Story: The Love Letter Lovelies (chapter 3)

Authors: Glee-chan

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Chapter 3

The Love Letter Lovelies

by Glee-chan

03.

It only occurred to Makoto that night after dinner that she had officially agreed to go on a date with a girl. Sure she realized it at the time, but something about being in that moment took away the gravity of the situation. Now that she had time to think about it alone she understood that she had agreed to something that could effect her life in ways she couldn\'t predict.

Still, Kaede-chan is such a nice girl. After all that, how could I turn her down? Besides what am I getting freaked out for. It\'s just a date. I didn\'t agree to be her girlfriend or anything. And it\'s not like any boys are asking me out, so… why not?

She told herself things like that but still she was worried. Beyond the fact that she was going out with a girl, she wondered things like how should she act, or what should she wear on the date. Did Kaede-chan expect her to kiss her? She thought so much on the issue that she spaced out during dinner leaving everyone to finish eating before her.

\"Was your first day in High School that stressful?\" Her Father asked her as she helped Nori pick up the plates.

\"A bit.\" Makoto smiled at him. \"Mostly it\'s girl stuff.\"

\"Ah. Is that your way of telling the old man to back off?\"

\"No way.\" Makoto hugged him. \"I just don\'t know how to talk about it yet.\" Then Makoto thought And I have no idea how I\'m going to explain the going out with a girl thing.

\"Well whatever it is, I\'m sure it\'ll work out. Just don\'t over think it. You like to do that sometimes.\"

\"Thanks Dad.\"

But her Father telling her not to over think the issue didn\'t help. How could she not? When she had finished with the dishes she went straight to her room. She knew her Dad was right, that she was just working herself into a worried mess over something she had no control over, but it wasn\'t in her nature to let things slide. She wasn\'t cool like Kaede seemed to be.

\"Kaede-chan.\" Makoto mumbled to herself and picked up her book bag, pulling out the love letters. She pushed the others aside and re-read Kaede\'s. Like before Makoto felt her heart beat faster on reading it. It was less embarrassing reading it now than before as Kaede wasn\'t sitting right next to her when she read it.

\"What are you reading?\"

Makoto jumped at the sound of Nori\'s voice. She quickly pushed the love letters back into her book bag. \"N-Nothing.\"

Nori laughed. \"You got love letters on the first day? I guess your make-over worked, huh? How many did you get?\"

Looking away Makoto muffled out a \"Five.\"

\"Five!\" Nori looked impressed. \"What the hell? No wonder you were preoccupied during dinner.\"

\"Yeah, sorry about that.\"

\"Can I read them?\"

\"NO!\" Makoto clutched her bag. \"It\'s embarrassing.\"

\"Alright, alright.\" Nori held up her hands. \"I won\'t pry anymore.\"

That night Makoto\'s mind was filled with the image of Kaede. She was always looking so composed, holding her shinai, gazing into her eyes as if she could see into her thoughts. Every time Makoto tried to think about something else, a line from Kaede\'s letter would pop into her head and bring her focus right back to her. Even with Taro sleeping next to her, she couldn\'t relax. She just couldn\'t stop thinking about that girl.

She only was aware that she went to sleep when her alarm clock sounded off in the morning. She felt exhausted as she slapped it off. Taro gave her a cranky eye when she sat up, as if her waking up wasn\'t a part of her normal routine. Makoto looked at his grumpy face and gave him a few pets on the head. Begrudgingly he laid his head back down and went to sleep.

Getting dressed seemed to take longer that morning than it did the one before. Once she was awake Makoto thought of Kaede again. She didn\'t want to look less pretty than the day before, and when she realized this she wondered why. After taking far too long with her hair, she groaned inwardly. Why am I making this much fuss over a girl? It\'s just one date, and it\'s not even today.

\"Mako-chan, hurry up, your breakfast is getting cold!\" Makoto heard her Mother shout from downstairs.

\"Coming!\"

The walk to school seemed to be filled with more students from Yumoto High School than it did the day before. Or maybe it was just that she noticed them more because she wasn\'t preoccupied with practicing being cute. The only thing she was thinking about now was Kaede, so she was all to aware of any girl in a school uniform that was walking by.

When she arrived in Class 1-3, Makoto took her seat behind Nobuyuki, who already was there. Kaede wasn\'t. He looked at her for a moment but didn\'t say anything. She kept glancing at the door, wondering when she\'d arrive. Why am I thinking about her? Why can\'t I stop? What am I going to say to her when she does show up? Why am I freaking out?

\"Hey. Akiyama.\" Noboyuki broke her thoughts. \"Are you okay?\"

\"Huh?\" She jumped in her seat. \"Sorry?\"

\"Are you okay? It just seems like you\'re worried about something.\" Nobuyuki asked her, looking uncomfortable. \"Are you worried Hayashi-senshi will pick on you again?\"

\"Do I really look that worried?\" She asked him. He nodded. \"Ugh, what\'s wrong with me?\"

\"You\'re probably over thinking things.\" Nobuyuki shrugged.

