Everybody around him just acknowledged him as Ren Suzugamori. Playful leader of AL4, former control freak turned airhead.
Maybe they just didn't care to look beneath the surface.
They didn't see the sacrifices he had made, the many times that he had stepped away just to see his closest friend happy, the pain in his eyes every single time he looked at her.
They didn't see that he had and will always love Misaki Tokura.
He realized it when he called her for dinner when they were at the beach house with the affectionate nickname he had given her, his face was in such close proximity to her, his breath hitched and his heart skipped a beat.
While he sat next to Asaka on the table, he thought about how long he had harbored those feelings for her. Probably a long time ago, after all, he had given her a nickname and he subconsciously sought contact with her. He never did that to Asaka, and they were teammates!
Don't get him wrong he didn't hate Asaka, he just found her attitude towards him a bit… disconcerting. He treated her like a god. Sure, he may be the leader of their team and maybe that was her way of showing her respect to him.
Maybe she also had some remnants of the time when he was still a complete control freak.
He couldn't blame her, but she should know that he was never going to be interested in her in the way that she wanted him to.
He loved his MisaQ and no one else.
Too bad someone else also had eyes for Misaki.
Toshiki Kai was one of his closest friends.
Ren had never seen the brunette smile, let alone laugh.
Ren wanted his friends to be happy.
But when he saw Kai smile while he and Misaki were talking about something that Misaki was apparently very passionate about, for once, he didn't care about his friend's happiness.
Alas, Ren wasn't a selfish man, so he gladly stepped away. Hiding his sadness behind cheerful smiles.
But he couldn't deny that he felt a tingle when he held her hand to drag her into joining the test of courage.
