『あやとの愛。』- Ayato no Ai: Yandere-Kun x Reader

Chapter 13

"Eggs, butter... Oh! I'm done." (Y/n) gathered her items swiftly and noticed that Ayato was lagging behind. She peeked over at his list, only to notice that his list was far larger than hers. It puzzled her for a brief moment before she remembered how well-off his family was. "Can I help gather ingredients off your list?"

"Why would you do that?" He asked with a confused, incredulous expression.

"Because... I want to help?" She looked up at him earnestly. Were acts of service without a motive really that foreign to him?

"Oh, right. That. Well, you can cover the bottom half of my list. I'll find the rest."

She made her way through her part of the list, carefully sifting through the best ingredients. One ingredient remained, milk. She walked across the aisle and headed over to the dairy section. She tugged her cardigan across her chest slightly to shield herself from the chill that came from the area.

She noticed that the milk carton stood slightly above the vertical height in which she could reach comfortably for it but still decided to test her fate. She stood on her tiptoes and extended her arms, reaching for it. Managing to touch it, she continued to lean in towards it, only for the milk to wobble, and wobble, and wobble. Before she could take a moment to think, the carton collapsed in a projectile path, heading directly towards her. Her eyes slammed shut as she braced herself for the dense object, preparing herself for the hit. But it never happened. She opened her eyes to see a shadow cast above her and decided to look up at whatever cast it. It was Ayato leaning against her, his torso lightly pressing against her back as one of his arms slid the carton back up into its place.

"You could've just called me over if you couldn't reach for it." Ayato grabbed the milk for himself, before lightly brushing his hand over his slightly wrinkled shirt.

(Y/n)'s heart still raced from the incident, but she still had the energy to speak. "I know, I probably should have. Thank you for saving me back there." She presented him with a sheepish smile, the corner of her eyes crinkling as she did so.

"Why is the milk so high up, anyway? What a terrible arrangement. And why do you look so cheery?"

"That's the first time you've said your opinion on something to me." She didn't know why she felt so uplifted by something so insignificant, but there was something oddly wholesome about his words resembling a hint of something even remotely similar to passion.

"It's because I don't care about most things." The young adult responded before the two paid for their ingredients and left the supermarket.

The two weeks that elapsed after were quick, and (Y/n) watched the seasons shift from warmth to coolness. Over that time period, (Y/n) set up different moments of spending time with both Taeko and Ayato, and she noticed the gradual shift of Ayato's behaviour in front of Taeko. Shyness was replaced by suaveness, quietness was replaced by comfort, and (Y/n) realised that she could rest assured knowing that the two had gotten close enough that she didn't have to be in their presence in order for them to interact. That was the goal, wasn't it? She would have one less problem if she didn't have to be there every single time they spoke. Taeko and Ayato weren't just acquaintances anymore. But she couldn't help but feel the sour aftertaste of being discarded by the both of them. Deep down, she knew it wasn't true. Taeko wouldn't have discarded her best friend, and Ayato's use for her wasn't done yet; Amao Odayaka was still there. Even so, she felt the bitterness of feeling left out every time she noticed the two speaking without her being there. But she decided to bury those feelings — they simply weren't valid. Yet, she was lonelier than she had ever felt before.

"Are you sure there isn't something going on between you and Ayato?" Her best friend asked with a hint of slyness.

"Of course not! That's just- just- no!" (Y/n) instantly retorted, flustered, not by the idea of actually liking him, but by the wave of panic that Ayato's plans were on the verge of being thwarted if Taeko genuinely thought that. It wasn't horrible to think about, though. She wasn't repulsed by the idea of it, at least.

"Really?" Taeko looked mockingly crestfallen, "You two have such an adorable dynamic, though. I mean, you're a sweetheart and he's a little bit of a charmer. And, aren't smart men your type? He seems pretty smart to me."  

That was right. On paper, Ayato would've been her type. He was insanely intelligent, and even she could decipher that because of the proximity between the two as of recently. It was a bit superficial to admit, but he was also good-looking. Based on his bedroom, he was also very neat and organised. She often did wonder why he didn't have admirers, but it was probably a calculated choice on his end — anyone other than Taeko admiring him was a hindrance. He was very quiet in class, his body language withheld in order to not attract attention. Though, her mind did wander for half a second now that Taeko had planted that seed into her mind, but she quickly shook it off.

"Ayato and I are just friends. I swear. I would never see him in that way." There was a small waver in her voice which Taeko didn't pick up.

"Whatever you say, I guess. But I'm still of the opinion that you two would be a great couple."

She couldn't afford to have feelings for anyone. At least, not then. She had affections for a few people over the course of her time at school, but she couldn't get herself to confess because of her expectation of rejection. However, the main reason was because most of the men she liked ended up liking Taeko. She had never developed feelings for anyone she knew had feelings for her, but even the people who didn't know Taeko, the people she liked, ended up falling for Taeko, and (Y/n) would end up becoming a second thought. It was exhausting being overshadowed by someone that wasn't aware that they were overshadowing her, so she decided to shut off those possibilities.

"Oh! Speak of the devil." The two friends watched as Ayato made his way towards them.

"Hey, Senpai." He turned his head, "(L/n)."

"Hey. You two should talk, I have something I need to do." She politely dismissed herself and walked away, hearing the chatter behind her. She thought back to when Taeko said she liked (Y/n) and Ayato's dynamic. But Taeko's and Ayato's was far better from what she saw, even though it was a manufactured dynamic because of how much Ayato had studied her.

She decided to keep herself busy and made her way to the cooking club.