One evening, I was working inside the kitchen of Yamamoto Canteen when Miyako-san comes in to look for me.

   ‘A girl’s looking for you, Bandou-kun.’ she informs me.

   ‘A girl, you say?’

   ‘Yes. She’s wearing the uniform from Koganei High School, and her skin is kind of tanned.’

   Ah. It’s Takeda.

   ‘Pardon me, but I have to leave for a while.’ I tell one of my senior who’s also working inside the kitchen.

   ‘Don’t worry about it. Just take your time.’

   I follow Miyako-san to exit the kitchen and head outside where the customers are. Takeda is indeed sitting behind one of the tables. She sees me and waves at me.

   ‘Over here, Bandou!’ she calls ou

   I go to where she is.

   ‘How did you even know where to find me?’ I ask her.

   ‘I asked Ai. She told me that I can find you here.’

   ‘Will this take long? As you can see, I’m kind of busy right now.’ I tell her.

   ‘It’s okay, you can talk to your friend. The customers have stopped coming in for now, so you can take a light breather.’ Miyako-san tells me when she heard what I said.

   ‘Thank you, Miyako-san.’

   I look at Takeda again.

   ‘So, what do you want from me?’ I ask her.

   ‘The thing is, one of my classmates at my school broke up with her girlfriend when you did the you-know-what. I don’t know where she heard it from, but she found out that I’m working at Koikana, and she asked for my help this morning.’

   ‘Say, that reminds me. I’ve been curious about Koganei for some time now.’

   ‘Yeah?’

   ‘Koganei is a girl’s school, right?’

   ‘Yup. Even the teachers are women only. What about it?’

   ‘Nothing. I always saw in mangas and animes that girl’s schools tend to give birth to lesbian couples.’

   ‘You got that right. Before you made that wish of yours, they were everywhere.’

   ‘Interesting…’

   ‘Back to the topic at hand. I’m totally bad at anything related to romance, so I was hoping that you could help me with it.’

   ‘Why didn’t you just tell her the truth and refuse her?’

   ‘I was going to, but she started crying and stuff. I can’t say no after all that, can I?’

   ‘So you’re weak to pressure.’

   ‘Yes yes, I know it doesn’t fit my image and everything. Now are you going to help me or not? Don’t worry, you won’t do it for free. I’ll buy you a bowl of ramen after we’re done.’

   ‘Deal. Man, if only Nagano pays me like this, I’ll be more motivated to help her.’

   ‘It must be tough, huh? Ai’s a nice girl, but she’s not really good at convincing people. Anyway, we’ll wait for you at the entrance to the train station tomorrow.’

   ‘Sure. See you then.’

   Since I have to help Takeda, I can’t go to the Love Consultation Club on the next day, and I told Nagano so during lunchtime.

   ‘I guess it can’t be helped, then. Suzu and I will handle the client today by ourselves.’ she tells me.

   ‘Suzu, make sure Nagano doesn’t mess up.’ I tell Suzu.

   ‘Got it~.’

   ‘Hey, I’m not that unreliable, okay?’

   ‘Uh-huh.’

   When I reach train station after school’s over, Takeda was already waiting for me with another female student who’s wearing the same uniform as her. I assume she’s the one who needs help this time.

   ‘Sorry for the wait.’ I tell them.

   ‘No worries. We just got here anyway.’ Takeda tells me.

   I look at the female student. Unlike Takeda, she’s kind of ladylike and timid. And she’s been trying her best to avert my gaze ever since I started talking to Takeda. I assume that she has androphobia or something.

   ‘She’s Kiyota Kaede, a classmate of mine. She’s the one who needs your help.’ Takeda introduces. ‘Kiyota, he’s Bandou Takuya, the one I told you about.’

   Kiyota-san finally looks at me.

   ‘...Hello.’ she says timidly.

   ‘Good evening. Now then, shall we go somewhere to talk about your request?’ I tell her.

   ‘Yes, please. Um, if it’s not too much trouble, I would like to go to somewhere with as little men as possible.’ she requests.

   ‘Well, I guess the park is a good place. Please follow me.’

   I bring them to the park and walk until we find ourselves some empty benches. I let the girls sit down while I maintain a respectable distance away from Kiyota-san.

   ‘You can just sit down, you know.’ Takeda tells me.

   ‘It’s fine. I don’t want to scare Kiyota-san any more than I have to.’

   ‘I’m really sorry! If only I wasn’t such a scaredy-cat!’ Kiyota-san says to me while bowing to me continuously.

