Ongoing Cycle

23

She had found him behind the bleachers with his eyes closed. All day long, she kept tabs on him to wait until he was alone to tackle him with her proposal, but he was never alone until now. Tired and exhausted with the amount of running and sneaking around she had to do, she was now very crabby. Not only that, she was hella cold. It was windy today and she spent her precious time outside and spying Kuro during his practice. Shivering in her thin cardigan, she wrapped her arms around herself and stepped towards the guy.

      The boy opened his eyes when he saw her. Apparently he wasn't sleeping. "[Y/N]?" he asked, with the familiar smirk settling on his mouth. "Are you here to confess to me too?"

     She bristled at the comment, but remained calm on the outside. Then she realized something. Too? Did someone actually confess to him just recently? She rolled her eyes at her curious thoughts and brushed it off. It wasn't like she cared that there were girls that liked him.

     "No. It's something much better. I have a favor to ask of you," she said, trying her best to sound polite. She needed this. This was her only chance to make things right. After this, her parents would be too proud to ask of her of anything anymore. For once, she could live normally without the constant pressure.

     One of his eyebrows quirked up in interest. "Well then. What is it?"

     It was going to sound ridiculous. She was going to sound ridiculous. It was better to get it over with than to sugarcoat things though. "I'll pay you to be my fake boyfriend," she blurted out. She almost cringed at her own words.

      As Kuro's blue eyes widened in shock, she could feel herself itching to run away. This was so damn embarrassing. But she couldn't back down now. She stood her ground with her head high, and her eyes unwavering.

      When he finally let out of laugh, hitting the ground with his fist as if she had just told him the funniest joke, her courage quickly fell. Her cheeks redden in shame and her eyes lowered. Her pulse then pounded loudly in her ears at the playboy's next words. "So this is a confession."

     Her slim composure snapped and she gritted her teeth. Before she could stop herself, she hurtled herself at him and kneeled on the ground. She yanked at his sweaty soccer jersey and becoming enraged even more by his pretty boy face, she hissed. "Does this look like a damn confession to you? How many times do I have to fucking tell you that I hate you to get it through that thick skull of yours?!" Breathing deeply, she let go of the shirt and landed her butt on the grass. It was no use now. She had totally self sabotaged her plan. He was never going to accept now.

     "There's the [Y/N] I know," Kuro chuckled, patting her shoulder gently. She looked up in surprise. He didn't seem dismayed by her rant at all. In fact, it appeared as if he liked it. "Sure. I'll do this weird favor for you."

      If she was surprised then, she was even more now. Blinking in confusion and her jaw having dropped, she quickly stood up to cover it. "Well then....thanks I guess."

     "Why are you doing this?" he suddenly asked.

     "Don't ask questions. Just do as you're asked," she curtly responded. "All you need to know is that this fake relationship is only put out in front of my parents. There's no need to showcase this in front of anyone at school."

     "So this is about your parents," he concluded.

     She glared at him and shook her head. "It's none of your business."

      He shrugged. "It technically is, since you dragged me into this. If I have to act as your boyfriend in front of your parents, don't I deserve to know what your end goal for all of this is?"

      Fury burned in her chest. How hypocritical of him to say this. Her mind flashing back to when he left her at the lake. It was obvious he avoided her because he did not want to share about himself. So did that mean that only he could know about other people's problems and stick his nose to where they don't belong? He was selfish to think that. And whether or not she'd like to admit it to herself, it hurt her. It hurt her that he knew her problem with Miku, but he wouldn't let her know his. She clenched her fists and brood.

     It was as if he was reading her mind. "You're angry because of that day we went swimming," he stated. His eyes twinkled darkly and he slightly leaned forward. "But why are you? People only get angry about that stuff because they're friends. We're strangers, aren't we?"

     Her heart pounded, because she knew it was true. Why was she hurt by him? She shouldn't be giving a single fuck about him. "Yes," was her only answer.

     "Good to know," he said with a soft smile. "Well, glad to do business with you." He pushed himself up from the ground and held out a hand for her to shake. Staring in disgust at the sweat and dirt in his hand, she slapped it away. He laughed and saluted at her in a replacement for a handshake.

      He was the first one to leave again, so she was left alone in the cold world.

      It was time to go home. She had to plan things out more, to prevent herself from getting caught. She didn't know how well Kuro could act, but she was going to have to write scripts out and have them practice it. She fully knew well what was going to happen if her parents find out. This was the worst thing she could ever do, way worse than talking to her cousin. No doubt that if they found out, they would disown her.

     Stepping onto the sidewalk on this wonderful, windy day, she headed towards the house that no longer seemed like home.