Gekkan Shōjo Nozaki-kun 1. issue 01

_this began as an overly ambitious attempt to get back into writing something longer than 1k words and to actually start to suck less at writing. i apprehensively decided to attempt to write something for nanowrimo, and after a week of wrestling with myself, i decided to write a gsnk fic for nanowrimo because i am GSNK TRASH._

_i am also not only gsnk trash but ULTIMATE HORIKASHI TRASH. you might as well throw me straight into the dump because no garbage truck is going to bother to pick me up off the ground._

_basically, this is about the main big 3 ships finally getting together, but the main focus is horikashi (because i am a biased piece of shit)._

_even though i wrote this for nanowrimo, this fic is not complete (bc, hey, first nanowrimo. i was totally unprepared). i'm not even sure if the final word count is going to hit 50k, but i'll post chapters as i finish editing and rewriting them._

_uh, so i hope you enjoy my first attempt at actually writing something decent in almost a year (in a totally different style than what i'm used to). this is the lovechild of months of brainstorming headcanons and gsnk withdrawal. (this is also on ao3)_

* * *

"Kashima-kun, let's go out and eat parfaits together again!"

Kashima gently takes the girl's hand, causing her to swoon, and gives her a sorry smile before apologizing, "I am sorry, my fair maiden, for I cannot today."

When Hori spots Kashima's tall figure surrounded by her usual fangirls, he can hear their high pitched cries from the distance, threatening to give him a headache. He takes a deep breath and begins his usual routine of dragging her to rehearsal.

"_KASHIMA!_"

Kashima slowly turns her head and lets her eyes widen for a split second before instinctively sidestepping to her right, evading his inevitable kick. Like a flock of pigeons, all of the girls immediately disperse. Hori roughly grabs Kashima by the tie and begins their usual trek to the theatre room. Along the way, Hori allows his grip on her tie to gradually loosen before finally letting go. He takes a moment to look at her before pausing in order to fix and stuff her tie back into her sweater vest.

After many minutes of silence, Hori finally speaks, "I can't believe you actually thought that it would be okay to skip today's rehearsal."

Whining, Kashima tugs lightly at his shirt, "But Hori-chan, it's _Friday_. I was supposed to go out for parfaits with the girls today!"

"The girls can wait until _after_ closing night, got it?" He snaps before quickening his pace.

Kashima lightly jogs to catch up with him. "Okay, fine. Oh, and I actually declined today. _But _I won't skip any rehearsals when we start our next— "

"What's the catch?"

"Haha, you got me there," she bashfully laughs before flashing him the most prince-like smile she can muster. "I won't skip rehearsals if you take me out for parfaits or crepes afterwards. Including today."

"No chance in hell I'm gonna do that."

She pouts and makes a strange high pitched noise before tugging on his shirt again like a child, "But, Hori-senpai, I thought you didn't want me to skip rehearsals!"

Hori runs a hand through his hair and sighs before finally conceding because he knows more than anyone else that these rehearsals are absolutely vital— not for Kashima, but for the other actors. "I don't really like overly-sweet things, but I guess it can't hurt every now and then…"

"Thank you!" Kashima smiles and affectionately grabs ahold of his arm, clinging onto him until they reach the theatre room, which Hori decides that he doesn't mind (mainly because it'll mean that for just a few minutes, she'll be slightly shorter). When they finally reach their destination, Hori roughly shoves Kashima off of his arm and opens the door.

Rehearsal goes smoothly. Kashima doesn't miss a single cue. Her lines are memorized, and her acting is superb. Hori smiles in satisfaction as he watches the lights fade to black and begins to clap.

"Great job, everyone! It's been a tough month, but I just know that opening night will be a huge success tomorrow! All of your hard work has really paid off this time, and I'm proud of you guys."

Hori pulls out his phone to check the time and rolls up his script. "All right, everyone. We're done for today."

The room is suddenly filled with chatter, and he can hear some of the first years enthusiastically talking about their opening night anxiety and how they're still not quite used to things yet even though they've done this a few times already. He crosses his arms and smiles proudly. He's so focused on the group of first years that he doesn't hear Kashima when she walks up to him.

He turns his head and acknowledges her. "Hm? You're not leaving?"

"Did you forget already, senpai? You're supposed to treat me to parfaits!"

"Oh, sorry about that. I'll go get my stuff now."

Some of the third years, overhearing their short exchange, crack sly grins at Kashima who, in return, cluelessly stares at them before turning back around to follow Hori. They anxiously watch Kashima's retreating figure and abruptly turn to each other to form a small circle.

"I would like to change my bet to next month, guys."

"_Next _month? What makes you so sure, Dai-chan? He's just taking her out for parfaits."

"That counts as a date, right?" Daichi asks, feigning innocence.

"Well, according to _you_ during the summer retreat, falling asleep next to each other does not constitute _anything_ romantic whatsoever, so I don't think you're in the position to ask that question!" Yosuke snaps.

"You don't have to be so harsh, Yo-kun. Jeez."

"I don't know about you two, but I stand by my previous bet. Two months. No doubt about it."

"Says the guy who made the _exact same_ _bet_ four months ago and now owes me an essay. Oh and speaking about that essay, it's due in about two weeks, Sei-chan, so you should start working on that."

The group of first years hear a plaintive cry and curiously head towards the group third years.

"Senpai, what's going on?" a first year bravely asks, tapping Yosuke's shoulder.

Turning around, he gives his underclassman a smile before responding, "Ah, Noritaka-kun, we're just placing bets."

"For what?"

To his right, Daichi suddenly pipes up, "We're placing bets on when we think Prez and Kashima-kun will finally get together!"

"W-What? Prez and Kashima-kun?! Why would they—"

Seiji plants his hand on Noritaka's shoulder and makes a wide, sweeping motion with his other hand. "You mean you can't see the _chemistry_?"

"If you mean all the yelling and throwing of props, then… No, I do not." Noritaka frowns. "More than anything, it looks like Hori-senpai hates her guts. A lot."

"Hah, that rhymed," Seiji snorts. "Nice."

Ignoring him, Daichi's eyes go wide and he dramatically gasps, "How could you say such a thing, Noritaka?! On the contrary, Hori-chan cares about Kashima-kun a lot. And have you seen his face when he watches her act?!"

"Have you ever seen them when Kashima-kun offers to read scripts with him?!" Yosuke enthusiastically interjects.

Noritaka sighs, "I'm still not sure, senpai…"

"Well, as they all say, seeing is believing!" Yosuke says, roughly patting his kouhai on the back. Noritaka looks up at his senpai with an apprehensive look on his face, and Yosuke simply smiles in response.

Yosuke glances at Daichi, and Daichi glances at Seiji before they all nod in unison. Noritaka turns to his friends who give him a thumbs up and a salute before quickly scuttling out of the theatre room. Most of the club members had already left, leaving the four of them alone. When they hear the door close, the third years all exchange eerie smiles, leaving Noritaka confused and somewhat afraid of what is to come.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking, everyone?!" Yosuke exclaims.

"Hell _yeah_!" Daichi and Seiji shout in unison.

Noritaka buries his face in his hands in defeat and shame.

* * *

Half an hour later, Noritaka finds himself sitting in an unfamiliar shop with a somewhat uncomfortable wig on his head. In his peripheral vision, he can see his upperclassmen suspiciously obscuring their faces with menus despite the fact that they were all in disguises. At first, he can't help but chuckle at their silliness and begins to question their maturity. They urge him to follow suit, but he laughs, saying that they're being ridiculous and that there is no need for him to do something as silly as that.

But when he sees the president and the prince walk in, he decides that he would rather be caught dead than be seen by _him_ and realizes that he would probably end up dead either way, so he throws himself face first into the menu that was forcibly placed on the table in front of him just a few minutes ago.

Daichi nudges him with his elbow and whispers, "Lie low, Nori-chan, and pay _very _close attention, 'kay?"

"But, senpai… We're in disguises," he replies, suddenly questioning as to why he, too, is also comically hiding behind a small piece of laminated paper.

"Hori-chan has eyes like a hawk, Nori-chan." Seiji hisses, his hand visibly tensing.

Noritaka simply nods and nervously peers over his menu before finally letting the weight of his words sink in. "Wait, then why are we in _disguises_?!"

"Oh, Dai-chan just thought that it'd be a lot funner if we were in costumes!"

Kashima happily takes a bite of her parfait, and relishes the taste of sweet, cold ice cream, yogurt, and strawberries. She looks at Hori and frowns, "You're not going to order anything? There are other things on the menu other than dessert."

"I'll pass."

"But it's really good!" Kashima exclaims, scooping a little bit of her parfait with her spoon, and waving it in front of his face. "You should try some."

He looks at her, unfazed, and turns his head to stare at the wall. "No thanks. I don't really like things that are too sweet."

Kashima puffs her cheeks and makes a face before continuing to eat. They sit there in silence, and it isn't until she's about halfway done that Kashima finally decides to speak up.

"So, Hori-senpai, are you excited for tomorrow?"

He looks up from his phone and smiles. "Yeah. I think it's going to be _really_ good, but how I feel really doesn't matter. How do _you_ feel? I don't think I've asked you that in a while," he says, propping his head up with his hand.

She hums in deep thought and then breaks into a grin, "I don't really know. I mean, I feel really good about all my performances."

"Well, you should because you're a really good actor," Hori says sincerely.

"You really think so?" Kashima laughs, covering her right cheek with her hand in an attempt to hide her blush. "But you're a really good actor too, senpai."

Hori sighs, "I don't think I'm as good as you think I am, Kashima."

"But you are!" Kashima exclaims in disbelief, her hand hitting the table with an audible _clap. _"Don't you ever feel like acting on stage again, Hori-senpai? Do you ever miss it?"

He watches as Kashima's face falls, and for a moment, Hori falters before lightly flicking her on the forehead, smiling.

"Yes, I do miss it sometimes, but I actually enjoy working behind the scenes more."

"But if you could, would you act again?"

"I guess so, but to be honest, I'm not really suited for any roles. You're the perfect lead, and I don't think I'm really suited for a minor role either."

"But you forgot one important thing, Hori-chan."

Kashima locks eyes with him, and her sudden serious demeanor throws Hori off-guard.

"There's always the role of the _heroine_," Kashima says, reaching her hand out to gently tip his chin up. She scoops up some of her parfait with her free hand and holds the long, metal spoon up to his lips. "Now, my _princess_, allow me to share with you _this_ which represents our sweet eternal lo—"

Hori's hand tightly grips Kashima's wrist, preventing her from feeding him her parfait, and he hisses, "You mean a _parfait_, which is mainly composed of ice cream and yogurt and fruit? Ice cream, which is _melting_, yogurt and fruit, which will decay, and, need I say, all of these things, when consumed, could possibly lead to rotting teeth _and,_" Hori pauses before continuing, seething with anger, "you leaving this place with more than just a bill if you try to feed me that shit like I'm one of your annoying fangirls one more time."

"JUST EAT THE PARFAIT, SENPAI." Kashima yells, her voice on the verge of cracking, and tries to inch the spoon closer and closer to his lips, but _gosh_, Kashima thinks, _he has a really good grip!_ She realizes that there really _was_ a reason that Hori managed to throw a whole cabinet at her the other day.

"NO!"

"EAT THE PARFAIT, OH MY GOD. IT'S NOT THAT BAD!"

"NO WAY IN HELL, YOU PRETENTIOUS—"

Kashima shoves the spoon into his mouth while he's busy yelling, and her face lights up when she pulls the spoon back out.

"Hey, that's actually not half bad."

She punches the air in triumph, and slides the half full glass towards him. "Here you go, senpai. It's all yours."

"Are you sure? I mean, you _are _paying for this, you know?'

"Wait, what?"

He swats the air and laughs, "I'm just kidding, Kashima. Do you really think I'm _that_ mean?"

"Well, no, but…" Kashima pouts, and Hori begins to laugh even harder.

As he eats what's left of her parfait, they continue to talk about the usual: how was school, the play, and if anything interesting has happened. Noritaka watches them talk for what feels like hours, and softly groans when he hears that Daichi has finished his second parfait.

"You guys aren't even paying attention to them! Why are we even here? And out of all the things to order, why a _parfait_?"

"The reason we're here is so that we can make a point, Nori-chan," Yosuke says, pointing at the exasperated first year.

"Huh?"

"The _chemistry_," Seiji says, making the exact same wide, sweeping motion from when they were still in the theatre room. He takes Noritaka's chin in his hand and turns his head so that he is directly facing Hori and Kashima. "Don't you see how well they get along when they're not being stupid? Kashima more so than Hori, but you get my point, don't you?"

"I, uh, guess so? I'm just surprised that Hori-senpai's capable of holding a conversation with her without throwing anything for more than five minutes. They're actually pretty good friends!"

"_Friends_," Daichi mouths, cringing more and more with every syllable. "They're clearly more than just _friends_, Nori-chan!"

"But—"

Yosuke firmly places a hand on Noritaka's shoulder, and calmly explains, "Can't you see it, Nori-chan? How even though we've been talking very loudly and Sei-chan's been making unnecessary hand motions, they haven't noticed us yet?"

His phone vibrates in his pocket.

_im going to make sure you dont see the light of day ever again!_

The bell above the entrance to the shop rings three times, and the only thing that can be heard afterwards is the sound of jingling and rolling coins that were haphazardly thrown onto a table.

Kashima cocks her head to the side and crosses her arms. "What was that just now?"

"Nothing," Hori says, a little _too_ nonchalantly, Kashima notes, but she chooses to ignore it.

After Hori pays the bill, they both get up and leave. The two of them ride the train together, and when Hori deliberately chooses to not get up when his stop is called, Kashima glances at him curiously.

"Senpai, this is your—"

"I'm just making sure that you remember to get off at your stop.

"O-Oh. You don't have to, but okay…"

In reality, Hori was actually going to stop by Nozaki's apartment to pick up a revised script, but there's no way he could ever possibly tell her that.

"Senpai, by the way… I know that the offer is that I'll go to rehearsal if you take me out for desserts afterwards, but you don't have to if you don't want to… I know you're not too fond of sweets," she says, refusing to look him in the eye.

"No, it's fine. I really don't mind _that_ much"

"Really?" Kashima whips her head around, her face practically _radiating_. Hori swears that he can see stars in her eyes— real, live, _actual stars_.

He nods in response, and Kashima's countenance shifts from one of exuberance to one that is more playful and mischievous.

"Well, just so that you know, it's not only limited to dessert," Kashima says, wiggling her eyebrows.

Hori almost throws her out of the nearest open window.

For once, he actually voluntarily thinks about whacking her on the forehead but finds his anger quickly subsiding as he realizes that he now has a viable excuse to go out and eat pork cutlet ramen the following week. He inwardly thanks Kashima, and when their stop is called, she gets up and holds a hand out to help him up (she is the prince of the school after all). He eagerly takes her hand.

At the crossroads, they part ways, and Hori feels a strange lack of warmth in his right hand.


	2. issue 02

"_Sakura Chiyo, age 16. I asked out the boy I like, and he gave me his autograph."_

_It was better than getting rejected_, Sakura muses as she hands Nozaki her completed betas. He nods and gives her a quiet, "Thank you," before turning back around to focus on his current draft. Sakura sits back down in her usual place and watches him work.

"You're done for today. You can leave now, Sakura. Sorry for the trouble." Nozaki says.

Sakura flinches slightly, "N-No it's fine, Nozaki-kun, and it's no trouble at all! I really enjoy helping you out all the time. It's also kinda fun."

