Truth - Part 5

"Checkmate."

"Ah dammit, not again…"

She flips the page of her book while yawning aloud. She's barely paid any attention to the board and yet I've been effortlessly put in checkmate every single game.

Just how big is the skill difference between us?

"Ah, it's already time. I suppose I should get in contact Jen now."

She picks up her phone and begins typing something in rather speedily.

"Haaa, what the hell… No matter what I do I always end up in checkmate."

Not ten seconds later, she puts her phone down after finishing her text and stretches her arms out.

"What's wrong Chase, giving up already?"

"No no, I'll be the one winning soon."

"You don't have to try so hard to change my mind. I can already tell it's impossible for you to beat me at your current level."

Why go on about me being a chicken then?!

Sigh. Dealing with this girl is so frustrating.

"By the way, did you tell Jennifer that I'm in here with you?"

"I did leave some details out if that's what you were wondering. I didn't tell her that you were here, nor did I tell her that this room actually belonged to the SF club. If I did that then she'd spend her time drilling me with questions rather than getting us food."

Wow, absolutely no fear huh?

They must be close for her to deceive Jen so boldly. Most people wouldn't dream of undoing that kind of lie in her face.

"Shame there's no kitchen here though, I could have cooked us something instead of having Jennifer come all the way over."

Well it's more like I'm terrified of having her see the two of us alone in here but…

"Hmm? I didn't know you cooked. I don't think Scarlet ever mentioned it before."

"A-ah, t-tha… that so? It must not have come up."

"Is that how it is?"

Great, not only do I look like a breast-loving pervert but now it probably seems like Scarlet and I don't talk about each other all that much.

"What's your best dish then?"

"Best dish? Hmm, that'd be pot roast I think. I make it at least once a week for my family so I happened to get in a lot of practice."

"I'm surprised. You might actually make a good wife someday."

"Dude."

While she giggles to herself, a knocking sound suddenly comes up from behind me.

"Ah, that must be her."

"Already?!"

Momoka stands from her seat and nonchalantly walks toward the door.

Ah crap, I'm nervous. What should I do?

I get the feeling that she might start something with me in this situation. And honestly, after Momoka's tongue lashing from earlier I don't know if I can handle that.

"Um…"

"Whatever you do, just don't say anything idiotic."

I gulp and nod my head slowly.

You can say that again. That's one mistake I'll never make again. I really should have listened to Scarlet's warning last time.

Momoka opens the door and she's immediately embraced by none other than Jennifer.

"H-hey…"

"Ohmygosh Momo! Are you okay? I was so worried! Scar and I have been wondering where you've been all day and then all of a sudden I get a text from you asking to bring you a tray all the way up here. What's going on with you? And why did you want extra portions any…"

"…"

Our eyes meet.

Her face contorts from relief to something indescribable. It was almost entirely the same as the expression she had back then.

I can only wonder what must be going through her mind right now.

"Yo."

"…"

Jennifer ignores my greeting and walks up to the table to set the tray down forcefully. The sound of it crashing onto the table echoes throughout the room.

Well, that went about as well as I'd expected.

Once she made sure that everything was in place, she drops into the same seat that Momoka was in mere moments ago and peers over at me.

Did getting involved with Scarlet cause some kind of chain reaction? Momoka is spending time with me in a locked room and now Jennifer is sitting here with us because of her.

Just what exactly is going on here?

After eyeing me for a little while, which caused me to look away nervously by the way, she finally clears her throat to speak.

"So? Why are you keeping Momo locked up in this room? What even is this room anyway? It's so full of nerd junk that I'm getting the creeps."

"Huh? Me? I'm the victim here!"

"Huuuuh? You really expect me to believe that? That there's another reason for you and Momo to be in this room alone all this time?"

"Of course you should! What kind of person do you think I am?!"

"Tch…"

Well, at least she's in a good mood today.

"Momo, what's going on here?"

Momoka makes sure the door is locked and walks up to sit in one of the empty chairs next to Jennifer.

"Sorry, I can't explain why. But for now you should believe what he says. Chase isn't a bad guy, he's just a… Hmm…"

She takes a moment to think.

"A scared little kitty."

"What, I'm not a chicken anymore?"

"I figured you should be applauded for not running off by now. Congratulations little kitty. Why don't you meow for me as thanks? Meow meow."

"That's even more humiliating in it's own way, you know."

Jennifer's eyes shift between the two of us, and after a while, she finds herself sighing.

"Well, if you say that's how it is then I guess I'll leave it alone…"

Just like that, Jennifer drops the subject.

This is completely different from how Scarlet handles her. It feels like Momoka is in complete control here. She's definitely more used to dealing with Jennifer than anyone I've ever seen. I wonder what's so different here compared to when everyone else tries to talk to her?

"Hmm, only one, huh? I should've thought about that."

Momoka picks up the single fork from the tray and looks down.

"Chase are you fine with the burger? We can also divide the chicken but I don't want to force you into cannibalism if you can help it."

"I'm a chicken again?!"

"Ah, sorry. I forgot since you still haven't meowed yet. Go on Chase, say meow. Meow for Aunt Momo. Meow!"

"Oh stuff it, there's no way I'm doing that. I'm fine with just the burger."

"That so? Help yourself then."

She's enjoying this way too much.

I sigh and reach over to grab the bun.

But before I could even reach for it, my hand is immediately slapped away by Jennifer.

Ah, that's so mean. My poor stomach is being tortured…

"Hey, aren't you being a bit too friendly with Momo?"

"Huh? What are you talking about?"

