Chapter 12

Enter, Isshiki Iroha

"This is a shitty plan."

"This is like the third time you've said that already, senpai."

"Yeah, 'cause your idea is just that dumb." He grunted, his annoyed gaze going down towards Isshiki, who seemed to care little as she focused on hugging his arm. "We should have just called the police."

"Shush, senpai." She admonished him as if he was the one not understanding the situation. "I just need you to escort me home safely. Surely you wouldn't let your favorite kouhai go by herself when she's being followed by a possibly dangerous individual, now would you?"

His first instinct was to tell her that right now, Komachi was his favorite one, not her, but he decided not to for the sake of saving himself an argument and a headache.

"If you're that worried then that's why I say you should call the police." Seriously, why was she taking a possible stalker so lightly? "Are you even sure you're being followed? Because I swear if this is a trick-"

"I'm not lying, senpai." Her tone grew unexpectedly serious, a brief sigh then leaving her lips right before she actually hugged his arm a bit tighter, much to his discomfort. "It's been going on for a few weeks now, but never outside the school until today…"

"If it is a student then at the very least you should have told a teacher by now…" He sighed, his words getting no answer from Isshiki. There was obviously something else going on here that Isshiki wasn't telling him.

"I'm sure things will be fine by tomorrow." She then announced with confidence that he didn't know where she was getting it from. "So, you just need to be a good senpai for the day. In exchange, I promise to think about it if you decide to confess to me today-"

"Fine, fine, I get it." He interrupted her with a grunt, not really being in the mood for her banter right now. His body was still sore, his head was still trying to come to terms with the Totsuka situation, and now this? "Just... lead the way then."

He had no idea where Isshiki lived, so he hoped it wasn't that far away given they were getting close to the train station.

He also hoped she was right about things getting better tomorrow, or else he would have to bring it up to someone at school even if Isshiki insisted otherwise.

"Isshiki."

"Yes?"

"Do you live in a mall?"

"…well, no-"

"Then what the hell are we doing here?" He hissed down at her, his glare darting from her innocent-looking expression to his surroundings. Was it a coincidence that this was the exact same place he had visited with Miura? Probably, which meant Isshiki had decided to drag him to somewhere that wasn't her home.

"I still have to get a gift for Yui-senpai." She explained with a raised finger and a smile that did little to counter his narrowed gaze. "And since you rejected my last heartfelt invitation-"

"I did, yes."

"-I thought we could kill two birds with one stone since Senpai probably hasn't gotten a good gift yet." There was something on her holier-than-thou tone that made him want to flick her on the nose, but knowing the consequences wouldn't be worth it, he resigned himself to just a defeated sigh.

"First of all, if there's really someone following you around then don't you think this isn't the time to be doing stuff like this?" No but really, why was she giving him a clueless look now? Had she forgotten that she apparently had a stalker? "And second, I'll have you know I already got a gift."

Sure, it had been Miura who bought it and she was the one that had it, but he had paid for it dammit.

"…Did you buy her a collar for her dog? Because that's not a good gift, Senpai." And why was she looking at him with such disappointment?

"I got her something else, but a collar would be a perfectly serviceable gift." Even if he hadn't bought it, he still felt defensive over it. Was everyone just going to judge his choice of gifts now? "That's not the point though. I didn't sign up for this and you know it, Isshiki."

He knew she could be sly, but he really wasn't in the mood for tricks today. In fact, the only reason he hadn't ditched her already was his honest concern for her safety.

"Y-You're not going to leave me alone, right?" And judging by the slight hiccup in her tone, the distress in her expression, and the way she grabbed the sleeve of his uniform, she knew that as well for he was pretty sure everything coming from her right now was bullshit. "What if something happens to me, Senpai? Would you be able to keep on living knowing you weren't able to protect your favorite, cutest kouhai?"

"…"

"…"

"…let's just buy your stupid gift."

Sometimes he really hated how his big brother switch could be flipped with such an ease.

Isshiki's face turning into a triumphant one not even a second later only made things worse.

"Hmmm, what color do you think would be best?"

"…"

"I think the pink one goes better with Yui-senpai's hair, but the red one is prettier."

"…"

"Ohh but that blue one is cute too…!"

How long could it take to simply pick up a purse?

Really fricking long, it seemed, judging by how much he had spent just looking at Isshiki zipping from one end of the store to the other one.

But that wasn't the biggest issue at hand though, but rather…

"Ufufufu…."

