Chapter 20

"I like you Kasu-chin"

The creepy giant mumbled as he scratched behind his neck, his cheeks tainted slightly with a pink hue.

"Yeah, sure, of course you d-WHAAAT?!" I let out an unexpected shriek of surprise, after realizing what the creepy giant said. He can't be serious right?! RIGHT?! Was it just my imagination? Did he really say that? Did he just... confess? Because if he did, this certainly isn't the best time for that.

Murasakibara-kun averted his gaze from me to a random object to the side, biting his lower lip slowly, his face still flustered. He was still scratching the back of his neck, sneaking glances at me from time to time.

"uhh..." he muttered lowly before looking away.

Staring at his figure right now he really do seem like he was panicking and somewhat embarrassed. This gives it even more proof that this certainly is a confession... or maybe not. Maybe he doesn't mean it that way since he said it in such a straight-forward manner. He often get misunderstandings due to his literal statements. He doesn't even know what girlfriend means. He just thinks the meaning of the word as a 'friend' that is a 'girl'. This is why the whole Yosen basketball team thinks of us as a couple.

And also the time when he said that 'we are going out with each other' made his friends actually think that we are dating, which is TOTALLY FALSE. Not that I'm complaining about that now but... I don't know how I feel at the moment. My heart is thumping so hard inside my chest, that it almost feels like it will jump out any second. Heat is gradually crawling up my face. I can't think straight. But I should say something...

Uncomfortable silence engulfed the whole scene in which lasted like forever. The aura is so tense that I could hardly breathe and unfortunately, nobody was there to cut the silence. I gazed up at the creepy giant, wondering what he was thinking at a time like this. This is so mind-boggling; I don't think I could survive a minute longer in this deafening silence.

Without thinking I just said what was in my head.

"I-is this a c-confession?" I stuttered out, feeling nervous as I clenched my chest with my hand. My eyes were glued to the flustered giant before me.

Flinching slightly at my sudden question, he hesitantly looked at me, his face growing redder every minute. His cheeks are puffy, he's pouting again...

"Y-you don't b-believe me, huh?" he muttered lowly under his breath before looking away disappointed. His eyes look a little puffy though... Wait... Is he about to cry?! His eyes are starting to get red and shiny. He really is starting to cry! And he's pouting like a kid. Such a childish guy! W-what should I do?

"Wh-what?... a-are you cryin-"

"I-I'm not crying!" He immediately interrupted my question, facing his back to me.

Raising an eyebrow at his response, I couldn't help but rub the thought in.

"R-really? You're sure fast to shoot that idea down..."

"I-i said I'm not crying!" he retorted again, his back still facing me. He is whining like a spoiled brat... How could he be so childish? Feeling guilty I approached him.

"M-murasakibara-kun? A-are you alright?" I asked him, even though I don't even know if I'm alright myself, with all the things that are going on...

Just as I was about to take a peep at his face, the creepy giant started walking away briskly. And to my surprise, I followed him.

"H-hey!" I yelled, extending my arm to grab a hold of his sleeve. "Wh-where are you going?"

"I... *sniff* Don't follow me..." He replied before gently brushing my hand off of him. He just sniffed... Maybe he is crying? But then again, I'm not quite sure if he really is crying, maybe he just got some colds or something...

I stopped dead in my tracks, feeling very confused. He is such a perplexing character. He might be easy to read, but he is hard to predict. I'm not even sure if I should follow him now...

Pinning my eyes to the creepy giant as he walks further away from me, I noticed him get something from his pocket. Squinting my eyes a little, to get a clearer view, he pulled out a chocolate bar from his pants and opened the candy before finally crouching at an empty corner of the campus.

A huge question mark appeared in my head. "What the hell?! He didn't even ask permission from me?! He's already violating my rules!" I feel like facepalming… He is just trying to excuse himself so that he can eat candies! He probably isn't crying at all! And without delay, I strutted forward, towards the creepy giant.

"Hey! Didn't I tell you not to eat anymore candies unless I tell you so?!" I then reached out for his shoulder before yanking it, for him to face me. "What do you thin-"

I immediately stopped my sentence as soon as got a glance at the creepy giant's face.

"Y-you really are c-crying..." I uttered before instantly letting go of his shoulder. His eyes widened for a moment, giving me a dumbfounded look, making my heart to unexpectedly flutter and skip a beat. The creepy giant then looked away, pouting even more, and continued on munching unto his chocolate. He really is crying! My hunch was correct! Such a childish guy he really is! Who the hell walks out and cries during a confession? I haven't even answered him yet... He's like an elementary student…

"S-so... c-cute..." I said to myself, as I felt heat rise up my face again. The creepy giant's face was all red as well, and his pouting makes him even cuter. His cheeks are so red and puffy that I want to pinch it so badly... Darn it, I was caught off guard…

"K-Kasu-chin is so mean..." he murmured with his mouth full of chocolate. "D-don't steal my chocolate…"

"W-what?! I-I wasn't going to s-steal it anyway…" I shyly stuttered "Besides… w-who in the world e-eats chocolates while crying… It makes you look like a frustrated high school girl that has just broke up with her boyfriend or something… I mean, only girls do that!"

The creepy giant looked at me with angry eyes before looking away haughtily. "I-I eat when I'm sad…"

"Why the hell are you sad? I didn't even say anything wrong yet!" I clamored, crossing my arms against my chest. "I only asked you a question, and then you immediately got soft and cried like a baby!"

