Chapter twelve. Ups, downs and hugs…

Although they were sitting in the far corner, the violent reaction did not go unnoticed by the local staff.

— Do you want to order something else, — the waitress took Hideki's waving hands as a sign of an additional order.

— Green tea, please, — Hideki did not disappoint her; he could use at least some kind of sedative after such news, and besides green tea, nothing else came to his mind, — Kyoko, do you want anything?

Hideki's changed address to her by name and without a suffix, and not at the moment of crisis, but in a calm situation, had already told Kyoko everything she needed to know and she smiled.

— Also green tea, — Kyoko came to about the same conclusions as Hideki.

Hideki and Kyoko took the tea they had brought, took a sip, and Kyoko continued.

— I missed classes for many reasons... — Kyoko repeated, — I don't want to talk about it yet; it's for another conversation after I check something. I'll definitely tell you later, I promise," Kyoko paused for a moment. — But the bottom line is that I somehow didn't have any close girlfriends in high school. And there were no friends. I wasn't too worried about it; I had a younger sister and an older sister. At least until I fought with the younger one.… But even so, it wasn't that bad. I really can't say that it bothered me too much, but I still lacked something. But since the beginning of the new school year this year, I decided that was enough. I won't be alone anymore! I'll find some girlfriends! This year, I will definitely try my best to get closer to the girls in the class. And she got closer to her head.

Hideki listened attentively and did not take his eyes off the other woman's face. Therefore, he couldn't help but notice how bitter, upset, and disappointed Kyoko's expression had become.

Kyoko sighed, took another sip of tea, paused for a while as if calming herself, and continued.

— It all started pretty well. Kyoko shrugged her shoulders. — A new class, there were no acquaintances there. I started everything from scratch. I managed to chat during a general karaoke trip and then before class in the morning. Then, during lunch. Ben, I often cook for lunch myself. I shared it sometimes.

"I know," Hideki almost blurted out, who had often glanced at Kyoko since the beginning of the year and knew quite well about her habits; in addition, he had personally seen all these movements of hers. But Hideki quickly stopped himself; it was not worth distracting Kyoko from the story; it was already hard for her.

— I didn't catch the connection at the time, but it happened soon after several boys confessed to me, the last of whom was Lin-san.

— What happened? Hideki couldn't ask a little nervously. Lin was Haire's last name, and he couldn't take the mention of this type calmly.

— The game of "truth or action." With the imposition of punishment for non-compliance at the discretion of the one who made the wish. I thought it was an accident all the time, but now I think I was probably very wrong. I already told you that on the first day of school, something happened that was extremely inappropriate for being publicly known. Kyoko blushed even more than before but continued her story. — On the first day of school, I took a shower, as always. My sister seemed to get up a little earlier; at least, I heard her scuffling when I went into the bathroom. But by the time I got out of the shower, no one was home but me. And when I reached into the closet, I discovered in a panic that I didn't have any clean underwear. If I had thought a little bit about how and how it happened, maybe a lot could have been avoided, but I don't know if it's for the best.

***

There were no general class meetings or hikes, such as sometimes happening in the lower grades in the middle ones. In the middle classes, events took place only within certain groups, which could sometimes be joined by certain "favorites." It could be going to the cinema, karaoke, a trendy new cafe, or even just studying together. Gila Terikoto usually organized the most "important" events of this kind. This only happened sometimes and depended on whether any of Gila and her best friends had clubs or other things to do after class.

And so it happened that very day. A small group of girls gathered around Gila Terikoto, interspersed with several guys, decided to gather at someone's house that day. It took a long time to decide who exactly to visit, and by Gila's decision, they went to visit Reef Manomoto, Gila's rich and spoiled friend.

Rifa Manomoto's house was indeed rich; there was a housekeeper who prepared tea for the "friends of the lady" who came.

— Good! And now I would like to play! Manomoto clapped her hands. — Come on, I'll bring the cards or something.

The whole company settled around a small table. We played "Rich Man," and Manomoto won.

"Well, it's not surprising," Gila grinned, supported by a chorus of agreement.

Kaiji Motoyama, a thin guy with a narrow face who constantly found reasons to laugh at himself or others, was one of the closest friends of the cool, handsome Haire Lin, lost in the "Rich Man."

— I don't want to be rich, yes, — he grinned and now, — Let's go to the "Virgo" or something.

The first in the "old maidens" was Kiri Yamagawa, a serious girl who spent a lot of time studying and the current head of the class.

"Well, don't be so offended, Yamagawa—-san," the handsome Haire Lin, who came out second to last, smiled.

