Chapter 1: “Let Me Kiss You, and You Can Be #1”

They say high school is the best time of your life.

Liars.

At Aokihara Academy, every student was an overachieving genius, a secret model, or someone with suspicious mafia connections. And me? I was the only one who followed the rules, showed up on time, and respected due dates.

So when I saw my name drop to #2 on the midterm board, I felt something inside me snap.

“Kai Takumi. Rank #1. New Transfer.”

A transfer student beat me? Me?! Rin Ayaka—undisputed queen of academic excellence for three years straight?

No. Absolutely not.

I stormed into the library, the last place someone like him would be, only to find him… sleeping. Head down on his arms. Textbook closed. Zero notes.

The audacity.

“Excuse me,” I said, arms crossed. “We need to talk.”

He didn’t move.

I cleared my throat louder.

He lifted his head lazily, eyes half-lidded, like a bored cat. “Mm? Sorry. Were you saying something, Miss…?”

“Ayaka. Rin Ayaka. The rightful first-ranker before you decided to waltz in and wreck the entire curve.”

“Oh,” he said, yawning. “You’re the angry one.”

“Excuse me?!”

Kai leaned back in his chair, looking me over as if I were an overly complicated math problem. “So what do you want? An apology? A rematch? My seat in class? Or…”

He tilted his head slightly, smile curling at the edge of his lips.

“…a kiss?”

“What?!” I took a step back.

“If I kiss you once,” he said lazily, “I’ll give you the next first place. No studying. I’ll just throw the next test.”

My brain short-circuited. “Why on earth would I want—?!”

“Because it’s more fun than studying, isn’t it?” he smirked. “Deal?”

My mouth opened. Then closed. Then opened again. “You’re insane.”

“Probably.”

I marched out of the library, fuming.

Behind me, I could hear him chuckle softly.

What kind of psycho suggests kissing as a form of negotiation?!

But that wasn’t even the worst part.

The worst part was that my heart… skipped.

To be continued.

—————————-

“Rin\~ I heard you got confessed to!”

Yuu’s voice rang out across the dorm hallway like a siren of doom. My hands trembled around my toothbrush as she popped into the shared bathroom, her face way too excited for 7:00 a.m.

“I did not get confessed to,” I hissed.

“Oh, sorry. I meant propositioned.” She grinned.

“By the new hottie transfer. Honestly, you’ve got some nerve rejecting the school’s new eye candy.”

“I didn’t reject him—I walked away!”

Yuu leaned against the sink beside me, a knowing glint in her eye. “You know what they say, Rin. You only walk away from what you’re too afraid to accept\~”

“That’s not a saying.”

“It is now.”

I tried to focus on brushing my teeth and ignoring her smug reflection. Living with Yuu was like rooming with a hurricane that wore perfume. She was the school’s resident cheerleader, chaotic bisexual icon, and my worst nightmare during exam season.

“Please don’t tell people,” I begged.

“No promises,” she sang. “Oh, and by the way, people are already talking. Kai apparently smiled after you left. That boy hasn’t smiled since enrollment.”

I nearly choked on my toothpaste.

Great. The school thought we were a couple now.

Even worse?

At lunch, when I went to sit with the library club, a pair of arms wrapped around me from behind.

“You didn’t answer my question yesterday,” Kai’s voice murmured next to my ear.

I froze.

Everyone stared.

Yuu dropped her chopsticks. “Oh? So you’re just bros, huh?”

My soul left my body.

...Chapter 2 : “I’m Not in Love. I’m in Hell.”...

—————————

I had three rules for surviving Aokihara Academy:

1. Avoid unnecessary drama.

2. Avoid Kai Takumi.

3. Absolutely never, ever violate Rules 1 or 2.

Guess how that was going.

“Let go of me!” I hissed through clenched teeth.

Kai, arms still wrapped around me like this was some cheesy rom-com, whispered, “You’re warm. Are you embarrassed?”

“Are you alive? Because you won’t be if you keep this up!”

The entire cafeteria was watching. Phones were out. Yuu was cackling like a Disney villain across the room.

With painful slowness, Kai finally let go.

“I’m not into public displays of affection,” I muttered.

“Affection?” he repeated, lips twitching. “So you do feel something?”

“I feel violated!”

He smiled. I hated that it made him look even more attractive.

“No need to get so worked up,” he said, picking up his lunch tray. “We’re just friends.”

“We’re not!”

“Acquaintances, then. With sparks.”

I slapped a hand to my face. “This isn’t sparks. This is arson.”

“You’re cute when you’re angry.”

I wanted to scream. Or faint. Or both.

When I finally escaped to my dorm that night, I slammed the door and groaned into my pillow.

Yuu didn’t even look up from her phone. “So when’s the wedding?”

“I’m going to transfer schools.”

“Too late. You’re famous. The school forums are shipping you two already.”

I lifted my head, horrified. “There are forums?!”

“Oh, sweetheart,” Yuu said, scrolling with a wicked grin, “you’ve clearly never met the fanfiction club.”

