The next day.
Lunch break.
Student council room.
Uchiha Ayato sat with his legs crossed, back sinking into the office chair’s cushion, reading The Temple of the Golden Pavilion with genuine focus.
His eyelashes were half-lowered, breathing even, the picture of someone completely at peace with the world and untouchable by earthly concerns.
The sound of turning pages was amplified in the quiet room.
By comparison, Chihaya Anon — seated diagonally across from him — might as well have had ants in her pants.
Clack.
Anon slapped her ballpoint pen down hard on the notepad on her desk.
A few seconds passed.
She picked it back up.
Her thumb started clicking the cap button furiously.
Click-click-click-click — the rapid-fire sound sprayed in every direction like a machine gun.
Uchiha Ayato didn’t so much as twitch an eyebrow.
This guy…
Anon bit down on her lower lip, eyes constantly skimming across Ayato’s profile.
That Line message last night had sent her rolling around her bed for half the evening.
It had even made her spend twenty whole minutes this morning agonizing over whether or not to wear a sheer lip tint.
And then?
This guy had shown up at school and acted like nothing had happened.
Not the slightest hint of weirdness, hadn’t even spared her an extra glance — like everything that happened last night was her own personal delusion.
She knew Uchiha Ayato well enough to know he was almost certainly playing dumb.
He was definitely doing this on purpose.
Just waiting for her to speak first.
Infuriating guy.
Only she would keep putting up with him.
Chihaya Anon took a deep breath, grabbed a document off her desk and shook it purposefully: “Hey, Ayarin…” She broke the silence first.
“What is it, Madam President?” Uchiha Ayato still hadn’t looked up from his book.
Completely unbothered.
Anon cleared her throat, nudged the document forward, and leaned in slightly, eyes drilling into the side of his face.
“About the school festival planning — don’t you have anything you want to…
discuss with me?” “School festival?” Ayato finally lifted his gaze from the page, landing on Anon’s very obviously flushed face.
He knocked on the book cover.
“Pretty sure we already finalized the venue setup and staffing assignments last week, didn’t we?” “Or are you telling me our esteemed president has come up with yet another dazzling new idea?” Chihaya Anon choked on the professionally detached tone and felt her next breath catch.
“That’s not what I’m talking about!” Anon slapped her palm on the desk.
She stared at his completely unmoved, perfectly handsome face, and the frustration and wounded feelings tangled together and started rising fast.
“Then what are you talking about?” Ayato closed the book and sat up slightly, feigning puzzlement.
Chihaya Anon felt like her face was catching fire.
She could hardly ask point-blank: What did those messages last night mean?
Do you actually like me or not?
This conversation had gone far enough.
The other person absolutely had to speak first for something like this.
“What I’m talking about is…” Anon avoided his gaze and busied herself straightening documents that were already straight.
“Somebody sending me completely out-of-nowhere messages last night and taking up my precious rest time.” “Don’t you think that kind of behavior seriously disrupted this president’s daily routine?” She made sure to hit out-of-nowhere extra hard.
Ayato looked at her burning ears and the way she was very obviously dodging, and a quiet laugh slipped out before he could stop it.
“Oh, that~” He propped his chin on one hand.
Same infuriating voice as always.
“I was simply reflecting on and repenting for my mistakes.
How did that manage to disrupt your routine?” “Of course, if you say it’s my fault, then it’s my fault.” “As a kind and gracious gentleman, I defer to you, President.” Chihaya Anon: ???
“UCHIHA AYATO!” Anon’s palm hit the desk.
“What do you even think I am to you?!” “You send something like that and then act like nothing happened?!” Anon’s flat chest heaved with her quickened breathing, those gray eyes that usually danced with light now blazing with irritation.
[Daily Mission (1/3): Bully Haruno Sakura once.] [Status: Complete] [Reward: Chakra +500] “…” Ayato looked at the furious girl in front of him and went quiet.
Should he say it?
Now?
Right here?
