"…I could let him do that and have her end up in that situation so she could develop as a character…" Shujinkou sat at his desk, recording all his ideas for his developing story. "Writing fanfiction is hard…"

Soon, every idea he had so far was transferred to the white sheet in front of him. A satisfied sigh slipped through his lips as he lazily leaned against the back of his chair. Now staring at the ceiling above him, a curious thought decided that now was the time to make itself known.

"I wonder where mom went," the curious child wondered aloud.

His grandmother did convince him not to question her about taking a sudden trip.

"Everyone's allowed at least one surprise trip," she said.

But ever since then, Hiro has been spending more and more time outside of the house. It was not like she was neglecting him and he knew she has a right to privacy but his curious side refused not to speculate to what was going on.

"Maybe she's…"

The sudden buzz of the front doorbell interrupted Shujinkou's train of thought. As he journeyed towards the front door, a new train of thought travelled down the railroad in his head. He was not expecting anyone to come to his house and his mother did not tell him to be on the lookout for anyone.

With no other way to satisfy his curiosity, Shujinkou opened the front door.

"Good morning, Shujinkou," Yuri greeted him.

"Hey, Yuri," he casually replied. It only took him ten seconds for him to realize something strange about this scenario. "Wait… How did you know where I lived?"

"Ah… Well, Sayori told me when we worked on our poster for the contest your grandmother held," Yuri calmly answered.

"Oh. Well, that explains that," Shujinkou replied.

Their conversation came to a halt as Yuri remained quiet, now sporting a worried expression on her face.

"Um…" Shujinkou scratched his right cheek as he struggled to think of something to say. "…Do you want to come inside?"

It wasn't the first time he had a girl in his house, but Shujinkou still was struck with disbelief over the fact that those were the only words that came out of his mouth. He also found it a pretty awkward thing to say since the situation did not call for such a suggestion.

"Ah… Um…" Yuri struggled to maintain eye contact with Shujinkou as she considered his request. "That… would be helpful."

"Helpful?" Shujinkou wondered what that response meant as he guided his guest into his home.

"Do you want something to drink?" Shujinkou offered as they entered the kitchen.

"No thanks," Yuri answered.

They silently sat on opposite sides of the kitchen table and remained quiet for a full minute.

"So… What brings you here?" Shujinkou asked, finally breaking the silence.

"Ah… I needed to talk to you and I didn't have any way of contacting you," Yuri answered.

It was at that exact moment when Shujinkou he did not have any way of contacting Yuri either. Thinking about it though, he has never been in a situation where he needed her contact info.

"That said… I felt like I should talk to you in person anyway," Yuri continued.

Yuri's vague answer sparked Shujinkou's curious nature. What could be so important that she would visit him on a Saturday?

"What did you want to talk about?" he asked.

"Well…" Yuri's face quickly turned bright red as she diverted her gaze; an act that only caused his curiosity to grow. Moments later, Yuri looked into Shujinkou's eyes. "I wanted to ask…"

She bit down on her lip as she struggled to finish her sentence.

"Will you be my boyfriend?!" Yuri asked.

Five full minutes passed before Shujinkou's brain fully processed the information his ears were fed.

"WHAT?!" Shujinkou exclaimed. Disbelief struck the greatly bewildered male. He could not believe what he what he was just asked. He then suddenly remembered the awkward conversation he had with Akuma, causing the already tense atmosphere to feel even more so. "W-Was… Was that just a confession?!"

"NO!" shrieked Yuri.

"Wha-?!" Yuri's adamant response did nothing but confuse Shujinkou even more.

"Sorry! I didn't mean to yell," Yuri apologized, shyly placing her head in her hands. "It's just that… uhn…"

Shujinkou anxiously clutched his chest a he tried to calm down.

"Wh-What's going on?" Shujinkou forced himself to ask.

"Ah… Well, for a while now, my family has been concerned about the fact that I haven't been such a 'social butterfly'," Yuri explained.

"But you're part of a club," Shujinkou pointed out.

"True… But I think they think that I'm only there so they wouldn't worry about me," Yuri replied.

"And the asking the request for a boyfriend thing?" Shujinkou queried.

"Ah… That actually was my attempt to keep them from worrying over me," Yuri sheepishly admitted. "I thought if they thought I was in a relationship, they wouldn't be burdened with their concern for me."

"Oh, well…" As strange as the situation was, Shujinkou could somewhat see the intention behind Yuri's reason. "But why did you ask me to be your boyfriend?"

"Because my parents asked me to invite my boyfriend over for lunch tomorrow…" Yuri shyly answered.

"Oh…" the confusion that clouded Shujinkou's mind started to clear. "They kinda put you in a tough spot."

Yuri silently nodded her head.

"That said it would probably be better if you asked someone else to be your pretend boyfriend. Believe me, I wouldn't be such a good one," Shujinkou awkwardly chuckled as he scratched his right cheek.