Nozaki smiles and sends her off the exact same way he has almost every day for the past few months. Sakura's home isn't too far away from Nozaki's apartment, only a few minutes away by train. _The ride home is the worst_, Sakura thinks. _Because he's always the last person I see. _The world around her is but a blur. Passengers board and exit, she never notices any of their faces, and she almost misses her stop.

_The ride home is the worst_, Sakura thinks.

Because there will never be a time where she won't have to go home.

When she unlocks her front door and takes off her shoes, Sakura sluggishly walks up to her room and quietly closes the door behind her. Throwing her bag onto the ground, Sakura flops onto her bed, and allows herself to melt into her comforter. She grabs a nearby pillow and hugs it tightly before letting out a long, overdue sigh. For the past few days, she had been in what Seo eloquently called, "a funk". Although her failed confession has allowed her to see Nozaki almost every single day, she feels as if her relationship with him has stagnated. The days pass by, and although his presence still makes her heart flutter and fills her with indescribable warmth, she feels as though it's not enough. Day after day, they work on his manga, and although she genuinely enjoys her work, at the end of the day, Sakura feels empty.

She quickly sits up, grimacing, and gropes around for her cellphone. Her finger hovers over the contacts button. Sakura contemplates texting Seo but decides not to and haphazardly tosses her phone somewhere behind her. She shakes her head and gets off her bed to go shower.

"I'm okay with how things are right now," she concedes as she gently removes the bright red ribbons from her hair. "And I know that no matter what, I'll never stop loving Nozaki-kun."

She steps into the shower, turns the knob, and attempts to find solace in the scorching water that pummels her skin. Sakura flinches and lets out a small whimper before adjusting the water to a cooler temperature.

"That was definitely was _not _a good idea," she says, sighing as the temperature of the water grows more favorable. "But I'm not known for making good decisions, am I?"

When she finishes showering, she goes downstairs to the kitchen to grab a drink before going back up to her room. Closing the door behind her, she twists open the glass bottle. With a _pop_ the lid instantly loosens, and she takes a small swig of cold milk before sitting back down on her bed. Staring at the ceiling, Sakura recalls the day she first met Nozaki. She closes her eyes.

She remembers the events too vividly for comfort.

She remembers an aloof boy who had comically fallen asleep while trying to climb over a gate. She remembers strong hands holding her up towards the sky, soaring through the air, the cool breeze through her hair as he holds her against his warm body, and flowers in full bloom.

Yes, the flowers were in full bloom that day.

"_Eh? Are you sure? But your ribbon…"_

"_Don't worry about it." Sakura reassured him, and without another word, she silently turned around and left without even saying good-bye (because deep down inside, she had a feeling that they were destined to cross paths again— if fate willed it)._

A parting gift, she remembers, with implications which she will never know of (or rather she just hasn't noticed yet).

When she thinks back to the events that day, she feels _so warm_ because in the midst of the cool breeze and her aching legs from sprinting to school (she just _had_ to be late that day), he was the _sunlight._ He was like the sunlight, the faint sunlight that shimmers through the blinds when she wakes up in the morning and gradually grows brighter as the minutes tick by, and when she finally decides to let the light in, it's so brilliant, so bright and so warm and so comforting.

(She just _had_ to be late that day. It was because she was destined to meet him, she thinks. Why else?)

And now she is able to bask in his sunlight in hopes that her own warmth will one day reach him.

She had initially fallen for him for superficial reasons. In her eyes, he is the epitome of being manly and cool, but she wishes that were the extent of her affections. As the days pass by and as she continues to aid him in his strange "manga research," her feelings grow deeper. There's something charming about him, she thinks, the way that he is able to completely dedicate himself to something for such a long time. The way he is able to completely focus when he starts sketching. The way his back hunches over his drafting table. The way his normally sharp and cold eyes widen and sparkle when he sees something he finds inspirational or touching. The way his deep baritone voice reverberates through her entire being when he speaks directly to her. The way his breath feels on her neck when he looks over her shoulder to admire her work.

She loves it.

_Maybe I'll bake cookies for Nozaki-kun and Mikorin next week_, Sakura thinks, smiling as she slowly feels herself drifting to sleep.

And the cycle of love starts anew once more.

Yes, the flowers were in full bloom that day— just like her heart.

* * *

Seo, the _epitome_ of femininity and grace, carelessly lets her foot dangle over the edge of her living room sofa. She props her head up with one hand and blankly stares at her phone. She raises her brow, somewhat amused by the text message she now knows she will never receive. Skimming over Sakura's previous texts, Seo can't help but chuckle to herself. Shaking her head, she exits out of their conversation and moves to her most recent one.

_yo waka wanna get lunch tomorrow?_ she types with one hand while she sits up and grabs her water bottle off the living room table.

_I'm not sure if I can, senpai…_

_of course u can. tomorrow's saturday it's not like u have practice_

_same time and place as usual! _(ﾉ≧∀≦)ﾉ

It's a breezy Saturday afternoon. Seo adjusts her jacket out of boredom. She scans the street and sees a familiar patch of purple hair amongst the crowd. Seo instantly pipes up and enthusiastically waves her arms in an attempt to get the teenager's attention.

"Waka! Over here!"

Seo watches as he timidly waves at her and quickens his pace to a light jog. _He's so cute. He's almost like a little puppy. _When Wakamatsu finally arrives, he apologizes for being late and holds the door open for Seo as they walk into the diner. They had been frequenting the diner recently— probably three times within the past two weeks.

One of the waitresses greets them as they walk in, recognizing them immediately, "Welcome! I see you're here with you boyfriend again."

"Oh, no, I believe you're mistaken. I'm not her boyfriend."

Seo doesn't bother to correct her, and the waitress guides them to their usual seats and asks them if they want the usual. They simultaneously nod and she leaves to place their orders.

"I don't understand why everyone keeps thinking I'm your boyfriend." Wakamatsu absentmindedly says out loud.

"That's a good question, Waka," Seo blandly responds. _Wait, you mean you're not. I could've sworn we were going out or something. I mean, we've been on, what, ten dates by now?_ She curiously eyes the younger man and takes some time to admire the way his hair is so neatly parted in the middle and all the smoothed out creases on his thin jacket.

Seo locks eyes with Wakamatsu and grins with zeal before taking off her jacket and pulling at the sleeve of her tank underneath, "Yo, Waka, guess what? I'm wearing that lame-ass bra you picked out for me again!"

The bronze haired girl is practically beaming while Wakamatsu stares at the bright pink strap that rested tightly against her shoulder with disdain. _I would appreciate it if you just threw it away, Seo-senpai_, he wants to say, but he knows his attempts will be futile. She would never think about throwing it away. No matter how tacky the damned thing is. _I literally just grabbed the closest one and shoved it into her hands! I didn't think she'd actually buy it!_

Seo puts her jacket back on as the waitress from before returns with their food and drinks. Seo thanks her with a smile and begins to fervently dig into her food.

"Ah, man, I'm starving!" She exclaims with her mouth full.

Wakamatsu sighs and grabs a napkin before continuing to eat his food, "Seo-senpai, please don't talk with your mouth full."

Seo mumbles a soft "nobody cares" before swallowing and taking another generous bite of her omelette rice. He watches as she eats her omelette (with her name written in ketchup this time, he notices), and gets some ketchup smeared on her face. Instinctively, the takes the napkin that's currently in his hand, reaches over the table, and lightly wipes the ketchup off her cheek.

"There you go." Wakamatsu says with a smile before feeling a blush gradually begin to creep up his neck. _Did I just do that?_

"Ah, thanks, Waka." Seo nonchalantly says before continuing to eat.

Embarrassed by his actions, Wakamatsu frantically makes obscure hand motions before sputtering out senseless words, "A-Ah, no that's not what I— I mean I, well… I didn't mean to do that, uh. Well, I did, but well, you see— "

Seo shoves a piece of her omelette in his mouth before letting out a deep sigh, "You talk too much sometimes, y'know." She flashes him a rare smile and makes a mental note of how cute he looks when he blushes. "And you don't have to apologize. That was really nice of you."

For a moment, he almost feels his heart flutter. _Almost_.

"You know, Waka, if I didn't know any better, I would think that you _weren't_ currently thinking about making out with me."

Wakamatsu wishes that he would drop dead right then and there.

He stumbles to find an appropriate response but only manages to sputter out a pitiful, "Well you _don't_ know any better," in the most pathetic and whiny voice he could manage (not that it was intentional).

Seo simply laughs at her underclassman and finishes the remains of her plate before paying the bill. When they leave, she drags him by his collar to a nearby movie theatre.

"Hey, Waka, there's this movie I've been dyin' to see!"

"S-Seo-senpai, you didn't say anything about going to the movies!" His head bobs back and forth while Seo continues to violently drag him to the movie theatre with a tiny glint in her golden eyes.

She laughs and glances at him, "Well it's not like you would've said no."

When they arrive at the ticket booth, Wakamatsu insists on paying for the tickets, and they go in to secure their seats. He tells Seo to wait while he goes to buy popcorn and soda. She nods and lounges around while he scuttles off with the intention to kill time. However, after waiting five minutes in line, he briskly walks back, bored to tears, with popcorn in one hand and soda in the other. Upon returning to his seat, he finds Seo with her legs dangling over his armrest.

"S_enpai, please sit like a normal person!"_ is what he wants to say, but instead it somehow comes out as a soft, "Senpai, that's my seat!"

She glances up at him and huffs, "Tch, you're so needy sometimes," before throwing her legs off and back onto the ground. After Wakamatsu hands her the popcorn and situates himself in his seat, Seo rests her head against his shoulder, eating popcorn one handful at a time. Wakamatsu's eyes widen and he feels himself begin to blush at her sudden intimacy (and he doesn't even notice all the popcorn that keeps falling onto his lap).

"It's almost like we're on a date…" he whispers.

"But we are," Seo calmly says as if she were talking about something totally normal and predictable like the weather.

Wakamatsu feels a bead of sweat slowly roll down the back of his neck. He feels his hands grow clammy and his face pales. "_We are?_"

Seo shifts her head— which is still on his shoulder— and leans back slightly to look at her embarrassed date. Their eyes lock and she reaffirms what she said before, "Well, we've kinda been goin' out on dates for a few months, Waka. Damn, son, you're dense!"

He stares at her incredulously and feels his mouth go dry. "_R-Really?_"

Seo lowers her eyes and breaks eye contact with her not-boyfriend and sighs. "Yes, Waka." She lifts her hand and rests it on top of his which is currently furiously gripping his armrest. "And we're gonna to go on another one tomorrow because I think we're going to have a lot of fun."

Wakamatsu swallows the lump in his throat, and a high-pitched scream is heard throughout the room because Seo just _had_ to choose another shitty B-grade sci-fic flick. And he knows all too well what's to follow.

He thinks he's going to skip dinner today.

(And possibly lunch tomorrow).

* * *

_was originally intended to be two separate chapters, but i just ended up combing them into one because of how short they ended up being after i cut out some unnecessary stuff. everything's pretty segmented for now, but it'll all come together eventually._


	3. issue 03

Hori pulls out of his bag the script he picked up from Nozaki's after eating parfaits with Kashima. He quickly fingers through the pages to get a grasp at its length and the overall estimated time it'll take to get everything performance ready.

"Ah, senpai, is that our next play?"

When he turns his head, Kashima is right next to him and has even pulled up her own chair.

"Yeah."

"For Halloween, right?"

Hori nods his head and sighs before scooting over a little and sliding the script towards Kashima. "I'm guessing you want to read through it with me?"

"Mmhm," she hums, already turning the page. "So the villain is going to be a witch this time, huh."

"Yeah. I noticed we had a really old dress that's been gathering dust in the storage room. Probably been unused for a while. We can just reuse it. Dye it black or something. Shouldn't take too long to transform it."

"So this production is going to be pretty easy to put together, huh?"

"Yeah, I plan on reusing some props from the last play as well."

"Looks like you finally get a nice break, Hori-chan." Kashima smiles as she leans back into her chair, not interested in reading any longer.

Hori frowns. "Is that really all you're willing to read?"

She laughs, "No. I just don't understand how you can spend so much time hunched over reading through these scripts all the time. Doesn't your back or neck hurt?"

He blankly stares at her. "Nah. That or I've gotten used to it."

Kashima's head suddenly falls onto his lap, and he looks down at her smiling face with a scowl. When he looks back up, he notices that she's taken the script as well, genially skimming through the thin pages.

"If I don't do anything to stop this, you're going to end up like an old lady with a bad back, Hori-chan-senpai, so I'm going to read this in your place. I can't risk putting my favorite princess in a situation like that—"

"Get off before I make you, Kashima," he growls, curling his hand into a tight fist. _And wipe that smug smile off your face._

"No," she protests, shifting slightly in his lap. "Your lap is cozy. I think I'll stay here for a while."

Hori tries his best to continue glaring at the girl in his lap, but, eventually, he sighs and gives in. "Fine… As long as you actually pay attention to what you're reading. If you don't, I'm going to make you come to every rehearsal and _not_ take you out afterwards."

She excitedly nods and giggles while turning the page. "Lap pillow!"

"You're seriously like a dog sometimes, you know that?"

"Does that mean you'll pet my head?"

"In your fucking dreams."

"You know, Hori-senpai… If you want, you can use _my_ lap as a lap pillow," she suggests, looking up at him and winking.

"Say something stupid like that again and your face is going to get _really_ friendly with the ground _really_ soon."

She simply laughs in response, "You're adorable, Hori-chan-senpai." She focuses back on the page she's currently on and smiles. "By the way, do you mind if I ask you a few questions?"

* * *

Hori grumbles as he adjusts his ruler. After finishing his last background, he hands Nozaki the draft and frowns.

"How is it?" he asks.

Nozaki smiles and nods as he takes the paper, giving him a thumbs up, "Great as usual, senpai!"

"Thanks." Hori replies with an obvious lack of vivacity.

Nozaki instantly hones in on his sudden change in demeanor and frowns. "Is there something troubling you, senpai?" he asks, secretly hoping it's something Kashima-related. _Please be something related to Kashima. I need some new ideas for the next chapter._

Hori leans against the wall and runs his hand through his bangs, feeling his hair wax start to lose its effect, "Well, Kashima has been acting strange lately." He pauses. "Stranger than usual, I mean."

"I see…" Nozaki says as he takes out a small notepad, unbeknownst to Hori.

"It started some time last week, but lately, she's been asking me a lot of random questions."

"For example?"

"Well, stuff like… What's your favorite food? How do you feel about knee-high socks? What do you normally do on Halloween?" Hori absentmindedly stares at the ground and furrows his brows. "I feel like there's something important coming up, but I'm not sure what."

Nozaki's eyes widen and he knowingly grins, proud of his skills of deduction, "Maybe she's planning on doing something on Halloween."

"Ah, that makes sense. That question about Halloween should've tipped me off… But what's so great about Halloween?"

"I don't know, senpai. Why don't you ask her?"

And he does.

Monday after school, he goes to pick up Kashima to make sure she doesn't skip club activities, as usual. He spots her short cobalt hair amongst a sea of screaming fangirls. When he sees an opening, he charges towards her, yelling her name like he always does.

"KASHIMA!"

"Good afternoon, Hori-chan!" She greets him as she dodges a kick that never comes. "Eh, you're not going to hit me today, prez?" Kashima asks, somewhat confused.

"No, not today."

"Oh okay! That's good because I wanted to ask you something again!"

He makes a gesture which she implies to mean, "_Go ahead. Shoot._"

"What's your favorite flavor of cake?"

"Chocolate."

Kashima nods and mentally makes note of his response. "Ah, I see. As expected of Hori-senpai!"

