The blazing sun cast its bright rays across the window, illuminating the dimly lit room with its glow. A few black trash bags were neatly aligned around the corner and a tall clear glass display featuring figurines of various characters from video games, anime and other media was nestled beside it.

The walls also had multiple posters depicting illustrations of a tall black haired boy wearing a worn out straw hat. He had a thin physique and was clad in a red open long sleeve shirt but is shirtless underneath. His chest had a large X scar on it and he also wore blue pants with white wool on the hem and wooden sandals.

The blonde sat on a couch appearing to be in deep thought and the black haired girl sat beside her, fiddling with her phone while the brunette was lying down on a black and red bed, playing a game on her handheld console.

“Lets start with the basics.” Eiko cleared her throat and turned to Inaba. “You said that you like Takeda-san but what do you like about him?.”

“Hmm.” Inaba placed her phone on the night stand beside the couch and cupped her chin. 

What did I like about him?

She thought long and hard on things that she liked about Ujisato Takeda.

Nothing came to her mind at all as she has just saw him once during a practice game where he effortlessly caught the baseball that was going to hit the orange haired girl beside him on the bleachers.

“I really can’t think of anything.” Inaba sheepishly chuckled to herself while scratching the back of her head.

“Nothing?” Eiko asked, curious.

“Yeah, nothing.”

“How did you even liked him in the first place then?”

“I honestly don’t know myself either.” Inaba shook her head. “He’s the first person that came to my mind but I think he’s cool since he stopped the baseball in mid air.”

“I see.” Eiko nodded to herself. It must take a certain kind of skill to catch something that’s moving really fast. “Ok, lets start a demonstration then. Imagine that you’re meeting Takeda-san once again and I’ll pretend to be him.”

The black haired youth slapped both of her cheeks to psych herself up to do it. After that, she felt that she can take on any challenge now.

“I’m ready.”

Eiko inhaled and exhaled for a few times before visualizing herself into her role.

“Takeda-kun.” The black haired girl said with bated breath, avoiding eye contact. “A-a-are you free after school?”

“Motoyama?” Eiko raised a brow and looked at her with a menacing look on her face. “Yeah. Why do you ask?”

“I have something important to tell you.” Inaba glanced at the boy in front of her and still avoiding eye contact. She also began to twiddle with her fingers as her nervousness was soaring at an all time high and felt that her cheeks were becoming more flustered than usual.

“Motoyama-san looks so lovely today.” Shigure interjected, pretending to brush her hair backwards with an imaginary comb.

“W-Who are you supposed to be?” The blonde asked, surprised as she didn’t anticipate this new character to suddenly appear.

“I’m Kaneda.” Shigure explained as she placed the imaginary comb in her pocket and pointed her finger directly on the blonde’s face. “Motoyama-san will be mine!”

“Hold on a second.” Inaba paused, gesturing a stop sign to both of them. “Who’s this Kaneda guy and why am I meeting a delinquent version of Takeda-kun?”

“I figured that if he was like that you’ll find the strength to speak up immediately.” Eiko stated in a gentle tone of voice. “I’ve also based him on one of my favorite characters from the book I’ve read last week.”

“He’s Takeda-kun’s rival for your heart.” The brunette replied and gestured a thumbs up sign. “He’s also the one that loves you the most.”

“Jeez.” Inaba sighed and stood up as sitting for hours really strains the butt. “How would I know that Kaneda loves me when I haven’t even met him before?”

“He’s an obsessive stalker type of guy but he’s only loyal to you.” Shigure explained.

“Alright. Let’s try it with Shigure, this time.” Eiko interposed.

Inaba inhaled and exhaled to get herself in position. She looked at the person in front of him with the same anxious expression earlier and fiddled with her fingers.

“Takeda-kun.” She called out with a gentle tone.

“Oh, its you.” Shigure had a monotonous look on her face and appeared to be disinterested. “I received your letter inside my locker, Motoyama-san.”

“For a long time, I admired you from a distance and-“

Inaba was cut off when Shigure placed a finger on top of her lips. This surprised her and her eyes widened in response.

“Shhh…” Shigure uttered. “I love you too, Motoyama-san.”

The brunette then cupped both of Inaba’s cheeks and slowly leaned her face close to initiate a kiss.

“Wait a minute.” Inaba pushed Shigure away, breaking the hold from her cheeks. “That was too fast.”

Shigure cupped her chin and her other hand was placed on her hip.

“You’re right. I almost scared myself as I did that.”

She then turned to Eiko who was sparkling with excitement at what was happening.

“You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?”

“Of course. The tense atmosphere coupled with a sudden aggressiveness from the guy. This looks just like a scene from the novel, Anxious Heart.” Eiko exclaimed.

“It looks like both versions of Takeda-kun is too aggressive for me.” Inaba shook her head as she sighed heavily. “Will I be spending this break with the both of you once again?” 

“Don’t give up just yet, Inaba.” Eiko stood up. “I’m sure we’ll find a way to cure your disease.”

Disease?

Inaba planted a bemused look on her face after hearing the word from her blonde haired friend.

