Chapter Twenty

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"That's why, in my conclusion, Superman is better than Batman."

"Carrot, you're trippin."

"I swear I'm not," he grinned.

Genji and I were hanging out by my locker before the first bell rung. I stood, poised, an angry pout on my face as I heard this. "Batman rules!" I objected.

"Batman's too edgy!" Genji muttered, throwing his hands up with exasperation. We'd been arguing about this for hours.

"That's why he's better!"

I shoved my backpack into my locker. My eyes drifted to the left, where several posters for the upcoming Lotus Dance were hung up. The print was in bright colors, making it extremely hard not to notice.

All over the high school, posters for it were plastered everywhere. I had gone to the bathroom the other day and when I closed the stall, there was one, pushed up right in front of my face as I peed. It was great.

In all my years at Hanamura High, I had never attended the Lotus Dance, and neither had Maya. Neither of us were ever asked by anyone to go. Also, we thought dances were just lame.

Now reminded of the dance yet again, I shut my locker loudly and exhaled with depression. Now Maya had a date. And I would stay home alone this time.

Genji seemed to notice what I was looking at. He crossed his arms and leaned against the row of lockers in le fuckboi pose. "Are you going to the Lotus Dance?" he asked, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.

I shook my head, giving him a look of disbelief that he actually might've expected me to say yes. "Probs not. I never go. Are you?"

"Don't know. Been there before, though. The food is great."

My eyes widened with interest, and I leaned in with something that almost resembled excitement. "What kind of food?"

Sensing my interest, Genji smirked, leaning forward as well as if he was about to tell me some big secret. "Bagels. Pizza. Pizza ROLLS. Sugary stuff, too. You'd love it."

I laughed. "Shit, that almost makes me want to go."

That seemed to make Genji hesitate for a moment. His mouth opened and then closed, and then opened again like he was at a loss for words. "Well... I-"

"(Y/n)! Hiya!" a familiar voice interrupted from the other side of the hallway. I spun around with a grin on my face, meeting the eyes of Kai, who seemed overjoyed to see me. I made a mental note to talk to Genji about whatever it was he wanted to talk about later.

To my surprise, he went in for a hug. As his arms wrapped around me, I hugged back after a moment of stunned silence. "Hey, Kai, my guy!" I greeted.

We pulled away, and I noticed Genji raising his eyebrows quizzically, looking rather skeptical and suspicious of Kai. The two looked each other up and down, sizing each other up. I rolled my eyes, and placed a hand on Genji's shoulder. "Kai, this is Genji. Genji, Kai."

The two seemed to regard each other coldly for a minute or two before muttering a few awkward pleasantries to keep things light. I knew that they had somehow developed a strong dislike for each other after the MINUTE they had met.

I wondered why.

Kai looked away from Genji, and trained his seemingly nervous gaze to me. His eyes flicked from my own on to the floor and then back to me. His cheeks were heating up, and he scratched the back of his head awkwardly.

I smiled expectantly. "Did you want to say something?" I asked, prompting him to stop being nervous about whatever he was contemplating.

Kai stood up straight with determination for the first time, all shyness ceasing to exist. It was then that I noticed he was really freaking tall. "Yeah. Would you... want to go on a date with me?"

I immediately felt the blood rush to my face with both flattery and embarrassment. As for my reaction, I laughed a little and avoided his eyes as well. I'd never been asked to go on a real date before, and I hardly knew what to say.

I didn't see any reason to decline though. Kai was a nice guy. It would be cool for my first date to be with him, though I certainly wouldn't want to pursue anything romantic. We were friends, and that was about it.

Genji's mouth almost dropped open in shock. And then something else that I couldn't recognize. But he didn't seem to be too happy.

I nodded at Kai, who was waiting for my answer with a hopeful look on his face. 

"Yes! Of course."

His eyes lit up with happiness, and he broke into a huge grin upon hearing my answer. Kai seemed unsure at what to do now, so he reached out to give me another hug, which I gladly reciprocated.

"We can text after school and figure out where to go! Thanks for saying yes!" he exclaimed as he pulled away.

"Sounds great! Talk to you then!" I chimed, giving him a polite little wave.

Kai gave one last look of triumph at Genji, before walking away from us, whistling to himself. He seemed to have a bounce to his step now that I had said yes.

Still flustered from the encounter I just had, I turned to face Genji to see what he was thinking about it all. A scowl played on his lips, accompanied by an annoyed eyeroll. I raised a brow at him as if to question his mood. "Who is that guy?"

"I told you his name..."

"But who IS he?"

I chuckled lightly. "A friend! Don't you think a date with a friend would be nice?"

The bell rung sharply, echoing throughout the near-empty halls. The two of us began walking to my first class, since Genji always insisted on walking me there. I felt increasingly happier with each step, thinking that I was actually getting somewhere in life.

Genji only scoffed like it was the silliest thing that he had heard. "Sounds like he wants more than just friendship."

I was taken aback by this assumption, so I shot him a are-you-kidding me look. "I don't think he thinks of me romantically! We're just friends going on a date. It wasn't a marriage proposal."

"Might as well be one to him! Did you see how red he was?!"

"Don't tell me you're jealous, Carrot."

Silence. I expected him to deny it immediately, to say something like "ewwww" like a kinder gardener, or perhaps a light shove in the shoulder to tell me how wrong I was. But there was nothing. He didn't confirm or deny what I had guessed.

At this, a smirk played on my lips. "You're jealous."

"(Y/n)... shut up..."

"Genji Shimada is jealous?!" I whooped, laughing in a teasing way. Genji mock-laughed to mimic me, and then tossed the end of my scarf that was wrapped around my neck (previously his scarf) up over my head to block my view. I swatted at it, muttering curses at him.

We got to my class in no time. Genji patted my head as he turned to leave, but then stopped and hesitated for a moment. Before I entered my classroom, his hand grabbed my wrist, preventing me from going any further. 

His other hand reached up briefly to my face and brushed my cheek softly, delicately, as his eyes seemed to soften. 

He sucked in a breath and let it out heavily. "You're right. I'm jealous."

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