“I like you!” I blurted out.

The girl before me was taken aback by my sudden confession and her eyes widened in surprise. 

“Please, go out with me!” I boldly declared, bowing with my hand extended towards her. 

Her hair swayed gracefully along with the gentle breeze, while the white veil of the classroom’s window flapped softly behind her and the glass reflected a warm orange hue on one side of her face and casted a shadow on the other. 

My heart raced wildly in my chest and the sudden influx of blood to my head made the world seem like a blur. The reassuring sensation of my knees under me had also faded away.

As I looked up at her, she had taken a slight step back and placed her hands close to her chest, fidgeting around with her fingers, looking side to side, refusing to make eye contact. A breath escaped her lips and she began talking again, “Nakai…I…” 

The silence stretched on, each moment felt like an agonizing eternity in the mere seconds it had actually been. But eventually, she answered, “I’m sorry…but I can’t accept your confession.”

At that moment the phrase ‘my heart sank’ that so many people used finally made sense to me... I didn’t know if I even wanted to raise my head and look at her at that moment. 

My brain was telling me to run away and forget this ever happened, simply never look back.

But that's not who I am. 

So one deep inhale later, I raised my head facing the girl head-on and looking into her eyes.

With a warm smile I answered, “I see, thank you for being honest.”

The girl clenched her hands and swayed her head side to side, her eyebrows curled in a subtle frown, and a hint of sadness clouded her eyes. 

“No, thank you for understanding…the truth is my heart already belongs to someone else,” she declared with a smile, as if fondly reminiscing about someone.

A bitter sensation engulfed me; was it the sting of rejection? Or the fact that someone else made her smile like that…

She continued regardless, “Yes…someone I hold dearly close to my heart. Perhaps you know him…”

Someone I know? In the end, it was probably better if I didn’t know who it was, that way I wouldn’t hold an unnecessary grudge…

“His name is…” 

I wonder who is the lucky guy who won her heart. I'm jealous.

“Naoki.”

Huh? Naoki…?

 

“GAH!!!!” I screamed, immediately bolting up from my bed in a cold sweat.

“Mom!! Tell Nakai to shut his goofy ass up!”

A nightmare?

---------------

My mother, sitting across from me, mid-bite into her breakfast, questioned, “Hah~ why are you causing such a ruckus so early in the morning, Nakai?”

“I can’t help it mom, one moment I'm dreaming with a beautiful girl and the next, the dream turns into a nightmare!”

“Pfft,” scoffed my snobby little sister who sat next to my mother, “That's hilarious! Even in your dream no girl wants you? I thought dreams were supposed to be the opposite of reality, not a one to one replica of it haha!”

My little sister has always been a little…pain in the ass to put it mildly.

“You say something you little runt? I couldn’t really hear you from down there, want me to bring you a ladder?”

Slamming her fork into the table she looked at me with a nasty frown, “Don’t you dare bring my height into this…”

“How could I, for someone a year younger than me, you are sooo down to earth.”

“Ha?! You want to go!? I don’t need to be tall to beat you up you little shit!”

“I’d like to see you try, I bet your fist can’t even reach my face in the first place. Also I'm pretty sure that last part applies more to you than me…pipsqueak.”

“COME HERE YOU LITTLE-” exclaimed my sister, but before she got to do anything, my mother intervened. 

“CHILDREN! Sit. Down. And eat your breakfast properly.” She yelled in a fierce and frightening voice.

To which we both resumed eating our breakfast, exchanging fierce glares from across the table.

“Jeez, you guys aren’t little kids anymore and yet still fight like ones.”

“She started it.” I said calmly.

My sister clenching her teeth yelled back, “And you escalated it!” 

“Shut up sis, the adult’s are talking”

“YOU-”

“Please! Let’s just eat breakfast it’s too early for this”

I resumed eating my food while glaring at my sister who looked like a feral animal ready to bite me. 

Not the best way to start my day, but what pissed me off more than the bratty attitude my sister had was that damn dream…

<<That stupid Naoki…I will never forgive him…one thing is to steal away the most popular girls in school…but to steal even the girls in my dreams?! I will never forgive him!!>>

I was still caught up on the crazy school situation. A famous idol, a total beauty at that too, suddenly transferred into my school, of course I was excited…but then she suddenly asked to be friends with Naoki out of all people!

<<What the hell is up with that? First it was Kido, then Misaki, and even now in my dreams! Why the hell do none of the pretty ladies approach me!? And what type of connections is Naoki hiding? I mean sure Naoki can be considered attractive by conventional means, black hair, decent facial features, and decent height, but that doesn’t explain anything else! Why are all the girls so interested in him?!

