#8: Yes and No / ep.2
“…Do you have someone you’re seeing, Shandy-san?”
At Mikoto’s question, Shandy’s amber eyes went round with surprise.
She’d shown the faintest flicker of being caught off guard, but she answered without missing a beat, tone unchanged.
“No, I’m single. Does that put your mind at ease?”
“Y—”
Hit with a probing question of her own in return, Mikoto’s mouth went still.
This wasn’t like the shallow questions from before. A probing question meant handing over more chances for the other side to dig into you in turn.
Prying into someone’s private life was a double-edged sword — doubly so when your opponent was Shandy.
“Do answer me. Are you relieved, Kurosu-sama, to learn I have no one?”
Shandy propped her elbows on the counter, mouth curving into a crooked line.
A wicked, smirking little grin. Perhaps this had been her plan from the start — baiting Mikoto into digging herself into a hole the moment she tried to dig too deep. Already caught in Shandy’s scheme, Mikoto was halfway to dancing in the palm of her hand.
She nearly regretted it — but a crisis was also a chance. If she wanted to strip away the mystery Shandy wore and see her laid bare, she’d have to be willing to shed some dignity of her own too.
“—Yes. You know, Shandy-san, you actually have a pretty nasty personality, don’t you?”
“Yes, I do. I’m the sadistic type who loves tormenting a cute girl trying to act tougher than she is. Does that make you happy?”
A question she didn’t want to answer. Mikoto’s attention drifted toward the Yes and No.
But she held back.
She couldn’t afford to play her trump card this early. There was still so much of Shandy’s mystery left to pry out.
“—Y-yes. Do you enjoy tormenting me?”
“No. I’d rather Kurosu-sama be the one tormenting me. Would you like to?”
“Yes. Though you won’t get to stay this composed for long. You’re clearly quite fond of me, aren’t you, Shandy-san?”
“Yes. I adore you, Mikoto-san.”
Shandy’s answer came out breathy, laced with allure. That bewitching tone, as if feverish with the heat of love, sent Mikoto’s composure wobbling.
“O— of course. That’s exactly what I thought.”
The shake she’d meant to deliver had missed entirely, and the blade had come right back at her, disarmingly sincere. Mikoto tried her best to stay composed, but there was no hiding her fluster.
Watching her reaction with clear satisfaction, Shandy let out a small “ha” of a laugh.
“Now, my turn, I believe. Kurosu-sama, isn’t it true you’re actually bad at romance?”
“No, I’d say I’m rather good at this sort of back-and-forth. Isn’t it true that you’ve already fallen for me, Shandy-san?”
“Yes, that’s true. Kurosu-sama is a romance professional, after all — I’ll go ahead and grant you that one.”
While Mikoto fought desperately to keep the tremor out of her voice, Shandy showed not the faintest crack of unease, smiling with total composure.
For several rounds now, Shandy had answered with something close to no guard at all — and in doing so, was somehow coaxing Mikoto’s own honest feelings out of her instead.
She had to turn this around somehow. Mikoto steadied her nerves and waited for the next question.
“In fact, don’t you tend to be quite popular, Kurosu-sama? You are beautiful, after all.”
“Well, yes. Though it never lasts long. What about you, Shandy-san?”
“Yes, though having someone I have no interest in whisper sweet nothings at me is nothing but a nuisance. Would it trouble you, if I were popular?”
“Yes. I don’t want to see you belong to anyone else. If that were ever to happen, would you mind if I just — took you and ran?”
“Ha, how romantic. Yes, I wouldn’t mind at all — go ahead and steal me away right now, if you have the nerve for it.”
The rally continued without a hitch. Mikoto, finally finding some breathing room, started managing a bit of dry wit and the usual clichés again.
Meanwhile, Shandy kept the same composed expression throughout. The way she answered Mikoto’s questions almost instantly, without hesitation, spoke to real experience — no doubt honed from years of fielding unwanted affection thrown at her from every direction.
“My, talking this much has made me thirsty. I suppose you’re getting rather eager to make me drink my Yes and No, aren’t you?”
Shandy’s tone carried a provoking edge, implying, without quite saying so, that none of Mikoto’s questions had landed at all.
“Yes. Funny you should say that, since I feel the same. What do you think — am I proving formidable tonight?”
“Yes, I’ll grant you that. You’re usually so one-sided about all this. Could it be you’re finally getting used to me?”
“Yes. I can’t think about anything but you, Shandy-san. And you?”
“Yes, you’re all I can see. They do say love is blind.”
A wry laugh from both of them.
“In that case,” Shandy murmured, and pressed on.
“I suppose it’s time I got serious about winning you over.”
Something in Shandy’s expression cracked open.
“A question — or rather, a confirmation. Kurosu-sama, you’re quite possessive, aren’t you?”
“…Yes. Probably more than most people, I’d say.”
The angle of Shandy’s questions had shifted.
She was digging into Mikoto’s actual character now.
“If we’re going there, then you’re quite greedy yourself, aren’t you, Shandy-san?”
“Yes, that’s true. I take whatever I want — money, drink, love, all of it. Does that greed put you off me?”
“No. I’m glad to know your real feelings. Does that put your mind at ease?”
“No, actually. Words can say anything, after all — especially coming from Kurosu-sama, who’s so fond of jokes and clichés. If you want to put my mind at ease, you’ll need to prove it, won’t you?”
“Well, I can’t answer yes or no to a proof I don’t even know the terms of.”
“In that case, why don’t you drink your Yes and No.”
“Ngh…”
This was Shandy’s strategy — trying to force Mikoto to burn her trump card first.
Her hand drifted toward the shot glass, but this wasn’t the moment yet. If anyone was drinking their Yes and No first, it would be Shandy.
