Sunday had come and gone like a summer's breeze. Monday had arrived. During the lunch hour, Senji sat at his usual table. However, there was a new person that had been sitting with his friends and he recognized her. Sitting next to Kaito was the auburn-haired girl with the red streaks and the low-cut shirt under her uniform. Senji was starting to believe she left her cleavage exposed purely for Kaito's attention. He was wondering why she was sitting here now.

  "Yeah, I guess you could say we had a good time there. Oh, hey man." Kaito said, patting Senji on the shoulder.

  "Hey there." He replied.

  Senji began to dig into his food when he noticed Daiki, Aoi and Kanako all glaring at him. He halted from eating another grape to look at them.

  "Sooooo you and Ayame huh?" Daiki asked with a sickening curiosity.

  "And here I thought the poor girl had no friends at all. You seem to have changed that. Good for you." Kanako noted, adjusting her glasses.

  "She's very cold and distant from my knowledge... But I will admit she is quite a cutie behind those lifeless eyes of hers." Aoi stated with a light cough.

  Senji was feeling a bit embarrassed. Word must have gotten around about them spending time together at the party on Saturday. He assumed Yunaka was the culprit. Perhaps out of pure spite since he had rejected her proposal to be her partner during the party.

  "I-I just... Yeah. Yeah w-we went together. Kaito tagged along but he split off to let us be alone." Senji admitted, lowering his face to hide his embarrassment, feeling his cheeks burning up.

  Kaito sighed, shaking his head. Emiko stole a grape off of Kaito's tray then put her elbow up on the table, leaning on her knuckle staring at Kaito.

  "You keep staring at me like that Emiko and you'll get a tray to the face..." Kaito hissed.

  "So aggressive in your tone of voice. It's pretty hot though." Emiko giggled.

  Kaito gave up trying to passively reject her affection. As long as she didn't try anything to him, he kept his cool. He placed a hand on Senji's shoulder to reassure him.

  "Aww! Are you two dating now or something?!" Daiki asked.

  "Yeah, hate to break it to ya' pal but Yunaka told me that she told others about you and Ayame hanging out at the party. Now a rumor is going around that you two are a thing. Not that I care. I mean, if you two are then it's cool and I'm happy for ya' though..." Kaito explained.

  Senji shrugged off the initial embarrassment to continue eating quietly. He wasn't even sure if they were dating. Neither of them proposed the idea nor asked if they'd want to start dating. He only hoped that other students wouldn't start pestering her about it now. The rumor may draw unwanted attention towards her. He had to go look for her after he finished eating.

  "I... I don't think we're even a thing. We like each other but it's not like we're dating. Our friendship just kind of happened?" Senji replied, softly stirring the remainder of his noodles.

  "You managed to break through the thick social wall Ayame has built up around her. That alone is impressive. Ever since middle school, she's never bothered to socialize with anyone. You show up, become friends and even manage to convince her to attend a party hosted by the most popular girl in school who has been known to mock and berate her. It's actually incredible how high your charisma stat is." Aoi said.

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  "Well, I for one think it's super cute! Maybe all the girl needed was a good friend and nobody wanted to bother with her because she's always so quiet and shy and led to her being a target for gossip and harassment by the popular girls. You could be good for her and you don't even know it!" Emiko commented. Kaito was genuinely surprised by her take.

  Senji thought about what she said for a moment. Perhaps she was right, he thought. Now that he thought about it, he had never seen Ayame in the lunchroom at all during this time. He had no clue where she had lunch. He wouldn't even begin to know where to look.

  After he finished the last of his food, he got up to put the tray away then headed out into the hallways. He thought of one other place where students have been known to eat lunch at. The rooftop. He went to the staircase and ascended upwards to the rooftop doorway. He pushed the door open to step onto the roof. A few students were crowded together in one spot sitting on the ledge talking. A couple was also spotted leaning against the ventilation system. He ignored the others to head around to the other side. As if his gut feeling was correct, there sitting on a lone chair with a boxed lunch in her lap, was Ayame. He cautiously walked in her direction. A gust of wind blew across the roof. Ayame ran a hand through her hair then brushed some locks behind her left ear, revealing a black stud piercing. Senji felt his heart racing. Caught off-guard by her beauty he adjusted himself mentally before approaching. He felt the wind blowing in his hair too. Ayame took the last bite of her sandwich before looking up at Senji who was now standing in front of her looking down.

  "Uh. H-hey there." He stammered itching the back of his head.

  "Senji? Why are you up here?" Ayame asked.

  "Oh, well... I-I went to look for you. I needed to talk to you. Um, I guess I'll just stand here."

  Ayame set her box down then placed her hands on her thighs.

  "You can sit on the ground. Lean your head against my legs if you want."

  Senji started blushing. He glanced around for a moment to see if anyone was around. The others he saw weren't in sight.

  "A-are you, sure? It's okay, really... I can stand!"

  "There's still twenty-two minutes before lunch ends and the next class starts. You made the trip up here... You can relax for a spell."

  Senji swallowed hard. Not wanting to reject her proposal he obeyed. Back now turned to Ayame, he sat on the rooftop ground in front of her, leaning his head back up against her legs. They were soft like her hands. Ayame leaned forward to rest a hand on Senji's head.

  "This... This feels weird. But if you insist..." He chuckled.

  "It's fine. You can speak now." Ayame said.

  "... Um. Kaito told me Yunaka told people about us hanging out at that party Saturday. He said that a rumor is going around now that we're dating or something and... I just wanted to know if anyone's been bothering you about that. I-I know you hate socializing and all. And I would feel so bad if you started being bugged about that rumor now. And if so I... I'm sorry. Maybe taking you ended up being a bad idea..."

  Ayame was silent. Her hand came down to reach around to press against Senji's cheek. Her soft hand felt warm against his skin. He was tempted to reach up and put his hand over hers but didn't go through with it. He wondered why she wasn't speaking. Until he heard a soft sigh escape her lips.

  "A few people have... Mentioned this supposed rumor. I just told them we were dating to shut them up." Ayame spoke. Senji's eyes lit up hearing this. "Senji. Let's just... Go out. Clearly you care about me and have feelings for me. I'll admit that I... Really do like you. As a friend, sure but... I want us to be more than that. I kissed you that night for a reason. I desire more of your... Affection."

  Senji couldn't believe what he was hearing. His heart felt as if it was about to burst out of his chest.

  "Y-you do?? I... Yes, absolutely yes, I will go out with you!" He exclaimed.

  Senji jumped up off of the ground then faced Ayame. She reached out to grab his wrists, tugging him closer and placing his palms onto her thighs. With a single gaze he found himself locked onto her eyes. She then reached up around his neck, pressing her hand against the back of his neck, pulling him down and kissing him. He closed his eyes to take the kiss in. With the wind blowing and the warm sun beating down, this felt like a magical moment to Senji. He couldn't be happier now that they were dating as of this very moment. His fate was now sealed.