For today, Perci and I are going on a date.

If you told my past self about this, she would have never believed something like this could happen.

I was inside the dressing room, fitting on the one piece swimming suit I rented and looking at the mirror.

Because of my paranoia towards men, I wanted to wear something non-revealing.

Heh, with this full body swimsuit, no one is going to see my skin!

But….

"Ah jeez! The tightness of the suit makes my curves stick out too much!" I said. 

My breasts and thighs were squeezing on the suit!

"I'm jealous! I wish I could have a body like yours, Ori!" Agnes looked admirably.

"I-It's no big deal!" 

"There's literally two big deals on your chest!" Agnes said, drawing the shape of my breasts with her fingers.

"H-hey! Stop fooling around! That's not funny!"

I took a peek at the swimming pool. 

Ugh….I don’t feel like going out.

“Have some confidence in your body, Ori!” Agnes pushed me outside.

“Whoa-woah!”

I looked at my surroundings. There were people staring at me….

“Hey…isn’t that girl pretty sexy?”

“Nice body!”

“Woah damn! What a hot babe!”

I nervously walked towards the swimming pool, fully aware of the male gazes that stared at me. There was even someone who whistled at me…..

T-this is embarrassing…I’m scared.

How is this possible? I’m not even wearing a bikini!

A group of boys tried to approach me, but Perci called out to me.

“Ori!” 

“Ah damn, she’s taken by him?” one of them muttered.

“Perci….”

I tried to walk towards Perci, but I slipped on the wet floor.

“Wah!”

“Watch out!”

Perci reacted quickly and caught me. I felt my breasts land on his chest and I blushed.

“A-ah….sorry….”

“It’s fine. Just be careful next time.”

“R-right.”

“What’s wrong? You look uncomfortable.”

“W-well it’s just that…”

I looked around at the people who were staring at me.

“Oh, I forgot. You’re not comfortable around men.”

I nodded embarrassingly.

“Don’t mind them. Just look into my eyes. You’re safe with me.”

I looked into his indigo eyes….and started to calm down just a little.

Agnes looked at me from afar with a thumbs up.

“Let’s go hop in the pool, shall we?” Perci said.

We jumped into the water and had some fun.

“Ahh…so refreshing!” I said.

“Ori.”

“Yes? What is it?”

“It’s good to see you so happy….” Perci smiled looking in another direction.

“Heh. I guess. You look pretty satisfied yourself.”

I noticed that Perci seemed to be trying hard not to look at me. Either by looking up or to the side.

“Hey, why aren’t you looking at me?” I asked.

“Well, you see….”

Perci scratched his head and blushed.

“I can’t really say it..”

“Just spit it out!”

“I-It’s your body….you have a great body…but as a gentleman, I can’t look,” Perci said.

I noticed that Perci was covering something down at the center of his shorts with his hands…..something rising….Don’t tell me!

“Y-you!” 

I splashed water on him and sunk down, creating bubbles with my mouth.

“Sorry, I’m still a guy after all….it’s not really something I can control.”

“I-It’s okay…….I’m just very surprised.”

Why does it feel ok if it’s with Perci?! I think I have some sort of double standard…

Perci splashed himself with water, closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

“Ok, it’s calmed down now.”

“Um….do you have any perverted thoughts about me?”

“I will be honest. I do.”

“I-Is that so?” I looked away flustered.

“But as a gentleman, I do not entertain such thoughts,” Perci said.

I see…boys will be boys. 

I’m starting to think I judge men too harshly. Maybe….I should be more understanding.

If it were past me, I would have lost my shit.

Throughout my entire journey with him, it’s almost like Perci’s been teaching me in some way. That men aren’t all that bad. And that gender doesn’t define one’s morals.

I looked at Perci once again and tapped his shoulder.

“I-It’s ok for you to look….but look respectfully.”

“Um…okay. How does one look respectfully?” Perci tilted his head.

I don’t know the answer either…

“Woohoo!” Agnes jumped on the pool, which made a big splash on Alex in the process.

Alex looked annoyingly at Agnes.

“Ah…sorry..”

He returned an even bigger splash towards Agnes.

“Hey!” Agnes complained.

“You started it.”

Both of them proceeded to splash at each other…and the rest started to follow suit.

"Hehe, let's join in," I said.

We all had an all-out splash war and had a fun time….

I had completely forgotten about my anxiety.

After swimming at the pool, Perci and I sat at the bar for some drinks.

The panda mascot at the bar showed off some flair moves, flipping it around as he mixed some cocktails for us.

He served us the drinks and we clapped our hands.

The panda made a heart shape with his hands and pointed at the two of us.

“A-Ah! We’re not actually lovers! Tell him Perci!” I said.

“Huh? Oh yeah. We’re not in a relationship,” Perci said.

The panda facepalmed itself and shook its head.

I caught Perci’s eyes and looked away twirling my hair.

Could I really be in a relationship with him?

