CHAPTER 17

        "I'm here for a request."

        "Request?" Wannabe inquired.

        The boy standing before us bobbed his head of tousled black hair hovering over both his hazel eyes. Despite the confidence and charisma oozing from his appearance, the guy himself was nothing but a timid mess. It was clear his looks didn't suit him. And it was also obvious that this club had finally gotten a means of a job after what felt like centuries.

       Guess that was the end of what was shaping up to be my peaceful life... Yippee.

        Biting on his lower lip, he drew his gaze away from the rest of them who were attentively listening towards me on my respective corner couch. I blinked rapidly, dropping the snacks in my possession and tilted my head to the side. Why was he staring at me like that?

        "H-Hoshino Miyuki-san!" he cried, breaking out into a sudden bow. "Please be my girlfriend!"

        I toppled backwards off the couch and hit the floor with a painful grunt. I could already see stars spiralling around my vision as the rest of the room exploded into equally loud gasps.

         "What?!"

.

.

.

        "Oh... so that's it," Saki muttered.

       "There's a really clingy girl who has a crush on you and no matter how many times you've tried gently letting her down, she's not getting a hint," Hiro summarized.

        "And you think that by getting a fake girlfriend you'll finally get her off of you," finished Yuji with a nod.

        Saki interjected, "Isn't that a little harsh though? I mean, she must really like you if she's been chasing after you for two years now."

        Yuugure Kouichi fiddled relentlessly with the camera strap he had hung around his neck. "It's harsher on me," he said, shaky voice barley surpassing a whisper. "I've told her so many times I don't feel the same way but it seems like whenever I do, things only escalate. Stalking my each and every move, showing up at my house uninvited, threatening our teacher into pairing us up for projects, ruining each and every conversation I've ever had with a girl... I-I'm sick of it."

       Yuji shook his head with a sympathetic breath. "Damn. You got it bad dude."

       "Love, huh?" Saki clasped her hands and twirled around. "Ahh, I want to fall in love, too!"

       "But why Hoshino?" Hiro finally asked the obvious. "Saki would be a better choice."

        I would've demanded the same thing myself but I was still slightly out of commission and recovering.

       "That's because... Yamamoto-san is way out of my league," he stated. "She's way too dazzling for somebody like me, so Aina-san would see right through it. And since I heard there was a duller member of this club, I was hoping that maybe... it'd be more believable."

       "You're that desperate?" Hiro pressed, holding a pointed finger towards me. "Even if you are, please reconsider. You're talking about her, you know! This weirdo of a girl right here—"

I shoved him with enough force to send him rolling over the couch. It made me huff, but it did succeed in silencing him.

Kouichi, albeit bewildered at our exchange, nodded. "Y-yes, I'm well-aware. Even still, Hoshino-san would be an honour."

"Well," Wannabe spoke up, "this isn't a request we'd usually accept but since it's pretend I guess it shouldn't go against any of our regulations." With that statement, this lunatic, to my absolute horror, smiled. "Then, please do take good care of her. She's a little bit of a handful."

Kouichi bowed politely. "Th-thank you very much! I'll protect her with my life!"

"Woah, woah, hold up!" I lurched to my feet in seconds, raising up a hand. "Why is this shaping out to be like some kind of marriage arrangement? In the first place I didn't even say I was doing it!"

Wannabe innocently cocked his head to the side. "That's because you didn't have to."

I glared at him, hard. "You—"

"Why not, Mi-chan?" Saki pouted before I could dare slip off my earrings and attack him. "He's so desperate!"

I shot her a dirty look.

"What harm could it do?" Yuji agreed.

"Harm? Yuji, I thought you had more common sense!"

"Don't worry, Hoshino. It's pretend anyway," Wannabe tried to reassure me, putting his hand on my shoulder.

          I gave him a death look and he retreated his hand within seconds. "Gather up the few remaining brain cells you all have and listen up, losers. I may have relented to your previous shenanigans but you're crossing a line with this! Fake relationships are always doomed for failure! And considering this situation is nowhere near as fortunate as Sata Kyouya and Shinohara Erika's relationship, I'm deeming it'll end no different!"