   ‘Don’t worry about it. More importantly, what business do you have with me?’

   ‘Well, you might have heard it from Takeda-san here, but I used to be in a relationship with another girl.’

   ‘Yes, she has told me that much.’

   She then closes her eyes and lowers her head like she got scared by lightning. She remained that way for a few seconds.

   ‘Um, are you all right, Kiyota-san?’ I ask after she stayed that way for a few seconds.

   She raises up her head and looks at me in surprise.

   ‘Aren’t you going to shame me for liking a girl?’ she asks me in a slightly shaky voice.

   ‘Why should I?’

   ‘Because it’s…not normal?’

   I shrug. ‘Hey, our ancestors used to say that being able to fly isn’t normal, but look at where we are now. Please continue.’

   ‘Oh, okay. Until a few months ago, I was the girlfriend of Akanishi Moe-chan, who’s from my neighbouring class. Thinking about it now, I see it as a miracle that we ever became a couple.’

   ‘How so?’

   ‘For starters, the two of us have completely opposite personalities. She’s bright and cheerful, I’m quiet and gloomy. She has lots of friends, I have next to none. We live in totally different worlds.’

   ‘And yet became a couple you did.’

   She nods. ‘It started with a stray dog. I was scared witless when it barked at me, and she appeared out of nowhere to helped me to chase it away. I mustered up my courage and baked her some cookies as thanks. Bit by bit, we started to talk to each other and became close. A few weeks later, I told her that I like her more than a friend, and she told me the same thing! That was the happiest day of my life!’

   ‘But then, why did the two of you break up with each other?’

   Her expression turns gloomy at once. ‘Our parents aren’t fond of the idea of two girls being in a relationship with each other. After they found out about us, they separated us forcefully.’

   ‘Stupid parents…’ Takeda grumbles spitefully.

   I take it that Takeda has awful parents too, which is why she’s living at Koikana. Oh well, this is a bad time to ask her, so I’ll just feign ignorance.

   ‘So the two of you followed the wishes of your parents just like that?’ I ask Kiyota-san instead.

   ‘Yes. I’m not really sure about Moe-chan’s parents, but mine were always strict with me. They govern basically my entire schedule of the day. What time I should wake up. What I can and cannot eat. Which college I’ll be applying. The job I’ll be getting after I graduate.’

   ‘That sounds terrible.’ I comment.

   ‘I’m not defending my parents here, but it’s not as bad as it sounds if you got used to it. I can tell that they were just concerned of me.’

   ‘The hell it is! They’re turning you into a soulless puppet! Wake up, would ya?’ Takeda shouts at Kiyoda-san.

   ‘Eek! I’m sorry!’ Kiyota-san shrieks while hugging her own body.

   ‘Takeda, you’re scaring her.’ I tell the tanned school girl.

   She gasps as she realized that she just did.

   ‘My bad, Kiyota.’ she apologizes.

   ‘I-It’s fine.’

   ‘So, you never gave up on Akanishi-san?’

   ‘No. I’ve been thinking about her everyday ever since we separated.’

   ‘If that’s the case, why did you take this long to ask for help?’ I couldn’t help but ask.

   She lowers down her head in shame.

   ‘As I said, I don’t have any friends to rely on. And since I’m a scaredy-cat, it even took me months so that I have enough courage just to talk to Takeda-san.’

   I look at Takeda.

   ‘Do you have a bad reputation at your school?’ I ask.

   ‘Kind of. Most of them are unfounded, though.’

   ‘Well, I'm not going to ask. I guess it’s not really relevant here.’

   ‘Well, that’s it from me. Do you think you can help me?’ Kiyota-san asks me.

   I scratch my head. ‘To be completely honest with you, this is going to be tricky. It might have been easier to solve if it was only between the two of you, but if your parents are part of this, it’s an entirely different story.’

   ‘By the way, how does Akanishi feels about all this?’ Takeda asks Kiyota-san.

   ‘I’m sorry, but I don’t know. We have never spoke to each other ever since we broke up with each other. Even if we saw each other, we avert our gaze immediately.’

   ‘Let me guess, your parents’ orders.’

   Kiyota-san nods sadly.

   Takeda gets up menacingly.

   ‘Takeda, don’t do anything stupid.’ I stop her.

   ‘But-’

   ‘No buts.’ I tell her firmly. ‘I understand that you’re mad, but you need to remain calm. If you use violence, you’ll just have cops called on you, and nothing will be solved.’

   Takeda sighs and sits down once again. Well, that’s one crisis averted. For now.

