Your Love For Mine

Classes are over for the day.

Nick and Sig have already left, but I decided to stay behind to discuss the division of labor with Jennifer.

For some reason, she's taken the opportunity to sit on top of my desk before I could even leave my seat.

By the way, when I say division of labor…

"You don't have to do anything. You got what you wanted, okay? People respect you now. You're Rocky Balboa now. Congrats, the underdog story of the century actually happened and the two of us, by some miracle, managed to go the distance. But like, you don't have to take the actual position away from me too, okay? Just let me handle everything."

"I can't do that, though. I made a promise about joining our gym classes."

"You can't actually be serious! Those apes are obviously going to be checking our legs out the entire time! That's harassment!"

"Then get everyone to wear leggings or something. Like, sports leggings. That's a thing, right?"

"… Huh. That could work actually."

I feel like telling her that some guys are actually into leggings and shorts too, but I suppose this is better than nothing.

"Anyway, I'm not going to just sit here and let you screw all the guys in the school just because you're this petty about our entire gender."

"Yeah yeah. Stop me while you can. But when I get an actual seat in the Student Body Government then there's nothing you'll be able to do."

"…"

That is true.

But I suppose that doesn't matter. We'll cross that bridge when we get there.

"Look, I don't mind leaving everything to you, just let me know what's happening so we can pretend it's a joint effort in front of Miss Bell."

"Tch, what are you my mom? Haaa…Sure, I guess I can do that much."

"Okay, in that case I'll leave everything to you then."

She sighs.

"What, so you can be obedient? Geez, guys are such a drag…"

She hops off my desk.

"By the way…"

"Hmm?"

"I'll be joining the SF club too, so I'll be at meetings once a week to hang out."

"… Why?"

"I'm a little interested in someone there. Don't worry, it's not your girlfriend."

Not my girlfriend? Then who?

"Well, that's all. See ya."

Now that she's said her piece, she eventually exits through the door.

"…"

Taken an interest, huh?

The only people that come to mind are Chris or Reyna. Maybe they've got contacts in the government?

Haaa, whatever. I don't care anymore. After today, I'm officially retired from politics.

Let's just focus on living out the high school life I deserve to enjoy.

Still, I'm kind of surprised that Nick only got off with only being suspended. I mean, the dude decked everyone's idol in front of a teacher. If I were the principal there wouldn't even be a decision to make there.

But, I suppose all's well that ends well, right?

Now I can finally get back to just enjoying my time with those guys.

"…"

Before I can leave, I'm halted in my tracks.

The sound of the door opening one more time.

Except, it isn't anyone I could have expected.

Not Jennifer, not Nick or Sig, not even Scarlet.

That person…

"Jack…?"

"Hey, you got it right this time."

He motions for me to approach him, and I do.

"Go to music room two. There's a surprise waiting over there for you."

"A surprise..?"

What on earth is he talking about? Is this a celebration for somehow doing the impossible?

A surprise party?!

"R-really?"

"Sure man. Don't act too surprised though. It's not a big deal, y'know?"

"Y-yeah, sure."

"Also, I heard about the elections. Congrats, you're a real piece of work."

"Thanks. It wasn't easy."

"Yeah I bet. Rumors ain't an easy thing to overcome. You're real strong for pushing past that. Trust me, I know."

You really would. I wonder who started those rumors about you?

Maybe some jealous ex?

Thinking about it that way, I feel silly for even buying into them back then.

Just another idiot going along with the crowd.

This whole situation really put a bunch of things into perspective for me.

"Anyway, I'll see you around."

"Yeah. Take it easy dude."

Jack Bourne takes off, and I use the opportunity to begin my walk in the opposite direction over to music room two.

Still, a surprise huh? Thinking about it now, it could be anything.

A present? A party? A prank? An ambush?

Oh man, I'm getting excited.

"… Not really."

Truth be told, I'm more anxious than anything.

I don't think Jack's band is too fond of me last I checked. Didn't one of them punch me in the stomach last time?

Yeah, I should proooobably just bail and pretend I couldn't open the door or something.

Right?

Okay, let's think about this logically here!

There's a chance that Jennifer orchestrated some kind of hit on me to bully me out of the other class president seat!

Wait, but she seemed to have given up on that, no? Didn't we just come to an agreement moments ago?

Or maybe it wasn't enough…

"…"

Well, there's no point deliberating over this anymore.

I've already arrived.

"Haaa…"

Should I really do this…?

Like… it'd be safer if I didn't right?

