Capítulo 4: I'm Not the Only One
Arata walked to school, as he usually did. But today was different, because this would be first day with the looming treat of losing his secret. Along with his forced servitude to a girl he never paid to much mind to until now.
It was even worse with his mom believing his new relationship to be a good thing, happy that her son supposedly had the attention of an attractive girl at school. The nice lady whose garden he'd help tend to even encouraged him. While she might've explained it logically, the way she acted about it was odd.
But now was the not the time to ponder over facts of the past. The bigger issue was doing what Erina asked him to do. Making the boy that sat beside him fall in love with her. How? Something he didn't have an answer for, matters of love was something he only ever read in a manga or saw in an anime.
"Good morning." His seatmate greeted him as usual as he took his seat.
"Oh, good morning." He replied in a less upbeat manner.
"Oh, are you okay. Is what was bothering you still an issue?" Arata appreciated the concern. While he may not have know Yogi very well, he could see how Erina could possible fall in love with him. Even if a bit shallow.
"You don't need to worry about that. I'm working on it, hopefully it'll be no problem soon." He really wished it would be over soon. But he really doubted his ability or luck for a quick resolution.
"That's great. I hope it goes well for you." Though with some time before class started, this might've been a good time to steer the conversation towards something he was going to need to know.
"Say, I know this might sound like a random thing to bring up. But you know Erina Hayama, right?" If he was to any chance of getting the pair together, he needed to know his feelings about her. Along with the others, if possible.
"Oh Erina, you met her, right?" Not counting his recent encounters with her. Erina wasn't a girl that he really talked too. In fact, he's hadn't spoken to any of Yogi's friends informally, though he'd seen the group talk around Yogi's desk multiple times. A bit hard to ignore when one's desk is right next to all the action.
"Sure, you could say that. But I was wondering what you think of her?" He really wasn't good at long conversations, let alone one where he was trying to keep secret his association of her.
"Think? She's my friend, of course." The way Yogi responded to him, he couldn't tell how serious he was. From what he'd seen Erina do before meeting her, it was obvious she at least had a crush on him.
"Just that?"
"Um, yeah. But she's really affectionate, and she doesn't like it when I don't eat her lunches." Say something he didn't know, he thought. This was getting nowhere, perhaps a more direct approach might work.
"Well you don't thinks she's c-cute or anything?" Saying that made him want to throw up. Cute? While she might look great, her personality was something he dreaded so very much these days.
"C—c-cute?" It was clear how embarrassed Yogi got over this topic. Now they were getting somewhere. "I g-guess depending o-on how you -view it. You could say that… Hey are you teasing me?" He asked, a little upset at the question.
"N-no… I was just curious is all."
"Really, or maybe… do you have a crush on Erina?" He recoiled on the inside. Him? Have a crush on her? Laughable.
"W-what, no I don't like her at all!" He defended himself. Yogi tried to suppress his laugh, but he couldn't contained his enjoyment.
"Hahaha, I'm just teasing you. You know, so we're even now." Joking? Maybe at a different time this might've been funny for him, but having fun was at the bottom of his list at the moment.
"Haha." He laughed back, sarcastically. "Looks like class is about to start, so I guess we can talk later."
"Maybe at lunch then?" Yogi quickly added. Giving him pause. "I know that I've been asking a lot lately, but I really would like it if you can eat with us. I think the others would like you a lot too." Normally, he'd reject. Like he'd always do, and Yogi would simply give up and state that it was too bad. But this time, this was an opportunity he definitely shouldn't give up on.
"You know what? I think I'll go this time." He decided this was the time to accept the offer. Because if he could get closer to Yogi, then he'd have the fast track to success.
"Really?! That's great." Yogi couldn't, or more accurately didn't contain his excitement. Jumping from his seat, giving Arata a hug in joy.
"Ahhhh, Yogi please… We're in class right now." He tried to calm him down and maintain himself among all the shaking he was receiving. Along with containing his embarrassment as they pair were stared at by the rest of class, teacher included.