Now that I think about it, he did mention something about cliches happening to him. Could it be…? Nah, no way in hell, it still wouldn’t make sense. I mean how could girls possibly like a guy they just met and didn’t have anything to do with. Even by manga standards, it’s a cheap storytelling device! If that was the case then I’d also have a girlfriend! Which I don’t…but that will definitely change soon! Or so I hope… Anyways!  It’s gotta be something else, maybe he's under some type of curse or something, I gotta get to the bottom of this. >>

“By the way Nakai” suddenly interrupted my mother, “I was talking to Katsuo’s mother the other day and she told me that Naoki recently moved nearby and even transferred to your school.”

“Hmm? Oh yeah, I guess he did.” I answered nonchalantly.

“Why wouldn’t you tell me about that!” 

“Sheesh mom, I didn’t think you would care that much”

“What?! Naoki transferred to your school?!” added my sister, her eyes suddenly lighting up.

“I do care Nakai!” My mom continued, “You know how well me and Naoki’s mother used to get along when she was still around, the least I could do is pay them a visit to pay my respects. Oh! I know! Why don’t you invite him some time over, it’s been a long time since he visited hasn’t it?”

“Yeah Nakai! You should invite Naoki over!” exclaimed eagerly my sister.

“Alright, alright, I’ll try asking him one of these days. And anyways, why do you care sis? Do you like Naoki or something? Haha,” I asked mockingly.

“No~ not really~” she responded in a shy and quiet demeanor while subtly blushing.

The clatter of my spoon hitting the plate echoed through the room.

<<You too sis…? >>

---------------

<<This is getting out of hand…  What do they even see in him? I mean may Naoki forgive me for thinking like this but what the fuck.>>  I thought to myself as I headed to school with Katsuo who on the other hand was preoccupied with the latest update in a video game. 

“Did you see the new myth being added to the game? She can put up walls and slow people down!” Katsuo asked me excitedly, interrupting my flow of thought.

“Her ability is basically a rip-off from another game tho” 

“I don’t mind if she is, this season has been stale anyways. I’m glad they’re adding a character like her to slow down the match.”

But before we continued with our conversation any further, a voice spoke from behind us, “What are you boys talking about hmm~?”

As we turned around, we were greeted and blessed with a delightful morning view.

“Misaki-san… Good morning! You scared us.” 

Misaki, who was dressed neatly in the school’s brown uniform, was smiling at us.

<<Another blessed day of seeing an idol in a school uniform, thank you God.>>

She had been hanging out with us for the last couple of days, tho… I will admit it was pretty awkward the first couple of days, especially when a bunch of people watch you eat lunch. But they slowly stopped showing up after a while.

“Good morning Tarou-kun,” she said with a pretty smile. Then she directed her eyes at Katsuo, “Good morning Hattori-kun.”

To which, Katsuo simply remained looking at her in complete and utter silence, with his characteristic fierce glare.

<<Oh crap, he’s totally gonna scare her.>>

“...good morning Misaki-san” he muttered in a low voice. 

Misaki let out a satisfied giggle and carried on like nothing happened. She was impressive in her own right. Most people got scared at the presence of Katsuo, especially because they tend to confuse his awkwardness and shyness with animosity. But she didn’t seem phased in the least…and that made her all the more mysterious.

Abruptly declaring a hiatus, randomly transferring into our school, asking to hang out with Naoki, not scared or intimidated like other people…she was a complete and total enigma.

As for Katsuo, his sudden passion for talking about the game suddenly dimmed. He has always been taciturn around strangers, and it seems with someone as famous as Misaki around, it was even worse.

“I hope I didn’t interrupt the conversation, what were the two of you talking about?” 

“Just games and stuff, you play any?”

“Nope, should I?”

As we continued talking, everyone's neck kept snapping to look at Misaki. It was almost comical. People nearly ran into poles, tripped over their own feet and crashed and bumped into one another. But at the same time I could feel a devious smile form on my face.

<<That’s right you peasants, low and behold the privilege of getting to walk with Misaki, roll in jealousy you insignificant extras!>>

Regardless, the amount of attention Misaki constantly got was still impressive. It just went to show how used to chaos she was.

After walking for a while, Misaki abruptly began sprinting just a bit ahead of Katsuo and I before stopping and turning to look at us with a grin.

“Say, which do you two think would suit me better?”

Shen then took out two distinct hair pins. Both were outrageously ugly and did not fit her at all, one was a green snake with a weird looking face and the other was a derpy looking blue bird.

