"A man sees in the world what he carries in his heart." - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Faust

Chapter 5

"So, you actually came." Marika called out to the heiress as she lazily sat on her desk, with her slender legs lying on top on its broad, empty surface like a teenage rebel; pale fingers gently patting the surface of her lips. "And the funny thing is, I actually thought you're going to ditch me and remain silent. But I'll have do you a huge favor to remind you that what you're doing isn't a smart move, Kirisaki-san." a sardonic grin peeled back against her teeth, with her dark-orange eyes staring back at her like how the setting sun sinks itself into the foggy afternoon clouds. "Do you seriously think I would be able to keep myself calm, knowing that my darling has feelings for someone else other than me?" Chitoge asked.

"Give it a break, Kirisaki-san. For your information, I know all about your fake relationship with my fiancé. So please, take a seat." the mischievous ginger replied, with her fingers now twiddling between the strands of one of her tied up twin tails just hanging above her left shoulder. And as for Chitoge herself, the gesture looked really annoying, to the point that she would be more than willing enough to run her delicate hand across this cheeky bastard's face. "H-How did you-" "Find out?" Marika interrupted as she began licking her lips in excitement. "I could read people's faces. It may sound pretty simple to do, but most people couldn't pull it off properly." she explained. "Pretty ironic, isn't it? For a girl who never goes outside..."

"You're too wordy, Marika." the blonde heiress stated as the elongated crimson ribbon tied to her head twitched and bobbed like anxious rabbit ears. "I came here in this empty classroom to hear what you know, not to join you in idle chit-chat." she continued with her armed crossed, with her breasts protruding from the gaps. The prim and proper young lady couldn't help but giggle at the half-american's sentences. "Aren't those two things pretty similar? You are still talking to me after all. Wouldn't it be odd if you would just stand there, looking all high and mighty without the slight interest of sharing words with me? If so, then why would you go all the way here, while everyone else is going home?"

She's got a huge point there. "Well, I guess I couldn't resist the urge to know about what you're hiding from us." the heiress scratched the surface of her pale white cheeks. "Precisely." a large smile instantaneously formed on Marika's face, to compliment the movement of her snapping fingers. "Told you I could read people like books." she slyly winked. "H-Hey, don't get too cocky over your luck." Chitoge protested as she shifted her stellar blue gaze away from her unexpected companion. "Unfortunately for you, I no longer believe in such things." the prim ginger teasingly replied.

"So...when do we get to part 'A'?" the captivating blonde inquired as she stubbornly refuses to take a seat on any of the vacant desks surrounding her. "In a moment. But I don't like the idea of me reciting the English alphabet, with each letter containing assorted drabbles of information in them. It's just too tedious." Marika calmly stated with one arm raised to indicate delay. "Enough with the small talk, Marika. I think you're actually hesitating to say them." Chitoge pointed out, as her rear slowly found itself resting on top of Raku's unoccupied desk.

"As you wish. But you need to be emotionally ready for this. Even I couldn't handle it after finding out the truth until this day." she warned, with a look of concern seeping out of her dark-orange eyes. "Is it bad?" the perplexed heiress inquired with her eyes widening as if she just saw a huge cockroach passing through her thighs. "Depending on how you'll initially receive them. But you're obviously in love with him, am I right?" the prim lass tethered her gaze towards her companion's eyes, as if she's trying to let the latter spit out the hidden truth.

"Of course... why do I even call him 'darling' anyways?" Chitoge muttered nervously. "I mean, really in love with him. Come on, Kirisaki-san. Didn't I told you to give yourself a break? It's not like one of your bodyguards are with you today. And Tsugumi-san is on the middle of an important mission, am I correct?" Marika pointed out. "Y-Yes..." the half-american reluctantly replied. "And what does that absurdly brief answer coming from an extravagantly loud and confident person such as yourself lead to?" the ginger extended.

"I-I love him, Marika. As in...f-for real." the heiress bravely declared. "Oh~? That was unexpectedly easy for you to spit out of your trap. I was expecting you to struggle for a bit before telling my your obvious answer. That's not you." the pleased young lady reacted, as she began crossing her legs to set the mood. "Don't act like you know everything about me." Chitoge bluntly barked. "It's making me sick." she continued.

"Relax, princess. You sound like an overly used Facebook post. I absolutely hate those kinds of things."

"Just get straight to the point!" the heiress exclaimed, with her fists tightly clenched. She probably couldn't afford to handle her idle bullshit any longer, and it's heating her up like a microwave.

"My, my... you're way too impatient as always. I guess I'll have no other choice but to tell it to you directly." Marika quietly sighed, as she firmly adjusted that trademark flower of hers sticking out at the right side of her head.

