What the hell’s going on with Aki?!

I stared at her like she’d just told me she was an alien. She sat there silently, her face half hidden in the streetlight’s dim glow.

It was late. My body was dead, my legs felt like wet noodles, and my brain had clocked out an hour ago. I had zero energy left for whatever this weird drama was.

I sighed and muttered, “Let’s go, it’s getting late.”

But then —

“I… I like you.”

…Eh?

Excuse me? Come again? Did she just say what I think she said?

I stared at her, waiting for her to burst out laughing and shout "Gotcha!" or maybe call me a loser. But she didn’t.

She stood up slowly, dusting off her jeans, and faced me.

“I like you.”

She repeated it like a broken vending machine that only had one button.

Okay.

What was I supposed to do with this information?!

She was literally my most annoying coworker-slash-frenemy. Half of our conversations were just petty fights about food orders or which anime opening slapped harder.

I swallowed hard and flinched my finger against her forehead.

“Oi. Get it together. Are you drunk or something?”

“Ouch!” she whined, rubbing her forehead. “Geez… too harsh!”

“Sorry,” I sighed.

For a second, she just stood there, cheeks pink, fiddling with the hem of her shirt.

“…Are you serious about that?” I asked carefully. “You’re not just… y’know, getting all sentimental because of Ruka? Seeing her engaged and pregnant and suddenly catching FOMO?”

Aki looked away, her voice small. “W-Well… a little part of it might be because of that.”

I squinted at her. Of course.

“BUT!” she suddenly yelled, making me jump.

“I wasn’t joking!” she insisted, her voice wobbling. “I… I like you. Not much but… I do.”

I stared at her. She looked like a teenager confessing behind the gym after school.

It was weird. And kind of cute. But mostly weird.

I sighed again, scratching the back of my head.

“Listen… thanks for telling me, Aki. Really.” I tried to soften my tone. “But… I’m sorry. I can’t return those feelings.”

She didn’t cry this time. She just smiled — a tired, relieved kind of smile.

“Yeah… I figured you’d say that,” she muttered. “That’s why I kept it to myself all this time. But I feel better now. Like my chest’s a little lighter.”

I gave her a weak smile and nodded. “Glad to hear it.”

“Thanks, Ryuko… for keeping it simple.”

I laughed nervously. “O-Ohh, yeah.”

She sighed and tidied her hair, brushing her bangs aside. “Thanks for carrying me this far. My ankle feels better. I can walk home by myself now. It’s not that far.”

Wait — is this really Aki?

The sudden maturity threw me off so hard I almost asked her to show me ID.

“You sure?” I asked.

She gave a small nod. “Yeah.”

“Well, alright then,” I shrugged. “Be careful. And if you need help, just call me, though I charge extra for midnight piggyback rides.”

That brought the Aki I knew right back.

“Like hell I’d call you, loser!” she yelled, waving it off.

I laughed and waved her off. “Later, gremlin.”

And with that, we parted ways.

As I trudged home, my head spinning, I kept asking myself —

That doesn’t count as cheating or an affair or something, right? I mean, I didn’t do anything. I rejected her. That’s clean, right?

God, what a night.

I finally made it home, my shoulders sagging like a deflated balloon. I pushed open the door and… there was Keiko, sitting in the living room, half-asleep, waiting for me.

“I’m home,” I called softly. “You’re still up?”

Keiko yawned and gave me a sleepy smile. “I was waiting for you.”

I felt my heart skip a little. “You should’ve gone to bed, dummy.”

“Well… I was worried in case you needed anything,” she said, brushing her hair behind her ear.

God. She was too good for me.

“Thanks. Let’s get to bed. I’m gonna take a shower first.” I leaned down and hugged her before heading to the bathroom.

The hot water hit my skin and all the stress of the night caught up to me. Should I tell her? I mean, it wasn’t like anything happened. But if she found out from someone else later — like Miko’s big mouth or Aki herself — it’d be way worse.

Keiko liked honesty. Hell, she always made me promise that.

I sighed.

Damn it. I gotta tell her.

After showering, I peeked into the bedroom. Keiko was already asleep, her hair spread out on the pillow like a scene from a cheesy romance manga.

Maybe tomorrow. I’ll tell her tomorrow. I’m too dead for this tonight.

---

The next morning came way too fast.

I stretched, blinked the sleep from my eyes, and decided to get it over with.

“Keiko,” I said carefully.

“Mmm?” she murmured, still lying next to me.

“Listen to me… don’t freak out, okay? Just hear me out till the end, cold-headed.”

She opened one eye, instantly awake. “Okay… what happened?”

I took a deep breath.

“Last night… Aki confessed to me.”

Her eyes snapped wide open, and she immediately sat up. “HUH?!”

I flinched. “Crazy, right?! Outta nowhere!”

She took a deep breath, trying to stay cool — but I could see the little twitch of jealousy at the corner of her lips.

“So… what did you say?”

“I rejected her,” I said quickly. “Of course I did! I felt bad for her, but hell no.”

Keiko exhaled, clearly relieved. “God… what the heck, Aki…”

“I’m telling you this now,” I added, sitting up to face her properly, “because I didn’t want you to hear it from someone else. I just want to be clear with you. No secrets.”

Keiko smiled softly and reached over to mess up my hair. “Thanks for being honest with me.”

I smiled sheepishly. “Yeah, well… what a twist, huh? Even I freaked out. I never imagined Aki would like me. I thought she only liked free food and insulting me.”

Keiko laughed. “Same.”

She leaned in and pecked my cheek.

The morning sun peeked through the curtains, and it felt like we could survive this ridiculous life, as long as we kept being like this for each other.