Of course, they just had to run up with the same lady who had tried to get Miura to buy clothes, because apparently this was the only store in this entire mall, and she was the only person working there.

But unlike before, where her eyes had the fake shine of an expert seller, now they felt like those of a snake, waiting to pounce on the vulnerable rabbit.

He was the rabbit in this analogy.

"Boyfriend-kun sure is popular, fufu."

He really hoped this place burned to kingdom come.

"Hmmmm sho gooood…!"

"…you're messing with me…" He whispered, his eyes set on Isshiki as she stuffed her face with a way too colorful parfait, her moans of delight doing little to stop the twitch in his eye.

"Hmm?" She finally realized he was less than pleased now, although he had to worry about her comprehension abilities when the only thing she did was to push the parfait into his face. "You want some, Senpai? I don't mind if you want to consider it an indirect-"

"Did you lie to me?" He stopped her in her tracks, frustration bubbling up inside of him. "Because if you did, you can just tell me, I won't get mad."

That was a lie, he would get really fucking mad, but at the very least it would give him peace of mind if this had been just a trickery from Isshiki to drag him around for a few hours.

It bet having to worry about an actual stalker.

At the very least, it seemed Isshiki had finally realized he was serious right now, as her expression turned worried for just a moment right as her lips parted, but before she could say anything he saw her attention move to something seemingly behind him, her eyes growing wide for a second right before a seemingly tired sigh left her.

"Senpai, could you turn around for just a moment? Please." She said in a resigned tone, making him blink momentarily before he did as she said, a part of him wondering if she was just going to make a run for it after he turned around.

That concern went away by what he saw the moment he turned his head.

That…was a comically large piece of newspaper being held by a really small person…

And said person was just standing there, almost as if it was normal.

Not like the hat, coat, mouth mask and dark sunglasses were doing any favors when it came to the 'normal' department.

Especially since the only reason he had even caught a glimpse of those details was because this individual was not so subtlety, peering over the newspaper every few seconds or so.

His first reaction to all of this? He took out his phone.

"Wait, senpai, what are you doing?!"

"I'm calling the police right now." He answered, already typing the number. "No one sane enough to think that's a good disguise should be allowed in the same school as Komachi."

"…don't you mean the same school as me-"

"I know what I said."

And he was really going to do it, in fact, he had been just a second away from dialing the number, Isshiki's opinion on the matter be damned, but was stopped by her suddenly grabbing his arm, right as she started pulling away from the place with a level of strength he was sure she shouldn't have given her petite frame.

"Just…follow my lead, alright?"

He had a horrible feeling about this.

He needed to start listening to his guts more often.

"I'm not going to embrace you, Isshiki."

Those were a set of words he thought he would never have to say.

And yet, here he was, dragged to some random corner of a park that just so happened to be close to that stupid mall by Isshiki, who was right now pouting at him as if he was the one in the wrong, and not her who had just requested a batshit insane idea with a straight face.

No, but seriously, did someone put something on Sobu's water supply?

"I told you to follow my lead-"

"And your lead is stupid." He interrupted her whisper with a sharp one of his own, even though he didn't even know why they were whispering in the first place. "Also, coming to a place like this when you know someone is actively following us is even more idiotic."

Did she want them to get killed? Because this is how they were going to get killed at this rate.

Rather than a verbal answer though, a simple huff left Isshiki's lips, right before her cheeks grew red, a hint of doubt crossing through her eyes just before she seemingly took matters into her own hands.

"…"

"…"

By suddenly throwing her arms up and around his neck, bringing his head down to her level, their noses almost touching as her embarrassed expression was matched with his bewildered one.

She had been so fast, and her action so unexpected that he didn't have time to react.

Once he recovered however, his hands moved as fast as they could to grab Isshiki's arms, more than ready to disengage before she tried something that he was sure they would both regret…

"Noooooooooo Stoooooooooop!"

…or at least, he would have, if a sudden screech hadn't resounded in the area, loud enough that it seemingly made Isshiki jump away from him.

"No no no no no!"

And while he definitely wanted to confront Isshiki about what the hell had just happened, he couldn't help but focus on the figure that was stomping her way towards them, and judging by the rolled -up piece of newspaper in her and the coat, it didn't take a genius to figure out who this brat was.

Because that's what she looked like: a brat.

One that he remembered very clearly from earlier in the day.

