Chapter 5: Strike it, Teacher!

"Hey, go slowly, okay? It's my first time," said Shimizu.

"I know; I'll hold your hand so this will go smoothly," I said.

"Here we go," said Shimizu.

"Okay, one, two, three!" I said.

I held her hands and motioned them to swivel. She let go of the ball, and it went smoothly, just as I planned.

The sound of a heavy ball rolling down the ground. The sound of the ball hitting the bowling pin was heard. The TV above has screamed the word "Strike!"

"Why do you have to make it so weird?" I asked.

"Weird? But it really is my first time," said Shimizu while adjusting her glasses with her middle finger.

Our date right now is in a bowling alley. I planned for us to have a competition, but she doesn't know how to bowl. So I decided to postpone it.

"I know everything about bowling, but I actually suck when it comes to executing it," said Shimizu earlier.

"For a first-timer, you actually did great," I said.

"Not really," said Shimizu.

She turned into my area and looked at the screen above the pins.

"Compared to you, who got three strikes in a row, this is nothing," said Shimizu.

I looked into my screen and looked at the perfect scores I got. I got three strikes in a row without having any trouble at all. Well, I played bowling with my father and sister a lot, so I'm used to it.

"You're too good. Maybe you're bringing all the girls you met on this kind of date," said Shimizu.

"Maybe," I whispered.

"Huh?" wondered Shimizu.

She looked at me with a hint of sadness in her eyes. Her eyes are shining brightly, but the emotions she's feeling are negative. Is that what they call jealousy?

"Hm, why?" I asked.

I closed the gap between us and looked deeply into her eyes. I was trying to make her feel embarrassed and make her heart skip a beat. But she gazed back into my eyes with a normal and calm look.

"You've been doing this to me for a while now. It's getting boring," said Shimizu.

...huh?

Boring? My approach is boring?! Hey! Just so you know, the girls from my middle school are head over heels for me! Just one look, and girls will scream their hearts out of happiness! Sure, I never had a girlfriend before, but that's because I couldn't find someone my type. Someone who's smart and beautiful! Someone who can keep up with my intellect. Someone who knows everything I know... someone who's...

"Hey, what are you spacing out for?" asked Shimizu.

She's confused by my reaction, and she pushed me away from her. I noticed what she did, but my attention was elsewhere. My type is my dream girl—beautiful, smart, and someone who can keep up with me. She's...

Shimizu suddenly turned her eyes towards mine, and I saw once again her gleaming green eyes. And concluded...

Nah, she's not her.

"What are you laughing at?" asked Shimizu.

I realized that I found myself laughing and smiling out loud. She's amazing, but I don't accept her as someone who's on my level yet. I mean, she can't even throw a bowling ball.

"It's nothing. I just remembered something funny," I said.

"Hm, ok then," said Shimizu.

Shimizu picked up one of the bowling balls and replicated the form I just taught her earlier flawlessly. The bowling ball rolled to the floor and slowly made its way to the bowling pin. It felt like hours when the bowling ball reached the bowling pins and fell down one by one.

"What?" I blurted out.

"Heh," said Shimizu.

She slowly stood up straight from her form and slowly turned her head. Her eyes are filled with smugness, and her lips are grinning so evilly.

This woman... She's like the devil who wasted my days trying to perfect my bowling techniques, and she just replicated them when I taught them just once?!

"A fluke," I said.

"Heh, I'll do it again for you," said Shimizu.

"Go ahead," I said.

Shimizu picked up one of the bowling bowls once again and prepared her bowling stance. She closed her eyes and fell into the zone.

It's a fluke. It's a fluke. It's a fluke. I reject the idea that her strike earlier was based on what she did. It's a fluke! Please be a fluke!

Shimizu slowly threw the bowling ball, and it hit the bowling pins. Another strike! It's not a fluke, not one bit. She perfected and successfully copied my form with just a glance. There is no doubt about it. Now I feel like all the effort I put in was useless.

"See? Not a fluke. Hey, where are you going?" said Shimizu.

I picked up my wallet and phone that were on the chair and walked away.

"Let's go; we have some other place to go to," I said.

"Hey, wait!"

.

.

.

We left the bowling alley and walked around the mall. I'm walking quickly, as if I'm in a rush. Shimizu noticed this and grabbed my arm to stop my movements.

"Heh, why are you crying?" asked Shimizu.

"Huh? What are you talking about?" I asked back.

There are no tears in my eyes, so there's no way that I am crying right now. She's probably exaggerating things.

"You clearly are; the expression you have right now belongs to the one who just lost an important match for him," said Shimizu.

"No, you're mistaken," I said.

She suddenly grabbed my cheeks with both of her hands and closed the gap between our faces. This is so embarrassing! The people are staring at us, and it also seems like they're keeping up their laughter.

"You're blushing," said Shimizu.

"Huh, I'm not!" I said.

I tried to force my way out of her hands, but she insisted on holding me. Her emerald eyes are staring deeply into mine, and I'm still feeling uncomfortable looking at them.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"You've been annoyed ever since I hit a strike for the first time," said Shimizu.

"And so?" I asked.

She laughed. Shimizu replied to my question by chuckling softly. She closed the distance between our heads, and her hands let go of my cheeks. Her hands landed on my shoulder while she was doing her best to maintain her laughter, but she failed.

Shimizu is currently holding me, and our distance is ten inches. She's still laughing, or more like she's chuckling for some reason. I rolled my eyes left and right, and I noticed that the crowd was starting to ignore us. Some are still looking our way, but they'll just give us a look and smile, then make their way.

"What's the matter?" I asked.

Shimizu continued laughing and used my chest as a way to hide her face from the crowd and from me. I'm glad that I wore perfume before getting out of the house. She's trying her best once again to maintain her laughter. This time she succeeded and tilted her head up to look at me.

"You must be jealous of the fact that I learned so quickly," said Shimizu.

"Tsk, shut it," I groaned.

That's it? She's been laughing for three minutes just from that? Her reason for laughing is weird.

"Sis?" asked a familiar voice in front of me.

Shimizu suddenly twitched at the voice she heard. It was Ai; she's the twin sister of Mei Shimizu. She's looking at us with a confused look in her eyes. Holding a brown bag in her left hand and a croquette in her right hand.

"Ai? What are you doing here?" asked Shimizu.

"I've bought the new book I wanted. More importantly, why are you disguised as me?" asked Ai.

"Um, you see..." muttered Shimizu.

Busted...