Story: It's Fate

 

 It's worth noting that the only reason Eito was embarrassed by what he'd overheard was because of Saito's sake. It was quite embarrassing for her, really. Hearing that she was apparently into him like that. Honestly, he'd never have guessed it. She seemed quite far out of his league. Both socially, and in terms of looks.

The boy had self esteem issues, in case you hadn't noticed. He was actually quite adorable, and very nice. Not 'nice' as in 'nice guy' nice, where it's the only positive quality that said person arguably has, but genuinely nice without thinking about it. Thoughtful, empathetic, etc. Point is, he was a better catch than he thought he was.

Meanwhile, Saito was the one that was actually humiliated by that. The sheer implication that she would slum it with someone like him! He wasn't even a bench warmer! Her, going out with a non-athlete? Especially this - This wretched worm who had tormented her so these last few days?!

Note that said torment involved "thrusting a cute cat into her face, not knowing she was allergic" and "generally thwarting her plans for vengeance on him."

Anyway, her sort was at their core a bully. If there's anything that bullies do when backed into a corner, it's double down. There is no such thing as a sunk cost fallacy here, if they keep on doubling down the weaker willed and weaker bodied will knuckle under, as they always do, and kneel at her feet as they should. The notion, the very concept that they might be the ones in the wrong, that their actions might be doing more harm to themselves than others, does not cross her mind. Indeed, so long as that harm is being done to others then all the more for it! Let them suffer, and then she will have her revenge on damage caused later on! This is the self defeating nature of bullies, who will always wind up either digging themselves a hole or climbing a ladder to heaven.

Careful when climbing a ladder that tall though, it's a doozy if it falls over.

"W-Well, I didn't say anything wrong there, did I?" Saito sniffed, dismissively. "If I wanted to, I could have this boy wrapped around my finger in no time flat. That's not a great secret, everyone knows I'm out of his league."

The thing about Eito is, he's exactly the sort that doubling down works on. He doesn't want to cause trouble. He'd rather just get things over with, sort out the misunderstanding and move on. That's him in a nutshell. As far as he was concerned, that little explanation was the end of it.

Chise on the other hand was the sort that doubling down on is the absolute worst mistake you can possibly make. She muscled her way forward into the locker room, her ridiculous oversized chest making her wobble en route, and she got right up in Saito's face without even the slightest shred of fear.

"Oh, really, is that so?" Chise said, looking Saito right in the eye without backing down. "Making that kind of comment right in front of him doesn't seem a smart way to go about that so far as I'm concerned."

"Hrmph! A mere handicap like that is nothing at all for me to overcome," Saito said, stepping forward in an attempt to push Chise back and... in the process realising that her breasts were very, very outmatched. "A natural beauty like me could do it even so, and without those ridiculous udders of yours."

Chise sensed a bully trying to double down on her, and pushed back, bouncing Saito back a few steps in the process. "Good thing I'm not trying to seduce him then, isn't it?"

Saito kicked the wall behind her and slammed right into Chise, the two of them all but locking horns now as they tried to make the other one give in. The unstoppable force meeting the immovable object might be a bit cliche, but only because it applies to so many situations. Let's toss this one onto the pile.

"Oh yeah, then why did you use that supposedly brilliant brain of yours to bust yourself up? Or maybe you were just insecure about your figure? Not a problem for one such as I!"

"Ever hear of serendipity?" Chise said. "No, I don't suppose that's part of your lexicon."

"My kingdom for a bowl of popcorn..." Koemi muttered to herself. Both Saito and Chise turned and, for some reason, gave Eito a withering look as if he'd somehow earned that.

"Anyway, it's beside the point because this is all her misunderstanding," Saito said dismissively.

"Trying to back out of it, are we?" Chise asked. "You're the one that brought it up."

Saito had created an escape route with her statement, only for Chise to bullheadedly close it back up without thinking. For a genius, she was certainly letting her frustration with Saito get the better of her, wasn't she? The two bulls had locked their horns yet again, stubborn pride resuming its grip upon them, one fully confident in her ability to socially destroy the other while that other girl was fully confident in her ability to defend herself through SCIENCE!

