Updated with a Shinka-focused chapter this time. Enjoy if you can.

"You don't seem like that at all."

"Yeah... I have to try really hard to keep up appearances."

Shinka was on her bed, staring at the ceiling as a particular set of memories replayed in her mind. It was a number of interactions between herself and Yuuta that had taken place over the course of a month or so. It began with their conversation in the home economics lab while they were doing class representative work.

"Honestly, I'm just an ordinary guy that doesn't stand out much."

"Really? I don't think you're ordinary at all. At least that's what I thought when we first met on that day..."

Every word in that conversation had been the truth, but only in hindsight did Shinka realize how easily her words could have been misinterpreted.

Yuuta was not normal. Shinka had seen him stare in awe - genuine, wonder-filled awe - at a girl dramatically point her hand in front of a set of train doors as they opened. There was no way he wasn't some sort of weirdo.

"I was really happy when I saw we were classmates"

Shinka knew his type. She knew that Yuuta Togashi was just like herself: an ex-chuunibyou patient who just wanted to be normal - if not that, then something similar. She had maneuvered the conversation specifically so she could acquire a companion who was of the same disposition. She would have succeeded too if it weren't for Rikka's meddling.

However...

"Truth be told, I've had this huge crush on you since we met on the first day of school."

With that single piece of information, the entire conversation took a whole new meaning. Unaware of what she was doing, Shinka had been leading Yuuta on to believe she was romantically interested in him. Not only was that notion completely false, it was also what led her to be in her current, rather ironic predicament: in a romantic relationship with Yuuta Togashi.

"Takanashi, there are two ways we can walk away from this. The first option is that we agree to disagree. The other option is to prove one of us is right. Let's get Togashi a girlfriend and see which breaks first: your contract or their relationship."

Something to note about ideas formed in the middle of a heated argument is their tendency to seem perfectly reasonable in the moment but be the complete opposite in actuality. Shinka felt like her proposal then was exactly so. It was a seemingly elegant solution that would resolve the stalemate she and Rikka had found themselves in. But it was a solution not without its own problems - ones that were only apparent upon closer inspection.

"This 'unbreakable pact' Rikka's always on about is just some weird chuunibyou metaphor for our friendship. Do you really want to take that away from her?"

If Shinka were to describe her, Rikka was eccentric; aloof; hard to talk to. Such qualities made it difficult to acquire friends. Yuuta was one of the few she had. If circumstances allowed it, Shinka would rather not break them apart. If circumstances allowed it, she would not be Yuuta's girlfriend, either.

"You still wanna go through with this right? And you don't wanna win?"

Whether it was conversational maneuvering or sheer dumb luck, Yuuta Togashi managed to convince Shinka that the only way to lose - and still win - was to take matters into her own hands. Yuuta convinced her to be his girlfriend. The awkward, wishy-washy Yuuta Togash was able to do that. It was absurd and it was brilliant. Shinka couldn't help but be impressed.

Shinka had then offered her hand to Yuuta, expecting a brief panic and an awkward peck from him. She wanted to catch him off-guard just as he did to her minutes prior with his sudden proposal.

Instead, he accepted it with confidence and kissed it gently. And when he did so, she felt electricity course through her body from the point his lips met her skin. Her ears rang. Her muscles tensed. Her heart threatened to beat out of her chest as it pumped blood to her burning hot face. It was exhilarating

Not only was she taken by surprise twice in a row by this person, she had also been figuratively swept off her feet.

"All you have to do is make sure you don't fall in love with me."

She had been told that and, at the time, genuinely thought that such a thing would not come to pass. She believed it impossible. But after the terribly romantic farce they both participated in, she was no longer so sure. Even just replaying the scene from memory, she was already giddy with love-struck excitement.

Shinka rolled over and screamed into her pillow.

Her objective was to not fall in love with Yuuta. She feared that she may already be failing...

