Secret

As we were heading to my home, Sato-san kept looking down at the ground.

"Are you okay?" I asked.

"Yeah, I'm just kind of nervous because I will meet your mother after a long time."

"Haha, it's okay. She will totally remember you."

After some time, we arrived at my home. I opened the door, and we went inside. Suddenly, a dark-haired woman with deep blue eyes, fancy earrings, a black shirt, and white jeans appeared. Yes, she was my mother.

"Oh, hello, guys... what a surprise. Haru, you didn't tell me that your friends were coming... I didn't make anything... ahh, what should I do?"

"Mom, relax, it's okay."

"I'm Maki Takahashi, Haru's mother. Nice to meet you! Oh... you must be..." She suddenly spoke as she looked at Sato-san.

"H-hello..." Sato murmured.

"How are you doing, Aoi-chan? Are you keeping good company with my son? Haha."

"Ahh... yeah... haha. He is a good person..."

"Mom, don't ask questions like this, please..."

"Okay... okay... and you are..." My mom said as she looked at Ken.

"I'm Ken, hehe, Haru's best friend."

"Best friend?" I said.

"Oh, so you are Ken. Haru has been talking to me about you. Nice to meet ya."

"Oh, so... you talked about me, huh? Hohoho," Ken asked playfully.

"Anyway, let's head to my room. We will be studying, so don't distract us, Mom."

"Fine, fine... I will make some cookies though."

We went upstairs and then headed to my room.

"I tried to clean a bit... but there are still some clothes," I said.

"Nah, it's fine, dude, relax, there is not any underwear on the ground so it's fine," Ken said as he laughed.

"Ken I will punch you for real."

"I want to see you try..." Ken said as he got the fighter pose.

"Okay, you two stop, and let's sort things out. Ken and I have problems with maths and science, so it would be great if you could help us out with these two subjects."

"I see... okay, then... let's start."

For our exams, we have six subjects to study: maths, science, Japanese, English, social studies, and the elective subject we chose for the duration of the year. Personally, I chose economics.

"I just want both of you to be fully concentrated. I'm going to solve some really tough problems, and I want to see every step. When I finish, I will give one problem to each of you, okay?"

"OKAY!!!" Both Ken and Sato-san shouted.

We started studying, and I tried to explain everything I could to them. They seemed fine with my explanations, even though Ken struggled a little bit with some maths problems. Sato-san was doing fine, especially with science.

Some hours passed, and we decided to take a little break from studying.

"Okay, time for a break."

"Finally... I'm so tired of solving math problems," Ken said as he gently hit his head on the table.

"Wanna go out and grab something to eat?" Sato-san asked.

"Sounds like a good idea."

"I'm starving," Ken murmured.

"Okay then, let's go to a close pizza restaurant," I said.

We left the house and headed to the pizzeria. When we arrived, many students from our school were there, and some of them suggested we eat with them. To be honest, I didn't want to, but I needed to take action for the sake of our fake relationship.

We sat with them and started eating.

"So you two... aren't you supposed to be on a date? Why did you bring your friend here? Not that I complain, he is handsome," a classmate named Nagisa said.

"Hahaha... well... you can go talk to him."

"Doesn't he have a girlfriend though? He is so handsome."

"Ken? Hahaha, no, for real, just go talk to him."

The girl moved closer to Ken, and then they started talking. We had a great time with them, even though they kept asking a lot of questions about us. Most of the replies I gave were made up, of course. I made it look real that we are a really lovely couple.

"Okay, guys, thanks for the great time. Now... we need to leave," I said.

"Oh, come on now..." Ken blubbered.

"Wait, Ishikawa-kun, this is my info... contact me whenever you want, okay?" Nagisa said.

"Y-yeah, sure..." Ken said as he got a bit red.

We went outside of the restaurant and then headed back to my home.

"So... Ken... will you text her?" I asked.

"Kurokawa-san is a good girl, not gonna lie, but I would really like to get to know her much better, so yeah, I will."

"Good for you, I guess."

We returned home and continued studying and solving problems. It got late, so it was time for them to leave. I managed to explain a lot of things to them, so I'm kind of proud. I just hoped for them to get really good marks.

"Thanks for everything," Sato-san said.

"Okay, so I will leave you two alone, you know... kiss and do couple stuff hehe... bye," Ken said and left right away.

I looked at Sato-san, her face became kind of red, then I touched gently her head.

"Oof, it's really stressful getting asked by everyone about our fake relationship, but let's just keep it until next year, and then we will finally be disbanded from each other as a couple."

When I finished my sentence, Sato san was staring at me with nervousness as a random person was walking close to us.

She suddenly opened her mouth and she spoke.

"Haru... don't hate me for what I'm going to do, okay?"

"Huh? You s-said my n-"

Before I could finish my sentence, our lips touched each other... Sato-san grabbed my shirt towards her, and she just kissed me.

After some seconds, we stopped.

"W-what was that..." I murmured.

"I'm sorry... just... you see that boy walking behind you?"

"Yeah... the one with the silver hair, right?"

"Well... he is a friend of mine... an old one. And as it seems, he will be in our school in the next year... together with his sister."

"Who is he anyway? You didn't tell me about him."

"Yuh... I've been knowing him since childhood. He was living abroad, in Switzerland specifically."

"Yeah, but why did you kiss me?"

"I didn't want him to recognize me... that's all. I'm sorry for kissing you so suddenly..." Sato-san said as she touched my shirt.

"W-well, it's okay... but don't you want to meet him? I mean, he is your friend."

"Hehe... well... we have a past..."

"Ahh... understandable, but mind telling me?"

"Secret..." Sato-san said as she put her finger on my lip.

That girl is sometimes really mysterious.