But… I'm already here, and I'm kinda curious…

"…"

Yeah, there's only one thing left to do.

I turn the knob.

And before I can see anything inside, a sudden burst of anxiety wells up inside of me.

Haaa, Momo was right.

Maybe I shouldn't have done any of this after…

"…"

"Hello, chicken."

Once the door fully opens, I'm greeted by a familiar sight.

A black haired girl, sitting on the opposite end of a desk.

And, on that desk is a chess board with the pieces lined up.

"… Hey."

She was the one who called me, huh?

We are due for a chat, I suppose.

The last time we spoke one-on-one was back when Scarlet and I "broke up".

A lot's happened since then, so she must have some things she wants to ask me.

That suits me fine, there's things I need to talk to her about too.

I take a seat on the opposite side.

The chessboard has been arranged for the start of a game.

…

She gave me black again…

This woman really has no mercy at all, does she?

"…"

Tap.

She makes her move.

Tap.

Tap.

Tap.

…

Tap.

Tap.

The game goes on for a while.

I'm not the same push over as before, but I still feel completely overwhelmed.

It's taking everything just to react to all of her moves.

And she isn't making any mistakes.

Every piece she loses is completely tactical and gives her something in return.

It's like I'm playing chess against some kind of super robot.

Yet…

Yet this time, I'm actually matching blows with her.

It's a real game of chess this time.

But even in a real game of chess, Momo is still leagues above me in terms of raw skill.

"I suppose I should be congratulating you."

"On what?"

"What else? The elections."

"I lost, you know. If she voted for herself then there would be no victory."

"Call it one of the perks of being the underdog then. People lower their guard around you."

"But…"

"In the first place, you're mistaken if you think that you can beat Jen in a fair fight. Isn't that why you used her to seduce the guys in the class?"

"Well, yeah…"

To be honest, I only did that because Rachael told me to use her looks against her, but…

"Checkmate."

"Dammit."

"Well, the good news is you don't seem to be falling for my cheesy openings anymore."

"Yeah, I learned my lesson last week. I'm done being a chicken."

"That so? You're still not developing your rooks though."

"Ahaha, to be honest it's kinda hard. I feel like moving them is either too risky or a waste of a turn."

"Mm, not really. Here."

She walks over to my side of the table and rearranges the pieces.

"If you move your pawns up like this then you can make a safe file for your rooks to move in like so."

"A-ah, that so?"

To be honest, I'm not focusing on anything she's saying.

Momo smells so nice…

The last time she was this close to me was when she was clinging to my back when Ryan showed up at the clubroom.

I still remember how frail her grip was.

She was shivering, wasn't she?

Back then I was completely terrified so I didn't get to appreciate it but, she's really cute isn't she?

"Get it? It's all about getting control of the center and creating room."

"H-huh? Oh, yeah."

"… Sorry, guess you aren't all that interested in chess, huh?"

"N-no, I am! It's just… I thought you were gonna talk about something else today."

"Oh, my apologies."

Seeming a bit let down, she heads back to her seat and stares down in silence.

Doesn't look like she wanted to talk yet.

Maybe she doesn't get to play chess that much.

Sorry, but I can't wait. There's a few things I'm dying to ask about.

"Hey Momo, I have a question."

"What is it?"

"Were you talking about yourself back then?"

"Hmm? What do you mean?"

"The game hasn't even begun and yet you've already accepted defeat."

"…"

She doesn't respond.

And that alone tells me more than anything she could have possibly said in response.

"Hey, stop me if you've heard this story before."

"…"

"You meet a girl. She looks real innocent. Beautiful, charismatic, sweet. A bit talkative, and she seems smart, but you don't think too much of it. She comes to you looking for guidance. She looks up to you like a role model. You're someone she respects. And you want to do your best for her."

"…"

"But before you could even realize it, everything changes. It changes so quickly that you can't react to anything happening before your eyes. Even if the cold hard truth is staring you right in the face."

"…"

"That sweet girl is suddenly a horrifying monster."

"…"

"She's been lying to you. Many of the things she said to you were fabrications. Figments of her imagination that she forced onto you. And the moment you realized it is when she'd caught you in her web. There's no escape. You can only do as she pleases or risk your entire life going up in flames."

"Chase…"

"That's why you wanted me to pull out, wasn't it? You didn't think it was possible to escape."

"…"

Momo looks uncomfortable. Grimacing at my words, she finally offers up a response.

"How much do you know?"

