Episode 4

Episode 4: Rivals

That night, after Yuna left, I lay on my bed staring at the ceiling.

Today had been... strange.

No.

Strange was an understatement.

I got a friend.

A real one.

Not an imaginary one. Not my reflection in the mirror. An actual human being.

And somehow, she liked me.

I rolled over and buried my face in my pillow.

"Maybe I'm dreaming."

My phone buzzed.

Yuna: I have a plan.

That was ominous.

Me: Is this a murder plan?

Yuna: Worse.

Me: ...

Yuna: We're getting you together with Ren Akiyama.

I immediately sat up.

Me: Blocked.

Yuna: YOU CAN'T BLOCK YOUR ONLY FRIEND!

A few seconds later, another message appeared.

Yuna: Also, the school dance is in two months.

School dance.

I had successfully avoided every single school dance since entering high school.

Dances were for pretty people.

Not girls with VIP seats at the bottom of the class rankings.

Me: Not happening.

Yuna: Challenge accepted.

Days passed.

Every morning, I rode my bicycle to school, parked it in the same spot, and took my seat by the window.

And every morning...

Yuna walked in talking.

How she had enough energy at eight in the morning was beyond me.

"Mina! Did you know pineapples don't belong on pizza?"

"Mina! If a tomato is a fruit, does that make ketchup a smoothie?"

"Mina! You're coming to the dance!"

"No."

"That wasn't a question."

Life had become... noisy.

Not bad.

Just noisy.

Then came P.E.

My worst subject after Math.

Actually, let me rephrase that.

Every subject was my worst subject.

"Today we'll be playing volleyball!" the teacher announced.

Wonderful.

I had all the athletic ability of a potato.

As luck would have it, I ended up on the same team as Ren Akiyama.

And Kaito Shimizu.

Great.

Over the past few days, Kaito had become ridiculously popular.

He was smart, athletic, and somehow managed to become captain of the basketball team after beating Ren in a practice match.

No one would stop talking about it.

"The new guy is amazing!"

"Kaito's definitely better than Ren!"

"I heard they don't get along."

At first, I didn't know whether to be angry at Kaito for replacing Ren...

Or impressed that someone actually could.

The two of them stood on opposite sides of the court.

And if looks could kill, our school would've lost both of its most popular boys.

The whistle blew.

The game began.

Meanwhile, I was busy trying not to die.

Volleyballs are dangerous.

Nobody talks about that enough.

"Mina! Heads up!" Yuna shouted.

"Huh—?"

A volleyball was flying directly toward my face.

This is it.

Tell my mother I loved her.

Actually, don't.

She'd make it dramatic.

I shut my eyes.

But the impact never came.

When I opened them, Ren was standing in front of me, one hand holding the ball.

"You should pay attention."

For a moment, my brain stopped functioning.

Ren Akiyama had saved me.

Again.

"I-I was paying attention!"

"To what?"

"...The sky."

"There isn't a sky indoors."

"...The ceiling?"

He stared at me.

I wanted the ground to open up and swallow me whole.

Then I noticed it.

Kaito was watching us.

No.

Staring.

His expression unreadable.

Ever since he and Ren became rivals, they seemed to notice everything the other did.

And right now...

Ren had just saved me.

This was bad.

Very, very bad.

Because for the first time...

I couldn't tell whose heartbeat I was hearing.

Mine.

Or someone else's.

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