"It's okay, Lin-san. She smiled faintly, "I'm not offended.

The next "old maid" turned out to be Funi Tongari, a dyed blonde, plump, dressed as always in an ultrashort skirt, which now, when they were all sitting at the table, they didn't even have to look under.

— Never in my life! Motoyama reacted, for which Tongari herself was not too lazy to get up and hit him.

— But in general, I'm tired of cards, — Tongari snorted;— Let's play something more interesting in "truth or action" there, or in pantomime, or something else.

—It's not a bad idea," Manomoto supported her, "But maybe we'll have a snack first; I'll ask Sayu—san for something again."

And after a little snack and chatter, they found a plastic bottle and decided to play truth or dare.

— But to make it more interesting, — Gila gave out before the start of the game — whoever makes up the truth or the action makes up the penalty for non-fulfillment.

The actions were stupid, like crowing while standing on one leg, sometimes shameful, like fanning your face with a skirt from the heat, and sometimes strange, for example, saying "nya" at the end of each sentence until the end of the game. But it seemed like everyone was having fun. It was fun for the time being and for Kyoko herself. The first alarm bell sounded when Yamagawa failed to take off his stockings and hand them to the thinnest guy present, having previously measured each of them with stockings. Considering that the task was asked by Haire Lin's second close friend, the thick-set and tall Taka Sawato, and the thinnest was clearly Kaiji Motoyama, it is clear in whose favor the game was being played.

"I refuse,— Yamagawa replied immediately.

—Okay,— Savato grinned as if that was what she was waiting for, —Then the truth! Which of the guys do you like the most?

— The most beautiful in the class is Haire Lin;— Yamagawa answered Sawato's question incorrectly, and it can be interpreted in different ways. But Gila Terikoto's face changed at this answer, and something flashed in her eyes, something bad and dangerous.

Then the game continued with all sorts of stupid tasks and questions, like "crowing on all fours" or "Were you in love with a physical education teacher in junior high?".

But Kyoko was not sure of Terikoto's feelings and not very good intentions until the very moment when she had to guess the truth or the action of Kyoko herself.

—The truth,— Kyoko said without hesitation, thinking, "Well, what can she even wish for me?" If not all, then some of the companies were together in junior high, if not in the same class, then in neighboring ones, and knew each other enough to find and ask tricky questions to find out the "truth." Kyoko came to this school only this year, at the same time as her younger sister, Kyoko, for the last grade of high school and her sister for the penultimate. Therefore, in theory, few people should have known her well. Since the beginning of the school year, nothing embarrassing has happened to her—almost nothing.

— Okay, — a sweet smile appeared on Gila's face, — then tell me why you were late for the opening ceremony this year.

Kyoko turned white. If the company had been purely girlish, it was still possible to tell, and then there were serious chances of dying of shame. To tell that she somehow didn't have clean panties on the day of the opening ceremony, and she had to put on sweatpants and rush with all her might to the mall, wait for the opening, and then rush to school was almost impossible in a female company, even if everyone had sworn never to tell anyone. And despite the fact that there were several boys here, it was absolutely impossible to tell anything at all.

—I..." her tongue suddenly became too heavy, but she knew she would have to say it, "I can't.

— So, - Gila's smile became triumphant, finally justifying all Kyoko's worst suspicions, you will have to fulfill one wish... — I have an idea — Gila put her finger to her forehead, pretending as if this idea had occurred to her only now, — If you can't tell, then it means that- that's shameful enough, so to compensate, you need to do something equally shameful - for example, confess your love to someone.

— Haire, — the cry "from the crowd" sounded.

— No, — Gila shook her head, — to admit to the first handsome boy of almost the whole school — what kind of punishment is this… Yes, and Lin-san is here and knows that this is a punishment, so it's not that interesting. Gila tried her best to pretend that she had just come up with this idea, but Kyoko saw, or rather, the further she went, the more she felt the falsity. I wonder how others don't see this? Or they don't want to get involved with Gila, as she doesn't want to. It's understandable — it's scary.

Meanwhile, Gila continued:

— So, we need to confess to someone less noticeable, for example… Anpan-kun. Let him be, in principle, quite noticeable in appearance," the girls giggled.

It was only later that Kyoko found out that "confessing" to Anpan-kun was in some way a local meme, meaning doing something rather humiliating and not getting anything good in the end because Anpan-kun caught fake confessions and immediately refused.

— It's decided! — everyone from the company agreed with this idea. Kyoko herself didn't mind either, yet even confessing her love was less embarrassing to her than telling her that she almost came to school without underwear.

