“Uh, hello? Buddy, are you OK?”

Yaranagi's voice shattered Ariyama's thoughts like glass, and he suddenly jolted to attention.

“Right. Yes, of course. I was definitely listening to you the whole time and didn't zone out after you talked about Takemichi being like me.”

Yaranagi hollered with laughter.

“See? That twerp is a pain to all of us. Now he's got people zoning out from being compared to him!”

“Wha– No. Yasuke, that's not what I meant and you know it.”

Yaranagi laughed it off and waved his hand dismissively.

“Right, right. I'm sorry. I won't get your words twisted in the wrong meaning.”

Ariyama huffed and crossed his arms, glancing down at his watch. Its shiny, reflective surface read 8:28.

“Huh, still two minutes to go. I suppose Ijichi-sensei is taking his time for once. Though, he's not the type of person to be late”

“That's what I'm saying! I bet it's just his mind breaking down. Maybe he's actually a really old guy.”

“But he looks to be in his thirties. If he turned out to be some old guy, all those girls who have weird crushes on him would revolt. Not to mention those few guys who actually like him as a teacher.”

“One of which being you, right?”

Ariyama stared in confusion and disbelief.

“What did you say? Me? Like him? Yeah, as if?”

“Oh come on, we both know you don't hate him as much as I do.”

“That doesn't mean I like him, though. And also that isn't a competition.”

“OK, but if it was–”

“Yaranagi Yasuke, shut the hell up.”

Yaranagi chuckled dryly, his broad shoulders shaking softly as he did so. Whenever he did laugh, which was often at the expense of people weaker than him, Yaranagi seemed almost like a big baby, with lots of muscles, giggling about something incomprehensible.

Just then, Ariyama checked his watch.

His eyes met the watch face and saw it turn to 8:30. At that very moment, almost scarily, the top doors of the room squealed open and Ijichi Morimoto walked in, dressed in his regular attire, consisting of a white button-up shirt, and brown slacks. His jet black hair was slicked back, and his face was lined, even if he was only in his thirties.

Ariyama's heart quickened ever so slightly in his chest at the pure unnatural nature of Ijichi-sensei walking in at exactly the class's start time. A sudden, humorous image of Ijichi standing outside the door, eyes locked on his watch, waiting for the exact turn of the minute to make an entrance, flashed behind Ariyama's eyes.

It was so funny that Ariyama couldn't bite back the sudden single bark of a laugh that he released. And despite being in the second-last row, his laughter traveled all the way to Ijichi-sensei's ears as he set his backpack down on the teacher's desk.

The man turned to face the whole class in one swift motion, and even though Ariyama's heart skipped another best in apprehension, he could see the man more clearly now.

His square glasses over his tired eyes, his sunken cheeks, pale skin, hooked nose and black hair slicked back in a thin sheet of black down his neck.

“So, Ariyama, what was that noise exactly?”

Ariyama's face burned with embarrassment, driven on by Yaranagi's silent giggles behind him.

“Uh, sensei, sorry. I just thought about this thing from before class, you see, and–”

Ijichi held up a hand sharply, silencing the next syllable coming from Ariyama's mouth.

“Enough, Ariyama. It's not like I especially care what your thoughts are about. Just don't interrupt my class. Speaking of which, this class is already behind, so everyone, open their textbooks on page 104…”

As Ariyama was fearing, with a certain knowledge of inevitably, Ijichi-sensei's class dragged on for ages and ages, quickly chipping away at his mental state, until, by the time the bell rung to signal the class had ended, he was face planted on his desk, fingers feverishly fiddling with his pens, mumbling nonsensical jargon to himself.

Yaranagi stood up from his desk, stretching his large arms with a feral yawn, intentionally making it as audible as possible, so even Ijichi might have heard it as he exited the classroom.

Yaranagi knelt down by Ariyama's desk, shaking his friend violently, making Ariyama feel like throwing up.

It was so annoying, when it came to Ijichi-sensei. Ariyama loved history and learning all the dates, the chronology and the big important events on a timeline, but he just couldn't deal with Ijichi. Be it his ice-cold death stares he'd give students from across the room, or his weirdly rude way of speaking, Ijichi never seemed to be happy to teach his class, and that reflected negatively on the class as a result.

One thing Yaranagi hadn't lied about was the fact no one in the class even liked Ijichi. Ariyama didn't exactly have the most apt skills at empathy, but even he could recognise when the teachers weren't being assholes, but were just sick of having to deal with sulky teenagers all day.

But that hint of empathy he was capable of showing didn't ever work on Ijichi. He had tried before, of course, but to no avail.

