The time was 3:45 PM. Tuesday.
"once again! And this time, with feeling!" shouted Ryko Tekina. She was the president of the school's drama club. She was a young fifteen year-old girl with long, flowing blond hair and amber colored eyes.
Even thought she was still a first year student. She was quite popular, mainly due to her impressive acting skills that were used both in and out of her club, she was the literal definition of drama queen. Selfish, annoying, egotistic and overconfident in herself and anything she created.
Yan-chan and Jayson were both in the auditorium of the school. The drama queen you just heard was holding auditions for roles in her self-written play, which was created to help rebuild the moral of the student population, since things at the school were getting a bit gloomy.
y'know… because of all the dead bodies lying around and everything.
"seriously, what's my motivation?" Jayson asked while on stage, trying to understand the poorly written script… it felt like he was reading a shitty fan-fiction.
"motivation?, you're an old man in a cave, you don't need a motivation!" Ryko shouted.
"wait, I'm auditioning for the lead role, not some retarded side character!"
"just… say… the line" she said.
"fine" jayson said "oh, brave and noble hero, please take this sword and promise to save the beloved, adored and beautiful princess" he acted, emotionless.
"with feeling!" Ryko shouted.
"OH, BRAVE AND NOBLE HERO! PLEASE TAKE THIS SWORD AND PROMISE TO SAVE THE BELOVED, ADORED AND BEAUTIFUL PRINCESS!" he overacted. Just to agitate Ryko.
"next!" she shouted as Jayson began to walk off stage.
Yan-chan gave a small giggle to Jayson's performance.
"well, I thought you were great, you really made me feel like you didn't want to be here" she said as jayson sat with her in one of the many seats of the auditorium.
"i don't wanna be here, you dragged me into this" he said while smiling at her.
Ever since yesterday, she had been putting herself with him a lot, even when senpai was nowhere to be seen. She was also smiling at him a lot more, and when she smiled at him, it felt genuine, it felt like that was the smile of someone who really cared about you, it was a much better sight then her 'I don't give a shit but I'll pretend to care anyway' smile. She had also seemed to be more expressive, more emotional. It was an odd yet pleasant change for her.
Yan-chan had really felt like she and jayson were growing a steady bond, and soon enough, she wanted to be around him, she almost began desiring his company. She even reworked her entire schedule just to accommodate for interaction with jayson. Sure she was stalking senpai a lot less, but on the plus side, she was spending quality time with someone she could actually be herself around. She never felt awkward about anything she talked about with jayson. Whether it was explaining the many ways she had broken into senpai's home and watched him sleep, stole his toothbrush and a few pairs of his underwear… explaining her fantasies about wanting to stab senpai's mother and younger sister. Or just talking about herself in general. Jayson seemed to hang onto and understand every word. It felt… nice, knowing that she had someone who would always be willing to listen to her.
"hi, I'll be auditioning for the male lead" said senpai as he walked onto the stage with script in hand.
This was the reason she was here, she had read the script and had concluded that it was indeed one of the worst fan fiction-turned original stories she had ever read. But there was one good thing about this horrible play… it had a kissing scene between the hero and princess.
If yan-chan could get the part of the princess and senpai could get the part of the hero, then they'd be able to kiss! And he'd have no choice but to kiss her!.
"okay then… begin!" said Ryko. Senpai began his lines.
"oh, sweet princess…"
"congratulations, you have just earned the role of our male lead!" Ryko shouted with joy.
"oh, come on!" jayson yelled in anger. "he didn't even finish his sentence!" jayson had wanted to be the male lead, and he also wanted yan-chan to be the female lead for the exact same reason, The kissing scene. Call him desperate, but how else was he going to lock lips with the love of his life, who was obsessed with a boy who didn't even know she existed?.
Yan-chan soon stepped onto the stage, when she stepped up, jayson gave a thumbs up, encouraging her. he actually hoped she wouldn't get the part now, but he still supported her.
"my name is Ayana Satsujin-koibito, i'm going to be auditioning for the role of the princess..."
"sorry, we already have a princess" Ryko said harshly.
Jayson made a sigh of relief. Thank god.
"who… who is the princess then?" Yan-chan said while twitching slightly.
