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"I thought Hinako was supposed to be the school hero."

 

 

 

 

Naora had very few places she could go to relax. There were even less places that were of any sentimental value. However, there was one location that was special to her. A place she always could go if she was feeling blue and needed to be cheered up.

 

The KFC on Kappabashi Street.

 

Her mom may have been a con artists constantly trying to succeed and always one step ahead of her creditors. For all her many faults, she never failed to treat her daughter to KFC on Christmas. The one they would go to every year, by hook or by crook, was on Kappabashi Street. It wasn't that one for any particular reason, other than it was the first one that Hotaru brought her daughter to and ever since then, they would go to the very same KFC every year, one way or another.

 

Of course, afterwards mom would abandon Naora with a neighbor and try her luck at hooking up with someone, but at least the early afternoon meal with mom was nice. This particular KFC was the place that had the happiest memories Naora had. That particular thought is its own brand of sad, but it wasn't something Naora would dwell on.

 

Naora was sitting in the upper level of the restaurant. It had an upper deck that overlooked the main dining area as well as had an excellent view out the large bay windows. It occupied a corner on a side street so you could, from the second floor, look down the street and see all the glitz and flashy store signs that lined the area. It was a very popular shopping area as well as eating strip, so if one wanted to get lost in a crowd, it was easy to do here. In many ways, popular destinations have a sense of beauty all their own.

 

Naora was not sitting near the window enjoying the view. She was sitting in the back, behind a large plastic plant, drowning her sorrows in a bucket of extra crispy with a side of buttermilk biscuits and gravy.

 

After her fight with Hinako, all of Naora's followers went nuts. They did nothing but sing her praises and talk about how awesome she was every miserable step she took. Only Midori had an idea what was really going on, and she was trying hard to get everyone else to back off. Eventually Naora snapped at everyone, got in her car, and drove off with only Kagi and Midori in tow. After driving aimlessly for a half hour, they wound up here.

 

Naora eating alone up top, her two bodyguards watching from downstairs.

 

Wincing at hearing Kingo's voice, Naora slowly looked up to see him standing there with a shopping bag in hand. She gently touched the side of her forehead where she felt a migraine starting to form, "I do not need-"

 

Kingo held up his hands defensively and spoke quickly to cut her off, "Hey! Truce? I'm on your side?" He gave her a weak smile and backed off slightly, turning to give her a side profile as if he was worried she might start throwing things, "I saw you sitting up here and wanted to check on you."

 

Naora looked around to double check the fact that she was as hidden from casual observers as possible, then narrowed her eyes to look back at Kingo, "You 'saw' me? How?" She dropped her half eaten biscuit on her tray in annoyance, "We're miles from school and it's not possible you saw me from the street, so that leaves you are following me."

 

Kingo slid into the seat across from her uninvited while putting his bag under his seat in the process, "Actually, I just figured that considering how bad things went today, you'd go to the one happy place in the entire city." He hooked a thumb over his shoulder, "It would be kind of hard to follow you what with the fact I came here by bus."

 

Naora looked confused, "I thought you had a minivan." She stated in an accusatorial tone.

 

Kingo looked confused right back, "My MOM has a minivan and I sometimes borrow-" He paused in thought, "I haven't driven that since..." He paused again before continuing with a tone of dawning realization, "You've been having Toshi followed." He nodded as if confirming this to himself, "That makes sense."

 

Naora took a drink from her soda then put it down on the table a bit harder then she needed to causing a drop of liquid to shoot out and arc though the air between them, "You're one to talk. I keep getting reports on how you are stalking me."

 

Kingo gave her a half smile as he leaned against the wall casually, "I prefer to think of it as watching you longingly, but hey. I guess I'm more of a romantic than you."

 

"I don't recall inviting you to join me, so if you would be so kind as to-" Naora was reaching for her phone when Kingo cut her off again

 

"Ten minutes!" Kingo exclaimed as reached to grab the phone from her, but stopped just short. He instead spread his hand out wide, "Five." He wiggled that many digits at her imploringly, "Give me five minutes. Please."

