TBHK with characters swapped

The Confession Tree

It was a bright day. The lessons have just ended.

"Amane... you are such a brave, wonderful guy. Fighting vicious supernatural creatures and saving your friends at last minute, no less! No ordinary person could ever achieve that!"

Speaking to him was a princess in bride dress with braids and longer hair. Amane could not recognize her face.

"Allow me to reward you with a kiss. Go on, close your eyes..." Amane did close his eyes.

But then he was interrupted by a familiar voice. "You want me to kiss you?" asked Hanako-san.

"Noooooooo!" Amane jumped up. All his classmates turned to him. "I'm sorry!" he sat down with cheeks burning.

"What's up with him? Is he sleep deprived?" whispered Satou.

"We had a very busy night," replied Sousuke and winked.

"Why would Hanako-san kiss me out of the blue? This is completely unlike her," wondered Amane during club hours. He was building a robot that would sort pieces by color but was getting distracted by his thoughts. "Does she actually?.."

"This means she likes you, Amane!!" exclaimed Tsukasa happily. They were having lunch on the school roof.

"I knew it! You think so too?!" Amane was excited.

"If she kissed you out of nowhere, it's the only explanation!"

"B-b-but she's not really my type..." Amane was worried.

"Why do you think so?" Tsukasa looked curiously.

"She is bossy. She gets angry easily," recollected Amane from their adventure, "and she would not let me look at other girls."

"You know you don't have to marry her, onii-chan? Ask her out for a date!"

"You think I should?.." Amane was worried.

"Yes! If you confess at the confession tree," Tsukasa pointed towards the big tree in the middle of practice garden, "she will surely accept it. Rumor says the tree was planted by gods of love, and any couple who confesses under the tree will be bound together in love."

"Was the tree here even before?.." Amane could not remember.

"Look! Somebody is there!"

They recognized Akane Aoi, the president of student council.

They could not hear the words from the roof, but their classmates later told them what happened that day.

"Aoi-chan," he said. "I love you! Please go out with me!"

Rumor was that his childhood friend and his love, Aoi Akane, has disappeared some two years ago, and her family was still trying to find her. Has he found a new girl named Aoi? Anyway, she was not present at the scene. His confession partner was his classmate named Lemon. You could tell because all his cloths had a lemon on them.

"Oh. Sure, why not?" he replied while still watching at his phone.

"Take it seriously!!!" the guys started a fight.

"Have not you noticed all the new couples in the class?" continued Tsukasa. "Almost all of them successfully confessed under that tree!"

"Hey, Amane-kun!" greeted him Hanako-san at the boys' toilet. "Will you come with me tomorrow after school under the giant tree in the practice garden?"

"The confession t—?"

"Oh, so you know. It saves me the trouble of explaining! I'll see you there then."

Amane and Tsukasa were surprised to see a small crowd gathered at the enterance of the school. Turns out president Akane and Lemon developed feelings to each other after the confession and they publically announced they would be a couple.

"This is odd," thought Amane. "Was not Akane confessing to some Aoi? And Lemon seemed completely uninterested last time. And this means..."

This could only mean one thing! The rumors were true!

But...

Hanako-san was nowhere near Amane's type.

"I don't suppose she could get her gloves off..." Amane imagined long, gentle fingers covering Hanako-san's smile. She certainly looked charming in his imagination.

Tsukasa wished Amane good luck and stood to watch at the door. Amane approached the tree and saw Hanako-san, waiting for him alone. In the bright sun beams she appeared vulnerable and sad.

Amane caught his heart racing. "Calm down! Calm down!" The words did not want to come out properly.

"I love you, Hanako-san! Go out with me!"

Hanako-san smiled with her adorable smile. She gave Amane thumbs up. Amane's heart skipped a beat.

"I have to decline. I'm sorry!" replied she, still smiling.

What is happening?! And why the smile?..

Before Amane could do anything, he heard a deep voice from behind it. The confession tree bent and cracked, and showed a bearded face on the trunk.

"We cannot have this!" the voice boomed. "If someone confesses love to you, the only logical thing is to accept it."

Kodama reached towards Amane, but some invisible force stopped it short of touching the boy. A seal with number 7 appeared on Amane's cheek where Hanako earlier kissed him. It was the protection spell.

"It's good I had an understanding assistant, since you are a supernatural who only appears to couples," smiled Hanako-san. She had her gardening shovel in her hands.

Kodama insisted he did nothing wrong. He only wanted everyone to experience happiness through the power of love.

"And that is what we call meddling!" retorted Hanako-san. She dug up the roots of the tree, and it shrinked to the size of a houseplant.

"Amane-kun? Amane-kun?.." called Hanako-san. The boy was heading away with tears covering his eyes.

"I hate you, Hanako-san!" exclaimed Amane. His first confession was wasted on some supernatural hunt shenanigans. "I'm so embarassed and stupid! Why did you kiss on my cheek?"

Hanako-san explained that she put a protective charm on Amane.

"Well it was confusing! I'm going home!"

"Wait! I'm sorry," said Hanako-san. She came up to Amane and removed her gloves. "I did not mean to make you cry," she explained while wiping off a tear from the boy's face. Her fingers were soft and gentle.

For a moment, she looked like a normal school girl. It was then when Amane realized that although he kept calling her friend, he did not know anything about her. Why did she die? What is her real name? What was her unfinished business?

In that moment Amane for the first time decided he wanted to know more about her.