When he said that, it reminded Makoto of her Father\'s advice. \"You\'re right, I just need to calm down.\"

As she decided that she\'d stop stressing out over Kaede, almost at that exact moment the kendo-girl walked in. Their eyes met. As she did yesterday, Kaede did not seem bashful in the least as she kept contact with Makoto\'s eyes the whole time she traveled to her seat. Makoto felt her body warm up from her gaze, not since she woke up her mind was this silent. The only thing that existed were Kaede\'s eyes.

\"You\'re spacing out again.\" Kaede spoke in a smooth voice.

\"Oh.\" Makoto blinked, her trance broken.

\"I think she\'s worried about Hayashi-sensei picking on her again.\" Nobuyuki said from his desk.

\"Really?\" Kaede was organizing her desk as she talked. \"Maybe it has to do with the love letters she got yesterday.\"

\"Kaede-chan!\" Makoto blustered out. \"Don\'t talk about that!\"

\"Sorry, I didn\'t know it was a secret.\"

\"Wait, you got love letters on the first day of school?\" Nobuyuki asked. \"Damn.\"

Makoto felt like jumping out the window. At least Kaede didn\'t tell him that all her letters were from girls.

\"Have you turned down your admirers yet?\" Kaede asked in an almost business like question.

Makoto wasn\'t sure what to make of that. Isn\'t it enough that I agreed to go on a date with Kaede-chan? Why do I have to personally turn down everyone who asked me out. Is Kaede worried about competition?

As if the other girl read her mind she went on. \"If it were me, I\'d want to know if my chances where blown. It would be difficult waiting for an answer only to never get one.\"

Blushing, Makoto could see Kaede\'s point now. But five people asked her out. It seemed far too time consuming going to each individual girl and find a way to secretly tell them she wasn\'t interested. Besides, she wasn\'t even sure who some of them were. She glanced over the head of the kendo-girl to see if all the girls in the class where present, which they were. Impulsively she breathed in some courage and stood up in her chair.

\"Pardon me…\" Makoto called out over the massive amount of public conversations. Her standing in her chair gave everyone notice and a good number of them went quiet, though they all had a bewildered look on their faces. \"Sorry to have to say it like this but, I got so many love letters yesterday it\'s just easier this way. I wanted to tell the people who gave me letters that I agreed to go out with someone and that… that I\'m sorry I can\'t answer your feelings.\"

Makoto\'s sleeve was being tugged, and when she glanced down she saw it was a big-eyed Kaede. Before she could question the reason, the girl was pointing behind Makoto franticly. Turning on her seat she saw Hayashi-sensei standing in the front of the room, looking directly at her.

\"By all means, continue your announcement.\" Hayashi-sensei said. \"Don\'t let little things like class starting stop you. Perhaps it would be easier if you used the school\'s intercom?\"

Her legs shaking, Makoto jumped off her chair and quickly slunk into her seat, feeling completely embarrassed. There was a round of timid laughter throughout the class, as many found the situation funny yet were unsure if laughing would cause them trouble from the teacher. His eyes were still staring her down, and she felt like she could melt on the spot like candle wax exposed to a really hot flame.

\"Just out of curiosity, how many love letters did you receive yesterday?\"

\"F-Five.\" Makoto buried her face with her hands.

\"Five?\" The sensei asked, his harsh tone replaced with one that sounded almost impressed. \"Well boys, next time you bombard a girl with love letters, make sure no one else is doing the same. As you can see it causes a lot of trouble. Got it?\"

All the boys grunted a series of agreements, though Makoto knew none of them had anything to do with the letters. I wish I were dead. She thought pathetically. As Hayashi-sensei started roll call, purposely skipping over Makoto as \"…I\'m already aware the princess is here…\", a hand from behind touched her shoulder and squeezed it gently. At first Makoto almost jumped at it, but she quickly understood that Kaede was trying to be kind.

Just like it was yesterday, the situation hadn\'t changed. She still got stared down by everyone throughout the day, only this time Makoto was sure it had nothing to do with people thinking she was cute. Izumi, one of the letter writers, had retreated even more into herself as if she had been called out too. Part of Makoto couldn\'t blame her, maybe her standing on her chair and making a public announcement was embarrassing for the letter writers too? Maybe Hayashi-sensei\'s treatment of her was a just punishment she desired for being so untactful to those girl\'s feelings.

When lunch came about, Izumi didn\'t join her as she did the day before. Instead Kaede took her place without even asking. Makoto was still in a slight shock from the mornings events that she didn\'t even protest. As the two of them quietly started to open their bento-boxes another girl walked up to Makoto\'s desk. Aside from recognizing her as a classmate, Makoto couldn\'t remember her name. She was pretty, had a small amount of freckles on her nose, had stylish short hair, and glasses with fashionable frames.

\"Who\'d you agree to go out with?\" The girl asked in a demanding voice.

