James' face, which was cold as usual, immediately reacted when he saw the black-haired woman wearing her academy uniform waving her hand and smiling broadly when she saw him. But in contrast to the woman's expression which looked happy, James's expression looked surprised, before finally turning into annoyance.
"This woman… really…" thought James, gritting his teeth.
He thought yesterday he had made it clear so that she wouldn't appear in front of him again, but instead of listening, she still came and greeted him as usual?
Even though he didn't want to be violent towards her at all, it seemed like he had to do it to let her know her place.
With long strides, James then approached Katherine.
"Come with me!" said James coldly and took Katherine's hand.
Katherine was a little taken aback by James' sudden tug on her wrist, but the next second she was grinning again.
Wasn't this her first skinship with James?
Did James finally melt with her sweet smile?
Actually, Katherine was a little annoyed when James ignored her yesterday and the day before, but right now she was really happy.
So when Luca, who always accompanied her, seemed to want to follow them, Katherine immediately stopped the man, saying that she was fine and Luca had to go to class immediately.
Meanwhile, the other students who saw the scene, gasped, they could only hope that Katherine would be okay.
***
After they were a little further away from the Faith Alive academy gates, James let go of his grip on Katherine's wrist. He felt a little guilty when he saw her wrist turn slightly red from being carried away by emotion and holding it too tightly, but James immediately ignored the feeling.
"You! Didn't I tell you to stay away from me? Why do you keep sticking like shit?!" James asked glaring at Katherine who looked… fine.
He thought Katherine was going to wince a little in pain from her red wrist, but was she all right?
James immediately shook his head, now was not the time to think about that.
"You think I was just joking yesterday?" James then stepped forward toward Katherine, then raised his hand, intending to frighten her, as he usually did.
"You think I don't dare to hit you because you're a woman?" snapped James in a voice that sounded cold, making ordinary women who heard it would immediately be frightened and cry, especially James' body looks muscular from frequent training.
However, Katherine remained where she was, not looking the least bit frightened.
"I like you."
Katherine's sudden words made James freeze in his place. He blinked his eyes because he couldn't believe what he was hearing.
"Why are you just silent? I said I like you," said Katherine who was a little saddened by James' response.
Well… she knew this confession was too casual and unromantic, but Katherine didn't know how to put the words together.
When her husband Javier confessed his love, he just said it like this, so that's what Katherine did right now.
"W-What are you saying?!" asked James who backed away a little when he heard that. Katherine also noticed his face was a little red and it looked cute. Katherine smiled subconsciously.
"You heard it clearly. I like you. How about it? Want to date me?" asked Katherine, following what her husband had said.
Well… Katherine actually wanted them to get married right away, but considering James was still a minor, it seemed like dating was fine too.
"W-What?" asked James who was surprised to hear that, before finally he immediately turned around and ran away from Katherine.
Katherine blinked when she saw James's reaction.
"What is this? Does that mean I was rejected?" thought Katherine, slightly sad . This was the first time she had confessed her feelings and she was rejected instead?
***
During the lesson, James looks unfocused. He kept remembering the incident this morning where the strange woman confessed her feelings. Luckily after he ran away, which by the way was pretty uncool on second thought, the class bell had rung so the strange woman didn't chase after him. However, for some reason he kept thinking about the strange woman's words and face.
"I like you. How about it? Want to date me?"
The strange woman's face could be said to be beautiful. She had beautiful eyes with dazzling rosy lips.
"What am I thinking?" thought James shaking his head and tugging at his hair in frustration. Why did he suddenly think of that woman?
Then… Why does his heart beat so fast when he thinks of that woman?
The sound of the bell ringing to signal lunchtime made James flinch in his seat.
"What should I do? Is she waiting for me outside?" thought James, becoming embarrassed. It seemed that he still couldn't meet that strange woman!
"..."
James finally turned his head towards the entrance when after a while he didn't hear the strange woman's voice that usually called out to him with a stupid smile.
"What's this? She didn't come?" James thought when he saw that Katherine wasn't showing up. He then quickly stood up and walked out of the classroom, thinking maybe Katherine was waiting for him from outside.
However, Katherine was nowhere to be seen either.
Suddenly, James began to feel that something was missing and was a little disappointed when he didn't find the woman who always appeared in front of him.
"Wait a minute. What is this? That strange woman said she liked me earlier, made me think about it all day, then suddenly she disappeared?! Is she playing with me?" thought James, starting to get annoyed.
He knew that his attitude this morning had been very uncool, but shouldn't she have heard his words first before deciding not to see him again?
Y-Yes! That's right! He was just taken aback this morning, that doesn't mean he can't come up with an answer!
"It can't be like this! She can't just leave after making me think about her all day!" James thought then stepped out to go see that strange woman in his class.
But James' footsteps suddenly stopped. He didn't know where the strange woman's class was and what's worse he didn't know the strange woman's name!
"Hey!" called James when a student passed by.
"Y-Yes!" said the student timidly.
"Do you know where that strange woman's class is, ahem, I mean the woman who always clings to me?!"
After knowing where the strange woman's class was, James went straight to it, he even ran a little.
However, when he got there, he didn't see the strange woman.
"Hey! You know where the woman who always clung to me went?!" James asked some of the students in the class. Although he still didn't know what the woman's name was, everyone would already know who he meant.
"..."
"Why are you guys silent?! You know who the woman I mean! She is in this class!" James snapped as everyone just stood still and looked away.
"Hey! You! You better speak up immediately!" said James who was now pointing at one student when they just remained silent and showed their fists.
"Y-Yes! Her name is Kate, and she…" the student sounded a little hesitant to say.
"Currently being carried by Mary and her friends!"