A/N: I'm back :)
Anya wasn't quite sure what to do. It was after school, there was no student council work to do, and support for council was at a new all time high at 99%.
Hm… I know! I'll hang out with Sy-on boy! He's been so busy recently, but whenever I ask him why, he just laughs at me.
Anya shut her eyes tight, focusing on the inner voices of the people around her.
Ugh, I can't wait to get home.
Why is studying so hard?
Ugh, this is so annoying…
There he is!
The moment that Anya picked up Damian's voice, she spun around before finding him talking to two other boys with a strained smile on his face.
Sy-on boy's in trouble!
A plan was swiftly recalled in Anya's brain as she took stock of the situation. She composed herself, selecting specific memories to recall in order to generate a genuine smile.
That didn't take long! I'm so good at this~
Settling into this frame of mind, she pranced over to the group of them, putting her hand on Damian's shoulder.
"Oi, Sy-on boy!"
Damian didn't initially respond upon being tapped on the back, but spun around instantaneously upon hearing his nickname.
"Oh, hey there, Forger."
"Aren't you happy to see me?"
Damian shrugged at her wide smile, his expression remaining impassive.
"I guess so. It's not that big a deal, though."
He's lying.
Of course, I'm happy to see you! We've barely said 2 words to each other since last week! Food isn't allowed in the library, so we haven't even been spending lunches together!
Anya's smile faltered as a vein popped out of her head.
Just don't spend lunch in the library, you moron.
She recomposed herself so quickly that only Damian noticed this change in expression.
"Anyways, you promised that you were going to study with me today, didn't you, Sy-on boy?"
She's lying.
What does she mean? I don't recall-
A flicker of realization came across Damian's face as he quickly morphed his look of confusion into an apologetic expression.
"Ah, I completely forgot! I'll talk to you guys later."
One of the other boys snickered for a moment.
"Just try not to forget any more promises, Shijo! Otherwise, Forger might just find some other guy to hang out with!"
"Shut up."
The boy fell silent and the colour drained out of his face as he saw the ice-cold glare that Damian shot at him.
Scary!
What is?
Anya looked up at Damian before giving a shrug.
Wonder what he was thinking about?
"So, Forger."
Anya snapped out of her trance and she turned back to face Damian.
"Yeah?"
"What was that about? Did you want to talk to me?"
A smug look began to creep into Anya's expression as she took on an air of superiority.
"Well, I saw you in a sticky situation, so I swooped in and got you out! You should really get better at conversations, Sy-on boy!"
"We were having a normal talk, though?"
Anya's expression immediately turned to confusion to match Damian.
"Hah?"
After a moment of silence, Damian continued.
"We were just talking about ideas for the culture festival and I was explaining one of my ideas and it was getting a little annoying, but…"
His voice trailed off as Anya caught a hint of sadness in his expression.
That was probably the first conversation I've had with anyone outside the student council here at this school…
Anya's mouth opened and her gaze lowered as she practically felt herself deflating on the spot.
"Ah. Sorry about that. I should've just left you alone…"
Neither of them spoke for a few moments until Damian broke the silence.
"Nah, it's fine. I'll have more chances to talk to them. And…"
Should I tell her?
Anya's attention was somewhat piqued and normally, she would've jumped at the chance to ask what Damian was hiding, but she didn't really feel like it at present. Nevertheless, Damian would finish his sentence without any prompting.
"I wanted to spend some time with you anyways."
Anya was immediately hooked, that single statement diverting all of her attention as her eyes went wide and a light blush began to rise in her cheeks. Slowly, a smile formed on her face as she giggled to herself.
"Really? Well, your wish is my command~"
Damian rolled his eyes, though he couldn't stop a smile from forming on his face.
"Well, thanks for the apology. In any case, I suppose we should start studying?"
"Well, uh…"
Anya began shuffling on the spot, prompting a confused look from Damian. Anya began to speak in a quieter voice, her tone becoming more sheepish than before.
"I just said that to get you out of there, so…"
Damian shrugged.
"In any case, finals are coming up, so it's probably best to do that. I bet that you've been hard at work too, right? And that's why we haven't talked at all?"
"Yeah, of course! Now, let's go to the library! I'm ready to refresh myself on all the studying I've been doing!"
She's lying.
The finals?!
In the midst of her student council work and Damian's lack of communication towards her, Anya's mind had been just about as far from studying as it could get!
Those are happening? How could I forget about those? More importantly, how'd my dad forget about those?