The question caught Makoto off guard. \"What?\"

\"You said earlier you couldn\'t go out with me because you agreed to go out with someone else.\" She clarified. There was a moment of realization that dawned on Makoto that this girl was one of the letter writers. Before she could even think of a response the girl gave a worried moan and spoke in a more kinder voice. \"S-Sorry, I probably sound crazy coming out and asking you like that.\"

\"No, you didn\'t.\" Makoto lied.

Casually taking a bite from an item in her bento, Kaede spoke in her calm voice. \"I\'m the girl she\'s going out with.\"

Makoto felt her face flash red. She could see the girl staring at Kaede, and behind her the mousy eyes of Izumi looking at them as well. As if the gods were taking pity on her, Nobuyuki wasn\'t eating his lunch in the area, It was just the letter writing girls and herself present.

\"What\'s your name?\" The glasses girl asked.

\"Kaede Ozawa.\" She answered after she shallowed her mouthful of food. \"And you?\"

\"Shiho Inoue.\" She answered quickly, but her eyes went to Makoto. \"Why her? Why not me? I\'d like to know.\"

Squirming in her seat, Makoto had no idea how to handle this situation. \"I told everyone that I got five letters yesterday… I can\'t say yes to all of them.\"

\"That\'s not an answer.\" Shiho pulled Nobuyuki\'s seat and sat in between the space of Izumi\'s desk and Makoto\'s. \"I\'m just as pretty as her, so why not me?\"

Now would be a good time to jump out that window. Maybe there\'d be a bush to break my fall and I could just get up and run away.

\"Inoue-san…\" Makoto stammered, her brain going to overdrive. \"I\'m sorry if I hurt your feelings, but Kaede-chan asked me in person. She way she asked-\"

Shiho gave a soft sniff of her nose then pouted. \"Figures.\"

\"Don\'t feel bad! Honestly, I\'ve never gone out with a girl before and I almost didn\'t agree.\" Makoto rambled on. \"It\'s so scary. I mean, why do a bunch of girls think I\'m so great anyway? But Kaede-chan\'s letter and her confession was so sweet I thought I\'d agree to at least one date. I didn\'t think I\'d hurt anyone\'s feelings by picking someone and-\"

\"Okay, okay I get it.\" Shiho raised her hand. \"You really get flustered easily don\'t you?\"

There was a lull in the conversation, in which Shiho kept her eyes focused on Makoto. Then out of no where, her protector voiced her displeasure of the situation. \"Inoue-san. Please don\'t scare her away.\" Kaede expressed in her usual calm voice.

\"Huh?\"

\"I really like her, and I\'d appreciate it if you didn\'t frighten Mako-chan.\"

\"What do you mean, frighten her? I\'m just asking a question!\"

\"You were deliberately being antagonizing.\" Her voice sounded unemotional, yet there was something the way Kaede said it that had a bite to it.

\"I wasn\'t trying to be.\" Shiho stood up and looked down on Kaede. \"And don\'t think that you\'re the only one who likes Mako-chan. In case you forgot, four other letters were given to her on the first day of school. As far as I\'m concerned that makes everyone who sent those letters on equal ground. She doesn\'t know anyone more or less, and only had our letters to go by. Just because you chased her down and asked personally doesn\'t mean that I can\'t fight for my spot!\"

This can\'t be happening. Not only did five girls ask me out, but now two of them are fighting over me. What\'s the deal? What makes me so special? I wonder if the others around us can hear them arguing? I hope not. What am I going to do about all this?

\"Mako-chan already agreed to go out with me.\" Kaede\'s stillness was eery. \"She\'s off the market.\"

\"Don\'t just decide things on your own!\" Shiho\'s voice was getting louder. \"She only said yes because you pestered her.\"

\"I did no such thing.\" Kaede denied.

\"I\'m sorry, Mako-chan. I\'m sorry that I come off as being loud and too forward. I\'m normally not like this. But you can understand that I don\'t want to give up on you, yeah? If you agreed to go out with her, then can\'t you do the same for me?\"

\"Wha-\" Makoto coughed.

\"Please don\'t insert yourself into our situation, Inoue-san.\" Kaede was now standing up. She didn\'t seem as coolheaded as she did before.

\"I\'m doing nothing of the sort. Didn\'t she say earlier that she agreed to go on one date with you. That means you\'re not a couple. It\'s perfectly fine for me to go out with her on a date as well.\"

\"I don\'t understand how you demanding a date will do you any favors, so I would calmly suggest that you\'d stop acting the fool and just wait to see if Mako-chan and I pan out.\"

\"Oh you\'d like that. You just want me out of the way.\"

\"I don\'t deny that. The same could be said about yourself.\"

\"I\'m not giving up on her! She\'s not yours so you can\'t tell me what to do.\"

She couldn\'t stand for anymore of this. Makoto stood up. \"Stop fighting over me. I can\'t… I can\'t take it! Just leave me alone, both you!\"

[End notes: Taru, Makoto's cat, I wrote to be like one of the most cranky cats I've every owned... ironically named Makoto.]

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