“Hey! Did you bump me on purpose?!” Bryce yelled behind us.

“N-no! I didn’t mean to! I’m very sorry! Sorry! Very sorry!” Dustin said and kneeled on the ground.

“Are you sure about that?!” Bryce grabbed Dustin’s collar.

“EEEEK!”

“Now, now….calm down, Bryce!” Lucio went in between them. “He already apologized so it shouldn’t be a big deal, right?”

“But…”

“Right?”

“Tsk. Fine.”

“Get up, Dustin,” Lucio said, picking Dustin up.

“T-thanks…”

“Why don’t we all talk this out somewhere else? Wouldn’t want to disturb anyone right?”

The three boys left peacefully. 

Bryce took a look at me, then clicked his tongue.

“Tsk.”

“Bryce….he wasn’t like this when he was my boyfriend,” I whispered to Perci.

“What was he like before?” Perci said.

“He used to be kind and sweet to everyone. But now, he seems more agitated and aggressive.”

“By any chance, do you know why?”

“I think it had something to do with me. He was actually in love with someone else when we were dating. I didn’t know at the time, so I confessed to him and he accepted my feelings. Perhaps because he was too soft-hearted to reject me at the time. All while keeping his love for someone else a secret.”

“So why is he the one angry at you? Shouldn’t it be the other way around?”

“It was the moment I found out he was having an affair with his true crush, who was from another school. I broke up with him and told the girl. He lost both of us….and he blames me as being the person who ruined his love life.”

“What a bitter guy. I wish he could take a look at himself before blaming others.”

“That’s right…perhaps that incident is what led him to be that way.”

Later….we ate lunch back at the restaurant. Still just the two of us.

Agnes looked at me from afar and did another thumbs-up. She seemed to be sitting along and happily chatting with Alex and his companions. Were they always that close?

"Ori…"

"Yes?"

"Say ah."

Perci held a french fry and pointed it towards my mouth.

"Ah….W-Wait a minute! Why are you feeding me?" I said.

"Huh? Isn't that normal? Don't people do that on dates sometimes?"

"Well….um…."

"I'm just kidding. I thought it would be funny to feed you."

"Ah, jeez! You're teasing me again!" I said.

"Sorry, I can't help it. I like seeing that cute pouting face of yours," Perci grinned.

"P-Perci…that's how you wanna play, huh?"

I ate the french fry he was holding, then captured his fingers with my lips and licked them with my tongue.

"O-Ori…" Perci looked slightly embarrassed.

The look on his face was enough to satisfy me.

"Ha! H-How do you like that?!" I said.

Awkward silence……

Ok…I actually regret doing that….Jeez, why did I do that?! Idiot me.

I looked away.

"Pfft."

Perci and I had a laugh and we started eating our meal.

After lunch, we played a few games of  chess.

"Checkmate," Perci said.

"Damn! How are you so good at this?" I held my head.

"My grandfather taught me. He's fond of playing it. I think he used to be a grandmaster or something…."

"I wish I could meet your grandpa…."

I can't fathom how cool his grandpa is.

"Let's play again!" I slammed the table.

"We've been playing for hours now. You're looking rather stressed, so let's look for something else to do."

"Hmph, fine!"

I never won a single match against him, so I'm kind of salty.

In the evening, we spent one hour working out at the gym.

"You can do it, Ori! Last rep! Push!" Perci hyped me up.

Even the panda started cheering me on, jumping up and down and flexing its arms.

"Krrrrrgh!" I pushed on the leg press with all my strength.

"I-I did it!"

"Great job, Ori."

"Jeez…I'm sweating so much…do I smell bad?"

"Nope. I don't know how, but your body odor smells good."

"R-Really?" I said, sniffing my armpits. "I don't get it."

"I don't either, I guess you'll have to take my word for it," Perci sniffed the air.

"Weirdo…"

He said I smelled good…..

After eating dinner, Perci escorted me back to my room.

"Good night, Perci."

"Good night, Ori. Um, wait."

"What is it?"

Perci looked like he wanted to say something, but he stopped himself.

"Nevermind…sweet dreams."

"It was a nice date…Perci."

Perci smiled and nodded.

I closed the door and locked it.

I'm curious. What was he planning to tell me?

I took a nice hot shower and reflected on what happened today.

Hanging out with Perci…it felt like one of the best days of my life. I want to experience it again. Being with him.

The very first time I met him, I was furious at him for disrupting my suicide attempt. I couldn't bring myself to like him. I was hostile and suspicious.

Look at me now, thankful that he saved me from death. He became someone I could be close with overtime. 

Am I really falling for him?

I got out of the shower and went to bed.

Before I could fall asleep, someone knocked on the door.

Ugh…I'm tired…

I sluggishly got up from the bed and went towards the door.

Someone had inserted a letter under the door.

I looked at the letter and read the contents.

Meet me at the rooftop tonight…I have something I want to tell you….

- Perci

N-No way….is this a confession?