DISCLAIMER:
I do not own "The Wallflower" franchise, nor am I the author of this series. This credit goes to TOMOKO HAYAKAWA. Please support the mangaka!
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Author's Note:
Never thought anyone would enjoy reading this novel . Also never thought it would take this long to update. Thanks for all the support!
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CHAPTER 4: FIRST DATE
When Ranmaru told Kyohei his plan on getting Kyohei and Sunako together, Kyohei knew it would only lead to disastrous results. He could barely count the number of times his housemates tried to bring him and Sunako together which always led to disaster. But as much as he hated the whole "match-making" bit, he found himself always participating in it. Now, it was Ranmaru who thought of the whole "plan". Of the three, Kyohei was most "scared" of Ranmaru as unlike the others, Ranmaru could surprisingly beat him up (Ranmaru was an excellent kendo player). "Why not tell the others about it?"
Ranmaru sighed dramatically. "And ruin a perfectly good plan? Never! Takenaga may have the brains to manipulate Sunako…but I…I am the only one who thought of this flawless plan!"
"Well you haven't done anything yet…"
At Kyohei's reply, Ranmaru's eyes blazed. "Silly creature! By the time my plan is complete Sunako-chan will already be madly in love with you!"
"But you haven't actually told me what you're planning…"
"Simple. I will sweep Sunako-chan off her feet. All you have to do is do what I do…" Ranmaru stated.
"Eh? Then why should I do what you'll be doing? You can just sweep her off her feet yourself."
"Silly, Kyohei…" Ranmaru sighed and stroked his housemate's blonde strands. "Of course I will sweep her off her feet…but just as she is about to get comfortable…I will drop her. And that's when you come in…you'll be there to catch her when she falls!"
Kyohei groaned. Ranmaru did not make any sense at all but he refused to state that unless he wanted Ranmaru to kill him. "Yeah…but the question is…how will you put this pan into motion? Sunako-chan probably won't fall for your whiles."
"Don't underestimate the power of flirtation, Kyohei. You have much to learn. And I will show you how its done."
---
Sunako was busy doing her household chores when Ranmaru entered the room. As always, she quickly ignored him and pretended to not even see him. Her four housemates always annoyed her, especially when she was busy with her housework, but as they were too radiant for her to handle, she just simply tried to live with it. "Sunako-chan!" Ranmaru called out to her. When Sunako did not reply, he moved closer and lifted her face towards him.
Startled by his actions, she pushed him away. Unfortunately for Ranmaru, she had pushed to hard making him fall down on the floor. "S…sorry. Reflexes…" she muttered under her breath.
Ranmaru smiled and stood up, rubbing his sore backside. "I'll forgive you if you kiss me…"
"Never mind." Sunako turned away and ignored him again.
"I…I was just kidding, Sunako-chan," Ranmaru replied quickly. "Er, actually I need to ask you a favor."
"I'm not interested."
Ranmaru bit his lip. He didn't think manipulating Sunako would be so hard. Looks like he had to do it the long and hard way. "Dear, Sunako-chan, I've seen how you've done so much to this house for us. Doing the cleaning, cooking us delicious meals…all I wanted was to repay you…"
"I'm used to it."
"…but I want to help you, too. Let me pamper you for once. You've always done the chores for us, this time I want to return the favor."
Sunako was silent for a while, assessing the situation. However, the thought of Ranmaru – or any of the four boys – doing the housework scared her. The last time that happened, they left everything in a mess and she had to clean up everything afterwards. "No thanks."
Ranmaru paled. Looks like his plan was not going anywhere. That was until he had an idea. "I have already been broken-hearted by that skeleton who did not even return my kiss –" he pretended to sigh, turning his head so that Sunako wouldn't see his face.
Suddenly Sunako's eyes sparkled. "Yes…Josephine…she is already engaged to the Baron." Her eyes looked as though she was touched that Ranmaru felt he finally found the edge he was looking for.
"Yes…and all I wanted was to pamper the person who cares for her the most, as I cannot do so with her." He sighed dramatically, and shook his head in disappointment.
"I will tell her your feelings." Sunako agreed eagerly.
Ranmaru held both Sunako's hands tightly. "No. You must comfort me. Free your schedule tomorrow. I will take you to the world I wanted Josephine to be part of."
Unbeknownst to Sunako, Kyohei was in the shadows watching – against his will – Ranmaru make his move. It was hard for him to keep his laughter in as he watched Ranmaru deliver his ridiculous lines and how Sunako fell for it. But, nonetheless, he found himself amused at how simple it all sounded. If Ranmaru was wrong, it would be a good laugh, but if he was right, then that was another story…
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"Is she ready?" Ranmaru called out from downstairs to his two housemates Takenaga and Yuki.
"Give us five minutes…" Yuki called out from upstairs. He turned to Takenaga who was busy with Sunako's hair. "What in the world is Ranmaru doing? He knows the land lady doesn't want him to mess with Sunako-chan."
Takenaga shrugged. "Who knows? I say we just go with the flow. Kyohei told me to follow Ranmaru no matter what…" Takenaga replied in between combing Sunako's hair. "Kyohei looked so desperate, I can only see how this will go. You know Ranmaru is all it takes to get Kyohei all scared. They're both a bunch of idiots." Takenaga laughed as he tried to picture their two housemates arguing.