He roughly grabs her by the tie, catching her off-guard, and forces his way out of the conglomeration of girls. He waits until her fangirls are out of sight and ignores her flashy displays of affection and the annoying squeals and sobbing noises that come out of the girls' mouths as they watch him drag their beloved prince away.

Rehearsal for their newest production goes smoothly. Kashima, as usual, is perfect. It angers him that he can never find anything to criticize her for on the stage, but it also brings him relief knowing that he at least does not have to stress over her behavior when she's on stage.

Furthermore, since the production is Halloween-themed, they are able to reuse props from previous plays, and Hori doesn't need to make as many props as usual, causing a rare smile to grace his usually stern face.

"I think we're done for today. If we can keep up this level of work ethic for the rest of the week, I think this will be the soonest we've ever had a production at this level. Let's keep this up! Good work today, everyone." He says with a small smile.

Hori watches as Kashima runs up to him with an apprehensive look on her face. "How'd I do, senpai?"

"Perfect. As usual."

"O-Oh, I see." She hesitantly responds, smiling a light blush spreading over her cheeks. "Thanks, Hori-senpai."

"Is something the matter?" Hori asks, taking note of her unusual behavior. _She looks so uncomfortable. Damn! It's really bothering me_. He grimaces as he notices how her smile doesn't quite reach her bright green eyes, which are usually bright and sparkling and full of life but aren't today. The overt unease in her demeanor puts him on edge, and he feels angry for some indescribable reason.

Kashima plays with her perfectly styled bangs and shifts her weight between her feet. _Left and right, left and right, left and right_. Hori watches as she sways back and forth, almost like a hypnotic pendulum. And then, seemingly, at once, something bursts.

"I know there's something wrong, so will you just spit it out already?!" Hori yells.

His sudden outburst catches her off guard and she flinches, making him instantly regret his rash choice of action. However, she manages to compose herself, and she clears her throat. "It appears that you may have forgotten, but Halloween is your beloved kouhai's birthday!"

"_Oh."_

_OH NO._

And in that moment, Hori Masayuki feels as if he were the hugest jerk in the whole wide universe. The epitome of an asshole. The very definition of every single obscene word he could possibly think of to describe himself. However, his anger quickly subsides as he suddenly realizes the implications of every single question she had asked him the past few days.

"If Halloween's your birthday, then why do you keep directing these questions towards me? Shouldn't I be the one asking you those questions?"

"It's a se~cret!" Kashima coos, eliciting a direct kick to her side.

The brunette groans and goes to gather his scripts, shoving them into his school bag. He's not quite sure why, but he waits for Kashima to change before he leaves. When she finishes, she walks out of the locker room, surprised. "Hori-senpai? Why haven't you left yet?"

He frowns. "Don't I owe you dessert or dinner or something? That's what the deal was, right? Food in exchange for rehearsals?"

"Oh yeah. Well, it's supposed to rain _really hard_, so today's an exception."

For whatever reason, he decides to walk her home. _"Really, Hori-senpai?! Thanks!"_ he remembers her saying. And the way her smile actually did meet her stunning green eyes that time— _oh. That's why._

They walk under overcast skies, talking about mundane, everyday topics: how their day was, the weather, and the play. Everything is fairly normal except for the fact that Kashima's hand brushes against his hand more times than he can count. Or is it his hand that keeps brushing against hers? He's not quite sure anymore.

In fact, he's not quite sure how he feels towards his— as she likes to call herself— _beloved_ kouhai. To the people who don't know them very well, Hori may as well be seen as somewhat abusive, unreasonable, and _intense_ for lack of a better word. However, to friends, he may be seen as something akin to a doting parent. But to the members of his drama club and the underclassmen he has met at Nozaki's place, he's not quite sure— well Yosuke and co. made the club's perception very clear not too long ago. _Ah, I have to punch him in the face or something. Almost forgot. Scratch that. Maybe I should make him paint the whole set on his own._

And here he is now, walking _her_, of all people, home. Her home isn't too far from school, definitely closer than his. However, it's definitely located more obscurely. Kashima's parents are rich— he'd known it to be true for quite a long while now. He had seen her house before. In fact, he's not even sure if he can refer to it as a house. It's more like a palace. Clearly fit for the Prince of the School.

Hori glances up at the overcast sky and notices the clouds growing more ominous by the second. "We should hurry up and get you home, Kashima. I think it's gonna rain any moment now."

Kashima frowns as they feel the air begin to rapidly cool, "Senpai, you don't have to walk me home… Just go ahead and go home before the storm hits. My house is pretty close by anyways." She suggests, pointing in the general direction of her home.

"No it's fine."

"B-But Hori-senpai—"

"No buts, Kashima. Let me be nice to you for once." Hori says, grabbing her by the tie, forcing her to concede. She wants him to stop, but he's dragging her harder than he usually does, and she can't bring herself to get a word in edgewise.

He continues to drag her home, gradually loosening his grip on her tie before letting go completely. When they reach Kashima's home, he says a few things, bids her farewell, and she thanks him. Before she can offer him an umbrella, he's gone, and Kashima is left alone on her doorstep.

It starts to pour.

Kashima takes off her shoes before walking in , and she drops her umbrella into a tiny bin. As she closes the door behind her, the door closes with a loud _click_ that resonates throughout the spacious living room.

"Ah, welcome back, sis!"

Kashima grins and waves at her younger sister as she ascends the stairs. She hangs her bag on a bronze hook before going back downstairs to grab a small snack from the kitchen. As she opens the pantry, Kashima hears small footsteps approach her from behind.

"So I heard you talking to someone before you came in. Who was that?"

"Oh. That was Hori-senpai. I don't think you've met him yet, have you, Miki?"

Miki curiously glances at Kashima and shakes her head, "Nope. What's he like?"

She watches has her older sister talks about a man she has never met. She notices how her eyes soften and how her movements become more animated. Miki briefly gets up to grab a snack in preparation of what's to come. Kashima talks about Hori for a solid twenty minutes, covering a wide variety of things: when she first saw him act when she was in middle school, when he recruited her during the entrance ceremony, and how he walked her home about twenty minutes ago. She even talks about his desire to play the role of the heroine. Miki inwardly cringes at how outrageous the idea sounds and isn't quite sure how to break it to her sister.

_'I think you're mistaken, sis. I don't think Hori wants to be the heroine.'_

'_What are you talking about, Miki? Of course he does! After all, I know senpai's feelings best.'_

_Yes, that's how it would go down._ Miki bites her tongue and allows her sister to continue rambling, uninterrupted. Kashima finally hits the half-hour mark, and Miki speaks up, "You must really like this Hori-senpai of yours, huh, Yuu."

Kashima's eyes light up. "Hori-chan? Of course I do! I admire and look up to him. I love him!" She giggles, appearing complete unaware of the implications of what she had just said. Miki frowns at her sister's words not quite matching her demeanor.

"How can you say something like that so... so _normally?!_"

Kashima wipes away a fake tear and dramatically falls to her knees with a soft thud, lightly grabbing ahold of Miki's leg, "How could you say that, Miki?! Besides, only I truly understand senpai's _feelings_!"

Miki scowls, her eyebrows knitting together, and she fakes a smile while trying to kick her overdramatic sister off of her feet, "He sounds nice. I'd like to meet him some day."

Gasping, Kashima instantly jumps up and is beaming when she suggests, "Maybe I should invite him over some day!" She hears the rain begin to batter the roof harder than before, and a streak of lightning briefly illuminates the sky. She stands there with her mouth agape, contemplating her options. Her face falls.

"_Oh no!_ Maybe I should've invited him in until the storm passed!" She turns her head and slowly leaves the kitchen before staring at the front door, nonplussed, as she hears the wind pick up and the thrashing of leaves. "No wonder prez doesn't like me! I'm so _inconsiderate and dense!_" Kashima blurts out, throwing her face into her hands. She almost begins to cry.

Miki simply stares in disbelief at her sister's obliviousness.

"For someone so smart, you're pretty stupid, Yuu…"

* * *

Hori sprints home. His lungs burn, and his legs are beginning to give out, much to his dismay. His clothes are soaking wet, and it feels like he's wearing and extra ten pounds. _I chase Kashima around every day! Why am I so goddamn tired already?! _Hori takes shallow breaths and he feels his legs grow even more sluggish by the second. He can barely see through the torrent of rain, and is almost thrown off balance multiple times due to the periodic strong gusts of wind.

He's somewhat grateful he didn't ask Kashima for an umbrella. He thinks if he had one, he probably would've been carried away by the wind by now. Right when he's about to give in to the aching pain in his calves, he spots the station. He desperately pushes himself forward, rapidly increasing his speed, with a hopeful smile on his face. When he reaches the train station, he falls to the ground in defeat.

The station had closed due to the storm approximately ten minutes ago.

Hori finds a wall to lean on and sinks to the ground once more, taking shelter under the currently-not-functioning train station. He nuzzles head into his knees and wraps his arms around himself in an attempt to stay warm. He listens as the rain relentlessly barrages the steel roof. He hears tiny drops of rain leaking through the small creases of the roof. He shifts his body slightly and waits as he hears eerily familiar light footsteps approaching him. He sees the person's shoes— brown loafers— probably a student. When Hori reluctantly chooses not to glance up at the person, afraid that he's simply hallucinating things and that a person isn't actually standing there right now. He hears them close their umbrella.

"Senpai, what are you doing?"

His hand instinctively twitches, and he gasps as he jerks his head up. _It's just like that time… _And lo and behold, standing before Hori Masayuki is none other than Kashima Yuu. She's panting, her face red from being out of breath. Kashima fixes her hair out of habit and extends a hand to help him up.

He stares at her in awe and takes in her perfect oh-so _handsome_ face, and as he takes her hand, Hori can't help but notice the small specks of gold in her beautiful green eyes. He continues to stare as she pushes her umbrella open and holds it up.

"Come on, Hori-senpai, we can go back to my house."

Hori slowly nods and feels his heart flutter— for some reason he still cannot quite decipher— as she motions for him to walk with her.

Hori Masayuki loathes himself the whole walk back to Kashima's house.

* * *

_kashima apparently has a younger sister, so i thought it'd be fun to write my own interpretation of her since nothing's been revealed about her. she treats her like a princess (which isn't shown in this chapter, but we'll get there eventually). and, surprisingly, when hori's not busy yelling and throwing stuff at kashima, they get along pretty well (from what i've observed in the manga). _


	4. issue 04

"How was your date with Seo, Wakamatsu?" Nozaki inquires, watching Wakamatsu skillfully apply screentones. He watches as Wakamatsu's bright teal eyes begin to darken (and he's not talking about the bags under his eyes).

Wakamatsu gently places his x-acto knife on the table and sighs. "It wasn't a date. It was _dates_. You know, the plural form of date. As in more than one."

"That's _great_, Wakamatsu! Good work!" Nozaki whips out a notepad seemingly from out of nowhere and clicks his mechanical pencil twice. _Click, click._ "Tell me everything in excruciating detail. How was your first date? What did the two of you do? What events led up to the second date?"

"Well, we went to the same family restaurant we've been going to for a while… We ate and Seo-senpai suggested that we go see a movie because apparently there was one she had her eye on for a while." He blinks out of habit when he purposefully leaves out the part about Seo's embarrassing "lame ass bra" and her comment about him wanting to kiss her. Wakamatsu rubs the back of his neck and then slightly tugs on his collar, suddenly feeling the room begin to heat up, before continuing, "And so we were waiting for the movie to start when Seo-senpai says that she had a lot of fun and that we were going to go on another date the next day."

Nozaki furiously jots down a few notes and scribbles a few things before looking up, watching as his friend's face turns a deep shade of red. Before he can squeeze out any more juicy info from his underclassman, someone rings his apartment's doorbell before graciously allowing himself in. He spots a glimpse of bright red hair and promptly leaves his desk to prepare an extra cup of tea.

"Yo, Nozaki."

"Good afternoon, Mikoshiba."

Nozaki intently watches as Mikoshiba anxiously scans the room. The red-haired teen slightly frowns as he sits down on the opposite side of Wakamatsu and quickly takes out his manga tools.

"I-Is Sakura not coming today?" He manages to sputter out, his cheeks slightly dusted with pink. The room is silent except for the whistling of the kettle and the sound of Wakamatsu's x-acto knife smoothly cutting through sheets of screentones.

Nozaki doesn't respond until he finally brings Mikoshiba a hot cup of tea. "No. She had some last-minute club activities."

Mikoshiba's face falls. "Oh, I see."

Nozaki chooses to ignore everyone's strange behavior and hands Mikoshiba the pages he needs special effects on and continues to draw. The room is unusually silent— uncomfortable even. Nozaki runs a hand through his short raven-black hair and feels himself growing tense. Normally, he enjoys silence and solitude. It's the perfect environment for someone like himself to work in. However, the room suddenly feels heavy and almost unbearable. There is this unspoken awkwardness that is looming over them, and he isn't quite sure how to rectify the current situation. He feels somewhat crushed.

They all sit in silence. It is so quiet that they can hear a pen drop. Literally. Mikoshiba puts down his pen and switches to one with a thinner nib._Scratch, scratch, scratch_. The room is filled with the sound of scratching pens and the clicking of mechanical pencils. To prevent himself from going insane, Nozaki gets up and switches on his music player. For a few minutes, he is able to find reprieve. However, after the first track finishes, a very familiar voice graces the room, and Nozaki hears a loud thud followed by a high-pitched squeak of sorts coming from Mikoshiba.

Wakamatsu passed out.

Silently cursing himself for forgetting that "Lorelei's" voice knocks out his purple haired underclassman in a grand total of three seconds, Nozaki huffs before skipping the track. Nozaki becomes more and more frustrated as the minutes tick by, and his loud analog clock isn't helping much. _I wish Sakura was here_. He is caught by surprise by his thoughts and feels something achingly tug at his heart.

"H-Hey, Nozaki…"

Mikoshiba's voice interrupts his thoughts, and Nozaki jerks his head to face him.

"W-What is it, Mikoshiba?"

For some odd reason, Mikoshiba looks unusually serious. Nozaki makes a mental note of Mikoshiba's current facial expression and stores it away for future reference. _If Mamiko ever decides to confront someone… _He promptly inwardly curses at himself for giving into his bad habit. Nozaki watches as Mikoshiba's brows furrow and form a deep crease between his eyes. He can see him visibly shaking and paling. Brushing his bangs to the side, Mikoshiba finally opens his mouth to say something, but nothing comes out. His mouth opens and closes as he contemplates his options.

"Do you like Sakura?" he finally asks, which catches Nozaki off guard.

Nozaki shoots him a questioning look. "Well, yes, I do."

"In what way?"

"In what way? What do you mean, Mikoshiba?"

The red haired teen groans and scowls. "Like romantically or platonically."

"Well, Sakura's a good assistant, and I see her as a really good friend. I think we're fairly close."

The roar of silence fills the room once more. Mikoshiba sighs before handing Nozaki his completed drafts adorned with intricately inked flowers. "I see. Well, that's all I wanted to ask. And I'm finished for today. Oh, and I'm really proud of the last panel I did on page 34, by the way! This is an amaryllis! It represents determination, success after a long and difficult struggle, and radiant beauty. Isn't that inspiring?"

"Yes it is, Mikoshiba," Nozaki says, smiling.

Nozaki thanks him and sends him off like he usually does. Except when Mikoshiba leaves, he hears his feet shuffle quicker than usual and the door close much quicker and louder than the norm. He sighs as he tries to comprehend his friend's strange behavior. Fetching a spare blanket from his closet, Nozaki finds himself lost in deep thought. He walks back to the living room to drape the blanket over a currently knocked out Wakamatsu before pouring himself a cup of tea.

