Alright so this is mostly going to follow Budo as he notices what's going on in the school and with Yandere-chan. This isn't a Budo x Ayano fic, although you could see it that way, I suppose?
Honestly it's just Yandere stuff happening as usual. And while this mostly follows Budo, there will be a part that follows Ayano (and I highly suggest you stick around for that part ;)
Budo didn't really know when all of this had started, but his best guess was the moment Ayano met that upperclassman from 2-3 (Taro Yamada or something? Budo didn't really know what his name was; he tended to zone out whenever Ayano went on one of her rambles about her 'precious Senpai')
He would often catch her staring at the boy with a dreamy expression on her face, and he wasn't really sure that he wanted to know what she was daydreaming about.
She did it whenever she saw him, it didn't matter to her if she was in the middle of doing something important, or if she was talking to someone. If she saw her Senpai, she would drop everything she was doing at the moment and turn her attention fully on him.
It irked him, to say the least.
While he doubted that she even realized it, Budo had always thought of her as a close friend of his. They had been in the same class together since they were little kids, and while she always tended to be quiet and anti-social, he still considered her as someone he wouldn't mind spending time with. The fact that she didn't seem all that bothered by his presence helped too. While she only talked to him when he was the one who started it and almost never smiled, it was the best reaction anyone had ever gotten out of her.
She would've just ignored most people who talked to her, but for some reason she didn't do that with him...even if her reactions were just mere nods or anything of the sort.
But then she met Taro and her whole personality took a drastic change.
Suddenly she didn't seem that much like a mindless doll anymore. Yes, she was still distant and cold, but she talked more and actually had a personality instead of the emotionless mask she had on since the moment he had met her.
The Martial Arts Club Leader didn't mind her crush on the boy all that much if it got this reaction out of her, he honestly couldn't care less who she liked or not; as long as it didn't end badly for her.
But then she started neglecting everyone around her, including him, and he couldn't help but notice that her crush...that her crush may be a little unhealthy.
In other words; borderline obsessive.
At first he hadn't thought much of it, after all, it was normal for a girl to act flustered or shy around the boy she liked. It was also normal for her to get jealous of someone who spend too much time with said boy or was known to have a crush on him.
But when he looked a little closer, Budo noticed that Ayano wasn't just glaring at Kokona from across the room. It wasn't normal, not even murderous. The look in his friend's eyes could only be described as insane.
She started stalking the Cooking Club President, memorizing her entire weekly routine from start to finish. It wasn't long until nasty rumors about the girl started spreading around the school and her reputation started to lower; so much so that the normal chipper and social butterfly Kokona Haruka would be found sitting alone in a corner at lunch, avoiding any kind of human interaction.
He had talked to Ayano about it, and the look in her eyes told him that she did not appreciate his meddling. He didn't care though, he just kept ranting until she sighed and finally gave in. When she turned her back on him to leave though, he swore he had heard her say something that sounded like 'fine, I'll just take a different approach', although he could have easily misheard it. She was known for talking to herself about random things.
The next day, the rumors and mean comments about the busty girl had suddenly stopped and everything seemed to be alright.
...Until Musume Ronshaku was reported to be missing.
And oddly enough, Ayano seemed to be a lot more on edge during those days. She always showed up late to school in the mornings; if she even showed up at all. On the days she showed up late, she would always be twitching oddly with that creepy grin on her face, not to mention that insane look in her eyes; although it would be gone by the time class ended, it still worried him.
After about a week, Musume showed up again and Kokona suddenly started distancing herself from Taro (and Budo knew that the girl had a crush on him.)
Something was off though, the preppy blonde girl had changed drastically. Her normal obnoxious and somewhat annoying way of talking had disappeared, in fact, she had stopped talking at all. Her usually shining blue eyes now had turned dull and empty, almost devoid of life; as if she was just a mere puppet. She didn't join the group of girls at lunch anymore, instead, she took on Kokona's former habit of avoiding any type of human contact.
When someone would ask her what had happened to her in the week she was gone, she would just reply in a soft monotone, saying that a rival of her father's company kidnapped her in order to get some ransom from him and that the culprit had already been caught. However, whenever the name 'Ayano Aishi' was mentioned or if she just happened to be near; Musume would either tense up completely, or run away as fast as she could.
When Budo had asked about it, Ayano's only response had been a shrug and something about the poor child being traumatized so much that she avoided anyone she wasn't close friends with.