“What do you mean by that, Eiko? I’m perfectly healthy.”

“I’m not referring to that, silly. What I meant is your mental ability.” the blonde youth placed her hand on Inaba’s shoulder and there were fierceness on her eyes as she looked at her. “We can still do this.”

But the problem was how were they going to do it?

They were going nowhere with their impromptu demonstration as it provided no help at all.

However, they decided to pause it for a while as their stomach began to grumble.

Eiko remembered that she had received a voucher from one of the maids yesterday. They said that her father distributed it after he arrived home from a business meeting. 

She picked up her purse from the night stand and took it out.

The voucher was for a family restaurant located in East Yokaharu. She had been at this restaurant before with her parents and they served them with an outrageously expensive bottle of wine once.

“What if we eat here?” Eiko presented the voucher to the two. “The food is really good there and its just beside the market district.”

Inaba examined the voucher thoroughly and noticed that it was good for three people, which was perfect but for them to use it. they must select items from a certain selection on the menu.

“Shall we head there now?” Shigure asked. “I’m starving.”

_

The restaurant had an elegant and classy feel to it. The light colors evoked a leisurely and relaxing atmosphere that made them an excellent choice for upscale customers.

Both Inaba and Shigure were stunned as they arrived inside. They thought that it was just another famous restaurant but they didn’t expect it to be this grand.

“Are you sure that we’re on the right place? We could’ve made a mistake.” Inaba stated as everywhere she looked around, the customers inside were clad in a business casual attire while the three of them were dressed in their day to day outfits.

Shigure took out the voucher from her sweater pocket and looked at the logo on the upper left.

“This is the place as there’s no other establishments like this in this district.”

“It feels kind of embarrassing that we’re not appropriately dressed.”

“Relax.” Eiko responded, trying to calm both of her friends down. “The staff said that it was fine.”

The blonde then gazed at the tall black haired man clad in a tuxedo with a look that says, you better agree or else.

“Y-Yes, it’s t-totally fine.” The staff replied in agreement, stammering in his words. He knew that its best not to argue with her as he remembered that she was the child of their most valued client who supplies them with high class ingredients. “Now then, let me escort you to your table.”

They sat on the table that was designated for them and the staff took out a small notepad from his vest pocket, along with a ballpoint pen.

Inaba picked up the menu and scanned it. It had a selection of four categories: appetizers, salads, entrée and dessert.

It also listed down the names of the dishes along with the ingredients that were used in making it. However, as she looked at the price…

A steak costs this much?

Naturally, the prices of the meals were a bit too much for Inaba and Shigure’s budget and it would leave them eating cup noodles for the whole month but since Eiko assured them that she’ll be the one who’s going to pay for it. They can eat whatever they want.

The staff took down their orders and left to relay it back to the kitchen.

“So what if Takeda-san invites you to eat in this place?” Shigure asked suddenly, she wanted to know whether Inaba would accept or reject the offer.

“I really don’t think he’ll invite me in this place, you know.” Inaba replied. “He doesn’t look like the type that would eat here.”

“How would you know that?”

“I just know it.”

“Yeah, right musclehead.” Shigure retorted. “As if you would know.”

Inaba glared at the brunette and her gaze was like a thousand daggers that are ready to pierce their target.

“Ok, ok.” Shigure giggled to herself. “I’m sorry.”

“This is a fine place, is it not?” Eiko interjected. “Perfect for dates.”

“It is but.” Inaba shook her head. “My wallet wont be able to handle it.”

“Makes sense.” Eiko agreed. She then saw the staff come back with a tray containing food.

He placed plates with small portions in front of them, much to Inaba and Shigure’s dismay. After that, he left to assist other customers with their orders.

“It’s kind of small, don’t you think?” The brunette commented as her plate contained a small amount of salmon with flakes on top and underneath it was a green square bar that looked soft and moist. Beside it was a line of red sauce with parts that seemed to be from a fruit.

“What you see in front of you is a masterpiece of a chef, Shigure.” Eiko sliced a portion of the steak on her plate and took a bite of it.

_

After lunch, the three girls traversed along the concrete pavement to walk off the meal. Using the voucher that she received from her father, the bill was lessened and it didn’t put a large strain on the blonde’s wallet.

“That steak I had was presented so nicely, it looked like an art piece. I felt so sad that I had to eat it.” Inaba said. 

Truly, when the presentation of a plate is top-notch, it would be a crime to eat such a beauty.

“It’s actually a shame that its so expensive. If it were much cheaper, I would’ve eaten there all the time.” Shigure commented.

“Well… If you’re going to go there all the time, you might want to work on the black bags under your eyes first, vampire.”

Eiko began to laugh at what Inaba said. “If you really look at Shigure closely, she does resemble a vampire that had just awoken after slumbering for centuries.”

“Not you too, Eiko!” Shigure exclaimed as she didn’t expect that the blonde would join in teasing her along with Inaba. “Alright, if I somehow become hot, I’ll make you eat those words!”

“Sure, sure. I’ll believe that when I see pigs flying in the sky.” Inaba stated, still reeling from laughter.