Psycho's game (As the Gods will)

"Bye"

'Reika, explain to me why you were kissing that.... criminal?' Hearing this makes her furious, 'criminal?! Only because he doesn't seem as perfect as those selfinvested pricks?!'
'Your future husband doesn't need to be perfect, your father wasn't a perfect man himself, but I knew who your father's parents were, and that boy is being raised by his big brother.' 'You don't even know why they aren't around,' 'that doesn't matter, their absence is the problem.' 'He is raised well, or he wouldn't be as kind or smart as he is now.' 'So you think he's kind and smart huh? Let me tell you a little secret, men are amazing actors, they can be pitbulls in their daily lives, but when some model walks by, they will pretend the're puppies.' Kumagai sighs, 'that is not a good example...' 'Yes it is, because when the're bored, they'll turn back into pitbulls.' Well that was a waste of my time. 'Amaya is neither a criminal nor a pitbull, and you'll see at dinner.' 'You can believe whatever you want, but when he's suddenly done with you, don't come crying at my door', she angrily slams her daughter's door shut and walks away.
Kumagai can only sit on her bed, staring at the window, hoping she can convince her mother about how amazing Amaya really is.

'I told you she liked you back' Amaya and his brother can finally talk now that miss Murayama has left. 'Yeah, just really bad timing' he is worried that she got into trouble because of him. His brother can see his mind is elsewhere, 'I'm sure she's fine, her mother was just taken by surprise, that's all' 'I hope you're right Ryota' 'You really like her, huh?' He nods.

'Come downstairs, they can be here any minute now!' Her mother is nervous, since they still live next to eachother, what would others think of her if she can't even get along with her next-door neighbours? 'On my way!' Kumagai has put on a nice dark blue dress for their guests and is wearing a red-ish pink lipstick.

'Go put on something else, that dress is way too short, and why are you wearing lipstick? This is just dinner, not a wedding.' At that moment the bell rings and her mother goes to open it, 'fine, come here, it's highly disrespectful to be late at dinner in your own house.'

She quickly hops down the stairs and stands behind her mother. The door opens, and Amaya is amazed at how beautiful Kumagai looks. 'Please come in, the food is almost ready' the two men bow and step into the house. They all walk to the dinner table, and when Kumagai and Amaya try to sit together, her mother stops them, 'nice try, Reika, you can sit here,' she points to the seat next to where Ryota is sitting, 'and you can sit here' Amaya gets a seat across from Ryota. Her mother sits at the head of the table, and pours some wine in the glass in front of Ryota, 'Thank you'

'I'll go get the food. Reika, a little help please.' 'On my way,' she gets up, quickly kisses Amaya on the cheek, and runs after her mother who had already disappeared into the kitchen. Ryota lifts his eyebrows at Amaya, who became as red as a tomato.

The two women have put the bowls of rice, meat and vegetables down on the table, and sit down at their designated spots. 'Thanks for the food', everyone says together, and they start eating. 'Wow! This is really delicious, miss Murayama!' Amaya keeps putting new food in his bowl, Kumagai is eating more than usual, since there is a lot of food on the table. Amaya puts a few pieces of meat in her bowl, 'here, I think you'll really like this' she smiles at the sweet gesture. She takes a bite, and is immediately in love with the dish. 'It tastes really good, how did you know I'd like it?' 'I didn't, it was put in front of you by your mother, as if it was made especially for you, but you didn't see it.' Her mother is surprised by the wits of this boy. 'It was your father's favorite, I was just wondering if you'd like it too.' 'Thank you, so this means I can still see Amaya? I mean, the amount of fat and sugar this contains, you never give me anything that can make me gain weight.' She hits her daughter on the arm, 'Ouch, that hurts'

'I'm not that tough on you. Don't spread such lies in front of our guests. And you can still see eachother' 'yes! thank you so mu-' 'as friends' 'what?!' Amaya and Kumagai say at the same time. 'But mom, I can't just be friends with him!'

She ignores her daugter's pouts, and turns to Amaya, 'So, do you already know what school you're gonna go to?' He tries to act like he didn't hear what miss Murayama just said, 'uhm, I don't know the name, but it's the one with the black uniforms, it's quite closeby.' 'Ahh, I see, you're going to Mori's school' 'how do you know the principal? Does Kumagai go that school too?' 'God, no! I mean no, she doesn't go there, I'm in the board at her school, and hers is less... local.' 'So that's why there are two different schools pretty close to eachother.'

The conversation continues a bit akwardly, until it's time to go back home. 'The food was delicious, miss Murayama, I hope we can do this again soon.' 'I hope so too. Oh, I forgot to ask what your job is.' 'I'm an interior designer.' 'How nice, you must be really busy.' 'Usually, yes, but I took a few days off to move here.' 'That's smart of you. But you should go, I'm keeping you away from your new house, goodbye.' 'Goodbye', the brothers say at the same time. Amaya and Kumagai look eachother in the eyes, until Ryota starts dragging his little brother away, and miss Murayama the door closes. 'Bye', she repeats silently, not wanting to let Amaya go.