"I refuse to accept this!" The brat suddenly declared, her mousy face red with what he could only assume was anger, given that she was glaring at him as if he was nothing but trash. "Get your hands away from my precious senpai, you brute!"

"I already told you." Suddenly though, Isshiki glued herself to his side, hugging his arm with such a grip that his attempts at shrugging her off were not working. "Senpai and I are in l-love so I can't accept your feelings."

Who and who were in what now?

Did he blackout at some point and miss a key part of the conversation? Because he wouldn't be surprised if that happened by now, especially since he sure as hell had no idea what Isshiki was talking about.

"B-b-but…!" The pipsqueak that was already getting on his nerves hiccupped, her distressed gaze landing on him, just as obvious distaste showed in her expression as she looked up and down at him. "Him?!"

Alright, that was enough, he wasn't going to let himself be bullied by a damn first -year of all people.

"Could you give us a moment?" He said, earning their attention, right before he simply turned around without even waiting for a response, giving his back to the girl and dragging Isshiki with him as she still refused to let go of his arm. "You have ten seconds to explain this before I just leave."

"You wouldn't-"

"8 seconds." He glared, the seriousness of his tone seemingly being enough for Isshiki to finally realize he was really upset that he had been played as a fool by her in some way or form.

"Fine, just…" And to Isshiki's credit, she did sound remorseful. "Don't get too upset, ok?"

He doubted he could get even more upset anyway.

Alright, so he lied.

He could get more upset.

"Stop, senpai, don't."

"Let go of me. I'm going to get the record straight right now!"

"You can't!" She whispered hurriedly again, her hold on him being the only thing that was stopping him from just turning around on his spot and cleaning up this mess. "She'll just get even worse if you do!"

"You're supposed to just reject people when they confess, Isshiki, not tell them you have a boyfriend!" Truly, of all the things he had expected Isshiki to say, this one hadn't even been on the list.

"I tried but she kept on insisting, senpai!" Her attempt at justifying her lie was not doing her any favors. "She just kept saying that as long as I was single that meant she had a chance! I don't even like girls, senpai, so what was I supposed to do?!"

He was pretty sure there were other options available, but he wasn't going to start arguing with her about that.

"And you had to drag me into it by telling her it was me?" He sort of understood Isshiki's method given the kind of stuff he had done in the past, but it wasn't like he enjoyed being used as an excuse like that.

"Well, she kept insisting she didn't believe me, so I had to say something…" Her voice grew even softer as she spoke, and surprisingly enough there was nothing but honest embarrassment dancing in her eyes. "And…you were the first one that came up in my head…"

…well shit, he didn't know what to think of that.

A sigh left his lips. He would reprimand Isshiki later, right now he only wanted to leave everything cleared up because, judging by the fact that he could pretty much hear the brat growling behind him, this would become even more of a headache if he let it fester.

"B-besides!" Isshiki suddenly thrusted her finger up, almost hitting him on the chin, her eyes now looking far more defiant than before. "This is your fault too, Senpai, so you should just take r-responsibility for me!"

"Excuse me?"

"The only reason she got like this is because of the speech I gave at the beginning of the year." He did remember her doing that vaguely enough. "And I only had to do that because I'm the StuCo President, and I remember certain Senpai of mine putting me on that spot last year."

"…"

"A-and I'm just a poor innocent and impressionable kouhai trying to learn from her Senpai." At this, her eyes grew an annoyed look, as if remembering a bad memory. "And Yukino-senpai and Yui-senpai told me the kind of stuff you used to do."

"…"

"S-so…!" Her previous defiance seemed to be losing steam, probably because of the unimpressed look he kept giving her as she rambled on. "You have to take responsibility and be my b-boyfriend…!"

He supposed the word 'fake' was implicit in that statement, but even so…

"Is that the best you could come up with?" If she thought he was just going to agree to this because of some convoluted way of saying this was on him, then she had a new thing coming for her.

"…please." But instead of what he had expected from her, that being her doubling down, she honestly to god begged him in front of his eyes, which surprised him, to say the least.

And once again, he cursed the fact that his big brother instinct could just be switched on that easily.

"That's enough!" But it seemed their little meeting had come to an end, given that the brat had finally run out of patience and had decided to push herself between the two, her back to Isshiki as she glared heatedly at him. "I don't know what kind of tricks you played on my Senpai, but I won't let you get your claws on her again, you fiend!"

He had to wonder if she was like this with everyone or if he was just the lucky one today.