It sounded fishy to him, but he dropped the topic; mostly because she didn't seem all that interested in it and he really didn't want to think of all the possibilities that made Musume act this way.
After Kokona had apparently been dealt with, she had returned to 'normal' for a little while. She had even started talking to Budo again, even if she had started to develop a strange habit.
Each day, she would join a club and participate in one activity before leaving to join a different club. It was no secret that Ayano was a fast learner and knew how to adapt to her surroundings fairly quickly, so Budo guessed she was just 'acquiring skills' as she called it. She made good use of it too, even if some of the things she did were a little...suspicious.
She had started by joining the Photography Club and had insisted on taking a picture of every single person in the school. She had claimed that it was for a scrapbook she was making that was requested by the Student Council, but none of the council members seemed to know about her little project, and oddly enough; she had been spotted hanging around outside the Info Club right after she finished taking all the pictures.
When she joined the Gardening Club he would often find her running around with very dangerous tools, a determined look on her face.
When she joined the Music Club he had caught her carrying a rather large cello case on her back, it wouldn't really have been a big deal...if he hadn't spotted the dark spot that showed that liquid was dripping through the case. It didn't help that tiny little red drops were left on the ground as it leaked through, and Ayano always made sure to clean it up as soon as she had disposed of the case...and whatever was inside of it.
She had also given him the shock of his life when she showed up in front of him, her entire body covered in red spots. He had immediately assumed that it was blood and was scared of what she had done, but then he remembered that she had recently joined the Art Club and that it was just probably red paint. Besides, Ayano wouldn't do something that drastic, would she?
He had been surprised when she showed up at his club though.
He had just been in the middle of helping Shima Shita with a move she hadn't quite mastered yet, when a knock on the door startled him.
He turned to see Ayano standing in the doorway, her hands clasped behind her back and bouncing on the balls of her feet as she smiled sweetly at him. The thing that surprised him the most out of all of this was that she actually was smiling.
"Hey, Budo!" She greeted cheerfully, and that alone should've made alarm bells ring in his head; but he was just too stunned to realize her sudden change in behavior. "I know I'm a bit late, but do you still have room for one more?" She stepped closer towards him and looked up, blinking cutely, and for some reason, he felt his face heating up.
"A-Ayano!" He stuttered, rubbing the back of his neck. Why did he feel so odd all of a sudden? "Y-yeah, o-of course you can! I-I don't m-mind."
What was he doing? She obviously was devoted to that upperclassman! Not to mention that his whole club was watching them right now!
Her smile widened and she clapped her hands together in front of her. "Great! I knew I could count on you."
After he had snapped out of his odd behavior, he continued with helping Shima until she had completely mastered the move, before he moved on to his friend to teach her the basics; which she caught on quickly. He was surprised to see that she had caught up with the rest of them in just an hour.
He tried not to think anything of the fact that Reina Sensei had gone to the hospital with a broken leg and a concussion the day after that.
What was bothering him even more was the fact that Ayano always seemed to be running around with a mop and a bucket, while continuously changing her clothes for some reason. Every time he spotted her running or hanging around by the incinerator, one of the girls disappeared without a trace. The only connection he could make between those girls was that they all happened to have a crush on Taro.
Either the boy was cursed, or something was very, very wrong.
He didn't want to believe it though, their families never reported anything about their daughters missing; so it was just very likely that they all happened to move...at the same time.
Yeah, that seemed a little odd.
His suspicions of the girls' whereabouts got confirmed when Ayano and him were walking around the school once during their break. Taro wasn't at school that day, apparently he caught the flu or something, so Ayano opted with spending her day with him; not that he minded very much.
They were just chatting calmly, well, he was talking while she just listened and nodded; but it had become normal for the two of them.
...Until they heard Mai Waifu scream loudly from the rooftops.
While Budo reacted immediately by running to see what was wrong and if he could do anything about it, Ayano just froze in place, her eyes wide as she cursed before following after him.
When they reached the roof, they found Mai, Midori, the Basu sisters, Oka and Kuu Dere all staring at something in complete and utter horror.
While it was normal for all six of them to be on the rooftop, the body lying on the ground was far from normal.
Sakyu and Inkyu Basu were holding each other, trembling in terror as Budo made his way to the body to inspect it. Oka merely stared in shock while Midori tried her best to cover up her own fear to stop Mai from fainting.