"I'm not sure exactly. But to begin with, I thought it was strange that I just so happened to find you assaulting that senior. It was a coincidence, I thought. It had to be. A one hundred percent genuine coincidence. But… was it really? I couldn't shake the feeling that you might have wanted me to see it."

"Mm. So what made you change your mind?"

"Well, when I spoke to you about it you immediately decided that we needed to hide out alone. Then when we got to the club room, you started drilling me about Scarlet. Almost as if…"

As if…

"I wanted to find a reason for her to break up with you?"

Yes. Almost as if you were in search of the very thing Jennifer Swift had wanted to find from the very beginning.

"You set the whole thing up with Ryan, didn't you? You and Jennifer both. You knew he'd want to know why you hurt him like that. You knew he'd do his best to try and find you so that he could get an explanation. After all, you've had experiences being hit on by guys like that in the past. When he bumped into you that day, you noticed me. Maybe it was after he pulled you up? And when he held your book like that, the idea suddenly came together. You decided to use him to get me to talk to you."

"…"

"Once you informed Jennifer of what was going on, you got her to lure him back into the clubroom just to see how I'd react. To see if you could get something on me. Even back then, Jennifer was trying her best to sabotage me and Scarlet…"

It all makes sense now. The events of that day… they weren't a coincidence at all.

It was all your doing.

"Hmm, not bad. Still, what you've said so far is mostly conjecture. You don't have anything to back it up, do you? It's kind of a stretch to say I kicked a senior just to get you to talk to me."

"It might be, but it doesn't end there. Momo, did you know that Scarlet, Nick and Sig barely made it onto the train when they were following me?"

"…"

"Yeah, barely. And that means, if they were barely following behind me then there isn't a chance that someone else could have followed them into the city. Even if they took the next train, they'd have no idea where we went afterwards."

"…"

"But someone… Jennifer did follow us. Right through the city, and she eventually followed me home too. Seriously, it's weird isn't it? How could she have found us? It's not like she had some kind of tracking device stuck to me or anything."

"Maybe she had an informant, then."

"Yep. Someone who could give away our information. And that person happened to call Scarlet during her trip. Not once, but twice. You know who I'm talking about, don't you?"

"…"

"And, the thing that ties it all together is this music room."

"… How so?"

"Jack Bourne. He'd been hitting on Scarlet for two weeks straight and had been getting extremely vague replies. The type of replies that'd make any guy give up and try talking to some other girl. But not him. He was tenacious. Almost as if something was forcibly pushing him into Scarlet's direction. And… when I remembered that you wanted to be part of a band, it all made sense."

She clicks her tongue.

"Yeah. You messed up. If you wanted to be a part of a band, then 'Think', Jack Bourne's band would be the number one place to start. And lo and behold, it gave Jennifer an opportunity to use him just as she later tried to use me to get Scarlet to hate men. She could use a popular guy to try breaking Scarlet's heart, then get her onboard the train of misandry. But in the end, it didn't work. After all, Scarlet wouldn't even give him her time of the day. And when she said that I was the guy she was dating, you set him onto both of us to try and get things back on track."

"It didn't work, though. As much I tried to get him to break you two up, Jack is simply too kind for that kind of role. The moment his band-mate hit you in the stomach, he decided that it was time to pull out."

"…"

So, the truth is out at last.

Momo was also involved in all of the terrible things that had been happening to us.

She seemed much more reserved than Jennifer, but deep down she was equally as responsible for the rumors.

Though, I can't say that it was by her own choice.

She knows just as well as I do how terrifying Jennifer is as a person.

That's why she went out of her way to try getting us to drop out of the elections.

Now that I've figured everything out, I can't just back down.

"What… did she do to you?"

"'What did she do,' huh?"

Repeating a question might normally come off as rude, but I couldn't fault Momo for it.

The reason for that is how she'd suddenly went quiet.

There's was something eerie about her silence.

The way her hair barely covered her eyes gave off this mysterious, creepy vibe.

"… Do you remember those anime fans I told you about last time?"

She must be talking about middle school. The guys who came onto her because they liked anime.

"It was a terrible time. Being fetishized because of my ethnicity at that age is confusing. A twelve year old girl being swarmed with letters and romantic advances by other twelve and sometimes even thirteen year old boys who happened to enjoy things like Anime or Manga. Nothing has ever made me feel as inadequate or uncomfortable in my own skin as that."

"…"

"You'd think things like that happening at school would be bad enough, but eventually, it followed me home. I started getting texts on my phone at random hours. How could this happen? How did they get a hold of my phone number? I hadn't given it to anyone. In fact, the only person who had my phone number was…"

Jennifer Swift.