He slowly takes small sips of his hot tea and carefully watches Wakamatsu calmly breathing in his sleep before thinking out loud.

"Am I a bad friend?"

When he thinks about his past actions and his treatment of his friends, Nozaki begins to question his motives. Is he a good friend? He treats them nicely and tends to be considerate of their feelings. However, when he really thinks about it, he realizes that he hasn't, in fact, been very considerate at all. They're all constantly taking time out of their lives— such valuable time— for _him_. Furthermore, he is constantly using them as references for his manga. He is constantly testing and experimenting things with Sakura, dragging her into strange, unlikely situations.

Furthermore, there is the issue of Hori. Hori does _all _of his backgrounds in exchange for scripts. He does back-breaking work for the drama club and works late hours drawing backgrounds while juggling school. _ All for Kashima_, Nozaki makes note. _Isn't it unfair that I am asking so much of him? Not to mention that he's a third year, which means that he also has college to worry about._

Nozaki reluctantly allows his eyes to refocus on the sleeping Wakamatsu. It's because of his selfishness that he is tangled up with Seo in the first place. He notices the prominent bags under his eyes and almost finds it within himself to scoff at his own perceived selfishness. He knew it was wrong when he suggested (in a fairly forceful manner) that Wakamatsu accept her offer to go to the movies all those months ago.

Nozaki was also there on the fateful day in which Wakamatsu finally "confronted" Seo about her treatment of him. He physically cringes as he recalls the "challenge letter" and the painful secondhand embarrassment he felt when he heard Wakamatsu confess his love for "Lorelei" and his subsequent disdain for Seo. And now he gets to sit in the comfort of his own apartment while watching Wakamatsu's life slowly spiral down into an endless void of Seo— or whatever that means. Despite Nozaki's newfound sense of self-loathing, he finds humor in the fact that Seo is the cause of his underclassman's insomnia and also the person who allows him to sleep at night. It's ironic, really.

So painfully ironic.

He gets back up and makes sure all the pages are in order and begins to scan and fax them to his editor, Ken. When he finishes, Nozaki resists the urge, for the first time, to wait for Ken's usual text saying something along the lines of _'I got your manuscript'_. For whatever reason, he chooses to leave Wakamatsu hunched over his living room table and brushes his teeth before going to bed. It takes longer for him to fall asleep that night and even longer for his breathing to fall into a natural, comfortable rhythm.

He secretly hopes that Ken never receives his manuscript. He even considers that it may be time to end his manga for good. However, that night, he dreams of a blushing Mikoshiba, an enthusiastic Wakamatsu, a frustrated, Kashima-obsessed Hori, and _Sakura_— bright red polka dot ribbons.

Bright red ribbons that he didn't get to see after school today.

* * *

Wakamatsu awakes in the middle of the night. He tugs at the blanket that's draped over his back in surprise and looks around before finally reaching his own conclusions: 1.) He's still at Nozaki's apartment. 2.) His parents may or may not have been informed. 3.) Seo-senpai is _the worst_.

He's not quite sure how number three fits in with the other two conclusions, but he quickly dismisses the thought in a sad attempt to rid his mind of his boorish senpai. Wakamatsu hears heavy footsteps, and Nozaki drowsily peers out of his bedroom.

"…You finally woke up." Nozaki concludes, fighting back a yawn.

"Y-Yes, senpai… And I think I should be, uh, going now?"

Nozaki simply nods and fumbles around, groping at the air, before finally flicking on the lights. They both flinch and attempt to adjust their eyes. Wakamatsu gets up and removes the blanket from his shoulders and neatly folds it, much to his dismay. He instantly regrets getting up and misses the warmth that the blanket provided— oh, _the warmth_, Wakamatsu makes note of yet again. _The warmth from the blanket… _He brushes off the thought much like he did earlier regarding Seo-senpai.

Normally, he'd insist that he stay and join him for breakfast in the morning, but, instead, Nozaki hands him his school bag and sees him off before quickly retreating to the comfort of his bed. When Wakamatsu steps out into the crisp autumn night, he finds himself feeling unusually morose. He begins his trek home and talks to himself the whole way. He mumbles and curses under his breath about a large variety of things— mostly having to do with Seo-senpai. He runs a hand through his purple locks and sighs as he recalls their second date that day. Wakamatsu curses himself for falling asleep at Nozaki's. This was the second time he has slept over at another person's home in two days. _I really need to stop doing that._

He massages his head in an attempt to quell a threatening migraine, which he knows is going to happen at any moment. When he arrives at his home, he waits on his doorstep before allowing himself in. He takes a few pills for the impending migraine, doesn't bother to wake his parents, and whispers an unheard apology as he passes their bedroom. Jogging up to his room, Wakamatsu feels his eyelids growing heavy and struggles to keep his eyes open. He almost trips over a step but quickly recovers, tightly grasping the rail. When he finally reaches his room and slips into his blankets, Wakamatsu remarks how unusual current physical state is. He's never this tired— never so willing to sleep. Maybe it's because of his distressed emotional state, he thinks.

Wakamatsu, for the first time in months, falls asleep without the help of his goddess "Lorelei".

He's not quite sure how, but his music player remains in his bag untouched. Untouched for two days.

A new record.

* * *

When he awakes, it isn't of his own accord but, instead, to the sharp ringing of his alarm clock. An unusual event, Wakamatsu remarks. He's used to waking up hours before his alarm, so when he gets up and prepares for another day of school, he feels himself in a state of limbo and is unable to adjust for a while. Breakfast makes his stomach feel uneasy, and he can't bring himself to drink anything. However, when he finally arrives to school, he feels refreshed after his comforting jog along the way.

Wakamatsu feels the most alive he's ever felt in months.

If it were possible, in that very moment, Wakamatsu would be able to hear angels singing, their voices echoing down from the heavens. He finds the loud chatter of students in the hallways pleasant rather than a nuisance waiting to induce a headache. He doesn't doze off or feel tired in class that day and answers all the math questions assigned that day with relative ease. The first year finds himself, along with being more alert, more observant.

When he passes Nozaki in between classes, he notices the strange way he responds when he politely greets him. Nozaki gives him a hesitant smile and wave— _strange_, Wakamatsu thinks. He notices the newfound bounce in Sakura's step, and the sharp and sudden surge in Hori's anger. He also notices how despite the way Kashima's green eyes light up more than usual, she is also more distracted than how she normally is. He watches as her fangirls swoon, but Kashima's voice doesn't hold its usual enticing charm. She's distracted by Hori, Wakamatsu concludes. She's almost _too _willing to be violently dragged off by him today.

However, when the day finishes and he attends basketball practice, he feels a familiar pang of anxiety in his chest. He walks onto the court and notices the familiar golden haired girl on the other side of the gym. He inwardly chastises himself for being immediately drawn to her the moment he walked in and feels his blood pressure drop when their eyes lock for the briefest of moments. For a grueling two hours, he relives his recurring dreams and feels his good mood and energy quickly fade. When practice is over, he sustains multiple bruises, which Seo uncharacteristically tends to (without a permanent marker on her person, thankfully). Wakamatsu watches as her brows scrunch together while she attempts to disinfect his injures which she inflicted herself. As she shifts closer to him in an attempt to get a better look at one of his injuries, Wakamatsu can't help but notice how perfectly her hair falls against her face and a certain something that brings out her hazel eyes— _Ah, no, her eyelashes are just really long— oh, they're hazel today, lighter than usual._

He awkwardly sits there as he endures her painful touch. Seo's fingertips lightly dance over his skin as she applies bandages, gauze, and disinfectant. It's borderline torturous. And every now and then, her long nails will lightly scratch against his skin, sending a chill down his spine. Wakamatsu fights the urge to shove her away, but he finds the experience somewhat pleasant, and if he didn't know any better, he would think that enjoying this is okay. But he does know better. _This is Seo Yuzuki, the girl who has ruined your life and turned you into an insomniac due to the stress of knowing that she exists, _he desperately reminds himself.

For a moment, Wakamatsu almost brings himself to believe that he may actually enjoy Seo's company. _Almost_. He finds himself laughing at his own stupidity. There's no way that he could enjoy the company of a K.Y. sadist who constantly chooses to abuse him— and only him— during basketball practice, tends to his wounds, invites him out to eat at a family restaurant afterwards, pays the bill, and buys him little gifts, trinkets, and souvenirs every now and then.

There's no way.

Wakamatsu doesn't like Seo. Not one bit.

To clear his mind, when all is said and done and Seo decides to leave him alone for the rest of the day, Wakamatsu decides to go to go and help Nozaki again.

"Is it okay if I come and help out again today?" he asks, smiling.

"A-Are you sure? If it's too much trouble, you don't have to force yourself."

Wakamatsu almost chokes on his own saliva when he hears Nozaki's response. _Is he seriously trying to talk me out of wanting to help him? _He dryly chuckles and gives Nozaki a reassuring pat on the shoulder, "No, no it's fine! I really want to help out today. I'm done with basketball, and Seo didn't drag me off to a family restaurant today, so I'm in a good mood."

He watches as Nozaki's eyes light up, and, suddenly, he's beaming. Grinning, Nozaki enthusiastically grabs Wakamatsu by the shoulders and expresses his gratitude, saying _thank you_ over and over again. Wakamatsu is somewhat off put by his behavior, but he shrugs it off and happily accompanies him home. When they reach the lockers to change into their loafers, they run into an enthusiastic Sakura. He can't quite hear what they're saying, but by the looks of things, Wakamatsu finally comes to a shocking revelation. The way her eyes light up when she talks to him, the light blush on her cheeks, the way she fiddles her thumbs and tugs at the hem of her skirt— without a doubt, Sakura Chiyo is in love with Nozaki Umetaro.

"Are you helping out today too, senpai?"

"Yep!" Sakura exclaims with a new skip in her step. Her bright red ribbons bounce as she happily walks beside her beloved Nozaki-senpai, and Wakamatsu can't help but pity her and loathe Nozaki's obliviousness.

When they reach his apartment and situate themselves, taking their respective places around the table, Nozaki ceremoniously makes tea and after a few minutes, he pours them both a piping hot cup of oolong tea. Wakamatsu shifts himself on the pillow he's currently sitting on and begins erasing and cleaning up some of the lines. When he hands Nozaki the finished ones, he patiently waits while he inks the pages and keenly watches Sakura skillfully do betas. When she stops to take a break, Nozaki gets up to refill their tea. Wakamatsu watches as Sakura moves a strand of her red hair behind her ear and demurely sneaks a glance at Nozaki before rummaging through her bag for a small pouch.

"I baked cookies for everyone today!" Sakura smiles as she unties her pouch revealing cute decorated cookies.

"Thank you, senpai! They look really good!" Wakamatsu says, eager to try one.

"Thank you, Sakura. I really appreciate it." Nozaki says over the whistling kettle. "I think we should hold out on the cookies for a while though. Hori-senpai should be joining us in a bit, so we should wait for him to show up first."

Sakura understandingly nods and asks, "Is Mikorin not coming today?"

Nozaki shakes his head and slightly frowns, "No. He hasn't come in a while."

Sakura's face falls, and she replies with a simple, "Oh. I see."

After Nozaki finishes refilling everyone's tea, he prepares a cup on the side for when Hori arrives. A few minutes later, Hori casually arrives dressed in his usual bright blue shirt, and Wakamatsu lightly chuckles as he watches Hori tuck his tie into his front pocket, amused by his unusual quirk. He sits down and takes out his tools: a simple mechanical pencil, rulers, compasses, and other various tools. Everyone helps themselves to Sakura's cookies, and Wakamatsu notices how Sakura's purple eyes light up when Nozaki compliments them.

After a few minutes of prolonged silence accompanied by the sound of pencils, pens, and brushes on paper, and the occasional light, high pitched tone when Hori's pencil meets his steel ruler, Sakura says, "Hori-senpai, you seem more stressed than usual. Did something happen with Kashima?"

Hori immediately stops working and buries his face in his hands. "I love how you immediately assume it's Kashima that's stressing me out."

"Oh, is it not?" Sakura asks with a cheeky grin, playfully punching his arm.

"Oh, _no_, you are right, sadly." The brunette sighs as he lifts his head up and rests his arms on the table. He takes in a deep breath in order to calm himself before he begins his long-winded explanation about why Kashima is stressing him out. "You see, you all remember how it was raining pretty badly Friday after school, right?"

Wakamatsu, Sakura, and Nozaki all stop working and hesitantly nod as they listen to Hori begin to tell his story.

"You see, I, for whatever goddamned reason, thought that it would be a good idea to walk Kashima home that day. I guess I was in a good mood, I guess," he says with a strange emphasis on _'good mood'_.

His underclassmen sit there and listen intently as he attempts to recall Friday's events.

* * *

_wakamatsu's pretty dense, but maybe it's because he's always so sleep deprived? ah, and i noticed that seo's eye color is very inconsistent in the official artwork, so i'm just going to assume that her eye color gets lighter or darker every now and then. anyways, although i did drop some mikochiyo in the chapter, it won't actually be addressed quite yet. and seo's feelings are going to remain an enigma for just a little while longer._


	5. issue 05

Hori reluctantly walks beside Kashima underneath her large blue umbrella. As they brave the storm, Kashima doesn't speak a word, much to Hori's surprise. The torrent of rain ruthlessly pelts them along with various sorts of debris such as leaves and newspapers. When they finally arrive at her home, they are out of breath, and they quickly take off their shoes before hastily reaching for the doorknob. When the door opens, Hori is greeted by a young girl who is almost the spitting image of Kashima.

"Are you two okay?" she asks as she hands him and Kashima towels.

"We're fine, Miki." Kashima replies, ruffling her hair, eliciting a cute whining noise from the younger girl.

Hori awkwardly stands there lightly patting his hair with the soft towel before Kashima ushers him to the comfort of her living room. Her younger sister pours them both tea while Kashima formally introduces her sister.

"Hori-senpai, _this_," she says as she dramatically motions to her sister sitting on the sofa across from them, "is Miki Kashima, the fairest maiden in _all of Japan_."

Hori waves before taking a sip of his tea. "Nice to meet you, Miki. I'm Hori."

"Oh, I already know that." She says with, if his eyes aren't deceiving him, a sly smile. "Onee-chan talks about you a lot. And I would like to apologize on her behalf because I know she can be a handful at times."

Kashima stares at her sister in shock, practically gawking. "M-M-Miki! How could you say such demeaning things about your sister?!"

Chuckling, Hori places his hand on Kashima's shoulder in a half-hearted attempt to make her feel better. Miki watches with interest as her sister pouts in response to his gesture. They exchange a few words before Kashima gasps and dramatically clings onto his arm, fake tears threatening to fall. "How could you say something like that, Hori-senpai! You and Miki are so cruel. It breaks my _fragile_ maiden heart!"

Hori scoffs, "Hah! That's hilarious. Fragile maiden heart, my ass. You're the last person I want to hear that from."

Watching them banter, Miki intently watches, mildly amused by the sudden change in mood. "You two must be really close," she absentmindedly says.

"H-Huh?" Hori stares at Miki and quickly refutes her claim, "I don't think we're _that_—"

"Yes, we are! After all, I'm senpai's beloved kouhai— his favorite!"

He glares at Kashima who's now sitting there proudly crossing her arms in triumph. "If anything, you're the largest nuisance in my life right now!" he coldly remarks.

"And the most constant thing in your life!"

"A constant pain in the ass!"

"And your one and only prince charming, my _dearest princess_."

