“…How… you feel…?”

Hikaru stared blankly at Aya, who was staring back at her with a strangely sombre expression. There was no longer the light-hearted playfulness that was usually seen dancing in Aya’s eyes when around Hikaru.

“Yes… do you want to know…?” Aya said, not taking her eyes off Hikaru.

For some reason, Hikaru’s surroundings seemed so far away. Every noise around her sounded muffled; the stomping of footsteps, the overlapping chatters. In her mind, the chaos of the crowded train station was a distant scene.

All she could see was Aya’s face; her longing hazel eyes, adorned by dark eyelashes, her flawless face and her vibrant black hair flowing past her rosy cheeks.

“What do you mean how you feel?” Hikaru asked, shifting underneath Aya’s stare.

“You… you wanted to know whether or not I liked you… in that way… right…?”

“Yes…”

“Then, I’ll tell you the truth.—”

“W-wait…” Hikaru hesitated, her heart thumping against her chest. “I-if you say it… would that… change things between us…?”

“…”

“I…” Hikaru’s voice got hoarse. “I don’t want to lose you, Aya…”

“…”

“You’re my best friend…” Hikaru said quietly.

Aya paused, thinking about it for a moment as she glanced downwards.

Should I tell her…? Aya was thinking. She wanted to know, right…? I should just tell her the truth, instead of taking advantage of our friendship all the time. I owe this much to Hikaru…

She glanced back up at Hikaru with a firm look.

“I have to tell you the truth, Hikaru.”

Hikaru saw the look in Aya’s eyes and knew that there wasn’t any way to stop Aya from saying what she had to say.

Hikaru nodded, her lips dry. “Okay…”

“The truth is…” Aya started.

Hikaru swallowed, staring deeply into Aya’s eyes.

“I…”

“—Hey!”

A tall black-haired boy grabbed onto Aya’s arm, panting. It was Eito.

The two girls turned their attention to Eito, stunned by his bizarre appearance.

“Where were you?” Eito exclaimed to Aya, then turned his eyes to Hikaru. “You…” He turned his attention back to Aya. “You ran away from the train and I went everywhere to look for—”

Aya shot a swift kick into Eito’s jewels, sending him flying away into the air and landing several feet away from her.

Breathing heavily, Aya gazed at Eito with a dark face, her eyes flashing red. “You idiot!! I was about to…”

Aya stopped mid-way her sentence as she saw that the crowd around them in the train station was now staring her direction. Hikaru was holding a hand to her mouth, stunned.

“S-sorry!” Aya apologised to Hikaru, then to the crowd around her, doing a short bow. Then, she grabbed onto Hikaru’s hand, dragging her with her. “Come on, we have to go!”

“G-go?” Hikaru yelped as she followed Aya. “Where?”

“J-just away from here…”

~x~

In the end, Aya never got to say the words she wanted to say to Hikaru. After escaping from the train station, they were met with the thunderous outpouring of rain as they ran back to Hikaru’s apartment. When they reached her apartment, a worried Haruko was standing outside, waiting.

“Where on earth did you go?!” Haruko yelled at Hikaru, grabbing her daughter with outstretched arms. “I was so worried! You just ran off without saying anything!”

“I-I’m sorry, mum…”

Haruko took Hikaru inside the apartment after expressing her gratitude to Aya for looking after her daughter.

Aya stared at the closing door, resisting the urge to grab Hikaru away, and Hikaru shot one last unsure glance at Aya as the apartment door closed.

“Damn it!” Aya gritted her teeth. “I wanted to…”

She turned away from the door, glancing out to the window of the apartment building.

“I wanted to tell her how I feel…”

~x~

The next day at school, Aya waited patiently by the school gates, wearing a baseball cap over her head that held her hair and dark sunglasses. This was her attempt at a disguise to avoid the usual flock of admirers that would swan over her arrival at the school.

So far it was working.

She raised a thumb to her mouth, biting her nail gently.

“Today… I will do it…” She muttered.

Watching the extravagant cars coming to the school to drop off students, Aya was feeling more impatient by the second.

“Hey…”

A voice called out to Aya from behind her, and she turned around to see Sana.

Sana was peering into Aya’s face, squinting her eyes as she leaned forward slightly.

“Aya?” She said. “Why are—”

Aya placed a hand to Sana’s mouth quickly, upon hearing her call her name.

“Shhh!!”

