A/N: If you're reading this, I'd like to thank you! I really appreciate those who actually reached this part of the story.  >u<)/ I was checking the story's statistics when I noticed the number of reads is drastically dropping each chapter, so I thought this wasn't the type of story people would actually read. Yes, I'm writing for pleasure, but I get some of my motivation from the reads, votes, and comments. So yeeeaahhh. Thank you for reaching this part. *hugs you*

Also, for the realization part in the previous chapter, was it okay? OvO I accept constructive criticism~ (It's actually my first time writing something like that in a multi-chapter story. XD)

And one more favor. Please don't hate Yuki after this chapter~ I hope you guys understand why she did it. OvO I dropped a really big hint in one of the previous chapters~~~

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Mashiro Yuki

"Are you sure you're not close to Kise-kun?" questioned Suzusawa-san, her brows furrowed in suspicion. She crossed her arms. Her friends were beside her with similar expressions on their faces. They kind of reminded me of the Powerpuff Girls, with Suzusawa-san as Blossom, the leader.

"Well, we're friends, Yukicchi!"

I shook the memory off my head.

"Yeah," I smiled, looking up at them, "I've only been with him lately because my brother's not around and he's supposed to train him," I explained. Well, that's all there is to it, right?

"You know, you could just join the Kise Ryouta fanclub and stop denying it," said Misaki-san, disbelief showing on her face. "You could do lots for our Kise database!" she added enthusiastically.

I looked away uneasily and laughed nervously. Are they fans or stalkers? I didn't want to know. Well, the same goes for me whenever I find two ship-able male characters. "The offer's tempting but..." I shrugged with a smile. "Not now..."

Suzusawa-san seemed dissatisfied. "But with how things are, you--"

"Mashiro-san! Miou-sensei's looking for you!" called Yukimura-kun from our classroom's entrance. Ogata-kun was beside him, looking at me with an unreadable expression.

I internally did a happy dance as I stood up from my seat, excusing myself from the girls. OgaYuki just saved me~ But there was some meaning to Ogata-kun's gaze. Maybe he's... jealous because Yukimura-kun's attention was on me and not him? Kyaaa~! Jealousy fluff! These guys should seriously stop thinking that I'm in the way of their forbidden love~

I approached the two, fighting the urge to push them against each other and make them kiss accidentally. "Is there something wrong?" I asked Yukimura-kun.

He shrugged. "She was smiling, so I don't think so."

"So I'll just go to the faculty room?"

He nodded.

I smiled a little at the two before I excused myself. I wanted to leave them in each other's company as soon as possible; I was being the third wheel. I'd like to see their interaction, but I didn't want to intervene. The former took first priority.

"Ah. Mashiro-chan." I turned when Ogata-kun called my name and suddenly grabbed my arm. "Were they harrassing you?" His hold on my arm tightened, and the furrow in his eyebrows deepened.

Huh?

I shook my head, forcing a grin. "Geez, Ogata-kun! Harrasing me?" I let out an awkward laugh. "They were just asking me something! It was nothing serious~" I pulled my hand from his grasp upon sensing some passers-by's eyes on our little scene. He looked... concerned? "Really, Ogata-kun! It's nothing," I assured him.

"But it looked like--"

"Just because it looked like it doesn't mean it's what's really happening, you know~" I cut him off with a soft smile, honestly wanting to drop the topic. That silenced him, but it seemed like he didn't believe my answer. Through his lenses, his bespectacled love intere-- errr-- friend watched us from about two meters away. Before they could say anything else, I bowed a little then excused myself.

I made my way towards the faculty room, walking quickly when I reached Class 1-D's area. It's Ryouta-kun's class. I didn't want an encounter just yet, and I didn't think I was ready to talk to him about what happened almost a week ago. I still had to sort out the conflicting ideas in my mind. I was lucky he wasn't there; he was probably having his lunch with his friends, teammates, or fangirls. This should be fine, right? The longer I keep my distance, the lower I would go with Ryouta-kun's friendship ranking.

I arrived at the faculty room, immediately looking for Miou-sensei, our class' adviser. I went towards her desk, and, holding a bunch of papers, she looked up at me with a tired smile. "Mashiro-san, I heard you like yaoi...," she told me in a hushed tone.

I froze, blood draining from my body. My eyes wide with shock, I stared at our smiling teacher, my legs feeling like jelly and my heart unconsciously joining a drag race. Oh gosh. No. Now that someone outside the Anime Club knew about my weird interest, I was sure my high school life is in utter peril that I considered transferring to schools, specifically Seirin.

She laughed upon seeing the expression on my face. "Really, there's nothing to worry about!" A relieved breath left my chest. The expression on her face suddenly shifted to one that held so much secrecy. She motioned me to lean closer, to which I curiously complied. "Actually, I am a fujoshi too."

HAH?! I didn't believe my ears. "But-- Haruki-san--" Miou-sensei, as far as I could remember, has a love life people greatly compared to a cute shoujo manga. She's currently going strong with her high school sweetheart, a male called Haruki. Apparently, they're each other's first love, and Haruki-san came back from overseas after studying abroad just for Miou-sensei. She often told us about it with a dreamy look on her face. It's not that it's completely impossible for someone like her to be someone like me, but it really seemed unlikely. The yaoi and shoujo genres simply don't mesh together.

She let out a humored laughter, obviously amused with my reaction. "He isn't happy about it but he soon accepted it," she explained. I nodded, though I didn't really understand her situation much. "Anyway, I'll keep your secret as long as you do me a little favor."

