183 Feelings Bloom

Satsuki Momoi was a third-year at Teiko Middle School. She was a slender and curvaceous teenage girl with lower-back length bubblegum pink hair and large dark pink eyes.

If one were to take a poll with male students of Teiko Middle School participating, you could say with one hundred percent guarantee that Satsuki would come out on top as the most beautiful girl in the school and that with a landslide victory. She was the irrefutable school Belle, and that girl was currently sitting in her classroom with a juice box in her hand and the straw to it in her mouth. She had a faraway look in her eyes as she absentmindedly twirled her hair with one of her fingers.

The girl was so lost in her thoughts that she didn't notice that her two friends had pulled chairs from neighboring desks and sat around her desk. Her two friends Miki Arai, and Atsuko Kikuchi, peered at their pink-haired, daydreaming friend and looked at each other, trying to figure out the reason behind Satsuki's absentmindedness.

They leaned forward and whispered between the two.

Miki: "Hey, what do you think she is thinking about?"

Atsuko Kikuchi shrugged her shoulders and replied in whispers.

Atsuko: "I have no idea. But, she has been doing that for a couple of weeks, hasn't she?"

Miki and Atsuko had been trying to get the reason behind the frequent daydreaming from their friend. But, they got nowhere as Satsuki would respond the same way as she always did, which was covering her cheeks with both her hands, giggling sweetly, followed by a shake of the head in refusal to answer.

Miki turned her head to gaze at her still, absentminded friend and narrowed her eyes and whispered to Atsuko.

Miki: "We should try one more time, I don't know why, but I get the feeling that if we push her hard enough, she will crack and spill whatever she is hiding."

Atsuko sighed as she listened to Miki, but she wasn't opposed to the idea as she too wanted to know what was going in Satsuki's head these days. She looked at Miki and nodded her head in compliance.

Miki shook Satsuki with her hand and bought the dreaming girl back to reality. Satsuki came out of her musings and looked to see her two friends sitting in front of her. She was surprised because she didn't notice them at all. She smiled at her two friends and talked.

Satsuki: "Mi-chan, A-chan, when did you girls came? I didn't notice you two at all."

Satsuki's often used nicknames to address people she was close, so she used Mi-chan for Miki and A-chan for Atsuko. The two close friends in case sighed and shook their heads. Miki 'Mi-chan' Arai looked at Satsuki and questioned her friend.

Miki: "Mo-chan, you have to tell us what you have been thinking these days. You have been zoning out with that stupid look on your way too often.

You have to tell us today, or we aren't going to let you go. We will not take no for an answer."

Satsuki gazed at the two in front of her and shuffled in her chair under their gaze. She thought if she should tell them what they wanted to know. After thinking for a moment, she decided to open up to them. Satsuki looked up her two girl friends and talked.

Satsuki: "Okay, I will tell you, but you mustn't tell this to anyone."

Miki and Atsuko were surprised to hear that. Miki looked at Atsuko and spoke.

Miki: "That was easy."

Atsuko nodded, turned to Satsuki, and gestured for her to continue. Satsuki put down her juice box on the desk and started fiddling with her fingers before she revealed the reason behind her unusual behavior. She looked up at her friends and spoke in a small voice.

Satsuki: "I like a boy."

Miki and Atsuko blanked out for a moment before Miki snapped out of her shocked state, ended up standing up from her chair, and yelled in a voice that more than just a tad bit loud.

Miki: "You like a boy!"

Atsuko also got out of her similar surprised state but was once again startled because of Miki's yell. She hit Miki on the shoulder and spoke in a chastising tone.

Atsuko: "Miki, volume!"

Miki realizing her mistake flinched, and sat back down, muttering an apology to Satsuki.

Miki: "...Sorry."

But, Miki's accidental yell had already caused the damage. They didn't show it, but if you looked closely, all the boys in the classroom were now sitting straighter than before and were leaning slightly towards the trio of girls, intently listening to the girls' talk. The school Belle had a boy she liked, and they had to know his name. The boys had to know who Satsuki had her eyes on and then declare the guy as the public enemy no.1.

Back to the trio of girls, Atsuko sighed towards Miki. She turned to Satsuki and softly inquired.

Atsuko: "So, who is the lucky boy you have your eye on?"

Even though Atsuko tried to keep her tone calm and patient, you could still hear the tones of excitement and curiosity in her voice. Unlike Atsuko, Miki was staring at Satsuki with wide, shining eyes and had a broad smile on her face. Anybody could tell that the girl was extremely interested to know the answer to the question.

Satsuki fidgeted under their gaze. She took some time before looking at them with upturned eyes and answering the question.

Satsuki: "He is not from our school."

Miki's eyes gained another coat of shine as the mystery of the boy thickened more. She leaned forward and asked in a tone thick with curiosity.

Miki: "Tell us more."

Even Atsuko leaned forward, anticipating more information from Satsuki. Satsuki, on the other hand, did nothing to help by throwing out an answer that made the mystery surrounding the boy increase more.

Satsuki: "I will not give out his name or any detail that may identify him, but you can ask me anything else."