<<…Does Misaki seriously like these pins…?>>

I was shocked to say the least, of her horrible pin fashion sense, but if a girl asks which pin looks better then obviously she gotta like them both right? I knew better than to call out a girl's taste, and especially when dealing with someone of high-status like Misaki, the answer was obvious.

“Anything would look excellent on you Misaki!!! Right Katsuo!?”  I exclaimed, and as I looked at him, he looked equally appalled.

“Uh…yeah…they would both look good on you… I think?”

Misaki slightly grinned when she heard our answers, “Is that so…” and would then cross her fingers to form an X. 

“BU-BU. Wrong answer!”  She would exclaim.

“Both of you have failed! Better luck next time!” 

Both Katsuo and I looked at one another in confusion. But before we could ask what was the correct answer, Misaki would hurriedly run ahead of us and yell, “Naoki-kun! Over here!” as she waved her hands. 

Off in the distance Naoki could be seen panicking, as everyone looked at him with frowns in their faces after Misaki called out for him. 

“Can I also ask you a question, Misaki?” I said to Misaki after we catched up to her.

“Hmm? Well of course!”

“It’s just…out of everyone in our school, why did you specifically choose to hang out with Naoki?”

“Well…” she began to think carefully, crossing her arms and closing her eyes.

“Because Naoki can see what most can’t?” 

<<What the hell is that supposed to mean>>

“What do you mea-” but Misaki cut me off again as she began to sprint towards Naoki with a beaming smile that blinded everyone.

<<This is my chance!>> I thought to myself, as I observed very carefully how Naoki would interact with Misaki. Was he a ladies man all this time and had been hiding it from us? 

Misaki, like she had done with us, would playfully greet Naoki, “Na~o~ki~ good morning~!” 

But unlike her, Naoki responded with a short and cold reply, “Oh, Morning Misaki”, and then directed his sight at us, and cheerfully said “Morning guys!”

<<The hell? Is this some sort of secret hard to get technique I’ve never heard about?>>

Despite his distant reply, Misaki didn’t seem hurt at all, instead she carried on with her next question.

“Say Naoki, I got something to ask you”

“Hm? What is it?”

“Which one do you think fits me better!” 

Once again, Misaki showed the two ugly hair pins from before and Naoki began to examine them very closely. I was pretty curious to know what he would say.

Naoki looked at them for a while, squinting and frowning, with a visible look of confusion, switching between looking at Misaki and the hair pins.

“So? Would they look good on me?” She asked Naoki.

“Nope, not at all. They are both quite ugly, not to mention they wouldn’t suit you at all. Who in their right mind would even consider wearing this?”

<<Naoki…my guy…what the hell are you thinking saying this to a girl>> 

Misaki in response looked flabbergasted at his answer and stood there quietly for a while.

<<Oh no, she’s definitely upset or mad, I mean who wouldn’t be with a response like that. He basically called her taste insane and childish>> 

“Pfft!” Misaki would begin to laugh hysterically as the three of us just stared at her dazed.

“You’re quite a riot Naoki~” she would struggle to say as she kept laughing and holding onto her stomach while crouching over. But she slowly regained her composure and put her thumbs up. 

“Ding! Ding! Ding! That’s the correct answer!”

<<WHAT!?>>

Misaki’s goals are beyond my understanding. 

-------------------------------------------------------------------

<<It still doesn’t make sense>> I thought to myself as I ate my lunch next to everyone on the rooftop. 

“And so in my first concert….” Misaki was entirely focused on telling Naoki her stories as an idol, while Katsuo and I ate our bread that we bought at the school cafeteria.

I tried observing Misaki throughout the day and there was only one thing I could conclude from watching her…Misaki is… really strange.

She kept asking everyone the same question about the hair pins, and only two people got the “correct answer”, one of them of course, being Naoki, and interestingly enough the second was Nino who, although she herself did not like the pins, said if Misaki liked them both then that’s all that mattered and she should wear them if she wants.

She also occasionally did weird stunts like asking people if they thought she could balance books over her head or if people asked her to sing, she sang country music… out of everything why country music?

But apart from that, nothing else happened. So why was Misaki interested in Naoki? Well that was still beyond me.

“They didn’t even heat up the bun correctly, this tastes like crap. Katsuo, can you share some of your Yakisoba bread with me? I’ll pay you back next time.” I asked Katsuo, who was sitting across from me.

“Don’t listen to him Katsuo, he told me the same thing in middle school and I'm still waiting for him to pay me back,” retorted Naoki.

“Hey! You can only say that because you brought your own bento box.”

“Then you should learn to cook, and not take Katsuo’s food, you know his weakness is being kind!”