"I can't do that," Yuri said.

"Why not?" Shujinkou asked despite part of him fearing what the answer could be.

"Because when they asked me to describe my 'boyfriend'… I really described you. I told them that he was a relatively new member of the club who enjoyed drawing and was very creative and understanding," Yuri admitted.

"I wouldn't say that I'm creative or understanding…" Shujinkou mumbled.

"I also gave them a very accurate visual description of you," Yuri continued.

"Ah… So, it's me or bust…" Shujinkou concluded.

"I'm sorry, Shujinkou! It's just that I didn't want them to worry and you were the only boy I'm familiar with!" Yuri apologized, once more placing her head in her hands.

"No need to apologize, Yuri. It's not like I'm mad or anything," consoled Shujinkou.

But even if he was not angry, Shujinkou did feel conflicted. Putting aside his disbelief that he somehow ended up in such a situation, he was unsure of what he should do. He didn't want to lie but he also could not help someone he spent a good amount of time with. He scratched his right cheek as he pondered. What should he do?

Suddenly, an angel appeared on his left shoulder to aid him in his dilemma.

"Calm yourself, Shujinkou. There is no need to fret," the angel said.

Shujinkou could not believe what he seeing. There was an angel on his shoulder that looked a lot like…

"Mickey?!" he exclaimed.

"Hey there, Shujinkou," Mickey waved.

"Wait, I thought shoulder angels are supposed to be miniature versions of the conflicted individual," Shujinkou said.

"Don't look at me; I'm just a figment of your imagination," Mickey shrugged.

"So, I'm daydreaming?" Shujinkou asked.

"Sorta. You're in that in-between point where you're slightly detached from reality but can be easily snapped back. It also has the benefit of not making the dreamer look like they're spacing out," Mickey explained.

"Oh," Shujinkou accepted.

"Anyway, you're not going to refuse to help a friend are you? Mickey asked.

"Of course he won't!"

Shujinkou's gaze shifted to his right shoulder where his angel's counterpart appeared.

"Mickey?" he gasped. "You're my shoulder devil too?"

"Hey, you think Disney is a pure good company?" Devil Mickey snickered.

"I really don't want to get into that discussion…" Shujinkou mumbled.

"Anyway, stop being a wimp and just help your friend," Devil Mickey said.

"Wait, I thought you were supposed to tempt me into doing the wrong thing," Shujinkou was surprised that the physical manifestation of his dark side wanted him to help.

"I am tempting you," Devil Mickey smirked. "You're lying. You go along with this fiasco and you'll be lying to people."

"Oh…" Shujinkou muttered. He then turned to the angel on his other shoulder. "So, I guess that means you'll say I shouldn't help."

"Actually, I still think you should help," Angel Mickey replied.

"You're agreeing with the other guy?" all of the surprise and confusion Shujinkou had to endure in under an hour was beginning to hurt his head.

"Shujinkou, can you live with yourself if you don't help a friend in need?" Angel Mickey inquired.

"You know I can't…" Shujinkou admitted in a somber tone.

"It's not like you should feel conflicted in the first place. After all, it's not like you'd be lying to people you actually know," Devil Mickey added. "You can lie to strangers. People do all the time. In fact, this should be really easy for you."

"What makes you say that?" Shujinkou asked.

"You've lied to people you are pretty familiar with," Devil Mickey said. "Like when you told Natsuki you had a good time with your father during your stay at your grandmother's resort."

"You had to bring that up…" Shujinkou moaned as he remembered what happened the last time he faced his father. "You're harsh."

"Devil," Devil Mickey pointed to the sharp horns that protrude from his round head.

"Okay, you guys can leave," Shujinkou sighed. "I think I want to think about this alone."

The two beings on his shoulder vanished from sight, giving him the peace he desired. Just then, Shujinkou encountered a past memory that allowed him to finally decide what he wanted to do.

Shujinkou shook himself awake, finally ready to answer Yuri's request.

"…Alright. I'll help you out, Yuri," Shujinkou decided.

"Really?" Yuri's face lit up. "Thank you, Shujinkou."

"Hey, what are fake boyfriends for?" Shujinkou chuckled as he scratched his right cheek.

"Really, I do appreciate your willingness to help me with such a task," Yuri said. "Even if it's just because you're taking pity on me."

"What makes you think that?" Shujinkou inquired.

"Well, I can't think of any other reason you would help…" Yuri somberly admitted.

"Well…" Shujinkou awkwardly scratched his cheek once more. "I told you before. If a friend needs me to be there, then I'll be there to help. That's all there is to it."

"Ah… That's right…" Yuri slightly giggled as she diverted her gaze. "…Thanks…"

"Like I said, what are fake boyfriends for?" Shujinkou chuckled.