Perfect Facade[Asano Gakushuu x Reader]

t h i r t y : her realization

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The trip to the ice cream parlour had completely changed Gakushuu's mood in school. Students are starting to notice his better mood and no longer do their best to avoid his path. The atmosphere was slowing going back to normal in Class 3-A, and it was all thanks to [Name].

"Thank you thank you thank you so much, I have no idea how you did it but you did and that's fantastic." Ren clasped [Name]'s hands tightly, fake anime tears of joy falling down his face as he expresses his gratitude for what she had done. It was in the early mornings, [Name] had just arrived to her class and was putting her back down at her seat when the Top 5, other than Gakushuu, came to thank her. The other Five Virtuous nodded in agreement to what Ten had said. From an outsider's perspective, there was yellow beams of hope shining upon them, with little flowers floating about.

Though it all came to a stop when Gakushuu walked into the classroom. Instead of being afraid and keeping their distance, the four of them returned to his side. Just like servants to their king. He was their king, their leader. If he's in a bad mood, it would effect everyone else. That's why his friends were so grateful that [Name] helped him out of his anger so quickly.

Though it was nice for things to have returned to normal, [Name] had to start caring more about things. It was the calm before the storm. Summer vacation was coming about and she was excited to go back to her summer house in America. However, after making new friends here, her heart felt a bit heavy go know that she'll be spending half of her vacation in another country.

"But it's better anyways, I really can't fathom the idea of staying with my parents much more longer, I need a breather." [Name] told herself when she was spacing out at her seat. She placed her back on her desk and rested her head on it. Summer vacation had always been something she looked forward to, so how come she was starting to feel a dread creeping up in her gut?

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In a blink of an eye, [Name] had already boarded the plane to make her trip to America. As the granddaughter of the CEO of a fairly successful business, she was riding in first class, sitting in her own personal pod situated right near the window. What a great day to be born into riches. School had just closed for the summer break, she was a tad bit sad about not being able to see her new found friends for some time. If anything, she could always call them up, since she was staying with Grandma, who has no restrictions on her phone usage.

"I can't wait to take pictures of what I see and send it to Yayoi and Kekoi, bet they'll be super amazed." [Name] giggled to herself, her leg bouncing happily at the thought of her two friends smiling over the phone at her pictures. She was only an hour into her flight and she was already thinking of what to show to her friends.

"Oh yeah, I should definitely get some souvenirs for them as well." [Name] remembered, her eyes darting out of the window to ponder on what to get for her friends. Getting them treats would be a great and easy idea, for Kekoi and Yayoi, but she knows that Gakushuu has expensive taste. Thinking about his status, he would have already been in America and if not, atleast tried some of their snacks there. It took her some time to figure out what her fellow strawberry red friend would appreciate as a souvenir gift.

"It must be really special, cause Asano Kun is special to me." Took her sometime to realised what she had called him. Someone special, to her. Upon realizing, she wasted no time burying her face in the bowl of her hands, an elongated groan then sounded. It weirded out a nearby passenger who was relaxing in their pod until they were rudely disrupted by her loud groaning.

Her face burn, she felt the heat of it on her hands. How annoying, she told herself. It seemed as if every time she thought about her dear friend as slightly something more than a friend, she would combust. Her hands slowly retracted away from her red face, her eyes glued onto the black screen of the monitor in front of her.

"He's just a friend! No need to get so flustered over him." [Name] was in a state of frenzy, wanting to stop thinking about Gakushuu immediately. A lightbulb lit up on her head. Her fingers reached for the on button on the monitor. Immediately, the monitor lit up and welcomed her with an array of things to watch.

"Let's see. . ." She scrolled a bit and set her eyes on a romance movie. She immediately scrolled away.

Then came across an action movie which she thought the title sounded cool. However, the moment she saw the actor's hair on the cover, she scrolled away once more.

"Who knew there was another person with the same hairstyle as Asano Kun?" She had completely forgotten about Akabane Karma. Speaking of which, at that very moment, the redhead let out the loudest sneeze his entire life, scaring the cat off the tree next to his home.

After a few minutes of searching, she gave up. Everything was reminding her of her dearest friend. So she opted for the next best option. A random television channel that she had accidentally pressed but decided to keep it on. It was the best option thus far, it was playing some American game show that she didn't quite understand. All she knew was that there three contestants and they were spinning a wheel and guessing letters.

It kept her mind busy, and away from what she wanted to not think about. However, the show ended and right after that, it played some television rom-com. [Name] thought it was entertaining so she kept watching. The two main characters were clearly infatuated with each other, yet none of them is saying anything. Oh how much it makes her blood boils. She got invested in a fictional couple's love life in the span of 20 minutes.

"I'm sooo thirsty." Maria whined as she took a seat on a nearby bench at the park. Beads of sweat was sliding down her tan skin in the burning sun. She looked up, eyeing the water bottle Lia had in her hands.

"What are you looking at?" Lia spat, her tone was harsh but she has a flustered expression on when she realized Maria was staring at her. When Maria gestured the suggestion of Lia giving her her water bottle, the tall girl refused.

"I thought you're not saliva conscious?" Maria asked but Lia only gave a blush as a response.

"Why is Lia so flustered? It's just a water bottle." [Name] thought, as she subconsciously leaned in towards the screen. It gave a her a feeling of nostalgia which she didn't know why.

"Do you not know? If we share the water bottle, we would be k-k-- You know what I'm talking about!"

Oh, no wonder why she felt so reminisce of this scene.

She did something similar with Gakushuu. Comical blank eyes stared at the screen before she ultimately pressed the power down button on the side. Her finger rested on the button for some time, as she hung her head low. The blush from earlier had came back, and it burned even more. It felt as if she was steaming, just from pure embarrassment and little bit of something else.

"What's wrong?" Gakushuu asked, raising his eyebrows at her sudden aversion.

"Well. . ." [Name] elongated slightly, buying herself some time to think of a believable reason. ". . . Thats my bottle and I drank from it, then you drank from it as well. In a way we had an indi-rect. . . kiss?"

She will never forget the way he had choked on his water before setting the bottle aside, that serious but flustered look plastered on his face as he tried to keep his composure. Slowly, she slumped back into her seat, the cold cushions contrasted greatly to her burning skin. In each and every memories she had of that boy, he was always so perfect to her, even when he was not. With a small sigh, she finally came to terms with her feelings.

"Yeah, I do like him."

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Really super sorry for the late updates!! Have a double update as an apology <3