"Can you beat me up? That's the real question." I looked into his eyes, which were fuming with anger now that I triggered him.

"Sakamaki-kun! Don't say things like that." She yelled at me.

"Don't act all cocky." His grip tightened on my collars, and he swung a punch with his other hand towards my face.

I lifted my right arm, waiting for the right moment, and grabbed the punch by his wrist. The impact of his punch shook my palms a little. He looked at me in surprise as I completely neutralised his punch. I tightened my grip on his wrist to make sure that he feels the pains in his bones. The anger on his face was slowly turning to a struggle to hide his pain.

His grip on my collar was becoming loose. Now that he was under control I said, "Senpai, whatever your name is, I would suggest you cease your violence because you have attracted quite some eyes on you."

A crowd was gathered around us. Of course in high schools, fight like these always attract a lot of eyes since most people enjoy to watch these brawls.

"Senpai, stop behaving like this. What is wrong with you?" Tomose said in a concerned voice.

"O...Okay. I'm leaving you this time." He let his grip off my collar and I released his arm from my grip too. I mark of my fingers were imprinted on his wrist.

He walked off while massaging the wrist that I held. He turned over his shoulder to take a last look at me and continued walking. Years of my forearm workout paid off today.

I mean, I can call it a workout.

I guess.

"Tsk, interrupted me." I said, while straightening my tie and collar.

"Are you hurt?" She asked me with concern in her eyes.

I'm pretty sure he is one who will need ice on that wrist when he gets back home today. But I appreciated her concern for me.

"No, I'm fine"

"Why would you do something so rash?" She rebuked my action.

"Because he was making you uncomfortable, right?"

"Yes he was, but… but…"

"But what?"

"Nevermind, it's just that I don't want you to get in trouble because of me."

"Who the hell was that guy?"

"He was an upperclassman I rejected a few weeks prior, from class 3-3. I didn't knew he would do something like this. I'm really sorry that you had to face this because of me."

"It's okay, I don't mind. And he won't ever come near you ever again."

"What?"

"Anyway, so let's continue." I shrugged.

"Wait… What did you mean by that?" She asked me nervously.

"What?"

"You said I'm yours', what did you mean by that?" That was really bold of me to say.

"Oh, that… well… Do you love me or not?"

"I asked you first."

"I love you so I don't want any other boy being that close with you."

"Wha… wait… But I still haven't said if I loved you or not." She stepped back. Her eyes were looking into mine. I leaned closer to her.

"So? You hate me?"

"I… I didn't say that." She said in a high-pitched voice.

"But neither did you say anything about loving me."

"No… I said we can… t… try." She said as her voice got feeble.

"Huh? Couldn't hear you well. What is it?"

"I said we can try." She said,

"Can we try dating?" I held her hand. This girl was blushing all day long today.

"Yes."

We walked back to class and spent the remaining day being hungry as we missed our lunch. I regret flirting instead of eating.

Damn this contract.

School was finally over, and we were leaving. Yukimura and I were walking back together. Tomose and Kana joined us.

Neither did Yukimura know, nor did Kana know that me and Tomose were officially dating now. I wouldn't mind telling them if they ask me, but I won't tell them on my own.

And Tomose was still uncertain about this whole dating thing, so it was better that we give our relationship some time to develop.

"Hey, let's go somewhere and eat?" Kana proposed.

"Right now?" Tomose asked. She nodded.

"Yeah, a little hanging around wouldn't hurt." Yukimura said.

They all looked at me for my approval and just nodded my head. It was not a problem since it was the middle of the month and my parents transferred money to my account.

Kana advised us to go to a restaurant downtown since we can easily go to our home from there. We all agreed to that.

We reached there and it was a small restaurant. It had this aesthetic vibes about it. It was a place meant for hanging out with a small group of friends. Bringing your date to this place will also be a good idea.

Kana has a wonderful choice.

Wait, maybe Kana and Yukimura are trying to set me and Tomose together. Maybe this was their plan all along.

I've been tricked.

"Are you alright?" Tomose asked me.

"Yeah" I said.

"You seemed zoned out for a second there." She said,

"Yeah, I was thinking something."

Kana and Yukimura were sitting across from me and Tomose at the table.

We ordered our food and talked with each other to pass the time. I ate my favourite fried chicken and choco milk.

We divided the bill between us and paid. After leaving the restaurant, we exchanged our goodbyes and went on our way.

Since Kana and Tomose live in almost the same neighbourhood, they went together. I was thinking of walking Tomose home, but that won't be required.

I started walking towards my home. A bunch of thoughts running wild in my mind.

A lot of things happened today. But the most important thing is that I got my first high school girlfriend.

I was following the path which I used to laugh at about a month ago. How drastically my life has changed.

Not understanding love was my problem, but here I'm with a girlfriend who loves me. Well,l she is uncertain about how she is going to deal with her feelings.

She loved me, but found it hard to accept those feelings. For a girl like her, who had been gaslighted by her friends, love was bitter like dark chocolate for her.

She will need some time to get used to this taste of dark chocolate and I'm willing to give that time to her.

The pain I experienced that day had something to with that insignia but since Lilith seemed to avoid talking about it, I didn't waste my time.

But she said that the insignia was a reward for completing the contract, but the contract wasn't fulfilled.

That means she was lying. Well, not that I trust anything she says. Maybe she is bad at lying. I didn't expect her to be this dumb and fall in the trap of her own words.

No, I expected her to dumb.

I want to go home and see if this contract is completed or not. Most probably I've completed it.

The thought of Lilith not pissing me off anymore was indeed pleasurable. I can go back to living my peaceful life again.