We're currently at a cafe, and we're all exhausted. We tried several things to break this curse, but nothing worked. But we got some information on how this curse works. For example, the distance only applies horizontally. I tried going up to the top floor of a 200-meter building while Ueno-san stayed on the ground floor. Then we tried another test. We can't go into vehicles unless we both enter at the same time.
[SE]"I'm tired."
[EK]"Maybe you're both going to be stuck together with your entire life."
[Y]"Please stop with the jokes."
[EK]"I'm not joking."
[K]"I mean, after all the tests we did, it's hard to be optimistic."
[A]"I'm with Katsu and Endo-san here."
[UH]"Let's try out other tests then."
[EK]"It's almost dark. Let's call it a day."
[UH]"You can't be serious. I mean, there's school tomorrow."
[EK]"What else can we do? We're all tired. Let's continue it some other day."
[UH]"I guess you're right. I'm also exhausted, but I want to get this curse off."
[EK]"Try to bear with it for a couple of days. We'll try to find a solution to this soon enough."
[SE]"Okay, shall we head home then?"
[K]"Yeah, let's talk about this tomorrow."
[EK]"Agreed."
[A]"See you tomorrow."
[Y]"Yeah, see you."
We all went on our way back home.
[EK]"Now, who's in charge of dinner this time?"
[Y]"I'll do it."
[SE]"Are you sure you don't want takeouts?"
[EK]"It's better when it's homemade."
[Y]"Speaking of dinner, let's drop by the convenience store to get some ingredients."
[EK]"Oh, sure."
[SE]"Let me pay for it."
[Y]"You're already letting us stay at your place. Paying for it is the least I could do to repay you."
[SE]"No, I insist."
[EK]"Just let her pay. She won't stop until she does."
[Y]"Fine..."
[SE]"That's more like it."
[Y]"I was wondering. Why didn't Maeda-san join us?"
[EK]"Oh, Rei, she said she had some things to deal with, but I'm pretty sure she was lying. What about Fukuda-san. He also didn't come."
[Y]"Well, he doesn't know about this whole shenanigan, and I think he's still hung up on Maeda-san's answer. So, we decided not to."
[EK]"Oh, I see."
[Y]"By the way, you can call me Yami. Matsuda is too long to say."
[EK]"Then you can call me Kotone too."
[SE]"Me too. You can call me Ena."
[Y]"Is it okay?"
[SE]"Yeah, it's fine. You might be staying with us for quite a while."
[EK]"Besides, Kotone is much cuter to say than Endo."
[Y]"Is that something you should be saying to yourself?"
(I look at Ueno-san.)
[UH]"Don't even think of calling me Hikari."
[Y]"Mean as ever, I see."
[SE]"We're at the convenience store."
Ena-san and I went to the convenience store to get some ingredients for dinner. Then we all immediately went straight to Ena-san's place. After we've arrived, I took a shower, then proceeded to prepare dinner.
[Y]"Everyone! Dinner's ready!"
(They all come to the dining room.)
[EK]"Now, let's test what Yami-san's cooking tastes like."
[Y]"Don't get your hopes up. I'm no professional."
[SE]"It smells good."
[EK]"There's something I notice about your food."
[Y]"What is it?"
[EK]"Both you and Hikari have the same style of cooking. If you told me that Hikari cooked this, I wouldn't even know."
[UH]"He probably got amazed at my dish this morning and decided to copy it."
[Y]"I mean, yeah, you're food was good, but I didn't try to copy it."
[SE]"It does taste similar to Hikari's cooking."
[UH]"Yeah, he definitely copied me."
[Y]"No, I didn't."
(We finished eating dinner.)
[SE]"Ah, I'm full."
[EK]"Nothing like filling your stomach after a tiring day."
[Y]"Oh, Ena-san, I wanted to ask you something."
[SE]"What is it?"
[Y]"I was walking around the place yesterday, and I saw this dark hallway. What is in there?"
[SE]"Did you see anything there?"
(Her mood changed. It seemed like she was angry.)
[Y]"I didn't."
[SE]"Don't go there again."
(I didn't want to ask why because she already looked mad.)
[Y]"Okay, I'll stay away from that place."
[SE]"Good." She said with a smile.
(What's with the sudden mood change. This girl is scary.)
[EK]"Changing topic. If this curse goes on for longer, it'll cause a huge mess."
[Y]"My main concern, for now, is a place to stay. My parents will be suspicious if I don't return home for more than a week."
[UH]"Actually, my dad texted me earlier that I need to go back home after today."
[EK]"Eh, but how? Unless Yami-san would stay over at your place."
[UH]"Even if I wanted to, I can't. My dad won't allow any boys to stay over."
[SE]"What if Yami-san pretended to be Hikari's boyfriend?"
[UH]"No way!"
[Y]"Me with her? Never!"
[SE]"Eh, you two hate each other that much?"
[UH]"Why would we pretend to be a couple anyway."
[EK]"It does help a bit in your situation."
[UH]"How exactly?"
[EK]"You could have a reason why you're always near each other without being suspicious, and maybe both of your parents will allow you to stay over at each other's place because you're a couple."
[Y]"From a logical, perspective it is a good idea, but I still refuse."
[EK]"It's just pretending. It's not the real thing. Wait, don't tell me..."
[Y]"No, I don't like Ueno-san in any manner or form."
[EK]"That's disappointing. Your names even match. Yami for dark and Hikari for light."
[UH]" Enough! We won't pretend like we're a couple, and that's that!"
[Y]"For the first time, I agree with Ueno-san."
[SE]"So, how are you planning to solve this issue then?"
[Y]"We'll just think of something else."
[EK]"Like what?"
[Y]"Uhh..."
[EK]"You can't think of any, can you?"
[Y]"No."
[EK]"How about this. If you both can't think of an alternative by tomorrow, you'll have to go by our plan."
[Y]"Why do we have to go with your plan?"
[EK]"Only if you can't make an alternative plan. It's better than no plan at all."
[UH]"Fine, but we won't have to go through your plan if we have an alternative. Come on, Matsuda-san."
Ueno-san grabbed me by the hand and dragged me to her room. What's happening? Doesn't she despise me?
[UH]"Look, I only brought you here because I don't want to go with their plan. Don't think or do anything weird, or I'll castrate you."
[Y]"Is that something a girl should be saying?"
[UH]"Do you get it? or not?!"
[Y]"Okay, okay, I get it. So, what's our plan?"
[UH]"That's why I brought you here, you think."
[Y]"Why do I have to do all the thinking?!"
[UH]"Because you have to!"
[Y]"That doesn't make any sense! Look, we won't get anywhere if we just argued. Let's stop it here and think of this wisely."
After a bit of persuasion, Ueno-san decided to help me think of a plan. We continued for a few hours until we concluded.
[Y]"It's already midnight. Let's tell the other two tomorrow."
[UH]"Yeah, I'm tired."
[Y]"Hopefully, this convinces them that this is a better plan."
[UH]"If this doesn't work, I'm blaming you."
[Y]"We both thought of this. You also take the blame with me."
[UH]"Whatever, just get out of my room already."
Ueno-san's still as annoying as ever, but I feel like I got to know her better. She has a nice side to her, but mostly rudeness. Well, I guess I'll hit the hay and hope that we won't have to act as a couple.