"you're lookin' at her!" Ryko shouted. "now off my stage… NEXT!"
Yan-chan pouted and walked off, her and jayson walked out of the auditorium together.
"you thinking what I'm thinking, beautiful?" jayson asked.
"she… must… die" Yan-chan said through her gritted teeth.
"no one likes drama whores anyway" he said as they began walking towards yan-chan's home.
Once they had arrived, she invited jayson into her home and quickly ran upstairs to change out of her uniform.
Jayson sat on the couch, looking around her living room. Her parents were still at their work, so the house was empty most of the time. That was a shame, jayson usually enjoyed having conversations with her family. Her father seemed to know a lot about American culture and her mother was rather friendly, he could see that yan-chan had gained her beauty… and craziness from her mother, that was obvious at first glance.
Jayson sighed. What was taking her so long? How hard is it to take off a simple uniform and switch it out for normal clothing?, it's not like he cared what she was wearing… she could be in her underwear if she wanted, He wouldn't object.
He decided to get up and look around her living room. There wasn't much in the way of entertainment, a flat screen television that was barely used, A few bookshelves stacked with days worth of literature. That was mainly it. For a family that had spent most of their life in this small town, their house was rather bare.
"score!" he said as he rummaged through the draw of a small table next to the couch. He knew what this was, a scrapbook. And what is the one thing you always find in scrapbooks? Baby pictures.
He wasn't disappointed. The book seemed to be rather old, dating back to when Yan-chan's mother was still in elementary school. He flipped through the pages of the scrapbook and he thought he saw a recent picture of yan-chan standing in front of aka-demi high school.
until he saw the date on the photo… 7/15/1995. it was her mother.
He eventually found what he was looking for. The date on the photo was 4/1/2005.
Behind a large birthday cake, stood a seven year-old girl who had her raven black hair in two pig tails, Holding a small present in her tiny hands. Wearing an adorable purple dress. She didn't look very happy though.
In fact, jayson couldn't find one picture of her smiling, or being happy. Even when she was an infant! Every picture from age seven to age seventeen just showed a deadpanned expression. A child who was neither happy nor sad… A young girl forced to look upon the world with blank, unfeeling eyes… a teenager who truly had no life…
He shut the scrapbook and put it back where he found it, it was to painful to see the same face growing up yet still looking exactly the same… empty.
He knew she wasn't like that now, or maybe she was and he was just being fooled.
But he still wondered why. Why was this girl so… lifeless? What was her reason for not expressing emotions? Was it some kinda birth condition? Was she broken? And even if she was… could she be fixed?.
Maybe that was why she wanted senpai so much, maybe he sparked something inside her that made her feel… something. Maybe senpai was her way of knowing that she was actually alive, that she actually had the ability to feel. Jayson wished he could be able to make her feel that way.
She soon returned and jayson tried his best to act like nothing had happened.
She was wearing a black top with a knee length purple skirt, knee socks, a pair of well-worn sneakers, and to complete the look, an unzipped purple hoodie.
She smiled at him, it was nice to see that face make anything other than an emotionless frown.
"sorry it took me awhile, yesterday was laundry day and I haven't sorted out my clothes yet." she said.
"its alright." jayson said.
She soon lead him upstairs into her room.
The room's walls were cream colored, her room had a hardwood floor, a large queen sized mattress with cream colored sheets. In front of her bed was a small flat screen television that was hooked up to an old video game console and a blu-ray DVD player. To the right of the television was her wardrobe where she put her clothes, to the left of the bed was a wooden desk that held a fairly new computer, and hung on the wall was an empty corkboard. To the right of the bed was… the senpai shrine. It held a small picture of him, a toothbrush that must have been his, a bandage that might have still had blood on it, and an old, rotting apple that had a bite taken out of it.
Jayson wanted to smash that shrine… he wanted to destroy it, burn it. But he wouldn't because yan-chan held it sacred. And anything she held sacred, he held sacred.
Jayson took a deep breath as he entered her room, the air smelled like perfume. He couldn't really believe he was in here, under her permission. This was her private sanctuary. The place where she sleeps every night.
She sat down on her desk chair and looked at him curiously, almost as if he was acting odd. She motioned her hand, which basically told him that it was okay to lay on her bed.