Ijichi was an anomaly. A depressed, cranky anomaly.

“Get up, Saato! It's lunch already. I know, isn't it crazy?”

Yaranagi’s attempt at humor didn't persuade Ariyama to un-plant his face from the desk.

“Seriously? Come on, Mr Money, I think I need some spare change for my lunch. I forgot my pocket money at home.”

But then there was another voice that entered the fray. A feminine one.

“Oh, come on, Ariyama-kun. It's not healthy to not eat. Even missing one meal can lead to terrible and consistent tummy pains. And I'd hate for my classmate to miss school for a number of days of school over something so avoidable.”

Frowning at the new voice that joined, and the weird fact that even Yaranagi had gone quiet, Ariyama grumbled and brought his head up, turning slightly–

Only to see the smiling face of Matsune Sasya right up in his face, her blue eyes shining like polished gems and her long hair like a mass of darkness.

“Oh, Ariyama-kun, you're awake! Cool! Now run along and get some food in your belly before the hunger monsters come for you. And…”

Her eyes narrowed, her smile turning different somehow.

“...I'll be there too, in a few minutes, so come chat if you want to, OK? Oh, and that stuff about the food monsters was a joke, by the way. See ya!”

She gave him a cheerful pat on the hand, before straightening up and hurrying over to join her harem of boys and girls, who followed her out, flashing back Ariyama disgusted looks.

Seems they didn't like what was ‘theirs’ being with someone else. Huh. Odd.

Just then, Ariyama remembered Yaranagi was right beside him, and turned to look at him, expecting maybe to see a look of pure affection like everyone else.

But he wasn't looking at the retreating Matsune, but instead at Ariyama, a huge grin on his face, shaking his head slowly in disbelief.

“W-what? Why are you looking at me like that…? Yasuke…?”

Yaranagi didn't bother trying to suppress the incredulous chuckle he made.

“You damned lucky bastard…”

“What do you mean? What's going on?”

“I'm saying you're a lucky bastard.”

“How?”

“Damn, dude, are you really that dense? It's so obvious that Matsune likes you.”

At those words, Ariyama's face burned with embarrassment, and he shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

“She likes me? Why would she… like me?”

“No clue, but the signs are obvious. Her mannerisms, her tone of voice when speaking to you, and being a little extra smiley when around you. All signs of a girl liking you; not that I expect you to realize it. You're crap when it comes to females.”

Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

“OK, that's mean. And even if she does like me, what do you expect me to do? I told you I don't have feelings for her now, and even if I did, her fanclub would have me executed before they allowed us to start dating or whatever.”

Yaranagi crossed his arms, leaning against Ariyama's desk, mumbling thoughtfully.

“Fair point. Those ones are way too obsessed for you to just walk up to Matsune and ask her out. So instead, it looks like it'll have to be in secret.”

Ariyama frowned, meeting his friend's gaze with a furrowed brow.

“In secret? How will that work?”

“Well, I think I'm fairly scary and intimidating when I want to be–”

“Which is always, I suppose..”

“–so I should have to problem luring those six or so members of her so-called ‘fanclub’ away from her. I just need a good reason…”

“Well, maybe just tell them you have some ‘urgent news’ to tell them regarding Matsune, and that it's important to talk alone.”

Yaranagi snapped his fingers in agreement.

“Awesome, we'll go with that. And while I'm doing that, you head to Matsune and confess your feelings to her. I'm confident she feels the same way.”

“Wha– Dude, I just told you I don't like her. Well, I ‘like’ her, I suppose. She's a nice enough person, but I don't have a crush.”

Yaranagi shook his head sadly.

“You still don't get it, young one. When it comes to a slice of smoking hot like Matsune, you have to take every chance you get. Even if you don't like her, just getting her as your girlfriend would boost your status a hundredfold. It's Matsune Sasya we're talking about, after all.”

Ariyama felt that pang of exaltation in his chest again. He wondered if maybe that was one way to complete something big. If not, it'd at least make him known for more than his money, right? He'd be known as ‘Matsune Sasya's boyfriend’, rather than ‘the boy with too much money, which all came illegally through his sleazebag of a dad’.

But…

Thinking about it, Ariyama wasn't sure which one was better, or which one was worse.

Damn it, why did all his options have to include other things or people, be it money or Matsune? Was it really so difficult for him to make his own goal come true by scoring big on his own.

No, it had to be. He wouldn't allow anyone to help him in making that big chance. Because if he did, it wouldn't be just him who caused it, but some other as well.

Yaranagi scratched the back of his buzzed head.

“Eh, so what do you think?”