CHAPTER 2

Summer Dilemma ~ Rose Colored Fantasy

A few days into her relationship with Yuuta and already Shinka could say that their interaction was entirely too stiff. Every time their eyes met, she would flash back to the moment right before he kissed her hand. Not even a second later, she'd be back in reality, her train of thought completely derailed. After that, everything that came out of her mouth just felt and sounded forced. After three or so instances of this happening, she gave up trying to overcome it and opted to just limit her interaction with him.

And of course, such behavior did not go unnoticed.

"So, did you and Togashi fight or something?" one of Shinka's friends asked. "It almost seems like you've been ignoring him lately."

Shinka smiled wryly. She has stopped counting how many times she had been asked about Yuuta. It was mildly amusing the first time but very quickly became both an annoyance and a concern having to explain herself to people.

"We didn't fight," Shinka clarified. "Things are just a little... tense in the club. You could say it's taking its toll on us."

Her friend blinked in confusion. "Club? What does the cheerleading club have anything to do with... Oh! I remember you joined Takanashi's club, the Far East something-or-other, right? What up with them?"

Shinka shrugged. "With the club's current membership, sooner or later, they'll end up breaking something. They need someone to keep them in line. Togashi would be reliable enough but..."

"If someone's gonna watch over them, it might as well be you?" another one of Shinka's friends chimed in. "That's the class rep for you: always looking out for her classmates."

"Is Takanashi really that much of a handful? She's always so quiet..."

Oh, that remark was rich. She recalled the brief tantrum Rikka had upon finding out Shinka and Yuuta were dating. That was anything but quiet. Shinka smiled, deeply hoping that it didn't look as wry as she felt.

"Takanashi's not necessarily a handful. She's just... Well..." Shinka paused for a moment as she thought of an apt description. "Let's just say she's not as timid as she seems..."

"Yeah. I always thought she was quiet because she just doesn't wanna talk to us."

"Fuku, that's really mean."

"The only people she ever really talks to is Togashi and Nibutani. Everyone else might as well not exist."

"Hmm... Now that you mention it... she does only speak when spoken to..."

Shinka allowed her two friends to continue their conversation as she slipped away. Gossip was not the first thing on her mind that day - especially not gossip about Rikka...

Shinka tried to visit the Far-East Magic Napping Society ~ Summer Thereof on a fairly regular basis. Her focus was still the cheerleading club but she at least wanted attendance at her other club.

That being said, it was becoming increasingly tiring to be part of said magic napping society due to Rikka's - and Sanae's - treatment of her. Some days, she'd get the cold shoulder. That was absolutely fine since she could easily deal with being ignored. Other days, she'd be constantly harassed verbally. That was decidedly not fine, however.

She had taken to arriving later, if only to limit her exposure to such harassment.

That day, Shinka arrived to find the club room empty save for Yuuta who was slumped over the table, asleep. She stared at the steady rise and fall of his shoulders and frowned. He had waited for her to finish cheer practice again.

Shinka knelt down and slammed her palm on the table. Yuuta jolted awake with a yelp.

"What was that for!?" he asked groggily as he sat up. "Did you really have to ruin my nap?"

"You stayed and waited again," Shinka said flatly.

Yuuta looked at her with defiant eyes. "Yeah? Well, you came here after practice again."

They stared in silence for a moment before averting their gazes.

Shinka sighed and palmed her face, taking a seat across the table from Yuuta. "With so many other productive things you could be doing, you're wasting your time with this club. Why?"

Yuuta crossed his arms. "Might I remind you that you are one of its members?"

Shinka removed her palm and glared. "I told you, the only reason I'm part of it is to take down that midget, Dekomori."

"Which you haven't been trying to do since the day we got together," he snapped. "How many times has she attacked you since then, hmm? After a certain point, she just stopped bothering you, didn't she?"

Shinka watched Yuuta with interest. He seemed uncharacteristically aggressive that day. Something was up.

"Yes, she stopped. What of it?"