_Don't spew the same shit you say to your fangirls to me, _he wants to say, but before Hori gets a chance to apprehend her for calling him something as absurd as a freaking princess, Kashima gingerly takes his hand and kisses his knuckles. Hori shivers as her lips lightly brush over the back of his hand. He swiftly retracts his hand and holds it defensively against his chest. He curses under his breath as he feels his face begin to grow hot and scowls when he sees the smug look on her face. However, the smug look on her face gradually changes to one that's much more gentle, much more endearing. As quickly as his anger rises, it subsides, and he is washed over by a sense of calmness. Kashima flashes him a genuine smile, and in that moment, Hori Masayuki knows that he's doomed.

_Well, shit_.

Hori can't help but gaze into her eyes as she gives him the most dazzling and beautiful smile he's ever witnessed in his 17 years on Earth. Much to his chagrin, Kashima is the one that breaks eye contact first, and suddenly, Hori becomes increasingly aware of Miki's presence across from them and tries his best to retain his composure. He clears his throat and takes a small sip of his cold tea. _Gross._

Miki smirks as she gets up and excuses herself for the night.

"I have to get to school early tomorrow morning to take care of some stuff, so I'm going to call it a night." Miki shoots Kashima a strange look, which she interprets as her trying to say _'Get a room already, sheesh!'_

Hori almost chokes on his tea._ It's only 9 o'clock, kid. What are you doing!_

"Good night, Miki." Kashima says, also getting up. She walks up to her sister and kneels down to her height. "Would you like me to carry you up to your room, my princess?"

Miki giggles and politely refuses her sister's offer before frantically sprinting up the stairs to her room. Hori watches, confused, before getting up himself. _Did she just… sprint up the stairs to her room? _Kashima reluctantly turns her head to meet his gaze and awkwardly points to the top of the stairs, "You wanna go up to my room or something?"

He slowly nods his head. "Uh, yeah. Sure, I guess."

He awkwardly allows Kashima to lead him to her room and is pleasantly surprised at how simple it is. He's not sure why, but he expected something strange or over-the-top, but when he walks in, he's greeted by a neat minimalist room. _I bet all the weird stuff is in her closet_, Hori thinks to himself, slightly amused by his own thoughts. They both sit on the edge of her bed in silence for a solid minute before Kashima finally opens her mouth to speak.

"So uh, I'd feel bad if I forced you to sleep on the couch, and it'd probably give my parents a heart attack if they were to suddenly, for whatever reason, come home in the middle of the night and seen some teenage boy they've never seen before sleeping on their living room couch…"

"And?"

"So you can sleep in my bed if you want. I could sleep out there instead. I don't really mind. The floor's fine too, I guess—"

"It's fine; we can share a bed. You don't have to force yourself to sleep on the couch or the ground. No, really. Seriously. Please don't sleep on the ground." Hori refuses to meet her gaze and begins to find the texture of her carpeted floor unusually intriguing.

_Huh. I bet Kashima would look just as good even if she were wrapped in carpet._

_Wait, what?_

"If you say so, prez. Oh, wait here for a moment. You probably need a change of clothes."

Hori nods in a daze and waits as Kashima gets up from the bed and walks over to her dresser, and as quick as she leaves, she's back with neatly folded clothes before promptly excusing herself to go take a shower. He stares at the clothes she handed him before leaving— just a simple white t-shirt and gym shorts.

When she's done with the shower, he goes in and quickly showers before changing into the clothes she provided him. He stares at his reflection in the foggy mirror with disgust after changing. _I can't believe I'm wearing Kashima's clothes. This is ridiculous. _He sighs in defeat and begins to comb at his now-unstyled bangs. He watches as they fall flat against his forehead and frowns. He blow dries his hair before leaving the bathroom and returning to Kashima's room. When he returns, Kashima is already sitting under her covers, lounging around, her hair still damp. _She sleeps with her hair still wet?_

When he steps into the room, Kashima is immediately alerted by his presence and jumps a little when she hears his footsteps. Hori awkwardly shuffles up to her bed and timidly sits on the edge of her bed before getting under the blankets. She flicks the lights off and finally lies down, resting her head on her pillow.

"Good night, Hori-senpai."

Hori shifts his body and turns his head to face her. "A-Ah, good night, Kashima."

He shifts so that his back is now facing her in an attempt to hide the blush on his face. His heart begins to pound in his ears, and he secretly prays that Kashima isn't close enough to hear it. There's this uncontrollable urge to turn around and just wrap her in his arms, but he pushes that urge back down from whence it came and attempts to forget it.

This is Kashima, not some other normal high school girl (if you can even call her that).

_This is Kashima, and you're not allowed to feel this way about her. _

The idea of becoming attracted to her, in a _romantic_ manner, disgusts Hori more than it probably should, and even though it's the very thing that is happening right now in this very moment, he still finds it in himself to believe that's it's highly unlikely. He starts to loathe himself even more when her foot accidentally brushes against his leg, sending a chill up his spine— literally— because holy _shit_ her feet are cold.

"Sorry, Hori-senpai," she mumbles.

Much to his dismay, he finds himself turning over to face her and huffs, "No, it's fine, but damn your feet are cold."

"Yeah, my hands and feet tend to be really cold." Kashima softly giggles before she playfully places her ice cold hand on his cheek, and she begins to laugh as she feels him flinch away from her touch.

"Don't do that! You're hands are fucking cold!"

A normal person would respond with something along the lines of _'Ah, I'm so sorry! I won't do it again,' _but Kashima does the exact opposite and presses both her hands onto his face, grinning. Hori tries his best to remove her hands from his face but he can't. When her hands are no longer cold enough to bother him, she starts to attack him with her feet, and eventually, somehow, it turns into an all-out tickling war.

"S-S-Stop! No, not there!" Hori is uncontrollably laughing and kicking as Kashima begins to tickle him, and he's on this weird exhilarating high, laughing and kicking, unable to really process what's actually going on. He's not sure how it all began, but before he knew it, he was desperately trying to get back at her and started to tickle her as well.

The door suddenly swings open and practically slams against the wall.

"Will you two _please_ go to sleep already!" Miki growls, practically fuming.

Hori and Kashima give her a very soft _'sorry' _and when she finally leaves and closes the door behind her, they lie there in silence, completely out of breath from laughing so hard.

"Well that was interesting," Kashima laughs, still trying to catch her breath. "I didn't think you were _that _ticklish, senpai."

"Yeah," Hori manages to force out while trying to hold back his laughter, his voice so raspy that Kashima almost has to do a double take to make sure that it's _her_ Hori-senpai that's lying next to her. She commits his raspy voice to memory and can't bring herself to stop staring at him. His face is so close to hers that she can almost count his eyelashes (well she can try). And then it suddenly hits her.

"We're sharing a bed!"

She quickly covers her mouth and feels her heart about to burst out of her chest due to sheer embarrassment. _Oh god. Ohgodohgodohgod. I just said that out loud, didn't I? _She hesitantly turns her head to see Hori's face only to find that he had fallen asleep.

_THAT WAS FAST! _

Kashima lets out the breath she had been holding and allows her body to finally relax. She grows increasingly aware of Hori's presence and the comforting heat that's radiating off of him. She checks to make sure that he is, in fact, asleep. Poking his face, Kashima watches as Hori's face scrunches up before finally relaxing, and she waits until his breathing grows more even.

When she's absolutely sure that he had indeed fallen asleep, Kashima allows herself to wrap her arms around him and hold him tightly against her chest. She nuzzles her nose against his brown locks and notices how his hair smells just like her shampoo. She finds the idea of him smelling like her comforting and, to her own embarrassment, somewhat arousing. _Holding him is _nice, Kashima thinks_. _Running her hand through his soft locks, Kashima absentmindedly begins to braid small strands of his hair and smiles to herself before finally dozing off with Hori in her arms.

Along with the sun, Hori rises feeling the most refreshed he's ever felt in months. The sun is shining through the blinds, illuminating the room in its soft, warm glow. When he moves to sit up, he's shocked when he feels a strange weight over his chest. When he turns his head, he finds his nose millimeters from Kashima's, and he almost jumps off the bed out of shock. At first, he's utterly confused and begins to run through every single ridiculous scenario he could possibly come up with in five seconds and comes to the conclusion that they're all highly unlikely because, frankly, he doesn't drink (and, thankfully, probably never will). And, suddenly, the events from last night come rushing back, but it leaves Hori more confused than he ever was before.

As he watches Kashima sleep, he feels his eyes soften, and he glances at the clock before brushing her bangs away from her face. "Come on, Kashima, wake up. It's time to go to school."

He feels his heart skip a beat when she makes an indescribable noise, which Hori can only define as _sickingly adorable _and decides that Kashima's bad for his health before lightly nudging her. She burrows her face into the crook of his shoulder and mumbles what he believes to be words of protest before tightening her arms around him. Her warmth is borderline intoxicating, and Hori almost considers skipping school entirely and just lounging around with Kashima all day, but he ends up roughly pushing her away anyways.

"GET UP, KASHIMA."

She whines in protest before giving up and groggily sits up. "Good morning to you too, Hori-senpai."

It takes all of his strength to not gawk at Kashima's current disheveled appearance and how she still manages to look unbelievably flawless. The way her hair falls against her face, her mellow demeanor, and the way her shirt is slightly falling off her right shoulder—

Hori likes Kashima in the morning the most, he comes to realize that day.

Despite Kashima conceding earlier, Hori has to drag her out of bed before leaving to change into his uniform. When he pushes his arm through the sleeve of his blue dress shirt, he notices that it's been washed.

"I'll have to thank Miki later on, I guess," he says as he tucks his shirt into his slacks. When he leaves the bathroom, he finds Kashima already dressed in her school uniform. He runs his hand through his hair and realizes that his hair hasn't been spiked and slicked back yet.

"Oi, Kashima, do you have any hair gel?"

Kashima shakes her head and apologizes, "Sorry, Hori-senpai, I ran out a few days ago."

Hori walks back into the restroom and groans at his unstyled hair. He hears her walk in, her light footsteps echoing against the tile flooring, and she looks at him before turning her attention to his reflection in the mirror.

She smiles. "I don't see what's wrong with having your hair like this. I think you look cuter this way!"

Hori sighs and pulls at his bangs. "But I'm not supposed to look cute. I'm supposed to be intimidating. You know, an intimidating authoritative figure. President of the prestigious drama club. The one who reigns over a bunch of great aspiring actors and one particularly talented actress who's quite the handful and requires extremely violent measures to be taken just so that she will attend rehearsals."

"Well one day of being cute can't hurt! And I think it's possible to be cute _and_ cool at the same time," Kashima says, shoving him out of the bathroom. She goes downstairs and skips into the kitchen, humming something completely off-pitch, which Hori finds unusually endearing. She quickly grabs a frying pan and fries two eggs while simultaneously preparing toast. When the eggs finish cooking, she grabs two plates. She carefully places an egg on top of a slice of toast and pushes the plate across the kitchen island to Hori.

"Sorry it's not much, but we're running late, so it's better than nothing."

"Thanks, Kashima. And it's fine. I don't really have a right to complain, to be honest."

Kashima throws the cooling frying pan into the sink and sits down next to Hori to eat her small breakfast. She looks at him and grins, "Don't worry, Hori-senpai! I'll make sure to make you a proper breakfast next time. I promise!"

"Next time? Who said there was gonna be a next time?"

"Well, what if I invite you to breakfast?"

"Who invites someone over for _breakfast_?!"

She pouts and starts to sulk, taking tinier bites of her toast, eating much slower than she was before. Hori becomes frustrated just by watching her and sighs before finishing the last of his toast. "_Fine_. I'll come over for breakfast or something like that someday. Now hurry up and finish your goddamned breakfast!"

"Okay, prez!" Kashima immediately pipes up, gives him a quick salute, and finishes her toast with enthusiasm before shooting him a flirtatious look. "Okay, but about my offer for breakfast… Wouldn't it be too much trouble having to wake up early and walk _all_ the way to my house?"

"What are you trying to suggest, Kashima?" Hori growls, watching the minute hand of the clock tick one more time than he'd like.

"You could sleep over again."

"In your fucking dreams."

Kashima laughs for the hundredth time, and Hori swears he has her laugh forever encoded in his memory now. They get up, and she hands him his school bag before putting on her shoes and going to hold the front door like the proper prince she is. Hori chooses to ignore her princess-like treatment of him as he puts on his shoes and walks outside, waiting for her to close the door behind her. When her hears the door click shut, he starts to walk and hears Kashima scurry to catch up to him. She stops jogging and begins walking at a comfortable pace when she reaches his side. She watches as their footsteps slowly fall into sync and smiles. Gripping the strap of her school bag tighter, she hesitantly glances down at him and quickly averts her gaze.

After they arrive at school, Kashima parts ways with him with a stunning smile, and Hori forces a tight-lipped smile before waving as he watches her leave to go to class. She turns the corner and then, just like that, she's gone. He drops his hand and lets out the breath he didn't even realize he was holding.

_Shit._

"I think I might take her up on that offer from earlier," he breathes, staring blankly at the corner she had disappeared behind.


	6. issue 06

"So Kashima shows up out of nowhere and takes me back to her place. Oh, and did you know that she has a sister? And well, I kinda slept over. We shared a bed… It was okay, and I may or may not have contemplated the idea of liking her. I don't know."

"That was… kind of vague, senpai," Sakura says, squinting her eyes and straightening her back, trying to weed out more information.

Hori huffs in response and tries to explain in more detail without giving away _too_ much in order to save himself from any unnecessary embarrassment. "We shared a bed, Kashima has _freakishly cold_ hands and feet, we get into a tickling war somehow, we stop, and I blacked out, so I can't really remember anything after that. Uh, Kashima makes a really quick breakfast and insists that I let her make me a proper breakfast one day, and I say that that's a pretty shitty idea because how _impractical _is that?! Who invites someone over for breakfast? That's such a hassle! But then she suggests that I sleep over again instead because that'd be less trouble. Next, we leave for school, and, uh, let's just say that I _actually thought about_ her offer."

"Wait!" Wakamatsu blurts out, raising his hand when Hori finally finishes. "So you like Kashima-senpai?"

Nozaki instantly sits up when he hears Wakamatsu say the word "like".

"NO!" Hori yells in response, and he watches Nozaki's shoulders slump in disappointment. He sits still and stares at the table with a dumbfounded expression on his face before sputtering out a confused, "Y-Yes? No? I-I don't really know. That's a pretty heavy question."

Everyone's eyes are fixed on Hori as he sits there in silence before suddenly blurting out, "_My god_, I hope I don't."

Sakura innocently tilts her head and asks, "But why not?"

Hori buries his face in his hands and groans, "Because this is _Kashima_ we're talking about. The idea of liking her in a romantic manner is— well, it's unfathomable!"

Nozaki raises his hand and interjects, "But you explained earlier that you have thought about the possibility of developing romantic feelings for her, and I would like to suggest that you have developed feelings of some sort!" He pulls out his notepad and scoots closer to Hori before clicking some lead out of his pencil. " Now explain all of your complicated feelings towards Kashima in excruciating, illustrative detail. You can recite your feelings through a soliloquy if you'd like. Or a monologue. I don't really know the difference."

Hori almost considers it but decides not to.

"No, I think I'll pass on that. And how do you not know the difference between the two? You_ write_ our plays!"

"Just the script, senpai."

"That's not really an excuse."

"How about something from _Romeo and Juliet_? That's romantic, right?" Sakura suggests.

"No, and stop reading my mind. It's creepy."

