"I'm really sorry for causing you trouble, Ki-chan."
"It's fine. I'm the one who asked you out in the first place."
The school rules didn't allow you to wear uniform after school (you know what I mean), so we had to go home and change. Since my house is closer than Kimiko's, and because she knew it would be difficult for me to go home by myself, she had brought a change of clothes with her today.
Right now, the two of us are getting changed in my room. Well, at least that is the idea… But, for some reason, Kimiko stood staring at me while I unbuttoned my shirt.
"What's wrong, Ki-chan? Your cheeks are really red. Did you catch a cold?"
"N-no, it's nothing. I'll get changed in the bathroom."
Kimiko ran out of the room. Could it be that she's shy? But, surely, she's used to getting changed with other girls because of PE lessons? Whereas I get to come to school with my kit on, on days we PE, because of my disability.
"Sorry, for the wait!"
Even though I had a head start, Kimiko had managed to finish changing before me and waited by the front door. She wore a light airy blouse with shoulder straps and a long skirt that gave her a cool grown up look.
The two of us, along with Remi, had gone out like this before — well, with a little more planning — but, there was something different Kimiko this time.
"Are you wearing make up?!"
"D-does it look strange?"
"No, it really suits you!"
Kimiko's ears turned red. She quickly ran around behind me so that I couldn't see her face and took control of my wheelchair.
"Let's go before it starts getting dark."
Since I didn't have a lot of money, we decided to try looking for clothes in a charity shop. The one we found is small and a bit untidy, but had a lot of interesting looking clothes. Before long I found one I liked. It is a summer dress. I held it up to Kimiko. It had a light blue colour that I thought suited my blue eyes.
"What do you think?"
Kimiko felt the material and tugged on it a little.
"I can't really tell unless you try it on."
"You're right, but it's going to take to long for me to put it on and take it off again, right?"
This is always a real problem for me. Usually, when I go clothes shopping, I have to bring my mum with me so that she can help me change. But then she would only buy things that she liked. And, since my old clothes got handed down to Reiko, that's another item on her long list of things to hate me for.
"…How about I help you change?"
Reiko said that so quietly, I almost didn't catch it.
"You'll really help me change?!"
"Well, if you don't want me to-"
"No, please help me!"
Luckily, the charity shop had a changing room, but it is very small, so I couldn't get my wheelchair inside. We found a bunch of nice candidate clothes and then Kimiko carried me in.
"I'm sorry. I'm heavy aren't I?"
"…"
I laughed at Kimiko's pained expression. While Kimiko carried me, I couldn't help thinking about Riyuzaki again. About how easily he had picked me up and ran, as if I weighed nothing at all.
When I lifted up my arms so that Kimiko could pull off my tee-shirt, my mind once again went back to Riyuzaki. As she pulled it of, I imagined that it's him that did it. But her hands were too soft and feminine which didn't really match up with my image of dark Riyuzaki.
With Kimiko's help, we were able to get through all the clothes quickly. In the end, we decided to go with the blue dress that I had found at the beginning.
After all her hard work, Kimiko's cheeks had become red and she breathed heavily beside me on the changing room bench. For some reason though, she didn't seem very tired. Actually, she is smiling. Could it be that Kimiko is a masochist?!
"Thanks a lot, Ki-chan! Let's find a café after this. It's on me."
Even though, she'd said that she wanted to talk, Kimiko had spent that last five minutes in the café quietly sipping her coffee. It looks like there is something weighing on her mind.
"What are you thinking about, Ki-chan?"
Kimiko's eyes met mine and then it's like she suddenly came back from a dream; her usual cool look returned to her dark eyes.
"Mimi… What do you think about me?"
It looks like she wants test me before she going to reveals what's really on her mind. I'm a little hurt that she doesn't trust me enough to tell me right away, but whatever.
"That's easy! You're an important friend to me. I love you a lot."
"…What would it take for you to hate me?"
"You want me to hate you? What are you talking about?!"
I started to laughed.
"Maybe if you slapped me or-"
Before I finished the sentence, Kimiko reached over and slapped me.
"Hey! I'm sorry for laughing, but you didn't have to slap me, okay?"
I played it off as a joke, but I'm really starting to get concerned. Kimiko's never even slapped Remi and god knows that girl really deserved it.
"…Ki-chan, you're scaring me a little. What does this have to do with the kiss yesterday?"
"Do you hate me now?"
"…No, I can't hate you over something like this! Ki-chan, you've been acting really different recently. Tell me what's wrong."
"…"
"At least, tell me if there's something that I can do to make you feel better. You know I would do anything for you, right?"
"…Anything?"
I nodded.
Obviously, there is 'within reason' disclaimer in there somewhere, but I really mean it.
I mean it, but, even as I said it, I feel uneasy. As a person, Kimiko is much smarter than me. Is it possible that she planned this outcome?