"Wait!" the blonde heiress' heart abruptly jumped as she unexpectedly broke the tension building up between them. "Before...telling me who he really likes...I just wanted to know...why are you sharing this to me, of all people...?"

The ginger haired lass elegantly smiled in reaction to the heiress' words as she gently stared into the latter's slightly pleading eyes. "I'm doing this for my own personal interest. It's not like I wanted to hurt you or anything, it's just that you kinda remind me of...myself."

"Huh? Am I actually hearing this?" Chitoge hesitantly asked.

"You're clearly not deaf, Kirisaki-san. Well, it definitely sounds really crazy coming from someone like me...But let's just face it, we're polar opposites of each other, and the biggest gap between the two of us is that you're capable of doing a lot of things I can't. You can engage in physical activities while I can't. You're far more healthier than me, like everybody else...and most of all...I believe you can make Raku-sama fall in love with you." Marika sounded like she wanted to punch herself in the face for saying that.

"Marika..." That innocent, childlike look on Chitoge's face when she uttered out her name looked rather sympathetic than flattered, and the ginger-haired lass could see right through it like clear glass. "Don't you dare act chummy towards me, just because I felt like speaking my mind, Kirisaki-san. Plus, I do not have the intention to give up on Raku-sama so easily." the refined lass looked vexed as she strongly refused to succumb into the heiress' verbal embrace.

"I know that...it's just that it seems extremely weird for someone as prideful and persistent as you to admire your rival all of the sudden." Chitoge calmly explained as she ran her seemingly flawless hand through her long, flourishing locks. "The prideful only admire the prideful, I guess. A fair exchange of ocular verbs, and the repetition of the word "prideful" sounds totally ridiculous." Marika snorted. "And you know what's more ridiculous than that?" she paused for a moment, with her sunset orange eyes gleaming directly at the azure window's of the heiress' soul. "The fact that you would be willing to ask the unnecessary stuff right before I tell you the truth behind everything."

"I guess I'm the one whose the hypocrite here." Chitoge lonesomely stated, with her head slightly tilted sideways to show her mood. "Go ahead, Marika. I'm not stopping you this time." she continued with an incredibly out-of-place smile forming on her light pink lips. "And I'll try my best...not to cry."

Noticing those crystal clear droplets of salty tears bulging at the corners of her eyes, Marika felt like she was the worst person to ever walk the earth, knowing that she would soon spit out the very sentence that could potentially destroy the blonde lass emotionally. But she didn't really care about what would most likely happen in the next few seconds. After all, with Chitoge out of the picture, all she has to do is to go on an all out brawl against Kosaki Onodera herself, and she isn't taking any risks. But if in case that situation really happens, would it be what she really wanted after all this time?

Probably not.

Surprisingly, a significantly small part of her wanted to save the heiress from a greater suffering. Besides, if Chitoge continues to mindlessly trek through her seemingly futile love life without a care in the world, she would eventually get herself hurt by unraveling things up for herself. In Marika's perspective, making her trip on a rough wooden log would be far more preferable than being accidentally lunged into a bottomless ditch without the hope of escaping.

"The person who Raku-sama fancies is none other than..."

He froze. His eyes widened to compliment his now flinching body,he practically looked like a pickled gargoyle. (No shit. Just look at him! The beansprout looked like he could no longer move a single nerve in his body.) No, he definitely wasn't amazed, happy nor delighted. Don't get me wrong here, of course he get's extremely nervous and flattered when a girl goes up to him and tells him her feelings. In fact, he didn't even know how to properly respond to the brunette's sudden out-of-the-blue confession in the first place. And judging by that immensely flushed look on her face, it seemed that she wanted to know his answer immediately before the latter literally hides herself out of sheer anticipation and fear.

Well, Raku had been waiting for this very moment years before and a few months after he met Chitoge. Yes, he had an embarrassingly huge crush on the brunette, and it actually goes way back from middle school...elementary, perhaps? That couldn't be possible. But still...why doesn't he feel unusually jumpy? Or better yet, giddy and overly excited? Wouldn't it be normal for one to feel that way?

He probably doesn't work that way anymore. Sure, If his former self from a few months back were to hear Kosaki's powerful words, the beansprout would immediately accept her like he was desperately grabbing free candy being thrown for the party guests' leisure at some unfortunate kid's birthday party. For some peculiar reason, it feels like somebody shamelessly pressed the reset button on the back of his head like an overused Tamagotchi past its prime.

Maybe it's because she's not Chitoge.

