(Un)Fortunately the Yandere is Not After Me

I'm Not the Only One

Arata walked to school, as he usually did. But today was different, because this would be first day with the looming treat of losing his secret. Along with his forced servitude to a girl he never paid to much mind to until now.

It was even worse with his mom believing his new relationship to be a good thing, happy that her son supposedly had the attention of an attractive girl at school. The nice lady whose garden he'd help tend to even encouraged him. While she might've explained it logically, the way she acted about it was odd.

But now was the not the time to ponder over facts of the past. The bigger issue was doing what Erina asked him to do. Making the boy that sat beside him fall in love with her. How? Something he didn't have an answer for, matters of love was something he only ever read in a manga or saw in an anime.

"Good morning." His seatmate greeted him as usual as he took his seat.

"Oh, good morning." He replied in a less upbeat manner.

"Oh, are you okay. Is what was bothering you still an issue?" Arata appreciated the concern. While he may not have know Yogi very well, he could see how Erina could possible fall in love with him. Even if a bit shallow.

"You don't need to worry about that. I'm working on it, hopefully it'll be no problem soon." He really wished it would be over soon. But he really doubted his ability or luck for a quick resolution.

"That's great. I hope it goes well for you." Though with some time before class started, this might've been a good time to steer the conversation towards something he was going to need to know.

"Say, I know this might sound like a random thing to bring up. But you know Erina Hayama, right?" If he was to any chance of getting the pair together, he needed to know his feelings about her. Along with the others, if possible.

"Oh Erina, you met her, right?" Not counting his recent encounters with her. Erina wasn't a girl that he really talked too. In fact, he's hadn't spoken to any of Yogi's friends informally, though he'd seen the group talk around Yogi's desk multiple times. A bit hard to ignore when one's desk is right next to all the action.

"Sure, you could say that. But I was wondering what you think of her?" He really wasn't good at long conversations, let alone one where he was trying to keep secret his association of her.

"Think? She's my friend, of course." The way Yogi responded to him, he couldn't tell how serious he was. From what he'd seen Erina do before meeting her, it was obvious she at least had a crush on him.

"Just that?"

"Um, yeah. But she's really affectionate, and she doesn't like it when I don't eat her lunches." Say something he didn't know, he thought. This was getting nowhere, perhaps a more direct approach might work.

"Well you don't thinks she's c-cute or anything?" Saying that made him want to throw up. Cute? While she might look great, her personality was something he dreaded so very much these days.

"C—c-cute?" It was clear how embarrassed Yogi got over this topic. Now they were getting somewhere. "I g-guess depending o-on how you -view it. You could say that... Hey are you teasing me?" He asked, a little upset at the question.

"N-no... I was just curious is all."

"Really, or maybe... do you have a crush on Erina?" He recoiled on the inside. Him? Have a crush on her? Laughable.

"W-what, no I don't like her at all!" He defended himself. Yogi tried to suppress his laugh, but he couldn't contained his enjoyment.

"Hahaha, I'm just teasing you. You know, so we're even now." Joking? Maybe at a different time this might've been funny for him, but having fun was at the bottom of his list at the moment.