10 Chapter Ten: A Gal's Curiosity (Or Maybe It's Just Stalking)

"So that's it huh?" Chiyo said to Akio as he sipped his tea. The two had agreed to go to a café to talk, and after about an hour of trying, Chiyo had gotten little more than vague answers to her questions. From what she had gathered, Akio Miyashita seemed to want Haruna and Kanako to be together, but to what extent and even what exactly that meant was still unknown. What Chiyo found especially frustrating was that she couldn't seem to squeeze the actual reason for the deal out of Akio.

"Yep, that's it," he said simply as he set his cup down. "Y'know, you haven't really like, told me anything," Chiyo said with exasperation. "Haven't I?" Akio responded. Chiyo had realized that replying with a rhetorical question was something of a habit in Akio's conversation. That was also getting on her nerves. "Why do those two girls like this guy?" she started to wonder.

Akio Miyashita wasn't someone Chiyo was unacquainted with. In fact, there had been several times when she had either been in the same class as him in junior high or in the same group for a trip. Whenever she had talked to him in the past, he seemed just like any other guy. Sure, he was nicer than most and wasn't at all a flirt, but other than that, Chiyo had thought he was perfectly normal. But now, after talking to him about Haruna and Kanako's deal, she got the sense that there was some deviousness hidden behind that gentle smile Akio gave off.

"If you're worried about me having impure motives or something like that, I can assure you that that's not what I'm after," Akio said, causing Chiyo to look surprised. "Sorry, you just had this expression that made it look like you thought I was a suspicious person," Akio said with a laugh. "Well can you blame me when you won't just tell me what your goal is?" Chiyo said sternly. Akio finished off his tea. "That's a fair point. However, that's not enough to convince me to show you my hand. If we're done here, I'm going to go home now."

Standing up to leave, Akio smoothed out his uniform somewhat, grabbed his bag, and left his share of the bill on the table before exiting the café. As Chiyo watched him do all that, she continued to have the same thought: "I know there's more to this."

Growing up, Chiyo had always been told that she was a bit nosy. She had a tendency to get into other people's problems and business, and most of the time when it happened, the other person was angry at her. In fact, it was that particular personality trait that had ended numerous relationships for her. At first, Chiyo would go steady with a guy, but as time went on, she'd keep asking more questions and thought she was helping when the guy would say he was struggling with something. Then, Chiyo would take action, thinking it would help. Once the guy would find out, instead of being thankful, he was usually mad. That had become the main reason why Chiyo usually went for one-night stands instead of relationships anymore.

Thinking back on all of that, Chiyo sighed. "Sometimes guys just have way too much pride." For a moment, Chiyo considered that possibility with Akio, but decided it didn't fit. "This isn't about pride... But I don't think it's about seeing two girls get together either..." It was a situation that Chiyo just couldn't quite get her head around. "What to do..."

"I know!" she suddenly exclaimed, surprising the waitress behind the bar in the café. "I'll follow him!" It was the best idea she could come up with, but it wasn't like it would be pointless either. Chiyo had noticed Akio hiding here and there recently to keep an eye on the progress of the deal he made, so Chiyo figured that she'd at least learn something that way.

Resolving that that would be her plan, Chiyo got up and paid for the rest of the bill and headed home herself.

The next morning, Chiyo woke up with a bit more enthusiasm than usual. Getting ready quickly (or as quickly as a gal possibly could), she grabbed a quick breakfast and dashed out the door. The hope was that she could spot Akio on the way, and sure enough, it wasn't long before Chiyo spotted the brown-haired boy hiding behind a bush just past Haruna and Kanako's houses.

Swooping behind a pole not too far behind, Chiyo watched Akio as Akio prepared to watch the two girls. However, being as busty as she was, a narrow pole wasn't doing a whole lot to conceal her. "Damn, the one time I wish I wasn't this curvy," Chiyo thought, looking for another spot to hide in. It took only a minute for that problem to disappear though, as Akio began moving.

"Huh?" Chiyo thought. Taking a glance around in front of her, Chiyo only saw Haruna turning the corner after coming out of her house recently. "Where's Kana-chan? Why isn't Akio-kun waiting?" Then Chiyo remember the fight between the Haruna and Kanako. "Oh yeah. That happened..." she sighed. "Well whatever."