But still, Ariyama didn't want to disappoint Yaranagi by messing up his plan. He guessed he might as well humor him, just this time.

“Oh, yeah, OK. I suppose I can give it a shot.”

“Seriously? Geez, you switched up quickly. One second, you were saying you don't have feelings for her, but now suddenly you're all compliant.”

“Yeah, I guess I figured I'd give it a shot, even if I still don't believe she actually likes me.”

Yaranagi grinned, crossing his arms.

“Well, awesome! Alright, I'll lure away those nasty leeches from her, and you head to the cafeteria to catch her. Got it?”

Ariyama swallowed thickly in apprehension.

“Uh, yeah. But Yasuke, how will you get the attention of all those followers?”

Yaranagi didn't answer outright, but instead his smile turned from one of relief to one of mischief.

“I have my ways, Saato. Don't worry about me, I've got this. Now run along, star-crossed lover.”

Ariyama hesitated for only a moment before getting out of his seat, grabbing his bag and running out of the class, into the hallway outside and heading right for the cafeteria.

As Ariyama opened the squeaking door to the cafeteria, the first thing he noticed was the loud rustling of students as they talked together at different tables or got their orders from the counter at the cafeteria.

The cafeteria itself was directly opposite the door Ariyama entered from. There were four pillars on each side of the center of the room, where all the tables were set between them. Most of those tables were empty, save for one right next to the front right column.

Quickly heading there, Ariyama dropped his bag to secure the table as his own and continued on to the queue for the cafeteria. He grabbed a tray from the stack at the edge of the counter and eagerly waited his turn.

When was Matsune supposed to be here?

She said she was on her way, and even left before Ariyama did. But it was probably Yaranagi, doing whatever he had to in order to separate her from her harem. Ariyama couldn't even recall very many times when he'd seen Matsune alone without her group, especially at lunch time.

This morning was an exception, which he didn't expect to experience again.

He pondered the question further as he finally reached the deli. He got his regular order and paid with the money he had spare. He never brought more than just enough when he came to school. Sure, everyone already knew he was rich and all, but he just hoped he could keep the gossip down, as long as he didn't make a show of doing things the ‘expensive way’, like wearing diamond-encrusted watches or paying for only the most expensive items in the cafeteria.

Of course, that led to his ‘regular meal’ consisting of the most basic of options, and nothing too flashy.

As he made his way back to his table, Ariyama noticed there were already three people sitting down there.

Muttering to himself in annoyance, he hesitated a moment, a little worried to approach them. Then he steeled himself and walked over, ready to kindly ask if they could piss off. There was no way to talk to Matsune alone when there were three other students snooping on their conversation.

Wait, why was it like he was actually excited to talk to Matsune? He'd only really agreed to Yaranagi's plan to get him to stop pestering him. But what if Matsune did show up? What would they even talk about?

The conflict inside his head disappeared as he reached the table, him placing down his tray alerting the others, who turned to look his way.

“Oh it's you, Ariyama.”

He knew these guys.

The one who just spoke was Katsuragi Kento who wore his uniform in pristine condition. His rectangular glasses covered his intense gold eyes, and his teal hair fell down his forehead in bangs.

One person over from Masturagi on the bench was a girl with long hot pink hair, tied into a braid, with glittering purple eyes. Odomura Airi.

And in the last seat, after Odomura, was another girl, her tan skin making her stand out, her pale blue eyes blinking cutely, and her bleached hair cut into a bob, like a golden waterfall, with a little pink hair clip. That was Kazura Machi.

There were only two people who were close enough to Ariyama to call him ‘Saato’. One was Yaranagi, of course, and the other was Kazura. He'd been friends with her, like with Yaranagi, since they were young, although Ariyama knew Yaranagi longer.

And while Ariyama and Yaranagi had stayed as best friends for the past few years, Kazura had seemingly split off into her own friend groups.

Yes, groups.

Because her looks and tomboy-ish nature made her so popular – probably second only to Matsune – among the boys, she had been slowly but surely invading other people's circles.

And the one with Odomura and Katsuragi was one of those groups

Realizing he was friendly with the habitants of the seats, Ariyama's scowl of annoyance turned to a smile of recognition, and he sat down next to Katsuragi.

“Katsuragi, Odomura, Machi. I didn't expect to see you guys here. I thought your class was out on a field trip today?”

These three were good friends with Ariyama, but were in a different class – 2A, while Ariyama and Yaranagi were in 2B.

At Ariyama's question, Kazura sighed deeply, turning her pouty face towards her tray and poking at a small box of ramen idly.

