“Th-those chocolates…” Ishi was at a loss for words from her silent gesture. “They’re… They’re coffee flavor, aren’t they?” Finally, the boy was able to realize why she had asked that question that night. It wasn’t because of someone else, she had planned on giving these to him the entire time.

“Your favorite.” Rinse was still incredibly nervous about revealing to him the truth. Despite him already confessing his feelings for her, there was a sense of unease still remaining in her body. “I love you too, Ishi.” She had felt the same way about him for far longer. Not a challenge given that he only just realized his own feelings just moments ago.

“I can’t believe how blind I was.” Internally, he was kicking himself over failing to recognize it. Though perhaps it was for the best, as if the boy had learned before this day, then he’d certainly have rejected her by now. A reversal of how he had felt about Youna, in a sense. “I can’t say that I was trying to get you to fall for me.”

“You didn’t have to.” It wasn’t any level of wooing that needed to be done to win her over. In fact, he probably wasn’t even trying to impress her during the time he did the most for her. That would be his constant complaints against her work and the way her status was held by everyone.
Ishi never once saw her as a famous or popular person. While it might be fair to say that he could’ve disliked her over that fact, it certainly wasn’t the case after they became friends. All that boy ever looked at her as was simply a girl who was a friend of his. No more, and that was something she never knew she wanted in her life.

“I might be the worst person at getting what I want.” He commented upon learning of her reasons. All that coldness from him, and all it earned him was the affections of an idol that everyone loved. Someone who all the boys in class wanted to date. Someone even tried asking her out during the first week and got shot down. Though unlike any other situation involving him and her, having the school’s idol’s heart was something that he wanted. And it definitely was not going to go to waste with him.

“Guess that’s a good thing for once.” She offered the bag for him, which was easily accepted by Ishi. Somehow, after all that tension, Rinse felt a lot more at ease knowing that their feelings were shared. “What do you think? How does it taste?”

“It taste wonderful.” He replied after taking a piece and popping it into his mouth. “You really do live up to the idol standard.”

“Then, how does this taste?” She said, which left him feeling a little bewildered by the question until her actions provided the context. Rinse leaned into him, and gave the boy a soft, yet passionate kiss on the lips. At first, he was taken off guard, but Ishi’s eyes closed as the boy accepted her romantic gesture over the top of the school’s roof.

“Even sweeter.” He spoke when they separated. “But, are you really fine with telling everyone about us?” It was already a concern given her career, but there was also her reputation in school at risk as well. “I want to do this, but only if you’re willing to tell everyone the truth.”

“Of course.” She took his hand and led the way. “It wouldn’t feel right dating Ishi Hirose only to try and hide it from the world.” Truer words were never spoken as they walked down the steps. The pair held their hands as they walked inside their classroom, where everyone else had been waiting.

“There you are Ishi.” Otoya was the first one to greet him. “You were right when you said we were being blin…” His words trailed off as everyone’s eyes landed right towards the couples connected hands.

“Wait a second.” Koto tried to figure everything out from this image. It seemed that he accepted Seyuki, given that the boy was sitting in her lap. “She gave the chocolates to you!?”

“Eh!?” The entire classroom was in utter shock over the news. The only people who seemed to not be moved as much were Youna and Chinae, who were aware of the fact well before anyone else.

“Really, you two are… An item now?” Ryugi asked them with a mixture of surprise and disappointment. “I totally didn’t see that coming.”

“Is this really true?” Someone asked.

“You two aren’t pulling a prank us, are you?” Someone else asked. Seeing as he was the one to come up with the idea, and she went along with the showy way of confessing her feelings. It did appear a little setup on how things panned out.

“No, this is completely real.” He answered. “Not sure why people keep thinking I’d be joking around. I almost never do that.” Even if their personal feelings were finally resolved, it seemed that there was one final thing to do before their relationship had truly began. “Do you guys want me to get mad again?” It wouldn’t be the first time he did when he believed the group were being complete idiots.

“It’s the honest truth.” However it was Rinse who stood up for the both of them. “I love Ishi.” She spoke it out to them proudly.

“How!?” Everyone else asked loudly. It was a major shock even after taking some time to let it sink in. The two of them appeared to be so different, on opposite plains of existence even. She was that cheerful idol who tried her best to give everyone and herself smiles. He was the type of guy to take your smiles and crush them under the weight of his frown.

“Sheesh, when you guys say it like that. It makes it sound like we’re the leads of a cliché romcom.” Said Ishi as his annoyance of the way they were portrayed grew.

“And it’s not about who either of us are.” Said Rinse. “The two of us have been through a lot together.” Maybe some of it was forced due to the circumstances of their lives. Right now a lot of the boys were thinking of how cruel fate had been to have her land right beside Ishi of all people.

But she didn’t think that way. If it had been anyone else, they’d most likely have been a lot kinder to him. Perhaps even courted her, which would be the opposite of how he acted towards her. Yet, it was that way he was about, as well as learning about the small details about Ishi that led her down the path she followed. “When I first met him, I thought he was the rudest and meanest person in existence.” However, that wasn’t how he truly was despite the tone he had with her and everyone else. “Ishi can notice things that most people can’t. And when he does, he does things when most people would keep their mouths closed.” Even if most people had their hearts in the right place by trying to spare others’ feelings, he believed that confronting the reality was better in the end.

“Yeah, and I used to think she was just another overtly cheerful idol who was immature and naive about the world.” He continued on. While the two of them had some things right in their first impressions, it was taking the time to dig deeper that revealed to the pair the reasons for their actions. “Look, I don’t care if anyone here has objections to our relationship.”

“And, I will still continue to love him, even if no one here will accept us.” Though she was on his side about that, Rinse did care a bit for the feelings of everyone else. “But, I only wish to ask that everyone tries to accept it because our feelings are true.”

“This might be the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.” Koto was in tears over seeing their relationship. “I understand what Ishi meant about not being blind to love.”

“Okay, you don’t really need to be so cheesy.” Ishi responded in slight disappointment to his cousin. Though he was glad that at least one person was fine with things. Everyone else had remained quiet after they gave their case to them.

“You know, I accept it.” Said Chinae, who had already been able to move past her own feelings given the time. “Everyone who doesn’t is just a loser anyway.”

“Hey, I’m no loser.” Said Ryugi. “But, I’m fine with this too.” She spoke for the others, who had gotten a lot more bright in their moods after this news was broken to them. “We only want you to be happy.” This was more directed towards Rinse rather than Ishi, but that was fine with him. “If this is what your happiness looks like, then we’ll be cool with it.”

“I do too.” Youna spoke up bravely in front of the entire class. Not speaking as their representative, but as Ishi’s and Rinse’s friend. It was hard on her to have to voice out her acceptance, when just minutes ago she had her heart broken by the boy for another girl. “They’ve both worked so hard to keep our spirits up. So we should repay the favor, and help them be happy.” It was a done deal after her words convinced the others.

“You know, we should celebrate then!” This was the first time Rinse had ever been in love, so she wasn’t particuarlly sure about the process. However, everyone else was fully on board with the plan. All except for one person.

“Uh, you guys know that lunch break ends in one minute, right?” Their teacher came in and ruined the fun a bit by reminding them they needed to sit down for their next lessons.

Disappointed, everyone relented and returned to their seats. Chiane, Koto, and Seyuki also left the classroom to return to their own classes.

“Looks like we’re back to where we started.” Commented Ishi, as he looked over to Rinse sitting besides him as if nothing had changed.

“More like, things are only just beginning for us.” She gave him a smile and wink.