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“E-excuse me, Prefect-san.”
Hearing someone called her, Yuu turned around. In front of her, there was a boy with a flustered face. He was pretty tall that Yuu had to look up, probably her height only reached his shoulder. Judging from his unrefined face and his brand new uniform, he must be a first-year. On his left arm, there was a Heartslabyul crest attached.
After Yuu looked at his face for a while, Yuu noticed she met him several times when she went to Heartslabyul for the Unbirthday Party or just visiting her best friends who were the current dorm leader and vice dorm leader. Since they’ve become dorm leader and vice dorm leader, they couldn’t come to Ramshackle dorm too often hence made Yuu come to their dorm instead.
“Ah, you. I remember you from that Unbirthday Party. You were the one who brought the tea to me,” Yuu said to him as she smiled.
“Y-you remember me? I-I’m so delighted,” his face became even redder as he was saying that.
“So, what are you doing here, on the third-year floor? If you need to meet Ace and Deuce, their classes are—”
“N-no! I didn’t mean to meet the dorm leader and vice leader. I wanted to meet you, Prefect-san!” When he said that, his voice somehow raised. Noticing his behavior might startle Yuu, he covered his mouth and whispered, “I’m sorry I shouted at you.”
“No, it’s okay. So, what business do you have with me?” Yuu asked him back. Apparently, she wasn’t startled at all.
“Ple-please accept this,” the boy stuttered as he took out an envelope and handed it to Yuu.
…
“Eh, one of our dorm’s first-year students gave you a love letter? Not bad,” Deuce said to Yuu, genuinely praising the boy.
It was lunchtime when Yuu told Deuce about the boy who gave her a love letter on a bench in the courtyard. This period of time was the only time they could meet since Yuu, Grim, Ace, and Deuce were in different classes after they were advanced to the third year. Yuu and Grim were in the same class as Sebek, 3-A. Ace was with Jack in 3-D. Deuce was with Epel in 3-E.
Everyone besides Yuu, Grim, and Deuce has become dorm leaders of their respective dorm, while Deuce became vice dorm leader. Yuu and Grim were the only ones who stayed the same since there weren't any new students who were admitted to the Ramshackle dorm after them.
Yuu was still silent, looking at her name written on the envelope. The handwriting was very neat and beautiful that Yuu couldn’t stop looking at it. She was wondering how she would feel when she was reading the letter written with this beautiful handwriting.
“So, what do you think of him?” Deuce asked Yuu who was still in her daydream.
“If I look back to that Unbirthday Party, I think he’s a good boy. He moved and got everything quickly. The way he wears his uniform is neat. He has good body posture as well,” Yuu said and paused a bit, “His face is cute. Not Epel-kun's level of cuteness, but he has his own charm.”
Deuce stared at Yuu’s face. He could feel his throat dried as he asked Yuu another question, “So, you are going to accept his feelings?”
Before Yuu could answer Deuce’s question, their conversation was interrupted.
“Yuu, I found Grim stealing food again!” Ace came to them with Grim hanging on his hand.
“Ace, stop carrying me like a cat!” Grim protested to Ace.
“Shut up, food thief doesn’t get the right to complain. Hm?” Ace noticed Yuu and Deuce’s face looked different than usual. Even when they were studying together, they never showed such serious faces that much. Ace didn’t need a long time to notice the envelope in Yuu’s hand. “What’s this?”
Ace took the envelope from Yuu’s hand without her permission, which surprised both Yuu and Deuce.
“Ace, give it back,” Yuu stood up and held out her hand to reach the envelope from Ace’s hand.
Ace pushed Yuu when she got closer to him. After making sure she was at a safe distance, he clicked his finger and the envelope in his hand started to burn and ceased to ashes. It was just a spur of moment and the others were too surprised to process what just happened.
“Ace, what are you doing?!” Deuce shouted to him and stood up, prepared to charge him.
Yuu held out her arm to stop Deuce. While doing that, Yuu looked down and stayed silent. Even though no one could see her face, Deuce noticed a gloomy aura coming out from her.
“What am I doing? I’m just helping Yuu. She will reject him anyway, right?” Ace said.
“How did you know that?” Yuu spoke, but she still hung her head and was not facing Ace.
“I know everything about you, Yuu. There are many boys who confessed to you, but you always flat out rejected them. Some of them even tried to ask you for one date or give you a love letter but you keep rejecting them. So what’s the matter with this one letter anyway?” Ace explained with a relaxed tone.
“I see. So that’s your reason,” Yuu said as she got closer to Ace.
