Ae Rin and Seo Yoon chatted with their friends for about 20 minutes.
After every 5 minutes, she looked around anxiously trying to spot Kyou.
"I wonder if something happened. He should have been here by now." She said as she looked around for the last time and finally spotted Kyou at the entrance along with his friends.
A smile spread across her face as she left the girls to their chatting and approached him.
"Hey, Kyou! Over here!" She waved from a distance as she walked towards him.
Kyou turned to look at Ae Rin and he was astounded when she noticed the girl approaching him.
She halted right infront him and smiled. Kyou eyed her top to bottom several times. Ae Rin noticed his actions and her smile faded, "Uh...do I look that bad...? Maybe this outfit doesn't suit me...."
"N-no! You look... very nice. It's just that I didn't see you like this before so it surprised me a bit." He smiled.
"Haha. Is that so..? You too, look good!" She smiled as she glanced at his attire.
"Ook...you guys can stop flattering each other now. We are gonna start playing games now, so get going already!" Seo Yoon popped out from behind excitedly and pushed Ae Rin and Kyou to the hall.
Seo Yoon stood at the centre of the hall with a mic in her hand.
"Alright, ladies and gentlemen, may I have your attention, please?" She smiled as all the guests turned to look at her and she continued, "Today is a very auspicious day for all us. We all have successfully graduated from highschool and are going to persue our dreams in future. Today we've gathered here to forget all our responsibilities and have an amazing party! And now...we are going to enjoy it to the extreme! Let's get on with the games, shall we?"
Everyone clapped, cheered and whistled as she finished her sentence.
Then she spoke up again, "Our first game will be truth or dare! The rules are simple; a bottle will be tossed. The cap of the bottle will be regarded as 'Question'' and the bottom will be 'Answer'. Everyone please gather around the table!" Seo Yoon pointed at a huge round table and the guests immediately scattered around the table and took their seats, including Kyou and Ae Rin who were sitting opposite to each other.
"Ok now... I will toss the bottle!" She said as she approached the table and tossed the bottle on it.
.....
.........
"Ok! We have got a questioner and an answerer here. Ayumi is the answerer and Nina is the questioner!" Seo Yoon pointed at Ayumi and another classmate.
"So...Which one will you choose? Truth or Dare?" Nina asked.
Everyone turned their attention to Ayumi and waited anxiously for her reply.
"I choose...Dare." Ayumi replied nervously.
"Very well then. I ask you to....stand up and shout ' I am the ugliest living being on the planet.' " Nina grinned widely.
Nobody expected any lesser from Nina. After all, she is the most playful and daring girl in their class. She is very cheerful and has lots of friends. She is also the most intelligent girl there.
Ayumi did as she was said to and everyone bursted out laughing. Her face was red in embarrassment as she sat on her chair.
After that, Seo Yoon spinned the glass bottle again.
"Ooo....this is certainly interesting..." she grinned.
The bottle slowly came to a halt and it was pointed at Ae Rin and Kyou!
They glanced at each other and turned to look at Seo Yoon. "Well...Kyou is the questioner and Rin is the answerer!"
"Truth or Dare?" Kyou asked.
"Truth" Ae Rin replied confidently.
At the corner of her eye, she noticed Nina with a devilish grin. Surely, it meant trouble.
Nina leaned towards Kyou, who was sitting right next to her, and whispered something in his ear.
Ae Rin became anxious and panic-striken when she saw what was going on but she acted calm and composed infront of everybody.
All of a sudden, Nina stood up and asked,
"He doesn't wanna ask it so he passed it on to me!...and... here's the question. Among the male students in our school, who do you think is the most comfortable to speak to? In other words, who is your only male friend?"
Everyone went "OOOOHHH!!" after listening to the question.
Ae Rin replied calmly in spite of the ruckus, "I don't really have that many male friends. As far as now, it's only Kyou."
She looked at Kyou, who was surprised at his name being called out.
"He the first? Wow....he might be special, huh?" Ayumi smiled teasingly.
Kyou heard her comment and smiled shyly.
After the several more rounds, the game was over and they played other games such as limbo, musical chairs and cards.
They enjoyed the party to their fullest and had lots of different flavoured drinks. Finally it came to an end and all of them parted ways.
Kyou and Ae Rin were walking home together in silence for about half of the way when Kyou finally halted and asked, "Say, why don't you have that many male friends? You are very popular, after all.."
Ae Rin stopped in her tracks and turned to look at Kyou.
"I don't differ people by gender. I differentiate between them by observing their behaviour. You don't follow me around like the others, and you don't hide your true self. You shout at me and scold me when needed...unlike the other people who support me even when I m at fault.." She smiled warmly.
Kyou was surprised.
"Am I...different to her?" the thought made him smile.