This school wasn’t normal.

And worst of all?

I was starting to think…

Maybe I wasn’t either.

————————————

The next morning, I woke up to chaos.

Yuu was sitting cross-legged on her bed, surrounded by open laptops, with my face on all of them.

“Morning, celebrity!” she chirped.

“What did you do?” I croaked, still half-asleep.

“Not me. Your fans. They named your ship with Kai already. Wanna hear it?”

“No.”

“Too bad. It’s KaRin. Or KaiYaka. Personally, I vote for Doomsparkles, but I’ve been outvoted.”

I dragged myself to her screen. There, on the student forum:

Kai confessed in the cafeteria!!! Did you see how he touched her???

He SMILED. Our emotionally constipated ice prince SMILED.

Rin’s gonna deny it, but the sexual tension was CRIMINAL.

I stared in horror.

“They’re unhinged.”

“They’re artists,” Yuu corrected. “Look, someone made a fan edit of you two kissing using AI—oh, hey, your nose looks good in this one!”

“Delete it. Burn it. Kill it with fire.”

I fled the dorm like it was haunted. My last shred of pride was hanging by a thread.

At school, I walked with my head down. I didn’t even want to exist.

So, of course, Kai found me anyway.

He fell into step beside me, unbothered as always. “Did you see the forum?”

“Unfortunately.”

“I think I looked good in that kissing edit.”

“I think you need therapy.”

He chuckled. “Want to give them something new to gossip about?”

I stopped walking. “What does that mean?”

He leaned in, voice low. “If I kissed you for real… would your heart still skip?”

My soul evacuated my body again.

And worst of all?

It did.

...Chapter 3: “I’m Begging the Universe for a Normal Day”...

Spoiler: The universe laughed in my face.

———————————

First period, I sat down, eyes on my notes, determined to pretend yesterday never happened.

Then my phone vibrated. I peeked.

[Anonymous User 0129]: Kai’s blushing in second year Lit. Confirmed he stared at her photo for 2 seconds. SIRENS BLAZING.

[Anonymous User 0431]: I would like to be crushed by the weight of their unresolved tension.

[Anonymous User 9999]: Petition to make ‘Doomsparkles’ the official ship name.

I turned my phone off. Permanently. Like, throw-it-in-a-river off.

“Rin.”

The voice made my soul shrink.

Kai slid into the seat beside me, despite not even being in this class.

“Why are you here?” I whispered.

“Visiting.”

“This isn’t a café!”

“Could’ve fooled me,” he said, examining my notes. “You have very cute handwriting.”

I slammed my notebook shut.

“Did you come just to harass me?”

“Not this time,” he said casually. “I came to ask if you wanted to clear up the rumors.”

I blinked. “…Really?”

He nodded. “We can announce we’re not dating. Make it boring. Crush their dreams.”

Something in my chest twinged at the way he said it.

“Okay,” I said. “Let’s crush their dreams.”

That’s how we ended up in front of the school’s broadcasting room during lunch, preparing to make a public announcement.

“This is going to be humiliating,” I muttered.

Kai looked smug. “You’re nervous.”

“Of course I’m nervous!”

He tilted his head. “Want me to hold your hand?”

“I want you to evaporate.”

He leaned close anyway. “You’re blushing again.”

I was. I knew I was. Because this wasn’t normal.

And because, deep down…

I wasn’t sure I wanted to deny it anymore.

———————-

“I’m going to vomit.”

“You’re going to be fine,” Kai said, entirely too calm for someone about to go live to the entire school.

We stood just outside the broadcasting room. A volunteer handed Kai the mic and whispered, “Say something simple. Nothing crazy.”

I prayed he would listen.

He didn’t.

The speakers across the campus crackled to life.

“This is Kai Takumi. I have an announcement.”

I felt at least seventeen souls leave their bodies. Half the student body froze mid-bite in the cafeteria.

I stood beside him, out of the camera’s view, mouthing say we’re not dating. SAY IT!

Kai glanced at me once, lips twitching.

Then said, “I’m not dating Rin Ayaka.”

I sighed in relief.

“But.”

My heart dropped.

“I might want to.”

WHAT.

“Anyway,” he finished breezily, “carry on.”

The speakers clicked off.

I stood in stunned silence as the room erupted behind us.

“What. Was. THAT?!”

Kai passed the mic back like he hadn’t just nuked my entire life.

“You said we were clearing up the rumors!”

“I did,” he said. “I said we’re not dating. Which is true.”

“But now everyone thinks we will be!”

He blinked. “You’re mad that people think I might like you?”

“I’m mad that you keep doing insane things and calling it logic!”

He stepped closer, voice quieter. “Then tell them it’s not true.”

I opened my mouth.

Closed it.

Because… could I?

Could I actually say, to his face, that there wasn’t something stirring deep inside me? Something terrifyingly close to curiosity? Or hope?

“…You’re the worst,” I muttered.

“. But I’m the worst who makes your heart skip.”

And then he walked away, leaving me standing there, emotionally maimed.