Even so, his tired gaze went from her to Isshiki, and even now she was still begging him with just her eyes, a look so strange coming from her that, as much as he hated it, his mind did start to wonder…

And he just knew this was going to come and bite him in the ass.

But dammit…

"I don't know who you are." He spoke with a sigh, honestly not caring that much about the brat's name. "But I would appreciate it if you stopped bothering my…" He then took a deep breath, bracing himself for the cringe that he knew was about to hit him. "…girlfriend."

No amount of time could have prepared him for having to say that with a straight face.

His gaze then moved from her to Isshiki, hoping that at the very least she was grateful for what he was doing.

Instead, though, she was looking awfully embarrassed, her face so red that if he didn't know any better, he would have thought she was having a feaver.

Why the hell was she getting embarrassed now? This was her plan for crying out loud!

"Y-you c-can't…!" The brat's noisy complaints were silenced once Isshiki swiftly moved from behind her to his side, and as much as he didn't like being called scum by a random kid, even he had to admit he felt bad at seeing the betrayed look she was giving Isshiki.

Even if she had been actually stalking them through the day.

"I told you, Nene-chan." Oh, so that was the brat's name. "There's n-nothing that can stand between Senpai and I…!"

Now he was even cringing internally by Isshiki's words. Also, he knew they were trying to act convincingly, but did she really have to hug his arm again? Especially when she looked like she was about to combust into flames by acting like that.

"This…you…him….!" It didn't help that this Nene girl was now having a short circuit. Not that he could blame her "I won't accept this!"

And then, before they could say anything else, she dashed away from the place, leaving him somehow even more tired than before, while Isshiki seemed to actually show a bit of regret in her face.

"Thank you, senpai-"

'Don't." He stopped her just as he sent her a sharp look. "I'm not going to let you keep this up. After things calm down with her, you're going to explain yourself properly. If she still pesters you after that, call a teacher, that's what they're here for."

"But…!" She seemed like she wanted to argue, but her words seemingly died on her lips just as her gaze went down. "She's not a bad girl, she's just a bit too…intense. I didn't want to get her in trouble…"

"It's better to nip this from the bud before she does it to the wrong person and it gets even worse." Of all the things that could have happened today, he didn't expect to have to act like an actual senpai towards Isshiki, and yet here he was.

"Just… give me a few days so she calms down. I'll talk to her then."

"Good." At least she had relented, which gave him enough peace of mind. "Let's just…go home now before she comes back or something."

"Fine…" Another pout from Isshiki was his response, not that there was anything she could do that would stop him from putting an end to this day anyway.

"…"

"…"

"…you can let go of my arm now."

"…you said it yourself, what if she comes back? We still must play it safe, Senpai, just for a bit."

That bit ended up being all the way until they went their separate ways.

When he woke up the next day, it was to the sound of his phone buzzing.

He begrudgingly sat up from his bed, a tired glare aimed at the device.

He brought it up to his ear, too tired to even check who was calling but seriously who called so early in the morning?

"What?"

The answer that he got back was a screech so loud that it woke him up immediately, his mind taking a second too long to recognize Miura's voice, right before her words finally registered in his head.

"What the hell is this about you dating Iroha?!"

He just knew this was going to be a fun day.

Isshiki was the other low hanging fruit I'll admit. Let's see this as the natural extreme to the whole practice dates thing.

And with this, only one more "plot" is left before I can start throwing them all together and see how that goes.

Who's the last girl and what's her thing? We'll see.

I wonder how many chapters can I post before FF net fixes the view bugs. Maybe I should start moving this fic to AO3 as well just in case this site implodes or something.

Once again, thank you all for reading this far! Thank you for the reviews, follows and favorites!

Next Chapter: Popular Phase

Plots so Far

1) Yukinoshita Yukino: "Because of my grandfather, my high-class Club President suddenly became my fiancée."

2) Miura Yumiko: "I discovered the most popular girl in the school is my old childhood friend and now she won't leave me alone!"

3) Kawasaki Saki: "My mundane high school days are being threatened by the Yakuza Princess' constant flirting!"

4) Hikigaya Komachi: "I somehow became the inspiration for my cute little sister's ongoing romantic comedy light novel and now she keeps setting me up with every girl I know!"

5) Totsuka Saika: "My adorable classmate ended up being a girl and now I have to protect her secret with my life!"

6) Isshiki Iroha: I pretended to be my kouhai's boyfriend to help her and now the whole school thinks we're dating for real and she isn't letting me change their mind!"