"Hoshino, just do it for us!" Wannabe's face was right in front of mine as he held up his hands with a weak, but heart-stopping smile. "Please?"

           I hated that my heart did just that in my chest. A blush crept up to my face at once as a result of his pout. Biting my lower lip, I avoided his eyes. It wasn't as if anything was any different so why were my insides churning like this?

          "What are you expecting, Kazuya?" Hiro interjected, shaking his head. "Like a plea like that would work with—"

         "Fine. I'll do it."

        If this were an anime, you'd see each individual shot of how jaw-dropped every single person of this room became—Wannabe included. Goosebumps spiked up my arms as a result and I rubbed the back of my warming neck. I immediately looked away.

       "It's not like I changed my mind for you," I mumbled in defence. "It's still a stupid idea. But, I guess I could help out a bit."

       "Holy moly. I expected her to punch him." Yuji blinked. "Did she not punch him?"

       "Has her behaviour totally changed around him?" Hiro stated in shock, inching back a step.

       "Love?" Saki chirped with widened eyes and a blush. "I-Is it—"

        "I'll punch you if you finish that sentence."

         Saki instantly shut up while the tips of my ears burned with heat. Love? For whom? Saki was delusional if she thought it was for Wannabe. I was strictly into 2D guys, occasional gals, and that wouldn't stop for somebody like a 3D playboy.

         It was the guilt that would've eaten at me otherwise. Though I didn't ask for it, he still was sweet enough to spend my birthday with me. How could I willingly refute his plea like that then? I might've been Satan's daughter—the Okumura triplet—but I wasn't heartless.

          "Um, I guess it's practice then?" Yuji suggested.

          "So how could we make this believable?" Saki questioned.

          "Before we go ahead and use the girlfriend card, maybe we should start with a makeover," I gave a voice of reason to Kouichi. "The point of this is to make her dislike you, or give up hope, right? Why not make you less appealing than you already are then?"

          Hiro, Wannabe and Yuji raked Kouichi over and shared nods. Saki was springing excitedly to her feet, furiously extending her arm.

          "Ooh, makeovers! Can I help? Can I help?"

           "We'll need as many hands as we can get," I assured her, causing her to cheer. Considering my hands weren't going to actually do any work.

           "What do you have in mind, Miyuki?" Yuji asked.

          The corners of my lips quirked upwards which on the contrary only further spooked Kouichi in his pants.

          "A look even the fangirls can't respect," I explained, meeting their eyes with a smirk. If we were doing this, we were doing it right. "Let's have some fun, shall we, Kouichi?"

——————————————————

           From good-looking Mabuchi Kou to geeky Onodera Sakamichi.

           It wasn't a too shabby look on the guy, I had to admit. Despite retaining his usual composure, we'd mussed his already tousled hair and gave him a pair of large geeky glasses to shield both of his eyes. The already awkward teen shifted his weight from foot to foot, baggy clothing only diminishing him as the perfect nerd. Maybe one apart of the Photography Club considering his camera he never seemed to let go of.

"We're trying to do him a favour," Yuji whispered into my ear, "but why do I feel this attire suits him a lot more?"

"Who knows," I said. "But, this is only step one. The girl who has a crush on you, Nakarama Aina... we must get her to hate your guts."

As it everyone were here in the clubroom excluding Wannabe during our lunch break, I wasn't too surprised that they all shared a look of confusion.

"We have to make her realize Kouichi here isn't who he makes himself out to be," I went on. "For example, typically if you learn just how much of an a-hole a guy is, the less likely you are to have romantic feelings for them. You get me?"

Kouichi chewed on his lower lip. "Y-yes...?"

Hiro snorted, "It's kind of ironic getting advice from somebody with the least experience with people."

I paused to shoot him a glare. "Don't underestimate romantic comedy animes and mangas. I've prepared myself for moments like these."

"Um, Hoshino-san," Kouichi fumbled for words. "How exactly should I act?"

"Like a jerk," I responded easily. "The worst of scum you can possibly be. Even worse than Shou Tucker you hear me?"

"Who...?"

"Make Nakarama Aina hate your guts," I snapped, grasping onto his shoulders. "No kindness, no second thoughts. Lower than scum you hear me?"