That's specifically it, and Raku knew that. He knew all along what he was going to say, but the beansprout didn't know how to make it sound so suitable for the lass to...well, accept. Plus, Kosaki looked like she was on the verge of exploding into nothingness, as if saying those discomposing words were like the verbal equivalent of carelessly dipping an elongated pack of mentos into a sizzling bottle of oxidized coke.

"Onodera." he deliberately called out to her with his eyes blinking profusely. "Yes?" she reluctantly responded, with her tone dipped with confusion and uncertainty. Frankly, the brunette didn't like to hear both the beginning and the end of what he's about to spit out with the tip of his tongue. Rejection was a huge possibility for her, and she could see it in him. If I'll have to put her down...I'll have to put her down gently. the beansprout thought to himself as his face quickly shifted from flinched to intense within a matter of seconds. It's like he's about to defuse a nuclear weapon or something at a larger scale. Like a man!

"I'm really sorry." he speedily muttered, as if he didn't want to immediately blast it in front of her face. "I can't go-" "You don't have to say anything else, Ichijou-kun." Kosaki abruptly interrupted, possibly out of sheer impulse. "What?" he blankly blinked, clearly confused by her sudden reply. "I think I have a good idea of how you really feel about me." she stated as she began tearing up with an oddly out-of-place smile etched on her lips. What am I doing? the brunette thought to herself as she slowly backed away from him.

"Onodera..." Raku called out once again, with his hand extended towards her, as if he didn't want her to digest that feeling of rupturing hurt within her as she runs away from him. "It's okay...I understand everything now." she calmly stated as the salty tears in her watery eyes started trailing down the pale surface of her cheeks. "Do you love her more than me?" she asked, looking quite depressed with that cold melancholic voice of hers. The brunette felt like she just unhesitatingly set off an irreversible death wish on herself. Who does she mean? the dense beansprout's eyes widened. Don't tell me...she already knows who I like? Since when?!

"I do." he nodded absentmindedly, with the heiress' smiling face flashing through his mind. "!" she staggered aback with her chocolate-brown eyes darkening, as the latter felt like her bones wiggle like jelly as they moved and paused at an orderly fashion. "I'm sorry..." the brunette muttered under her breath as her fingers gently touched her quivering lips. "Wait!" the beansprout swiftly grabbed her arm without hesitation, with his eyes deeply focused towards hers. "Don't let this friendship end, Onodera." he shook his head to signify his utter denial. "Not like this."

"It never ends, Ichijou-kun. Even after all of this...it won't. But please...just for a moment..." She quickly pulled her arm away in a slightly aggressive manner, slipping away from his grasp. It hurts to do it, but still...why did she have to let it end this way? No, it all depends on his answer. Well, a minuscule part of her suspected it to conclude in a scale similar to how Glaucus rejected Circe in the ancient Greek tale of Glaucus and Scylla as told by Ovid; Or more accurately, by her English Teacher, Yui Kanakura, a few weeks ago during class.

Kosaki swiftly got to her feet as if she was being chased by something foul and hard to look at and ran without thinking twice. "Onodera!" Raku frantically raised his voice as he instantaneously stood up with the heat of empathetic guilt running and jutting through him. "Don't talk to me! Please leave me alone!" she painfully screamed as the crisp wind mildly brushed through her face.

Onodera... I've hurt her. I can't believe that I actually rippled our friendship in one go...

Raku stared at that partly sewn skirt of hers lying flat on the concrete floor beneath them like a blanket, with the thin light blue strings attached to the matted bundle of fabric all tangled up and cut. Even though I like Chitoge now, why do I feel like I've just killed someone? He picked it up, pulling one side as if he was actually handling The Shroud of Turin. I need to make her understand. That tidbit of thought crossed through his head as the beansprout dutifully began running after her. I really need to settle things between us as soon as possible before she does something really stupid!

"The mind is its own place, and in itself can make a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven." - John Milton, Paradise Lost

She sat there, leaning against the outer walls of the empty classroom, all limp and broken like a fragile porcelain doll. Oddly enough, the heiress didn't feel like dying or had the malicious intention to erase herself. To put it more accurately, it felt like she doesn't exist in the first place all together.

Chitoge couldn't stop crying. No, her tears didn't jut out of her azure blue eyes like that of spilled maple syrup, but more like thin steady streams of salted water. Raku...you stupid halfwit. she mentally barked as she blankly stared at the darkening window above her. Ah, whatever. Go date Kosaki-chan for all I care. It's your stupid feelings anyway, it's not like I have a freaking chance with you to begin with.