"You're dating Scarlet right? So what the hell is all of this? I don't know why Momo wants you to stay here with her, and quite frankly I don't care. But shouldn't you be a bit more reserved with other girls?"

"…"

Her question hits me in the face like a truck. Completely out of left field.

I hadn't anticipated it at all.

And worse than that, I can offer no response.

She's right.

At the moment, I'm supposed to be acting as Scarlet's boyfriend.

Even if in reality I have no such ties with Scarlet, I should be trying my best to act as the model boyfriend that Scarlet Sterling deserves.

"What are you talking about Jen? It's not like we're acting lovey dovey or anything."

"Well, maybe not but… I mean, think about how Scarlet would feel if she saw this."

"Scarlet will be fine. I'll let her know what happened here tomorrow. You don't need to worry about it."

"Yeah, but…"

Jennifers eyes shift nervously towards me then back to Momoka, but all she can do is sigh.

"Sorry, I'll trust you. That was my bad."

"It's fine, I understand. You don't need to dwell on it."

Geez, this is new.

It's actually almost unnerving to see Jennifer submit like that.

In the time I've known her, she's always been the dictator of every conversation's pace. She would never compromise or give in to someone else's flow no matter how hard they tried to force it. Even if the conversation was about you, the direction it took was always controlled by Jennifer Swift.

Seeing her give in like this so easily twice now was somewhat of a surprise to me. That just goes to show how powerful Momoka really is.

She quickly stands up.

"I'm bored. Gonna head back to meet up with Scarlet. If you need anything else then please let me know. And if he so much as tries anything…"

I won't, I won't. Seriously, even if I've said a few things that I'd like to take back, there's no way anything like that is going to happen between me and this devilish woman.

Momoka takes a small bite from her lunch then stands up to walk Jennifer to the door.

"I don't know what's forcing you to lock yourself up in here with that geek, but please stay safe."

"You worry too much Jen. I can handle myself perfectly fine. Let me enjoy playing with Chase for just a little longer."

"Um, sure…"

Jennifer seems a bit disappointed in Momoka's fixation on staying here alone with me, but she doesn't purse it for much more.

"By the way, a senior called Ryan was looking for you a few minutes ago. This wouldn't happen to have anything to do with him, would it?"

Oh god.

He's actually looking for her?!

He's committing to what he said earlier then?

If that's the case, then locking herself in here was the right idea after all.

I glance at Momoka as I try to conceal my fear, but strangely enough I don't see anything resembling surprise in her face.

"Ryan? I've never heard of him."

She looks about as indifferent as ever I'd say. She might actually be less worried about herself than I am if she's lying so brazenly like that.

"Really? It sounded like he needed to speak to you really badly. Anyway I gave him your number before I left the cafeteria so you can talk to him there."

"Thanks, you did me a huge favor."

Did she really, though?

Jennifer smiles bitterly at her words.

"I can never tell what you're thinking, Momo. To be honest, it's kind of scary."

Once the door is unlocked, Jennifer sees herself through.

"Take care of yourself, 'kay?"

"I will. See you."

Just like before, Momoka closes and locks it with the key and slips it back into her pocket.

"You can't really blame her for being worried. You're locking yourself up in a room with a guy your own age after all."

"I won't bother her with the truth of it. She's going to be running for Class President next week so she needs to focus on campaigning."

She walks back to her seat slowly.

"Not that I see anyone running against her."

You've got that right. Running against Jennifer is the most pointless thing someone could do. With her popularity, the vote won't be even remotely close no matter who goes against her.

"And anyway, regardless of how she feels, the current state of affairs was set in stone the moment I lost control of my temper. I may not look that way, but I'm actually disappointed in myself that things turned out this way. I'd like to apologize to him too but with the way you claimed he worded his threat then it probably was for the best that I waited here until he calmed himself down."

Waiting until he calms down, huh? She's approaching this scary situation rather pragmatically.

I take a bite out of my burger, making sure to swallow before I reply.

"Well, that is assuming he ever calms down… Speaking of which, did you get any messages on your phone just then? You know, since Jennifer gave him your number and all."

"That's a good question. My phone has been on silent for a while so I haven't been notified of anything. I'll take a look now."

She pulls out her phone and begins tapping at her screen.

"Hm. Seems he's already sent me two text messages. Should I read them to you too?"

I swallow my food in one gulp and nervously nod my head.

At my affirmation, she opens up the first text and begins reading aloud.

"'Momoka. You must think you're real cool for pulling that one on me. I'm not gonna let you get away with that shit. Find your pretty ass back in the cafeteria so I can teach you a lesson.' Wow, he must really have it out for me."

Okay, I won't comment on how odd all of that sounded coming out of her mouth. Actually, in a way, I think her deadpan voice suits that kind of thing. She sounds like a female Tony Montana.

"Oh."

"Eh? What's wrong?"

"The second text. It says, 'I'm outside. Open up.'"

The moment she says it, a violent knocking sound travels through the room from the locked door.

My hand stops just as I was about to take my final bite of the burger.

This is bad.

"U-uh… What should we do? There's no place to run anymore."

Seemingly ignoring my words, Momoka stands up and pulls the key out of her pocket.

"H-hold on Momoka, what do you think you're doing?"

"Isn't it obvious? I'm letting him in."

"Wait! Don't do that! This is dangerous! Beyond dangerous! For both of us!"

At my words, she can only sigh.

"This is exactly why you're a spineless chicken."

She walks toward the door and inserts the key, just like she did with Jennifer moments ago.

But before she opens it, she turns toward me with a smile.

"Don't forget about our deal. Make sure you protect me. Even if it kills you."

Without giving me a chance to respond, she turns the knob and opens the door.