"But— "

"_Romeo and Juliet_ is a satire, okay? It is _not_ romantic. And I already said no!" Hori huffs at their persistence before attempting to compromise.

Sakura whines and tugs at Hori's sleeve, "Aw, but you already explained to us— "

"In very clear detail!" Nozaki interjects, holding up and pointing at his trusty notepad, smirking.

"…that you think Kashima's perfect! How can you think something like that if you don't feel anything for her?"

"When did I say that? I never even said that!"

"Well, not today, but… every other day," Wakamatsu says, his voice gradually getting softer the longer he speaks.

Hori's head falls and hits the table with a loud thud. Hori's face is pressed against the table as he mumbles something obscure and curses under his breath.

"I'm sorry, Hori-senpai, but could you please repeat that?" Sakura asks, scooting closer to him. Suddenly, Nozaki and Wakamatsu begin to move in even closer, blocking any means of escape for their senpai.

Wakamatsu places a reassuring hand on his shoulder, causing Hori to lift his head up off the table. He turns and sees Wakamatsu giving him a sympathetic, all-knowing smile. "I understand what you're going through, senpai."

Hori slowly nods as he analyzes the expression his face. He turns around and mimics Wakamatsu's gesture and places a hand on his shoulder, giving him a reassuring squeeze.

"I'm not really sure what you're getting at, but we'll get through this somehow." He gives him a confident, determined look and a small smile. Hori watches as small tears threaten to fall from his teal eyes. Wakamatsu tries to hold them in but gives in and begins to sob into Hori's shoulder.

"_S-Senpai!_"

Hori pats his back and lets out a deep sigh. "There, there, Wakamatsu."

When Wakamatsu finally stops sobbing, Hori notices that he has become unusually still.

"Ah. I think he, uh, fell asleep."

Hori awkwardly sits there with Wakamatsu's face still planted on his shoulder before shoving him aside and gently laying him down onto the ground. When Hori turns to look at Sakura and Nozaki, he watches as they blankly stare at him, not moving. Nozaki has already put away his notepad and hasn't sketched or written a single thing. Everyone sits around Wakamatsu's unconscious body in silence, not sure what to make of his sudden emotional, although somewhat comical, outburst. Nozaki gets up to find a spare pillow and blanket. When he returns, he props Wakamatsu's head on top of the pillow and gingerly drapes the blanket over his body (in a somewhat Kashima-like manner, Hori notes.).

No one is quite sure where to begin or where the conversation really left off. Breaking the silence, Hori's phone vibrates in his pocket, causing him to flinch in alarm. He reaches for his phone and sees a text message notification. Reading the name of the sender, he grimaces.

"Who is it?" Nozaki asks before getting up to go make some tea.

"…Kashima."

As quickly as he leaves, he returns with freshly brewed hot tea.

Hori notices that when Nozaki retakes his seat next to Sakura, her cheeks become slightly tinged with pink and how she focuses her gaze on him before quickly averting her bright violet eyes.

Hori begins to cynically laugh as he accepts a hot cup of tea from Nozaki, leading his two underclassmen to ask, "What's wrong?"

He simply lowers his head and all-knowingly shakes his head in response. "Nothing, really."

Fixing his gaze on Sakura, Hori gives her a sad smile out of pity.

"A thousand times the worse, to want thy light.  
Love goes toward love as schoolboys from their books,  
But love from love, toward school with heavy looks."

When Hori finishes reciting a few lines he deems suitable, fulfilling Sakura's previous request, he politely excuses himself and claims that he has to leave and cannot stay any longer.

"Good luck, Sakura! Oh, and going to Kashima's place now, so I'll see you two tomorrow. Good night." He says, giving Sakura a thumbs up while making a subtle gesture towards Nozaki before leaving. When he leaves, Sakura watches him walk out of the door, her face turning a deep shade of red, and her hands beginning to tremble as they reach to cover her burning cheeks.

"W-W-What was _that_?"

Nozaki simply shrugs and ignores Hori's cryptic behavior before getting up to return to his work.

* * *

On the way home, Hori absentmindedly looks up at the night sky and takes in a deep breath of fresh air.

"The stars are brighter than usual today."

He takes out his phone and rereads the text message Kashima sent a few minutes ago.

_Hori-chan-senpai! If you're not busy, can you come over really quick and help me rehearse some lines? I need some help with a few._

Gently smiling at his phone, he responds with a simple _'sure'_ before rounding the corner and going in the opposite direction of his home, pleased with the fact that Kashima is actually willing to take something serious for once. His phone vibrates twice when she replies.

_Thank you soooooo much, senpai! _(◍•ᴗ•◍)❤

And when he reaches her house, Kashima opens the door to greet Hori. She gives him a sweet smile, her eyes instantly lighting up like they normally do, and Hori's smile grows wider because, yes, the stars really do seem brighter tonight.

He can see the stars in her eyes— bright golden specks that dance in spring green jewels, and he knows them all too well at this point.

She invites him in and offers to take his bag off his hands, but he pushes her hand away and politely refuses. His hand lingers over hers for longer than he'd like, but when he finally retracts it, it feels unusually cold. He turns his head and examines the inside of her home and allows his eyes to trail up the stairs.

"Are your parents and Miki not home?"

"Yeah. My parents are on some overseas trip, and Miki is at her choir concert right now, which she did not tell me about!"

"Ouch."

They trek up to her room, and they both begin to lay out their scripts on the floor.

"I need some help with this scene." Kashima flips to a page she has bookmarked with a thin sticky note and hands it to Hori.

He quickly scans over the script, reading over her tiny scribbles and notes, and nods. "Ah, I see… So the scene where the maiden rejects the prince's love…Okay, let's start here." Hori points at a specific line, and she scoots closer to him and leans down to get a closer look before slowly nodding.

They spend the whole night reciting lines until Hori concludes that Kashima's performance is perfect. They begin to reorganize their scripts and neatly stack them in order. Hori slowly gets up, puts his hands on his hips and grins, "Good work, Kashima!"

"Thank you, prez!" Kashima jumps up and fixes her crumpled skirt. "I'll try my best!"

"That's good to know, Kashima. Well, I guess I'll be leaving now. Goodnight—"

"No, wait!" Kashima grabs his arm to stop him from leaving before slightly craning her neck to quickly glance at the clock. "It's almost 11. Are you sure it's safe for you to leave?"

Hori looks at Kashima incredulously. "I'm sorry. What?"

She gives him the most serious look he's ever seen from her off-stage and deadpans, "It's not safe for princesses to walk alone at night."

Hori responds by rolling up his script and whacking her on the forehead.

"First of all, I'm _not_ a princess, so _don't_ treat me like one. Second of all, if it's too _unsafe_ for me to leave, what do you suggest I do?"

Kashima gives him a suggestive look, and then something in his brain suddenly clicks.

_Oh. _

"Oh."

"I have a promise to keep." She innocently smiles in the most fucking _innocent_ manner Hori can possibly conceive knowing what that "promise" of hers entails, but deep down inside, he knows he doesn't mind at all because said it himself before.

He really doesn't mind taking her up on her offer of a proper breakfast.

_It's time to put your feelings to the test, Masayuki. Whatever happens, just go with the flow. I'm an actor, and according to Kashima, a pretty good one. All I have to do is spend another night with her, and if I don't think about doing anything crazy like, oh, I don't know, holding hands with her or wanting to make out with her, I think I'm good and can finally put the idea of me liking Kashima to rest. _

_Forever. _

They go through the same routine as last time (minus the awkwardness). Hori pulls out his own pajamas from his bag, to Kashima's surprise. He leaves to go change, and when he returns, he plops down next to Kashima on her bed.

"Eh, why did you have those in your bag, senpai?"

"I planned on sleeping over at a friend's house today. We had a project to work on, but we ended up finishing early."

She slowly nods and pulls at his blue t-shirt. "You really like the color blue, huh."

Hori looks at his shirt with disinterest before shrugging. "Uh, yeah. What of it?"

Kashima smiles and links her arm around his, affectionately holding onto it, "So does that mean you like my hair?!"

"No." He says, reaching out to brush her cobalt bangs out of her face. "Not at all."

_Kashima was right. I'm an amazing actor._

"Sheesh, senpai, it can't hurt to be honest with yourself every once in a while." Kashima laughs, and gives him a small smile before averting her gaze to the ground, her cheeks slowly turning redder by the second.

If Kashima says that she doesn't find this new development in their relationship strange, she'd be lying. But if she says that she also doesn't enjoy it, she will, again, also be lying. She finds their sudden increase in intimacy to be, frankly, exhilarating, for lack of a better word to describe how she feels towards her senpai's sudden increase in physical contact (and she doesn't mean him violently dragging her off to club activities). And when Hori had brushed her bangs away just now, she felt her stomach do this strange flip flop. _Ah, the stomach aches are back._

Her blush grows even more intense when she realizes that she's still affectionately clinging onto his arm, but she digs deep within herself to find the extra ounce of courage she needs before inaudibly whispering to herself, "It's now or never. You can do this, Yuu." Because, hey, how many chances does one get to hold the fierce president of the drama club's hand? (She's wanted to for _so long_. She still doesn't quite understand why, but, wow, she _really, really_ wants to right now).

She releases his arm and allows her hand to fall and lightly trail down his arm before gently landing on top of his hand. She waits for him to retract his hand, but he doesn't. She finally lifts her head up and stares at him absolutely perplexed. Expecting an exasperated sigh from him, Kashima involuntarily holds her breath, but what he does next manages to confuse her even more. He slowly turns his hand so that his palm is now facing upwards and begins to lace their fingers together. When he finally meets her gaze, he intensely gazes into her eyes

"S-S-Senpai?"

Hori presses a finger against her lips to silence her and sighs, "Shut up, Kashima. Don't ruin this."

_Damn, I am good._

Kashima is confused even more by the juxtaposition between his words and his actions, but when she watches his lips slowly curl up into what she believes to be a genuine smile, all the doubts and fears she has ever had vanish, and she suddenly feels lighter because she is just _so_ _happy_ right now. She gives his hand a squeeze and feels something she's never quite felt before when he squeezes back. It's as if a dam or something has finally erupted within her, and all the desires she has suppressed are finally resurfacing. And suddenly she just wants to yank his shirt, press her mouth against his, and relish how soft and sweet his lips will be.

But she doesn't.

Because holy _shit_ her stomach ache is getting _bad_.

Instead, she allows her head to fall onto his shoulder and takes in his warmth, letting out a sigh of satisfaction and relief. As they lean against the head of her bed, Kashima glances up and reaches for the switch of her lamp.

Everything goes black.

They slowly make their way into the blankets, and Hori reluctantly untangles their fingers, resulting in a whine of protest from Kashima, causing him to lightly chuckle. He retakes her hand and lightly brushes his thumb against the back of her hand back and forth. Eventually he stops and begins to trace circles in the palm of her hand. Kashima finds this action endearing and strangely soothing. She begins to breathe to the rhythm of his touch and melts into his warmth.

In contrast, Hori is lying there, gently holding her hand, inwardly panicking because for some reason, his brain has completely shut down and is currently incapable of making rational decisions.

"This… is nice," she breathes.

"Yeah, it is…" he responds before inwardly cursing himself. _Why did I say that?!_

"We should do this more often."

"You think so?"

_STOP BEING SO CASUAL, MASAYUKI._

"Mmhm." Kashima nods as she wraps her arms around him. Hori simply lays there in silence until he hears Kashima's breathing grow even. He lets out an exasperated sigh and runs his hand through his hair, attempting to make sense of the events that led to him sleeping with Kashima in her bed _again_. Now that he thinks about it, Hori realizes that he's sweating. A lot. He feels somewhat queasy— scratch that— absolutely _disgusted_, but at the same time, he also feels incredibly happy. He wracks his brain for some sort of reasonable explanation, but he can't bring himself to focus. The only things running through his head right now (if they can be summed up in a short list) are:

_Holy shit!_

Do I really like Kashima _that_ much?

Holy shit we _held hands_.

Kashima's hands are really soft.

I can't believe I am sharing a bed with her _again_. Gross. Absolutely unbelievable.

_I THINK I REALLY LIKE KASHIMA._

THIS IS NOT GOOD FOR MY HEALTH.

_SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT_

_FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THINGS HOLY WHAT DID I DO TO DESERVE THIS DIVINE RETRIBUTION?_

Why am I the little spoon?

I was acting the whole time, right?

I was just acting.

Acting.

In a frenzied state of panic, Hori desperately attempts to get out of Kashima's bed, grab his stuff, and run out the front door. But he can't because, _damn,_ Kashima has a good grip (a very warm and comforting grip, he means). His sudden movements cause her hold on him to tighten, and now Hori Masayuki knows that there is absolutely no hopes of escape from the menacing Kashima Yuu.

And then she starts to talk in her sleep.

The menacing Kashima Yuu strikes again with a bullet straight through his heart.

* * *

When they awake the following morning, Kashima finally makes him a proper breakfast— just like she promised. For some odd reason, the plate in front of Hori consists of all of his favorite breakfast items, and either Kashima has the same taste in food as him or she simply knows a little _too much_ about him for comfort. Hori finds himself leaning more towards the latter because there's no fucking way someone who eats that many parfaits and crepes on a daily basis can have the same taste in food as him. He begins to berate himself as his picks up his fork and reluctantly begins to eat. He chuckles to himself thinking that it'd be pretty hilarious if the oh-so-perfect Kashima Yuu was bad at cooking, but when he takes his first bite, he eats his words— literally.

Hori learns that day that Kashima is a ridiculously good cook, and if it weren't for her being a huge airhead who constantly tries to skip rehearsal, she'd be the very definition of perfect. If he were to play Pictionary with a group of friends (at school, preferably), and he got the word "perfect," he would either a.) use his limited reservoir of artistic ability and attempt to project Kashima's glorious visage on a tiny sheet of paper (an impossible feat, he already knows) or b.) just find Kashima because chances are they will have rehearsal that day. But then it hits him that if he were to do something like that, Kashima would know that he thinks she is perfect, and inflating her ego is the last thing he wants to do. But, alas, here he is trying to control the urge to stuff his face because, _damn_, her cooking is amazing. Almost better than his, he reluctantly admits to himself. (And he _knows_ that he makes killer pork cutlet ramen).

"How is it?" Kashima asks, looking especially proud of herself. If they were in a shoujo manga, she'd be surrounded by screentone SE-1020.

Hori swallows. "If I didn't know how much of a shitty person you were, I would probably get on my knees and beg for marriage."

"MARRIAGE?!" Kashima suddenly drops her fork with a _clink_ and slams her hands onto Hori's shoulders, causing him to jolt upright. "YOU WANT TO MARRY ME?"

"W-What?! What the hell?! No way! Why would I want to get married to _you_ of all people?" Hori chokes out, somewhat shaken by her outburst. "And did you completely miss the part where I blatantly insulted you with very vulgar language, or are you really that dense?!"

Kashima releases his shoulders and steps back away from him and plops herself back down onto her chair. Hori inwardly curses himself for being too harsh on her as he watches her sulk and pout because he secretly thinks that she is the epitome of perfect and she will never know. She is both the sun and the moon because no one— not even all the stars in the universe— are allowed to outshine her as long as he's here and can do anything about it. In fact, even if it were possible, if one day he would wake up and suddenly feel as if marrying Kashima was something plausible and even, dare he say, desirable, he would never see himself as worthy enough for her. When he's about to open his mouth to attempt to apologize, she turns her head and shoots him a triumphant, smug smile.

"I bet you were about to seriously consider it, though."