Saki knocked her head in Hiro's direction. "I understand where Mi-chan's coming from but this advice is a little..."

"Let's put it into action," I said, retreating my hands from his shoulders. "Try insulting me."

Kouichi stammered. "B-but..."

"Hit me with your best shot."

He was still stammering for words as I stood poised before him.

Knowing him for the short period of time that I did, it was apparent Kouichi was as soft as a marshmallow. And most likely because of that, the girl that had a crush on him didn't take his kindhearted rejections seriously. Which was more of a reason to make him come at me with the worst he possibly could. I'd heard just about every terrible thing during my long eleven years of schooling so there was nothing he could say that would hurt me.

When nothing other than 'um's' and 'err's' surfaced from him, Yuji leaned over and whispered something in his ear. A bemused look overcame Kouichi straightaway but Yuji beckoned him on anyway. Meeting my eyes, Kouichi opened his mouth.

"Anime isn't real."

I was hit straight through the heart. I collapsed to my knees, coughing painfully. "N-no... M-my soul. My one weakness...!"

"O-oh gosh, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry! What did I— I'm sorry!" Kouichi started panicking and breaking out into bows and Yuji, a sheepish smile in play, clapped his shoulder.

I was flopping as unappealingly as a magikarp for a good while before I hoisted my body upright. An eyelid shut, I rose my thumb up.

"I think he's okay."

Hiro deadpanned. "Are you sure you're okay?"

——————————————————

It wasn't that difficult to call her out. With the genius workings of my mind—and Saki's experience of getting love letters—we crafted the best notice to meet him out in the courtyard  on the basis that he had to tell her something important. And considering how much she supposedly liked Kouichi, Saki insisted that Aina would automatically get her hopes up, believing this to be some kind of confession.

So on that note, here we were now, 3:34 PM after school hours crouching behind the tall expanses of trees while Kouichi stood out in the open, fidgeting anxiously from foot to foot for this girl to come.

"Does he have a chance? Does he not have a chance?" Saki was biting through her fingernails at an anxious pace. Then, without any warning she threw me into a constricting hug. "Ah, this is so nerve-wracking Mi-chan! Hold me!"

I toppled forward and barely managed to regain my posture before I could hit the grass. I whipped my head to see her grinning as she held me, and I produced the fiercest scowl I could muster. "Saki!"

"Aww," she cooed, "you're so cute when you get all aggravated, Mi-chan."

Gritting my teeth, I pushed her off of me at once. Exhaling, I placed my palms against the wood and peered out towards Kouichi who was now walking in circles, uttering the horrible phrases he was to say to Aina when she arrived.

"Are you concerned about him, Hoshino?"

Wannabe's voice reached my ears and I retreated by slumping against the tree. I folded my arms over my chest.

"Concerned is pushing it," I said. "I mean, he's a disaster just waiting to happen so it's a little painful to watch."

"A disaster who doesn't have to be your pretend boyfriend if this plan of yours works," Yuji pointed out, cheeks unusually puffed up, voice muffled as he moved his mouth up and down. "Looking at it like that, you're right; there's no real pressure at all."

I instantly narrowed my eyes at him. My gaze travelled between him and Hiro who sat beside him—who kidding you not—were digging into a widespread of tasty looking food splayed out in three huge bento boxes before him. My jaw fell about a foot to the ground and Hiro who caught my gawking met my eyes, dropped his chopsticks from his mouth.

"What?" he said. "I didn't have lunch yet and I'm hungry."

"Did you—" I stopped myself, knowing for certain that couldn't be the case. He couldn't have made all of this, not this tasty looking food. His mom then? This was enough food for a decent buffet, not for the sole purpose of feeding one person.

"Ooh, Hiro's massive lunches," Saki cooed. "She really outdid herself today didn't she?"

"She?" I echoed. Was it not his mom who made this elegant lunch? And was this kind of lunch not just a one-time thing?

"Is this some Western cuisine added in as well?" Wannabe asked, marvelling just the same as I. "I see she's been practicing outside of her typical range. If only she could make me a lunch like this too."

"She? She?" My head was jerking between all of them and settled onto Hiro for an answer.

His focus was fixed entirely on Yuji though, a glower in place.

"Who said you could eat a bowl?" Hiro demanded.

