I Do Not Dream Of Eating Your Pancreas (IWTEYP x Seishun Buta Yarō)

Chapter 14: The Greatest Day Part 1

The sun was shining brightly overhead, matching how I felt inside as I walked with Sakura to our lunch date. During our walk, we'd catch each other looking at each other, breaking out into a smile each time. Each time, I felt more and more of the negative emotions from the past few days washing away.

"Are you sure I don't have something on my face? You seem to be staring at it pretty often today." Sakura finally said after a while, her teasing tone returning. "Just your cute face." She blushed, clearly expecting something along those lines but still happy to hear it.

I was going to say something else, but then we were spotted by a familiar face. "You two seem to be in a good mood." Kyoko had a bag in her hand, just finishing up some afternoon shopping. She must have noticed our hands clasped together, but thankfully she didn't immediately blow up.

Sakura let go of my hand, moving forward to pull Kyoko into a hug. I stood awkwardly to the side, as I wasn't sure what I should do. My relationship with Kyoko was a bit better than it had been previously, but I wasn't quite sure where we stood now. I'd just let Sakura handle this for now, as she was always good about being the barrier between us.

"You're not trying any funny business are you?" Or I guess not. Kyoko stared at me after the hug had ended, her hands on her hips. I shook my head, hoping Sakura wouldn't say anything that would make Kyoko angry.

"I was never much of a comedian so no. Nice to see you again." Sakura laughed, and Kyoko scowled a bit but otherwise stayed calm. "Well I clearly saw the two of you holding hands, so I want to know what's going on here." Sakura gave her a stare, and Kyoko added a reluctant "please" afterwards.

I looked to Sakura, but she merely pointed at me to break the news. I sighed, thinking that Kyoko might take the news better if it had come from Sakura. "Well, we're dating now." I wish I had a camera on me, a real one and not the one my ancient flip phone had. The look on Kyokos face was priceless.

Her lips started to move but she merely stammered, it was as if she had so many things she wanted to say but couldn't decided to start with. "Sakura, could I talk to your... boyfriend alone for a second?" She hesitated, as though saying boyfriend was painful for her.

Sakura nodded, finding a spot in the shade to wait for us to talk. Kyoko pointed a finger at me. "You better keep her happy, or you'll have to deal with me. You got that?" I nodded, somewhat frightened by the idea of a vengeful Kyoko coming after me.

"I'll spend every moment I can to make her happy." Her finger wavered, before she dropped her arm down. "So you're actually going to man up? I'm surprised." Any lingering hostility was gone now, and I was now seeing a different side of Kyoko than I was used to.

"If she is happy, then I won't stand in your way. Just promise to take care of her, if you can do that then you have my blessing." Underneath the cold exterior I had always seen, there was a nice girl simply putting up a tough front for the people she cared about. "I promise I will. If I wasn't serious about her, I wouldn't have gone through everything I did just to save her."

Kyoko was silent, no cutting remarks or outbursts. She tentatively held out her hand. "I'll hold you to that promise, so no slacking." I reached out, taking her hand and shaking it. "Of course not, I don't think she'd let me slack anyway." A small smile came across her face. "No, she wouldn't."

We walked over to where Sakura was waiting, I was feeling even better having cleared this latest hurdle. Sakura held out her hand to me, and I interlocked my fingers with her. Kyoko made a noise, but didn't raise a fuss over it. "I'm not going to get used to this anytime soon, but if you're happy Sakura then I won't complain."

Sakura smiled, holding her free hand out towards Kyoko. "I get to see two of my favorite people getting along, why wouldn't I be happy." Kyoko grabbed her free hand, only to be just as surprised as I was when Sakura pulled us into a group hug. "I want all three of us to get along, okay?" Kyoko grumbled at the sudden group hug, but the two of us nodded.