Aiko Sato was staring at my hand, which was still clasped in Sakura Yamato's. Her cheerful, usually expressive face was a mask of pure, unadulterated shock. Kenji, on the other hand, looked like a kid who'd just successfully pulled off the world's most elaborate prank, a mix of suppressed laughter and genuine disbelief warring on his face.
"News? What news?!" Aiko repeated, looking from Kenji to me, then back to our hands.
My brain was still buffering. Dealing with the initial shock of holding Sakura-san's hand in public, under the gaze of half the school, was one thing. Dealing with Aiko, my childhood friend who knew me better than almost anyone, was entirely another. Aiko knew I got flustered talking to the cashier at the convenience store, let alone holding hands with the school idol.
Sakura-san, bless her incredible composure, handled it. Her smile remained serenely in place. "Oh, Aiko-san, Sato-kun," she said smoothly, her voice perfectly calibrated to sound friendly but perhaps a little... private. "We were just heading towards the station together. Hiroshi-kun and I... well, we've been getting to know each other better recently."
Hiroshi-kun? She used "-kun" with my first name. My face heated up another few degrees. It sounded so... familiar. So real.
Aiko's eyes widened further. She looked like she was struggling to process this reality. "G-getting to know each other? Since when? Why didn't you say anything, Hiroshi?" She turned her bewildered gaze on me.
I stammered, "Uh... well... it's... it's kind of recent. We, um..." My mind went blank. My carefully average life had no script for this.
Kenji, thankfully, stepped in, slinging an arm around Aiko's shoulder (which she barely seemed to notice in her state of shock). "Yeah, it's all very sudden and romantic, isn't it? Our quiet Hiroshi here finally made his move! We were just talking about it. Total surprise." He grinned at Sakura-san, who gave him a small, tight smile in return. Kenji was clearly enjoying this way too much.
Aiko gently pushed Kenji's arm away, still fixated on me and Sakura-san. "Sudden? But... you guys are from completely different worlds! The Classic Literature & Film Society and... well, you, Yamato-san! How...?"
Sakura-san chuckled softly, a sound that was both pleasant and, I suspected, strategic. "Sometimes opposites attract, I suppose?" she said, her eyes briefly meeting mine. "And we realized we actually have a lot in common. Plus," she added, squeezing my hand very slightly, sending a jolt up my arm, "Tanaka-kun is full of surprises."
Surprises? Like agreeing to a fake relationship out of sheer panic and a misguided sense of loyalty to a dying club? If only she knew.
Aiko still looked skeptical, but the sheer confidence and ease with which Sakura-san spoke seemed to be chipping away at her disbelief. It was hard to argue with Sakura Yamato when she presented something as a fait accompli.
"Well..." Aiko trailed off, glancing between us again. "Wow. Okay. Congratulations, I guess?" She sounded less congratulatory and more utterly bewildered.
"Thank you, Aiko-san," Sakura-san said graciously. "We should probably get going, the station gets crowded. See you both tomorrow!"
She started to gently pull me forward, and I awkwardly stumbled along with her. My hand was still in hers. We walked past Kenji and Aiko, past the lingering groups of staring students, and out through the school gate.
We didn't speak until we were a block away, the school building no longer in sight, the crowds having dispersed onto different paths. Sakura-san finally, gently, let go of my hand.
The sudden absence of contact felt strangely… cold.
We stopped on a quiet side street lined with cherry trees. The setting sun cast long shadows.
Sakura-san turned to me, her earlier composure dissolving slightly. She let out a small sigh, running a hand through her hair. "Okay. That was... eventful."
"Eventful is one way to put it," I said, rubbing the hand she'd just held. It still felt warm, and slightly tingly. "Aiko looked like she'd seen a ghost. Kenji looked like he was planning how to sell tickets."
Sakura-san actually laughed then, a short, genuine burst of amusement. "Sato-kun does seem... enthusiastic. But Aiko-san... yes, that was a strong reaction. We need to have a consistent story. What should we say about how we, um, 'got together'?"
I hadn't thought about that. How did the school idol and the average nobody 'get together'? There was no believable scenario.
"I don't know," I admitted. "Did we... bond over classic literature? Or maybe... a shared love for lukewarm tea?"
She smiled. "Those are club things. It needs to be something more personal. Something unexpected, but simple. How about... we kept running into each other? You know, those coincidences? Maybe you helped me with something small, or we talked briefly about something outside of school? And then... it just sort of happened?"
"Repeated coincidences leading to... destiny?" I suggested dryly.
"Exactly!" she said, her eyes lighting up. "It has that little bit of romantic fate to it, but it's vague enough to be believable. We just 'realized' our feelings after bumping into each other enough times."
"Okay," I nodded. "Repeated coincidences. We kept running into each other. Got it." It was a terrible lie, but probably the least implausible one we could invent.
"Good," she said, pulling out her notebook again. "Consistency is key. We'll use that story if anyone asks directly. But mostly, we just need to act like we're comfortable together. Little things. Like... walking home together sometimes. Or sharing lunch."
She looked up from her notebook. "Speaking of which, how was that? The hand-holding? Was it... too much? Too little?"
I felt my face flush again. "Uh... it was... noticeable. Mission accomplished on the 'get people talking' front, I think. As for 'too much'... my hand was sweating like crazy. Sorry about that."
She glanced at my hand, then back at her notebook. "It's fine. We'll get used to it. Probably." She sounded less sure on that last part.
"Okay," she said, clicking her pen. "Next step: tomorrow. We should have lunch together in the cafeteria. It's public, and a long enough time for people to observe us interacting. Just... talk to me naturally. About school, about your club, about anything normal. And maybe... lean into each other slightly? Not too much. Just... comfortable."
Lunch in the cafeteria? Holding hands was one thing, a brief, public spectacle. Lunch was sustained interaction, under even more eyes. My stomach did another flip.
"Cafeteria lunch," I repeated, feeling a wave of dread wash over me.
"Yes," she confirmed, writing it down. "Our 'Repeated Coincidences Leading to Destiny' relationship requires progression. See you tomorrow, Tanaka-kun."
She gave me a small wave and turned to walk towards the main road, presumably towards the station. I watched her go, the setting sun catching her hair, looking every bit the unreachable idol.
Except I'd just held her hand, watched her laugh genuinely, and planned our fake lunch date.
My average life was definitely gone. Now I just had to survive whatever this new, insane reality was. Starting with lunch tomorrow. In the cafeteria. With Sakura Yamato.
What had I really gotten myself into?