"Could it be worse than being hated?" Despair filled Iguro Obanai's eyes.
Tetsu no Sosuke sighed. "Let's go back and talk."
They returned to Tetsu no Sosuke's room. Iguro Obanai could hardly sit still. "What happened? Why would it be worse?"
Tetsu no Sosuke poured himself a cup of tea and sipped it at his leisure. Only then did he answer. "Confessing your feelings, getting turned down—those things are normal. One rejection doesn't even mean much. It's not as though Kanae decided she had to marry me the moment I confessed. You can keep trying afterward. The important thing is to get your feelings across."
Iguro Obanai nodded repeatedly. "And then?"
"But what just happened between us was probably misunderstood."
Tetsu no Sosuke continued, "You know, most couples are a man and a woman, but some are two men or two women. If you hadn't stopped me earlier and had confessed outright, that would have been your first step, whether she accepted or rejected you. Instead, we hesitated outside her door, and when she opened it, she saw us in each other's arms. What do you think she made of that?"
Iguro Obanai's mouth had been hanging open ever since Tetsu no Sosuke said "two men."
When Tetsu no Sosuke finally finished, Iguro Obanai shook his head frantically. "No, no, no. That's impossible! She wouldn't get any strange ideas, would she?"
"Hard to say." Tetsu no Sosuke crossed his arms and propped up his chin. "In my experience, no matter how pretty or ordinary a girl seems in public, deep down she's curious about unusual things. Don't ask what I mean by that. The point is, girls are far more interested in gossip about two men than men are."
"...How could this happen?" Iguro Obanai stared into the dark night