The announcement came during homeroom.
The speaker crackled.
"Attention students! Next week is our annual Couples Week—a tradition where students are randomly paired up for fun activities to test trust, teamwork, and maybe even love! 🎵"
The class exploded in gasps, giggles, and oh-my-god-did-you-hear-that squeals.
Ren wanted to crawl under his desk.
"Pairings will be drawn randomly. Events include the Couples Quiz, Relay Lunch Feed, Love Bingo, and the legendary Balloon Between Bodies Race! 💗"
Yui dropped her pen.
Rika grinned like it was her birthday.
Haruka whispered, "I'm going to die."
Emi quietly started drinking from an empty juice box.
Mei looked at the window and whispered, "I should've transferred when I had the chance."
Later that day…
Rika slammed open the door to the girls' meeting room — a.k.a. the abandoned music room they'd stolen months ago for "girl business."
"Alright, witches. Time for war council."
Asuka was already there, lounging on the piano bench.
"You mean strategy session? Or do you just want to bribe the event committee?"
"Both," Rika said, pulling out glittery charts and a list titled 'Ways to Steal the Spotlight and Also Ren.'
Yui snorted. "This is ridiculous."
"What's more ridiculous?" Asuka smirked. "Letting fate decide? Or letting you win?"
Haruka folded her arms. "Why do you two make everything a battlefield?"
Mei spoke softly. "Because they think love is something you conquer."
That shut everyone up for a beat.
Meanwhile… Ren was hiding behind the gym.
Emi found him first.
"You okay?"
He groaned. "No. I just found out my love life is now a public sport."
"Welcome to being the male lead," she said, handing him a drink.
"I didn't audition for this role."
"You didn't have to," Emi smiled gently. "We wrote you into the script."
That night, the pairings were announced via school app.
Everyone opened their phones.
Ren read the list.
And stared.
Ren Takahashi × Asuka KamishiroYui Sakamoto × Haruka AizawaRika Minami × Some Random Hot Guy From Class 2-BEmi Tachibana × Mei Kanzaki
He read it again.
Then whispered—
"I'm going to die."