"Oh, c'mon, don't be stingy," Yuji muffled, tossing more of the food into his mouth. "You never finish more than a bowl yourself anyway."

"That's not the issue!" Hiro snapped. "You know how angry she gets if—"

"What she doesn't know won't kill her." Yuji glanced at the rest of us. "You guys should take some for yourselves. It's really good."

Hiro immediately dived to scramble them up at the suggestion. "Hey!"

"Wait, wait, who made this for you?" I interjected with wide eyes. "If you actually have some hidden girlfriend I don't know about—"

Yuji choked mid-chew, and all of them the same. My eyelids fluttered when they—with the exception of Hiro who was still unappealingly coughing to clear his system—simultaneously broke out into a fit of laughter. Yuji had even placed aside his lunch and was rolling around, clapping like a retarded seal. I scrunched my features at their amusement.

"So there is no girlfriend?" I asked. "A fan, then?"

Hiro had blanched as pale as snow while the rest of them attempted to stifle their laughter.

Yuji hauled himself up and jostled his shoulder. "Why don't you tell her, Hi-chan?"

Hiro momentarily glared at the nickname and then shrunk himself at the suggestive smiles from the rest of them.

It took him a while to muster words. "M-my mom. It was my mom. That's it."

The level of hilarity that escalated between them caused my expression to fall. Clearly it wasn't his mom... I hated being pushed under the rug like this but at the end of the day, I guess this wasn't any of my business.

"Oh cheesecakes, she's here!" Saki shrieked, latching onto my back.

My heart quickened with a start as we all wiggled to get enough of a view from the tree we were behind. A girl of short stature stood before a rigid Kouichi, pretty and dignified. She fluttered her long eyelashes, fiddling with the strap hanging at the side of her bag, the note we'd written clasped in her other hand.

She looked nothing like the type to do the things Kouichi had told us, only proving how looks could really be deceiving.

"Um...?" she asked in confusion, cocking her head to the side.

Kouichi discreetly cowered and looked in our direction for help. We all shook our heads and gestured him on.

His teeth clattering, he forced out, "O-Aina-san, u-um, I-I do not feel the slightest bit aroused when I-I'm b-by your side. A-and I never will! I hate your glossy red hair and ugly—b-but really not too bad—of a face! Plus your fashion sense is really spot on b-but I'm not the right guy for you so leave me alone already— oh please don't hate me! I'm s-sorry, I didn't mean to hurt your feelings or anything! How can I live with myself, I insulted a woman! Agh, I'm absolutely terrible, b-but I just don't feel the same way a-and...!"

All of us heaved a simultaneous sigh.

Acting like a jerk, failed.

Saki smiled. "Kouichi is surprisingly cute."

More like hopeless... Well, at least he got words out.

In gruelling anticipation, we watched Aina's reaction carefully. Despite uttering his heartfelt words, Aina's means of puzzlement still hadn't faded from her face. Her wide eyes still glued to him, she blinked carefully.

"Um, who are you?"

Kouichi teetered a bit.

"Wh-who?" he stuttered. "U-um, I-I'm Yuugure Kouichi."

Straightaway, her eyes bulged form their sockets and she faltered a step with a gasp and look of disgust. "Yuu-kun? Wh-what? Ew... you're kidding, right? Why do you look so nerdy?"

"I-I wanted to change."

"But you were so good-looking before!" Aina reasoned. "How do you expect me to like you if you look like that?"

"I-I'm s-saying I don't want you to like me!" Kouichi sputtered out.

"I don't either." Aina clasped onto his wrist and began to drag him off. "So let's go change you back!"

"H-huh! Wait!"

"Hold on," Saki hissed, all of us lurching to our feet. "This isn't working!"

I was not going to be his pretend girlfriend! Using my pea-sized brain in the little amount of time we had left, I was struck with an idea, the same way Ben Franklin was said to be struck by lightning.

Seizing Wannabe's arm, I smirked. "Tamaki-wannabe, go seduce her."

He stiffened and yanked at his arm. "Seduce—"

"Make her fall head over heels for you," I pressed, shoving him out into the open. "I've filled your head with Tamaki knowledge to this day. Use your host charm and probable good looks and make her speechless! Go! Go! Go!"

