miyamura x reader || deja vu

chapter three. lie

and, just as you predicted, the small flame you believed you had contained had flared into a raging wildfire.

after a weekend break, you returned to school, expecting to resume council duties like normal.

but you were suddenly the center of attention.

every single time you walked in a room, they were staring.

every single conversation you had had to be about sengoku.

when you walked beside him, a cascade of "ooo's" and "ahh's" filled the halls.

next thing you knew, they labeled you two the couple of katagiri high. just thinking about it made a pinkish hue spread across your cheeks.

you had twenty times the popularity as before, and you hated every second of it. they started calling remi and sakura "third wheels" and you found your relationships strained very complicatedly. remi didn't like this attention either, and sakura seemed caught up in her personal affairs more often than normal.

it didn't take long for you to need this to stop.

"sengoku," you said sternly. you and him were sitting in the student council room for lunch. "we need to talk about... the elephant in the room."

"mmph?" he mumbled. his mouth was stuffed.

"the uhm-" you paused to stifle a laugh. that's cute.. he's like a little chipmunk. "the rumors."

he didn't respond.

"aren't you.. bothered by it? at all?" you glanced at him. was he that clueless?

"c-can you specify.. which rumor?"

he really didn't care?! "y-you know..." you fidgeted. this'd be awkward. "they think we're dating."

long story short, sengoku choked on his onigiri.

. . .

everytime it was brought up, you counted on sengoku to shoot it down. at first, he was a bit oblivious (although part of your mind wanted to believe that he didn't mind the rumors at all).

after a few days of hardship, the council determined that their minds could not be changed. every defense was just 'modesty' from the 'couple'. you sighed and buried your head in your hands. you were surprised that they were relentless enough to disregard your whole statement about love being a burden at this age, a waste of time, etc.

"remi..." you approached her for rejuvenation. suddenly, you paused. you noticed something off about her. she was definitely down. very unlike her. "r-remi-san? are you okay?"

she pressed her lips together and moved away a bit. "y-yeah. remi's okay."

you shook your head skeptically. you had been so caught up in drama and rumors, you completely forgot about your friend.

"i'm sorry for... neglecting you these past days."

she puffed out her cheeks. she's hiding something.

"but that's not it, is it?" ah, finally. you were getting somewhere. "what did you need help with that one day?"

that one day, she asked you for advice. ayasaki was a blushing mess, flustered once you asked her about love. she did a good job of avoiding it, especially hiding it right as sengoku appeared...

then it hit you. how could i not have noticed?

her distraught appearance, the fact she tries to hide it from you, the fact that she seems to resent you after the rumor and your talk about high school crushes.. the fact that she hides it all to ensure that you're happy, since, she knows that you, too are curious about the president. that you, too, had an unusual interest in him. that the only reason you hesitated about calling relationships burdens was because of him.

and you knew that she understood why sengoku didn't mind the rumors.

she said nothing more, and you understood.

but you couldn't bare to see her so broken about it, to see her choose you over her own happiness.

"i don't like sengoku-san, remi-san."

and that lie was the first of many to come.