He then did so. He sighed comfortably as he sunk into the mattress.
This pillow is where she puts her head every night, and here I am laying on it. I'm in her room, and she doesn't mind at all. I never thought I'd actually be in here… with her.
"so, what did you want?" he asked. Snapping out of his little trance.
"how are we going to get rid of Ryko-chan?" she asked.
"i don't know. I thought you didn't need my help" he said.
"i don't need your help, but I want it. You helped me start this… you killed Kokona-chan and you saved me from Osana-chan. I trust you, Jayson"
"i dunno. why don't we just stab her?" jayson asked.
she shook her head at that.
"throw her off the roof?" he asked.
"i want to make it look like an accident" she said.
"fine, we'll drop a stage light on her" he said simply.
"how?" she asked.
Jayson pulled out the script for the play, he kept it in his backpack for no reason, maybe he would post it on the internet so people can make fun of it later.
"see, right here" he said. Pointing to a certain part in the script. "it's a big musical scene with just her singing, we wait until then, sneak up the catwalk, unfasten a stage light and drop it on her, simple."
"i like that idea" she said, admiring his plan. That could work, and nobody would be able to tie it to the past murders, they'd just dismiss the whole thing as a tragic accident. Now that was an idea she could work with.
Jayson began laughing hysterically, killing her train of thought.
"whats so funny?" she asked.
"this script! Its so bad!" jayson laughed. "oh my god… I think its a mario/legend of zelda crossover fic!"
"for real?"
"see for yourself" he said as he handed her the script. The two of them spent the rest of the day laughing at the horribly written script.
The time was 8:01 PM. Friday.
Seiko Satsujin-koibito was attending the play being put on by the school that night. She knew her daughter wasn't going to be in it, but she was going to play an important part, the one who kills the actress.
She had longed to see her daughter in action, to see if she had remembered everything her mother had taught her.
Yan-chan and jayson had successfully snuck backstage and proceeded to walk up the cat walk, and wait for the perfect moment. The auditorium was packed with people who were all expecting a good show, when in reality, they were getting the worst play ever. Yan-chan couldn't believe people actually paid money for this.
They stood atop the catwalk, waiting through hours upon hours of horribly sung musical numbers when finally Ryko Tekina's solo music scene had began. The two began unfastening the stage light that hung from the ceiling, being careful not to drop it.
She had the singing voice of a tone-deaf whale. And many of the play watchers, and even the other actors covered their ears.
"now?" yan-chan asked.
"no. too far" jayson said as they held the now detached stage light.
"now?" she asked again.
"just another two inches and… NOW!" they both released the stage light and it began falling toward its target. Who was singing loud enough to wake up the dead.
"AAAHHH!" she screamed as the stage light fell on her… what a poor and tragic accident.
Yan-chan and jayson laughed as they exited school grounds unseen and began walking down the street
"did you her face when the light came down?" jayson laughed.
"yeah, she was all AAHH!" yan-chan mimicked.
The two then proceeded to laugh at the girl's misfortune… those two really were ice cold, weren't they?
"well that was fun… but its time for me to head home" yan-chan said.
"what's the hurry, beautiful? The night is young and we just traumatized an entire theater. If you ask me, we should celebrate" jayson said with a smile.
"hmm, okay." she guessed she and him could do something.
"so, what do you wanna do?" he asked.
The two walked into the arcade that was in the more main part of town. Yan-chan had been in here many times, it was one of senpai's favorite after school spots.
The arcade was packed with people, lines were forming for arcade cabinets, the prize counter. Friends were getting together and having fun. this place was very popular on the weekends
"pick any game you want, beautiful" jayson said.
She looked around, she had played most of these cabinets before, and while she did find them time killing, there wasn't anything she would find fun. It wasn't jayson's fault for taking her here, she wanted to go. it was her own fault because she didn't have fun the way everyone else did.
She did see something she had always wanted to try, though.
An arcade machine that had two gigantic platforms under it that had glass pads with arrows pointing up, down, left and right. The world famous dance dance revolution.
She had never played it before since most people said that the enjoyment comes from the people you play with and not the actual game itself.