Aya glanced around frantically, but to her relief, no one had heard what Sana was saying. Students were strolling briskly into the school gates, happy chatters going around.

Aya turned her gaze back to Sana and frowned at her caramel-haired friend who was staring back at her with a confused look behind steel-framed glasses.

“I’m trying to surprise Hikaru,” Aya explained, “there’s something I need to talk to her about, so don’t ruin it!”

Sana processed what Aya was saying for a few seconds, then nodded slowly.

Seeing this, Aya moved her hand away from Sana’s mouth.

“It might be a good idea to avoid Fumiko then.” Sana said, then glanced behind her. “I think she’s coming over now…”

“What?!” Aya said, then stood on her toes to get a better look past Sana. She was already taller than Sana by a good amount, but she just wanted a clearer view.

Uh-oh.

Fumiko was walking over with two other girl friends next to her, laughing loudly as students moved out of the way for her to move.

Aya spun around then tried to make a break for it.

“Hey Sana!”

Aya could hear Fumiko’s voice behind her as she greeted Sana.

“And you! Hey!”

Aya stopped as Fumiko’s voice called out to her. She wasn’t far enough to pretend that she didn’t hear her.

Slowly, Aya turned to face Fumiko and smiled faintly.

“He-hey…” Aya said.

Fumiko and her friends stared at Aya, and Aya felt her chest dropping.

This is it. My disguise is ruined already… Aya thought.

“You…” Fumiko leaned in closer to look at Aya and there was silence

“I’ve never seen you before. Are you a new student?” Fumiko said.

Ehhh?!

Aya gave a shock look to Fumiko, not believing her luck. She was also somewhat disappointed inside.

Fumiko… we’ve been friends for six years now and you can’t even tell who I am?!

“Y-yes…” Aya coughed in a deeper voice. “I-I’m a new student…”

“Hmmm…” Fumiko squinted her eyes, and Aya held her breath, expecting her to realise at any moment. “I’ve never seen you before, but you look really familiar…”

Fumiko shrugged. “Anyways, welcome to Hibiya High. This is a prestigious school so make sure not to ruin our reputation!”

“Yes…” Aya said, feeling annoyed. “I will keep that in mind.” Then, she turned away to escape from Fumiko.

“Hey!” Fumiko snapped. “Where do you think you’re going?”

“Uh…” Aya turned back to Fumiko. “To class…?”

“Class doesn’t begin for another fifteen minutes.” Fumiko said, glancing down at a pink Rolex watch on her wrist. “Anyways, my name is Fumiko, from the Yoshida family.”

Fumiko glanced up at Aya to see if she could comprehend that she was trying to say that her family owned the JMC network.

Aya nodded slowly.

Then, there was another awkward silence.

“Well… aren’t you going to introduce yourself?” Fumiko crossed her arms, and the two friends by her side giggled. Sana was staring at Aya, unsure of whether she should reveal her cover or not.

“I’m… Mari…” Aya said, choosing to go with the name of her favourite actress. “It’s nice to meet you, Fumiko…”

“Mari, huh?” Fumiko said. “What does your family do?”

“Um… we… own a small restaurant franchise…”

“Is that so?” Fumiko yawned, then turned to Sana. “Where’s Aya? Has she arrived yet?”

Sana glanced at Aya, then back to Fumiko. “No... I haven’t seen her yet…”

“Really? She usually arrives around this time…” Fumiko said, then glanced back at her watch to see if she misread it. Seeing that she didn’t misread the time, Fumiko reached into her expensive-looking bag dangling down one shoulder. “Maybe I’ll try calling her.”

“No!” Sana yelped, realising what Fumiko was about to do.

Fumiko glanced at Sana, bewildered by her sudden reaction. Normally, Sana was very calm and collected.

Aya was thanking Sana inside her head.

“I mean… let’s not bother her…” Sana said, shuffling under Fumiko’s gaze. “She doesn’t like it when you’re too clingy to her, Fumiko…”

“Wh-wha? I’m her best friend, Sana!” Fumiko retorted. “It’s my job to look after her!”

“B-but, still…” Sana insisted.

Fumiko peered at Sana, and Aya was stuck, not knowing what to do. The two girls by Fumiko’s side was watching Aya, making sure that she didn’t just walk off again.

Aya smiled at them behind her tinted sunglasses, but the girls just stared back at her blankly.

