Shocked by her question, Kane looks at her with an expression of confusion and curiosity. Why would Ayumi of all people ask him if he was interested in Erisa Fujikawa, his childhood friend?
Kane looks down at Ayumi, closing his eyes and giving a forced half-smile, before questioning with a rather perplexed tone, "W-what? Could you repeat that for me?"
Ayumi — who is still pinning him against the wall — first stares at him with contempt in her eyes, before sighing and casting her gaze downward. Her lips open as words begin to escape her mouth.
"Really? Mou~, you should try and listen closely when a girl tells you something..."
"S-sorry."
He apologizes with a blank tone. After sharing some silence, Kane continues with a shy voice, "C-could you also step back a little bit? Y-you seem to be quite close to me, Okawa-san."
Ayumi looks up at Kane with an innocent gaze, before relaxing both of her arms which falls to her side as she takes a few steps back. She speaks in a calm voice, seemingly unaware of what she just did, "Sure... but, why did you get so flustered when I'm up close with you?"
Holding his chest with his hand, Kane looks at her with a distressed expression before saying, "Seriously? You just pinned me against the wall, outside, and behind the auditorium! We're not even that close as friends!"
Ayumi begins to think deeply as she holds her chin and looks up at the sky. After a few seconds of processing, she looks back down and says, "I don't see anything wrong with that."
While squinting his eyes at the extreme bright light coming from the aura of Ayumi's exceeding innocence. A rather rude thought then passes through Kane's mind, "What the hell is wrong with this girl?"
With a deep sigh, Kane puts his hand on his hip while tilting his head. He opens his mouth as the words pour out of his lips, "So... about what you said earlier."
"Eeh~? Didn't you just say you forgo-"
As Ayumi starts commenting, Kane stands straight and stares directly at her, and without any hesitation, he cuts her off and speaks with a blunt tone.
"No. I don't have feelings for Erisa-san."
"!"
The wind blows on both of their faces abruptly, but both of them pay no mind as their hair flies alongside the wind. The golden rays of the sunset also adds to this almost ethereal feeling.
"I don't see Erisa-san that way, nor will I ever get those kinds of emotions for her."
His dark-brown eyes hold no life, and it seems as if Kane had returned to his old ways in not expressing any emotion whatsoever. Ayumi stares at him with widened eyes, clearly surprised by his answer.
Unexpectedly though, the idea of Erisa's smile appears in his mind, a faint smile forms on Kane's face as his eyes shine for a moment.
He begins to mutter while looking down at his hand which is holding onto his chest, "But still, she's someone I consider a dear friend of mine who I cherish deeply."
He looks back up at Ayumi with a warm smile that has completely erased his dull expression, and continues, "I may not like her in a romantic way, but I don't hate her in the slightest."
He then falls into silence as he waits for Ayumi's response. Clearly, Kane has gone a little bit too far with his answer as he begins to ponder, "Hah... I poured out my heart again."
"Why am I always like this? When it comes to Erisa-san, this is the way I act. Yet, when I first talked with her the other day… I shouted at her, blaming her for everything in a fit of rage... What is wrong with me?"
Ayumi stands there frozen, her hand holding onto her chest tightly and her breathing has begun to grow heavy. Her widened silver eyes are completely locked onto Kane, who is standing there quietly.
Opening her mouth, Ayumi tries to speak, but nothing comes out of her lips. She inhales deeply before exhaling, perhaps mentally preparing herself for what is to come.
"Koyasu-sama..."
"...Thank you."
"What? What do you mean by 'Thank you', Okawa-san?"
Confused by her sudden appreciatory remark, Kane looks at her with confusion in his stare as he notices Ayumi bowing deeply. She begins speaking without looking at him.
"Thank you for seeing Fujikawa-sama the same way even after what she did to you before. Just so you know, it assures my heart knowing that Fujikawa-sama will feel relieved knowing how you feel about her."
She then straightens her back, her expression now serious which contrasts Kane's rather confused look. She continues with her gaze steadfast, "She told me what you two went through. And don't worry, I obviously told her off for mistreating another human being."
Dumbfounded by the way she said all that without stuttering in her ojou-sama[1] way of delivery, Kane could only give a simple yet forced half-smile while muttering, "O-oh~? Is that so? I see..."
He sighs which wipes that dumbfounded expression on his face. He begins walking away while waving and having a hand in his pocket, while saying, "If that's all you're gonna say, then I'm off."
Ayumi feels her eyebrow twitch unconsciously out of irritation. Her expression freezes at this disrespectful display of interest in conversing with another human being. Out of desperation, she reaches out to him with an open palm and shouting, "Wait!"
Kane freezes in place before dropping his waving hand. He turns over his heel with a deadpan gaze while asking, "Hm? What is it now?"
Ayumi lowers her hand before clasping her two hands together. She exhales with closed eyes before looking up at Kane with furrowed brows and telling him, "If you..."
"...?"
"...If you ever get into an argument with Fujikawa-sama in the future though, just know I will not side with you whatsoever, even if she is in the wrong."
Kane looks at her with emotionless eyes. Ayumi ignores this daunting expression and continues, "Even though me and Fujikawa-sama just met yesterday, I already felt like there was that connection the moment our eyes locked..."
