Already Over

Arata and Matsu continued on with their date. He was having a fun time and really didn't want things to come to an end. However, it was more than simply him enjoying it so much.

When this did finally reach its conclusion. He would be making the massive decision to decide on if he should pick her. There were plenty of other girls the boy had yet to even give a shot with. Yet it wouldn't matter if Matsu really was the one. Unfortunately, there was also the pain of knowing that if he realized she wasn't, that this wonderful date would end on a sour note.

So he was dreading the conclusion of their day. Without any way to delay the inevitable, things were going to take a drastic turn by the end of this date. All Arata could do was try and live in the moment the best he could. Yet it was difficult to do that when he couldn't help but keep thinking on what his decision was going to be.

The couple had stopped at a stand that was selling some hot chocolate. With the weather being as cold as it was, the treats were well worth the price as they munched on their snacks and sipped on some hot liquids. He looked at over her, thinking in his mind of just what kind of girl she was to him.

All that time of being a loner, to suddenly become a popular guy was such a shock to him. Even more so considering that she liked him before he was liked by other girls. In fact, it seemed that she liked him even before Hifumi did, who fell for him when she spotted him during that fateful culture festival.

This meant Matsu was the first one who liked him before anything else happened. That was something he held to his own heart as someone who was fine with who he was. Back when he first met the others, a lot of them were kind of rude. Understandable, considering that he was a stranger encroaching into the territory they developed over the past year. Erina was the worst offender back then, but that was also because she was blackmailing him into that situation.

"Mmmh." Matsu loudly voiced out her pleasure in enjoying their treats. He smiled looking over at her. She was a truly sweet girl that any boy would love to have around. Not only that, but to have someone like her actually crushing on you was rare.

When he thought about her for a moment, it was like dating a real life protagonist of a moe anime. The type of airhead girl who was the center of a club filled with a bunch of cute girls where they did simple daily things in a cute fashion.

"You ready to get to the next exhibit?" He asked as they finished up their food.

"Yep." She nodded her head as she finished up her drink. "Let me take out the trash." Matsu took their cups and headed for the proper location to dispose of them. However, being a bit of an airhead as he described. She ended up tripping over herself and face planting onto the ground. At this point in the day, he was certain that they'd avoid a so-called 'fan-service' moment. It seemed that things were in the clear, until she ended up falling and flashing him with the panties, which were patterned with flowers, she was wearing.

"Are you all right?" Arata ran up to make sure she was okay. As it would turn out, not completely. Despite wearing those socks that went up mid-thigh, her knee ended up being a little but scraped.

"That's looking pretty bad." Their spies also noticed this occurring in front of them as Erina looked through her camera.

"Yeah, I hope that Matsu's all right." Hifumi replied as she had to rely on her eyesight that required glasses just to work.

"R-right, that's what I meant." It made Erina feel very guilty that wasn't what she had in mind first. Not that she disliked Matsu in any manner. It was just that this situation was the prime time for him to run in and come to her aid when she was hurt. Arata would win a lot of points getting closer to that girl physically. In fact, that was what they were getting from their view as he picked up the girl and brought her to a nearby bench.

What was going on with her, Erina wondered. Seeing this shouldn't make her feel this way, but somehow she was getting the same feeling she did when one of the other girls used to take Yogi away from her. When they would get those moments of romance with him, like the time that boy accidentally groped Yuriko, which earned him quite the slap.

She knew what this feeling was. It was the emotion known as jealously. For some reason she didn't want to admit to Hifumi was that she wanted to be in Matsu's place right now. She clenched her teeth as she got mad at herself for imaging herself with a boy who wasn't Yogi. They had told her time and time again it wasn't a big deal since that boy wasn't her boyfriend. Yet it still filled her with guilt on what her future behavior would be. How could someone like her ever truly know love if she couldn't stick with one boy?

"That's one lucky girl." Hifumi spoke up, bring her back into reality. "It might hurt, but he's practically up against her leg." To get a better look at Matsu's injury, Arata had to pull down her sock. This meant he was able to literally expose some of her skin in public, with no one judging him since he appeared to be a boyfriend caring for his girlfriend.