Meanwhile, Loid was busy interrogating stopping a terrorist organization from launching a nuke into Tokyo.
"Either way, there's a lot of stuff I don't understand from studying earlier which I did a lot of, by the way, so I've got some catching up to do."
She's lying.
Damian, for his part, took on an unassuming expression as he stuck his hands in his pockets.
"Oh, really? Well, it just so happens that I probably need to spend some more of my time studying, so why don't we head to the library?"
And the lies just keep coming! What Damian said could not have been further from the truth. In reality, he's studied so much in the past week that his eyes are practically bleeding! From mathematics to classical Japanese to history, he could probably recite every textbook in the school cover to cover without even breaking a sweat!
But, Forger-san doesn't need to know that.
Sy-on boy's a liar.
Despite this realization, Anya couldn't help but give a little smile.
Heh. He's a liar, but he's a very thoughtful liar.
What's with her face?!
Gak! Return to normal!
Anya has yet to master the art of full control over her expressions.
###
By this time, the 2 of them had made it to the library and were flipping through their textbooks. Damian was flying through practice questions at a breakneck pace, but Anya seemed to simply be sitting still, not having opened her textbook at all. She seemed to be clutching the side of her head and her face had gone oddly pale. Noticing this, Damian gave Anya a concerned look.
"Is everything ok?"
Anya snapped to attention, slowly managing to put together a smile.
"H-huh? Oh, yeah, n-never better…"
A spy must never show weakness!
"I just…"
Suddenly, Anya slammed her head against the table, nearly drawing blood which caused Damian to leap into the air with surprise.
"Are you really ok, Forger-san?!"
How am I gonna pass these tests?
It's over… I'm gonna be disowned…
I'm never gonna be able to get into university with these grades!
Maybe if I try out this pill, I can study better?
What's even the point of studying anymore? Honestly, this whole school can just burn to the ground.
Thoughts from stressed-out students were flooding into Anya's mind from every direction. She had gotten better at blocking out large crowds, but being in one with this many negative thoughts while trying to study was something that she was unable to do without serious repercussions.
"C'mon, Forger-san. We're leaving."
Anya looked up to see that her and Damian's textbooks had all disappeared before seeing Damian's extended hand.
"You don't look good. We should get some fresh air."
Anya didn't even hesitate to take his hand. Before long, they'd made it to the student council room. Anya took a seat on the couch as Damian frantically looked around for an object to use as a blanket.
Is she going to be ok? I can't let stuff like this happen! I'm such an idiot…
You're not helping with the situation, Sy-on boy…
Damian was actually quite composed on the outside as he took off his jacket and gave it to Anya.
"Here. You need it more than me."
While my previous statement holds true, the same can't be said for his thoughts.
Kyaaaa~ I gave her my jacket… That's so embarrassing!
Your thoughts are too loud, Sy-on boy…
Nevertheless, Anya draped the jacket over herself as she lay down on the sofa.
"Tank you, Sy-on boy."
"You're bleeding?!"
Upon seeing a bloodstain appearing on the couch, Damian frantically searched around the room for tissues before reaching into his pocket and taking out a red handkerchief.
"Here. Use this."
"Tank you."
Anya sat up, listening to Damian's worried thoughts as she leant forward and pinched her nose to stop the bleeding. After about 5 minutes, she removed the handkerchief to find that her nose had stopped bleeding. She looked at the space beside her where she had started bleeding while lying down before getting a slightly ashamed look.
"The couch is all bloody…"
"More importantly, are you ok?"
"Mostly. Still a little queasy, though…"
"Then get over to the other couch."
Anya obeyed without a second thought, drowsily watching Damian walking towards the exit.
"Wait!"
Damian stopped just short of the entrance, turning around.
"Hm?"
"Don't…"
Anya stopped herself. After all, a spy doesn't show weakness and says something like "don't leave me alone!" would be the epitome of being weak! Despite this, Anya found a strange feeling welling up inside her and before long, her mouth was moving before her mind and she found herself speaking without even intending to.
"Don't leave me alone…"
Damian looked shocked for a moment and it took a second for this phrase to fully register in either of their brains. Anya realized first, covering her face with Damian's jacket as she went red. Damian was no different, a blush quickly forming for his own reasons.
She's so adorable! And she's using my jacket? This girl is unfair!
Nevertheless, he put on a reassuring smile and walked over, sitting next to Anya, looking down at her small frame.
"Alright. Then, I'll stay with you."