   ‘I’m also curious about Akanishi-san’s thoughts on all this. Do you know of any way we can make contact with her without offending either of your parents?’ I ask Kiyota-san.

   ‘Well, she’s going to a cram school at Shinjuku today.’ Kiyota-san answers. ‘If we wait for her at the entrance, we might be able to meet her.’

   ‘All right. Lead the way.’ Takeda tells her.

   ‘Hold on. Do you have a curfew of some sorts, Kiyota-san?’

   ‘I do, but I told my parents that I want to visit some cram schools so that I could better improve my test grades. Technically, I’m not lying.’ she tells me.

   Takeda chuckles proudly. ‘Attagirl.’

   Kiyota-san tells us that the cram school Akanishi-san goes to is at Shinjuku, so we had to go all the way back to the train station. It’s really convenient that the cram school is located right opposite the Shinjuku train station.

   Kiyota-san looks at her watch. ‘There’s still an hour before she’s done with her class.’

   ‘I guess it’s time for a stakeout.’ Takeda says.

   ‘Yup.’ I agree.

   ‘Um. Are we just going to wait for her to come out?’ Kiyota-san asks us.

   ‘Oh come on, no need to be so stiff. It’s nice to relax and act like idiots every once in a while.’ I tell her.

   ‘That’s right. If you want friends, this is one of the way to do it.’ Takeda agrees.

   ‘I’ll…keep that in mind.’

   ‘By the way, stakeout means red bean bread and milk, right?’ Takeda asks me.

   ‘Absolutely. Can’t say it better myself.’

   ‘So who’s going to buy them?’

   ‘Um, I’ll go if you want.’ Kiyota-san offers.

   ‘Nope, not you. What if Akanishi-san comes out early? We’ll miss her then.’

   ‘Besides, we can’t let a frail girl like you wander around Shinjuku at night. It’s too dangerous.’

   And so, it comes down to Takeda and I. We agreed on deciding it by playing a game of rock scissor paper with the honor going to the loser. I end up being the winner.

   While Takeda went off to the nearest convenience store while cursing her own bad luck, I’m left with Kiyoda-san. As she’s scared of men, I try my best to prevent myself from scaring her. Unexpectedly, she’s the one who started a conversation with me.

   ‘Um, I really want to thank you for helping me out like this. Even though we don’t even know each other, you still took your time and listened to my problems.’

   ‘It’s really fine. Thanks to a certain someone, I got used to meddling in others’ affairs.’

   Takeda soon came back with the breads and milks, and she got enough for the three of us.

   ‘I have to eat the dinner cooked by my mother when I got home, so I cannot have these.’ Kiyota-san tries to declines her share.

   ‘Oh, where’s the harm in having a little snack? You’re not telling me that this much is enough to fill your stomach, right?’

   ‘No, but-’

   ‘Then it’s fine, right?’

   Kiyota-san finally takes them after hesitating a little. As we’re eating, she suddenly chuckles.

   ‘I wonder what my strict parents would say if they found out that I was snacking right before dinner.’

   ‘Hey, it’s not a crime if you’re not caught.’ I tell her.

   She chuckles again. ‘I guess not. This is the first time I’ve done this kind of thing, and I have to say, it’s quite fun.’

   ‘This is just the tip of the iceberg.’ Takeda tells her. ‘If you hang out with us long enough, we’ll make you so corrupted your parents won’t recognize you!’

   ‘That’s right. You just have to be brave to try out new things.’ I add.

   ‘Won’t I be a bother?’

   ‘Who cares? The most important thing is that whether you want to have fun or not! Well? what say you?’

   ‘Thank you for your invitation. I would love to join you.’

   ‘That’s more like it! Let’s go nuts next weekend or something.’

   ‘Um, that’s a bit too rushed-oh, some of the are coming out now.’

   That got our attention.

   ‘So, has she come out yet?’ I ask Kiyota-san.

   ‘Yes. That’s her.’

   Kiyota-san points at a female student who’s wearing the same uniform as her and Takeda. I could tell that Akanishi-san is a bright person from miles away even without Kiyota-san telling me her personality. People like her tend to radiates some kind of aura that gloomy people like me can somehow detect.

   ‘Well, wait here. I’ll go talk to her.’ I tell Kiyota-san.

   She shakes her head. ‘No. Please let me speak to her myself.’

   That caught me by surprise. ‘Are you sure?’

   ‘Yes.’ she answers with a determined look. ‘As you said, I have to be brave.’