Miki and Atsuko were a little disappointed but grabbed on the opportunity to know more. Atsuko decided to pose the first question to Satsuki.

Atsuko: "When did you meet him?"

Miki and Atsuko saw Satsuki smile. She looked like she was thinking about a fond memory. Miki saw that Satsuki was once again zoning out and had to snap her fingers in front of Satsuki's face to bring her back to the conversation. Satsuki blushed, realizing that she had once again lost herself and immediately answered the question.

Satsuki: "I met him two years back, during the first year of school, but I knew him from before. He didn't know me, but I had seen him."

Miki and Atsuko filed the information in their brain, and they would retain everything from this information better than anything they spent the time to study in school.

Miki was the next one to ask Satsuki.

Miki: "How old is he? Is he in high school, or is he younger than us."

Miki gasped and continued on her own.

Miki: "Mo-chan, I didn't know that you like younger guys."

The flush of red that had just receded from Satsuki's cheek came back, and she hurriedly denied.

Satsuki: "No! He is the same age as us. He is also a third-year."

Miki continued with her questions and immediately asked.

Miki: "What is he like?"

Satsuki once again started to twirl her hair with her fingers and answered Miki's question with a soft smile on her lips.

Satsuki: "He is funny and outgoing. I always end up laughing whenever we hang out. It is never boring when I spend time with him."

Miki and Atsuko saw Satsuki placing her chin on the palm of her free hand and continue to list the qualities of the boy she liked.

Satsuki: "He is kind and polite. I went to him with a problem, and he helped me with it. He is also a good listener. He never interrupts and listens to what I have to say.

He likes books. We actually started trading books last year and frequently talk about books. He also likes basketball. We often talk about basketball.

Whenever I talk to him, time passes so quickly.

He also likes to tease people. He often plays pranks on others.

Whenever I see him, he is always smiling, and that brings a smile to my face."

Satsuki then went on to list some more of the boy's qualities. Miki and Atsuko glanced at each other, and Atsuko leaned towards Miki and whispered.

Atsuko: "She has got it bad, hasn't she?"

Miki nodded and noticed that Satsuki had stopped but was once again on the verge of zoning out. She sighed and once again snapped her fingers to bring Satsuki back to focus. She looked at Satsuki and breathed a long sigh.

Miki: "Mo-chan, you have to stop doing that.

So, do you think he would ask you out on a date, or are you going to take the lead?"

Satsuki smiled at Miki and spoke.

Satsuki: "Actually, we have been on a lot of dates. Recently, we have been hanging out at each other's homes and do our homework together."

Miki and Atsuko gaped in surprise. They looked at each other, and Atsuko spoke.

Atsuko: "Oh, my god. She is farther in than we thought. To think that they already go to each others' home regularly."

Miki nodded dumbly and spoke.

Miki: "And, she said multiple dates."

Both turned back to Satsuki and tried to ask questions but couldn't get out anymore and just tried to process the information that they just received. Atsuko massaged her temple and spoke after pondering for a while.

Atsuko: "Well, at least we know that he lives near your house."

Satsuki's eyes widened when she realized that she had given out a vital piece of information. Miki asked Satsuki a question after she heard Atsuko's question.

Miki: "If you guys visit each other's house, which means your parents know the guy?"

Satsuki nodded and talked.

Satsuki: "Yeah, we know each others' parents. Both our moms are good friends. My mom likes him, but for some reason, dad doesn't like him.

Whenever they meet, he and dad always bicker, but it is fine because it's not anything serious."

If Mr. Momoi were to hear her daughter's words, he would completely deny that the bickers and squabbles were not serious. To him, they were as serious as they got. He didn't want a boy coming to his house and spend time with his daughter, but he couldn't do anything because his wife liked the kid.

Miki rested her elbows on the table and leaned in towards Satsuki. She gazed into Satsuki's eyes and asked.

Miki: "Are you going out with him?"

Satsuki's blush returned full force, and she shook her head. She looked down at her hands, which currently seemed very interesting to her, and answered.

Satsuki: "No, we haven't gotten that far. Plus, we are both busy with the upcoming preliminaries. So, I don't think it is the right time to start a relationship."

Miki and Atsuko nodded. Both of them were also managers for the huge Teiko Middle School basketball club, which had more than a hundred members. They knew how busy the club got before the tournaments. It didn't matter if it was first-string or the third-string; all members were put through tough training regiments by coaches of all strings.

Though Atsuko did notice something in Satsuki's words and immediately followed up on that.

Atsuko: "So, you mean that you aren't opposed to the idea of going out with him? If he asked, you are going to say yes?"

Satsuki looked up at her two friends and nodded shyly.

Watching Satsuki nodding shyly, her two friends squealed in delight. After that, Miki and Atsuko tried to get more information out of Satsuki, but she didn't let them have any more than they already knew.

It was not surprising that by the end of the school day, all the boys in Teiko Middle School knew that Satsuki had someone she was interested in. Source? Miki's yell at the start. A majority of boys cursed the mystery guy, and in another school, a silver-haired guy spent the rest of his day sneezing and feeling shivers go down his spine.

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