Creating a stretched out train of people, Chiyo followed behind the other two all the way to school. "Wait," she started thinking as she walked through the doors. "How am I gonna keep track of Akio-kun in here?" Before she could come up with a solution, Haruna interrupted her as she stood in the locker area. "There you are Chiyo. I had to walk by myself today," the tall girl said in huff. "Sorry 'bout that Haru-chi! But hey, at least you're here! What happened to you yesterday?" Chiyo asked, essentially knowing the answer already.

"I-I just wasn't feeling well, alright?" Haruna gave a sorry excuse. "Liar. I know it's because you didn't want to see Kana-chan," Chiyo thought. She almost said that out loud, but Chiyo figured that if she did, it might make things unnecessarily difficult. "Come on, let's go to class," Haruna said.

*****

Throughout the day, Chiyo did the best she could to follow Akio around. Between classes and at lunch, she watched from a distance, seeing if she could gain any sort of information from his other conversations. Unfortunately, no matter how much Chiyo eavesdropped, Akio let nothing slip.

"Uh, hey, Chiyo? What are you doing?" a sultry voice said behind her as she peered around a corner. "Gah! Huh? Oh, it's you Jas-chin," Chiyo breathed a sigh of relief. "So what's up with you? Stalking your next target or something?" Jasmine said. "I'm not stalking! I'm... just looking out for the safety of Haru-chi and Kana-chan!" Chiyo answered proudly. "C'mon, let's go. You can explain everything," Jasmine said as she dragged Chiyo away. "Noooo!"

"I see," the seductress said after hearing Chiyo's story. They had ended up behind the school and sitting under a tree, skipping class as well. "But is it really that important to know Miyashita-san's reasons? I mean, it's not like this has anything to do with you," Jasmine pointed out. "B-But Haru-chi's our friend! And then there's Kana-chan too... Shouldn't we at least find out if there's more to this than just some twisted logic?" "And... send," Jasmine said, finishing her text. "Hey, are you even listening to me?!" Chiyo whined.

Jasmine put her phone back in her bag. "Yeah, of course I'm listening. It's impossible not to since you're so loud." Chiyo was about to fire off a comeback, but Jasmine kept talking. "I just don't think it's that big of a deal. If the three of them want to do this, then why should we interfere?" "W-Well, you're not wrong, but..." Chiyo said quietly. "I'm not saying you should completely stay out of it or anything. I just think that when it comes to the core issue of whatever's going on, it's up to the people involved to figure it out," Jasmine said, putting out an air of maturity with her words. "Maybe you're right..." Chiyo was inclined to agree. What could she do anyways? It's not like she was actually a part of the deal. But still...

Jasmine stared at the hard-thinking Chiyo. "Y'know, if you keep scrunching your face up like that you'll just end up with more wrinkles than you already have." "Huh?! I don't have wrinkles!" Chiyo shouted back. "Besides you-" "Oh, my boyfriend just said he wishes I was in class. How cute," Jasmine cut Chiyo off as she stood up. "Oh my God, you're totally ignoring me! Jas-chiiinnnn!" Chiyo cried, hurrying to catch up with her friend.

Once Chiyo made it back to her classroom, she was instantly scolded by the teacher before she could take her seat. "Ugh..." she let out as she sat down. "Where have you been?" Haruna whispered in a harsh tone. "It was just so nice out that I felt like sitting outside for a while!" Chiyo answered playfully. "God, you can be such an airhead sometimes, you know that?" Haruna sighed.

The rest of the day consisted of Chiyo trying to decide on what she should do. She knew Jasmine was right. This whole "deal" that Akio had with Kanako and Haruna really had nothing to do with her, even if her best friend was involved. But, there was still a part of her that wanted to find some way to help and it seemed like the only way she could do that was to find out what the real reason was that Akio had for making such a ridiculous deal. "Maybe... I'll just follow him a little more."

So, through the end of the school day and even on the way home, Chiyo trailed close behind Akio Miyashita. She watched as he packed up his stuff, listened as close as she could to his conversations with Eiji Bando and Souta Yoshinaga and she even found better ways to hide herself in her pursuit. However, by the time she reached home herself, Chiyo had gained nothing new. "This might be pointless..." she sighed.

Regardless of the day's results though, Chiyo had never been one to give up easily, so when the next day came around, Chiyo tried again. And again. And again. Day after day she trailed after Akio, trying to find out anything she could. As Chiyo followed the boy home for the fifth school day in a row, she was reminded of something Jasmine had said and was beginning to agree: "Maybe I am a stalker..."

