Iris

Chapter 16. The Reason Why

"Saitou-chan?" I turned to Fuji-kun, feeling emotionally drained for some reason. "Are you alright? Did you hear what I said?"

"Ah...no. Could you please repeat it?"

"Sure," he smiled. "I was asking if you would consider going out with me-" Time slowed down. I thought of Eiji-kun-no, Kikumaru-and Suzuyama Kei holding hands and how much it had hurt me to see it. I thought of how much it must've hurt everyday for Fuji-kun. Fuji-kun had to watch the girl he'd liked since seventh grade regularly pronounce her like for his team captain each week. How could anyone survive that? The pain...the hurt...all of it must've hurt...so much.

Fuji-kun was either way stronger than me, or dying on the inside. He...needed some help and so did I. Maybe...we could help one another get over the person that we liked.

"Okay." There. I had said it before I had any time to think of any possible consequences. It was out there. I couldn't back out or go all shy on myself. It was there. I said yes.

"Excuse me?"

"I said," I grinned at him widely, feeling somewhat mutinous. "Okay. Let's go out Fuji-kun."

There was no turning back to Fuji-kun's reaction, whether he was kidding or not. It was my first step. But, to my surprise, he smiled at me and said, "Okay. We're a sort of couple then."

"Are we...on the same page though?"

"I think. What's your take on it?" he asked. And I thought. And thought. And summed up my idea.

"It's not a real relationship," I started. "We're going to be together to get over the people we like. It's not a relationship-relationship, but a friend/couple going out thing, right?"

He smiled at me.

"You're quite the smart girl, Saitou-chan," he smiled. "It's something more twisted than I could see you getting into."

"Twisted?" Twisted? "How so?" Then the moon came out of the clouds once more, as though it purposely wished to highlight his features for the drama of the moment. His eyes shined a lapis-lazuli color.

"You do realize that this 'relationship' is based on bitterness, right? It's not real but for our own benefits. We just want to get over the people we like by using others. That sounds pretty bitter to me," he looked at me, all seriousness in tact. "I just want to make sure that you're okay with that. No offense, but you seem a bit...fragile for it."

"I'm fine with it," I smiled. There didn't seem to be anything wrong with our plan. We would just act like a couple to try to ignore our feelings for others until we forgot about them. It seemed pretty innocent to me. "And there's no need to worry. I'm not as weak as others might think." Working twelve hour shifts doing paper work in the dead of night till dawn would kill any sign of weakness in you, as well as having an endless amount of gore-fest slumber parties with Ren-chan.

"I never thought that you were weak. Most people would think that this was sick, I think."

"It doesn't seem all that bad to me."

"Depends on how you see it, I guess. I've never been that positive," He glanced at me. "Since we're sort of a couple now, can I have a hug?"

"Wh-wha?" I blushed. I knew that I probably looked like a tomato at that point, and I couldn't stop staring at Fuji-kun. "E-eh?"

He chuckled. "Just a joke. You're so cute when you blush, Saitou-chan." I probably blushed harder.

At this rate, I would probably forget about my crush on Kikumaru in no time, right? Right?

~I~R~I~S~