Wannabe nearly tripped over his own feet and rotated his head to gawp at me. But he was already out in the open.

Both Kouichi and Aina stopped in place, Aina staring at Wannabe with large eyes. Her pupils dilated considerably, and with almost reluctance, Wannabe wiped away traces of his previous expression and went into action. It only took a few simple compliments, sweet gestures and a heart-stopping smile for Aina to unhand the poor Kouichi and throw herself to Wannabe with dramatic heart-eyes.

         Seeing her gush over Wannabe made me cringe. The rest of the HC were equally impressed and disgusted also.

         "That's our Kazu," Yuji said, running his fingers through his hair in relief.

         "If only we'd known we could've solved it that easily from the start," sighed Hiro.

        Saki hummed. "I guess we really didn't need Mi-chan to act like his girlfriend after all."

         "Told you," I said. Inwardly, I heaved a breath from reassurance. So the reason this girl was so obsessed over Kouichi was for his looks, huh? That wasn't such an odd thing, good-looking guys were fawned over by fragile maidens, but still. Like Hiro said, knowing this from the start would've made this entire situation a whole lot easier.

        We were stuck bearing witness as Wannabe led Aina away from the vicinity of the courtyard. Once the coast was clear it wasn't long before the rest of us decided to leave the rest up to him and head back to the clubroom.

         My eyes wandered over my shoulder on our walk there only to find Kouichi trailing after us from behind. He was checking his attire over with a frown. With that alone, it was evident he finally realized why Aina had fancied him so much. Poor dude. It was because of his appearance the girl had made him suffer for so long.

        I slowed my pace until we were walking side by side. Kouichi briefly regarded me, but that didn't halt his brooding. I sighed and clapped his shoulder.

         "I thought you'd be happier than this," I said. "You finally got her off your back after how many years."

        Kouichi turned his head up, glasses tinted from the glare of the sun. "I am happy," he said, and produced a sudden smile. "Your plan really worked, Hoshino-san. Thank you!"

         His enthusiasm honestly caught me off guard. Was I reading too much into things?

         "Your... welcome?" I mustered out. "Wait, so you really don't care that the girl only liked you for your looks?"

          Kouichi's elation dimmed the slightest, and his smile shifted to a wry one. "It is a bit surprising. To think that people are shallow enough to fall for appearances..."

         I shrugged. "It's not unusual. It's typical for people to lust at first sight."

          Kouichi came to a halt, and rose his head up to the sky above. "I always wondered why she never seemed to care about what I said... Then again, I guess this all isn't anything new for me."

          "Why do you say that?"

           "I'm just an awkward person," he responded in a small voice. "Mostly everyone I meet tells me not to open my mouth or else I'd ruin my good looks. There isn't anything about my personality that's good enough for people... And nothing about that's changed, even with Aina-san."

          "Those people don't know what rubbish they're talking about then," I snorted. Kouichi's eyes widened, and he shifted his gaze to me. "You should be whoever you want to be regardless of what other people say. Besides, I'm sure there're plenty out there who dig the whole awkward hottie. At least, I myself wouldn't mind them."

          As I flashed him a smile, Kouichi stood still, gaping at me. I didn't understand what was so shocking about what I'd uttered, but here the male had started to blush and fidget nervously from foot to foot. I could even spot hopefulness swell within his hazel eyes.

          As if hit in eureka, he put a hand to his chest before raising his eyes back to me. "Th-these thrilling b-butterflies, my heart p-pounding so hard in my ears, m-my uncontrollable blush, this s-stuttering..." I followed Kouichi's words up until he lurched forward with dazzled stars in his eyes. "D-do I like you? I think I may like you, Hoshino-san!"

          My heart sprung in my chest to my throat until I was hacking hysterically. I tilted and nearly tripped over my own feet. My eyes were wider than saucers. "Huh! L-like? Me—"

    He advanced towards me, causing me to finally lose my balance. I ended up crashing to the ground. I grimaced once my butt hit the grass and Kouichi worriedly crouched down beside me.

         "A-are you alright?"

         "Fine," I gritted out in an attempt to ease the pain. As soon as we locked eyes, Kouichi's lovestruck look and dilated pupils hadn't faded.

