Mask (3)

... "Ah! That was so romantic!" I sighed dreamily, pressing my palm to my chest.

"Honestly a bit cheesy," Akane chuckled.

I turned to her, exclaiming, "Oh my God, you don't understand anything Akane! I've always loved stories like this!"

"Really? Stories with knights?"

"Yeah, why? don't you like them?"

"Hmmm... Not really," she mused.

"Yeah, nothing interests you!" I said, disappointed. "What do you think, Hana?" I asked, turning to her.

She sat with her arms crossed and cleared her throat before answering, "Ahem... I agree with Akane."

I looked at her face and noticed that she was looking down.

"Eh, you don't know anything about romance," I said, turning away from her.

Hana glanced at Akane and turned her face away from me even more. "Oh... She's always been like that. Her heart can skip a beat from anything. I don't see anything super romantic about it," she said.

Akane nodded in agreement. "I see, I see..."

I couldn't believe my ears. "You're one to talk! Akane! You're supposed to be on my side!"

My tone was more playful than serious and Akane understood.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," she replied, her smile lacking any hint of apology.

It was just a game for her. Well, it was a game for me too, but now I was playing a completely different game. I was playing chess.

"And you Hana!" I directed my gaze toward her. "You! How can you say that? Aren't you the one always asking for romantic advice in chat groups?"

She simply tucked her short hair, which fell down to her shoulders, behind her ear. I couldn't help but find her nonchalant demeanor rather cute, even though I knew she was being two-faced right now.

"This is very different. Those were practical questions, and you are talking about a knight from a fairy tale."

Pfft.

"Oh come on, you probably found a boyfriend and are hiding it," I remarked snidely.

"What the hell are you talking about?" she threw a quick glance at me. "Of course not, you know I'm not that into romance."

She seemed oblivious to her own contradictions, given her recent requests for romantic advice in the chat group. But I decided not to bring it up, noticing how hard she was trying to hide her tension. I leaned back in my chair and looked away from her.

"Really?" Akane asked.

Hana visibly relaxed a bit and turned her attention to Akane. "Well... I would say it's not that I'm not interested in romance, it's just that she's overly obsessed with it. It's all she talks about," she said with a sigh.

"Ah... So are you saying I'm too easy?" I teased lightly, turning to look at her.

"No... It's just that you should choose your dates better. Remember that nice guy in middle school? Why did you turn him down?" Hana asked, still avoiding my gaze.

"I just wasn't interested," I replied calmly.

"But you said yes to another guy and then he dumped you." She said with condemnation in her voice. Lol, did she decide to lecture me?

"Stop lecturing, Mommy," I teased with a grin.

She sighed tiredly. "Okay... Whatever."

"And since you want me to find a normal guy. The knight seems nice."

"What if he's not?"

"Ah, so you're worried about me then? You're my sweetheart." Grinning, I brought my hand up to her cheek.

It seems that even though she pretended not to look at me, she still watched me with her side vision. She was surprisingly quick to react to my actions.

This time, she finally turned around and faced me. "Stop it!" she exclaimed, waving me away.

A blush adorned her face.

"Rude," I pouted playfully.

"Don't do that again."

Her annoyed expression combined with the blush on her cheeks was quite cute. However, I kept my true thoughts to myself.

I stretched lazily. "You're so boring."

Finally, I noticed Izumi's gaze. He must have been watching us the whole time. Catching my quick glance, he remarked, "You two seem to be really good friends."

I almost laughed at his comment, but I stopped myself.

"Oh, tell me about it, sometimes I feel like the third wheel after Akari left," Akane sighed.

"Don't say that! You're my close friend too!" I exclaimed, turning sharply towards her.

"Oh, really?" she asked, her expression filled with disbelief.

"Of course! You and Akari are our best friends!"

She gave me the same incredulous look and said, "Okay, okay, I guess I'll trust you."

"How did you and Akane become friends, by the way?" Izumi inquired, looking at the three of us.

"Thanks to Akane. She approached us first. And honestly, it was hard to say no, she was really intimidating," I explained.

"Huh? Me? Intimidating?" Akane turned to me with an annoyed expression.

