Ch 31

POV Shinji Makoto

*Same day, an hour ago*

Alright. This is the day. I tried to pump up my courage while looking in the mirror. Just then, somebody started banging the door from the outside.

"Onii chan hurry get out."

"Yeah I\'m coming. Just wait a second."

Damn. Can\'t a man just spend some quality time in the bathroom? I hurriedly dried my wet face and came out of the bathroom.

.

"Yeah I\'m leaving. Bye. *click*" I said as I shut the door.

Just as I was turning around to leave my eyes met with another person\'s.

"Hello" I waved my hand while smiling.

Unfortunately, it seems my dear neighbour was not as happy to see me considering she just ignored me and continued walking.

I increased my pace and caught up to Shimabukuro.

"Hey hey Shimabukuro san this isn\'t very nice of you is it? If someone says something you should at least reply."

"…"

Ignored again. The reason I was trying to improve my relations with her was simple. I wanted to create a deadlock situation between her, Haruno and Hiwari. Introducing another character would complicate the situation and stop her from hastily making moves on Nishikawa. This would give more time for Hiwari\'s and Nishikawa\'s feelings to become stronger. Knowing Shimabukuro would also let me anticipate her actions and thoughts better. Three birds with one stone.

But all that is only possible if she responds to me. Fine. Since politeness is not her cup of tea lets go with confrontation.

"Ahem." I cleared my throat before saying "So how did your date with Nishikawa yesterday go?"

Upon hearing my words her head turned towards mine. After a brief look of confusion her face turned back to the cold face from before. However, I could feel her getting angry.

"How do you know?" She growled at me.

Hah. Finally some reaction. She can\'t keep quiet when it comes to Nishikawa, can she?

"Hmm. Do you want to know?" I asked to piss her off more.

Suddenly the air became colder and pressure descended from the sky.

Tch. Her Judge title is too overpowered.

"Fine fine I\'ll tell you. Stop glaring. It\'s not like it is a big deal. It was just one of my friends who saw you in the mall."

There\'s no way I\'m telling her that I was stalking her. Wait. If I wasn\'t there she wouldn\'t even be able to have a proper date. But telling her about Haruno is a little too early now. Yep. Let\'s not tell her the truth now.

"It seems that you were having a lot of fun there" I prodded her further.

"Any date with Ha chan is fun."

What kind of love is this? It\'s more like a fan and celebrity relation. A shiver ran down my spine. I silently made a prayer for Nishikawa\'s future love life in my heart.

"Ok let me change the question. Did it satisfy your expectations?"

"…"

"No? It seems Nishikawa is too dense to notice even your actions."

"I don\'t really mind him failing to notice that I like him. All I need to do is directly confess to solve that. The problem is he is like an airhead. He doesn\'t realize how his actions affect others."

I was stunned by her thought process. Just confess? I am right in trying to create a deadlock. If I don\'t do anything she will completely destroy Hiwari\'s chances.

"So. Umm. What happened?" I asked her. From what I saw they were having a good time. Did something happen after I left?

"He suddenly got a call and left me saying he had something to do."

A face flashed across my mind. Did she do it? While I was thinking of what Haruno might have said Shimabukuro continued in a small voice.

"He left so quickly that I didn\'t even have a chance to kiss him."

This girl is dangerous. If I leave them alone Nishikawa\'s chastity will be in danger. It\'s good that Haruno made him leave while he still could. Wait. If Shimabukuro actually kissed Nishikawa, what would Haruno do? Thinking of that cold sweat formed on my forehead.

"Sh-Shimabukuro don\'t you think you are moving way too fast? You should take things slowly and steadily."

"Are you dumb? The more time passes, the more girls will gather around Ha chan."

Does she think Nishikawa is some sort of girl magnet? I mean he is a protagonist, but even so.

Slowly Shimabukuro opened up and I could finally talk to her. Most of the things we talked about however, were things revolving around Nishikawa.

*Present time*

"Shimabukuro san already has someone she likes, and that person does not seem to be you."

** ** **

POV Akari Nakano

At those words Shimabukuro san suddenly blushed furiously and glared at Makoto. Anyone could see she looked like a maiden in love. Upon seeing this cute reaction, the colour from Tanaka\'s face drained and most people\'s mouth fell open despite themselves. Shimabukuro san, afterall, was a beautiful transfer student and there were many like Tanaka who had crushes on her.

