Kenji sat in the back row of history class, doodling anime eyes in the margins of his notebook. He had one rule: stay invisible.
Unfortunately, fate had other plans.
"Kenji," a voice whispered.
He froze. Slowly, he looked up.
It was Aoi Tanaka, the most popular girl in class. She had leaned back in her chair just far enough to whisper across the aisle.
"Uh… yeah?" Kenji croaked.
She smiled. "Do you have an extra pen? Mine ran out."
Kenji's brain screamed. She's talking to you. Don't mess this up. Don't say something weird. Don't talk about Superheroes. Just give her the pen.
He fumbled through his bag, pulling out three pens at once and nearly dropping them all.
"H-here. Take whichever one has the best… aura."
Aoi blinked. Then she giggled. "Aura? What is this, some kind of magical item quest?"
Kenji's face went red. "Uh… maybe."
She chose the blue pen, twirling it between her fingers. "Thanks. I'll make sure to protect it with my life."
Kenji muttered under his breath, "That's what the chosen one always says before they lose the sacred artifact…"
"What?" Aoi tilted her head.
"Nothing!" he said quickly, burying his face in his notebook.
She didn't push. Instead, she leaned forward again to face the board, but not before whispering:
"You're kinda funny, you know that?"
Kenji's heart did a triple backflip. He wanted to scream. He wanted to tell her everything that he liked her laugh, that he secretly watched her play volleyball from the bleachers, that he thought she was brighter than the sun itself.
But all he did was mumble, "I-I'm not."
"Sure you're not," she said, smiling, and turned back around.
Kenji sat there, gripping his pencil like it was a sword, trying not to combust.
On the outside, he looked calm. On the inside, he was screaming:
This is bad. This is really, really bad. If she keeps talking to me, I won't be able to keep this a secret.