The moment Yuu raised her face to see Ace, she also raised her hand. Ace could see the anger on her face clearly. He was so preoccupied with Yuu’s expression he had never seen before that he didn’t notice Yuu’s hand. Then that happened in a flash.
Yuu’s palm landed on Ace’s cheek.
The sound from that slap was loud enough to dismiss the other sounds around them. As if they felt everything around them turned to void even though there were chatterings by other students from a distance.
“If you know everything about me, then you should understand the meaning of this.”
Yuu walked past Ace, leaving him, Deuce, and Grim. Ace touched his cheek where Yuu slapped him, which was very stinging. Grim stayed silent since he had never seen Yuu like that despite this was his third year of becoming her partner. Deuce was the first one to break the silence by coming to Ace.
“You’ve done it, Ace,” was the first thing Deuce could say.
Still confused and touching his cheek, Ace started to speak in a low voice, “I don’t understand. Isn’t Yuu always rejecting everyone since she has no interest in romance? She always flat out rejected everyone. She even always refused to accept love letters and invitations to date. So why?”
“You aren’t wrong, but not right either. To be exact, Yuu used to be like that,” Deuce started explaining about Yuu to Ace. “She used to be like that because she was always thinking she would go back to her world. But after she decided to stay here, she slowly changed.
“Yuu became more empathetic towards the ones who confessed to her. She listened to them carefully and appreciated their efforts. When they gave her love letters, she would read everything and say how happy she was accepting such letters. Indeed, despite all of that she still rejected them, do you know why?”
Ace didn’t answer Deuce.
“Because of a certain someone. She was aware of his feelings and tried to not hurt him, even though that comes with the price of hurting the others. That’s why she tried to not hurt the others very much by appreciating them. Though, she also always gets hurt whenever she sees the painful expression of the ones who confessed to her after she rejected them.
“She was aware of his feelings because he keeps her around him and always chases everyone who tries to get closer to her. Yet, he never confesses his feelings to her because he’s such a coward. What a jerk, huh?”
Again, Ace didn’t reply to Deuce.
“Now you must’ve realized why you aren’t aware of her changes. Remember the last time you caught her being confessed by another guy? You interrupted them and took her away. She didn’t want that to happen, hence why she always drove the others who wanted to confess to her to do it behind your back. I’m sure today is her last straw.”
Ace still stayed in his position and did not say anything. Grim was still silent because he never saw Deuce talks that much, moreover preaching someone like that.
“Honestly, I really wanted to hit you but I’m sure my punch won’t be as painful as Yuu’s slap,” Deuce walked past Ace while he carried Grim with one arm, “Come on, Grim.”
“Like I said, stop treating me like a cat!”
After Deuce and Grim left, Ace thought of what Yuu did to him and Deuce’s words. To tell the truth, Ace wasn’t completely unaware. He wasn’t oblivious, he just kept refusing to acknowledge the fact. Even though he didn’t see it with his own eyes, he knew what happened to Yuu by catching up with the rumors.
Just like Deuce said, Ace was a coward. He was never able to bring himself to confess his feelings, yet kept her around him and chased out everyone else besides his close friends from her for the whole two years. He never took any courage to tell Yuu about his feelings. What’s worse, he took advantage on Yuu’s kindness, which made him full of himself that Yuu wouldn’t leave his side.
But Yuu and Ace were different individuals. While Ace couldn’t bring himself to get out of his comfort zone, Yuu has been moving forward. The image of Yuu leaving him crossed his mind.
“I don’t want that…”
…
Yuu walked down on the first-year floor to find the boy who just gave her a love letter. She didn’t ask about his class because she thought she might find out about it in the letter or come to the Heartslabyul dorm after she read the letter. After what happened, she just wanted to meet the boy as soon as possible. So, she came to a crowd of some boys who were chatting outside.
“Excuse me, I’m searching for this boy. Do you know him?”
“Pre-Prefect?!” the boys were surprised when Yuu approached them, “Wh-what is the Prefect doing here?”
“I just want to meet this one boy…” Yuu said.
“O-oh, I know him. He belongs to class 1-A,” one of the boys said with him pointing out to the said classroom.
So he’s in the same class as me back then, Yuu thought.
Yuu came to her old class and asked the boy right near the door to get that boy. Everyone who saw her immediately made a fuss with her coming to their class. Even the ones who were busy on their own looked up and turned their heads to her.
The boy Yuu asked for help called out to that boy. That boy who was talking with his friend immediately flustered again upon seeing Yuu outside his classroom. She waved her hand to that boy.