Misaki would then ask in the middle of the conversation, “You make your own bentos Naoki?” 

“Yup, since I make breakfast for my siblings, I take the chance of making a bento for myself if I have time.”

As Naoki was about to take a bite into his octopus shaped sausage, he glanced at Misaki and saw she wasn’t eating anything.

“Aren’t you going to eat anything Misaki?” he asked her.

“No i'm okay, I have to watch my diet since i'm an idol and everything”

“I see…” 

<<Damn being an Idol must be tough, and her I am complaining about my bread not being heated>>

However, as I observed them, Naoki did something unexpected. 

After reaching into his bag he pulled out a small container of fruit. Without a word, he placed it beside Misaki, his movement was so subtle it could have gone completely unnoticed.

“Everyone needs energy, and fruits are pretty healthy, even if you’re an idol, you must be able to eat fruits right? ” he remarked casually.

Misaki’s eyes widened in surprise as they fell upon the container and her lips formed into a warm smile, “Thanks for the treat” 

I took another bite of my bun which by this point might as well be a pancake, after I tried hiding my jealousy and failed miserably. Well I guess, although his kindness might not be grand or flashy, it was still there.

Suddenly, Misaki’s expression shifted as if a grand revelation had come to her. She took one straight look at Naoki, then with a mischievous smile, she reached up to tuck the strands of her fluffy pink hair behind her ear, closed her eyes briefly and opened her mouth. “Naoki-kun, ahhh~”

The three of us - Naoki, Katsuo and I - became extremely flustered.

“W-what the hell?” stammered Naoki with a shaky voice.

“Well? Aren’t you going to feed me?” answered Misaki with a playful tone, as she maintained her mouth open, expecting to be fed.

“No! Why would I?”

“Bu Bu~ Wrong answer” said Misaki as she crossed her fingers once again with a mischievous grin.

<<Damn you Naoki! You bastard! How dare you flirt in front of us…>> 

Katsuo looked like a deflated balloon as if the love-dovey energy had drained him of his energy, and I could feel my life also being sapped away by the scene unfolding before me.

Misaki clearly poking fun at Naoki, continued, “It’s at times like this where you say something like ‘I’d be my pleasure to feed you!’”

“Feeding yourself takes that much energy!? How have you survived as an idol till now” 

“We idols never reveal our secrets hehe”

“What are you a magician?”

While Naoki and Misaki continued their playful banter, me and Katsuo looked at each other with eyes full of dread and agony, we were definitely the third and fourth wheel right now…

“You two enough with the fliiirting!!” I exclaimed with tears forming in my eyes.

“We weren’t flirting!” Answered Naoki, while Misaki was dying of laughter at my reaction.

“I did not make the wrong choice choosing to hang out with you guys,” she said hysterically.

-----------------------------

The bell rang and the teacher closed her textbook.

“Alright, that's everything for today, see you all tomorrow”

“Haaaaaaah” I exclaimed in disappointment.

Naoki, puzzled by my reaction, asked, “What’s wrong?”

“Nah nothing”

<<Jeez, how do you expect me to say ‘I don’t get why the most popular girls in school are interested in you’>>

After an entire day of observations, I was not one step closer to finding out Misaki's motivations. So obviously I was feeling a little disillusioned, and the feeding that happened on the rooftop made it a lot worse. 

As we walked down the hallway slowly, Naoki noticed I was rather quiet.

“What's up with you? It’s really weird not hearing you yap about anything. If you have trouble in class or something I can help you, you know?”

“It isn’t about that”

“Well if you say so.”

“Mate i'm pretty sure I got better grades than you”

The entire time I kept making up theories of what Misaki saw in Naoki, was it his personality? His looks? Well probably not, he wasn’t very cool looking so to speak. But out of nowhere as we passed next to a guy carrying a bunch of boxes stacked on top of each other, Naoki suddenly yelled at me.

“NAKAI WATCH OUT!” 

Startled, I turned around, only to see that the boxes the person next to us had were about to fall on me.

However, just before they did, Naoki pulled me away and slammed me against a wall. Just like that I found myself in the infamous wall slam position… and by none other than a guy.

“Are you okay?” Naoki asked.

“Were you always so cool…I mean ehem, yeah i'm good”

<<Why the hell am I blushing, snap out of it stupid>>

“Phew good thing. Hey, be careful next time” he said to the guy who was apologizing for dropping the boxes.

Naoki then looked inside his bag and looked startled, “Oh crap, I forgot my textbook back at the classroom, you go on ahead, don’t bother waiting for me see ya!”

“Yeah… alright…So that’s what the girl’s see in him…”