OBLINE, KUSUO SAIKI.

✶. what's your type?

✶ . . . WE WERE ALL STUCK ON that elevator, but all I could think about was how much I needed to take a shit."

"Stop," you wheezed, holding your stomach. "No more. I can't breathe."

Aren punched Nendo's shoulder. "Everyone was running around saying 'Shit! Shit!' and Nendo was just huddled in the corner, yelling, 'Don't say that!'"

"He nearly told us to eat all of my chips so he could take a dump in it," Kaido added, and once he started cracking up, it was all over for you. You cackled with laughter, the sound so obnoxious that Aren and Nendo started howling too. Only Saiki remained stone faced, glaring at you all like you were all several rungs beneath him on the evolutionary ladder.

Still laughing, you asked, "So where did you end up taking a shit, Nend—oh!" You knocked into someone accidentally. You caught their arm as they stumbled back. "I'm so sorry, are you okay?"

"No, I'm the one who should be sorry. Thank you for catching me."

The person you'd bumped into was a cute girl with blonde pigtails. She beamed at you and you couldn't help smiling back, making sure to let your glasses slide down a bit.

"I don't think we've met before. My name is Gojo. And you are?"

"Rifuta Imu," the girl said shyly. "I'm only a first year."

She was cute, even if she wasn't exactly your type. You had the strangest urge to pinch her cheeks and give her caramels.

"What were you all talking about?" Rifuta asked.

Kaido looked innocently off into the distance while Aren coughed. "Oh, nothing. Just something that happened to all of us a while ago."

"I'd love to hear it. It sounded hilarious."

"It wasn't that funny," you said, waving a hand.

Really? You looked like you were about to burst a lung back there.

You glared at Saiki. Not in front of the cute girl, please.

"I can tell you what happened," Nendo piped up. "We were going to an escape room, but we all got stuck in an elevator and I really had to—"

"Call his mother," Aren butted in, clapping a hand over Nendo's mouth.

"And his dentist," Kaido added, clapping his own hand over Aren's when Nendo still wouldn't shut up. Together, they hauled Nendo off, shouting goodbyes over their shoulders.

Rifuta shrugged and turned her attention to you instead.

"I've been looking forward to meeting you, Gojo-san," she said, a slight blush on her cheeks. "I've heard so much about you."

"Oh really?" You puffed out your chest. "What sort of things, exactly?"

"You didn't have many friends growing up and make up for that lack of interaction by being overly energetic and charming now. You're under a great burden but don't want anyone to know about it so you suffer in silence. You're secretly afraid that no one likes you and that they're only out to use you."

You felt the blood draining from your face. People were just saying that? You shot a panicked look at Saiki.

Is that true? Does everyone just know that?

No. Rifuta is just uncannily good at reading people. Judging from your reaction, she must not be far off.

"Well, I'm flattered that people are spending time thinking about me," you said, brushing Saiki off. "I'm surprised they're not spending more time fawning over you."