It was the next morning that Chiyo found quite the surprise waiting outside her door. It was Haruna, standing dead-center in front of the doorway, arms crossed and a glare fixed upon her face. "O-Oh, hey Haru-chi. What brings you to my place so early in the morning?" Chiyo asked nervously. In the time they had been friends, this had never once happened due to the fact that Chiyo's house was farther away from the school than Haruna's. So naturally, Chiyo was always the one to pick the other girl up.

"Have you been avoiding me?" Haruna asked point blank. Chiyo realized why Haruna was at her house. Through the whole time that Chiyo had been following Akio, she had had to blow off Haruna or give some lame excuse for why they couldn't walk together. For some reason, it hadn't occurred to Chiyo that those sorts of actions might come off as avoiding someone.

"N-No! Of course I haven't been avoiding you! I just... had things to do! Yeah, things that only I can do!" Chiyo answered, sounding not convincing. "What, like sex?" Haruna replied flatly. "No, not sex! Geez Haru-chi, is that really the only thing you think I'm good for?!" Chiyo exclaimed. "No, sorry..." Haruna said, looking away. Chiyo sighed. "I guess this means it's time to call it quits on my spying..." she thought.

"Well actually, the things I had to do just finished yesterday, so everything's good!" Chiyo said. Haruna looked back at her and for a moment, Chiyo could've sworn she was beaming with joy (or at least as close to beaming as Haruna could get). "Then are you ready to go?" Haruna asked. "Just give me minute!" Chiyo said happily, then dashed off to finish up her routine.

The walk to school was perfectly peaceful, as Chiyo talked on and on about various topics while Haruna listened and made the occasional comment. It was like everything was back to normal. Or at least it was, until the two girls were walking past both Haruna and Kanako's houses, to which a certain girl was coming out. Clad in the Iwanai High uniform and a ponytail, the girl stood as still as a deer in headlights at the sight of her neighbor walking by. Then, as if snapping out of it, turned around and darted back inside.

Chiyo hadn't been the only one who witnessed this sight, as she heard a very audible and long sigh come from the other side of her. "Haru-chi?" Chiyo said, looking at her. "It's nothing. Let's keep going." "You... haven't talked to her yet, have you?" Chiyo asked tentatively. Haruna stopped. "Who cares if I have or haven't. Besides..." Haruna trailed off. "Besides?" Chiyo repeated. Haruna sighed again. "The few times I have tried, Kanako either runs off or I get stonewalled by that Fukuhara bitch." "Fukuhara...? Ah, I know who you're talking about! She always makes these comments about me under her breath, thinking I can't hear her. It's really funny!" Chiyo giggled. "How does that not bother you?" Haruna asked. "Well... I guess I'm just used to it. Anyways, I don't think Fukuhara-san is mean by nature. I think that if we got to know each other, we could be good friends!" Chiyo explained. "Your endless optimism is astounding," Haruna commented.

The two girls continued to talk like this all the way to school. Chiyo took the occasional glance behind her to see if she could spot Kanako, but to no avail. "I know it's mean, but Haru-chi's at least kinda right. She really is like a mouse sometimes," she thought.

When they arrived, Chiyo saw Akio walking in just ahead of them. In a moment of coincidence, the boy just happened to glance back and see them. However, the way he smiled and waved at both Haruna and Chiyo gave Chiyo an off-putting feeling. While Haruna blushed, Chiyo began to feel like those actions weren't as friendly as they appeared.

Because of that, Chiyo was spacey all day. She barely took any notes in class (not that she did that much anyways), she got yelled at by a couple teachers for not paying attention, and she accidentally dropped some of her food on the front of her uniform at lunch, creating a small stain that wouldn't come out no matter how much water Chiyo put on it. "Today's been a mess..." Chiyo said in a depressed tone.

By the time the last bell rang, Chiyo found herself to be 110 percent ready to go home. However, it wouldn't be that easy. As she was putting things away in her desk, Chiyo saw Akio standing outside of her classroom. Haruna noticed as well, but seemed disappointed when she heard he was looking for her friend and not her. After reassuring Haruna that there wasn't something secretly going on between them, Chiyo followed the beckoning boy out into the hall.