"Why are you even staying? You don't need to be part of the club to persuade Deko to get rid of your book. You obviously don't want to be part of it anyway. Why stay!?"

"Because it's easier if I'm in the club," Shinka explained flatly. "Togashi, you're scaring me. You need to stop."

Yuuta went wide eyed for a moment before once again averting his gaze. He probably didn't realize it but he had steadily been getting louder until he was practically shouting.

"What's making you so angry?"

Yuuta scratched his cheek. When he next spoke, his voice was not quite a whisper. "Rikka's grades are starting to slip. Miss Tsukumo is threatening to disband the club if her score isn't above the class average in the next math exam."

Shinka maintained a blank stare at Yuuta's words. She was unsurprised. Math always seemed to be Rikka's worst subject. So far, her luck managed to get her passing marks but it was only a matter of time before her luck ran out.

"That can't be all that's got you this rattled..."

Yuuta shook his head sighed. "The moment she was given her task, Rikka pretty much already gave up. She started asking for alternative ways to keep the club alive even if she fails. She even tried faking a heart attack on the spot."

Shinka rolled her eyes. That definitely sounded like something Rikka would do.

"Why doesn't she just study? The rest of her grades are fine. Surely she could just put more effort into math and her grades will bounce back."

Yuuta nodded, wincing. "Yeah... That's what I was thinking..."

Shinka tilted her head curiously. "Then why do you sound so unsure?"

"I... don't think Rikka's gonna be able to do this alone... No, that's not true. I know she won't."

Shinka raised an eyebrow. "And why not?"

"Do you think she'll be able to focus for long enough to get better at math of all subjects?"

Shinka had no rebuttal. "Point," she muttered. "So... what, do you plan on helping her?"

Yuuta gave her an enigmatically wry smile. She couldn't tell if it meant that the answer was obvious or if he didn't know the answer himself. Shinka nodded at this, understanding.

"You're going to help her," she then said. It was no longer a question.

Yuuta kept smiling. "You asked me earlier why I was wasting my time with this club. Well... I was doing it to watch over Rikka. She's my reason for staying." He closed his eyes chuckled. "I don't know what it is about her. I wanna see her succeed. And if she needs help, I wanna be there to give it to her."

Shinka found herself also smiling wryly as well. "You say that even if her objective in succeeding is solely to keep this club afloat?"

Yuuta opened one eye. "Even if," he replied.

Shinka felt her heart skip a beat and once again felt admiration and frustration well up inside of her. She slowly shook her head. "You've impressed me again, Togashi. You're either completely oblivious or have nerves of steel to say that in front of your own girlfriend."

There was a flash of panic in Yuuta's eyes. "Uh... Shinka, I-"

"Save it," Shinka said, thrusting her palm against Yuuta's mouth to shut him up. "Don't worry. I think it's sweet. Besides, our whole relationship is just one big act anyway. Might as well play our parts." She slowly withdrew her hand. "I suggest you go now. Takanashi's gonna need as much study time as she can get. It won't do for you to waste your time with me here."

Yuuta looked down guiltily. "Shinka, I-"

"Go... I'll see you tomorrow, Yuuta."

Yuuta reluctantly nodded and stood up, his bag in tow. "I'm sorry, Shinka... and... uh... Thank you..." He exited the room, the door closing behind him. Shinka was left alone in numbing silence.

Shinka looked at the hand she had pressed against his face with a sad smile. "You don't need to thank me... or apologize..." She clenched it and held it against her chest. Her heart ached ever so slightly. "Yuuta Togashi, you foolish foolish boy..."

The club stayed alive somehow. Rikka managed to pull through and earn a grade that was two points higher than the class average. It wasn't a passing grade but it had been enough, at least for the time being.

With the club no longer on the verge of disbanding, Rikka was in high spirits - high enough that Shinka no longer incited intense aggression by merely being within view. That being said, Shinka had opted to go straight to the club room that day and did not get yelled at... Well, at least not by Rikka. That was already better than before.