His seat is the same as the one Ace usually took back then. What an amazing coincidence, Yuu thought again.
“Pre-Prefect-san, what is it?” The boy tried to be as calm as possible while talking to Yuu but failed.
“About your lett—”
“Whaaa!!” the boy stopped Yuu from talking more, “Can we talk about it somewhere else?”
Yuu blinked a few times before looking around them. The other students were looking at them intensely. Not only his classmates, but also the ones from other classes. Looking at the situation, Yuu understood what he meant.
“Okay, let’s move somewhere.”
The two walked away while the other’s eyes followed them. After they were gone from the other’s sight, everyone made a ruckus speculating what was going on between Yuu and him.
When they arrived at the quiet place and were sure no one would come, Yuu started talking again. The boy was still nervous around her. The thought of him being rejected was going through his mind. He was so nervous that he didn’t actually listen to what Yuu said.
“—so, I’m thinking about making up for it. How about we go somewhere this weekend?”
“Yes, thank you for rejec— eh? What did you say? I-I’m sorry, I wasn’t listening very well,” the boy panicked.
“So to put it short, your letter was accidentally flown away by wind and ended up drowning in the bottom of the well before I could read it. I feel bad for it and want to do something to make up for it. Are you free this weekend?” Yuu explained again to the boy.
“Doesn’t going somewhere on the weekend mean a date?!” the boy asked again.
“I don’t mind if you take it that way. So, do you want to go on a date with me this weekend?” Yuu smiled as she asked him again.
“Of course, of course I will!” the boy answered Yuu and almost jumped up while doing so.
“Good to hear that. Then let’s exchange contacts so we can talk about it. The lunchtime is almost over after all,” Yuu took out her phone to exchange contacts with him.
“Eh, not only am I going on a date with the Prefect, I’m also getting her contact?”
“Hm?” Yuu looked up at him again.
“I’m sorry, I blurted out a non-sense. Aaahhh…”
Seeing the boy get flustered by himself made Yuu couldn’t help but smile, What an innocent and cute boy.
…
The time felt passed like in a blink for the boy. Finally, the promised time for the date has arrived. He was ready to go out from Heartslabyul dorm when someone spoke to him from his back.
“Oh, going out on the weekend? How nice~”
The boy turned around and found his dorm leader talking to him. The boy couldn’t wipe off the grin from his face.
“Ahahaha, indeed it’s nice. How about you, Dorm Leader?” he asked back to Ace.
“Me? Probably just gaming with homies or sleeping throughout the day,” Ace shrugged his shoulders.
There were dark circles below Ace’s eyes. No one knew that Ace hadn't met Yuu after that day even once. Ace has been so anxious about it that he made himself busy with getting all his homeworks and dorm leader-related works done which left him free for the next two weeks.
“Hm, you dressed so nice for going out. Don’t tell me, it’s a date?” Ace teased the boy.
“E-eh, am I that easy to read?!” the boy got flustered upon Ace’s words.
“Wow, I’m right? So you’re able to meet a girl outside the school and get a date. What a lucky boy you are!”
“Actually, it’s not from outside of this school…” the boy looked at his wristwatch, “I’m sorry, Dorm Leader. Please excuse me, I can’t make the Prefect-san wait for me. See you!”
The boy ran out of the dorm. Ace was watching him run with his mouth opened wide.
“Huh?!”
....
Yuu was waiting at the downtown plaza. It was her habit to come at least 10 minutes before the promised time.
“Prefect!”
Yuu turned around when she heard someone calling her name. It was that boy. Yuu observed him from head to toe. He wore khaki pants, white t-shirt, and a casual black blazer. It was rather a simple coordination but fits perfectly on his well-built body and good-looking face.
“I’m sorry for making you wait,” he said to Yuu.
Now, it’s his turn to observe Yuu. She wore a third-quarter length cream-colored skirt, soft grey inner, green short sleeve cardigan, medium-sized straw hat, and short brown boots. He didn’t know that it wasn’t her usual style. Yuu purposely dressed in a different style—which she adapted from mori girl style—since it was a date. She even curled her long straight hair.
“A fairy…” a word slipped through the boy’s lips.
“Hm, did you say something?” Yuu asked the boy.
“A-ah, it’s just… you look so pretty, Prefect-san,” he mustered his courage to say that while looking at Yuu’s eyes.
Yuu smiled at him and said, “Thank you. Your compliment made all the effort worth to do.”
“You made an effort for me?” the boy couldn’t believe what he just heard. “That Prefect actually dressed up for me?!”
