|THE PLAN| AYATO X MALE RIVALS|

|47|

1:15 PM

"Okay Ayato, you go paint the props while I paint the tower. Don't mess it up. I've worked too hard to finish everything."I shot a glare , watching him go on his knees, grabbing the paint brush as there was buckets of paint surrounding him and the props,"Right. Don't worry, I won't mess it up."He responded as he dipped the brush into the brown paint. I made my way towards the stage and the tower, already having my paints ready. I sighed, grabbing the paint brush and starting to paint the tower, trying to stay focus.

"You know, you should apologize to Amao and Osano, but mostly Amao."I heard Ayato speak with his blank tone in his voice like always.

Weirdo.

"No thank you. I'm not wasting my precious time and voice on them."I responded. "But you should still apologize. It's so easy. How hard is it for you to say 'sorry' to someone?"He questioned. "This will show that somewhere deep down in your heart - if you have one - there's still some kindness. Everyone including your members keep talking bad about you. You rarely have friends, and when you do have friends, you boss them around."He explained as I listened quietly while painting.

"No one likes you in this school because of your attitude. Your members are not even here to help you."

"Because they are busy with their useless friends."I huffed.

"At least they have someone to lean on and hangout with unlike you. I'm the only one actually helping you."Ayato said,"If you dropped that attitude, maybe-"

"Ayato, I don't want to hear you trying to change me with your little speech you're doing right now because it's not gonna work. You'll never understand what's going on with me, okay? Just continue doing what you are doing and don't speak. You're ruining my concentration."I glared at the male who was still painting. He nodded in response. I took a deep breathe in and out before returning my focus on the tower.

I can do this.

I can do this.

I'll make my parents proud.

Just stay focus Kizano and don't get nervous. After all, you never made a mistake. You're perfect. Perfect. Perfect. Perfect!

"Perfect..."I mumbled under my breathe.  A soft smile formed on my lips as I continued to paint,"No time for imperfection. No time for fun. I need to focus on this, for my parents and my future."I mumbled once more. I soon stopped when I heard footsteps coming towards me quickly, almost like someone was running to me. I quickly turned to only get splashed with green paint, making me jump and stumbled back. I wiped the paint out of my face and my eyes widen, my uniform was covered in paint along with my hair and cape. My precious cape!

I looked at Ayato who was standing there with an empty bucket of paint as he was smiling,"Ayato! What the hell?!"I shouted in anger,"My uniform is ruined! My cape and hair is ruined as well! What were you thinking?!"

"Oops."He smirked at me,"Come on Kizano, don't you think it's time to break that perfect image? Have fun for once that doesn't involve plays."He said. I glared at him,"Fun? Fun?! Ayato! The play is in two days! We don't have time to have fun!"I shouted in anger once more before grabbing a bucket of paint. I slashed it on him, he lifted his arm, blocking his face from the paint,"Is this fun to you?! Is it?!"

"Yes."He responded before grabbing another bucket near by, this time a brown one and splashed it on me, I blocked my face with my arms,"Oops!"

I glared at him,"Ohhh, you gonna have fun? Fine! I'll give it to you!"My hands grabbed a bucket of paint as soon as my hand grabbed it, Ayato ran off the stage. I ran after him with the bucket in my hands,"Come here you annoying brat!"I shouted, still feeling angry. The more we ran, the gym floor started getting stained by the paint and our footprints from our shoes. "You can't catch me!"He shouted as he ran. I continued to run after him. When I was close enough, I used my foot to trip him. Ayato fell down on the floor, and looked up at me with his dull eyes.

I smiled proudly as I poured the paint on him,"Caught you."

Ayato sat up and flickered some of the paint at me. I laughed at the response,"That's what you get for slashing paint on me."I looked down at myself, seeing my uniform be fully covered in paint and stared at my stained hands. I smiled brightly,"This is...fun!"I squeaked happily. I made my way towards the paints, getting on my knees and grabbed a piece of thick white paper that were used for the posters. I placed it down where there was no paint, I dipped my hands in the paint and started covering the paper with my handprints. I heard footsteps coming behind me, Ayato watched before kneeling down as well next to me,"You seem happy."

"Yeah! It's been so long since I was able to play with paint like this! It's a rush! I didn't have to worry about what everyone thought of me. I was able to be myself and have fun for once."I explained,"For once, I don't feel trapped."

"Trapped?"

I nodded,"Yeah."I started to paint stick figures on the poster while Ayato watched. He then pressed his hand on the poster creating a handprint of his,"Well, sometimes you gotta have fun and break out of your shell. You will enjoy life more if you break the perfect image you keep putting yourself in."He explained. I listened as I continued painting on the poster. He glanced at me,"Maybe it's time you tell me what's going on. I can help you."

I looked down at my knees, sighing,"Hmm... I don't know Ayato. This is between my family. I don't think you can help."I mumbled.

Ayato was about to grab my shoulder before we heard the gym door opened,"What happened here?"We heard a voice ask. A familiar gentle voice from a female. We turned to see a female student council stand there, looking us. It was Akane.

"What happened here boys?"She repeated, making her way towards us,"What a mess!"She looked around at the paint that was on the gym floor and the trails that we created. She sighed deeply,"Come on boys, time to go to the guidance counselor."She said,"But first, clean yourselves. I'll go tell the counselor what happened."She smiled kindly before walking off.

Ayato and I stood up and made our way out of the gym, leaving a trail of paint on the concrete underneath our feet. I looked down at my feet before looking at my stained hands once again.

I smiled at the sight of my hands being covered in paint. For once, I feel like my old self again.