They kept walking beyond that point, and eventually they ended up on the third floor of the building near the clubrooms. Not too far from those was a short hallway designated for an emergency exit route, which they turned down. Finally, once they were nearly out of sight from passerbys, Akio stopped walking and turned to face Chiyo. He smiled, but it was a smile that flashed not kindness, but mischieveousness instead.

"I do hope you've enjoyed following me around lately," Akio said slyly. Chiyo flinched. "H-He knew?!" she panicked inside. "I have to tell you, you'd make a terrible spy," Akio said with a laugh. Chiyo frowned. "Did you bring me up here just to mock me?" "Hm? Oh, no, of course not! Sorry, I guess I got a little carried away," Akio said. "To be honest, I really enjoyed your efforts. It showed me how much you really care about Haruna-chan. And, because of that, I have a proposal for you."

"Don't tell me you want three girls to date each other," Chiyo half-joked. "No, haha, not at all. However, I would like your involvement," Akio said. "Involvement how?" "I want you to help me keep Haruna-chan and Kana-chan together."

"..."

Chiyo stared blankly at Akio. "Huh?" she let out. "It's as I said. I want you to help me keep Haruna-chan and Kana-chan together," he repeated. Finally getting the idea, Chiyo spoke. "Why would I help you? I mean, sure, I think them working on repairing their friendship is good, but-" Akio put up his hand to stop the gal. "Not friendship. I really want them dating."

Chiyo stared again. "I... don't understand..." she said. "Look, after giving it some thought recently, I think having your help would really go a long way. And in exchange..." Akio said, extending his hands in a grand gesture. "I'll tell you everything you want to know."

"Everything?" Chiyo repeated in her head. That was exactly what she wanted. All she wanted to know was why Akio seemed to be so bent on having Haruna and Kanako stay together... no, that's not right. Why was it that the boy wanted these two girls to date each other? If Chiyo agreed, she'd most likely get the answer to that question and more.

But... could she trust Akio? It seemed like the more she got to know him, the less he seemed like a nice guy. "I mean, it's not like his intentions are bad... I think? Maybe?" Then out loud: "I'm so confused." "I'm sure you are, which is why I'm making this offer," Akio said. "So, what do you say Chiyo?"

The gal gave it a little more thought before answering. "Alright," she said resolutely. "I'll help you. But!" Chiyo pointed her index finger upward. "You'd better tell me everything! Don't leave a single juicy detail out!" Akio laughed. "Yeah, I will." Once they were clearly in agreement, Akio began to explain. "You see, it all started when-"

"Akioooo! Ey, yo Akiooo!" a boisterous voice called. Peering out from the hall, Akio saw that Eiji was the one calling out for him. "Oh, there you are! I've looking all over for you man! Look, I gotta give you your... notes... back..." Eiji trailed off as he saw Chiyo also emerge from the hallway. "Huh? Um, hey, Akio, what were you doing back there?" Eiji asked nervously.

Akio walked over to his friend and grabbed the notes he was holding. "Don't look so surprised. I swear, nothing like what you're imagining was happening." Eiji took a good look at Akio, then at Chiyo, then back to Akio. "Yeah, I guess you're right," Eiji said with a laugh. "Why do I get the feeling I was just insulted?" Akio thought to himself.

"But man, I didn't know you knew Wakabayashi-san!" Eiji whispered. "Can you... can you introduce us?!" Akio looked at Eiji with a dumbfounded expression. "Why can't you just do it yourself? She's standing right there." "Well, I mean I could, b-but..." Then the two boys heard Chiyo laugh.

In two strides she was standing right in front of them. Then, she jutted out her hand and said proudly: "I'm Chiyo! Chiyo Wakabayashi! Just call me Chiyo!" She finished with a wink, causing Eiji to nearly pass out from how fast his heart was beating. "I-I-I't's a p-p-p-pleasure to m-meet y-y-you," Eiji barely managed to say. "Alright, we should get going. I need to get home and don't you have practice Eiji-kun?" Akio pointed out. That seemed to snap him out of it. "Oh crap! Yeah I gotta go!" Eiji yelled.

Eiji then began to run off, but before he did, he had grabbed Akio as well. "Huh? H-hey! Wait! You still haven't told me everything yet!" Chiyo called as the distance grew between them. "Don't worry, I promise I will!" Akio called back. Before another exchange could take place, the two had turned and headed down the stairs out of sight.

Chiyo sighed at first, but then found herself cracking up. "This is gonna be so much fun!"

End of Chapter Ten.