Jayson looked at the game and smiled.
"good choice" he said as they went to play.
They slid these weird cards that the arcade used to as currency through the machine and it came to life.
Most of the songs available to choose from were ones that jayson had never even heard of before but none the less, they selected a random song and began. They followed the on screen instructions and began moving their feet to the corresponding directions.
A few people who were stuck waiting for their favorite games to become available, had began to notice jayson and yan-chan playing dance dance revolution, and began to watch.
They must have been good if they had the ability to attract a crowd.
As soon as they had played at least five different songs, one woman came up to them.
"you two are really good" she complemented. "you know, they're trowing some kinda dance competition for this new game over there, you should try it" she pointed.
Jayson and yan-chan looked at each other and thought, why not?
The woman's information was correct. The arcade was throwing some kind of competition to announce a new game that had been given to the arcade, their was a large crowd of people and an announcer.
"come on, does anyone else want to try for they're chance to win?" the announcer asked.
"sign us up!" jayson yelled as he and yan-chan walked towards him.
"well, well. Look what we have here" the announcer said. "well aren't these two a cute couple folks?"
"couple?" yan-chan asked.
"well, yes little lady. In this little tournament, couples dance for a chance to win two golden play cards which allow you to play any game in the arcade, free for two whole years!" the crowd cheered.
"two whole years? For free?" jayson asked, excited.
"yep… but you have to be a couple to compete" the announcer said.
Jayson grew a devilish grin. "we're a couple all right" he said while putting his hand around yan-chan's shoulder. "aren't we, beautiful?" he asked while grinning at her.
She couldn't believe she was going to do this… "yeah, we're a couple" she played along.
"well let me be the first to tell you that you are the cutest couple I've ever seen. How long have you two been together?" the announcer asked.
"one year" "ten months" they both said at the same time. The entire audience looked at them in confusion, until jayson grabbed the announcer's microphone "and thirteen days" he said while smiling at her.
"aaawww" went the crowd.
"well isn't that adorable, I bet you two are practically counting every second your with each other." the announcer said. "well, anyways. Here's how our little tournament works, folks." he said as he pointed toward the machine.
It looked a lot like the one they had just played only this one had sensors in the floor to detect foot movement and a camera mounted above to detect body movement. The game worked by showing computerized versions of actual dancers with real professional choreography. There were also stick figures at the lower right corner of the screen, to give you a basic idea of the positions you would need to replicate.
It was much different then dance dance revolution, gameplay wise. In that game, all you had to do was move your feet in certain directions, but in this game you were doing real dances that were created and preformed by professionals.
The announcer said that each couple would dance through five songs that were randomly selected for each of them. At the end, highest score wins.
Jayson and yan-chan weren't the first to try but that was alright, watching the other couples do it gave them a basic idea of how it worked. Once it was their turn they followed the digital dancers almost as if they themselves were professionals.
Jayson had to admit that he was loving this, and she was loving it too. As they danced through the five songs, he swore he could see yan-chan smiling and giggling. see, beautiful? You don't need your senpai to be happy. You've got me.
They were rather good, no… they were damn good! Jayson never knew he could dance like this.
after dancing for an incredibly long time, the other teams had been eliminated, meaning jayson and yan-chan had won.
"well, congrats to you two. Now, I could give you these golden cards right now… or you could try for the platinum cards, which give you free access to every game in the arcade FOREVER!" the announcer said as the crowd roared.
Jayson looked at yan-chan and was surprised to see that she was just as excited as he was, she didn't seem tired, and he felt amazing. "we will try for the platinum cards" they said together.
"are you sure? If you try for the platinum, you'll never get the gold"
"come on, lets do it!" yan-chan screamed. She seemed to be having more fun then jayson was.
"alright, in order to win the platinum cards, you two must get a perfect five star rating on a randomly selected song!" he shouted as the machine loaded their final challenge.
Once the song had began, jayson's face lit with excitement. He knew this song. He even started to sing the lyrics like he wrote them himself
"all I need is a little love in my life. All I need is a little love in the dark. A little, but I'm hoping it might kick star, me and my broken heart. I need a little loving tonight, hold me so I'm not falling apart. A little, but I'm hoping it might kick start, me and my broken heart."
she had to admit he was an amazing singer when compared to the tone-deaf whale they just killed.
