STARING CONTEST. . .

- - -

A deep sigh left Yashiro's lips, long and relieved as class had just ended and their teacher left them for a small break.

There was a sudden chill that ran down her spine — she had a strange feeling that someone has lazer eyes with their piercing stare.

She tilted her head and noticed that her classmate, Yugi Amane, was intently staring at her, juice box in hand, by the back door of the classroom. Yashiro looked away, hoping he'd stop.

He didn't.

Yashiro turned once again, slowly growing annoyed by the feeling of someone burning holes on her back. She met Amane's eyes. The boy smirked, narrowing his eyes mockingly and—

Oh, it's on.

They both began a competition.

A silly, childish competition.

And about 20 seconds has passed and Yashiro's eyes started to sting a bit and get glossy, but she stood still and didn't bat an eye.

The class noticed two of their classmates staring intensely at each other, with the other squinting a bit. They smile knowingly and continue with their day.

"Nene-chan, I—!" Yashiro yelped when Aoi came running to her, Yashiro still tearing up a bit. But then Aoi realized what she had done — she just ruined a moment.

Yikes.

Aoi laughed nervously and backed away. "I'm sorry, Nene-chan! But sensei was looking for you!" She said, pointing at Tsuchigomori with his arms crossed, and beside him, was a pouty Kou.

Is this about the Kou visiting the girls' toilet thing again?

Yashiro's eyes widened in alarm. She slammed her hands on her desk and stood up. "Sensei was looking for me!?" She turned around to meet Amane's eyes.

Amane gave her a smug grin and stuck his tongue out mockingly. Yashiro growled under her breath, and right then and there, in that exact moment, rivalry sparked.

I'll beat you next time. . !

- - -

Yashiro laughed at a joke Aoi made, trying to stifle her giggles with her hand but failed miserably. Aoi continued with her funny story, laughing along with her.

"You called the dog cute, and then what?" Yashiro asked eagerly.

"And then Akane-kun spent a good 3 hours watching a dog try to catch its own tail!" Aoi said, out of breath. She wiped a fake tear away. "And he was like 'Ao-chan, I love you, but you can't expect me to grow a tail'." Aoi even pretended to push her non-existent glasses upwards the way Akane does.

Yashiro laughed even more at Aoi's attempt at mimicking Akane's voice and actions.

(It's actually not that funny).

Some boys passed by and grew flustered at the sight. Not at Yashiro, though (as sad as it is). They were blushing at Aoi smiling. Of course they would — who wouldn't? Aoi is cute.

Yashiro noticed them, and her laughter died down immediately. Sometimes, it's hard to be friends with a boy magnet when you're a hopeless romantic. Because all of their attention, all of their stares, their compliments, are always directed to Aoi. Never her.

But what she didn't notice, was a boy from afar, smiling softly at her figure.

Amane decided to call out her name when she noticed her mood change. "Yashiro-san!" He shouted, catching the attention of some students nearby.

Yashiro swiveled and caught Amane's eye. She looked confused for a moment, as well as Aoi who was right beside her. And the boys who were foolish enough to not pay attention to the gem beside Aoi, Amane said to himself bitterly.

Amane grinned when Yashiro narrowed her eyes. They stood silently, just grinning and staring at each other's eyes. Everyone was quiet.

"What's happening?" One of the boys whispered to another.

"I don't know. They're weird," the other whispered.

Aoi waved at them dismissively. "They're having a staring contest," she said with a smile. "I didn't know Yugi-kun and Nene-chan were close. That's adorable."

"Aoi-san, do you also want to have a staring contest with me?" One of the extras suggested. "If you win, yo—"

"Sorry, but Ao-chan is busy right now," a voice murmured, standing right beside Aoi.

Aoi lifted her head and almost laughed at the sight of Akane. "Ah, Akane-kun. Did you finally figure out how to grow a tail?"