   ‘Okay, then. Go ahead and good luck.’

   Kiyota-san walks towards Akanishi-san confidently. It’s like she was never a timid person.

   ‘Moe-chan.’ she calls out to her ex-girlfriend.

   The ex-girlfriend is understandably shocked to see Kiyota-san here.

   ‘Kaede? What are you doing here? Our parents-’

   ‘I don’t care about our parents!’ Kiyota-san shouts.

   Akanishi-san looks even more surprised. ‘Wha-?’

   ‘There isn’t a single day that passed by which I didn’t think of you ever since we had to break up. It’s just so painful. I hate it that we’re not being able to flirt with each other like we used to. Don’t you feel the same?’

   At first, I thought Akanishi-san is going to deny her true feelings, but she’s more honest than I thought.

   ‘Me too, Kaede. I love you too. And I want to be together with you.’

   ‘Then let’s go convince our parents.’ Kiyota-san says to her. ‘This time, we’re not going down without a fight.’

   ‘I admire your newfound courage and all, but what if they refuse to listen to us?’

   ‘I, um…’

   Kiyota-san looks at me helplessly.

   ‘Just keep on doing it. No matter how stubborn your parents are, I’m sure your feelings will get through if you’re sincere.’ I advise.

   ‘Right. That’s what we’ll do.’ Kiyota-san agrees firmly.

   ‘Well, I guess this is where we split up. We can’t have your parents know that we planted some weird ideas inside your head, after all.’ Takeda tells her.

   Kiyota-san bows at us. Akanishi-san follows suit.

   ‘Thank you very much for your help. Thanks to you, I finally have the courage to face my problems.’ Kiyota-san tells us.

   ‘I’m glad to be of help.’ I say to her.

   And so we split up, with Kiyota-san and Akanishi-san preparing themselves to meet their parents, and Takeda and I go to a ramen shop.

   ‘Man, you were so awesome back then. No wonder Ai always needs your help!’ Takeda tells me while we’re eating.

   ‘Nah, it’s honestly not a big deal. In the end, it’s up to them. I just gave them some advise that could be given by anyone.’

   ‘Not true. Like I said last night, I couldn’t have done the same thing as you did. So good job. You definitely earned tour bowl of ramen.’

   ‘Well, thanks I guess.’

   A few days later, Takeda came to the Yamamoto Canteen again. This time, she brought Kiyota-san and Akanishi-san along. I take it that Suzu told her my working schedule, or there’s no way she could guess the days I work twice in a row. More importantly, I could tell that things went well for the yuri couple since both of them look very happy.

   ‘Kaede was so awesome! Thoroughout the whole time we were talking, she didn’t flinch nor back down like she used to! She was firm and brave. Not at all like the timid girl I know.’ Akanishi-san begins.

   The person in question blushes. ‘You’re exaggerating. Moe-chan. I was freaking out a lot inside, you know.’

   ‘But you let the words out anyway, despite how scared you were.’

   ‘Did you ever found out why they wanted you to break up in the first place?’ I ask them.

   ‘Well, mine was afraid that my relationship with Moe-chan would affect my test results.’ Kiyota-san answers.

   ‘Mine said the same thing, except they were also worried that being in a relationship at our age is too early.’ Akanishi-san replies.

   ‘Which is why we convinced them to give us a chance. In the end, they agreed to let us continue our relationship so long as we’re being responsible and diligent.’ Kiyota-san continues.

   ‘From what I gathered, they weren’t bothered by the fact that both of us are girls at all. Guess we should have talked to them earlier.’ Akanishi-san concludes.

   ‘Well, good for the two of you. I’m real proud of ya!’ Takeda tells them.

   ‘It was nothing. We couldn’t have done it without the help from both of you.’ Kiyota-san says.

   ‘Actually, it was mostly you.’ Akanishi-san tells her girlfriend. ‘I’ve never seen you as brave as you were yesterday. It’s like you were a different person.’

   Kiyota-san brushes off the compliment. ‘Like I said, I had help from them.’

   ‘Come on, stop selling yourself short. You actually talked to a boy! I can’t imagine the old you doing the same!’

   Kiyota-san looks at me guiltily. ‘To be honest, I’m still nervous whenever I’m around you. I’m really sorry, Bandou-san.’

   ‘It’s fine. It’s not like you can help it.’

   After they’re done with their story, I leave them alone with Takeda and go back to work. Miyako-san wouldn’t have mind if I continued to hang out with them, but my conscience wouldn’t have allowed it.