After all, they don’t particularly seem to happy if the other were to win this little love triangle here.

“I’m sorry.” He said. “You can hate me all you want, but I just can’t.” It’s a serious choice he’d have to make. One where he wasn’t certain that he’d be prepared for the consequences right now. “I just can’t hurt either of your feelings.”

“Kouji…” Himawari realized what she was doing in her fit of rage towards her acquaintance. “We’re sorry, both of us.”

“Huh?” That wasn’t at all what he was expecting to come from her mouth. One would get better luck with surviving in shark infested waters, than to get an apology from her and Teru at the same time.

“Yeah, we were just getting a little heated there.” Teru followed it up. “But, you know how it is.” Of course it was clear what the end result was supposed to be. He was going to have pick one eventually. The two of them would prefer that to be sooner, rather than later. Especially given that they aren’t the only ones, just the ones that he knew about. Things would get a little more messy if Kouji were to get confessed to from someone else, wouldn’t it?

“But what are we supposed to do about this?” He asked. After all, once the box was opened. It’s not as if they can all just go pretending there’s nothing between any of them.

“Well, you might not be ready to give me an answer.” Himawari said, getting right up to his face in a seductive manner. “But that’s just because you haven’t been won over yet.” That was more than enough to get both him and Teru a little flustered from her actions. Which was exactly what she was banking on.

“W-what are you doing?” Teru spoke up, blushing madly at the sight. “You… You can’t just do that.” This showed Himawari the truth on who she was up against. She giggled at the response because to her, this little competition was in the bag.

“Ye-yeah.” He said to her, with their faces just mere centimeters apart. “You don’t really need to be doing this.” He tried to avert his gaze, but all he could see was her deep bright eyes.

“You’re the one who wanted me to be more open about my feelings.” She said, then hit him with the killing blow. They locked lips, right in front of Teru, who was more than unhappy to see that.

“Well, wh-whatever.” As much as she didn’t enjoy the sight of it, she was just too held back in wanting to do the same with him. “Don’t enjoy this too much.” She directed that statement towards Kouji, who was still stuck with himawari. “Or… Or I’ll beat you up.” With that, she marched back to the dinner table, a lot more upset than when she went out here.

When they were alone, Himawari released herself from him. Despite the bravado she showed to the both of them, she was as red as a tomato from doing something so bold. The girl had never been intimate with anyone so publicly, and she could feel how hot under the skin it was making her.

“Sorry about that.” She said. “But I really don’t want to lose to her.” Nor did she plan to either.

“Himawari…” He eyed her, feeling that same level of heat between the two of them. “I’ll never get mad at you for being open about your feelings.”