Keiko did ask me to go with her tonight, but it was to a place I didn’t imagine for a date. Here we are at a department store. Honestly, I felt uncomfortable. Out of nowhere, Keiko suggested that I start learning makeup. She said, “You are young and pretty, why aren’t you into this?” I knew nothing about all of this. “Uhmm... I just never really had an interest in it.” Keiko looked confused. “Hmm, I see… Let me teach you the basics then.” She was suggesting products left and right, and I was completely lost. What is this? What is that? Is this for my eyes? My lips? I had no idea what was happening or why Keiko suddenly wanted me to do this. “You really don’t even know the basics,” Keiko said, her brows furrowing in disbelief. I just nodded sheepishly. She tried putting some makeup on me and told me to look at myself in the mirror. I felt weird. Then, she kept pushing me to do other girly things, like shopping for clothes that weren’t my usual style. I didn’t know how to react. The next day, she invited me out again—to a cat café. The problem? I hate cats. Worse, I have allergies. “Oh, sorry… I didn’t know you had allergies,” she apologized. I forced a smile. “Well... that’s okay. You wouldn’t have known.” She looked genuinely regretful, but I reassured her that it was fine, even as my nose started itching from the cat fur floating in the air. I barely lasted ten minutes before we had to leave. The day after that, she suggested we go to an arcade. This was strange—it had already been three days in a row that she kept inviting me out. At first, I was happy because she was initiating things, but now, I felt weird. “You like arcade games, right?” Keiko asked. “Well… when I was younger, but not so much now,” I answered. “But you’re still young now?” Keiko looked puzzled. Oops. “Ahhh, I mean when I was still in school, haha.” She shrugged it off and suggested playing the claw machine. Oh, this was my time to shine! I was good at this. I could impress her with my skills. It went smoothly—I managed to grab a few plushies that she liked. Keiko clapped her hands, impressed. “Wow, you’re really good at this!” she praised. Feeling confident, I smirked. “Of course! Leave it to me.” Then she suddenly said, “My husband was really good at this too.” I froze. My hands clenched, and I felt a cold sweat run down my back. She looked at me with an unreadable expression. I shivered slightly, feeling like she was seeing through me bit by bit. “A-ahh… really? Wow, I bet he wasn’t as good as me, hahaha,” I tried to brush it off with a joke. Keiko simply smiled. “Let’s go eat steak.” As we were leaving the arcade, Keiko suddenly stopped walking. I turned to look at her, confused. "What's wrong?" I asked. She shifted her weight and sighed, glancing down. "Wait... my shoelace came undone." I looked at her feet, and sure enough, her right shoelace was untied, lying messily on the floor. Before she could crouch down, I instinctively knelt in front of her and started tying it for her. "Ah, you don’t have to—" Keiko began, but I cut her off. "Just stay still. You'll trip if you leave it like that," I said, focusing on the laces. The moment was oddly intimate—me kneeling in front of Keiko, carefully looping the shoelace, while she stood there watching. I felt her gaze on me, and my face started heating up. What the hell am I doing? Finally, I finished tying it into a neat bow and patted her shoe lightly. "There. Done." I looked up, expecting a simple thanks, but instead, Keiko was staring at me with a small, knowing smile. "You’re really smooth, you know that?" she said, amusement in her voice. "H-Huh?" I stammered. She chuckled. "You tying my shoelaces like that just reminded me of my husband." Keiko smiled knowingly and said, "You even tie them the same way my husband used to." I forced a nervous laugh, scratching my cheek. "Oh? Hahaha… What a coincidence!" Keiko narrowed her eyes slightly, still smiling but looking suspicious. "Yeah… A coincidence." I quickly stood up and turned around. "A-Anyway! Let's get going before the steak place gets crowded!" I started walking ahead, trying to escape the tension. Well, I love steak, and this restaurant was my favorite. But now, every time Keiko looked at me, I got a strange chill down my spine. “What’s wrong, Ryuko? You don’t like steak?” she asked. I jolted. She noticed. “Ah, no… I love it.” “Good,” she said, then called for the waitress. I was about to order, but suddenly, Keiko spoke at the same time as me—the exact same order, down to the smallest detail. She still remembers my order. I gasped. This was not the time to feel flustered. Did she—?! I saw her smirk at me. My heart pounded. “Ehm… sorry, I mean, I want BBQ sauce instead,” I quickly changed my order to throw her off. Keiko simply looked at me for a moment, then placed her order. I gulped. This entire moment was suffocating. I suddenly realized that for these past three days, she had been doing this on purpose—to test me. She was trying to confirm something. Keiko took a bite of her steak and casually said, “This restaurant is really good.” I knew this was a bait. I forced myself to act nonchalant. “Oh, really? It’s my first time here.” Keiko set down her fork. “Yes, my husband really liked the steak here.” I choked on my drink. She was playing mind games with me. Then she continued, “Why did you change your order just then? The mushroom sauce is really delicious.” I coughed and quickly replied, “Well, I just wanted BBQ today.” Keiko sighed. “Well, my husband liked BBQ too.” I choked again. Wait. Did I just—? But I like mushroom, though. Why did you lie, Keiko? She gazed at me with an intense look. “Sorry, did I say something wrong?” My heart was beating so fast it felt like I would pass out. She must have noticed something about me already. I was sure of it.