Hori threateningly picks up his fork and Kashima sprints out of the kitchen faster than he's ever seen anyone run in his entire life. He puts the fork back down and waits for Kashima to stop hiding behind the wall, and when she doesn't budge, he sighs and grabs both their plates and begins to wash the dishes. He hears Kashima's characteristically light footsteps cautiously approach him from behind.

"You don't have to act like that, Kashima. You know I'm not actually going to kill you, right?"

"But you _were_ thinking about it, weren't you, Hori-senpai?"

"Yeah, but I do that every day, don't I?"

"True."

Kashima stands next to him and begins to dry the dishes he's finished washing while Hori finishes scrubbing down the skillet. The kitchen is silent except for the noise of dishes clinking against the drying rack and the rinsing and scrubbing of the skillet. _This is kind of nice_, Hori thinks. _Being able to spend time with Kashima without always yelling and throwing stuff at her is a nice change of pace._ Hori allows his eyes to drift to Kashima's profile. His eyes linger on her face before falling back down to the skillet he just finished rinsing. He hands the skillet over to Kashima whose hands lightly brush against his as she transfers it to the drying rack. Afterwards, they both get ready and leave.

They both walk to school in silence before bidding each other farewell when they reach the student lockers.

When Hori is sure that Kashima is gone, he allows his head to fall against his locker with a soft thud and deeply sighs— something he's noticed himself doing a lot more than usual lately.

Despite how much he thinks about Kashima and the not-so-hidden implication of those thoughts, Hori finds himself still reluctant to accept his own feelings. Just this morning, he thought, "Hey, being with Kashima isn't that bad. This is really nice." However, Hori still feels that, for some reason, being with Kashima is impossible.

Because this is _Kashima_ we're talking about.

Ah. There it is.

His favorite excuse.


	7. issue 07

For the past few nights, Mikoshiba has been dedicating his free time to a new dating sim that he had gotten in the mail about a week ago. This is fairly normal behavior for him. However, the reasons behind the purchase of the game are slightly different this time.

Mikoshiba saves the game before turning off the console. _It's pretty late now_, he thinks. _Despite the fact that I finally triggered the first flag, I don't think I've learned that much tonight. _He gets up and sits on the edge of his bed feeling dejected. For the past few weeks, he has been tormented by an internal conflict he can't quite bring himself to come to terms with. He runs his hand through his hair and noticing that he still hasn't taken out his piercings, he stands up and takes off his earrings in front of his mirror.

Mikoshiba tugs at his bright red hair in disdain.

"They just _had_ to be red. Out of all the colors in the _whole entire world_… Red!"

His unusual hair color is becoming so familiar to him to the point that it now makes him uncomfortable (and he doesn't mean that because it's his actual hair color). Sighing, Mikoshiba picks up the cellphone sitting on the table.

_Hey, you haven't been at Nozaki's place lately, Mikorin! Are you okay?_

_Um, I baked cookies the other day, and I wished that you were there to have some! I think you would've really liked them!_

_Oh, I know! I'll bring you a fresh, new batch later on this week! So look forward to it!_

_And if it's not too much trouble, can you please come and help out tomorrow afternoon? It's kind of lonely without you, Mikorin! And Nozaki really misses your beautiful flowers! (And another deadline is coming up soon.)But I'm just really used to you always being there, so it feels kinda weird without you there :(_

Mikoshiba knows that if he looks up and into the mirror this very moment, his face will almost be the exact same shade of red as his hair, so he keeps his eyes focused on the bright screen. He feels his heart begin to race, and he begins to frantically respond to her texts with shaky hands and bated breath, typing a large wall of text before deleting it and starting all over.

_PLEASE DON'T SAY SUCH EMBARRASSING THINGS! And I've just been kinda busy lately, but yeah I can come tomorrow I guess._

_YAY! I can't wait!_

He smiles at her enthusiastic reply and gives into temptation, closing his eyes and imaging her smiling face. He has her smile perfectly encoded in his memory— every subtle curve in her lips, the way the corners of her mouth pull back and up and the sound of her laughter that he can't quite get out of his mind no matter how hard it tries. It's quite haunting, really.

Mikoshiba lies down on his bed and blankly stares at the ceiling in deep thought.

"Sakura likes Nozaki," he reminds himself.

Mikoshiba attempts to find comfort in hugging his dakimakura, but that only ends up making things worse, so he tosses it off his bed and onto the ground. He doesn't think it's quite the worthwhile purchase he had initially thought it to be anymore. Sometimes he'll wrap his arms around the large pillow and ask himself, "This is how you're supposed to hold a girl, right?" And his thoughts slowly (but surely) always shift back to Sakura— bright red ribbons, strawberry shampoo and her sing-song voice calling for "Mikorin."

But no matter what he does, he can't seem to get Sakura out of his mind, and he thinks it's starting to drive him crazy.

"But Nozaki probably won't ever notice her that way, will he?"

Mikoshiba slaps himself in the face.

He smothers his face into the nearest pillow and begins to whine, his voice on the verge of cracking, "How could I say something like that?! I should be cheering her on! Not… _C-c-crushing_ on her!"

When he's done knocking some sense into himself and ruining his hair for the night, Mikoshiba allows himself to relax and clear his mind for a moment. And deep down inside he knows that he will never be able to make his feelings for Sakura vanish. He thought that if he spent some time away from her, his feelings would gradually dwindle back to nothing but wanting to be acknowledged as a reliable friend, but, alas, here he is, pathetically trying to find an excuse to not pursue her, as usual.

But sometimes he dares to think about maybes and what ifs.

Maybe Nozaki will never notice her.

What if he has a chance?

* * *

When Mikoshiba arrives to class the following morning, he prays that Kashima doesn't decide to skip. After spotting her cobalt hair on the other side of the classroom, he lets out a sigh of relief and goes to sit down in his seat next to hers.

"Good morning, Kashima."

Kashima turns her head and gives him a friendly smile, "Ah, good morning, Mikoshiba! You seem to be in a good mood today!"

Mikoshiba nervously rubs his nape and feels his cheeks turning somewhat pink, much to his own dismay. "Well, I guess you could say that."

She gives him an inquiring look and stares him down before asking, "Hey, did something happen?"

"Kind of? Well, that's actually what I wanted to talk to you about today. I need your advice about something. Okay, well, not really something. It's more like… some_one_."

He watches as her green eyes instantly light up with newfound fervor and he inwardly cringes.

"_WHO IS IT?"_

Mikoshiba frantically motions for her to keep her voice down and anxiously scans the room and turns his attention back to Kashima after checking that no one has bothered to pay any attention to them. He leans forward and rests his chin in his hands before reluctantly answering her question.

"I-I-It's Sakura," he says in a hushed whisper. "I recently realized that, well, I really like her, and I don't really know what to do about that because she likes Nozaki, y'know?"

"Ah, I see… Chiyo-chan, huh," Kashima says, lost in deep thought.

…

"WAIT, WHAT? SHE LIKES NOZAKI-SENPAI?"

"NOT SO LOUD, KASHIMA."

Suddenly, the bell rings, and their teacher walks in, closing the door behind him.

"I'll talk to you about this after school, I guess…"

Kashima simply nods and reaches into her bag to take out her notebook and pencil box.

She turns her head to cast her best friend a furtive glance, and feels guilty because she honestly does not know how to help him. Although she sounded really surprised when Mikoshiba let it slip that Sakura likes Nozaki, she's always known that, _yes_, Chiyo-chan loves Nozaki, and there's a chance that she always will. Kashima bites her lip and rhythmically taps her pencil on her notebook, blankly staring off into space.

_Sakura's not going to give up on Nozaki-senpai anytime soon… But is he ever going to notice her? I guess I should tell him to just go ahead and make a move on her. I mean, it can't hurt if he's being kind of subtle about it, right? _She begins to tap her pencil even harder. _But why does he want my advice? _Kashima looks up at the blackboard and jots down a few notes in order to look productive. _I mean, he's the one who's always giving me advice when it comes to Hori-senpai. Oh, speaking of Hori-senpai— NO! NOW IS NOT THE TIME TO THINK ABOUT HIM. NOT NOW. _

Kashima is honestly at a loss as to what to do.

_I guess I'll figure something out by the end of today—_

_Ah._

_I'm supposed to read over some scripts with Hori-senpai today._

Kashima begins to feel uneasy, as if she were about to get a stomach ache, and when she looks down at her notes, she notices that her words have jumbled together, rendering her effort at being _somewhat_ productive completely meaningless.

She feels a bead of sweat slide down her neck, and the room suddenly feels almost ten degrees warmer. If it weren't for Mikoshiba's problem, Kashima would probably try to jump out of the window and escape for the rest of the day. If it weren't for the fact that she was required to spend a whole afternoon with Hori in the club room, she would definitely not even be here right now. Just thinking about him makes her want to go to the nurse's office and leave early due to sudden illness.

But she doesn't want to leave. But she really, _really_ wants to spend time with Hori-senpai today.

So why?

* * *

During lunch, Kashima finds herself seated next to Sakura on a bench, poking at her mostly uneaten food with her chopsticks.

"Okay, so let me get this straight. Kashima-kun, you feel weird when you think about Hori-senpai now?"

Kashima slowly nods. "I get stomach aches. Well, this has actually been happening for a while now but it's suddenly gotten worse."

"S-Stomach aches?" Sakura stops eating and incredulously looks up at Kashima. "Um, actually, can we just start all the way from the beginning? That might make this easier for me to understand." She nervously laughs and anxiously waits for Kashima's response.

"From the _very beginning_?"

"Yes, like when you first met him, I guess. Because, you two have known each other for a while now, right?"

"Hm…" Kashima lightly taps her chin. "Well, we first officially _met_ at the entrance ceremony, but I've actually known him for a while before that."

"Really?"

"Well, you see, when I was in my last year of middle school, I actually saw a play that he was in. He was a supporting character. I just remember his acting being so amazing that I thought,_ I'm_ _going to Roman Academy if it's the last thing I do!_" Kashima's eyes soften, and she places her bento beside her and laces her fingers together. Twiddling her thumbs, Kashima redirects her gaze to Sakura and sighs. "I just really wanted to see him act again. I mean, I did plan on joining the drama club and really wanted the lead role, but the main reason I'm here is because of him. And well, I've always admired and respected him, but now… I'm not really sure. I feel like something has changed."

Sakura hums in deep thought and swings her legs back and forth. "Say, Kashima-kun, do you remember what you told me earlier this year? About how you wanted to perform at his wedding? Do you still feel that way?"

Kashima, puzzled by her question, blankly stares at her. "Well, yeah, of course I still feel that way… I think? I don't think my current feelings will affect that."

Sakura groans in frustration and wants to pull her bright red ribbons from her hair and throw them at Kashima's face. "Okay, so you told me earlier that Hori-senpai slept over at your place, right?"

"Yeah."

"And it made you feel _really _happy, right?"

"Yes, very happy! He was really nice, and I _finally_ got to hold his hand. And let me tell you, I was right all along! He has _princess hands_."

"Princess… hands?"

"Yep! They were really soft. Callouses and all."

"Callouses? _Soft_?"

"Just how I imagined they'd feel like."

"Okay, we're getting off track here. Kashima-kun. Back to the question!" Frowning, Sakura turns away from Kashima and buries her face in her hands in frustration, "Do you really have no idea what I'm trying to suggest?"

Kashima falters. "I don't know anymore, Chiyo-chan… I'm really confused. I'm sorry."

"You should try aiming a little higher. Be more ambitious, Kashima-kun!" Sakura faces Kashima once again with a sense of vigor and aggressiveness which she had never thought to be possible from someone of her stature. (But then again, Hori _does_ have an aptitude for crowd control).

(And by crowd control, Kashima means the riot he effectively ended within a matter of seconds after the fifth time she tried to skip a club meeting, which is when Hori finally realized that this was _not_ a matter of coincidence and gave her the _most splendid_ drop kick she has ever had the privilege of witnessing).

"You mean performing at his wedding isn't ambitious enough? But I more than _anything_ want to be at his wedding, and I don't think that my desires have changed." She pauses. "And what does that have to do with my current problem again?"

Sakura involuntarily grinds her teeth together, aggressively grabs ahold of Kashima's shoulders, and lowers her until she's almost eyelevel. Kashima feels Sakura's piercing gaze and swears that she felt something sharp go straight through her chest just now.

If looks could kill, this would be it. An angry Sakura is a scary Sakura.

"Kashima-kun, look me in the eye and listen to what I'm about to say very carefully!"

Kashima instinctively nods.

"This is not a 'I want to perform at his wedding' kind of thing anymore!"

Sakura feels a blush begin to creep up her neck and feels her cheeks begin to grow warm because, wow, it's been a while since she's seen Kashima's face so up close and _wow!_ Hori does not joke around when he says that Kashima's the most handsome person in the world, which he says every. single. day. Almost as handsome as Nozaki! _Almost._ She fights back the urge to back away and bravely continues on.

"This is a 'I want to stand next to him at his wedding' kind of thing! Do you understand?"

The Prince of the School, Kashima Yuu, who is also number one in their class, hums in acknowledgement. "You mean like… Be his best man? You're absolutely right, Chiyo-chan! I should— "

"_NO_!"

"What?"

"I meant 'next to him' like…" She sighs in exasperation, pinching the bridge of her nose. "The _other_ person."

"Oh."

…

"OH."

Sakura watches as Kashima allows her words to slowly sink in. Kashima suddenly stands up hysterically, her mouth agape, completely perplexed.

"_OH MY GOD._"

…

"So the stomach aches weren't due to stress?"

"Huh?!" Sakura looks at Kashima, who is now sitting on the bench again, incredulously. "Who told you something as ridiculous as that? Mikorin? I highly doubt that even he would— "

"Yeah, he did."

Sakura buries her face in her hands and suddenly remembers her cookie-filled bag lying around in her book bag.

"Ah! Speaking of Mikorin, I just remembered something! Sorry, Kashima-kun, I have to leave now!"

Kashima smiles and nods, "Okay. Thanks for helping me! Bye, Chiyo-chan!"

Watching Sakura's red hair bounce as she heads to the school building, Kashima closes her bento box and decides that she's not really in the mood for lunch anymore. Not after the shocking revelation she just had thanks to Sakura.

"I can see why he likes her so much."

* * *

Sakura sprints to Mikoshiba's classroom, hoping that she'll make it before lunch is over. When she sees him, Sakura begins to grin uncontrollably.

"Mikorin!" she sings, happily waving. "It's been a while, hasn't it?"

Mikoshiba turns around when he hears her high pitched voice and gives her an awkward wave before getting up. He approaches Sakura and longingly gazes into her eyes.

"It's been far too long. I see that you have been unable to resist my charming face, but if you're not careful, I may just have to eat you up— "

"Okay, Mikorin, that's enough for today!" Sakura retracts her hand and attempts to awkwardly laugh it off because she _knows_ that he's just going to get embarrassed and run away. She digs through her bag for a tiny blue polka dotted bag and is about to hand it to Mikorin when she notices that he has, as expected, retreated to the corner of the classroom, sulking in embarrassment. Sighing, she cautiously approaches him and plops down next to him. She stretches out her legs before affectionately ruffling and patting his hair.

"There, there. It'll be okay, Mikorin."

"Don't treat me like a kid!" he cries, hugging his knees.

"Then don't act like one!" Sakura snaps before holding out the drawstring bag in front of his face, shaking it to catch his attention, much like an owner would do to their dog when giving them a treat. When he finally looks up, Sakura gives him a soft smile.

"Here are the cookies I promised," she says, gently dropping it into his shaking hands. "I spent a lot of time on these, so you better eat them all, 'kay?"