Kuu just sighed and stared at the corpse, her eyes as dull as ever as she muttered something about getting a teacher. Despite her careless attitude, it was easy to see the slight shaking of her legs. She was scared too, even if she had trouble showing it...or any kind of emotion at all.
Ayano simply pushed through the crowd and stood behind Budo, staring at the lifeless body of Mei Mio with an almost bored expression. Unlike Kuu Dere, who had trouble showing any kind of emotion, Ayano just didn't care. And while everyone at Akademi High had already acknowledged and accepted the fact that Ayano just didn't care about anything at all, seeing her stare down at a body like that without any reaction was a bit disturbing; and Sakyu didn't mind voicing it.
"How can you be so calm, Yan-chan?!" The girl hissed, clutching Inkyu even closer to her. "One of your classmates is lying dead in front of you and you don't even care?!"
"It were the demons," Oka whispered to herself, clutching her head as her legs were shaking heavily. She set her wary eyes on the Basu sisters, still dead set on the fact that they were part of the demon realm the Occult CLub was trying their best to awaken. The fact that Sakyu was angry and glaring daggers at Ayano just made her all the more nervous. "The demons took Mei's life, they needed a sacrifice!"
Nobody really paid any attention to the dark haired girl's muffled rambles, instead, all eyes were set on Ayano and Sakyu. The former shrugged and crossed her arms. "It's not a big deal, she just got stabbed in the throat by a kitchen knife, that's all."
As those words left her lips, Budo tensed. How did she know exactly how Mei was killed? He was hovering over the body so she couldn't possibly see-
"You're cruel," she spat and Ayano's lips twitched up in an almost smirk.
"S-stop fighting!" Mai hissed, still tucked close to Midori so she didn't have to see the body. She was shaking so much that her long purple hair threatened to touch the puddle of blood around Mei's corpse. "Arguing w-won't bring her b-back or s-solve any of t-this!"
By now, Oka was shaking so much that Midori had to push both her and Mai to sit down on the bench so they wouldn't collapse on the floor.
The door burst open and one of the teachers came running in, followed closely by Kuu.
As Budo moved away from the body and let the teacher inspect it, he turned around, only to see Ayano walking down the stairs calmly.
After that day, more and more bodies started to show up on school grounds, and once there had been reports of a masked person killing somebody right in the middle of class at the exact moment Ayano had joined the drama club.
Needless to say, after that incident; masks were banned from the school.
His friend had also taken a huge liking to the little cleaning bot from the Science Club. Apparently it could clean any kind of liquid in record time, and he had often caught her dumping some sort of red liquid from the bot into the sink...
But, despite all the clues and hints he had gotten; it wasn't until she had tried to join the Occult Club and Oka Ruto started rambling about demons again that he finally put the pieces together.
And when he did, all hell broke loose.
He had found the Occult Club Leader trembling on the ground, her back pressed against the door of the Occult Club and her eyes wide and filled with terror; even worse than the time they had found Mei's body. When Budo ran up to her in concern and asked her what was wrong, she had looked up at him, staring at him with fear in her eyes before she lunged forwards and grabbed his shoulders; surprising him so much that he almost instinctively tackled her to the ground, but caught himself at the last minute.
"Oka! What's wrong?! What happened?!"
"Y-Yan-chan," was all she said, her voice breathless and fearful. "Sakyu and Inkyu are innocent! It's Ayano who's the d-d-demon!" Her eyes were unfocused and, honestly, a bit crazed. But as he stared at the trembling girl, he could tell that she had just seen something traumatizing, and it involved Ayano.
"Sh-she was in the c-club! She st-stabbed a bl-bloodied knife into t-the s-skull and then...and then-!"
Budo grasped her shoulders as her breathing started to become even more inconsistent than it already was. At this rate, she was going to give herself a panic attack. "Breathe, Oka, calm down."
"H-hands came out of the ground! She started floating! Revenge...the demon kept talking about revenge! Ayano promised she'd give him that! T-there were b-body parts all over the g-ground...she...she k-killed t-them!"
The Martial Arts Leader frowned, the girl wasn't making any sense. She was so in shock that she was most likely mixing up what she had seen with her demon stories. There was no way that Ayano summoned a demon, let alone be one. But about the bodies...
From what he had seen lately, he didn't really doubt that she could dispose of some people.