The heiress paused for a moment as she quickly took the liberty of time to deeply reminisce what she remembers on that sweet Sunday afternoon. His tight embrace, her palpitating chest touching his, the warmness she felt as the beansprout boldly held her against him as if time stood still...her heart beats loudly just by the very thought of that blissful importance. B-But...you don't have to hug me like that...if you don't actually love me, idiot!

As the early evening approaches, the empty hallways of Bonyari High looked exceptionally desolate and barren. The elongated fluorescent lights just a few meters above her were actually still on, yes, but that doesn't make it less lonelier. The heiress' legs felt like they weren't even there. Prolonged numbness, perhaps? Either that, or she's actually turning into a ghost. Yeah, like that's even possible. Ghosts aren't real. At least that's what she wanted to think after watching a mother load of horror movies by herself.

She didn't want to return to her grandiose home with that truthful and somewhat parasitic statement still fresh in her mind. "The person who Raku-sama fancies is none other than Kosaki Onodera-san." Marika felt subtly empty as those flexible words escaped her mouth several minutes ago, and Chitoge could've swore her ears ringed vibrantly as they've instantaneously reached her.

What differences would it make, if she would just let him go? A lot. And such unfavorable differences would only make a lot of things more complicated for everybody else aside from herself. The gang wars between the Shuei Group and the Beehive gang might ensue. Claude and Tsugumi might recklessly hunt down Raku and Kosaki, if ever the duo of assassins would find out about the cause of her undeniable grief. The heiress wouldn't be able to see the beansprout anymore, and she wouldn't be able to live with herself if that ever happens.

Might.

Tap..

Tap...

Chitoge could hear the faint and rapid tapping of footsteps as the fast-moving noise echoed through the halls. The heiress' eyes widened as soon as she realized something on the tip of her train of thought: That whoever or whatever has made that noise is coming towards her direction. She felt slightly frightened, despite the emotion being deeply eclipsed by her overwhelming bitterness.

Monster, ghost or whatnot, she secretly wished it was him, running around like the dense dimwit he is with his hands filled with overloaded clumps of red roses addressed only to her. Yeah, as if. If he were to pass by with a bunch of crimson flora in his grasp, it would be for none other than Kosaki. But a single question popped through her head as the pitter patter of rapidly advancing feet gradually grew louder.

What if he changes his mind?

Her heart raced at the possibility. Is this even a possibility in the first place? Of course it is. After all, the world doesn't go on full repeat. Systems may and will change, and so do people. The blonde heiress wanted to laugh at herself for being so mentally desperate, looking for unnecessary information on life and overly thinking about it as if it could be applicable to her own personal woes. Who could even blame her for thinking that way? That's what makes her distinctly human.

By the corner of her eye, a frantically running figure approaches.

The taps of his shoes sounded like mini fire crackers. Nope, not the whistling rockets nor the searing Roman Candle, but the folded triangles that are lethal enough to blow off your fingers in a split second. He had been running around the school for over 15 minutes, all sweaty and worried. The look on the beansprout's face looked extremely vexed and tired rather than focused. He couldn't find Kosaki anywhere.

Not in the rooftop. Not in the hallways, the nurse's room nor the girl's comfort room. (Yes, he had to go there, just to be sure.)

If she isn't hiding in those parts of the building where she normally frequents, there is only one place left for her to inevitably go to: Class 1-C, aka, his classroom. Her bag must be in there, so the chances of her retreating into it aren't nil. Well, the brunette may have gotten there first and swiftly went home, but he had to take that small chance, whatever it takes.

As he ran through the hallways leading to the classroom like an unruly delinquent, he could slightly see a slender figure leaning against the walls outside of it, all limp and nearly motionless. His dark indigo eyes lit up as he rapidly moved towards it, forgetting the impulse to stop at the focal point. Looks like my speculation was spot-on! Now I'll have to make her understand my feelings before-

Grab.

Something really strong grabbed his leg tightly, forcing him to abruptly stop. "Eh?" he blurted out as he looked down to where is left leg was at. Turns out it was Chitoge all along, and she looked rather gloomy, with her darkened eyes blankly staring at the walls in front of her as if she was actually reading something scribbled on it. His heart suddenly fluttered as he felt the heiress' polished nails bluntly piercing his skin like a cat's paw.

"Didn't they tell you to stop running in the halls?" she muttered as the blonde tightened her grip on him. "Chitoge? What are you doing here at a time like this? Shouldn't you be going home?" Raku inquired as he found himself subconsciously staring at her. "I was supposed to ask you the same thing, idiotic beansprout." She sounded really bitter, to the point that it actually hurts hearing it coming from her mouth. "Hey, hey... Did something wrong happen to you?"

