Truth - Part 1

"Why are you dating Scarlet?"

She asks me bluntly.

Without sugarcoating her words, without beating around the bush, and without so much as a hint of modesty in her voice. The silent, elegant, and ever so poised Momoka Kudo asks me the most pressing thing on her mind.

A faint darkness stretched over the Sci-fi/Fantasy club room. It was only 10:15am, but the room-darkening curtains that were normally used for more atmospheric role-playing sessions had cast a strange shadow over Momoka. The lack of proper lighting made her seem especially intimidating.

No, it wasn't just the darkness making her feel like this.

Before us, on the table which stretched across the center of the room, is the chess set she had carefully pulled out from her backpack.

It was strange.

She hadn't said a single word to me since we'd arrived. She only spoke now that the chess pieces were finally all lined up on the board. In a way, it made that simple question feel like a challenge.

Seriously though, what a straight-forward question.

Why was I dating Scarlet?

Well, in the first place our relationship was a complete facade. It's only purpose was to hide her phobia of men from the popular kids.

There was absolutely nothing related to romance going on between the two of us, meaning that there is no way of answering her question truthfully without hurting Scarlet in the long run.

Which is why, for someone like me who was bad at lying under pressure, I absolutely had to get the heat off of me.

Otherwise, I'd say something that I shouldn't and end up making a huge mess of the entire charade.

But what should I say?

I scratch at my neck as my brain scrambles to find a distraction.

The tension caused by her piercing gaze is steadily hacking away at any semblance of a logical thought that I could hope to put together in my mind.

I search the room for an excuse; anything I could find to distract her from the question she had posed.

I quickly realize however, that the perfect segue existed right before my eyes the entire time.

"U-umm, Momoka I don't know if you know something about me that I don't, but... I'm not very good at chess. I mean, I kind of only know the basics so I don't think I would make a good opponent."

"Don't worry about that, I'm just playing to help pass the time. We're going to be here a while."

"A while…? How long is a while? I don't want to miss any classes today."

"Classes?"

She asks me as if I had said something completely naive. As if the idea of me going to classes was so amusing to her.

"You don't seem to understand the position you're in Chase."

"Position? What are you talking about?

"You won't be going to any classes today."

"Huh?"

She moves her pawn forward and grins at my surprise.

"Oh, did you not hear me correctly? I said that neither of us will be attending classes for the rest of the day. More specifically, the two of us will spend the entire day in this room until school is out. Do you understand?"

"… Why do I have to stay here with you?"

"That's cruel of you, Chase. Would you really leave me leave me alone in this room for five hours? I'd die of boredom."

"I guess not, but…"

"And you know, I can't help but feel like you're avoiding my question right now with all this small talk."

Geh, she realized.

"I'm being serious! Staying here all day isn't practical. We're going to starve if we're locked in for that long."

Though I sounded concerned, the truth is that the situation isn't actually all that bad.

The Sci-fi/Fantasy club, well let's just refer to it as the SF club at this point, is fitted with it's own washroom and air conditioning unit for the sake of maximum student comfort after school.

On the counter to the side of the room is a small kitchen area which includes a counter, a cupboard, a kettle, a sink and a mini-fridge. We of the SF club use these resources to prepare tea and other drinks in order satisfy our thirst during the long after school hours.

It may seem like a bit much for a public high school, but most club rooms for indoor extracurricular activities at Sunchester High are equipped with at least this much. The amazing student governments of the past had put in place systems and organized fundraisers and other events to make such things possible.

So in theory, we could stay holed up in here for the entire day if we truly wanted to. The only real issue with trying to stay cooped up in here for that long is food.

"That won't be a problem. I'll have Jennifer bring us lunch later."

"You'll have… Jennifer do it?"

Her? Bringing us food? Like a cute little delivery girl? Yeah, I'd love to see that happen.

"Of course I will. Despite whatever preconceived notions you may have about that girl, she is a true friend through and through. It's just that this is only the case if she decides you're worth her companionship. Pretending you're friends with her otherwise is essentially the same as blindly stanning her. In any case, it's an admirable quality that I'd like to believe I am capable of emulating as well."

"I-I see…"

"Which. Is. Why. I'd like you to be honest with me on this."

She stands up straight.

It was so sudden that I had frozen up in my seat.

Slowly, she leans her body forward until our faces about a feet away from one another.

It's too intimate for someone like her. She seems the type to avoid being this up close with others.

Which is exactly why I understood how much she yearned to know the answer to that question.

"Chase Masters. Why are you dating Scarlet?"