"Uh... Sorry, sorry, sorry!" I pretended to be startled and moved away from her a little.

"Come here!"

Akane stood up slightly and moved her hand in my direction, but I deftly dodged it.

"Hahaha, but after getting to know her a little better, I think she's fun to be around," I added, trying to ease the tension with my words.

She just pursed her lips and sat back down. "Lies, lies."

She exuded a mixture of maturity and childishness.

"Oh, it's cute when you get so angry," I remarked, turning to Izumi for confirmation.

"Ah... Why are you asking me?" I could hear the embarrassment in his voice, despite his attempt to hide it.

I didn't have to answer. Before I could, Akane answered for me, "Ah, don't mind her, Izumi, she's always like that."

I chuckled softly to myself.

"By the way, what about you guys? How long have you and Izumi been friends?" I inquired.

"Not really long, we met at the beginning of the school year," Akane replied.

"Well, you two seem to get along well," I remarked with a smile.

There was a short silence between us, and at that moment I realized that I had completely forgotten about Asano and Iwasaki's presence.

I turned to see them watching us.

Iwasaki seemed a little awkward, and Asano, though harder to read, also looked a little lost. Maybe our social energy didn't suit them, or maybe we just weren't close enough.

"You know, we could all go out together sometime. And you, Asano and Iwasaki too," Akane suggested suddenly, looking at them. Obviously, she had noticed, as I had, that they had been practically silent the whole time.

Akane liked being the center of a group of friends, acting as the glue that connected people who had never interacted before.

"Us?" Iwasaki asked.

"Uh-huh."

"I think we might be superfluous," Asano said.

"Why?"

"Well, you're all friends..."

"Don't be ridiculous," Akane said firmly and crossed her arms as if she wouldn't accept any objections. "Who says you're not friends? I can even start a new group chat."

"Well..."

"If you're not having fun with us, just say so."

"No... It's not that."

"See? You don't mind either, Iwasaki, do you?"

Iwasaki hesitated for a moment. "Well... I don't mind if Asano agrees..."

Akane looked at Asano expectantly and I could see the slight confusion on Asano's face. Yes, when it came to such things, it was hard to refuse Akane.

Finally, Asano sighed. "Okay... You win."

Akane gave her a satisfied smile. "Don't worry, it won't be awkward."

"Alright, alright," Asano replied with a small smile as well.

Once again, silence enveloped us.

It was then that I realized that in all our chatter, we had completely forgotten the main goal. I immediately decided to bring it back into focus. "So what about the case?" I asked.

"Oh, yes, your knight right?" Asano directed her attention toward me.

"Yes, my knight..." I emphasized the word "my" to indicate that the knight belongs to me and no one else.

Asano fell silent, her fingers resting on her chin as she looked at me with a thoughtful expression.

I couldn't decipher her thoughts, but after a brief pause, she asked, "Have you questioned the club members yet?

"No, to be honest... I'm a little embarrassed," I admitted. "I'm afraid they'll just laugh at me."

Asano looked at me thoughtfully and our eyes met for a moment.

"So we need to visit the drama club and ask about the actor?" she suggested.

"Yeah, that seems to be the plan," I confirmed, "even though Akane offered to go, I don't want to send her there, especially since there's a guy there whom she recently rejected."

"Oh my God, you're making a big deal out of this," Akane interjected.

"So you want someone else to go?" Asano asked.

"Yep."

I wondered when she would give up...

"I see… Then why..."

Before Asano could finish her sentence, Hana interrupted, "Is it really that important to you?" she asked suddenly, "It's just a stupid confession."

"Yes, Hana. It is important. I won't give up until I know who it was."

She sighed heavily. "I'll go then," she relented.

"Hmmm... Really?" I feigned surprise, "That wouldn't be a bad idea..."

"Yeah, I think it's for the best anyway."

"Then what's the point of us coming here?" I teased her, just to get a reaction out of her.

"Do you want me to go or not?" she replied, ignoring my question.

"Okay... If you've decided to... well... I don't mind," I conceded, suppressing a smile.

"I won't be long."

With that, Hana stood up, straightened her skirt, and without meeting my gaze, silently left the room.