"Owie." Matsu whimpered as he got a closer look at her scrape. "I'm sorry, I'm really clumsy sometimes."

"It's fine." He assured her that things were going to be fine. There was a little bit of blood, but while it was fine for him to look at. What Arata didn't realize would be a problem for the people watching them as Erina suddenly gave off a yelp that nearly gave them away.

"Be quiet." Hifumi restrained her and covered her mouth as the pair hid under the table they were seated at. He looked over in their direction as he was certain that he had just heard Erina's voice.

"Sorry, I just don't like… Bl… Well, you know." Erina quietly responded.

"I guess seeing blood just reminds me of her." Arata murmured to herself as he returned his attention to the girl next to him. "It doesn't look like it's going to be too bad." Though it was a shame the only way for him to keep it covered was to use her sock to keep it from getting it worse.

"I'm sorry, but it looks like we'll have to cut things short." She told him as they got up from the bench to see how her leg would be holding up. That was a shame for more than one reason. The first being that they were enjoying themselves so much. The second was that now he was forced to make a decision.

Sure, he could simply chalk it up as bad luck to delay choosing, but that would just be running from the problem. Arata couldn't be the boy that would continue to try and hide away from the pressure and finally move on from this weird harem.

"Yeah, I'll help you get home." He told her as they exited the zoo. The time for them to get back to her place would be more than enough for him to come to a decision.

"I remember what you said." She spoke up as they got to their first crosswalk. With the wait for the light to allow them to cross, she spoke nervously in bringing this topic up. "You said that… You'll make a decision." Now Matsu was really putting the pressuring onto him bring talking about it now.

"You want it now?" He asked. At this point, the pair were still being followed by Hifumi and Erina. Those two were so close that they could hear this conversation. So everyone interested in his response was going to hear it soon now.

"I know that there are others who like you." She explained why she was willing to push the issue. "I've liked you for such a long time now." Ever since that day he protected her, those feelings bubbled up and bloomed into love. "But… I don't want you to hold back. So, if I'm not the one..." A tear formed in her eye as she came to the bitter feeling that her only chance had just ended. "It's okay to tell me. I'll accept whatever you say."

He froze as now was the moment of truth. After today… No, after all this time how did he truly feel for her? Was this cheerful and bright girl, who also had a smile on her the one for him? Or was it now time to take the smile away? Even if it was one that he wished he could protect for the rest of his life.

"Matsu…" Arata hesitated for a moment. The boy prayed that he would be making the right choice. "I-" However, he was interrupted as something caught his eye as they stood by the road.

A ball? No, that's not what's important. The boy running after it, he looked like he was chasing after his toy. But, Arata heard a scream from a woman, that boy's mother. She had noticed too late what her little son was doing. "Hey!" Arata yelled, running towards the boy.

Sometimes they'll be tough choices to make, like the one he was confronted with regarding Matsu. And sometimes, they'll be choices one has to make without any time, any thinking. When someone's life is on the line, as that child stepped out onto the road with a truck barreling down towards them, someone has to take the risk to prevent tragedy.

Today, when confronted with hard decisions, Arata stepped up and was the one running out to the road to save the day. But there was little time to do it, he couldn't just pick up the boy and run. His only option was to leap forward with no concern for his own life and push the child back into safety. Yet all that did was put him in danger as the vehicle, which attempted to stop, but was too late, slammed right into him.

Arata was sent flying from the collision and fell right onto the ground. The crowd rushed up to check up on him as that mother ran to her child. At this point, Matsu was the first one to his body with tears on her face.

"Arata! Arata, please be okay." She shook his body, but it couldn't help him keep consciousness. Darkness began to fill his vision as he also spotted Hifumi and Erina, who broke their cover when they witnessed what happened.

"Arata! Arata! Please someone get help, there's been an accident." He heard their voices getting more muffled as his eyes began to close. Was this unfortunate moment really just bad luck? Or perhaps, this was fate?

That was all he could think of as Arata's eyes closed.