Kichi couldn't believe Aoi just fainted right in his arms. He was insanely worried for her that he carried her all the way to the nurse's office in a rush. There were a ton of students in the hallway who saw, which caused word to spread quickly that something had gone wrong. It got to Airi well before he even had the chance to inform her that something bad happened to her twin sister.
"What happened!? What happened!?" She came running into the nurse's office as he laid the unconscious girl onto one of the beds. He gave her a short explanation about what occurred leading up to the moment. Mainly the parts about Aoi inviting him up there to talk about something. Since she was unable to get her feelings across to him, the boy was unaware of the impending confession he was about to receive.
However, Airi was able to determine this to be the case after hearing his story. While she knew Aoi was not one to take risks, it was entirely possible she would attempt a confession when pressured by competition. Unfortunately it would seem that pressure got to her and she ended up fainting over it.
"I hope she's not sick again." He spoke, still unaware of the truth. "Is that something that happens a lot? Does she have a weak body?"
"I'm pretty sure she doesn't." She replied, slamming on her chest in a show of strength. "After all, we have the same body and I don't get sick that often." It was funny coming from the girl who got sick first and gave her twin the same illness just a week ago. Though he had no other choice but to believe her. He wouldn't assume she would lie about her own sister.
"I guess there's nothing else I can do about this." He said. At this point, only the nurse could attend to her if there was anything seriously wrong with her. "I'll just go back to class." Kichi assumed that as he left, Airi would stay behind and spend a little bit more time with her sister. That wasn't the case as she would soon follow him out the door as they walked down the hallway. "Are you sure about leaving her for now?"
"I'm pretty sure she'll be okay." Said Airi. "I can tell when there's something seriously wrong and this isn't one of those times." He couldn't imagine a time where someone fainting wasn't a sign of something seriously wrong. But the powers of twins must be far greater than he could've ever imagined. At least that was what he assumed.
Truthfully, she did believe there was nothing wrong with Aoi other than passing out from the stress. It shouldn't have any lasting effects, so she felt safe in not sticking around here sister any longer. If anything, this presented an opportunity she couldn't pass up. Now with the other girl out of the way, she could make her own attempt after Kichi. It sounded awful, but her own twin nearly stole him from under her nose before she even got an attempt. And that was what she worried most about.
Fortunately for her, she was the one who sat besides the boy in class during the day. So it was easy to strike up a conversation with him during their break periods or to toss out some comments during class itself. The only issue arose when his friend Chuuya would also join in. She didn't have any issues with that guy. In fact, she had a fine time with him that one time when they were partners for a project. It just seemed that he didn't feel the same way as she did on that team up.
This left her with a decision she didn't want to make when school came to a close. That being to ask him to spend time with her after classes were over. At this point, he would wonder if she should really check on her sister. Airi would agree on that assessment and it would be the first thing she would do before asking him. All she needed now was a way to keep him around without leaving for home without her. Which was easier said than done considering he normally walked home with his own sister, Kougi.
That was when she got the idea when the bell rung, signaling the end of the school day. "Kichi, can I borrow you lucky coin?" She asked.
"You need it?" He pulled it out from his pocket to stare at it for a moment. "Ah, I see. You need to make a choice." While he had no clue on what decision she needed to make. Kichi believed he could trust her with his prized possession. "Here you go."
"Gee, thanks!" She expressed her gratitude then instantly bolted for the door. "I'll give it back, don't worry!" She called out from outside the hall.
"What the…?" He attempted to protest, but had already vanished from sight before he could even finish his sentence. "Please don't spend it on anything…" Not that there was much one could afford with a coin that wasn't even worth 100 yen.
"Ah, don't worry." Chuuya patted him on the back as he laid his face onto his desk. "I'm sure she'll bring it back in one piece."
Meanwhile, Airi ran over to the nurse's office to check on her sister. As terrible as it sounded, a part of her hoped she would still be passed out on the bed when she got there. To her surprise it was something completely different. As in she wasn't there at all.
"Uh, where's Aoi?" She asked the nurse, peeking under the sheets and pillow as if her sister somehow was laying underneath them.
"Did you mother not tell you?" The nurse responded. "She came by and picked Aoi up. I thought you would've been informed of it so you could pick up the work your sister missed."
"Looks like I didn't get the memo." It must've been an error which caused this miscommunication. That said, now she didn't have to go home with Aoi to make sure she was okay. But at the same time, should she really choose not to go home now? Airi was at a crossroads on what she should do. If only she had a way to decide between these two options.
Oh wait, she did. The girl look at her hand which held Kichi's lucky coin. He had always been using it to make choices for them. Though the last time she had it used on something relating to her, things went kind of weird. So she had some doubts on whether it could truly help her on the matter.
Still, it was the only thing she could use that wasn't simply her making a decision. At least if things went wrong, she could blame it on the coin instead. So Airi flipped up the coin into the air. Heads would be her asking Kichi out, tails would be just going home.
When she caught it, the result showed her tails. This would mean she should go home and make sure everything was all right with Aoi. However, deep inside, she couldn't accept these results. So Airi instead walked in the direction back where Kichi should be.
Admittedly she would go here first anyway since she needed to return his coin. So if she changed her mind and decided to follow the coin's decision, then she'd still be doing this anyway. But that was not what ran through her mind as she entered the classroom once more. There she saw him sitting at his desk, downtrodden, with Kougi leaning on the table.
"See, told you she wasn't going to do anything bad to it." The older girl said, standing up straight. "Now how about we go head on home?"
"Actually…" Said Airi as she handed him the coin. For the first time in a long while, she felt nervous on requesting something from someone. "Kichi, could we… Hang out for a little bit after school?"
"Are you sure?" He replied. "What about Aoi? What's up with her?" She told them what happened to assure the boy there was nothing to worry about when it came to her sister. "If your mom's got her, then I guess she'll be okay."
"So you're really asking my little brother on a date, huh?" Said Kougi as she placed her hands over the top of his shoulders.
"It's not a date." He was quick to brush her hands off and deny what was being asked from him. Kichi knew if that were the truth, she likely wouldn't be this playful about it. Meanwhile, Airi's face lit up when she knew it was partially the truth. While she hadn't said it out loud, thus meaning the boy would walk into this with romantic intentions. She did hope that perhaps she could push things in that direction.
"So do you want to?" She asked again, slightly more meek than the last time. Though not enough to tip him off that something was different about her.
"Yeah, I can do that." He sent a glare Kougi's way to show he was serious. Now with her feelings in his mind, he had to find a way to balance things out when it came to him and other girls.
"That's great, let's go." She got a burst of energy as Airi grabbed his arm and began to pull him out of class.