"I see that the fake Mori Summer has finally decided to show herself! Why only now do you come and not when our base was under siege by The Bureau!?"

Sanae had jumped out of her seat and point dramatically upon Shinka's entrance. Shinka glared at her venomously.

"Don't call me Mori Summer!"

Even as she yelled back at Sanae, she scanned the room. Kumin was asleep as usual and Rikka was staring distantly out the window. No sign of Yuuta anywhere.

"Listen, you little twerp, let's try this again. What is it going to take for you to get rid of that stupid book and stop calling me that stupid name?"

Sanae smiled mischievously. "What book and what name, fake Mori Summer?"

Shinka stared dryly. If Sanae's goal was to provoke her wrath, today was not a day she was willing to indulge. "Never mind, then." She turned to leave.

"Wait, where are you going?"

"Home," Shinka replied flatly. "I'm obviously not wanted here. Not like there's anything for me to do here anyway."

She exited the room, closing the door behind her. As she walked away, she heard the sound of muffled footsteps from the club room and Sanae's voice. "Master?"

The door opened and Shinka stopped in her tracks. "Nibutani," Rikka's voice said.

Shinka turned back and raised an eyebrow. Rikka met her with a serious expression - specifically, it was a 'we need to talk' expression. Shinka tilted her head pointedly in a gesture telling Rikka to follow her before resuming her walk away from the club room. She heard footsteps follow behind her.

"I wanted to thank you, Nibutani..."

Shinka blinked in confusion. When she brought Rikka to an underused stairwell at a secluded corner of the school building, she didn't expect to be thanked. She especially did not expect to be thanked by Rikka in the manner she had, bowing so deeply, as if she owed Shinka her life.

Shinka slowly nodded. "Uh... Right," she muttered. "Why are you thanking me?" she then asked flatly.

"You were the one who told Yuuta to help me study. I would not have exceeded the class average otherwise."

Shinka took the answer and frowned in response. "That's not a reason to thank me. He would have done that anyway."

"No he wouldn't. Not after I specifically told him not to."

Shinka's frown deepened upon hearing those words. Did Rikka want to fail? She had a guy willing to waste his time helping her and she turned him away? That was kinda stupid.

"Why did you tell him that?" Shinka asked, struggling to keep her outrage in check.

Rikka slowly brought her head back up. "The Dark Flame Master, Yuuta Togashi has a responsibility to spend time with Shinka Nibutani as they are lovers. As my problem was of my own doing, I did not see fit that he should assist me - not when he has other obligations." As she spoke, Shinka got increasingly less amused. "However, I knew that merely reminding him of this fact would never convince him to stop. Thus, I explicitly ordered him to spend time with you rather than help me. It was the only way he would have listened." Rikka had kept a completely straight face for her entire explanation.

Shinka drank in Rikka's words as her blood seethed to a boil. She now understood why Yuuta was as angry as he was when they spoke that day. Rikka's reasoning was infuriatingly obtuse and yet made a certain amount of sense. Spelling it out to him in no uncertain terms like that would have definitely done the trick. After all, why help a person who does not want to be helped - especially when they explicitly say so? If Shinka hadn't spoken to him that day, Yuuta would have probably sat on his hands the entire time and just watched Rikka fail. Shinka wouldn't have blamed him - heck, she probably would have done the same thing.

But the most frustrating thing about the whole debacle was the fact that Shinka was pretty much a third party. She wasn't really involved. The fact that Yuuta was her boyfriend shouldn't have meant anything. But then she was roped into the mess anyway and suddenly it did.

"Nibutani?" Rikka said, no doubt confused by Shinka's simmering silence.

Shinka released a frustrated sigh and delivered a sharp chop to Rikka's forehead. Said girl recoiled back. "Rikka Takanashi, you are an idiot. Do you have any idea how angry Yuuta was that day? Do you have any idea how angry I am just hearing about it now?"

Rikka shrunk back. "I... I don't understand."

