Perfect Facade[Asano Gakushuu x Reader]

t h i r t y - o n e : their realization

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"O-M-G, Koi Chan, look at what [Name] Chan just posted!" Yayoi excited squeeled as she shoved her phone to her best friend opposite of her across the circular metal table they were at. The two of them had decided to meet up to enjoy a nice cafe lunch together to take a break from their own home revision they had been doing ever since the summer holidays had started. The ravenette looked up from her drink, her thick circular glasses became askew but she promptly fixed them before taking a closer look at the phone.

It was an Instagram post from [Name]'s private account, which was a pretty sunset from a city apartment view. Though the main focus was the sunset, the apartment could be seen at the sides, which Kekoi took notice of the multiple branded items laying around. She then reached for the phone to scroll to the next few images. The next image was [Name] in the frame, looking out of the window. The sun rays perfectly reflected onto her skin, her messy hair made the girl wonder if it was styled or that was just her natural messy hair.

The last and final image was a picture of her and her grandmother, the two were in an embrace, which [Name] had the biggest smile on her face. That picture made Kekoi start wondering. While her best friend was rambling about how nice it must be to have a rich grandmother, the ravennette thought of all the times she had spent together with [Name]. Sure, they were close, but after seeing that picture of her smiling so bright, she started to wonder if she had ever truly felt happy with the two of them.

"Hey Yoi Chan, do you think [Name] is happy with us?" Kekoi asked in a solemn tone, which caught Yayoi off-guard. The maroon-haired girl raised an eyebrow at her friend's sudden question.

"Why do you think that?" She asked, she was confused but nonetheless curious of why Kekoi thought of that.

"Well, it's a bit weird but hear me out." Kekoi started off, showing Yayoi a random picture [Name] from her own gallery. "Remember this? We all took this together when we went to hang out once." In the image, it was all three of them, together having some boba tea after school. They were all have fun, enjoying their little treat. Kekoi then zoomed into [Name]'s face. Obviously, she was smiling, seemingly having a good time. After Yayoi took a good look, Kekoi used her friend's phone to put side to side [Name]'s instagram post with her own photo.

"Now look, is it just me or does [Name] seemed happier here?" Kekoi asked but when she looked up she came to meet with Yayoi's disappointed face, as if she was saying 'That's it?'. "Hear me out okay? I've noticed for some time [Name]'s smiles doesn't like, meet her eyes if that makes sense?"

The more she rambled on, the more Yayoi's expressions dropped, which caused her to ramble even more.

"It's as if she's constantly faking her happiness. Like whenever she greets others, she puts on a pretty smile, but because she's so pretty, no one seems to notice how forced it is. Am I just the only one?" Kekoi looked up to see some sort of disagreement with her latest claim.

"Yes you are the only one."

Defeated, Kekoi slumped down and stared at her melting ice in her latte. "Maybe I'm just overthinking this. . . but seriously, look at the way she's smiling in this picture, have we ever seen that smile when she's with us?" Her last ending statement made Yayoi also start thinking.

As someone who excels in Social Studies, she has an excellent memory. She closed her eyes, giving a small hum as she recounted all of the times [Name] had hung out with her. The deeper she went into her memories, the more scarce it seemed to find a memory where her dear friend smiled genuinely. Her eyes opened once more, Kekoi was still sulking over sounding like an idiot earlier.