5:56 pm

Kyoko's face visibly paled after a quick glance at her watch told her she only had four minutes to make it to their meeting spot so she could finally give him an answer. Her steps quickened and then momentarily slowed as she winced.

It had been five days since that fateful day at the elevator. Five days since Tsuruga san had dropped that..that bombshell on her!

She could scarcely believe it was possible. That she could finally fall in love and have her feelings returned! A part of her still cautioned her. This is too good to be true! The insidious voice in her head that told her she was not good enough, would never be good enough to love, still threatened to wreak havoc on her self confidence.

Not this time!

It didn't matter that she was wearing this dastardly pink uniform!

It didn't matter that her hair looked like a nest that someone had torn apart, or that she was a hot sweaty mess with stomach cramps from hell..

'No! Concentrate' she panicked, her feet scuttling faster but hobbling at the same time. Her stomach rumbled and she paused at the sight of a restroom. As much as she loathed being late for something this momentous, she really really wanted to be at her best for their meeting. Surely arriving a minute or two late wouldn't hurt? She could.. get herself together and show up looking more presentable and more importantly less..jittery.

His brows furrowed after the hundredth glance at his watch. It was ten minutes past their meeting time. She was not coming..

He had been dreading this very outcome, although surely he had not misread her? Yes she had wanted some time and space to think about his question, but he could have sworn the odds were finally, finally in his favour.

'Or maybe you were getting hour hopes up again as usual..' Ren let out a sigh as he washed his hands in the sink. She hadn't picked up his last call. What if something happene-

BRRRRRAAAAPPPP!

Ren jumped at the unexpected explosion from one of the stalls behind him.

It was just the beginning..He listened awestruck at the volcanic sounds that emerged from that stall. It was a disgusting mixture of liquid heat punctuated by some truly impressive farts with the rankest stench that was rapidly filling up the restroom. Whatever the poor man had eaten, it had come back to bite him in the ass, Ren thought to himself wincing as a fresh onslaught of farts and diarrhea made its way to his nostrils.

He could feel his vision blur with all the greenhouse emissions and was about to hurry out of the restroom when he heard a sigh of relief from the stall. A sigh that had him rooted to the spot.

His eyes bored into the door, the sounds of the toilet flushing and door unlocking barely registering. A slender figure in a familiar shocking pink uniform stepped out of the stall and froze at the sight of him.

"Tsuruga san.. what..what are you doing in the ladies room?!"

"This is the men's room Mogami san. Did..did you not read the sign?"

Kyoko went pale as marble as realization set in as to what this man may have just witnessed.

It took Ren a good minute to recover from the incident. Kyoko had bolted from the restroom, her face the same shade as her LoveMe uniform. 'But,' he smiled to himself as he walked down the corridors towards her office, 'at least I know she wasn't avoiding me!'