That woman again…

"… I received scary text messages from those boys. Some of them were shy, and some were more flirtatious. But eventually, they all became sexual in nature. They talked about how… how erotic I looked in class. About the things they… they wanted to do to me…"

"… You don't have to go into the details."

"…"

What the hell…

She went through something like that?

At twelve?

Seriously…?

That's about Chloe's age…

"I bottled up after that. I couldn't go on normally. I kept my head down and avoided everyone's gazes. But their advances didn't stop. Sure, some of them did. But for others, it only got worse. I was even being approached in person. And those advances had become more desperate too. The 'love of their lives' hadn't been responding, after all. They took it personally. And eventually, one day, I snapped."

"… Like with Ryan?"

"Oh, it was worse. I remember it happened after school one day. I was trying to get to the bus home but one of the guys kept talking to me. That didn't feel good. I just wanted to get home and out of that terrible school. But he wouldn't stop. He insisted that we were destined to be together and that I was his wife or something. Eventually, he got physical. He started touching my shoulders to try getting me to stop. Then, he grabbed me by my waist."

"…"

"It's not a good feeling being touched like that as a girl as timid as I was. I don't think it'd feel good even if you're as outgoing as Jen. It was hard for me to harshly tell him to stop, especially when he didn't seem like he was willing to listen to reason. As far as he was concerned, I was just another one of his anime girlfriends. Except, I actually existed in reality. Being treated like something that didn't exist, like some kind of doll for him to idolize, it annoyed me to no end. That's why I ended up hurting him."

She hurt him, huh? That sounds more like the Momo I know.

He deserved it, though. If anything I just wish you could've handled it before it got that bad.

"He ended up getting expelled since I let the teachers know about the texts, but… I never really recovered. Ever since then, I started hating my heritage. I hated the country that made me into this… thing for weeaboos to sexualize and treat like some kind of doll."

"Until you found that book, right?"

"Mm. Until I found Norwegian Wood."

"I don't get it though. Why would Jennifer do that to you? Weren't you two friends?"

"I think, she wanted me to hated men as much as she does. It didn't work the way she wanted it to, but the whole thing just made me terrified of her. She eventually started seeing me as an equal in her plans, but when she's serious there's nothing I can do to change her mind. I would have left her side or stopped her from starting those rumors about you if I could have, trust me. But her hatred of men makes her do things…"

There it is again.

Hatred of men.

All three of them have something like that in common.

There's Scarlet's Androphobia and Jennifer's Misandry.

And Momoka… she has that traumatizing experience with her stalkers that made her into such a huge introvert.

"Why… does Jennifer hate men so much?"

"…"

Momoka doesn't respond for a while.

Kinda hard to imagine what drove her into obsessively hating men like this, but…

This whole Momo situation aside, Jennifer probably had her eyes on Scarlet for a while. She might have sensed how apprehensive Scarlet was around men, and thought she'd be an easy target to sway into her way of thinking.

But if that's the case, then what drove Jennifer this positively insane?

"That's… something you'll have to ask her yourself."

"Ah, right. Sorry."

That's too personal a question to ask.

She might be an evil witch, but it's not right to hear it from someone else's mouth.

"I will say that I think her efforts are noble at least. It's just that… she's going about it all wrong."

"But Momo, you're her friend, aren't you? Why don't you tell her that yourself?"

"…"

I guess it's not that simple, huh?

"Rather than boring you with that story, you said you wanted to hear me sing right?"

"Oh, yeah. I did say that the other day. I'm surprised you remembered."

She pulls her guitar up to her lap from the case next to her seat.

Seeing her with that thing in her arms makes her seem like a real musician.

"You've finished Norwegian Wood, correct?"

I nod.

"Good."

Taking my nod as a signal, she looks down at her guitar and smiles.

"Let's pretend that this is the final chapter then."

Then, with no more words left, she begins strumming the chords for the song "Norwegian Wood."

Her playing is good, but it doesn't surprise me nearly as much as her voice does.

For a second, I could only picture the girl before me as some kind of divine being.

It didn't make sense to me that someone could be so soft spoken while having such a beautiful singing voice.

All I could do was sit there, basking in awe at her performance.

I felt immersed in Momoka Kudo's world.

Walking through a dark green forest.

Abandoned.

Alone.

Is this the world she lives in every day?

It's… a surreal thing to experience.

