Pause

It seemed that things had finally begun to settle down in Arata's life. After the elections, he was able to return back to the status quo among the student council and his friends. All except for one major detail.

That being his relationship with Ichiri appeared to be put on pause. It turned out that losing the elections hit her harder than they expected. She couldn't even look at him whenever their paths crossed during school. The girl even resigned from the library committee after everything was said and done.

He felt really bad about how things ended up, since it was because of him that she did all those things. When she ended up losing in the presidential elections, the girl must've felt she no longer was good enough for him. Though It was clear her feelings were still strong for her senior.

What was he supposed to do with her? Was there anything he could do that could help fix things? Arata was not a fan of having this feeling inside of… Whatever this down feeling was. He didn't like how his mind couldn't move past the bad thoughts. It was no wonder that he tried to avoid conflict so much.

Right now, he was laying down in his bed. Time was moving along slowly as he only had his thoughts for entertainment. There was a knocking on the door, to which he made zero effort to head downstairs in order to open. After all, his mother was down there and more than willing to meet their guests first.

"Arata!" He heard her call out his name. "One of your friends is here to see you." Her tone gave away that it was one of the girls. "She'll be right up there. So I hope you're not already enjoying yourself up there." Why did this lady live to try and tease her son like this? Quickly, he got himself out of bed and straightened up his shirt. The least the boy could do was make himself presentable to his guest.

"Don't worry, I wasn't…" He opened his door first to greet them. He was surprised at the one who came to visit him. After all this time, he would've assumed it to be someone like Matsu, Misei, even Erina. However… "Akiba?"

"Hello." She politely greeted him. "I'd like to enter your room, if that's okay?"

"Sure, go ahead." He answered, but what he wasn't expecting from her response was to quickly sneak inside. Akiba pushed right through him, placing the young boy in between her and a wall.

"Wh-what are you doing?" He quietly said. She was so close to him right now, a hand was over his chest and another over her mouth to tell him to be quiet. The girl looked over to the door that she closed behind them, waiting patiently for sounds of his mother potentially coming up the steps.

Meanwhile, his heart was racing from the contact between them. He could see her face in clear detail. There wasn't a single blemish, and her fair skin glowed from the sunlight coming from his window. She might appear to be a perfectly normal teenage girl to many at school, but that didn't mean no one thought she wasn't beautiful. And right now, Arata was given that beauty pushing right up into his tightening chest.

Finally, she stepped back from him. Content that they'd be alone in his room and safe from any eavesdroppers.

"Ugh!" She also spoke up in a rather disgusted tone. "I can't believe her." It turned out that Akiba had arrived her to rant about some problems she was having. Something rather unusual, seeing as they normally messaged each other over the phone. This was to be expected seeing as he had offered to listen in when she was feeling that rage of hers build up.

Honestly, as bad as this situation might've sounded. Arata kind of enjoyed talking with her like that. It was refreshing to speak so openly, candidly about ones feelings. She may have sounded upset, but it was also a relief. Certainly better than those small moments where she'd take her revenge on him. Such as the volleyball incident, or the water bucket when they cleaned the pool.

"And who are you talking about?" He asked. At this point, with so many girl's who formally liked Yogi now going after him. Who would even be her competition?

"It's Misao." She answered, which was a little bit of a surprise to him. "I finally had a chance to walk home alone with him, and of course she comes along and needs him for help."

"Interesting." It was hard to tell if that was supposed to be taking him away to do something romantic. He knew that Misao liked Akaki, and that she no longer needed to take that boy away for her friend. So it could simply have been something that she really needed him for. Or perhaps she was willing to entertain that boy's feelings for her. If it was the latter, then it was Arata's fault for bringing it up. Not that he was going to tell her that.

"I know she's not doing it for Misei. So it's probably just coincidence, but I'm just so mad at her, she knows how I feel about him. It would've been nice to spend more time with him." Akiba lamented her circumstance and plopped herself down onto his bed. He sighed, she didn't get his permission to do that at all. "And earlier today, there was this other girl, ooh I couldn't stand her. She just had to come and flirt with him right before we came together for lunch."

"Another girl?" He did remember a classmate of theirs who teamed up with Yogi to help the teacher with bring some papers to the staff room. "Should I keep an eye on her?"

"No, I doubt she'll be important in the future." She replied. Not that believing it made her feel better about what happened. "I'm so hopeless, aren't I?"

"Hmm?" He wasn't expecting her to turn her insults towards herself. However, this was why she came here instead of simply calling him up on the phone. "I didn't think there was anything wrong with you."

"Come on, I've known him longer than anyone else." It was back in junior high when they first met and became friends. Some time after that, she developed feelings for him, where her heart would skip just by seeing him. The boy occupying her mind when she was alone. "He only met everyone after we got to high school. And me? I've been too much of a coward to confess to him."

"I'm sure it's not that easy to just go out and do it." Of course, with all the girls that had confessed to him in the past few months. They made it seem like a confession bargain sale these days.

"It's because I'm his childhood friend." She continued on. "What if he doesn't see me like a girl?" The rejection would be hard to take. "But I'm most scared about… If he said yes." It might sound odd, but she felt comforted by the status quo. Where everyone could look at her warm smile and believe her to be that nice girl they all liked.

"I see what you mean." He understood the problem. Only he knew about her darker side, the Hyde to her Jekyll. Chance were that he would prefer a nicer girl… Well, he already knew what girl that boy wanted. Now that he was thinking of it, since Yogi liked someone else, he really would just reject her, wouldn't he?

"I'm sorry." She apologized. "Surely hearing someone like me whine must really annoy you sometimes."

"Eh, I've had worse." He responded by sitting down besides her on the bed.

"How does it feel to have so many girls after you?" She asked him. "I mean, it's like with Yogi, so I'm wondering what it's like on the other side."

"It's not as fun as they make it sound like in manga." He sighed. That was something they both were aware of. "It's really been stressing me out lately, especially after the elections."

"I guess the two of us are just destined to be this way." She commented. He chuckled, that really was something they could relate together with. Then, an idea hit him.

"Say, how about the two of us try to forget about it then."

"I don't think it makes it go away if we ignore it."

"No, I mean just for a day." He explained the plan. Just the two of them, or perhaps some others can join them, can just hang out. Forget about all this messy romance and drama and whatever else was bothering them. Arata really needed a vacation and something like this was very much desired by him.

"I see." Her mood perked up as she sat straight up next to him. "Then, we'll just spend time without everyone around us." It would be too tempting to try and return to what their current lives were like. So it would just be the two of them alone. They would be doing all the things they wanted to do without anyone judging them. "Let's meet here on Sunday." She pulled out her phone to point out a popular destination "By the station."

"Perfect." He was glad to see this going rather smoothly. "I'll come by after I have lunch with Hine."

"She's such a nice lady." Akiba got up with some pep in her step. "I'll see you later then." That wasn't the end of their conversation though, as she bent down and planted a soft kiss onto his cheeks."

"Eh!?" Her sudden move was enough to make him recoil from the shock. His hand hovered over the spot of contact. "What was that for?"

"Hehe." She giggled at his reaction. "Just call it my thanks for cheering me up."