Akira and I yawned at the same time, attracting the attention of everyone in the dining room. I tried making myself small, but that was impossible. My cheeks burned as I grabbed the cup.
"Late night, huh?" Akahito-san said, smirking.
"She interrogated me." Akira cocked his head and grinned.
"I didn't," I said at the same time Akahito-san hooted. "Okaa-san's not here. No need to be shy."
Akira waved a hand and laughed, looking at me. He mouthed, "You did."
I made a face and then continued eating. Really. This guy. I only asked a few questions, verifying whether he really wanted me to go or he was just appeasing me. Of course, Akira withheld his answers, and I had to coax it out of him.
Bringing up his ex-girlfriend opened him up. I asked if I offended him by calling her little. He laughed and cupped my face with his hands, pinching my cheeks.
"Reiko-senpai," he said with gritted teeth.
"What?" I bit my lips to keep the grin.
"You're unbelievable." He let my face go and sighed. "I don't—I said I don't want us to go because I thought you'd be uncomfortable with my ex there. I'd rather be here."
"But you want to go, right?" I asked.
He pursed his lips and stared at me. I had my answer then. I agreed to go with him—be his date as he declared. Then we got ready for bed. We lay there unmoving, staring at the ceiling, unable to sleep yet. Our words from that afternoon bounced back in my mind in an endless loop.
"Did you mean what you said about my friends?" I faced him, lying on my side.
"No." He met my gaze and scrunched his brows, twitching his lips. "Well, I was upset that you dislike my friends."
"Mayama-kun was rude." My gaze flicked upwards.
"But he was antagonizing me. Not you," he said firmly.
"You didn't mind when I spoke up to your brother." I glared at him.
Akira sighed. "That was different. Satoshi didn't mean harm."
Unable to think of a response, I averted my gaze, but he held my chin and made me face him. He added, "I'm sorry I kept quiet. He was just being Satoshi."
"Kazuya's being Kazuya." I clenched my jaw and fought the urge to roll my eyes.
"I know. I just…" He paused and let me go. "It seemed to me that he preferred your ex."
I let out a surly laugh. "He just likes competent guys."
Akira stayed silent, and the gravity of my words fell on me with a hard thud. My heart sank. I reached for his cheek. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean anything. I—"
"I know." He smiled, but it failed to reach his eyes.
I swallowed and stared at him, willing him to believe me. "You are competent. You are the best I know. You are adequate and bright."
And I like you. From the bottom of my heart. My chest gave a squeeze, and my throat began to burn.
"You're making me blush." He chuckled.
"I'm glad it worked because I'm only telling the truth." I inched closer and pressed a kiss to his mouth.
That kiss led to something more, igniting a fire and urgency in us, trying to catch the time we lost from bickering and to replace the pain we gave each other. Once our breathings synched and the euphoria died down, Akira held me close to him.
He began to tell me about his friends—their names, majors, quirks, and funny stories. We eventually fell asleep like that, disregarding the time. The alarm woke us up, and a warning bell rang in my head when I heard Mayuki-san's voice, bringing me back to the present.
"What time are you leaving?" she asked.
Oh, right, we still had to attend the reunion tonight. I glanced over at Akira as he confirmed the time, 17:00. I drank several gulps of water and rubbed my arms. There was plenty of time to doll up and prepare for the battle. It was time to bring out the heels.
Little Megu, here I come.