To love a sword

Chapter 24: Confession?

Beta read by Shigiya, Paragon of Awesomeness and FabledLife

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-Sainan-

’Why did this have to happen again?’

A certain brunette found herself facing a situation she very much despised and wanted to get over with as soon as possible. 

One troublesome case that presented itself with one of her schoolmates standing before her with their face flushed with embarrassment.

"M-Mikan-chan… I-I've been thinking about you for a long time and finally worked up the courage to tell you this," The boy mustered his bravery, took a deep breath, and faced her. She stood there with her arms crossed, a blank expression on her face, and waited for him to speak his mind - though she already knew what he was going to say from the very beginning. "Please, be my girlfriend!"

The boy finally confessed, bowing his head down as his flushed face refused to look at her. His friends in the background laughed at the display of their buddy before returning back to playing on the field. Meanwhile, her group stood by, their grins expectant for different reasons. She let out a sigh, knowing she had no choice but to handle this situation before recess ended.

And she didn’t even have the chance to eat her lunch yet.

And she had yet to eat her lunch.

"I'm sorry I have to ask this, but… who are you exactly?" she asked, her tone was blunt and her words caused the boy's lively expression to completely change as if he had turned to stone. He was clearly taken aback by her question.

Looking at him more closely, she was pretty sure that she had seen him before, at least enough to recognize him a bit more; she must’ve seen him at one of the sports club events, though she couldn’t remember which one. ‘Was it the baseball team? Or was it soccer?’ ‘I think I saw him on the baseball team. Or was it soccer?’ 

"A-Ah… m-my name is K-Kou, Handa Kou!" 

He introduced himself with a second bow.

First came a hum as she scoured through her memories, "Sorry, doesn't ring a bell."

Her response caused him to crumble even further, his stare now lifeless and empty. His friends couldn't help but laugh at the sight, showing no sympathy. She let out a sigh and spoke, "Listen, if this is some stupid prank or a stupid dare that your friends challenged you to do, then don't waste my time with it. Find another way to get your kicks."

The boy struggled to get his words out of his mouth, trembling as his prior hesitation re-emerged, stronger than ever. "But… but I was being honest…" he managed to stammer.

"So let me get this straight," she said, her tone growing colder as she squinted her eyes at the trembling boy. "We have neither talked nor hung out with each other even once before. I didn't even know your name or anything else about you until now, including which class you are part of. Despite all of that, you expect me to suddenly agree to become the girlfriend of a complete stranger? Do you take me for an idiot? Cause it’s the only thing that makes any sense of this."

Her words were too much for him to bear before tears started to stream down his face, and he began to cry and ran away, while his friends followed him, smiles and laughs on their faces. “You're way too mean, M-Mikan-chan!” 

His reaction left her somewhat at a loss, as she hadn't expected it to be so dramatic. "Ah, I didn't mean it like that…" she tried to call the boy back, but he was already too far gone, leaving her alone with nothing but her own thoughts. Her friends approached, each having a different reaction on their faces.