"Um, I guess we'll be leaving now...?" Eito said.

"No, you're not!" both girls yelled, and he sat his ass down. Nope. He wasn't going anywhere. Because Eito was fully confident they would socially and scientifically eviscerate him.

"Ohohoho, I see how it is now," Saito flipped her hair. "You want to challenge my social standing by humiliating me, is that right?"

"No, that's backwards, I want to challenge your social standing to humiliate you," Chise said. "Cause and effect, many get them confused. Especially those who are below average intelligence."

"Hey, I know!" Koemi suggested, rolling on her heels. "Why don't you two have a date off? The two of you go on a date with Eito, and the better girlfriend wins!" The two of them turned to look at Eito this time, once again, despite him not being the one that said anything. "Of course, it's super obvious who that is..."

"Uh?" Eito muttered, having just enough social understanding to grasp the direction this was going. "W-Wait I don't want to date either of -"

"Easy win!" Chise sniffed. "You up to the challenge?"

"When I win, you have to use that boob enlargement beam on anyone I say, right?" Saito cackled, seeing the chance to get what she wanted out of this. "I mean, we do have to put up something, right?"

"Then when I win..." Chise slowly said... "You have to sit out the next swim meet, and give Koemi the proper training that she needs!"

"Um, this seems like a really bad... Never mind..." Eito mumbled to himself. It seemed his fate was being decided for him. You could almost call that ironic under these conditions. Also, a little funny to think that he didn't actually need to follow the computer's instructions anymore apparently, because either of those outcomes were...

They were both beneficial to Koemi, huh? Although, he had to admit. Picking between the two of them seemed like a disaster waiting to happen. If he picked Saito, Chise would make his life a living hell. The opposite was also true. It was like he was some character in a Greek tragedy who had been picked to choose which Goddess was the most beautiful, and they were all side-eyeing him while bouncing golden apples in the palm of their hands.

Those of you with an understanding of Greek mythology probably got that reference, the rest of you... please read something on this topic, it's better than you think.

"The wagers are set, and the game is on!" Koemi fist pumped the air. Ahh, don't be so enthusiastic about this, Koemi! It physically hurts hearing you be like this! Eito wasn't sure why it physically hurt... but it did, and that's what matters! "Now for the terms! Today, after school, both Chise and Saito will go on a date with Eito! This date will last one hour. At the end of which, Eito will assign points on a variety of factors, and from this determine the winner!"

He was going to die, wasn't he? That was his penance for playing with fate. He would get murdered by one of these two. Or wish he had died by the time they were through with him.

"Fine by me! Then who goes first?" Chise asked.

"Hrmph, flip a coin or something, I don't really care either - "

By the time she'd said that Koemi had indeed tossed a coin into the air. "Heads for Chise! Tails for Saito!" she called.

And then... the coin landed in a crack on the ground. Perfectly upright. All four of them stared at it in utter disbelief. What. What?! Really, what?!

"Then, I suppose... You'll have to date him at the same time!" Koemi nodded.

"Eehhhhhhhhhh?!" Eito screamed, and then promptly fainted.

<hr>

Koemi's heart was pounding in her chest. What was she doing? Why was she doing this? This was insane! It was bereft of reason! It was - It was patently, nakedly absurd, bonkers, and utterly stupid!

Yet it was also really, really funny. Seeing Saito and Chise get all bent out of shape like this! Although, at the same time wasn't she playing into Eito's brand new playboy ways? Spending time around girls, behaving suspiciously...

On the other hand this was an excellent opportunity to leash the boy. Keep him close where they could see what he was getting up to.

Yes, yes! If she thought about it like that, then this was all merely an example of her devious scheme coming together. Kukuku! In fact, there was another benefit to this, wasn't there? Punishment! There was no way he'd get out of this without feeling the pain! It would teach him, and teach him well. Not to turn his eyes from her, and to look only at her from now on!

Oh gosh she went a little yandere there for a second. Nothing to read into from that, they were <i>friends</i> and that's all