It was the weekend. Specifically, it was Saturday. And it was a day Kai was scheduled for work. As a weekend shift, it was a full eight hours of labor; he clocked in at 1 p.m., paused for an hour-long meal break in the middle, and closed up shop at 10 p.m. He also got two fifteen-minute paid breaks at 3 p.m. and 8 p.m.
It was during this second break that the incident occurred.
“Hm? Kotobuki?”
When Kai entered the kitchen in the back (that doubled as a break room), he found Kotobuki sitting alone.
She didn’t have a shift today, and her choice of clothing was...curious. She wore a camisole that left her shoulders boldly exposed and a tiny miniskirt (that Jun would probably wear without a second thought). Sure, summer might have been around the corner, but this seemed far more aggressive than anything Kotobuki would ever choose to wear.
“Ah, did you perhaps forget what day you were supposed to work?” Kai hid his suspicion by playing it off as a joke.
“No, I waited here because I have business with you.”
Kotobuki answered him immediately with a rather firm tone. No, not just her tone—the posture with which she planted herself at the four-person table exuded the same aura. Even her expression seemed like she’d been deep in thought, but surely that was Kai’s imagination. He considered greeting her with some sort of chit-chat, but it didn’t feel appropriate.
“By all means,” said Kai gently. He was worried about Kotobuki, but he didn’t want to make her worry too. He strode forward to sit across from her, but Kotobuki sprung up a moment sooner and walked right up to his face, leaving maybe a fist’s distance between them.
Something was definitely off. Kai’s eyes widened in surprise as he quickly took stock of his surroundings. The manager and the rest of his coworkers were all doing their jobs, so nobody else would be coming to the break room for the remainder of his time off. He didn’t have to worry about anyone walking in on them. It was safe to assume that Kotobuki chose to wait for him here, at this moment, because she also knew they’d be alone.
“O-Once again, may I ask what your concern is?” stammered Kai. His voice cracked, betraying his attempts at hiding his surprise. With Kotobuki so close, her exposed neck and collarbone, as well as the fair skin that coated her shoulders, entered his field of vision whether he wanted them to or not. It was bad for his heart.
Kotobuki, however, didn’t answer immediately. She was close enough for her breath to reach him, but short enough that she had to look up to see his face. She stared with almost fearsome intensity. Her face was pale; she had to be many times more nervous than Kai was. But eventually, with her voice and lips trembling, she answered.
“Make me your lover...Kai.”
She threw down the gauntlet with unbelievable bluntness. Kai had braced himself for whatever would come next and still got the wind knocked out of him. Both Kotobuki’s forceful re-confession and the fact that she called him by his first name gave his heart a sugar-sweet sucker punch. Unfortunately, this was not the time to swoon.
“W-Wait a moment, Kotobuki. Did we not agree to a trial period?”
“I cannot wait. Please, give me an answer now.” Kotobuki, the emotional disaster, looked at him without averting her gaze once. It spoke to just how much determination she came here with, as well as the reason for her uncharacteristically suggestive outfit.
“What’s gotten into you?” Kai couldn’t tell. What change of heart had Kotobuki gone through? Why did she feel so rushed?
Kotobuki didn’t answer. She only pressured him further.
“Please, choose me instead of Miyakawa.”
“...”
Another shock ran through Kai’s heart, but this one came with a tinge of pain. He knew he had to bear it and give her an answer, but his voice wouldn’t come out so quickly.
To reiterate, Jun was not his girlfriend, so he could easily say that she was asking the wrong question...but Kotobuki wouldn’t take that for an answer. Kai could tell what question she was really asking.
She wanted him to stop hanging out with Jun, regardless if she was a lover to him or just a friend. Kotobuki demanded that his eyes would be only for her in no uncertain terms.
So...it’s really gonna come to this? Is this just how women think? Kai wasn’t a psychic himself, but he could tell that Reina’s prediction had come true. Just as she warned him, the time when he’d have to choose between Jun or Kotobuki had arrived. Kotobuki said she wanted to hang out with the two of them together in the future so Kai had hoped he was out of the woods, but it seemed he was just being naive.
“...I’m sorry.” Kai gritted his teeth through the bitterness and pain to give Kotobuki his answer.
The friendship Kai had with Jun was irreplaceable to him. He couldn’t become Kotobuki’s lover if it meant throwing that away. Even if it hurt her, he couldn’t lie about his feelings.
That was the firm answer he wanted to give, but he couldn’t. Kotobuki, a veteran in reading peoples’ body language, quickly blocked him from doing so. Before he could state the obvious, his mouth was covered.
With Kotobuki’s lips.
Kotobuki had kissed him.
His mind blanked out. He got goosebumps. This was the first kiss of Kai’s life. And probably Kotobuki’s too. It was an unpredictable sneak attack, one that he had no way to dodge.