Murasakibara-kun looked at me shocked, before letting his head hang low, and stopped eating his candy.

"I…*sniff*…I…"

Oh no, is he going to cry again? I should just stop being so harsh to him, just this once… I don't want to look like a bully…

"I-it's because you… took so long in answering, Kasu-chin…" he uttered out of the blue. "The silence was killing me…"

The creepy giant then unexpectedly cried harder like a child. "I was so nervous, I felt like crying…" Murasakibara-kun then pouted and carried on nibbling his chocolate.

"WHAAAAAT?! Really? Was it really that bad!? You're such a kid!" I said aloud, my jaw dropping in surprise. This guy is unbelievably weird… but… it must have been very tough for him, seeing that I just glared at him intently. But it's not like I was trying to be rude… I was just confused at that moment, but only because he confessed in such an unexpected time... Plus, he cried like a kid, he probably still wasn't emotionally stable to confess. I really shouldn't have asked him that darn question…

So based on how Murasakibara-kun is reacting, I guess that was really a confession. My heart then started to beat even faster. Why do I feel so excited? It's not like this is my first time being confessed to anyway… but somehow this particular confession feels different… maybe it's in the way he did it.

Looking at him right now makes me feel sad though… He looks so glum… And it certainly is because of me… Ah, I feel really guilty now…

"K-kasu-chin… forget what I said…" The creepy giant stopped eating but his eyes are still not looking into mine. "It was too early... to say that…"

"…" I was rendered speechless. I didn't know what to do or let alone say… I just stared at him, for a long time…

"I must've scared Kasu-chin…" Murasakibara-kun muttered lowly as he stood up. "Forget it…"

He then started to turn his back and walked away slowly, dragging his feet along the cemented corridor while his chocolate bar was hanging from his mouth.

At the same time as I was looking him walk away, the sides of my lips tugged up to form a happy smile, something that I wasn't aware at the moment. He is such a weird and funny guy… I feel so light-hearted now. And his reaction is so childish that it kind of makes me laugh when I think about it.

And almost instantly, I let out a loud chuckle, loud enough for the creepy giant to hear. Turning around to face me, the creepy giant looked at me with a confused look on his face.

"K-kasu-chin?"

"hahaha, you know Murasakibara-kun…" I paused as I tried to stifle my laughter. "I have never seen a confession as weird as that one!"

"And you even cried, even though I still haven't rejected you yet… haha... you're really weird… You didn't even wait for my reply… this is… hahaha… this is… the first time I've seen you cry! It was very interesting, I give you that!"

I carried on laughing like a crazy girl and bent down to hold my aching stomach. I didn't even stop even though I know that the creepy giant was slowly moving towards me.

I just can't help myself; I've never seen anyone cry like that! It was really hilarious… It might be rude to be laughing right now, but I just can't stop it. Even guys as big as him can be a baby sometimes.

"Kasu-chin…" The creepy giant spoke right after he stopped in front of me. His head tilting to the side whilst his eyes casted downwards, staring at me. He firmly took hold of both my shoulders and pulled me closer to him. I was caught by surprise and immediately stopped laughing. My eyes widened at this sudden proximity

"M-murasakibara-kun?"

"Kasu-chin… what's your answer then?" He asked me in a serious tone… well it looks like he's back to being serious…

"M-my answer?" I asked back at him, taking a step backward, but unluckily, his firm hold on me glued me to place.

"Do you… like me?" The creepy giant muttered, almost whispered, to me. My heart beats faster than it already is. I took in a big gulp. What is he blabbering about now?

"Uhm… well…" I stated as I trailed off. "I-I didn't say anything about liking you…"

"Oh… so you hate me then…" Murasakibara-kun uttered, his eyes losing interest in the subject at hand.

"B-but I didn't say I hate you either!" I bolted out immediately, causing the creepy giant to look back at me intently. "It's just… I don't know… it's complicated. I'm still not quite sure myself…"

The creepy giant just continued to stare at me with unreadable eyes, making me more and more anxious. What is he thinking right now? He looks so serious…

A moment of silence passed before I realized that our eyes have been locked with each other for quite some time now. Blushing madly at my realization I immediately looked away…

"H-hey don't get me wrong…I might not hate you but you are still very annoying and irritating to me… D-don't get your hopes up, you still have a lot to prove…"

Stealing a glance up at him, I caught a glimpse of his smile, but it was only for a fleeting moment. The creepy giant gently lets go of my shoulders and patted me on the head, tousling my hair lightly.

"If that's what Kasu-chin feels… then… I'm fine with that…"

And out of instinct, happily smiled back at him and nodded. I sure am glad that we were able to stop giving each other the cold shoulder. At least for now, we're not fighting anymore.

The creepy giant grinned yet again before looking away, a noticeable blush present yet again on his cheeks.

"Kasu-chin… why do you do this to me…" he suddenly spoke out of the blue

"Huh? Do what?" I asked dumbfounded, not really getting what he meant.

Then at that moment, the creepy giant averted his gaze back at me. He stopped fiddling with my head and lowered his hand and to my surprise, stroke the strands of hair away from my face and tucked it behind my ears.

"Never mind…"

Blushing madly at his action, I instantly swatted his hand away and turned my heels towards the opposite direction, quickly walked away in a hurried pace.

"B-Baka! S-stop being so weird!" I yelled before finally leaving the giant there, all by himself.

"Geez… I guess I'll never get use to his creepiness…"

~End of Chapter 20~