However, unlike the others Tanaka\'s situation was far worse. Although indirectly, Tanaka was rejected by Shimabukuro. The sad part was that it wasn\'t even Shimabukuro who did it, nor did Tanaka even get to confess to her. Makoto directly destroyed all his chances at romance and buried him into the ground by humiliating him like a child. Makoto might have created a trauma for Tanaka kun. What an evil person. After this episode, I don\'t think Tanaka kun will have a highschool love life with anyone, much less Shimabukuro.

"Haah" A sigh came from Shizuo sitting beside me.

Why is she suddenly down?

.

After that episode Shimabukuro and Makoto were swarmed every break by students. Everyone wanted to know who was the lucky person. Many actually thought she and Makoto were actually dating. If I didn\'t know him better I would think so too, it makes perfect sense to think that he didn\'t want anyone getting close to his girlfriend. But I felt he was more pissed at Tanaka kun poking his nose into his business.

.

As I was getting ready to go home Hinata came to me with a sneaky smile on her face.

"Don\'t forget to invite Makoto kun. Okay?"

"You saw what happened on Saturday. How can I just invite him like this?"

"That\'s up to you." She said as she left.

"Wait. I am not doing it." I tried to shout but she was already too far away to hear.

Damn it. How am I supposed invite somebody who rejected me a day ago? Should I just text him?

** ** **

POV Shizuo Hiwari

"Haah" I sigh leaked from my mouth.

Shimabukuro san really does like Nishikawa kun doesn\'t she? I already knew this, but the fact that Nishikawa kun might get to know her feelings-

"Hey Shizuo are you listening?"

"huh. Oh sorry, what did you say Hinata?"

"Come on. Are you going to invite Nishikawa or not?"

The line Makoto kun just said flashed through my mind.

"I WILL!" I shouted in the spur of the moment. It probably wasn\'t a smart thing to do considering a lot of people turned their heads towards me.

"…"

"Oh. Umm. I mean I will" My ears turned red. Why did I have to shout like a weirdo? God that was embarrassing.

.

That day as Nishikawa kun was leaving I gathered my courage and went up to him.

"Hello Nishikawa kun"

"Hi Hiwari san. Do you need something?"

"Actually, I wanted to ask if you are free after school tomorrow." I tried to speak smoothly without stuttering.

"I am free tomorrow. Do you need me to do something?"

"Ah no. Tomorrow is my birthday and every year I hold a small celebration with friends, so I just wanted to invite you." I didn\'t have the courage to look into his eyes so I faced the ground while saying it.

"…"

Seeing that he wasn\'t responding I quickly added. "It\'s perfectly fine if you don\'t want to come. I-"

Before I could finish my sentence he suddenly took my hands.

"I will definitely come." He said excitedly.

Relief flooded my heart. I thought he didn\'t want to come. As I looked back up I realized how close our faces were, and on top of that he was also holding my hands. My face quickly turned red. It seems he also realized the positions we were in.

"Ah sorry." He said as he hurriedly distanced himself. Both our faces were red.

"Umm really sorry about that." He added.

"It\'s fine." I said in a small voice. My heart was still beating loudly. I was so thankful we were at the bike stands and not in the classroom otherwise I would really die of embarrassment.

Just then someone\'s voice entered my ears.

"Ha chan. There you are. I was wondering where you went."

When I looked in the direction of the voice a familiar figured entered my sight.

"Hello Shimabukuro san" I greeted her.

"Hello Hiwari san. What were you both talking about?"

Before I could respond another person came running.

"Shimabukuro san. Here you are. I have been searching for you all over the school."

It was Tanaka kun. Seeing him both mine and Nishikawa\'s faces turned awkward. I mean it is hard to forget the drama in the morning.

"Huff huff."

He was even panting. Clearly he had run around the school searching for Shimabukuro san.

"What do you want?" Shimabukuro asked him emotionlessly.

"Umm, I wanted to talk to you about something in private."

"Fine. Come with me." Then turning towards Nishikawa, she said "Sorry Ha chan I will talk to you later." After looking me in the eye she walked off with Tanaka kun.

Even though she left the awkward atmosphere did not dissipate.