Guess everyone was only nice to me because of my reputation… Aya thought inside her head. This is a pretty weird experience, actually… I’ve never had so many people been rude to me before…

Fumiko sighed, shaking her head and stopped reaching into her bag.

“I guess you’re right, Sana.” Fumiko said. “I should try to not bother her too much if it’s not necessary.”

“Right…” Sana nodded encouragingly with a weak smile.

Aya tried to edge backwards to get away from them, while Fumiko was distracted.

“Hey…” One of the girls besides Fumiko tapped Fumiko on the shoulder. “That girl’s getting away…”

“You!” Fumiko pointed her finger at Aya. “Come back here!”

“Ugh…” Aya scrunched up her face, then walked back to Fumiko.

“I didn’t say you could go.” Fumiko said, then took her bag out of her shoulders and handed it to Aya.

Aya stared at Fumiko’s bag with a confused expression.

“My arm is tired.” Fumiko said. “Help me carry it.”

“Fumiko…” Sana chipped in.

Aya sighed, then grabbed onto Fumiko’s bag. She almost dropped it from the unexpected weight.

God! Her bag is pretty heavy, actually! What does she even carry with her?! Aya held the bag with an annoyed smile. Luckily, it’s okay for me since I’m pretty fit…

Fumiko turned to her friends and started chatting about the latest items of luxury clothing that was just released, completely ignoring Aya. Sana wanted desperately to help Aya, but she also didn’t want to ruin Aya’s disguise.

Aya glanced around dully, then widened her eyes as she saw more people coming over.

What?! More people?! At this rate, someone is definitely going to recognise me!

The two people approaching was Kenzou and Mika. They stopped in front of the group, Kenzou with a playful grin and Mika with a scowl, seeing Fumiko.

“Good morning.” Sana greeted the two of them amicably, but there was a hint of stress in her face as she realised Aya’s predicament.

“You…” Fumiko shot a deathly glare at Mika. “Don’t walk up to me so casually!”

“Like I want to!” Mika clenched her jaw. “I just wanted to talk to Sana about something.”

“Me?” Sana said with a quizzical look.

“Hey, hey girls.” Kenzou interjected, stepping forward. “Let’s try to keep things friendly here.” He glanced over at Aya, then down at Fumiko’s bag she was carrying and back up. “Is this a new student?”

“Y-yes…” Aya grunted, pushing her sunglasses up to make sure they were still there.

“I see.” Kenzou grinned broadly, then walked up, inspecting her face. “Hey…”

Aya swallowed.

“You’re pretty cute.” Kenzou finished, with a look of surprise. “You should take those sunglasses off.”

“Kenzou, leave her alone…” Sana said.

“Tch.” Mika walked up, waving Kenzou aside. “You’re such a disgusting flirt, Kenzou.”

“Says you.” Kenzou whistled, glancing away.

“Why you…!” Mika shook her head, then chose to ignore Kenzou’s comment. She turned to Aya and for a second, Aya thought Mika was a pretty nice person for saving her like that.

Mika stabbed her index finger in the air pointing at Aya’s face.

“Your fashion sense is completely terrible!” Mika said. “What’s up with those sunglasses and cap? You should let your hair down as a girl! Ugh! How did you get into this school with boyish tastes like that?!”

Aya stared blankly at Mika in response.

“What are you guys doing?”

A soft harmonic voice called out to the group and they turned their heads to see Hikaru and Itsuo standing side by side gazing at them.

“Yo.” Itsuo greeted the group with a short nod.

Aya didn’t care about him though, she was staring fixedly at Hikaru, feeling her heart quickening.

Hikaru! She’s here! Aya was thinking. She looks as cute as ever!

Hikaru glanced over at Aya, and Aya’s heart stopped for that moment.

Oh, Hikaru’s looking over here! She will surely recognise me!

The moment was short-lived though, as the brisk glance came without any sign of recognition. Hikaru was already turning her attention over to Fumiko with an angry expression.

“Why are you making this girl carrying your bag, Fumiko?” Hikaru said. “You should be carrying your own stuff!”

“That’s…” Fumiko tried to think of an excuse, then shook her head. “Hikaru, that’s just how the school works. Newcomers have to pay their dues…”

Hikaru ignored Fumiko and hurried over to Aya. Mika stepped aside with an annoyed expression, knowing that Hikaru was a friend of Aya’s. Hikaru took Fumiko’s bag off Aya’s grasp gently.