How long has she been doing this for? I'm no expert but… I can't help but feel like she might be a professional.

Once she's done, she takes a sip of the bottle of water that's been sitting on the desk.

"How was I?"

"Beautiful."

"Hehe. That's the first time I've played like this in front of a guy."

"What? How did you audition for the band then?"

"I haven't yet. They've just been letting me hang out every so often to see if I like it."

"I see…"

Her first time, huh?

Hearing that feels kind of romantic in a way.

"You'll blow them away when they hear this. You're like a professional."

"Haha, thanks. If you really feel that way then I don't mind taking a single request. Only Beatles songs, though."

"Mmm, I don't listen to them so I don't know too much, but… How about 'While My Guitar Gently Weeps'?"

"Aah, George Harrison huh?"

She smiles and, without waiting too long, her strumming picks up once again.

Her angelic voice fills the room one more time.

The solemn sounding vibrations of the guitar coupled with that soothing voice of hers to create a rendition of the famous song that I couldn't believe was coming from someone I knew.

To be honest, it's making my heart feel funny.

I don't think I ever realized how beautiful this girl was before today.

An honest to goodness angel.

That's the only way I can describe her.

I never noticed how gorgeous her hair was.

I never realized how unblemished the nape of her neck was.

Nor had I even taken the time to appreciate how much she enjoyed the little things that she did.

Her music and her reading.

It almost reminded me of Nick and Sig.

But there was something more to it.

It's not that she loved her passions more than they did, but she certainly seemed to immerse herself in that world far more than they ever could.

Perhaps it's because she doesn't have anyone to share these feelings with.

The lonely artist who's forced to express their love for the medium in solitude.

It must be a struggle for her.

But still, that struggle made her seem all the more beautiful.

Eventually, her voice dies down and the song ends.

I don't say anything. My eyes are intently focused on her as she takes a sip from her water once again.

"This song is kind of relatable to me."

"Yeah? Is it because you don't get to play your guitar that often?"

"A little, but… George Harrison wrote this song after him and the rest of the Beatles were going through a disagreement. He fell in love with the spiritual music of India and the band went on a trip there to study the country's music. But… the other Beatles didn't share his passion for it. His feelings during that time of disconnection are deeply woven into this song. I can relate to that. Truthfully, it's so me that I could cry. It's painful to love something this much, but your friends couldn't really give a damn about it."

"I'm sorry."

"Haha, don't apologize. It's just rambling. If anything, this is my way of thanking you for putting on such a show during the elections today."

"Ah, yeah…"

I'm sure it must've been a huge shock for her.

I can't imagine that she expected me to do so well against Jennifer.

Speaking of which.

"Mmm… Hey, were you surprised?"

"About what?"

She places her guitar back in its case.

"That Scarlet and I weren't actually dating."

"A little, but it doesn't matter in the end, does it?"

"Why not?"

"Obviously because she's still in love with you. What, you mean you haven't replied yet?"

"…"

Oh crap, I forgot…

"You shouldn't take her words lightly. That girl hasn't approached a single guy until you showed up. You might just be a one in a million guy for her."

"More like a one in a thousand if we're going off of students at this school."

She giggles.

"Still though, we've only really known each other for a month. Is that really enough time to fall in love with someone?"

"Falling in love with someone is easier than you think. But, you already know that don't you?"

"Ahaha, nothing escapes you does it?"

Scarlet Sterling.

The girl who approached me two weeks ago and changed my life.

The girl who made me into the guy I am today.

And the girl who confessed her love to me through a school-wide interview.

I'm going to have to give her a proper response.

"A Midsummer Night's Dream."

"Huh?"

"It's a Shakespearian play I'm fond of. You can probably tell by now, but I like comparing things that have happened in real life to literature I've read before. The story of you and Scarlet…"

"It's A Midsummer Night's Dream?"

"Well, partly. Either way, it doesn't change what you need to do, does it?

"Nah, I guess not."

I stand up.

"Thanks for everything Momo, really."

"I'll see you around, Chase Sterling."

"D-dude…"

She laughs at my embarrassment and shoos me out of the music room.

"Oh, before I leave. What's your favorite kind of car?"

"Eh? Uhmm, I don't know. I'm not particularly passionate about cars. They all hurt the environment the same, don't they?"

A chuckle escapes my lips.

"What? Did I say something strange?"

Momo's right. The two of us really are similar, aren't we?

"Nah, it's nothing. I'll see you around."

Now that that's out of the way, I need to hurry.

They're all probably waiting in the clubroom.