“Hey, can you stop calling me ‘Prefect’? I have a name and we are on a date, you know,” Yuu said with a small pout on her face.
“Ca-calling you with y-your name might be too sudden for me…” he paused for a moment, “At least let me use the honorific senpai.”
“That doesn’t sound bad.”
“Th-then, Yuu-senpai…”
Yuu smiled and grabbed his hand, “Good boy!”
The boy’s face got even redder since Yuu held his hand. It was like a dream come true for him to touch Yuu like that.
Behind the pillar not very far from Yuu and the boy, someone has been watching them. He’s been tailing the boy not long after the boy left his dorm.
Why am I following my own dorm’s student and best friend…, Ace thought.
Ace was wearing an old parka that he didn’t wear for a very long time, baseball cap, and sunglasses. He even styled his hair differently than usual. It was all so they wouldn’t notice him.
Ace watched them from the beginning. Even though Yuu was the one who held his hand first and he got flustered almost all the time, he escorted Yuu properly. It was obvious he’s such a good boy who was raised with proper manners. Ace even lost count on how many girls who pointed out to him and said he was just like a prince came out of fairy tales. Anyone who saw him before knowing which school he belonged to wouldn’t believe he goes to Night Raven College, they must be thinking he goes to Royal Sword Academy with that kind of attitude.
Ace started to wander in his own mind. Of course, a girl like Yuu deserves to be with such a proper guy, unlike him who keeps making troubles and has fights with people all the time. Even though that boy is very shy around the girl he likes and gets flustered all the time, he managed to confess to Yuu, which Ace couldn’t do. Even though Ace has been with Yuu for more than two years.
What hurt Ace more was the way Yuu act around that boy. Ace never saw her like that. She went all the way to try different fashion and hair styles, which Ace even got stunned when he saw her for the first time today. She also has different smiles than usual. Anyone who sees her now would think she’s on her happiest moment with her boyfriend.
Would Yuu make such faces if she goes on a date with me instead of him?
As Ace asked that question to himself, he could feel the sting on his cheek where Yuu slapped him on. Now, the sting wasn’t only his cheek, but also his chest.
“Why is it so painful…”
Then Ace remembered what Deuce explained that day. Ace understood now. This was the pain those boys who confessed to Yuu felt when Yuu rejected them, or perhaps theirs were even worse than what Ace felt.
No matter how much Ace weeps, the milk has already spilled. He has done it. Yuu might leave him very soon. Maybe the word “leave” would be too much since they can keep being friends, but Yuu must be spending more time with her boyfriend and lower Ace’s position in her priority rank.
Despite the storms in his heart, Ace kept following and watching them until the end. In the end of their date, the boy gave Yuu a bouquet of flowers. After Yuu accepted the bouquet, the boy kissed the back of Yuu’s hand. The expression Yuu had that time was so beautiful that Ace wished he could record and keep it on his mind forever.
Not long after that, the boy left Yuu alone. Yuu, who was left alone, suddenly raised her voice.
“Ace, come out now.”
Ace startled when Yuu called him. There was no use if he tried to hide, so he came out as Yuu asked.
“Since when did you realize it?” Ace asked her as he took off his cap.
“Since the very beginning. Thanks to three upperclassmen who kept stalking me in the past, I’ve become more sensitive to people who watched me from a distance,” Yuu answered.
Ace gulped his saliva and immediately knew the ones Yuu meant; Jade, Rook, and Idia.
“Moreover, there’s no way I wouldn't notice someone who has been with me for more than two years with such a disguise. I had experience disguising my gender after all,” Yuu asked Ace back, “So, why were you following us?”
“No reason. I have nothing to do today. And you may get assaulted or such. And…” Ace couldn’t continue his talk. “So, you’ve got a boyfriend now?”
“No.”
“Eh?”
Ace didn’t expect Yuu’s answer. After such an amazing date, they didn’t start dating?
“So, are you in a trial period with him or—”
“I rejected him.”
Ace was stunned by Yuu’s words. He could feel the corner of his mouth was going to raise but he tried to hold it.
“Why? I thought you enjoyed the date with him?” Ace asked Yuu.
Yuu rewinded the time when she rejected that boy in her mind.
....
“Thank you for inviting me to this date, Yuu-senpai. I really had fun. It may sound like an exaggeration, but it was like a dream come true for me,” the boy spoke to Yuu when their date was almost over.
“You are such a sweet boy, seriously. I also feel like a one-day-princess during the date,” Yuu replied.