          Before I could dare pick my sorry butt up and run off in time, he'd scooped up my hands in his.

         "Th-this is the first time I've had this kind of r-reaction around a girl," he confessed.

         Heat overwhelmed my face at once and I inched back as far back as the tree behind me would let me. "K-Kouichi, calm down! We barely know each other!"

         "Then I'll get to know you now!" He drew his face with sparing distance from mine. "I-I want to get to know you! And I'll tell you everything you want to know about me too! I'll even join the Humanity Club!"

          My chest squeezed and my eyes fell upon my saving grace: his Canon camera. "But what about the Photography Club?"

      He followed my eyes and shook his head. "Oh, I'm not apart of that club. I just like carrying my camera around so I can snap pictures of beautiful things." Hit with an idea, he dropped my hands and picked up his camera. He got up to his feet and rose it to his left eye so he could take a shot of me. "U-um," he gushed, cranking the focus ring, "you are very pretty—"

          "What's with all the yelling?"

         It was as if my lungs could finally obtain oxygen when Hiro emerged from beside the male currently provoking me to a near heart attack. Saki and Yuji had followed up behind him, equally puzzled.

          "What's going on?" Wannabe asked, joining us from behind. He was by himself, proving he'd managed to shake off the girl.

         I swallowed hard. I didn't think I'd ever be so glad to see them in my entire life. Thankfully no other students were around this area other than us.

          After surveying our current misleading situation, me on the ground, Kouichi with his camera on me, Hiro's countenance lost all respect. "What do you think you're doing to Hoshino?"

          Kouichi withdrew his camera, his wide smile not wavering in the least. "Confessing my love!"

          Cue dramatic choking-on-spit bit from him, Saki and Yuji, and me fighting back the desire to faint.

          Wannabe was even as flabbergasted as I was. "B-but we all met a couple days ago! What love—"

          "Kazuya-san." Kouichi took his hands this time, beaming. "I want to join the Humanity Club so I can be by Hoshino-san's side."

          As Wannabe struggled closing his flapping mouth, Hiro immediately interjected, "Denied."

          Kouichi swivelled towards him in shock. "Wha... Y-you can't deny me!"

          Hiro clenched his fists. He got him. "Unless you gain the approval of the Club President you cannot join our club. Much less for a reason like that."

         Kouichi, ignorant to his last statement, paused and returned his attention back to Wannabe. "Can I join?"

         Wannabe stared at me and then Kouichi, and immediately puffed up his cheeks. "Denied."

          Kouichi instantly gasped, "That's not how it works!"

           "I'm the Club President," Wannabe murmured, jutting his chin like a little kid. "I make up the rules."

          "Why are you pouting like a child on me?"

         As more shouting ensued, Yuji had manoeuvred to my side and crouched down. He weakly smiled. "You okay?"

         I produced a shaky breath, slightly jittery. "I think I'm done getting involved with crush-related requests."

          "He seems to have somehow gained a real infatuation for you though," he pointed out.

          I inhaled and exhaled to calm my racing heart. He was right. I was not prepared for this kind of resolution. I scrambled for my phone and earbuds, rocking back and forth in fetal position. "Enough of reality. I'm going back to my 2D universe. Enough of reality. I'm going to my 2D universe. Enough of—"

          "Yikes." Yuji waved his hand frantically before my face to no reaction. "I think Miyuki's traumatized."

          "What the hell did you do to her?" Hiro demanded from Kouichi.

          He responded, "I confessed my love!"

          "You— there's no love and there will be no love between you and her!"

          Camera raised again, Kouichi aimed it at me with googly eyes. "Aww, isn't Hoshino-san so cute?"

          "Why, you!"

         "Hoshino's cuteness or whatever she undergoes will only be decided by our existing club members!" Wannabe agreed. "Leave at once!"

          He pushed a protesting Kouichi out of the vicinity of the area, Hiro in assistance. Yuji's intentional cracks for his mere amusement and Saki's scolding only spiked the tension for this crazy situation even higher. Left by myself, I rocked back and forth some more.

           The introduction of this new guy had led to such a shocking end like this.

     And I had a feeling I would be seeing him a lot more from now on, too.