Fun fact: The girl in the original song is called Natsuki Enomoto. Takane's namesake, huh?

Also! The song called for a zodiac sign and since there's no October birthdays in Kagepro (as far as I'm aware) I gave that honor to Takane. Yay for birthday month buddies!

I went through this really fast when editing. Haaaaa slay me.

Kagerou Project belongs to Jin. "Confession Rehearsal" belongs to Honeyworks.

"I'm sorry it's so sudden, but I've liked you for a long time now!"

Can he hear my heart beating loud?

Indeed, the organ that pumped blood (oh look, she actually learned something from Kenjirou's science ramblings) raced faster than ever before, and the volume of its pulsing beat – aha, get it? – drowned out any noise, proving to be dominant in her ears. Takane felt as if her whole face was on fire – which was probably the only thing she ever felt whenever her face grew red. She stole a glance through her bangs to peep up at Haruka.

H – huh?! Why's he blushing, too?! The heat intensified, and she bit her tongue before she could shout out anything. The pink dusting his cheeks seemed realistic, which didn't help much in her situation. H – he's not the one trying to confess!

Right, confess…

Before Haruka's shocked face could change, Takane decided that she was going to give in to her stupid pride again.

"J – just…kidding!" She crossed her arms in an attempt to avert his gaze from her face. No, not there. Her arms. Totally. "Pftt, did you think I was for real?"

"W – wait, it wasn't…?" Haruka rubbed the back of his neck, a habit he tended to do whenever he was nervous. "Ah, it seemed so real…"

"It was a confession rehearsal." When Haruka didn't pick up on the term, she rolled her eyes – or acted to, at least, when in reality she only looked from side to side. Anything to get rid of the embarrassed feeling inside her head. "I'm rehearsing a confession for…someone."

"Ah, Takane likes someone?" A (sympathetic?) smile plastered itself on the boy's face, and he laughed with a hint of nervousness in his voice. (Why was he even nervous? He did not just do what I did!) "That's…great, I guess! But…when are you going to get real?"

"Eh?!" Takane stomped her foot, scowling and flaunting a flustered attitude. "What do you mean by that?! I'll get real when it's time! Until then…"

"Until then…?" God, his innocence. It could be annoying sometimes, but it was mostly cute.

"Until then, you're my confession rehearsal partner!" She put on a prideful tone in hopes to deter the fact that she was still blushing. Honestly, she could never stop being such a terrible excuse of a human being around Haruka. It was awful. "Got that?"

"On one condition!" Haruka laughed again, slinging his book bag over his shoulders. He seemed…uneasy, to say the least, but before Takane could try to comment on it, he had continued. "Take me to that ramen place near the train station!"

"Y – you idiot! We went last week!"

Tomorrow...tomorrow's the real deal!

Takane blasted a zombie's head off, sweat rolling down her forehead. No, the gameplay wasn't that hard. She just found it hard to admit to herself that she was finally revealing her feelings. She should get an award for even trying, or maybe even compensation when she gets dumped.

Ha, haha, it was incredibly possible. After all, if she's got a lying heart, he'll see through her confession. And her heart's not lying, right?

Right…?

I hope he'll cheer me on.

No, scratch that. That was stupid. Sure, go ahead and cheer Takane Enomoto for confessing! Oh, she's confessing to you? Well, that's kind of…

Takane's perfect kill-streak continued across the screen. She'd just think about it tomorrow. She had a reputation to keep up.

"According to Momo Kisaragi, today's most favorable sign is… Libra! Congratulations!"

"I don't care about that kind of stuff!" Takane ruffled her bed head, awake early for once. The explanation for that would come sooner or later. "Who believes in fortunes, anyway?"

Yeah, about that…

Takane turned away from the television and into the bathroom, the sight of a comb and scattered hair ties on the counter welcoming her coming. Biting her bottom lip in determination, she hoisted a piece of her hair up. Her signature pig tails were always such a pain to keep up, but today, they needed to be perfect – or neat, at least.

"Yeah, as if." She scoffed in defeat, pulling strands of her hair together, trying to keep them up so that she could tie them. Staring back at her was a girl with tired eyes and prominent scowl, and a discolored face that only changed whenever she was around him. "This is the face of romance."

But she was going to confess, and it had to be today. If she had to wait through the weekend, there'd be no doubt that she'd regret it.

"Hey, help me practice one more time!"

Haruka turned in his seat, head tilting. When he nodded, she proceeded to her "confession rehearsal". It was the end of the day, and Kenjirou was long gone from now. Surely it'd be a perfect time…? After all, she had nothing to lose.

Except a friendship, potentially. Or trust. Or the only guy she'll ever bring herself to like. The possibilities so irritatingly buzzed in her head, and she couldn't wave them off as she let the words stumble out of her mouth.

"I like you!" Her face turned in color, and her knotted stomach and speedy ticker (heart) didn't help much when it came to ignoring it. She probably looked like a red mess, her pig tails picking themselves apart from her numerous hair ties. It seemed as if her hair reacted to her mood. "I…really like you!"

"Maybe more emotion," Haruka suggested, a grin slowly fading from his face. His eyes were trained on anything but Takane, but he maintained an optimistic voice. "I think it'll work better that way!"

(Was he…disappointed?)

"Hey, I'm trying my best!" Takane took a deep breath, and she tried again. "I like you!"

"That one's good!" Haruka exclaimed cheerfully. Then he looked down at his book bag as he chuckled, although the tone of it seemed kind of forced. "Well, I think you're ready. I'm really cheering for you, so do your best!"

With a swift motion, he picked up the bag, standing up and getting ready to leave the room. Outside, the sunset's orange lights dipped through the windows, illuminating Haruka in an array of colors.

Takane wanted to say something. The day wasn't over yet.

"Wait!"

Haruka turned around, blinking in surprise. Takane was on her feet now, and she felt whatever one could feel when confessing. Which, if one was so interested in knowing, was composed of: a dizzying heart beat, an extremely warm and pink (or red)-colored face, a stomach that won't sit still, and a voice that shook no matter what. Well, in Takane's case, at least. And she's got a lot of complications.

"I'm sorry for lying, but you're the one I like!" She was practically yelling, but perhaps that would mask her nervousness. "I'm a terrible, self-centered, and irritable person! And I know I'm not that ideal type of girl! But you…you're the one that's been driving me crazy that I can't take it anymore!"

Silence. It was enough to have her notice that she was shaking, her probably-not-fake love filling every inch of her body. There were more words she wanted to say, words she wanted to express for such a long time now, but as soon as she opened her mouth to speak, the rehearsed words had slipped away from her brain without any notice.

"Ahh…" Haruka's mouth turned to a smile, and just the look of it seemed so genuine. "I'm probably the only person who's able to do this, huh?"

That's when Haruka collided into her, his big arms looping around her before she could even protest. Takane tried(she really did) to wriggle out of his hold, but he held on tight, laughing louder than ever. Haruka smelled of pencil shavings and paper, which was something she never would have noticed had it not been that Haruka had pressed her face against his (clothed) chest, his heart beating just as fast as hers.

"I like you, too!"

Can he hear my heart beating?

Hand in hand, they walked home.

I hope he'll hear the things it'll sing.

There was a lot to see. She'll have to take him along.