He meekly nods before slowly opening the bag and cautiously putting a small cookie into his mouth. Sakura anxiously watches him as his facial expression gradually changes to one of content. He soon plops another cookie into his mouth, and he's beaming like a kid whose parents had just taken him to the candy store.

Mikoshiba carefully holds the bag and grins, "These are seriously good, Sakura!"

Sakura bashfully laughs, "Thank you, Mikorin, I'm glad you like them." She scoots closer to the redhead until their shoulders are touching, and if her eyes aren't deceiving her, his cheeks begin to turn a little red.

If it were anyone but _her_, Mikoshiba probably would've treated to the opposite side of the room when their shoulders touched, but it_ is_ her. She's Sakura Chiyo. This is okay because Sakura is familiar. Sakura is familiar and comfortable.

"I actually brought some over to Nozaki-kun's place the other day! Nozaki-kun really liked them! He looked _so happy_ eating them while drinking his tea! You should've been there, Mikorin!"

Mikoshiba frowns she goes on and on about Nozaki and watches in disdain as she plays with her play with her hair, twirling it over and over again. (Just how many times has she wrapped her hair around that finger? Twelve?) He feigns interest and somehow brings himself to nod his head every once in a while.

"Mikorin, you should really go to Nozaki-kun's place with me today! He needs all the help that he can get, and we all know that you're the _only_ one who can draw such _beautiful_ flowers."

"R-Really?! Do you mean that?" Mikorin feels his heart begin to race and a newfound sense of purpose as his displeasure subsides.

Sakura watches as he practically radiates with joy and can't help but chuckle at how easy it is to get him to lighten up. "And it's so much quieter without you around. Everyone really misses your presence."

"For real? I never knew!"

"Yeah, Mikorin, I can tell that even Nozaki-kun feels on edge without you there as often as you used to be. You're like an important family member!" Sakura says sincerely, flashing Mikoshiba a small smile and softly giggling.

Mikoshiba crosses his arms and hangs his head because the last thing he'd _ever_ wanted her to say just came out of her mouth a good five seconds ago.

'_You're like an important family member!'_

He inwardly cringes at her words because just a few months ago, he himself thought to himself that Sakura was like a younger sister to him.

"Sure, I'll come over today. I was planning on it anyways," he manages to force out and fakes a smile.

And, _damn,_ the smile that followed was worth it.

* * *

_A/N: THIS TOOK FAR TOO LONG! I think I wrote this chapter during some really late night writing sprint back in November, and when I opened up the word document, it was basically an incoherent mess. But now it's tolerable. Anyways, have some borderline angsty Mikorin, a slight dose of one-sided Mikochiyo and KashiChiyo friendship. It looks like I'm building up to a stereotypical love triangle (BUT THANKFULLY THAT IS NOT THE DIRECTION THIS IS GOING), but I'm so excited now that I've gotten this chapter out of the way because this is just one huge transition tbh._


	8. issue 08

Too much food. There is simply _too much_ food on the table, Sakura thinks as she apprehensively looks up at Nozaki's blissfully unaware face.

"N-Nozaki-kun, why did you make so much food today?"

Handing Sakura a small bowl of rice, he smiles. "Well, I guess you could say that I got a little too excited upon hearing that Mikoshiba would be coming today."

"I've been, uh, a little busy lately, so I haven't really had a lot of free time lately. But Sakura told me that you had a deadline coming up, so I decided to come today." Taking small sips of tea in order to preoccupy himself, Mikoshiba awkwardly casts his eyes downward. "And it has been a while, I guess… But it's okay now! I'm not busy anymore!"

When Nozaki offers him a bowl of rice, Mikoshiba sheepishly accepts it and says, "And I'll be coming over more often for a while if you don't mind."

Upon hearing this, Nozaki's face instantly lights up, and Mikoshiba swears his eyes are sparkling.

"Thank you, Mikoshiba! And help yourself to as much food as you'd like!"

Sakura is the first one to dig in. (After all, she was bouncing up and down upon hearing that Nozaki had made dinner for them). After the first bite, she hums in content and looks up at Nozaki with flushed cheeks and a heavenly smile.

"You're such a good cook, Nozaki-kun!" she gushes. But Mikoshiba _swears_ she also looks like she's about to cry for some reason.

He mutters a soft thank you, and Mikoshiba finally begins to eat, relishing the taste of his miso soup and the texture of the tofu and the well-seasoned pork sitting on top of a generous helping of rice. When he glances back up at Nozaki and Sakura, he feels his mouth grow dry and his grip on his chopsticks tighten.

She's staring at him like _that_ again. It's _that smile_, Mikoshiba notices.

It's the smile which Nozaki— and _only_ Nozaki— can elicit from her.

_I'll never be able to get her to make a face like that. Only he can make her that happy._

Dinner is a slow and painful affair, and for once, he can't wait to start inking flowers and doing betas. Maybe that'll wash the bitter taste out of his mouth. _It's like watching the heroine get together with the hero. Except the catch is that you're his sidekick. You'll never be noticed_, Mikoshiba thinks. _You'll always be the sidekick_.

There's no option to romance the sidekick. Maybe the five other main characters.

But never the sidekick.

But he still yearns to see that smile every day because that's when Sakura looks the most beautiful, when she is hopelessly in love.

When she is hopelessly in love with Nozaki.

So he sticks around with them for a while longer, goes to Nozaki's apartment more often, invites the two of them to the mall with him (and doesn't let them out of his sight because none of them want a repeat of _The Great Mall Fiasco _starring Mikoshiba Mikoto himself.)

Life's not good if Sakura Chiyo's not happy, he thinks. And Nozaki is the person who grants her that happiness, so when Mikoshiba is _once again_ eating dinner at Nozaki's apartment with Sakura, he finds that he no longer feels as bitter because the Sakura he likes shines brightest when she's with Nozaki.

So maybe, _just maybe_, this is how things are meant to be. Maybe this is the fate he has been resigned to.

Maybe the three of them were meant to be this way. (Or at least for the time being.)

But maybe they're not.

Maybe, Mikoshiba muses, the sidekick may finally get his chance.

* * *

"Nozaki-kun, do you need new ideas for the next chapter?" Sakura asks as Nozaki continues to blankly stare at the empty page in front of him.

"Yes, I do, and that is why I sent brave Wakamatsu on a mission."

Mikoshiba gauges the expression plastered across his face and snorts, "Oi, Nozaki, if I'm not mistaken, is that _guilt_ I see?"

He drops to his knees and clutches his head in what appears to be shame.

"Yes! Which is why—" He whips his head to his right and frantically begs, "—Sakura, I need you to spy on them, and if you get caught, she won't think anything of it because you're probably her only friend in the universe."

"Woah, that was cold."

"Yeah, Nozaki-kun. I agree with Mikorin for once. Yuzuki is a great person with a… great, _colorful_ personality!"

After some crafty persuasion and Mikoshiba on the ground crying for them to not force him to go, Sakura finally leaves, leaving Mikoshiba alone with Nozaki. Nozaki grabs some snacks and lays them out on the table and sits down across from him.

"For someone who has a crush on her, that was pretty sad, if I say so myself."

Mikoshiba almost chokes on a chip.

"H-Hah? H-H-How d-did you know?!"

Nozaki leaves to pour him a cup of juice, and after gently placing it down in front of him, he sighs. "I'm not blind, Mikoshiba, and I am the spokesperson for girls' hearts all across Japan."

"And?"

"I want to help you."

"Why?"

Nozaki rests his chin in his hand as he thoughtfully looks at nothing in particular. "Sakura has told me in the past that there's a guy that she likes, but to be honest, from what she described, he doesn't sound like that great of a guy."

"R-Right." Mikoshiba hesitantly nods and almost feels like punching Nozaki square in the face because _holy shit_ he's _dense_.

"Now that she's away, I want you to go buy her flowers."

"Right _now_?"

"Yes. Right now, Mikoshiba," he says with a small smile on his face. (And a glint in his eyes if Mikoshiba's eyes aren't deceiving him.)

Mikoshiba feels his blood pressure drop.

* * *

"Welcome, what are you looking for today!"

Mikoshiba awkwardly waves at the florist and forces out a shaky, "I-I'm just browsing."

He shuffles around before finally feeling comfortable and begins to thoughtfully browse through the large selection of flowers. Nothing really catches his eye until he spots the row of chrysanthemums towards the far left side of the store. Bright reds and yellows and whites. That's when it hits him.

_A message! I'll send her a message!_

He quickly gathers red and yellow chrysanthemums, some gardenias, and a few other types of flowers. After all, this _is_ what he's best at: the language of flowers. He rings them up at the counter and asks the cashier to wrap them up in a bouquet for him. However, he ends up rearranging them on his own on the way back.

After climbing the stairs up to Nozaki's room, he goes to unlock the door but halts he hears Sakura's voice coming from the other side. His phone suddenly vibrates in his pocket.

_I know you're outside. Just open the door._

Mikoshiba frantically replies: _HOW DID YOU KNOW?_

Taking a deep breath, he tightly wraps his hand around the doorknob and opens the door.

"Ah, Mikorin!" Sakura calls for him sounding as cheery as ever. When he takes off his shoes and walks into the living room, Sakura eyes the bouquet in his arms curiously.

He takes slow, hesitant steps before shoving the flowers into her arms. "F-For you! As thanks for the cookies…"

She gently examines the flowers in her arms and is about to thank him when she looks up and notices that he had disappeared, leaving the door wide open.

Sakura's so distracted that doesn't hear Nozaki's head land with a thud against his drafting table out of sheer frustration.

When Nozaki lifts his head up and off the table, he turns to see Sakura seated and fiddling with her flowers. She glances at Nozaki and smiles. "Aren't they pretty? That was so sweet of him. I never knew Mikorin was _that_ thoughtful."

He only manages to nod in response and begins to think that _maybe_ Sakura likes him back. Well, with the way she's smiling and _still_ playing with those flowers, there's no doubt about it, right? On the surface, he's happy for his friend. After all, now he knows that there's a chance that his feelings will be requited, but at the same time, Nozaki feels something strange bubbling at the pit of his stomach. And that's when he realizes what's been bothering him this whole time.

_Suzuki is the only one for Mamiko, so that makes Sakura the new love rival?!_

Noticing how tense he's become, Sakura puts down the flowers and goes to reassuringly rub his back. "What's wrong, Nozaki-kun?"

"Ah, it's nothing," he says, swatting the air. "I was just thinking that maybe Suzuki could win Mamiko back after that small quarrel they had at the end of the last chapter with a bouquet of roses or something like that."

"I think it might work! I know _I'd _probably be won over if someone bought me a bouquet of roses. It sounds really romantic."

"I see…"

_Sakura is no Suzuki, but that's okay. Now I can fully support Mikoshiba without any doubts._

(But that wasn't the problem at all).

* * *

The following weekend, Nozaki takes it upon himself to buy a bouquet of roses when he hears back from Sakura and Mikoshiba about coming over to help him do last minute touches before the deadline. Staring at the deep red flowers, an unusual feeling takes over and settles in his gut, leaving him confused. For the shortest of moments, he actually considers presenting Sakura the bouquet _himself_ because he wants to gauge her reaction firsthand, he thinks whilst feigning innocence.

But that would be the wrong thing to do. Totally unethical.

He hears two knocks on the door and he carefully clutches the roses as he stands up. Just as he had suspected, Mikoshiba got here before Sakura. Everything was going according to plan.

"Yo, Nozaki—"

"Take these." Nozaki shoves the bouquet into his friend's arms. "And when Sakura gets here, I want you to give her these."

He pushes the roses towards Mikoshiba and watches as he feebly digs his fingers into the thin plastic, lightly crinkling it.

"Hey, Nozaki, why are you—"

Mikoshiba is cut off by the sound of the doorbell, and he quickly scampers to the living room.

"Hey, Nozaki-kun, I hope you weren't waiting too long! Erm, where's Mikorin— Ah."

Mikoshiba observes from afar, watching as Sakura innocently cocks her head to the side once she notices him awkwardly peeking out from behind a wall. Nozaki motions for him to come greet Sakura. Mikoshiba slowly makes his way to the front entrance while holding the bouquet behind his back, praying that the plastic doesn't make too much noise. He awkwardly waves and Sakura slowly nods her head in response.

"Hello, Mikorin!" she exclaims while forcing herself to not ask what he's trying to hide behind his back. However, before she can even blink, everything goes red for a split second, and she's overwhelmed by a light, sweet scent. She feels her hand wrap around what appears to be plastic, and upon closer inspection, there are stems inside. When she pulls the foreign object away from her face, her eyes widen.

"M-Mikorin, what's all of this?" she asks, her cheeks now flushed red.

He begins to discover that the ground is _terribly_ interesting and can't bring himself to look her in the eye. "I-I-It's a gift!" he replies, hand lightly ghosting over the side of his neck and cheek.

Nozaki feels his chest tighten when he sees a gentle smile grace Sakura's face.

"Thank you, Mikorin! I love them!"

Mikorin. He never lets me call him that.

"Really?! That's good to hear! I was really picky, y'know? Only the best for you." Mikoshiba gently smiles at her and actually manages to keep himself firmly planted on the ground. There's no urge to escape, no desire to collapse, and no sense of impending doom. No anxiety. For once, he doesn't really feel embarrassed because if she looks _that happy_, then maybe there's nothing to be ashamed about. _This is nice,_ he thinks, as he fondly looks down at his smiling friend.

He lightly ruffles her hair and grins. "It's no big deal."

She merely giggles in response.

Nozaki watches their friendly chatter from afar and feels something is off.

Something is changing.

Something has shifted.

Maybe part of him regrets giving the bouquet to Mikoshiba. Maybe. But he is a fool, he thinks, for even allowing such thoughts to cross his mind because what's wrong with this? What's wrong with his two best friends smiling and being happy together?

Together.

He watches as she begins to faintly blush and how Mikoshiba, for once, does not cower away and actually looks comfortable.

Only when he's with Sakura does he look so at ease. Of course, he's always been incredibly comfortable around Kashima. After all, they're best friends, but there's something about Mikoshiba when he's with Sakura, Nozaki notices. He can't quite put it into words, but someday, maybe he'll be able to.

Nozaki comes to the conclusion that he's okay with this.

He's okay with Sakura Chiyo liking Mikoshiba Mikoto.

She's no Suzuki, but this is okay.

This is okay.

* * *

"_I like you."_

Her words haunt him in his sleep sometimes.

Everything had led up to that moment. It was almost as if he were in an actual shoujo manga. And as quickly as the moment began, it had ended, fizzling out just like the fireworks they had watched that day.

"_I like you."_

And for the longest, most painfully prolonged moment possible, the fireworks stop, leaving nothing but silence in its wake. The vibrant colors in the sky are eaten up by an endless expanse of darkness. Not even the stars are shining tonight.

Not even the stars.

"_Kashima is like the stars,"_ he remembers Hori saying once, _"Too far to reach, seemingly untouchable. But amidst the endless expanse of space, she manages to shine like no one has ever shined before."_

(He was always strangely poetic when it came to Kashima.)

And all that's here now is Sakura Chiyo and her bright hair and cadmium red ribbons and her pink yukata and her pink tinted lip gloss and her cheeks which are now lightly dusted with the slightest tint of red.

Sakura is an explosion of every warm color on the spectrum— so warm that even her bright violet eyes begin to feel warm rather than cool.

"_I like you."_

"I feel the same. I like fireworks."

And she laughs.

She laughs for what seems to be an eternity.

What a cruel joke.

(But the joke's on whom exactly?)


End file.

Gekkan Shōjo Nozaki-kun, Friendship, Romance