"From the very beginning, did you ever believe you could have made the cut if Yuuta didn't help you? Well?" Rikka quickly shook her head. "Oh? Coincidentally, neither did Yuuta. And the fact that you pushed him away means you just rolled over and gave up. That's what made him angry."

"Nibutani, I-"

"And you know what made me angry? It was the fact that you used me as an excuse to him. It wasn't even a good excuse. You yourself said it wouldn't have convinced him."

Rikka's eyes teared up even as her face grew stoic. Her voice was on the verge of cracking. "I'm sorry, okay...? I'm sorry... I didn't mean to cause this much trouble... I'm... sorry..."

Shinka's scowl deepened but her anger turned down a notch. She could tell Rikka was about to cry and she hated dealing with crying people. It was always the most inconvenient and exhausting thing emotionally. If someone cried in front of her, it took everything in her to not cry herself.

She sighed through her teethand pulled Rikka into an embrace. She spoke as softly as she could. "Look, Takanashi. When I spoke to Yuuta that day, he said he wanted to see you succeed. I didn't ask what he meant by it but I think he just doesn't want you to give up. The club is your doing. Don't just let go of it without a fight." Shinka tightened her embrace. "Yuuta cares a lot for you. My being his girlfriend won't change that... And you know what? I guess I care a lot for you too. Why else would I be as angry as I am?"

Rikka started crying and Shinka stopped talking.

Shinka had suspicions regarding those last words she spoke but now was not the time to muse on them. Rikka was quietly sobbing into her chest and it took every ounce of mental fortitude not to start sobbing as well. There would be time to think later. For now, she had an emotionally compromised girl to tend to.

Shinka lent Rikka her shoulder and slowly led her back to the club room.

The next day, Yuuta and Shinka had been assigned the duty of collecting their classmates' homework and dropping them off at the faculty office. Class representative work was one of the few times they could speak privately at school and was indeed the most convenient. They took full advantage of it that day.

"So, uh... about what happened yesterday...?" Yuuta began shortly after they exited the classroom.

Shinka winced. Yuuta's manner of bringing up the topic was so painfully awkward that she almost wanted to writhe in response. "What about it?" she groaned tiredly.

"Thanks for speaking with Rikka."

Shinka stopped in her tracks, nearly dropping her stack of notebooks. She turned to Yuuta with a scowl. "What is it with you two and thanking me for things I don't need to be thanked for?"

Yuuta looked in confusion. "I'm sorry?"

"Explain yourself. What was so important about speaking with Takanashi yesterday?"

"Oh? Well..." Yuuta shifted his weight. From the looks of it, he wanted to scratch his cheek but his hands were full holding his stack of notebooks. All he achieved was a feeble fidget.

"Rikka spoke with me last night and... said she's fine with you and me dating now. She said... She said that you convinced her."

Shinka raised an eyebrow at that. She had so many questions. All she had done was give Rikka an earful. How exactly did that convince her? Alternatively, why did that convince her? Oh course, Shinka probably wouldn't get her answers asking Yuuta those questions - Rikka was as much a mystery to him as she was to Shinka. If she were to ask questions, it'd have to be questions he could answer. She already knew what her first question would be.

"Why are you the one telling me this?"

Yuuta smiled at her ever so slightly. "Because she told me not to tell you."

Shinka frowned. She hoped that answer was just a joke because it would otherwise only give her more questions. Yuuta merely regarded Shinka's unamused expression with a chuckle. Shinka rolled her eyes and said, "I hope you're not serious." She left it at that and resumed walking. Yuuta chuckled again and followed behind her.

"Rikka's been in really high spirits," Yuuta eventually said. "I'm sure her test scores played a big part in it - the fact that she's keeping the club alive and all." Yuuta increased his pace in order to walk next to Shinka. "But... I think you played a part in it too. She's been smiling a whole lot more now. For that, I thank you."

Shinka bit the inside of her cheek. "Like I said, you don't need to thank me for that."