“Yeah, Saato-kun, we were supposed to, but then those idiots told us the bus had broken down on the way to the school. So now we can't go! If it had broken down after we left, we'd have at least some

time out of his dumb school, but no!”

Ariyama winced sympathetically at her comment as he began sipping at his carrot soup.

“That's got to suck. Sorry to hear that.”

Katsuragi sighed deeply, his shoulders dropping.

“Yes, it is quite unfortunate. But on the bright side, they said they'd reschedule it for next week. So at least we'll be able to go to that historical museum soon enough.”

“Ah, I see. That's good to hear.”

Kazura turned her attention to Katsuragi, with a huge scowl on her face. She suddenly reached over to grab him by the collar and pulled him in close, knocking the chopsticks out of Odomura's hands, who sat between them, and nearly crushing her with Katsuragi.

“Hey, you listen here, Kento-kun! I don't give a damn if they rescheduled it to tomorrow! I was waiting all week for this trip, and I even packed an extra big lunch because I thought we'd be so long at the museum that we'd skip lunch break.”

Katsuragi struggled in her grip, a nervous look on his face as he was overwhelmed by Kazura's intense behavior.

“I… ah, I see what you mean. But if you had packed lunch, why come here to the cafeteria?”

Kazura paused, looking at Katsuragi like a puppy after being kicked. She even let out a sob before letting him go. He returned to his seat, then gave Odomura a nod, and sighed gratefully as he was released.

Kazura, on the other hand, was shaking at the shoulders and looking down at her lap, her hands scrunching her skirt. She looked like she was about to start bawling and crying.

“I-I also forgot that lunch when we were told the bus broke down. So not only did I not get my museum trip, but my beautiful packed lunch that I made myself for once…”

She shook violently, before pounding her fists on the table.

“AARGH, this isn't fair! This cruel world doesn't like me one bit!”

Odomura chuckled nervously.

“Ah haha… No, I'm sure that's not why, Kazura-chan…”

Geez, Kazura really did want to get on that trip, huh?

Ariyama knew it wasn't so much because of getting to leave school and miss classes for a few hours, but instead because she genuinely loved anything history.

To Ariyama, Kazura didn't seem like the type of girl who'd take a liking to that kind of stuff, but he'd been sorely mistaken.

Along with being in the soccer club, and the art club, Kazura also took part in the monthly History of the Month event in the school, where a group of students from across all classes in second year would work together to create a presentation to show the whole year, about a singular historic figure.

No doubt she needed this trip in order to give her some inspiration for next month's presentation, but Ariyama had been told they had decided to go with Miyamoto Musashi this time around.

And what's not to love about an ancient Japanese swordsman from the Edo-period?

Kazura sighed again and began to eat her ramen for real this time. Whenever she ate, it was the only time she would shut up and not speak for more than thirty seconds.

Ariyama, realizing his own food was beginning to get cold, quickly dug in.

A few words of small talk were exchanged between the group of four as they ate, but it all changed when the double doors opened again, like any time when a student entered the cafeteria, and Matsune Sasya entered. Alone.

Instantly, upon noticing her, Katsuragi fought to swallow his food, his posture suddenly straightening to attention as she walked in. And Ariyama hated to admit it, but he did the exact same thing.

But he didn't like her, he was sure of it. If anything, it was probably because of the promise he made, to both her and to Yaranagi.

Once again, Ariyama thought about what dastardly plan Yaranagi Yasuke had employed to get Matsune alone.

Well, whatever it was, it clearly worked.

As Matsune headed to the cafeteria, the queue suspiciously getting much shorter than it was before, Kazura clicked her tongue in annoyance, tossing her head.

“Well, of course she's here. Queen Bee Matsune.”

Odomura looked at Kazura with a questioning glint in her eye.

“Y-you don't like her, Machi-kun?”

Kazura clicked her tongue once again, giving Matsune a sidelong glance, even as she turned to face Odomura.

“What's there to like about her? Sure, she's popular with all the boys and gets good grades and is very pretty and athletic and kind and supportive and…”

Realizing she dug herself into a grave, Kazura stopped her mouth from speaking, her shoulders hunching in on her.

“I suppose there's not much, but something is just off about her. I think I know why actually. It must be her–”

Katsuragi gave her a stern look.

“Oh, I think I know what's going on. You're just jealous of her, right? There's no need to be like that, Kazura. You're plenty popular yourself–”

“Oh, shut up, Kento-kun. You're head over heels for her, so you shouldn't speak on it.”

“I'm just saying there's no need to be jealous over someone that…perfect–”

“I AM NOT JEALOUS!”