The day of the school festival arrived, a whirlwind of colorful banners, the smell of takoyaki, and the chaotic energy of hundreds of teenagers let loose. For me, it was Judgment Day. Part two of the fake dating charade demanded that Rina and I be seen together, looking couple-y and dispelling any lingering doubts.
It was, of course, a complete disaster from the start.
"A couple is supposed to walk next to each other," I hissed as she maintained a precise three-foot distance from me at all times.
"I'm allergic to idiots. This is my safe zone," she replied without missing a beat.
We tried the haunted house run by the drama club. I, being a brave and manly man, screamed my head off when a girl with fake blood jumped out at us. Rina just stared at her and said, "Your makeup is smudged," causing the ghoul to get flustered and apologize.
We went to the ring toss stall. I spent a thousand yen trying to win the giant alpaca plushie, my competitive spirit overriding all common sense. I failed miserably. Rina, with a sigh of annoyance, took one ring, tossed it with a perfect, lazy arc, and it landed squarely on the bottle. She was handed the giant alpaca. She stared at it for a second, then shoved it into my arms.
"Here," she muttered. "Stop whining. You're drawing attention."
I clutched the fluffy alpaca, my heart doing a weird little flip. It was the nicest thing she'd ever done for me, even if it was delivered with the warmth of a freezer.
The day wore on in a similar fashion—a series of failures on my part and begrudging, hyper-competent successes on hers. We were the oddest, most dysfunctional couple in existence.
The climax of our problems began near the main stage. The school idol, Kaori Amamiya, was on stage, getting ready to announce the winner of the class stall competition. As she was speaking, her eyes scanned the crowd. Her gaze swept past me, then landed on someone standing right behind me. Her face lit up.
"Oh, there you are!" she called into the microphone, her sweet voice echoing across the plaza.
I preened, puffing out my chest. Was she talking to me? Maybe the rumors were true after all!
"Danawa-kun!" she called out. "I was hoping I'd see you!"
My brain short-circuited. Danawa? My lazy, manga-reading, curry-bread-loving best friend? He looked up from his phone, a confused expression on his face as the crowd parted around him. Kaori smiled, a genuine, heartfelt smile. "I was wondering… if you're free after this… would you like to get some bubble tea with me?"
The entire school plaza went into shock. Kaori Amamiya, the untouchable idol, had just asked a guy out. And it wasn't me. It was Danawa. The plot twist was so intense, I think I heard a record scratch in my head.
But the universe wasn't done with me yet. As the crowd was still processing this bombshell, the giant screen behind the stage flickered to life. Aomei's face appeared for a second, giving a sly wink to the camera she'd hidden somewhere.
"And now, a special presentation!" her voice boomed. "A tribute to our school's most surprising new couple!"
My blood turned to ice. Oh no.
A montage started playing. It was Aomei's blackmail video, but a hundred times worse. It was a director's cut of my entire chaotic history with Rina.
There was me, yelling about pudding. Then us, sitting awkwardly at the committee meeting. There was a secret shot of our study session, capturing the exact moment I'd thanked her and she'd blushed. The video showed her winning the alpaca and shoving it at me, but cleverly edited with slow-motion and romantic music, it looked like a shy, tender gift.
The grand finale was a clip Aomei must have taken that very morning. I had tripped walking into school, and Rina, with a long-suffering sigh, had grabbed my arm to steady me. On screen, it looked like a dramatic, life-saving catch from a romance movie.
The video ended with a giant pink heart enclosing our two mortified faces.
The crowd, which had been buzzing about Danawa and Kaori, now erupted. It was a tidal wave of shrieks, gasps, and frantic whispering.
Rina and I stood frozen, side by side, the giant alpaca clutched between us like a fluffy shield. My face was burning. Her face was pale with rage.
"I am going to kill her," she whispered, her voice trembling with fury.
"Get in line," I squeaked.
We had to escape. It was our only option. I dropped the alpaca, grabbed her hand—it was surprisingly soft—and just ran.
"Hey! Where are you going?" I yelled, pulling her along.
"Away from this nightmare!" she yelled back.
We plunged into the panicked crowd, a chaotic mess of bodies and confusion. I just kept pulling her, weaving through stalls and past stunned students until we found ourselves in the quiet, deserted space behind the school gym.
We stopped, breathing heavily, the noise of the festival a dull roar in the distance. My heart was pounding, partly from the running, mostly from the sheer, unadulterated mortification. My hand was still holding hers. I realized it and let go like I'd been burned.
"This… This is a disaster," I panted, running a hand through my messy hair.
Rina didn't say anything. She just stood there, staring at the ground, her shoulders tense.
The silence was deafening. I had to say something. Anything. My brain, under extreme pressure, supplied the absolute worst possible sentence.
"This is all your fault!" I blurted out, the words tumbling out in a rush of panicked adrenaline.
She looked up, her gray eyes wide with shock and anger. "My fault? How is this possibly my fault?"
"I don't know!" I yelled, my voice cracking. "Ever since that stupid pudding, it's just been one thing after another! I can't get a moment of peace! You're always just… there! In my head! I can't stop thinking about you!"
The words echoed in the small space. My own voice sounded foreign to me. I clamped my mouth shut, my eyes wide with horror at what I had just admitted. Not just to her, but to myself.
Rina just stared at me, her mouth slightly open. The anger in her eyes was gone, replaced by a look of stunned, utter disbelief. The Ice Queen was speechless. And I, Aoshi Tanaka, was the biggest idiot in the entire world.