Usually he’d toss out a few smooth, airtight lines that deflected the question cleanly, then slide back into the comfortable middle distance of everyone’s emotionally available friend.
But right now, watching Anon on the verge of actually crying out of frustration and wounded pride, he found himself unexpectedly…
reluctant to do that.
What a pain.
Not just the girl in front of him — his own wishy-washy hesitation was annoying him too.
But since she’d pushed him to this corner, the Uchiha blood in him had started to get restless.
The lazy carelessness faded from his eyes.
What replaced it was something direct and focused.
He drew a slow breath and stood up.
“Fine.
You win.” “Since you want to know — listen up.” Chihaya Anon froze.
Her eyes slowly widened.
The frustration and wounded feelings from a moment ago evaporated completely, and something like this cannot be happening started lighting up in the back of her irises.
He…
He just said what?
Fine, you win?
Wait, is this…
Here?!
Right now?!
Just the two of us?!
Do I just say yes?
Or do I play a little hard to get first?
No — just say yes.
This guy opening his mouth and being honest is rarer than winning the lottery.
If I miss this window, who knows when the next one comes.
Maybe don’t go to England.
Tokyo’s actually pretty good when you think about it…
Anon held her breath, every bit of her attention pinned on what came next.
She instinctively smoothed her hair — trying to look her best for whatever was about to happen.
“Anon, I…” BANG——!
The student council room door flew open from outside.
Two girls talking over each other spilled in.
“So we absolutely cannot push rehearsal any further this weekend, before Anon goes to England we need to…” The short-haired secretary and the bespectacled treasurer walked in with their lunch boxes — and their voices died the instant they saw the positioning of the two people in the room.
Dead silence.
The secretary’s gaze bounced between Uchiha Ayato — leaning forward, the energy around him anything but casual — and Chihaya Anon — bright red all the way down to her neck.
“Uh…” The secretary swallowed.
“Are we…
interrupting something?” The treasurer beside her nodded vigorously, feet already shuffling backward toward the door.
Chihaya Anon’s expression froze.
The cotton-candy-pink atmosphere from a second ago shattered like dropped glass, shards going straight for the chest.
Uchiha Ayato tipped back naturally and settled into his chair.
The intense, charged presence of a moment ago dissolved without a trace.
He was back to being perfectly comfortable, perfectly approachable, perfectly everyone’s Ayato.
He lifted a hand and smoothed the hair near his temple, voice easy.
“Not at all.
You’re right on time.” “We were just hashing out the last few budget items for the school festival.
Got a little heated, that’s all.” “It’s just how me and the President operate — you guys are used to it, right?” The secretary and treasurer exchanged a look.
The gossip fire that had been kindling in their eyes was mostly doused by his perfectly guileless delivery.
“Oh, I see…” The secretary scratched her head and came in to set her lunch box down.
“We thought we were interrupting something…” “Oh, Anon!” The secretary turned to the pink-haired girl who was still standing very rigidly.
“About going to the practice room this weekend — have you thought about it yet?” “You said you wanted to go out with a bang at the school festival, leave everyone with a perfect memory before you head off to England, right?” The treasurer piped up too, pushing her glasses up.
“Yeah, we’re running out of time, we really need to get practicing.” Chihaya Anon turned.
Slowly.
Inch by inch.
She looked at the two of them.
Her stiff mouth corners gradually, carefully, pulled upward — into a smile so geometrically perfect it sucked all the warmth out of the room.
“Practice, huh…” “Of course!
See you Saturday~” The secretary and treasurer both shivered at the same time.
Anon is terrifying right now!
And on the other side of the room, Uchiha Ayato quietly exhaled in private relief.
Uchiha Ayato: That was way too close.
Nearly let the little head make decisions for the big one.
Thank god these two showed up, or Ayato’s life plan might’ve just taken a very sharp turn.
[Daily Mission (2/3): Bully Haruno Sakura once.] [Status: Exceptional Completion] [Reward: Chakra +1,000] Haha, nice bonus.
But for the record, Uncle Ayato was dead serious just now.
To be continued…