And he could've imagined this, but Damian could've sworn he heard the tiniest of "Thank you…"s coming from next to him. They stayed silent for a little, staying still in the moment before Damian noticed an uncomfortable look beginning to appear on Anya's face.
"Anything wrong?"
"Well…"
I wouldn't want to bother him that much… Why's he being so nice to me anyways?
Anya eventually figured that this was a benign enough request to make.
"My head was getting a little uncomfortable since it's not really being supported by anything."
Again, a few more moments of silence before Anya felt Damian tilt her head up slightly as something soft slid under it. At the same time, his face slid into view until he was staring into her eyes from directly above her. At least, he would be, if he'd been able to maintain eye contact.
"I-in that case, then why don't I be your pillow, Forger-san?"
Both of their faces immediately burned bright red and panic immediately made its presence known in Damian's mind.
I can't believe I just did that! Why am I being so forward today? I think my heart's gonna explode if this keeps going…
However, when Anya picked up on Damian's thoughts, her blush subsided somewhat, a sense of reassurance falling over her.
He's enduring that much for me? Sy-on boy's really too considerate for his own good.
A smile began to form on Anya's face and before Damian could react, she swiftly wrapped her arms around Damian's waist, eliciting a massive blush from him.
"What the- Forger-san? Why'd you…"
Anya simply looked up at Damian's face with a smile that Damian had never seen before.
Damian couldn't quite put his finger on what smile this was, exactly. There was a bit of that 'heh' smile he had grown afraid of that showed whenever she tried to hard at acting when she felt superior, or that carefree smile she wore when talking to other people or eating peanuts, and there was even a bit of that rare, softer, more serene smile that he'd only seen her make in front of him. No, rather than one of these, it was almost like seeing a combination of all of them.
"Why'd I hug you? Well, I think that I just wanted to, I guess?"
Result of today's battle: Anya wins (by exploding Damian's heart).
Bonus: Damian Shijo wants to invite"By the way, what was that all about back there?"
Though Damian's voice was the epitome of calm, his thoughts were anything but due to Anya's insistence on returning to Damian's lap because "it was the comfiest spot in the council room".
"What do you mean?"
"You know. Like, how you started freaking out when we sat down in the library."
"Ah…"
Anya looked to the side, trying to come up with an explanation before she settled on one that was plausible.
"Well, you know how I'm good at reading people?"
Damian nodded.
"Yes." All too well.
Anya held back a laugh at this, continuing right after.
"You see, I'm good at reading the atmosphere, and I kinda get really distracted when I feel like there's a lot of negativity around me."
Anya began to lose her composure when Damian didn't respond.
"I-it sounds a little ridiculous, but it's the best way I can describe it, so- what are you doing?!"
Damian, who had begun to run her hands through Anya's hair immediately pulled back.
"Ah. Sorry, I was just going with the mood and- you know what? It doesn't matter. Sorry about that-"
"You can keep going…"
Damian looked down to see that Anya was on her side and while her face was partially obscured, he could definitely see her ears turning red.
"I was just a little surprised, that's all."
"...Ah, ok…"
Anya was the first to speak after a few moments of silence. When she did, her voice lacked its usual playful tone, instead taking on a lighter, almost delicate tone as she tucked her head into her shoulders and her cheeks went even darker.
"What are you waiting for, Sy-on boy?"
Damian's face flushed to match Anya's as he slowly lowered his hand onto Anya's head.
"Nothing. Just wondering about how I should invite you over to study after this."
Wait, what did I just say?
Both Anya and Damian froze in shock.
I'm such an idiot! I'm already trying to take her home? We haven't even had a second date! The last time she visited was back in middle school!
Sy-on boy worries too much.
Anya's composure, while momentarily destroyed, was immediately restored upon listening to Damian's internal monologue. With a sigh and her usual lively tone returning to her voice, she said:
"That sounds nice. I wanted to study with you anyways~"
Colour rose in Damian's cheeks as he grit his teeth, muttering under his breath.
"Curse you, Forger-san."
"I heard that~"
As he rolled his eyes and began to stand up, however, he heard a light "Wait." come from under him.
"Can we stay like this for just a little longer?"
This was a new combination. Anya now wore an embarrassed smile along with a light blush that was quickly matched by Damian as he sat back down, his expression quickly softening.
"It can't be helped, can it? Looks like I'll have to spoil you just a little bit more."
Result of today's battle: Anya's undisputed victory.
By the way, does anyone know how Hayasaka refers to Kaguya at the end of the manga? I did some digging and I think it's "Kaguya-san" but I'm not sure. Can someone let me know in the comments?