He didn't. Akane looked away. "No. . ." Akane finally noticed Yashiro, but then his face twisted into a frown when he saw Yashiro. "What is Yashiro-san doing?"

Akane followed Yashiro's intent gaze and realized Amane was on the other side, smiling wickedly, as if taunting her. What a creepy face.

"What's going on here?" A deep voice asked, the voice that had choir of angels sing along. The voice that Yashiro was completely obsessed with. "Yashiro-san?"

"Ah, Minamoto-senpai!" Aoi exclaimed in surprise (and slight panic because; knowing Yashiro, she would probably gush over Teru and lose). Aoi glanced at Yashiro who stood still, expectantly, then back at Teru and—

Wait, Yashiro stood still?

Aoi gaped at Yashiro. She didn't even flinch! She must be very competitive to ignore her crush just for the sake of winning.

Or is she even ignoring him?

But, then again, it's Teru we're talking about. What kind of spell had Amane placed that Yashiro even went as far as to ignore the Minamoto-senpai!?

Yashiro's eyes were too watery now, the stinging was painful. And yet Amane stood there, still with a stupid smirk on his face that Yashiro wanted to wipe away. Amane looked like he could go on for hours.

"I lose," Yashiro sighed, finally relieved now that she could close her eyes.

It was stupid, it really is. But there was something about gazing at Amane's captivating, bright eyes that would make you want to stare at it all over again.

Maybe that's why she liked the competition?

"Nice try, though, Nene-chan!" Aoi assured her. "What was surprising though was when you blatantly ignored Minamoto-senpai when he called you!"

Yashiro blinked several times. (She needed that). "Minamoto-senpai called me?"

"Yeah. . .didn't you hear?"

"I didn't hear or see him, though. I guess I was too caught up in the contest." Yashiro laughed a bit.

Aoi found it strange.

- - -

It went on like that for a few weeks.

Yashiro actually thought about asking Amane if he's secretly a pro player and sneaks out every night to challenge other people from countries far and wide who don't close their eyes in their sleep and—

Wait, where is her train of thought even going?

Yashiro is just thinking like that because Amane won each time. It was not even an exaggeration anymore.

It's like he's not even human! Yashiro thought.

"Morning, Yashiro-san."

Yashiro winced. It's the voice of her dear nemesis. She twirled around and was face-to-face with none other than Yugi Amane himself, the unbeatable, unblinking champion.

Childish as it is, the competition is actually really fun.

Yashiro was never really close with much boys, but her relationship with Amane was mutual. No words were needed. Just them.

"Wanna have a round?" Amane asked her.

Yashiro nodded, chuckling evilly inside her head. She had a plan. She isn't sure if it will work, but at least she could try — Yashiro did some research over this; that Yugi Amane gets flustered easily.

"3, 2, 1. . ."

They simultaneously opened their eyes, both of their orbs gleaming with competitiveness.

A few seconds had passed, and Yashiro was starting to lean closer to Amane. Of course, this didn't go unnoticed, because the boy was suddenly alarmed and backed away a bit.

"W-What are you—"

Yashiro pecked him on the tip of his nose. All the while, she had her eyes open, and she watched, with sadistic (and also pure) joy, the way Amane's eyes fluttered instinctively.

Yashiro inched away and cheered. "Yay! I finally won!"

"That was. . ." Amane said, his hand hovering above his nose. "That was cheating!"

- - -

This whole thing was basically a crackfic????

ANNOUNCEMENT:

So! I'm planning to make something 😳. It's nothing big, though. Just a short fanfic hehe.

I might not be able to update as much as I usually do, because I decided I wanted to make a short story about Hananene, based off the prompt from chapter twenty-five. The ONLINE FRIEND and SOULMATE AU 💕

Inspiration just struck me and I suddenly thought of a whole plot 😔👉👈

Soo watch out! It will probably be like 10 chapters or less.

All that aside, thanks for reading! 💕