Perfect Facade[Asano Gakushuu x Reader]

t w e n t y - f o u r : overthinking thinking

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"Eh?" Was all that came out from [Name]'s mouth when she walked down the stairs the next morning to see a sleek black luggage at the front door. Her grandmother stood smugly next to the luggage, it was obvious something was up, especially since [Name] had recognised it as one of her parents' items.

"I managed to convince your parents to let you stay here until your school holiday starts and you can come straight away to the States with me." Tomiko explained, as a half-dazzed teenage girl walked up to her with the most dumbfounded look on her face imaginable. Her eyes glanced back and forth from the luggage in the middle of the doorway back to her grandmother.

"But this place is rather far from my school, afterall this is a whole new other city." She exasperated, her eyes were slightly popping out from their sockets from how surprised she was. Her head followed the elder as she grabbed the luggage and dragged it behind her. She then followed Tomiko into the living room, sputtering reasons why she couldn't stay and had to return home.

"-my Final Terms are this week, I should just-" Her words came to a halt when her grandmother used her index and thumb to pinch her lips together, closing off the passage to clarity.

"I'm not impulsive darling, I have thought about it and I already have a plan, so don't fret." A smirk danced on the elder's lips, before she released her fingers and continued dragging [Name]'s luggage behind. "I have a chauffeur for a reason."

[Name] reached her hand out to reject whatever plan her grandmother was going to throw out but brought it back, placing it over her chin as she thought about it more. Though Tomiko only vaguely mentioned her little plan, [Name] had already gotten a pretty decent idea of what it was  She stood in the middle of the hallway, her eyes glued on the fading silhouette of the elder. Her eyebrows furrowed, the gears in her head turning in that fine early morning.

"Wait, it isn't that bad."

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For the rest of that Sunday, [Name] was in her room, studying. Just like an exemplary top student would on the day of a Final Term examination. Being away from her hometown was rejuvenating. It helped took her mind of from what terror that had came down during school. If she had seen any of her classmates or friends from the E Class walking by from the window, she would lose her calm.

The entire day was a self-care day disguised as a study date alone. While [Name] studied, her grandmother would occasionally come in, to get her to take a break. Be it a simple chit chat or a watching a show with her, her grandmother's rule was for her to atleast take a break every hour.

Everything was so peaceful, so serene.

It felt fake to her.

After years of constantly being used, it's hard to believe that living a day like this would ever come true. She had seen her parents' facade, how truly deceiving people could ever be. Though she felt safe, in the back of her mind was a nugatory screaming, telling her that everything her grandmother was doing her was all for show. That Tomiko never loved her.

"I wonder what Asano Kun is doing. . ." [Name] wondered in her thoughts to shut the others up. In her hands was her mechanical pencil, which she was using to rewrite down her notes for muscle memory. Her mind wondered off about the said boy, thinking about their last interaction with each other.

"I'll come back better."

A sore face appeared as cringe waved through her skin, goosebumps coming along with it. She dropped her pencil on her desk and then buried her face in the palms of her hands.

"I really wasn't in the right state of mind." She muffled out, before she moved her fingers, letting her eyes rest on her desk. She then jerked backwards after noticing a little heart that was extended from a word she had written. Her eyes widened slightly at the realization that she had doodled a heart while thinking of a boy. Took her a while to come up and process a reasonable reason of why and how.

"I was thinking of Asano Kun while writing. And a heart means. . ."

Heat rushed to her face as she quickly grabbed her pencil and took off the eraser cap to erase the heart away. Her hands shook slightly as her fingers gripped tightly onto the mechanical pencil. She refuse to come to that conclusion in mind, not ever. But she eventually succumbed to her thoughts, leaving her to stare at her wall and recounting back on her memory.

These days, Gakushuu had became more mindful about [Name]'s wellbeing, either it being physically or mentally. Though it was kind of him, she still can't accept the fact that he was willing to go through with that contract the Top 5 had made with the E Class. Those E Class students had done absolutely nothing, but the stigma that surrounds them leads to unfair treatment and discrimination among their peers.

"Asano Kun really does care for me, but the way he treats others below him. . ." [Name] visibly frowned. She couldn't understand why people are so mean to others yet so kind to those around them. Is it a barrier that people put up for fear that others would belittle you, or is it some sort of  biasness to those who knew them longer. She just couldn't comprehend why.

Maybe it was the because of the way she was raised, afterall she never had a say in what she wanted. She had only been in that school for a few months, she barely even have any memory of any school life before entering Kunugigaoka Junior High. Having been raised away from people other than her family, it was harder for her to understand people, but she'll learn, eventually.

"Ah, I've been thinking about him for too long." [Name] murmured when she saw the time, the hour hand had reached 6, indicating it was already evening. There was then a knock on the door and a maid came in to fetch [Name] for dinner. However she shooed the maid away, wanting more time to collect her thoughts together.

She leaned back on her chair, a creaking sounded as she did. She stared at the wall in front of her, pondering even more. "Why am I thinking about it so hard?"

"Is it because of that stupid little heart-"

The door of her room suddenly opened, eliciting a flinch from [Name]. Her head turned to see who was there and there was her grandmother, who gave her a questionable look. "Dinner is already ready, what are you staring at?"

An awkward laugh escaped her lips. "Sorry, I was overthinking again."

A sigh then came from her grandmother as the she leaned against the door sideways. "You and your overthinking habits. Sometimes I just wish there was a switch in there just to give you a break from your own thoughts." She remarked.

"Too bad there isn't, Oba San." She laughed before standing up from her seat, holding onto her grandmother's arm as they both descend the stairs to head for their dinner for that day.

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To be honest, her grandma was actually a last minute decision, Tomiko did not exist when I first started this cause I need plot devices lol.

But I really like her so she's staying.

•Update
Tbh I kinda wonder how the story would have turned out if I didn't had put Tomiko in last minute.