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Ayako, was, in a word, embarrassed. Perhaps even mortified.
For so long, she’d known that Hayato was in love with her. In time, she’d come to realize her own feelings for him. It had been a long road to that conclusion, and along the way, Mana had been unlucky enough to have her heart broken That was sad, of course, but there wasn’t much that Ayako could have done about that. Hayato just… didn’t think of Mana that way. Even if he wasn’t obsessed with Nakano, he wouldn’t be interested in Mana.
The problem was that Ayako had… well, she hadn’t… directly asked Mana for her blessing to get together with Hayato, exactly, but… with how she was, her feelings were obvious, and Mana was forced to come to terms with Ayako being interested in Hayato and to get over it.
Which made it so, so, much worse when she realized that there was someone she liked more than Hayato.
It wasn’t that she didn’t like Hayato. He was still kind, and passionate, and had helped her out of her shell in his own way, and she was still attracted to him a little but… he was a little creepy sometimes. And their relationship felt… based on a lie. It made her feel guilty. He only really liked her because of her power, right? Because she could read his face, when really she couldn’t, and just had a shortcut.
Well, and also because he thought she was sexy, but… well, she wasn’t really that swayed by reasoning like that...
But there was someone else in her life who didn’t like her because of a misunderstanding. Someone who genuinely cared about her, without any illusions driving it. Someone who had saved her from herself, and helped her through low times without any hesitation.
The one person who knew her secret, and still wanted to be around her.
Mana.
Ayako buried her head in her hands, her ears burning. From her left, she could hear Yacchan wondering what was wrong with her this time. It was the “this time” that really stung, but she couldn’t deny it…
But really, what was she supposed to do now…? Mana had been willing to swallow her feelings and cheer Ayako on, how was Ayako supposed to turn to her and say “um, actually, I don’t want to date Hayato, I like you more”?
What other choice did she have, though? She was easy enough to read already, but Mana was particularly good at telling what she was thinking. There was no way Ayako would be able to hide her feelings from Mana even if she wanted to.
And… she wasn’t sure she did. What good had running away from confessing to Hayato done her? This time, she wanted to be honest about her feelings. And… maybe they could still be friends after Mana turned her down. Mana and Hayato were still friends, right? And Mana had been able to move on from Hayato. Maybe Ayako would be able to move on too, once she was rejected properly.
She was… pretty sure that was going to be the outcome of all this. She could read Mana’s mind, after all. And Mana hadn’t shown any interest in her beyond platonic, really. And she’d been interested in guys. So the two of them dating… it probably wasn’t possible. But she still wanted to do this right. Then at least she could feel like she’d done all she could.
She sat up and stared ahead, composing herself.
Oh, Yacchan thought. Looks like she came to some kind of a decision.
That is, assuming she could manage to confess before her face gave it away...
“So what did you want to talk to me about?” Mana asked. She looks nervous… What’s up?
“Um…” Ayako said, trying to gather together her courage. Mana looked at her with concern.
Suddenly, a thought sprung unbidden into Ayako’s mind.
How different would Mana’s face look once Ayako had said what she planned to?
Images of Mana recoiling in disgust bubbled up in her mind, and Ayako froze.
She’d just been assuming Mana would just brush this off. Sure, she thought she’d probably be turned down, but she hadn’t considered Mana’s reaction to it beyond that. Hayato hadn’t been that bothered by Mana’s confession but… that was a girl confessing to a boy. He couldn’t have been surprised that Mana was straight. But.. how would Mana feel, knowing that Ayako was attracted to women? Would she feel betrayed? Would she be angry?
“Aya? Are you okay?” Now what’s wrong…? She got scared all of a sudden…
“I-I’m fine,” Ayako said hurriedly
She’s such a bad liar… Come on, you know I can tell by now, right Aya? “Uh, you don’t look fine.”
“I-I…” Ayako stuttered.
It must be about what she wanted to tell me… what, is it about Hayato or something? “Just so you know, I’m not gonna get mad if it is,” Mana said, sighing.
“Um… it’s definitely… not about him…” Ayako managed, flushing. God, what had she been thinking? She never should have done this. Mana was going to hate her…
She looks so afraid… what is she so worried about? It’s not like she’s confessing to me or anything…
Ayako froze.
Wait, what’s with that reaction?
“I’m in love with you!” Ayako blurted out, before Mana could figure out it.
“What?!” What happened to being in love with Hayato?!
“I’m sorry!” Ayako said, bowing. “I-I realized I didn’t really have that deep of a connection to him, b-but I care about you a whole lot, and-”
“Okay, so you care about me, but does that mean you’re in love with me?” Mana asked skeptically. “Like do you wanna… you know…”
Ayako flushed red and covered her face as Mana’s mind filled with images of the two of them… getting intimate. Or maybe more precisely, Mana was thinking about that, and it was Ayako’s mind that was generating these… vivid images.
“Y-Yes,” she mumbled.
“H-Huh,” Mana said. Me and… Aya? I’ve never really… thought about it… I guess I have started seeing what Hayato sees in her since we’ve been friends… but… she’s a girl… ah, no offense, but… god! It’s really inconvenient for you to read my mind when I’m trying to think about this!
“I’m sorry!” Ayako said.
“Just… can you… go somewhere else for a second so I can think without you listening, please?” Mana said, waving distractedly at her.
“O-Okay…” Ayako said, slinking away. Well, at least Mana hadn’t seemed angry, or anything. That was a relief. She… wasn’t sure what she’d do if Mana started to hate her.
So, well, that was it, then. She hadn’t completely ruined things, at least. At least that was good! Still… Mana’s reaction hadn’t been too encouraging. And it wasn’t like Ayako had expected anything else. But… was that just her being cowardly? She was afraid of being rejected, so she’d basically already decided it had happened? Wasn’t it better to at least hope, a little?
Her phone buzzed and she jumped a little, then quickly pulled it out.
It was from Mana. “You can come back now.”
Ayako took a deep breath and headed back behind the school.
When she got there, she found Mana looking awkward.
Jeez… this is gonna be weird… “Alright,” Mana said. “I… haven’t exactly thought of you like that before, but… I think I might be interested in dating you.”
Ayako stared at her in shock. “W- Really?” she asked, a smile creeping onto her face along with a blush.
Yeah, she definitely looks cute when she smiles like that... “Well, you know I’m not lying, right?” Mana said. This is going to be really weird to explain to Hayato…
“Hey Hayato!” Mana said, hand in hand with Ayako. “You know how you turned me down for Aya? Sorry, but I stole her from you!”
Hayato collapsed to his knees, his head slumping as Mana laughed victoriously.
Ayako giggled.
“Ah, just for reference, I’m not planning on saying that or anything!” Mana said quickly. It is a little funny, though.
“So do you want to… hold hands, then?” Ayako asked, holding her hand out shyly.
Is that really something you need to be so bashful about? Well, I guess stuff like that is what makes her cute. “Sure,” Mana said, taking Ayako’s hand. Still, is she gonna be like that with everything?
Nakano’s shirt was unbuttoned enough to give her a lot of cleavage, her jacket open and a blush on her face.
“Ah… Mana, do you want to… you know,” she said bashfully, reaching up to unbutton another bu-
“Wait! No! I didn’t mean-” Mana said, flailing her arms above her head as if she could wipe the image away. “God, this is gonna be so weird. Sorry.”
“Don’t worry,” Ayako said, a slightly resigned look on her face. “I’m used to it...”