“Yes. Though if you’re asking for proof, please don’t ask for something impossible. Would you tell me what kind of proof you have in mind?”
“Yes, of course. It’s simple. I’d like a vow kiss from you. A promise that ‘here at Antiqua, you’ll love only me.’ That’s the proof that would put my mind at ease. Surely someone who just claimed to be devoted to only me can manage that much?”
“Yes. You really do love kissing, don’t you, Shandy-san?”
“Yes, I do. A kiss with someone I love is always more than welcome. Shall we say you go first, Kurosu-sama? I’d like the answer to be yes, please.”
“…Yes.”
With that, the two of them leaned in over the counter and brought their lips together.
However composed Mikoto’s words had sounded, kissing Shandy was something she never quite got used to, no matter how many times it happened. If anything, with each new kiss, the wave of tension and release crashing through her whole body only grew stronger.
“Thank you. That’s put my mind a little more at ease. It seems Kurosu-sama really will catch me, after all.”
A soft, floating haze always followed after a kiss. Not wanting Shandy to see her flushed face, Mikoto looked away.
“Your turn now, Kurosu-sama,” came the prompt, and as Mikoto lifted her gaze, something clicked into place. Thinking back over everything Shandy had said up to now—
“Um, Shandy-san. This might be a strange thing to ask, but—”
“Is something the matter?”
“…Are you worried, maybe, that if I really knew how you felt, I might end up disliking you for it?”
Shandy’s amber eyes went wide.
For the first time all night, after answering every single question with unbroken ease, Shandy showed a real flicker of being caught off guard.
“Ah — no, I’m sorry. I think I might have overstepped.”
An uncharacteristic reaction, for Shandy.
Mikoto scrambled to smooth it over, but Shandy cut her off with a short “No.”
And then—
“Yes and No. You got one over on me, Kurosu-sama.”
“Wait…?”
“I never imagined I’d actually be the one forced to drink. I’d been looking forward to savoring this over watching you flounder and panic instead. What a waste.”
Shandy drained her shot glass in one go. Probably to make clear there’d be no going back on it, she set the glass face-down on the white coaster.
It was a face of Shandy’s Mikoto had never seen before. Thoroughly worn down, almost defeated-looking — nothing like the carefully composed beauty she always wore. A slack, unguarded expression. Was this, perhaps, Shandy’s true face?
“…Ha. But you’re kind, aren’t you, Kurosu-sama.”
“Wh— what do you mean?”
“You noticed and covered for me on the spot, didn’t you? Did poking at a sore spot of mine make you anxious? Ah, that’s a question.”
“Yes, it did. Well, there’s a saying about courtesy even among close friends, after all…”
“It’s fine, really. I knew what I was signing up for the moment I proposed a game like this. Still, it’s a little embarrassing, isn’t it — having someone you love find your sore spots.”
“Are you actually embarrassed right now?”
“Yes, I am. I’m just not the type who shows it much on my face. You, on the other hand, show everything on yours immediately, don’t you?”
“N-no, that’s a no! Besides, it’s far too dark in here to even make out anyone’s expression!”
“No. Kurosu-sama, who exactly do you think I am? I’m the bartender of a dimly-lit little bar called Antiqua — of course my eyes are well-adjusted to the dark.”
“Wait, what?!”
Shandy bared her teeth in a mischievous, girlish grin.
Then, leaning in over the counter, she whispered close to Mikoto’s ear.
“…Shall I turn the lights on? If it doesn’t show on your face, brighter light shouldn’t bother you at all, right?”
Answer yes, and her face — flushed red all the way to the ears — would be laid bare for Shandy to see.
Answer no, and she’d be pressed on exactly why she’d said no.
Unlike the lucky strike Mikoto had managed to land earlier, this was Shandy’s precise counterattack, striking at the very weak point she now understood in Mikoto — her dread of being seen looking flustered, childish, exposed.
This question was far too dangerous.
“Wai—?! Yes and No!”
Mikoto threw back the amber-brown shot glass in one go.
The brandy’s sharp bite, wrapped and softened by the sweet meringue, melted together on her tongue. She’d swallowed it in such a panic that she immediately broke into a violent coughing fit.
“Ah, ah, that’s what you get for rushing it, isn’t it?”
Her tone carried only the faintest trace of concern; Shandy was laughing, light and bell-like, the whole time.
Washing down her raw, stinging throat with the offered chaser, Mikoto took a long, deep breath.
“…Sorry, I lost my composure there.”
“Ha, you certainly did. That makes us even — neither of us has anything left in reserve now.”
“Yes…”
Both glasses, drained.
Which meant, from here on, whoever failed to answer the next question first would lose outright.
“Come to think of it, we never did settle on tonight’s actual reward, did we. Any proposals, Kurosu-sama?”
“No, springing a reward on me now feels sudden… You’re not thinking of making it my lips again, are you, Shandy-san?”
“I already received a kiss brimming with plenty of love just now, so I was thinking something different tonight.”
Shandy mulled it over, then broke into a sly grin.
“How about this, then? Whoever loses has to look the other in the eye and answer yes to whatever they’re told.”
“…That’s all? Not full obedience, just that?”
“Ha. Yes, that’s all I need.”
“If that’s all it is, then — yes. I accept.”
Unable to figure out the true meaning behind the mysterious smile Shandy wore, Mikoto pulled her focus back to the match at hand.
The contest itself was still paused mid-Yes and No. It was Mikoto’s turn to press Shandy with a question now.
There was no room left to fall back on. She didn’t want to endure any more embarrassment than she already had.
Racking her brain harder than she ever did at work, Mikoto scrambled to come up with a single question sharp enough to bring Shandy to her knees in one blow.
“Shandy-san. You’re lying about something, aren’t you?”