Feeling nervous with her favor, I gulped. "What is it...?" I plastered a smile on my face.

She grinned. "Give me a list of your yaoi and shounen ai recommendations~"

Phew. Excitement welled all over me, various titles and series running through my mind. "Gladly!" I grinned, a long list popping into my head. 

"I'm so glad there are people in this school who could understand my passion," she smiled, but the smile disappeared when her eyes fell on a stack of papers on her desk. "Oh my. I forgot to bring those to Class 1-B..." she muttered before sighing.

"I could take them to their class, Miou-sensei~" I offered with a small smile. She's currently my favorite teacher, so I really didn't mind doing it. Plus, the class is just beside our's and I didn't have anything else to spend the rest of my lunch break on. I didn't feel like facing the three again and resuming our earlier conversation.

"Eh...? Is it alright for you?"

I nodded as I took the papers in my arms. Woah. It was heavier than I expected, but I didn't let it show on my face. I was going to finish this self-brought task; I don't go back on my word (and that's my ninja way).

I thanked her again and I did the lowest bow I could ever manage with a thick stack of papers in my arms. She smiled gratefuly before I left for Class 1-B. 

As far as I could remember, Class 1-B is the class of one of my co-members in the Anime Club, Nanase Mamoru-kun. Since I didn't know anyone from his class, it was a relief for I could just call for him if ever his classmates had trespassing issues.

I hummed one of the songs I found in Nicovideo whose melodies sounded cute, Ki-chan's especially, as I started to think about the list I was supposed to give to Miou-sensei. Considering that she is a working woman with a decent social life, I thought of short ones and one shots first. Is Hybrid Chil--

"Yukicchi! Yukicchi!"

Oh, shoot. The certain blonde slipped out of my mind. I turned and faced him reluctantly, first meeting a pair of sparkly gold eyes then different pairs of unamused eyes. As he waved his arms to catch my attention, his fangirls surrounding him only stared at me, and they didn't look happy. 

I smiled a little then waved before quickly doing an about-face and starting to leave the scene as soon as possible. It's not that I hated or disliked the popular model; it's just that being associated with him like we're really close would be a complete danger to how I was doing since school started. So far, I was certain that there was no one who disliked me, and I planned to keep it that way until I graduate. Judging by the looks those girls gave me and the way Suzusawa-san's group acted earlier, being treated as a friend by Ryouta-kun may give me social problems with the aforementioned people. I just didn't want what happened in my third year of middle school to repeat.

"Ah, wait for me, Yukicchi!"

I pretended not to hear and walked faster. I was sure I had a chance of escaping his sight since he was preoccupied by a group of girls, until I heard heavy panting beside me. "Yuki...cchi... You're fast..."

I unconsciously slowed down and hesitatingly looked at him, clutching the stack of papers in my arms. "Hey, Ryouta-kun..." The cheerfulness in my voice sounded so forced no matter how hard I tried to make it sound natural; and I knew he detected it with the  frown which lasted for less than a second.

"Do you need help?" he asked enthusiastically, motioning to the papers in my arms. He flexed his muscles confidently, grinning from ear to ear. "I'm strong, you know?"

I giggled due to his childlike act. In the corner of my eyes, I caught a glimpse of the girls' sharp stares, glaring daggers to my back. I brought my giggling to a stop, suddenly aware of the current situation. If this continues, then— 

I distanced myself away from Ryouta-kun then smiled apologetically. “No need, no need~ I can do it myself!” I announced before bowing a little and running off. He was persistent, however, and followed me.

“But isn’t that heavy?” he noted, his concern surfacing from his voice. “Two heads are better than one, you know!” I would’ve appreciated his sentiment if only we weren’t in this situation, if only he wasn’t the famous Kise Ryouta. I had to deny his help and separate from him as soon as possible. I was stupid for not keeping my distance sooner; I should’ve stopped associating with him after that incident with Kuro-tan. I was already content with just watching his actions with the other guys from afar, so why did it come to this?

But in all honesty, I felt a gush of happiness when he told me he considered me his friend. He was the first who told that to me in Kaijou.

"Really! You should just go back to your fans, Ryouta-kun!" I told him, glancing uneasily at the group of girls closely watching us. 

"Eh? But I already said goodbye to them because I want to help you!" 

Why would you do that? That could make them hate me... was what I wanted to ask the moment I heard his reply. "I don't really need help...," I replied, uneasily inching away to no avail. He just went closer. I was growing impatient. 

"Don't be shy and just accept my help, Yukicchi!" he responded cheerfully. 

"But I don't need your help! Will you just please leave me alone?" I blurted out without thinking. Regret and shock filled me when I realized how cold and annoyed my voice and my words sounded. D-Did I just-- 

I unconsciously looked at Ryouta-kun. His golden eyes were wide and were on me, his eyebrows were slightly furrowed, and his lips were parted. I saw the negative emotions swim in his eyes, like he was scolded for doing something wrong, but he didn't. He pursed his lips and looked down, his face crumpling as he did. His shoulders slumped, and he looked completely crestfallen. I shut the light off from Ryouta-kun. Why did I do that? "I-Is that so...?" He looked at me, now smiling, but I could tell that it was forced. He let out a fake chuckle. "Sorry, for bothering you, then..."

I couldn't stand it. I quickly bowed. "Excuse me!" With that, I ran as fast as I could away from him.

I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry.

I'm a horrible person. Because of my selfishness, I hurt Ryouta-kun's feelings. He was only trying to help, and I pushed him away harshly. I didn't even apologize! Stupid, stupid, stupid!

I'm really sorry, Ryouta-kun.