"That was a lot funner than I expected." It was getting late, so Kouij and Waa were ready to call things a night and head back to the hotel. "Honestly, thanks for that." The two of them were in high spirits as they walked on the sidewalk. However, this walk would be quite a drag considering the distance they were from there, along with the quickly dropping temperature.
At least it would've been were it not for a convenient attraction that was about to pass them. A carriage stopped by, pulled by a person who was almost finished with their shift. The two of them paid for the services, something that was also convenient for the person since they were heading towards the hotel anyway.
At a brisk pace, they were pulled down the road as the sun set. The street lights began to illuminate the roads, while the stars lit up the night sky. The wheels churned under them, the squeaking provided a small amount of white noise as they conversed.
"Looks like this will be a great way to finish off the night." Waa leaned back into her seat to relax a bit. The girl never would've thought that a stupid mistake would've turned out to be so amazing for her.
"Yeah." He chuckled. "Maybe the two of us should do stuff like this more often. Alone too, so the others don't get things messed up." Her eyes opened wide when she heard that suggestion. Sure, he was making it in jest. Referring to his currently situation with Himawari and Teru, as well as how the girls always got him into unwanted positions.
"You really think so?" She asked with a serious expression.
"Is something wrong?" He took note of the change in mood. "I figured you'd be cool with the idea."
"Well, what do you think about me?" She asked. "You know, we only know each other because of that tutoring gig you got."
"…" Kouji mulled over her question. He couldn't tell where this was coming from. This girl never took anything seriously, so why now? "Forget about why or how we met. All that matters is that we're friends. I wouldn't have come here if we weren't." He answered after considering his own feelings.
"Really..." Her heart tightened at hearing the word, 'friend', in reference to their relationship. It's not that it was a bad thing to hear, but her feelings knew that it wasn't enough for her. After the high she had from all the fun they had, she desired more. No, it wasn't the games they played she wanted. It was him.
But how could she ever possible think he'd feel the same way? Waa wasn't a dense girl. She can tell with the way he spoke to certain girls, the way they talked back to him. He had already been confessed to. In fact, it appeared that more than one had made their feelings clear. That was probably her only saving grace, that he was the type of not make up his mind very quickly.
"The stars look nice tonight." She changed the subject, but was aware that their little bit of time alone would be coming to an end. The sky was clear and it was a new moon. So all the little stars filled their eyes with their tiny bits of sparkles.
"They really are beautiful." He took the time to admire the view, something that he had grown to appreciate thanks to Isako. "I never thought you were the type to care about this kind of stuff."
"Screens aren't the only thing that light up my eyes." She told him. "Even I know how to stop for a second and appreciate a view."
"With how often you blast your music, could've fooled me."
"Because I don't care to talk to people." Waa never cared to make many friends in her life. Mostly, because she believed them to be a waste of time. "No one ever seems to be any fun."
"That's because you're not giving them a chance." His statement caught her off-guard. She turned her head towards him, pondering what was going on in his mind. "I used to despise you, and I still get annoyed with your antics. But the truth is, I'm glad that I was forced to get to know you. So don't take issue that the only reason we know each other is because of my position."
"Thanks." They were nearly back to the hotel. It would only be a few minutes before they returned back to the rest of the group. Waa was running out of time, and with the way he was acting. She was ushered to make a move she'd never consider doing until now.
Silently, she leaned into him. Well, given her short stature, it was more like getting up to reach his face. For a little bit, he didn't notice until the nervous breathing from the girl entered his ears. When he turned to look over to her, he saw just how close she had inched towards him. She got up on her knees to be level with his face, which was now at an uncomfortable closeness. There was only the mere separation of an inch between them.
"What are you doing?" He leaned slightly back from here. This was far from the Waa he was used to. "If this is some dumb-" He was silenced as she made her move. The girl made her feelings clear to him as they locked lips. With her poor diet, Kouji would've figured she would taste badly. That was far from the case as he felt her soft lips touch his.
His heart was filled with mixed messages from his brain, and mixed feelings. This was Waa's confession. One that he never would've considered when they first met, but the boy had changed a lot in the past few months. It would've been easy to push her off if this wasn't what he wanted. Yet that wasn't what he did. Instead, he did the opposite as he returned this kiss too. The feeling in their kiss was not one-sided.
Slowly, she backed away from their tender kiss. The two of them stared the other in the eye in near silence outside of their breathing. Waa's cheeks turned rosy, one of the very few times he had ever seen her so vulnerable. A slight that would make any boy his age fall, even for a girl like her.
"I'm not the only one, am I?" She broke more than their silence with that statement.
"I'm sorry." He replied with sorrow in his voice. "But, I just don't know what to say." Her suspicions were confirmed with those words. The girl knew how relieve him of his pain.
"Don't worry." He couldn't believe how composed she was after that display. Though, that was thanks to how good she was at hiding her heart racing from their passionate kiss. Composed was the farthest thing she wanted to be. "I have an idea."
"You do?" He was bewildered as to what her suggestion could possible entail. If she were to declare herself a rival to the other two, then things would get a lot messier what he was already going through.
"I'll tell you when we get inside." She pointed over with her head that they had arrived to their destination. "Come on, let's go." The two of them thanks their ride as they got off the carriage. Now they made their way towards the lobby.
"You really don't have to hold my hand." He informed her. Kouji took her hand to help her down from the carriage, but she refused to let go of him. It was the first time she had ever held a boy's hand, and she was going to take advantage of the old trope in anime. That this was the most lewd thing she had ever done... Not by herself at least.
"It's fine." She told him. "Besides, they need to see this." It was no surprise to her to see Himawari and Teru standing, waiting for their arrival.
"You really don't need to hold my hand!" He spoke now with urgency in his voice. Those two glared at him as he let go of the grip the small girl had on him. "Ahem." He fake coughed as he prepared to speak to the pair. "H-ey, how was y-your time at the… At the restaurant?" His attempt to play it cool was horrendous. From his point-of-view, his relationships were about to crumble before his very eyes.
The two of them were silent as they looked at both him and Waa. Their silence was killing him as the boy sweated bullets.
How were they going to react to this?