“I’m glad to hear that. Now…” the boy smiled at Yuu. That smile was so gentle that anyone could melt just by seeing it, “...I can get rejected properly. Probably this will be my best rejection ever.”
Yuu’s eyes widened as she heard his words, “What do you mean?”
“Yuu-senpai, I may be clumsy and gets flustered around you all the time, but I’m not stupid,” he paused for a few seconds, “It’s Dorm Leader Ace, right?”
“So you also know…” Yuu couldn’t help but show a sad smile, “Then why would you decide to confess to me?”
“Not only me, Yuu-senpai. I’m sure everyone in our school is aware of you and Dorm Leader Ace. I’m also sure everyone who confessed to you is the same as me. We just want to resolve and make a proper closure to our feelings. It’d be a lie if we say we aren’t hurt seeing you and Dorm Leader Ace. We might as well make you get into a relationship with one of us by force, but we don’t want to hurt you.
“Which is why this date is really out of my expectation and I consider myself as the second luckiest guy in this world. The first one, of course you know who I meant.”
Yuu couldn’t find any words to say to him. The only thing she could say was just, “If only I’m trapped by a guy like you…”
The boy smiled again. He took Yuu’s hand gently and moved it closer to his lips until he kissed the back of her hand.
“I’m flattered. That’s why, if Dorm Leader Ace ever makes you cry even just once, I will take you away like a prince who saved their princess from distress,” the boy’s smile turned into a cheeky smirk.
Yuu’s eyes were widened again seeing the boy’s expression, “So you can make that kind of face too. You are really a Night Raven College student, huh.”
…
Yuu turned around and now her back faced Ace. She didn’t answer Ace’s question either. Instead, she said something that made Ace even more surprised, “I think I will accept the next confession.”
Ace was just silent listening to Yuu’s words. He knew this time would come. Heck, he just remembered that he still hasn’t apologized to her.
“The next person who will confess to me is someone I know very well. He always drags me into his trouble, as if he implies that I can’t be not engaged with his life. He’s so stupid, he kept making trivial mistakes and procrastinate his works until the last minutes of deadline. What’s worse, he’s so insensitive. Not only did he hurt his teammate’s feelings during our first year, he never complimented me when I dressed up nicely. He never acts like a gentleman towards me. Even though he seemed so cheeky, fearless, and full of himself, he’s actually a pathetic coward. Seriously, he’s the worst.
“Though, despite all of that, he was the first one who welcomed me after I arrived in this world. Even with all his whiny words, he never refused to help me. When I said he’s stupid, one of the reasons was because he came all the way back to school from his home during the winter holiday to save me and Grim. He is also the one who never leaves my side and is able to convince me to stay in this world. Now that I think about it, despite all his bad traits, he never lets me feel alone.”
Yuu turned around to face Ace again. He could see her face flustered, which was probably the first time he ever saw her like that.
“Lastly, he is the current Heartslabyul dorm leader.”
Yuu took a step away from Ace as if trying to walk away from him. It was futile since Ace grabbed her hand as fast as possible.
“Wait. Let’s go to the beach. You never saw the sunset from there, right?” Ace said to Yuu and got a nod as her answer.
…
“Phew, that was unexpected,” Jack said as he got out of his hiding.
“Who would expect Ace-kun to take the action immediately like that,” Epel added.
“We followed Yuu just in case someone ruined their date, especially Ace. Well, that’s not a bad ending for me,” Deuce, the initiator of their plan, let out a sigh.
“Why do humans always make things complicated, seriously,” Sebek was finally able to speak in his usual voice after holding back his voice for the whole day.
“We’ve told you that you don’t have to come if you don’t want, Sebek,” Jack said.
Epel stood beside Deuce and asked, “Is it really alright, Deuce-kun?”
“Of course, it is. Remember our initial plan? That boy, my junior to be exact, actually helped us a lot,” Deuce said with a relieved tone.
Deuce, Jack, Epel, and Sebek, were actually not happy with Ace’s behavior towards Yuu either. They even made a plan if Ace kept going on with that attitude, one of them would take the action and snatch Yuu away. After all, it’d be a lie if they say they completely didn’t have feelings towards Yuu. But they knew they couldn’t take Ace’s position in Yuu’s life.
That was why they felt really helped when they heard Yuu invited that boy to a date. Though, they felt complicated about Yuu slapping Ace. The reason was they were glad that finally Ace woke up from his dream and Yuu released her pain, but on the other hand, they felt bad for Yuu. That must be very painful for Yuu to do so.
“So, what do humans usually say at this point?”
“Happy ever after, I guess?”