Oka's head shot up again, her eyes widening as if she just realized something. "Budo, you've got to hurry! The Cherry Tree...she's going after Senpai! You've got to help him!"
The boy quickly counted the days in his head, his eyes widening and heart stopping when he realized it was a Friday.
That's it, I'm going to confess my love this Friday! It won't fail!
He remembered her words clearly, he had even urged her on; even if her voice darkened considerably at the last part. Normally he wouldn't care, but if Ayano really was as dangerous as she was turning out to be...something could go really wrong.
He had heard enough, the boy left her there and made his way towards the tree behind the school. But when he reached it...it had already been too late.
He saw Taro and Osana hugging in front of the tree, smiling happily at each other and Budo's eyes widened when he spotted the confession letter the other boy was holding. Apparently Osana had confessed, and...
His eyes went to the familiar girl standing at the bottom of the hill the tree was standing on, her hand clutching her own confession letter to her chest and Budo watched it crumple into a ball as her grip on it just tightened more and more until it ripped in her hands. Her head was down and her entire body was shaking and...he wasn't sure, but did he just hear her sniffle?
"Ayano..."
"So that's how it is..." she muttered, still trembling.
He stepped closer and placed a hand on her shoulder, tugging lightly to turn her to face him. He was surprised to see her eyes full of tears, her cheeks already completely coated in the liquid and parts of her bangs soaked as well. He wordlessly pulled her closer to him and was surprised when she actually let him. He held her close to his chest for a few minutes, watching with narrowed but concerned eyes as Taro and Osana held hands and walked the opposite way, still not noticing him and the broken (and possibly mentally unstable) girl standing there.
Ayano suddenly pushed away from him, her dark eyes focused on the newfound couple. Her head was down and her eyes were hooded and covered by her bangs; making it impossible for him to see her expression. Her grip on her confession letter tightened and her lips curled up into a sinister smile. She grabbed the stunned boy's hand and dragged him off towards the school; still smiling.
Osana Najimi had just become her next rival.
That night, Ayano was walking around the dark hallways of her house aimlessly. With her hair loose and damp from her shower, her head thrown back and her eyes wide and unblinking, she looked almost...possessed.
She stopped in the living room, her head abruptly moving forwards until it stood straight again. Her movements were jerky, uncontrollable, almost as if her bones and joints snapped in and out of place with every move that she made. She dropped to the ground, her head tilted sideways and her loose hair covering part of her widened eyes and dilated pupils, making her crazed expression either worse or covering it up.
She stared at the two pictures on the table, motionless, until she moved her hand forward and snatched one of the two pictures from the table. Her grip tightened on the picture frame and she slammed it on the table with all her might, a strangled scream escaping her lips. The glass shattered and covered the entire table, some shards making their way on the ground and Ayano was sure that her right hand was most likely bleeding from the force she had used to break the glass and it was very likely that some shards had ended up flying into her skin; but she didn't care.
The deranged girl calmly removed the picture from the glass shards, not even bothered by the mess she had created.
She stared at the photo, her head still tilted to the side and twitching every second or so. The picture had a few bloodstains on it from the cuts on her hands, but other than that; you could see it clearly.
A picture of her Senpai, her precious Senpai.
The Senpai that had betrayed her.
But it was okay, it wasn't his fault! Rival-chan had just put a spell on him...yeah, that's it! She just needed to save him and everything would be alright again! He could love her with everything he had, and she would do the same.
Ayano had removed the picture from the Senpai shrine when she came home that day and had placed it on the table while she had attempted (and failed) to calm herself down. Her vision was completely blurry from all the tears in her eyes, but Budo had brought her home safely so that wasn't really a problem.
The girl gripped the picture tightly and pulled a box of matches from her pajama pocket, smirking at the memories that came with the simple box. She had certainly enjoyed pouring gasoline on that poor girl before setting her on fire using a match from that box and hearing her scream in agony. It was her own fault anyway, she dared to hug her Senpai.
Granted, she had tripped and he had caught her, but she had exploited her precious Senpai's kindness and had held on to him longer than was needed.
Ayano dragged the match along the side of the box, watching as it lit on fire. She raised the picture and slowly, but carefully brought the match towards the picture. She watched in silence as the picture burned until there was nothing left of it, before a deranged smile graced her lips.