He was also an incredible dancer. She was having an amazing time and she could tell he was too.
Once the song had ended, the status screen appeared and rated their score. Perfect five stars.
"we won? We won!" they said as they hugged each other while laughing.
"congratulations you two, you have won!" the announcer cheered. "and as promised, your platinum cards" he handed to them.
They weren't actual platinum, but they looked like it. The cards even had they're names on them.
"now, little lady" the announcer got yan-chan's attention. "you and your boyfriend worked really hard to get those, don't you think he deserves a little something?"
he didn't mean… no. NO! He didn't imply that yan-chan and jayson should… kiss. Did he?
When she turned to jayson, he shot her a suggestive grin.
The crowd didn't make things easier on her. "kiss! Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!" they cried.
She wasn't going to walk away from this, was she? She had to do this.
She puckered her lips and gave jayson a quick peck on the cheek. Which made the crowd roar in joy.
Jayson stood there with his jaw hanging open and a shocked expression on his face. She kissed him! She actually did it! He… he felt amazing! His heart was racing over it!. Oh, how he wished senpai was here so jayson could rub it in his face! Take that senpai!
The crowd soon died down, and jayson and her were ready to return home, before they could walk out of the door though, a man with a camera stopped them and handed jayson a folded piece of thick paper. When he unfolded it, he saw a picture of him and yan-chan, taken at the exact moment her lips touched his cheek, that beautiful moment was forever preserved. She looked so embarrassed and he looked so shocked. At the bottom of the picture was something that was written in black marker.
Together for one year, ten months and thirteen days.
Jayson refolded the picture and put it in his pocket, Yan-chan didn't know it was even taken.
He was somewhat shocked when he checked the time on his phone, 12:34 AM. He soon escorted her back home.
"well… thank you for the night, jayson… I had fun" she said while blushing.
"yeah… me too" he said to her. She then walked inside her home and shut the door. "i love you…" he said once he was sure she wouldn't hear it. if she did hear it, he wouldn't know what she'd do, but it probably wouldn't be friendly.
He walked home alone. As he walked through those cold and windy streets, he kept going back to that moment… the kiss. It was just a tiny peck on the cheek, it didn't count as her first, which was probably why she took it so well. If it was on the lips… she might have snapped. Jayson shivered at that idea. Even thought he practically worshiped the ground she walked on, he was still somewhat scared of her, and he had every right to be afraid.
He sighed. He could still feel her lips on his cheek, on the entire walk back, it made him feel happy and positive.
Now however, it just made him angry. It had reminded him why she was never his in the first place, because of senpai… if he wasn't around, maybe jayson could have been able to give yan-chan her first kiss.
Hell, he could have taken her virginity five weeks ago if senpai wasn't around anymore. But that was the thing, She was keeping herself clean for senpai, he'd get the first everything. First kiss, her virginity, Everything. And jayson would be left to pickup the sloppy seconds… if he was lucky.
He returned home, entered his room and shut his door, reveling a dart board with senpai's picture on it.
He had to search for it, but he eventually found a frame for the photo, after it was framed, he set it on his bedside drawer.
Yan-chan was in her bathroom, preparing for bed. she brushed her teeth with the toothbrush she stole from senpai's house.
She then proceeded to change into her mint green nightgown and undo her pony tail, allowing her hair to flow over her shoulders.
She couldn't stop thinking about that… thing she was forced to do. She wouldn't call it a kiss. It was a peck on the cheek! It didn't count! She was still clean for senpai!
Besides, she was forced to do it! It's not like she could have said no after they pretended to be a couple to get stupid cards! And she did have a lot of fun, and she did like giving him that little peck…
What are you even thinking!? You love senpai! No one else! You didn't enjoy that peck! You hated it! The next time you see that jerk, you are going to punch him so hard that you'll break his jaw! No matter how much fun you had!
People kiss on the cheek all the time, it doesn't count, right?
…right?
A\N: the song jayson was singing is called me and my broken heart by Rixton.
special thanks to kingOfThunder989 and ELOSHAZZY for their reviews of this story, you guys are awesome!.
