"And then Tooru just started rambling and rambling on... he wouldn't shut up until his girlfriend showed up and dragged him out.."

It was 9 pm and I was at her house, visiting as I did almost everyday now. Hori-san's father had brought Souta-kun out to the park since her could sleep and we were sitting on the couch in her living room with our backs pressed against each other's. I had been reading a book when I realized how absolutely bored she had become. I asked her how her day was, and words came flowing out of her mouth like a machine gun.

"Is that so..." She nodded as she played with her fingers and stared blankly at the ceiling.

"That must have been kind of annoying." She nodded again and soon changed her gaze towards me. I looked back at her to realize she had soon begun staring. My chest started thumping harder when I had. "Hori-"

"Izumi-kun." Her voice was almost demanding, although her cheeks had become slightly rosy. I hesitated before I gave my slightly silent reply. "Kyouko...-chan.." She smiled bashfully after hearing her first name escape my lips.

She pressed a hand against her own chest and wrapped her arms around my neck as she rested her head on my shoulder.

"It's been so long since I've heard you call me that.. I'm happy." She had a nostalgic tone. I had to switch schools because my mom got an offer to work with someone in their baking business, and the commute to Hori had become longer, but I visited every day. I guess since we lost school hours together, we've lost so many chances to talk... I turned around and embraced her as hard as I could.

"Eh..!? Miyamura-kun, are you cryi-" "Kyoko-chan."

I stifled my sobs as I forced her name to come out without my voice breaking. I missed talking to her as much as I had before. She soon broke out of the hug to grab some tissues for me. She wiped away my tears and lovingly stated my name in a soft voice that comforted me. "Izumi-kun."

I felt as if my heart were about to jump out of my chest. I looked down at her as my tears begun to clear up and let my true feelings take over.

"I love you Kyoko-chan." Her eyes slowly opened up in surprise. The redness in her cheeks deepened. I couldn't help but think of how cute she looked right now. I put my book down and I held her arm as I begun leaning down closer and closer to her. Specifically, her lips.

"I love you t-"

I ended up cutting her off as my lips pressed against hers. My body was always a natural, cool temperature. When I kissed her, a warmth that I would never, ever give up crawled from her skin to mine. Soon, both of our eyes closed and the distance between us closed. I pulled her into another embrace and she almost melted into it, but since she was always the competitive type, she decided she wasn't ready to give up and pushed me down. I could tell that she was almost ready to drop dead from embarrassment, but couldn't help but smiling a little. When we both needed a little bit of air which ended up being 10 minutes later, our lips parted. She laid her body on top of mine with her head pointed in a direction not allowing me to see her.

"Kyoko-chan... Can we.. go to your room?" She instantly stiffened up and slowly looked at me, her face red as a tomato and eyes as wide as I had ever seen them. She nodded almost robotically, I couldn't help but laugh. I slipped off the couch from underneath her, holding both of her hands as I guided her to her room. After getting in, I locked the door to reduce the amount of interruptances. She started walking around the room anxiously. When I slowly started approaching her, she started backing away. I followed her until she tripped and fell back on the bed where I practically pounced onto her.

"Kyoko..." "D-don't say my name without an honorific..." This time, I leaned down beside her and whispered into her ear. "Kyoko..." I repeated myself and she practically whimpered, unused to the 'no honorific' thing.

"Can I touch you?" My hand glided across the sheets of her bed, closer towards her. She bit her lip in preparation and shut her eyes tight to prepare herself for what was coming before she nodded. I lowered my head and begun kissing her neck and lifting my hands up and onto her waist. She shakily exhaled, her body shaking at my touch. I slowly raised my hand just beneath her breast, but stopped before I touched.

"Eh...?" She let out a sound of confusion as she slowly opened her eyes, her face as red as a tomato. I lifted my head up to her forehead and kissed it. "Not today Hori-san." I teasingly stuck my tongue out at her as more embarrassment, confusion and anger built up in her face.

"Miyamura-kun, you idiot!" She quickly crawled from underneath me, huddling up on the corner of her bed, hugging her pillow and pouting behind it. I chuckled awkwardly, realizing I had gone too far now. I crawled up to her and patted her head. "Sorry Hori-san..." Not accepting my apology, she simply scoffed at me and turned her head away. I heaved a sigh and decided to rely on my trump card. I stood up on the bed and forcefully thrusted my foot against the wall, shaking the room as I looked down at her with a glare. The frustration from her face drained instantly, and she begun looking at me with a face of bewilderment.

"Hey, bitch!" I pretended to be as angry as possible. "Look at me when i'm fucking apologizing to you! You should be grateful I even am!" Very soon after, her eyes begun to sparkle. My leg dropped as I proceeded to grab her by the collar and lift her up to me. "You better fucking learn your place!"

Even sooner, she begun looking at me as if I were a God. She even started drooling. I couldn't share in the happiness. I hated mistreating Hori-san. I have to keep it up a little bit longer though.

I shoved my leg in between hers and now pinned her against the wall, but right before I could say anything, my limit came. My head fell and I couldn't keep up the act anymore. "I'm sorry Hori-san..." I immediately embraced her as hard as I could. She giggled and wrapped her arms around my neck. She gently caressed my hair as she spoke softly into my ear. "It's alright Miyamura-kun. Thank you." At first, the fear of losing her flooded my head and hit me like a tsunami, but that soon faded but I suddenly felt very tired.

My body begun to fell limp. "Eh..? Eh?!" She must have been shocked by the fact I was collapsing on top of her. With my last bit of strength, I made sure I didn't fall in a direction that would hurt her and quickly faded off to sleep. I could here Hori-san speaking to me as I did. She was giggling and playing with my hair. "Geez Miyamura-kun... you didn't have to go that far for me..." She then quickly kissed my lips, putting me to sleep.

20 minutes later, I woke up to the sound of Hori-san arguing with her father.

"Oh, so he's sleeping in your room today? Did you do it?" Hori-san's father smugly asked. A scream. And another sound... A knife? "Shut up! You failure of a father!" "K-Kyoko! That's dangerous! You might actually cut me!" "Oh, is that so!? I guess I'll swing it some more then!" I got up from her bed chuckling. "Oh, you're awake?" I ignored Hori-san's father and immediately locked my eyes on Hori-san herself who was standing next to me, her father huddling against the wall like a fetus. "Miyamura-kun?" I quickly pulled her out of the room and into the hallway. "Eh?" Was the last thing she said before I locked our lips together.

I ended the kiss fairly quickly to once again confess to her. "I love you K-Kyoko!"

After her surprise of my sudden actions faded, she giggled and cupped her hands around my face. "I love you too, Izumi."