Kikyou's Conspiracy

It was perfectly normal for friends to lean on each other's shoulders, right?

But Eito soon realized that Kikyo was up to something again.

She reached back, grabbed his hand, and placed it around her waist.

That wasn't so normal.

Sato was bound to notice when she came back.

After being teased by Kikyo for so long, Eito was getting annoyed too. He reached over and tickled her stomach.

"Haha... You... Stop tickling me, I... I give up."

Kikyo lay across his lap, one hand covering her stomach as the other pushed his hand away.

Eito stopped tickling her and pulled his hand back.

Just then, Sato came downstairs. Seeing Kikyo still lying across his lap, she couldn't help asking,

"Um... what are you... doing?"

Eito was at a loss for words.

Kikyo sat up, straightened her clothes, and explained,

"I said I wanted to try a lap pillow, so I begged Eito to let me. That's all."

Eito breathed a sigh of relief. He'd thought Kikyo was going to accuse him of being a pervert.

Sato nodded, also relieved.

"Oh, so that's what it was. I thought... Never mind."

But Kikyo seized the opportunity to say,

"Why don't you try it too, Sato? It's pretty comfortable."

The two of them fell silent at the same time.

Eito gave her a pointed glare, but Kikyo ignored it and continued,

"It's fine. We're all friends. I just tried it, so why don't you give it a go, Sato?"

"But..." Sato's little face flushed as she felt her heartbeat quicken. She gritted her teeth and said, "All right, then. We're... friends, after all..."

"Kikyo's joking," Eito said. "You don't have to force yourself."

To his surprise, Sato huffed,

"Hmph. If Kushida can do it, why can't I? Are we not as close as you and her?"

"...Suit yourself, then."

Eito could only keep quiet. He shifted into a more comfortable position and let Sato lie across his lap.

Sato moved cautiously. After lying down, she glanced at him, then turned her head and settled into a side-lying position.

Where Sato couldn't see, he noticed Kikyo giving her a smile he couldn't quite interpret.

There was something scheming about it.

"Okay, my turn to sing!" Kikyo said, shaking the microphone as she headed for the stage.

Kikyo's Scheme

How should he put it?

It was a little awkward.

He and Sato got along pretty well and sometimes even cracked dirty jokes.

But they'd never been this intimate before.

This wasn't something ordinary friends would do. Kikyo was just making that up.

From this angle, Sato's figure was right in front of him.

Her pale, delicate feet, freed from her socks, were curled together. Their owner seemed nervous.

And he was even more nervous.

He couldn't let himself look too excited, and he didn't know what to say.

Putting his arms around her now would definitely make him a pervert. Until he knew what Sato was thinking, he wasn't going to make a move.

After all, he genuinely valued friendship.

So he deliberately thought of Yamauchi's face.

And then...

He became calm and collected.

"Um... can I call you by your name?" Sato asked out of nowhere after a long silence.

"Why?"

"Because that's what Kushida does. Can... can't I?"

"...All right. Then I'll call you Maya from now on."

"Okay, Eito."

As Sato spoke, she leaned her head closer to his chest, as if looking for the most comfortable position.

He didn't push her away.

Sato only sat up when Kikyo came back, prompted by Kikyo's smile.

Kikyo handed him the microphone. "Your turn, Eito."

Eito didn't take it. Instead, he said, "I'm going to the bathroom first."

Then he opened the door and went out.

"Mm, I'll go too." Not long after Eito left, Kikyo said, "Sato, you can sing first, okay?"

"Sure." Sato was a little confused, but didn't think much of it.

Eito hadn't used the bathroom. He'd only washed his face to calm down.

As soon as he stepped outside, he ran into Kikyo by the door.

"Miss Kikyo, were you waiting for me?"

"Is anyone in there?" Kikyo pointed to the men's room.

"...No."

"Good." Kikyo pushed him inside and locked the door.

"What are you—"

Kikyo gave him a cute smile.

"You weren't satisfied earlier, were you? Want me to help you out?"

"..."

Kikyo said nothing more and pressed her warm body against him.

Twenty minutes passed. Sato had already sung several songs, and as the two of them still hadn't returned, her unease kept growing.

"I should go check."

She opened the door and left the room.

The hallway was quiet. The walls of this karaoke place were clearly very soundproof.

Thinking about what the two of them had said earlier, she made her way toward the bathroom, step by step.

Each step made her more apprehensive.

She'd sensed something was off between them while she was singing.

And now they'd gone to the bathroom together and hadn't come back for so long. Could it be—

Sato shook her head.

How could that be?

Although she and Kikyo weren't that close, they were still friends. She liked this kind, good-hearted girl quite a lot.

And Eito went without saying. She'd never met a boy like him.

He could keep up with her jokes and make her laugh, and he was gentle sometimes, too.

Sometimes, his reactions were even kind of cute.

Talking with him had gradually become one of her sources of happiness.

When she praised him to her friends, they sometimes teased her, asking if she liked him.

Like him?

Was that what liking someone felt like?

She'd never seriously thought about such a thing. But just now, when she'd seen how close the two of them were onstage, she'd felt a dull ache in her chest.

Was it love, or was she simply upset because her closest male friend had been taken away from her?

She still didn't know.

But she was nearly there now.

The closer she got, the faster her heart beat.

Just as she put her hand on the doorknob, the door suddenly opened.

Eito stepped out and looked at her in confusion.

"What's wrong, Maya?"

"Ah... It's nothing, nothing."

Sato awkwardly pulled her hand back.

"Um, where's Kushida?"

"She went to buy some water."

"Oh."

"Did you need something, Maya? Do you need the bathroom too? The women's room is over there, though."

"No, I'm sorry! I'm going back!"

Sato blushed and hurried away.

Eito watched her go, then closed the door again.

Meanwhile, Kikyo was leaning dazedly against the corner of the wall. Her eyes were unfocused, and her clothes were in disarray.

Ability deactivated—

Kikyo came back to her senses. She glared at him and demanded,

"What did you do to me?"

"Nothing. I just kept you quiet for a little while."

Only Eito himself knew what he'd done just now.