"Because of her, I begun to believe in fate," she continued while having her gaze fixated on Kane — her gaze was so strong in fact that it could burn a hole through ten layers of metal.
"So don't expect me to do what I just did today to happen again — this is simply a one-off thing I will do. Now, if you'll excuse me..."
She begins walking toward Kane with elegance and having her silver hair flowing with the wind perfectly. In reaction to this sudden approach, Kane steels himself in preparation for what Ayumi might do.
She then walks past him which causes Kane's eyes to widen in shock. Now infront of Kane who has turned over to her, she turns over her shoulder while adjusting her bangs behind her ear with her hand and having her other hand rest behind her back.
"...I'll be going now, see you tomorrow."
Her silver eyes glimmer with mischief and pride as a sweet smile forms on her face. As quickly as she made that witty remark, she looks forward and begins walking away with both her hands behind her back.
Kane was left behind looking confused and in shock. He adjusts his loose necktie while clearing his throat, yet after doing this, the unsettling feeling of embarrassment and confusion looms over him.
He clears his throat and redirects his gaze to the side — although, nothing changes. He redirects his gaze upward to the orange sky while thinking, "What the hell? Why did she make it feel like a declaration of challenge?"
Unbeknownst to Kane who is drowning himself in his own embarrassment and confusion, Ayumi is giggling to herself with a faint blush on her cheeks. She opens her mouth as words begin to come out of her supple lips.
"Good luck, Koyasu-sama."
⋆｡°✩
Now on his way home using his bike, he stops at the stoplight. Although his expression may seem calm, if you are to look underneath that and dig into his mind... he was sweating profusely and a terrified face was plastered all over his face.
His lips trembling with fear, he begins speaking internally, 'W-what the hell!? First, it was a black cat that I saw crossing paths with me when I was about to get on my bike — obviously, I tried to pet it but it ran away..."
"...Then I noticed it came from the left side and ran to the right... I don't really believe in superstitions that much, but it usually means bad luck..."
"I told myself to not pay any mind to it, but just when I thought things were fine... I stopped to look at something in the supermarket, and then I nearly got hit on the head with a falling sign! Luckily, it landed right infront of me, but man was that scary...!"
"And now..." He shakily looks up at the rooftop of one of the buildings, and his eyes lock onto the last thing you would see in the middle of spring — a black crow. He begins to shout in his head, "...I see a crow in this part of town!!!"
He snaps his head back down and chooses to look forward. While breathing heavily and swallowing some saliva, he continues, "Am I gonna die? Is it time for me to go to the afterlife? Will I bask under the eternal sun for all of eternity?"
Those thoughts begin to loom over his head looking like black clouds as he feels a scythe poking at his neck. In retaliation, he swats away those thoughts with his palm, which also turns the skeleton in a black robe behind him into a black cloud.
Sharpening his gaze, Kane confidently smirks while thinking, "No! I will not succumb to this fate!"
As the stoplight turns green, he puts all his strength into his pedals and begins pushing forward with all his might, speeding his way home quickly — either out of confidence or fear... but if you were to ask me, it was most certainly the latter.
Uneventfully, Kane reaches the front of his home with a surprised expression. He touches his chest with a wide smile on his face while saying, "...Nothing happened?" Before looking down. A shadow eerily covers his eyes as he begins giggling creepily.
"YES!!! I SURVIVED!!!"
He shouted as he looks up with tears coming out of his eyes while raising his fist high into the sky. After a few seconds of cheering to himself, he happily latches his bike to a metal fence before going to his gate.
With a smile, multiple chibi versions of himself with wings while wearing white robes, and a golden halo hovering over their heads carries away a black writhing blob with the words 'Worry' oozing off it.
Out of glee, he begins to wonder, "Hehe~, now that I feel a weight get taken off my shoulder, I'm starting to wonder if these superstitions are actually real!"
"Nee~, Kane-kun... me and your father think it would be best if you moved out~."
"Eh?"
Now standing by the front door, Kane stares at his mother with a cartoonishly blank expression who is standing infront of him with an extremely relaxed expression.
"NANI[2]?!?!" He shouted inside his mind, completely dumbfounded by what is happening to him.
Kane's mom sticks her tongue out while clapping her hands together, effortlessly looking as cute as possible despite her age. She speaks in a soft tone, "Sorry for the sudden move out request, Kane-kun~."
Kane closes his eyes and adjusts his necktie, before clearing his throat and looking at his mother with a twitchy half-smile and asking calmly, "W-why do you want me to move out, Mom?"
His mother puts a finger to her lips while looking surprised. That expression fades away quickly however, as she begins to answer with a smile, "Ara~, it's simply because we thought this experience will help you in the future!"
She then covers her mouth with her hand while giggling cutely, and continuing in a playful tone, "Mou~, don't tell me you'll starve and look like a carcass because you don't know how to cook~..."
"Not funny, Mom."
[1] The term "Ojou-sama" (お嬢様) is a Japanese word that roughly translates to "young lady" or "rich girl". The way that it is used here describes the graceful and mature way the words roll off her tongue.
[2] In Japanese, "Nani" (なに) means "What". In Kane's case however, it is more of an expression of astonishment and sheer shock.