All things considered, Shinka was also pleased with how things ended up. The club would live to nap and... be weird another day, Rikka would supposedly be less hostile to her now, and Yuuta was all smiles. It was, overall, a net positive for her.

But the blindingly bright smile that Yuuta wore was worn for Rikka. Try as she might, Shinka couldn't bring herself to smile in kind - not for that. Whatever glint of happiness that might have welled up inside her was met with an equal amount of heartache.

Would Yuuta ever smile like that for Shinka? Unlikely. Perhaps if they were actually taking their relationship seriously? The thought was certainly pleasant, at least: having a Yuuta be as happy for her as he was for Rikka. She could almost smile if she imagined it.

But she didn't. She knew that it would only make things worse - especially now that her fears were proving more and more likely. She was falling in love. The incident with Rikka might have only made her fall faster. After a certain point, she wouldn't be able to stop it anymore. In fact, she may very well be past it already.

And perhaps the saddest thing about it was that she only had herself to blame for it. If only she were able to keep her mouth shut when Rikka was spouting her chuunibyou nonsense. Perhaps, then, she wouldn't be-

She quickly swatted away those thoughts. Introspection of such nature would only stress her out. If it was going to happen, she might as well not worry about it.

Thus, she emptied her mind and continued on her way to the faculty office. Yuuta followed behind her in silence.

This chapter sort of just spiraled out of control. It's not to say that it didn't go as planned - in fact, it went exactly as planned. I arrived at exactly the point in the story I wanted to in this chapter. It's just that the means in which I got to that point took a few unexpected turns.

The objective of this chapter is to develop Shinka's relationship with Yuuta and Rikka.

The opening scene was written to show Shinka remembering events from last chapter and how she suspected she was falling in love with Yuuta - all of which occur in the last few paragraphs of the scene. It was also written to be a window into how Shinka views Yuuta and her relationship with him - a deliberate parallel to Yuuta doing the same thing to Shinka at the start of last chapter. I think it helps clarify what Shinka's headspace is like before proceeding on.

Originally, I would have written Shinka taking a completely hands-off approach in this chapter, likening her slow descent into love to Satone's slow descent into depression from A Devil's Despair, another one of my Chu2 stories. Scenes would have been shorter and more numerous - all of them little vignettes focusing more on Shinka's developing feelings. Unfortunately, I struggled to write it like that. I view falling in love as a culmination of interactions and shared experiences that slowly build up affection. I don't think I can get away with doing here what I did in A Devil's Despair. Perhaps if I were a better writer than I am now?

As it happened, I had to write Shinka taking a more direct approach, confronting Yuuta and Rikka about the conflict of the chapter. In doing so, I somehow achieved a near-perfect balance for what I wanted to accomplish this chapter. I was able to show Shinka's growing, if grudging, admiration for Yuuta, and a similarly growing, if grudging, affection for Rikka.

I feel somewhat disappointed in my inability to adequately express how angry Shinka and Yuuta were supposed to be in writing. I feel like the intensity and nuance I imagined was lost when it was finally put into words.

The conflict with Rikka actually has a sort of meta-joke somewhere in there. I usually skip Ep05 of the anime during my rewatches. In a way, I sorta did that here as well by focusing on the increasingly distant Shinka instead of Yuuta and Rikka's struggles with studying.

Normally, I spend a few paragraphs on banter as a way to smoothen the transition from wacky chuunibyou hijinks and mindless slice of life dialogue to more serious plot-relevant stuff. With Shinka being so no-nonsense in this chapter, I was able to get to the point much quicker than I normally would.

The "Why did you stay in this club?" questions Yuuta and Shinka were asking each other were supposed to be more important than they ended up being. They were supposed to further push Shinka's confusion about her feelings for Yuuta. I wasn't able to fit that in but I don't think it's necessary anymore. Shinka ended up plenty confused.

Welp, that was a chapter. Until the the next one.