"Mr. Aono, may you please return to your seat?" The teacher scolded.
"Right, sorry." He returned to his seat awkwardly. Arata just wanted to hide his face in shame as the rest of the class looked at them. At this rate, maybe it was better for Erina to just let everyone know his secret so he could end his suffering. Still though, this was an important step to his plan.
Class otherwise went through as normal. Except for the fact that Yogi seemed to have a glowing happiness emanating from him. Arata on the other hand was dreading their upcoming lunch. Given that he'd only ever had lunch by himself for as long as he could remembered.
But now that dreaded hour had arrived, getting up from his seat felt weird to him. Usually this was the time he'd get his lunch out, eat and listen to some music by himself. Not this time, instead he exited the room, lunch in hand, with Yogi.
"Oh boy, I'm so glad you've finally accepted my offer." Well at least one of them was happy about this. At the same time, getting closer to Yogi would hopefully help him.
"So who exactly do you eat with? And where are we even going?" He asked, unfamiliar with the school outside his classroom.
"Oh you can get to know them when you meet. And we're heading to the student council room."
"Student council, well I guess it must be empty during lunch usually, I'm sure they wouldn't mind you using it."
"I guess so, but the president and vice president both eat with me."
"Wait what?"
"Ah we're here now." They reached their destination. Yogi opened the door and greeted his friends. "Hello everyone." They said greeted him back, as they've done many times before, but the tail-end of their words sounded different. Even to someone like Arata who's never personally met any of them.
"Um, who's this?" An orange haired girl asked. Looking at him with some level of disdain. He looked back at her with confusion, unlike everyone else in the room, he wasn't familiar with her.
"Oh Yuriko, this is Arata, he sits next to me in class." Yogi explained. So this was that other girl Erina mentioned. From the literal seconds he'd met her, he could tell that his initial belief about her was correct.
"Whatever, like I care about some boy you decide to bring here." While he could've lived without the insult, he could tell from the way she talked that she sounded jealous. Not that he could see why, seeing as he definitely didn't see himself as competition.
With some introductions out of the way, Yogi and Arata sat down. The former settling at his usual place at the end of the table, the latter taking the free spot by Erina. Probably planned by her, he assumed.
As he sat there, trying to eat lunch, his nerves were running all over the place. He did his best to hide it, as to not bring suspicion to himself. But there was one problem. He'd never eaten lunch with others, it not as if he knew what you're supposed to do here. Perhaps bring up some small talk would help him.
"So Shinshiro, Miyatani, last year's class was pretty hard wasn't it?" He tried to bring up a familiar topic. Though maybe bring up class might not have been the best choice, he didn't have anything.
"Um, I guess, but I don't know how you'd know that?" Said Akaki, the two looked at him oddly.
"Well, of course I'd know. We were in the same class."
"You were?" Asked Akiba. They didn't remember him? But he wasn't that hidden in class.
"Y-you don't remember me? But I sat next to Yogi, you guys stood by my desk at least a hundred times." They shook their heads, as if he was talking about something foreign.
"Aww, don't worry. I remember you at least." Erina jumped in, talking like she was giving him pity points.
"I would've thought you did, seeing as you ate lunch with him yesterday." Misei mentioned.
"Really? Oh was that why you were asking about Erina earlier today." Caught, he thought. The feelings of eyes being on him made itself known. Was his cover already blown?
"I was just asking him for some help on homework." Erina explained, obviously a lie. "Yogi's mentioned that Kashimura's pretty smart, so I figured he'd be pretty good to ask." That seemed to be enough to satisfy Yogi, but he didn't think that the rest were so easily persuaded. Wait, has Yogi talked much about him?
"Yeah… Wait, so does Yogi..."
"Anyway Yogi, we have a favor to ask you." He was interrupted by Misao. "I just remembered, Misei needs you to help her put up some fliers. You know, for the upcoming May Dance."
"Really? Sure I'd love to help." Yogi got up, along with Misei, yet Misao stayed seated. By the time the others left, Arata was left a little confused.