She blew the match out and grabbed the other picture on the table, holding this one with gentler touches and clutching it close to her as if it was the most precious thing in her life. Now that her Senpai wasn't himself, she needed something else to hold on to; even if it wasn't romantic.
She looked down at the picture of her parents with dark eyes. Her father looking uncomfortable and low-key scared as her mother, Ryoba Aishi, a busty and somewhat well-rounded woman had her arms thrown around him happily, a knife in her other hand. She was crying tears of joy in the picture, not even bothered by the blood that was clearly staining her knife.
Ayano knew why they had left her all on her own. Her father had told her they were going on a business trip and would be back soon. But she knew the truth, her mother wasn't all that different from her, she was only ten times better at what they did than she was. Ryoba just happened to have left some loose ends hanging around, and they were going to dispose of it. It could take days, weeks, maybe even months; but Ayano didn't care as long as the job was done.
And seeing as her mother worked so hard for her love, Ayano was going to do her best to save hers. She was going to make both her mother and grandmother proud by saving her Senpai.
The black haired girl managed to push herself up and walked towards the kitchen, not caring in the slightest as multiple glass shards pierced through her skin as she stepped on them; her feet entirely covered in blood by the time she had reached her destination.
She grabbed a large butcher knife from the drawer and smiled as the moonlight reflected on the weapon.
She giggled softly. She would save her Senpai.
Sadly, to save him, she needed to destroy him. It was the only way.
Budo silently entered class 2-1 during lunch break, not really surprised to find no one there. The students preferred to stay outside, even when they had the possibility to eat inside the classroom.
But that wasn't why he was here.
He made his way towards the third desk in the far back row, freezing when he spotted Ayano's notebook lying open on a certain page.
Written messily all over the page in red ink were the words Osana Najimi, and in the middle of the page, a pair of scissors had been stabbed into it.
The black haired boy cursed and wasted no time in leaving the classroom and running towards the place he knew they would be.
...
Ayano made her way up to the Cherry Tree, her movements not as jerked and uncontrollable as the night before, but still slow and...unnatural. She was gripping the knife tightly, her grip tightening as she spotted the couple sitting underneath the tree, Osana cuddled up close to her Senpai and smiling happily.
She would not allow this!
"Najimi!" She hissed, rushing forwards with the knife raised, before she could reach them though, a hand wrapped around her waist and pulled her back.
She gritted her teeth and looked down, her eyes hooded. "Budo..." she spoke calmly, her voice filled with deathly intentions. How the couple hadn't noticed them, nobody knew. Ayano was certain her scream had been loud enough to wake the death. "Let me go..."
"Sorry, no can do."
"Fine then," she spoke, looking up at him with crazed eyes, a deranged expression on her face. "I guess you'll just have to go too then." She turned the knife in her palm and stabbed it straight into his thigh, she was impressed when he was able to keep his screams in so he wouldn't alert the couple. She yanked the knife out and twisted her body to get free of his hold so she could face him. She raised the knife, aiming straight for his heart so she could finish this quickly; because honestly, she didn't really want to do this. He just gave her no choice.
She swung the knife down and her eyes widened in surprise as he caught her wrist right before the knife entered his chest. Despite his injuries, he managed to find the strength to push the knife back, what was even more surprising was that it was enough strength to make her struggle for once.
Finally, he managed to rip the knife out of her grip and forced her arm behind her back, pulling her against him once again as she struggled and screamed in outrage. The Martial Arts Leader looked up and smiled when he saw that Taro and Osana had both left, unfortunately, Ayano noticed it too.
As impossible as it seemed, her screams just got louder. "You let them get away! How could you!"
"You were going to kill Osana!" He shot back, still struggling to keep her in place.
"I was going to save my Senpai," her voice was low and devoid of any emotion as those words left her mouth. Budo was surprised when she suddenly stopped struggling, just stared out in front of her, watching the tree with dull eyes but not really seeing it. "My Senpai...needs to be saved from her..."
She leaned back into him, tilting her head back and looking up at him with pleading eyes. "Let me save my Senpai, Budo!" She pleaded and he rolled his eyes.
She was trying to manipulate him again, but he wasn't about to let her.
"And what if he doesn't want to be saved?"
Her eyes hardened again and her struggling intensified. "Of course he does! What are you saying?! I'll kill her, then save him by slitting his throat before doing the same to me! Then we'll be together forever!" She hissed, staring at him as if he was the crazy one.
