Three Months Later
As I stood out front of my classroom, waiting for Shouko, my heart feel heavy, and I couldn't help but feel so upset about how there were only two days left until Valentines, and how I didn't know if I'd be able to spend it with Iori, who I really love, all because of Shouko, and how I have no choice but to date her now. But through all of that, I still had a single ember of hope, filling my heart with warmth.
As Shouko stepped out, she leaned forward and kissed me on the cheek before she said "Ready to go?"
"That's right." I said. I mean I wouldn't be here otherwise.
With a smirk on her face, I followed behind her through the halls as she said "So for Valentines I'm thinking that we go have lunch just the two of us, and you can meet my parents over dinner."
"Yeah alright." I said, running through what the date was fifty days ago in my head. In the end, it was the date I had hoped for, and a small smile started to form on my face.
"Oh but don't forget that I'll be expecting you to send little Iori some pictures from our date after." Shouko said, smirking. And I started to smirk a little too, because I just found my out.
I gave her an annoyed groan and said "Can't you just forget about whatever grudge you have towards her? After what you made me do there was no way I'd ever be able to get back together with her in the first place, so why keep kicking the hornet's nest?"
Shouko opened her mouth, about to defend her active antagonism towards Iori, when I cut her off. "I'm sick of this, I tried to just bear with it because it wasn't like I could go back, but I'm done with this. I can barely paint anymore, and I regret coming to Japan at all now. We're over."
As I started to storm off, she tried to sputter a rebuttal to her horrible behavior, but I ignored her and left. As I walked out the front doors of the school, and I knew she wasn't following me, I muttered to myself "I might have been overdoing it there. But I guess acting never was something I was good at anyway." Not to mention even if I was harsh here, this was the reality she needed to realize that maybe blackmail is a good way to gain resentment.
As I headed back home, I figured I'd try and paint something until this evening, when I knew that Iori would be home.
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Three Months Ago...
As Shouko held up the picture of me and Iori kissing, I felt my heart sink and panic start to set in. How did she get that photo?
"Break up with her and choose me, or else I'll make this public." Shouko threatened "I'll give you until school on Monday for you to break up with her, and if you don't I'll do it."
The world around me fell silent as it sank in what she was saying. I made a mistake that night, and now I don't have any way out of this situation that won't cause me to hate myself again. All I knew was that I needed some way to get her to delete the photo.
I nodded and said "Alright, I'll tell Iori that I have to break up with her when I see her next. But in exchange, so that nobody ever finds out about that photo, after you've realized that I won't leave you, please delete it."
"I guess I can do that." Shouko said
After that, the two of us headed our separate ways, and as I cursed myself for ending up careless, I tried to come up with a plan. Something, anything that could fix this situation I ended up roping me and Iori into.
That evening, as Iori sat in the living room, I sat beside Iori, and with a grave expression, I said "Iori, we need to talk."
"What is it?" Iori asked
"It looks like we're going to have to break up. Shouko somehow got a picture of us kissing at the art show, and she's threatening to release it if I don't break up with you and date her instead." I said
Iori had a concerned expression on her face as she said "I knew that there was more to why I just couldn't like her than her also having feelings for you."
I then squeezed her hand and said "I have until Monday, and so I guess we need to break up. But I'm starting to come up with a plan, and if you trust me, I think I have an idea of how to fix this."
"What do you have in mind?" Iori asked
"Well me and her have the same type of phone, and once a photo has been in the trash for fifty days there is no way to restore it. So if I play the part of her boyfriend until I can get her to delete it, and after fifty days I'll try and find a way to break up with her, that will make her think that there's no point in trying to get a new picture."
"Alright, maybe you can tell her that I got upset with how you broke up with me, and that I've not even been talking to you recently." Iori suggested
"Yeah, that could work." I responded
The two of us spent a while longer that evening trying to come up with a better plan to try and do this. If it wasn't for the circumstances, and the fact I won't be able to be as close to her for a while, I would've almost called it enjoyable.
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As I sat in my studio, I was finally able to get some painting done, after ending up struggling to focus on my painting this past while, but now that my heart feels free again, I'm able to create as I'd like.
When I checked the clock and saw that it was around the time Iori typically gets back by, I headed towards her room, and knocked on the door. After a minute, Iori opened the door and said "Yeah?"
"Iori, it's over." I said, a smile forming on my face.
"You mean the photo is deleted for sure?" Iori asked
"Yeah, I even gave it a couple extra days just to be sure it couldn't be recovered." I said
Iori gave me a smile and a hug before she let me into her room, and we sat down on the side of her bed together. "Here's hoping you don't end up trusting somebody so double-faced again."
"I mean you can be a little bit double-faced yourself. The difference is that you are in the harmless and charming way." I said teasingly "Or at least I like to think you wouldn't blackmail someone."
Iori pouted and said "You dummy, of course I wouldn't."
"I know, but still, it's good to be able to say that you're my girlfriend again. Although I do feel bad that you had to put up with her making me send you photos that rubbed in your face who I was in a relationship with." I said
Iori scooted closer, and while blushing fiercely, she tried to act indignant before she said "Hmph. If you want me to forgive you, I suppose I can if you promise to never leave me like that ever again."
I wrapped my arm around her and kissed her on the forehead before I said "Of course, after all, I want to love you for a long time to come."
Iori, who had stopped blushing so much, smiled and said "Me too Y/n. I know I don't really say it out loud too often, but I love you a ton Y/n."
Until it was about time for dinner, Iori and I enjoyed each other's love, talking and just enjoying the fact that I don't need to pretend to be somebody else's lover anymore. When this whole incident started I was afraid that there wasn't going to be any choice that I wouldn't end up hating myself over, but because of the fact I didn't want to lose Iori or to make things hard for her, I refused to not find a third option, the option that made sure the two of us ended up happy and together.
YOU ARE READING
The IdolM@ster: Love Dramatic (Iori Minase x Male Reader)
RomanceY/n L/n was raised alone by his successful father in America, having spent a large chunk of his life improving his art in hopes of becoming a painter. But when Y/n ends up in a stump with no sign of coming out, he's sent to stay with the family of h...