 

Naora stared at him, then finished pulling out her phone. She stabbed it a few times bringing up a stopwatch function before slamming her phone down on the table. The function has already started counting down, "You got five. Make it count."

 

Kingo looked relieved, "Okay! Okay..." He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, then opened them again to look Naora straight in the eye, "Toshi doesn't love you."

 

Naora's eyes narrowed as her nostrils flared, "Just so you know, when your five minutes is up, I'm going to break your jaw."

 

Kingo held up a finger with both hands as he continued, "Hear me out. PLEASE." Naora let out an angry huff and crossed her arms as she glared at Kingo. She might have been trying to size up the best place to stab him, but she wasn't interrupting him either. Kingo relaxed a little, "I don't love you, either." Naora blinked a few times rapidly, then her head slowly tilted to the side as if a different angle might make more sense.

 

"I've been doing a lot of reading. Trying to figure out what love is." Kingo looked down at his own hands, apparently unable to look Naora in the eye anymore, "We both think we love you, but we don't, for different reasons." He started to make small gestures as he spoke, "Toshi knows you. He knows who you are and what you are, but he doesn't like what you are." Kingo touched his finger tips together as he composed his thoughts, "He has fallen in love with the idea of who you might become, not who you are now."

 

Naora straightened up a bit, "Go on." she said in a noncommittal fashion.

 

Kingo glanced up, "I am in love with the Naora that might have been. I-" He tapped the side of his head, "Had my week of crazy and in that week I had a whole life with you. But..." He drew in a shuttering breath and looked back at his hands, "That version of you doesn't exist any more. I fell in love with the ghost of Naora."

 

Naora blinked and slowly unfolded her arms, "That's... kind of sad, but I'm glad you recognize it."

 

Kingo nodded once, "Thank you." then swallowed before continuing, "I don't know you, but I think I would like to get to know you." He wiped at the sweat starting to form on his brow with the back of his hand, "Yes. I guess I have been stalking you. I needed to, in order to figure this all out." He tapped the side of his head, "You aren't the ghost I loved." He glanced up again, "But there are many similarities."

 

Kingo gestured around, "You like KFC." He looked her directly in the eye, "Do you like playing Super Mario Brothers because you think plumbers are cool?" Naora looked shocked and nodded in confirmation. His smile grew wider as his tone grew bolder, "Do you prefer orange cats over black ones because the orange ones are way more fatter?"

 

Naora snorted, "Well, DUH. I know most people like black cats because they are lucky but I think big squishy orange tabbies are so much cooler." She suddenly pulled her head back in a short jerk as she realized she had let her guard down, even if it was for a moment.

 

Kingo leaned in closer, "I'm not sure if you like wearing dresses, but I think you'd look great in lavender."

 

Naora broke eye contact, "It's not that I don't like them. I just couldn't... afford them." She scratched the back of her neck as she looked out the nearest window, "But yeah, it is a nice color." She froze when she heard the sound of crinkling plastic. She looked out of the corner of her eye at Kingo to catch him pulling a large box out of his shopping bag.

 

Kingo offered Naora a simple cardboard package tied up with string, "Here."

 

Naora looked at the plain box with some trepidation, pulled on the string to undo the slipknot, then opened it up to look inside. Pushing aside the packing paper, she partially pulled out a lavender Yukata dress with the very same flower on it as the repeating floral pattern. She gently fondled the sleeve as a soft smile spread across her face. She enjoyed the texture for several seconds before checking the tag on the collar. Abruptly she looked up at Kingo with narrow eyes, "How do you know my dress size?"

 

Kingo shrugged, "Good guesser?" He offered as an explanation.

 

She looked at the dress again, then back up at him, "This is both creepy and lovely at the same time. But..." She ran a finger along the collar while a wistful look briefly appeared on her face. She seemed in conflict about what to do. It was as if part of her wanted to close the box and toss it back at him right in his face, whereas the other part of her wanted to take it into the bathroom to try on right this second. As she contemplated these two choices...

 

 

The timer beeped.

 

 

Both of them looked down at her phone.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Both of them looked up at each other.