Budo jerked back, not wanting to believe that this insane girl was the same friend he had spend so much time with. "Ayano, are you even hearing yourself?!"
"It might sound crazy to you, but it's how we do things! Grandma found happiness with her Senpai, my mother found happiness with her Senpai, and the only way I can find happiness with my Senpai is through this! We'll both be happy!"
Budo tossed the knife to the ground and turned her around so she faced him, trying his best to ignore the pain in his left thigh. "You want him to be happy, right?"
She glared at him. "Of course I do! With me he'll be-"
"He doesn't need to be with you to be happy."
Ayano jerked back, as if she had been burned. Budo just pulled her right back though.
"Stop lying," she hissed. "He needs me, there's no other way!"
"Does he?" The boy questioned. "He seemed perfectly happy to me just a second ago."
"That's because she put a spell on him!" She yelled suddenly, her eyes turning crazed once again. It was a scary sight, seeing her with her eyes widened and her pupils dilated. Her entire body was shaking and her head was twitching as her movements turned jerky and uneven, the wide, deranged grin on her face just made everything ten times worse. Honestly, if he hadn't thrown the knife away and she was still holding it; it would be something straight out of a horror movie. "There is no way he could be that happy with her!"
He sighed. "I knew something was wrong the moment you started stalking Kokona, I should have done something. It's my fault you're like this."
"Nobody cares who's fault it is!" She hissed at him, her expression turning livid. "All that matters is that my Senpai should be together with me!"
"Listen, Ayano, he doesn't need you. If he did, he would be calling for you right now, but he isn't doing that, now is he?" He shook his head. "Instead, he's happily walking away with Osana, if you love him as much as you say you do, just let him be happy."
She stared at him, her pupils regaining their normal size as she stared at him with wide eyes. "He doesn't...need me..?"
"No."
Her body went limp and Budo reacted just in time to catch her and hold her up, despite the aching pain in his leg. "B-but...that c-can't be t-true...he's mine..."
"He isn't."
Ayano could feel her anger rising again at his words, but at the same time...her body just had given up. Both her Grandfather and father had eventually given in to their respective wives, her mother had even told her how he eventually stopped struggling in his chair and asked her to marry him after she let him free. Granted, he didn't really sound all that excited about it, but he had taken the step.
Both of them had given in...so if her Senpai didn't give in...then maybe Budo was right.
Her dark eyes locked on the discarded knife lying on the ground, the blood staining the steel dripping onto the ground, the same way the blood from Budo's leg wound did. She was thinking of grabbing the weapon and ending her own life with a quick slit to the throat, but she figured that the boy wouldn't let her do that. The way he was holding her right now was proof enough of that.
So she just sighed and gave up. "How's your leg?" She mumbled, her voice a bit muffled since her face was pressed into his chest.
He winced. "I think I need stitches."
"Sorry," she sighed. "I'll fix you up later, the nurse will just ask questions and the hospital isn't an option either. Don't worry though, I'm pretty good when it comes to these kind of things."
Budo really didn't want to know why her knowledge of medical aid was that big, so he just nodded in response.
Ayano pushed away from him after making sure she could stand straight without collapsing on the ground because the adrenaline had wore off. She calmly made her way to the knife and picked it up, rolling her eyes when Budo tensed and immediately took a step forward. Her earlier thought had been right, he wouldn't let her end her own life. "Relax, I'm not going to do anything rash."
She wordlessly grabbed his arm and dragged him out of the school, figuring that it didn't matter if she skipped school, even if the goody-two-shoes she was dragging with her hadn't skipped a day in his entire life. He'd just have to deal with it.
Ayano sighed as she closed the door to her room. Budo had just left and she was all alone now.
The girl's deranged grin appeared on her face again as she made her way to the Senpai shrine in the corner of the room; right next to the bed. She placed the bloodied needle she had used to fix Budo's leg right next to his picture in the middle of the shrine. On the other side of the picture was a headband she had stolen from him when he wasn't watching.
Ayano sat down in front of the shrine and sighed happily. "It doesn't matter that Senpai didn't notice me," she spoke into thin air as she reached for the picture and clutched it close to her chest. "Because I've found a new one."
Her eyes snapped open, just to reveal her dilated pupils as a soft giggle escaped her lips at the thought of her new love.
Budo Masuta didn't know what he had just gotten himself into.