liar ; lover [ ikuzono ] - on hiatus

[ i ] lightbulbs + ideas

mukuro
emotions bubbled through mukuro's stomach and slid up into her chest, worry and fear the most predominant. it was all kind of nerve wracking to be put on display like this. what would they think? it sure was something... different. just as she had said, doing this was definitely scary... but it was for good reason. everyone could be happy, even if they were all being lied to.

{the previous saturday}
the soft mid-morning glow of the sun made its way through the fluttery curtains of sayaka's window, beaming dimly onto the carpeted floor.
the digital clock on the bedside table read exactly 9:28 am.
mukuro ikusaba gently scrunched her fingers, curling the bedsheets into her left hand and feeling the textured fabric, her right hand drowsily rubbing her eye.
"man," sayaka maizono yawned, her back slipping down her headboard as she slouched, "i always feel so tired after sleepovers, even if we're getting up late."
"that... may also be because we stayed up until 4 am last night," mukuro sighed. "i need a break..."

as if on cue, sayaka's phone lit up, displaying a text message notification. the blue haired girl scowled slightly as she sleepily made a grab for her phone.
"and i need a break from these texts," she said, opening her phone.
"what's wrong? are you in a group chat?" mukuro questioned.
"no, it's not that. it's- well- remember when they announced the date of the dance yesterday? and said the reserve course students were gonna come too?" sayaka said. mukuro nodded, her tangled hair bobbing along with her head.

"so... they're gonna put each main course class with one or two reserve course classes, right- but they never told us the pairings. which means..." sayaka flipped her phone around swiftly to show her friend, the screen's light emitting towards mukuro's face. "all of my fans in the reserve course are messaging me 'cause they might be in my group."
it was true. small blue dots marked the unread messages, and there had to be at least 20 different people already.

"will you go to the dance with me?"
"i'm a huge fan!!! can i be your date to the dance?"
"ur music is as beautiful as u are. luv u. come to the dance w me?"

"some of these are... quite cheesy," mukuro said.
"yeah, i know!! i'm don't want to go to the dance with them, and love poems aren't helping. people ask all the time in the school halls too! it's annoying. i even get real solid love letters in my locker," sayaka pouted. the corners of mukuro's mouth turned up slightly at her expression.

"how'd they get your number in the first place?" mukuro wondered.
"i heard that one of the guys in our class leaked it to the reserve course. probably one of those idiots like leon or hiro did it for their enjoyment. i think they enjoy me suffering through the messages," sayaka sighed.
"so, are you just going to let the messages accumulate? i'm sure they're not stopping anytime soon," mukuro asked. sayaka twisted her fingers through her hair in thought.
"well..." she trailed off.

if lightbulbs actually appeared above people's heads, mukuro thought sayaka's would've broken a world record with its brightness. her friend's indigo eyes lit up and she sat up tall. in mukuro's mind, she looked like she was about to write a terrific equation on a chalkboard. sayaka had an idea- and in her own opinion, she probably thought it was a good one, but mukuro thought otherwise. the last time the singer had a "good idea", they had nearly set fire to her dorm.

"go on, what's your idea," mukuro prodded. it was best to talk to her before she put anything in action.
"what if i already was going to the dance with someone?" sayaka asked. "then they would stop asking. if i was taken, i mean."
"well, do you have a plan to get a boyfriend in a month?" mukuro blinked expectantly at her friend.
"no, i don't have to. as long as i can convince someone to just pretend." sayaka grinned devilishly. "smartest idea ever, right?"

it actually wasn't such a bad idea. mukuro picked at her fingernails in thought, then lifted her gaze to meet sayaka's eyes.
"how would you do that?" she questioned.
"it's easy! the dance is about a month away. which gives me a month to prepare. aka i officially announce that me and the other person are "dating", have some time to act couple-ish, and convince others that we're really together. then the text messages will stop!"
sayaka had stood up and was excitedly hopping up and down on her bed while she explained. both mukuro's body and thoughts rocked while sayaka jumped around and told her the plan.

"what about afterwards? have you thought about the aftermath?"
sayaka stopped jumping and the messy sheets settled back down.
"uhh, i didn't get that far. what will i do after? i could just break up and stuff but then..." sayaka started mumbling her thoughts. mukuro gave her a gentle tap on the foot, the brief contact of skin to skin snapping sayaka out of it.

"um, um," sayaka's face twisted as she came up with her answer. "...well i can decide that later! that's still a month away." she gave her friend a wide smile.
"saya, what will i do with you..." muttered mukuro softly. she tilted her head back up as the blue haired of the two plopped back down.
"how are you going to find a good faker? i can't think of a ton of people that would agree to that," mukuro added.
"right- i forgot about that part. i could just ask everyone in our class," sayaka shrugged in response.

"what if they tell the secret? then you'd be in big trouble." said mukuro.
"aw, you always bring up good points," sayaka whined.
"there are just a lot of possibilities. you never know. plus, you should choose someone that you trust and believe in to carry this out right."
"that's really smart... i've got the person that i think could do it!" sayaka beamed.
"who is this person? you should ask them soon."
"you."
"excuse me?"

"you, muku. want to play some pretend?"

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