“It’s okay.” Hikaru said. “You don’t have to carry this.”

Her eyes were looking down at the bag when she came over, so she didn’t get a good look of Aya’s face despite being so close.

“Th-thank you…” Aya mumbled, mesmerised by Hikaru’s cute face up close.

Hikaru held onto the bag with both her hands, not being able to hold on with one hand. She turned to Fumiko with red cheeks from the weight she was holding.

“Fumiko, take this back…” Hikaru said. “Oh gosh, what do you have in this…?”

Fumiko took the bag off Hikaru’s grasp with a sigh.

“Why do you have to be such a goody two shoe, Hikaru?” Fumiko said, slinging the bag over her shoulder. “Is there a moment in your life where you don’t act so righteous?”

“I’m just doing what’s right.” Hikaru replied. “Don’t you agree, Sana?”

The group’s attention turned to Sana and she shifted uncomfortably.

“I-I agree with Hikaru…” Sana said, stepping over to Hikaru’s side.

“Me too.” Itsuo chimed in. “Geez. What is up with the bullying in this school?”

The two girl friends by Fumiko’s side were flashing angry glances at the three of them, but Fumiko shrugged, surprising them. The old Fumiko would not had just let the issue go.

“Anyways, Hikaru, do you know where Aya is?” Fumiko said. “It doesn’t seem like she’s gotten to school yet.”

Itsuo widened his eyes upon hearing Aya’s name. Crap, I was supposed to tell Hikaru about Aya. That girl has been putting up an act in front of the whole school as being an angel!

“Mm…” Hikaru glanced around, looking over Aya, who was still in her cap and sunglasses. “I don’t really know…”

“Hikaru…” Itsuo spoke in a serious tone. “There’s something I have to tell you about Aya. Something I found out yesterday.”

Hikaru looked up at Itsuo, confused. “What is it?”

“The thing is…” Itsuo said.

Aya stumbled forward, pushing into Itsuo and stomped hard on his foot. “Woops!” Aya cried, pretending she had lost her balance. “I’m so sorry!”

“—Ah!” Itsuo yelped, then staggered several steps backwards. He crouched down, holding onto his feet.

At the same time, the school bell rung, and students around them were flocking into the building.

Using this opportunity, Aya grabbed onto Hikaru’s hand, preparing to take her somewhere where they could be alone so she could talk to her one-on-one.

“Huh?” Hikaru glanced at Aya, not knowing why a girl she didn’t know had grabbed onto her.

“Come on, let’s go.” Aya said in her normal voice.

The rest of the group was either looking at Itsuo to see if he was okay or gazing around at the crowd surging into the building.

Hikaru took a closer look at Aya’s face, and gasped.

“A-Aya…?!”

“Shhh…!”

At that moment, someone bumped into the side of Aya, knocking her sunglasses off from the bridge of her nose and falling half way down her face.

One of the girl friends by Fumiko’s side shrieked aloud, and everyone turned to look in Aya’s direction. Even students that had been scurrying to get to classes before, now froze in their spots, stunned by Aya’s beauty.

“A-Aya?!” Fumiko’s face turned pale, and so did Kenzou’s and Mika’s.

“Th-that was y-you, Aya?!” Mika choked.

Aya laughed weakly, then took the sunglasses off her face.

“Yep, it’s me…” Aya said. She grabbed the side of her baseball cap, pulling it off and letting her vibrant black hair fall below her shoulders.

“I-I’m so sorry!” Mika bowed sharply.

“S-see, I said she was cute…” Kenzou laughed weakly, then gave a small smile. “Sorry, Aya…”

“Wh-why were you pretending to be someone else?!” Fumiko cried, then dashed forward, inspecting Aya’s arm. “Are you okay, Aya? Did your arm hurt from carrying the bag? I’m really sorry! I-I didn’t know it was you!”

“It’s okay…” Aya laughed, then was barraged by students rushing out to greet her, as well as the rest of the group coming over to apologise.

This was why I had wanted to stay in disguise… Aya gave a pained smile, as she acted her part as the school role model, while glancing over at Hikaru.

Hikaru was pushed away by the sea of students, but she was also staring worriedly at Aya, as she got further and further away.

“Damn it…” Aya muttered under her breath.

How am I going to tell Hikaru about my feelings?!