The next morning Kyoyota Arianagi felt as though he was missing something significant. Like something was off. On his walk to school he tried to reason out this feeling. Did I miss an assignment? No. Did I forget to call someone yesterday? No. Did I forget to talk to my aunt about something? No.
When he walked into Hanabira High and swapped his shoes for indoor ones, he was greeted by Yuuki Hanami, the student council president. "Hey there Kyo, good morning."
That's what it was. He missed having lunch with Yuuki. He knew they were both busy and it really hadn't been that long since they had lunch together, only a few days, he felt like he was neglecting his friend. Yuuki usually went out of her way to meet with Kyo and eat together. "Good morning, umm, can we eat lunch together today?" Kyo said this like he had a revelation, it was said with passion.
Yuuki turned her head and said "hmm? Well, yeah we can, but don't you need to help out the board game club?"
Kyo thought about it for a moment. "I will meet with Shosha right now and plan it out."
"Sounds good, just text me if you can or not."
"Will do."
Kyo then ran off up to the board game club. Yuuki's cheeks were red.
…
Kyo knocked on the door. The time was 7:50am. "Come in!" Kyo opened the door and saw Asobu Shosha, president of the board game club, working hard on creating pawn costumes for the human-chess event for the welcoming festival. "What's up Arianagi?"
"Is it ok if I only help you out after school today?"
"Do you know how to play chess and what your piece does?"
"I learned over the weekend how to play, and yes I understand what the horse does.." Kyo said with some doubt in his voice since he hasn't actually played against anyone.
"Great! We will play a practice match to make sure that you really do know how to play, but that can wait till after school. Enjoy your date Arianagi."
"It isn't a date!" Kyo said, marching out of the room having gently closed the door. Then headed to class. Once he arrived to homeroom, Kyo and Kimori greeted each other good morning. Kyo then pulled out his phone and texted Yuuki: eating is a go.
…
Lunch finally rolled around. Kyo had gotten food in the morning, but Yuuki needed to stop by the school cafeteria and pick something up. Kyo was eating a sushi bento fitted with eggs, sausage, and a veggie mix. Yuuki had a yakisoba sandwich.
Yuuki walked towards the gym stairs where the two usually met for lunch and asked somewhat embarrassed. "Y-you seemed eager to talk about something. What's up?"
This caught Kyo off guard, "I wanted to ask when you wanted to start studying together?" Kyo said this as normally as he could, but this was a quick-thinking response, and wasn't the real reason. Kyo's real meaning behind it was he felt like he wasn't doing enough as her friend.
"Oh, um, we can meet during Golden week which starts next week. Or we can start meeting after Golden week."
Kyo thought about it, but didn't really have a preference. He figured he was going to hang out with Hiro and the gang at some point over Golden Week, but he would be free for most of the vacation. However, he figured that it would be more beneficial for Yuuki to meet during Golden Week since she said she was average at best and she probably wouldn't study over the break. "I say we meet up at some point during the break and knock out the homework together."
"Oh, yeah, that sounds good. Where would you like to meet up?"
Kyo didn't want to be presumptuous in assuming that Yuuki house was a valid option. "Lets see, our options are the library, the school, or my place."
"Would your family be ok with me coming over? Shouldn't you ask them first?"
This was not something Kyo was avoiding on purpose. He really did not care if people knew what his situation was like. He just didn't want someone becoming uncomfortable from what had happened. Kyo chose his next words carefully. "I live alone, so that won't be a problem."
"You live alone?!?" Yuuki's eyes went wide. As though recalling a previous conversation.
Kyo wanted to avoid that kind of reaction, but felt as though it was inevitable. "Yeah, going into it might make you sad, so for a quick explanation, my aunt lives closer to the school, so I am staying in one of her apartment complexes."
"Why not just live with your aunt then? Being in high school and living by yourself is dangerous!"
"Because she lives like her tenants do, she doesn't have a lot of room. Despite being rich, she is frugal with her money. She lives close by, though, if something did happen."
"What about your sister?"
"She is visiting during the festival, her and I will talk then, but I can't speak for her."
Yuuki sighed, nothing but worry crossed her mind, "we can meet at the local library."
"Uh, right, sorry to dampen the mood."
The rest of lunch went off without a hitch. The awkwardness slowly went away and the two went back to normal. The bell rang, which signaled the end of their lunch get-together. "Same time tomorrow Kyo?"
"Yes."
…
After school Kyo went out to the courtyard and met with Shosha and the other members of the board game club. "What can I do to help?" Kyo said, walking towards Shosha.
"Let's have a match, follow me." Shosha said having Kyo follow him back into the school building, to their club room. The two sat across from one another on the large table, they were sitting on the horizontal side, so they were fairly close, close enough for each to make a move on a chess board. Shosha pulled out and tossed a coin far into the air, "heads or tails."
"Tails."
"Heads, I win, I choose white." Shosha said. The board was already set up with the white pieces towards him, so there was no need to shift the board state. Kyo felt like he knew he would lose no matter which side of the coin he picked.
Shosha moved his pawn to e4. "Do you like president Hanami?"
Kyo gullped, then, while thinking about the implications of that question, moved his pawn to e5, intercepting Shosha's pawn. "I admire her."
Shosha then spared no time, moving his Queen to h5, "admiration and liking someone are different. Do you romantically have an interest in her?"
Kyo shook his head, moving his knight to c6. "And if I did?"
Shosha then smirked, moving his bishop to c4. "I am not saying this to provoke you or as some kind of threat. And I personally have no interest in the president. I am asking a younger classmate about his romantic life, that is all."
Kyo then moved his other knight to f6 while breathing a sigh of relief. "Yes, I do like Yuuki"
Shosha then moved his queen to f7, ultimately checkmating Kyo. "I see. Good for you Arianagi. I am also happy to see that you do understand how the board and knights function."
"Why do I always lose to you?" Kyo asked, puzzled.
"Ask me that when we play another game, I only answer questions when we play a game or I am called on in class." Let's head back.
The two walked back to the courtyard and continued to help out with the human chess. They worked until about 5:30, then called it a day. This marked the end of day two of preparation and a new, or rather realized, revelation, for Kyoyota Ariganagi.