Yuki couldn't hide his chuckle either. "Well, we'll just see won't we?" He turned to Sunako who was sitting on a stool. "Wow, you look so pretty, Sunako-chan!"
"I don't see why I have to dress up. Ranmaru just told me he wanted to show me what he wanted to give Josephine." Sunako complained.
Both Yuki and Ranmaru almost burst into laughter. "What the hell did Ranmaru say to Sunako-chan?" Takenaga asked in between hiding his laughter.
"Beats me. I guess we'll find out sooner or later." Yuki replied trying hard not to laugh but having a hard time doing so.
"She's ready!" They finally managed to call out.
Upon hearing that Sunako was ready, Ranmaru immediately walked up the stairs. When he saw her, his eyes twinkled. "Ah, dear Sunako-chan looks so lovely today!"
"I don't know why I had to dress up." Sunako complained.
Ranmaru shook his head. "But are we not going to the world where I wanted to be with Josephine. You promised to help soothe my aching heart!" Ranmaru sighed dramatically.
---
Sunako watched as Ranmaru hailed a cab for them to ride. What the hell was she doing? Did she just allow herself to get manipulated again by her housemates? But then again, the radiant being was persistent, and since he wasn't as bright has Kyohei, she had lesser difficulty sharing the cab with him. Where were they going anyway? She wondered where in the world Ranmaru was taking her. She was about to ask him until the cab stopped in front of a fancy French restaurant. When he helped her out of the cab, she winced. "Too bright!"
Ranmaru only smiled and walked her to the entrance. "A reservation for Mori, Ranmaru…" he said to the maître d'. Finally they were ushered into the restaurant.
Meanwhile, unbeknownst to Sunako, someone was spying on them. Kyohei, who had been tailing them for quite some time, hid behind the bushes of the restaurant. "This is stupid. Why did I even agree to come here in the first place?" he asked no one in particular. He watched as Ranmaru and Sunako were ushered to a seat by the window – planned of course by the "prince" to make sure Kyohei watched and took notes. Like hell, he would. He just wished Ranmaru would just get it all over with so that he could go home and get something to eat. A few minutes later, when Kyohei thought the day would end up being a boring one, he saw Sunako stand up and walk away. Looks like things were about to get interesting.
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"What would you like, Sunako-chan? I chose this place especially for you." Ranmaru smiled, briefly glancing at the window to see if Kyohei was in position. He was ready to show his friend how to woo Sunako-chan. It would be easy. All he had to do was treat her like a princess. Things were already going according to plan.
Sunako on the other hand, was sweating like crazy. "Too…bright…" she muttered under her breath. She wanted to hide under the table, away from the many people dining in the restaurant. "What are we doing here?"
Ranmaru smiled and took her hand. "This is where I wanted to take Josephine before she decided to leave me…" He sighed and shook his head. "Alas, I wanted to treat her to such a fancy meal…"
"Er…right…" Sunako took the menu to cover her face up. She glanced at it to keep from looking Ranmaru in the eye. Even if he wasn't the most radiant of her four housemates, he still managed to make her melt. "Order…right…" Her eyes quickly scanned the menu to look for something to order. However, the minute her eyes glanced at the prices, she gasped. "T….thirty-thousand yen for a bowl of soup?!"
"For you, dear Sunako-chan…I am willing to pay even more…"
Sunako shook her head. "One meal here is worth at least two weeks groceries! We're not going to eat here." With that she stood up and grabbed her coat.
"What the…?!" Ranmaru watched as Sunako left her seat and walked towards the door. "Where are you going?" he asked her. He followed her until he saw her walk into a small restaurant.
"We can eat here. The food here is really good." Sunako told him. "It's either we eat here or go home."
Ranmaru sighed. "Fine." He wasn't used to eating in such a small place. Then again, she needed to be happy so he had to agree with her. His eyes moved around to see if Kyohei was behind them. When he finally spotted Kyohei take a seat a few tables away, he turned his attention back to Sunako.
Sunako smiled. "Two seats please!" she called to one of the waiters. They were then ushered to a small table. Ranmaru winced. He hoped the food at least tasted good. "What'll you have?" Sunako asked him.
"Er…" Ranmaru glanced at the dirty menu in his hand. "Why don't you just order for us, Sunako-chan?"
Sunako nodded and motioned for the waiter to come. While she was busy giving the order, Ranmaru took another brief glance at Kyohei. This wasn't exactly the way the date was supposed to go, but at least Sunako hadn't chickened out yet. And there was still the movie afterwards. He just needed to get back on track.
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Kyohei watched the scene between Sunako and Ranmaru at the restaurant. Although he couldn't hear what they were saying, he was sure Sunako didn't like the place on bit. He couldn't help but burst into laughter as Sunako left the restaurant with Ranmaru reluctantly following. He also watched her take her to the small restaurant across the street. Ranmaru wasn't used to eating in such cheap places so Kyohei was surprised at how he managed to follow Sunako without complaining. "Looks like things aren't going according to his plan…" he laughed as he took his place a few tables away from them. If Sunako knew what Ranmaru was doing, she'd totally freak out. And Kyohei was there...yep…he was there to laugh at Ranmaru when that happened.
END OF CHAPTER 4