The Plan Devised in Aoi's Absence

1 : The Confession

It was a beautiful day, the bright blue sky taken out of the illustration in a children's book. The students in the fields laughed and chattered as they played sports and loitered.

In the meanwhile, two particular children, a girl and boy, were sitting on the bench on the school's rooftop together, a passing breeze warming both of their cheeks.

The boy turned to the girl, fidgeting with his hands nervously, and the girl looked back at him with widened eyes. He opened his mouth, face red with embarrassment, and uttered the sweetest words of spring.

"Yashiro-san, I'd like to ask that you," Akane paused to gag in the middle of his sentence, "go out with me."

"You can't just ask that while heaving at the thought," Nene exclaimed in bewilderment. "Also, no!"

Ignoring her, Akane turned to take a swig of his water bottle before he turned back to her with a stern expression.

"Please."

"I just said no," Nene deadpanned. "Where is this coming from, anyway?"

"From what you just told me!" Akane leaned closer, prompting Nene to scooch away. "If Aoi really did stay home because you brought up the idea of you asking me–" Akane paused to cover his mouth, as if he was about to gag again, before continuing, "out, then who knows how she'll react if we... you know! She might finally get jealous! Confess to me! We'll get married!"

"You can't even bring up the idea without wanting to hurl," Nene deadpanned. "Putting my will aside, do you even want to go that far?"

He paused, his face turned solemn, as he slowly looked at the rooftop's parapet ahead of them. A gust of wind blew between the two of them as Akane clutched his water bottle, tipping his head down as he closed his eyes.

After a few moments, he raised his head and mumbled, "I need to go this far."

"No, you don't."

"I do!"

Nene was both extremely bothered and fascinated by Akane's energy this afternoon. He was definitely hyped up by the fact that this could be the first sliver of evidence that Aoi returned his feelings, but when Nene thought about it, there really was a chance that she was just sick and it was just a terrible coincidence. However, clearly, bringing that up in front of him wasn't going to change his mind on anything.

So, instead, she chose not to reply, chewing on her lunch silently as Akane continued to get impatient beside her.

"Are you really not going to answer?" No response.

"Hey." None.

"Oi!" Ignored.

"...What if there was something in it for you?"

Nene swallowed her spoonful of rice.

"Like what?"

"Um, I could set you up with someone. Show you how to win a boy's heart? Is there anyone you like?"

"What would you know about winning anyone's heart?" Nene retorted. "Ao-chan's basically had yours since the day you were born."

"No, but listen! If we, ugh, d-date, we'll both get experience in the field, right?" Akane said. "Plus, I heard that girls who are taken look more attractive in the eyes of boys."

"Where did you hear that from?" Nene gasped.

"...A shoujo manga."

"Which one?"

"Not important!" Akane was now facing Nene head-on, his left knee on the bench as he used his hands to support his body as he leaned in.

"So, what do you say? Will you do it?" Akane looked away, hesitating before adding, "...It doesn't have to be real d-dating you know. It can be a fake relationship. We don't have to be a couple for real."