Underneath the Moonlight || Osorō Shidesu x OC

10 - A Game of Tug-of-War

Week 3

The weekend flew by in a hazy blur, and quite honestly, the only memorable highlight of it was the Saturday I spent with Aso, and... Osorō.

It didn't matter when and where I met Osorō. Every memory with him was forever imprinted in my brain, and I'd never be able to forget them — to forget him.

I squeezed my eyes shut and shook my head as I approached the school.

At the very least, forget about him at school.

The moment I stepped into the building, a head of purple spiral pigtails grabbed me and plopped me by my locker, in the immediate line of sight of Aso as he was beginning to leave his locker. She dusted off my shoulders and asked, "Aso-kun, didn't you say you wanted to give something to Athena-sama?"

Aso blinked, blushing, then smiled. From behind his back, he brandished a single red rose, then scratched the back of his neck, "Since I can't be at your celebration party, I wanted to give this to you now."

My cheeks flushed. When he was the only guy in front of me, it was hard not to be swayed by his charm.

As long as I keep it this way, I'll be falling for Aso in no time.

I reached out to take the rose from him, our fingers touching in the process and sending tiny sparks through me. I lifted the rose to my face, inhaling its pleasant floral scent, then lowered it to smile at him. "It's lovely. Thank you, Aso."

"Of course." He leaned down and planted a warm kiss on my cheek. "I'll see you in class."

I cupped my cheek and watched as he walked away, while Kokona squealed into my ear about how he so liked me.

Once he was out of sight, I turned towards my locker, only for someone to bump into me as I moved. Before I could voice my complaints, I locked eyes with Osorō and bit my lip instead, averting my gaze just as quickly. He simply walked away and didn't say anything to me, but it was enough to overwhelm the fluttery feeling Aso had given me with a hot sensation that spread over my entire body.

Kokona, however, didn't even notice Osorō. "Oh my gosh, Athena-sama, you're so red! You like Aso that much?!"

I decided to just go along with it, muttering, "I-I guess so, yes..."

"This is so great! I can't wait for you two to date. You'll be the spotlight couple of Akademi for sure!" Kokona waved her hands dramatically. "I can see the photography club's blog post already: the goddess of Akademi and the sports club leader, love at first sight!"

Well, she had it sort of right...

Changing my shoes, we continued towards our usual spot, where Saki stood amongst our usual group with a weird look on her face. "Saki, are you okay?" I asked.

"No, my head hurts, and I think I have a stomachache, too..."

"Come on, let's get you to the nurse's office," I said, coming around to support her. I gestured for Kokona to do the same, and together we helped Saki to the nurse's office. Only, the usual nurse wasn't there — instead of the brunette nurse that I never remembered the name of (since I never had a reason to go to the nurse thus far), there stood a ditzy, innocent-looking woman with pink hair wearing the nurse's uniform.