According to the instructions of Gila and her friends, she had to confess on the roof. She called Anpan-kun with a note, on which she hinted that the confession was not real after all. She didn't want to offend the guy, but at that moment, Kyoko was more important to Kyoko. At that moment, everything was exactly like that.

After the recognition of the event, the people around Kyoko spun in a dizzying whirlpool, and she didn't have much time or desire to remember this loss.

Kyoko really didn't want to remember that day, but now that she did, she thought for the first time that Gila knew too well that something bad was happening to her. She couldn't keep an eye on her, and Kyoko herself didn't know exactly where she was going. So, someone else knew about it—someone from her household. Aoi couldn't; she didn't come home at all in those days; she spent the night with a friend near the university… It seems to be.

But Katari... was at home and went out before her. And I knew about her habit of taking a shower in the morning. After that, Kyoko discovered the absence of underwear. And the look… When she did arrive at school, late for the ceremony, Katari looked back at her. And I was trying to see something. Okay… You can check it very simply. Her sister doesn't go to the shower with a phone. And she knows the password. It's enough if she has Gila's number, even if there is no correspondence.

***

"So," Hideki summed up, trying to appear calm and undisturbed, but his bright red ears betrayed him, "you went to school without panties on the first day of school, intending to buy them on the way. The only one who could have known and set it up was your younger sister. Who most likely betrayed you to Gila and thus framed you. Gila has an uneven attitude towards Khaira, and after you refused him, she decided to take revenge on you with my help. Ah— Hideki remembered something —that's right, it's true, your sister looks a lot like you. She wears a different hairstyle and has slightly different shapes.

Kyoko frowned at the last sentence. Hideki, though he noticed the changes in her face, continued:

— And she has a different smile. Although, indeed, for a split second, I mistook her for you.

— Today, she is in conjunction with Khaira and Gila, and with my connivance, she prepared a trap for you… Well, you already know that more or less," Kyoko fell silent and thought gloomily.

Hideki took a sip of the tea that was almost completely cold, thought for a while, and still asked a question:

"Kyoko, why is your sister treating you so badly?"

Kyoko shuddered, shook her head, and still said:

— I promised to tell you. And I'll tell you. I have a suspicion. But first, I need to talk to her myself; I'm sorry, Hideki.

— As you know, — Hideki did not press. — And about our breakup? Is it somehow connected? Or don't you want to tell me?

— Well, — Kyoko turned her mobile phone in her hands, poked somewhere, and showed the correspondence in the Line.

"You're leaving a fat guy tomorrow morning." "Good girl, well done! But everything was not done exactly as it should have been; I will tell you later — you will correct yourself." "Come to our room, we'll talk." Hideki read in a whisper and looked up.

— And then I came. They, more precisely, Terikoto, tried to send me to meet someone else.

— And?

"And I told that thing and her friends to fuck off!"

— Boldly! I didn't expect this from you, Kyoko…

— I didn't expect it from myself. This cow just pissed me off... and, most importantly, she didn't even think that I wouldn't obey her. And thank you for that, Hideki-kun. For showing that you can do what you want and not what is required.

"I think you're over-praising me, or maybe you misunderstood me at all, Kyoko.

Kyoko didn't argue, just smiled.

They sat for a while longer and decided to leave anyway.

We paid the bill and went together to the metro station. Just together, but almost without talking, everyone was busy with their thoughts; they reached the common station, at the exit of which they had to go home. The flow of people subsided, people hurried home, and Kyoko and Hideki stood next to the station almost alone.

"Shall I escort you, Kyoko?" — It wasn't too late yet, and Hideki wasn't sure how to do it right, so he decided to ask.

"Don't, Hideki-kun. I'm not far away, and it's not too late. In general, I would prefer that you walk me out, but as your girlfriend. So remember, I like you, and I'm still waiting for an answer from you.

She hesitated for a second but dived over to Hideki and hugged him.:

— Hugging is possible with just close people, and I hope we are not completely strangers anymore.

Hideki thought about today's day full of shit and revelations, and carefully put his hands on Kyoko's back, completing the hug. The hugs were soft and cozy, and neither of them wanted to break them. But another clogged train arrived at the station, and they reluctantly opened their arms. Still, it was so embarrassing to behave in front of a crowd.

— Good evening, Hideki-kun.

— See you later, Kyoko-chan.

Kyoko smiled at Hideki. Then she turned to the side, and the smile faded from her face, replaced by an expression of determination. Katari should be at home, and she will answer some questions for her. Otherwise, she won't vouch for herself.