"No shit." the heiress muttered briefly. "Sit." she commanded as the latter aggressively pulled his leg down, causing the inquisitive beansprout to trip over himself. "Ouch. Thanks for scraping my knee gorilla woman." Raku sarcastically replied. "Don't you know I'm in the middle of something important?" he continued with his tone quickly shifting into seriousness.

"Does it involve Kosaki-chan?" Chitoge asked, with her pale face crinkled with annoyance. Looking closely, Raku noticed some dried patches of tears coating the surface of her pale white cheeks. Clearly, she was bawling her eyes out when no one was looking, and something tells him that it has to be linked with the brunette and him, for some valid reason. "I've got mixed up into some trouble with her earlier. I need to apologize to her properly." the beansprout honestly stated, which caused the blonde heiress to blink rapidly until the life void from her dull dead eyes moderately returned.

Apologize? Chitoge thought as her lashes continued to flutter, perplexing the flustered lad sitting right next to her. "What do you mean by that?" she muttered out loud. "That?" he plainly asked her. "By apologize." the heiress clarified. "Oh. Well, you probably shouldn't know about this."

"Why not?"

"Because it seems wrong to straight out tell it to you." the beansprout paused for a split second before the curious blonde immediately opened up her mouth to say something in return.

"Ah, I see. You're pushing me away right? So that you can indulge yourself with another woman." Chitoge speculated accusingly, as she blatantly pointed out to the light blue skirt rolled up within the left side of his pocket. "Eh?!" he exclaimed unnaturally. "Y-You're wrong! I didn't do anything nasty to her! I was just fixing her skirt while she borrows my jogging pants. Don't you dare make weird stories about me. It's not cool." he sighed as he nervously scratched the back of his head.

"Then what did you do to her, then?" she asked yet again, with her face displaying a colorful mix of seriousness, curiosity and desperation. "Tell me. So that this 'fanfiction writer' wouldn't squeeze out any lemons on you." "Fine!" he reluctantly nodded with one eye darted directly at her.

"She confessed to me."

Her heart skipped a beat as he casually declared those words.

"Congratulations!" she greeted angrily.

"It's not what you think. What the heck is wrong with you?"

"After confessing my love to you, then this is what happens next. You're now dating another girl while we're seriously trying to maintain this fake relationship between us. Now I understand everything. I do not have to ask you some of the insanely stupid stuff I've scrapped out in my head. You should thank me for sparing you from it, fucker."

He flinched.

"Then if I'm dating Onodera now, then why should I apologize to her in the first place?" he barked back towards her wall of text.

"You like her, don't you? I know you do."

"What the hell?"

"She's all you could ever wish for a girlfriend. She's cute, feminine, kind, generous, sweet, caring, tender and honest. Didn't you say that you're attracted to girls like that? Oh, no. Excuse me, you were probably referring to her all along!"

"That's not true!" he solemnly shook his head. "Who told you about those things anyway?"

"Marika." she stated. "If you want this fake relationship to end, then we might as well end it now."

"I rejected her." he stated as he aggressively grabbed a firm grip on her shoulders. "That's why she ran off."

"And what makes me dull enough to believe you?" her pink lips quivered at the sight of his, as if she wanted to seductively bite them off. "I'm way smarter than you, you know? You can't easily fool me with your forked tongue. Use it on someone else, dipshit."

It's the classic Chitoge. Crap, I guess now's the time to lay it on her, huh? But I don't think I'm ready enough to do this. Shit. I don't even have the balls to do that! But...there's absolutely no way for me to convince her now. I guess there's no other choice. After all, actions do speak louder than words.

Raku quickly leaned in towards her and directly placed his lips over hers. He could feel an intense rush of euphoria washing over him like how the great waves hit the beach borne sands. He could feel her rapid, nervous breath fogging the inside of his mouth, and it felt absolutely awkward. He could feel Chitoge's stiff body soften up as if she's the most satisfied person in the whole planet. Strangely, she didn't even put up a fight.

Chitoge wanted to stay like this forever, to kiss him forever, but she clearly couldn't handle all of the happiness she's currently feeling at that very moment. It was the most unlikely thing that has ever happened to her, and possibly the greatest.

As their lips gently separated, the heiress felt her cheeks intensely burn up like the sun. Her beautiful blue eyes shifted in all directions away from him like a nervous kitten. "Um. Uh. I. What...uh?" she muttered apprehensively, like she's trying to make up a group of words yet failing to do so.

"I love you." the flushed beansprout stated as he anxiously looked away from her.

I think I'll just leave it at that. Please, savor that sweet moment of passion right there. See you guys in the next chapter.