"Uh, shouldn't you go with them?" He asked.
"Oh it's no problem. I'm sure the two of them can handle it." Sounded a bit lazy coming from their vice president. He was certain that the students would want every member of the student council to be hard workers. Though it was pretty convenient, with Misei's feelings towards Yogi, that she'd get to be alone with him.
Unless… Was that her plan all along? All that did seem a bit coincidental. Was Misao in a similar position as himself? Maybe not in the blackmail sense, but he did know that the student council members considered themselves good friends. It seemed like this love harem was getting a little more complicated.
They ate while the other two were gone. A bit more in silence, even for Arata's liking. It wasn't even that helpful for him, seeing as he didn't even know how to approach any of them. Add in the fact that Erina was the last person he wanted to have a conversation with and he was left with awkward silence.
Thankfully, it didn't last long because Yogi and Misei had returned before they knew it. But at the same time, Akaki seemed to clumsily spill his drink on Akiba.
"Ahhh!" She yelped from the surprise. Her skirt and lower part of her blouse now soaking wet.
"Oh no. Are you all right?" Yogi quickly expressed his concern.
"Oh it's fine, I'm just a little wet is all." She replied. Yet, when the boy got closer, Arata could see blushing of her cheeks, and it wasn't from the cold water splashed on her. "R-really it's f-fine"
"No, you're clearly not fine. You're already shivering from the cold." You idiot, Arata thought. It was pretty clear what this was, how could he not see it? But regardless of his awareness, Yogi grabbed Akiba's arm and rushed her out the room. Presumably to get her cleaned up.
However, what really grabbed his attention from this spectacle was Akaki. That boy might not have remembered him, but he sure did. Clumsy was not the word he'd use to describe this kid, in fact the opposite might be more true. That along with the timing, he was certain. Just as with Misao, it seemed like Akaki was supporting his friend as well in this love game.
He knew the trio of Yogi, Akiba, and Akaki were friends since they were young children, so the reasoning wasn't that complex to him either. But when he took a look over to Erina, he got quite a scare from her. She was glaring at him, with a stare that would petrify the most stoic of men.
He was so scared, he could barely keep eating his food. He understood why she was so upset, she got him to help her, and here he was, letting the others get ahead of him. If there was a time to strike, then he had to make sure it was him that pulled the trigger.
When the other two returned, he was still stuck thinking of what to make for his next move. What yogi said next, was when he saw his one opportunity.
"Ah man, this has been one busy lunch. I haven't even gotten a chance to eat yet."
"Oh yogi, you know I always..." Erina was about to give him lunch, as she's done many times before. However, Arata gave her a nudge, stopping her.
"Share your lunch with him." He whispered at her, using his hands to cover his mouth's movements. She paused and stared at him for a moment. It seemed like she was apprehensive about this for some reason. He didn't relent though.
"Actually… I didn't make you a lunch today." She started.
"What? Really… Aww, but I'm really hungry now."
"I guess that means we should share my lunch then." She spoke gleefully.
"S-share lunch?" He responded in a nervous manner. Considering what he was used to, Arata figured this was a little much for him. Maybe He might've went too far, he thought.
"Yep, that's what I just said." She got up from her spot in a flash, and got to the boy even faster than that. "Now here, say ahhh." She held up a spoonful of rice to him.
"O-oh. that's fine, I think I can feed myself." Yogi tried to meekly calm her down from her heads being in the clouds. But he relented, taking the bite she was giving him. His flushed face telling everyone of his feelings.
Arata felt bad about this. He didn't want him to be uncomfortable, but he was in a tight spot himself. He looked over at Akaki and Misao. From his rather clumsy attempt to aid Erina, he was certain they knew. From the looks on their eyes, it seemed like they knew too.
It felt like these three were the only people in the room right now. Arata was hoping what Erina was asking him was going to be easy. But with love rivals, and with people standing behind those rivals. This love game was not going to be easy to win for Erina, or himself. However, unlike any other game he'd ever played before. This was one game that he couldn't afford to lose.
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