The forbidden land she had carefully nurtured and protected for more than ten years had been met with a crude invasion in such a ridiculous twist of fate.
Anon did not respond. She only kept her head down, her cherry pink hair like thin silk veiling her face and emotions, making it impossible to read her expression.
'This is troublesome.'
Kaito felt a bit of a headache.
'Should I offer some comfort?'
But after that extremely awkward scene just now, even if it was unintentional, the fact wouldn't change.
If he spoke rashly, wouldn't it make things worse?
Just then, the civics teacher entered the classroom, knocked on the blackboard, and announced class.
Now even if he wanted to comfort her, he had no chance.
He could only suppress his thoughts and give Anon time to cool off. Everything could wait until after class.
As it turned out, Chihaya-san's recovery time was far longer than expected.
Even after class ended, the girl still had her head down, neither speaking nor reacting to others.
This situation persisted for quite some time.
Ding~ Dong~
When the afternoon school bell rang, most of the students had already left the classroom. Seeing Anon still sitting like a wooden statue, Kaito thought for a moment and knocked on her desk.
"Chihaya-san, school's already over."
Chihaya Anon: o_o
'She hasn't snapped out of it yet?'
Kaito hesitated for two seconds, then reached out and poked the girl's cheek.
Still no response.
'Forget it, just let her cool down a bit longer.'
There's no hurdle that can't be overcome by going home and sleeping it off.
If one night's not enough, then sleep a few more nights.
"If anything happens, you can call me."
"I'll head out now. See you tomorrow."
Kaito gave a final farewell and turned to leave.
Snap!
His wrist was suddenly grabbed.
"D-Don't go!", The girl slowly raised her head, her perky nose beaded with a bit of sweat. Under the glow of her cherry-pink cheeks, it sparkled.
'Taking advantage of this lady and then trying to run?'
'In this world, how could there be such convenient things?'
'Compensation! You You must compensate me!'
Kaito turned around and looked down at the girl before him.
She was like a little lion cub who had just left the den, baring fangs and brandishing claws, trying hard to look fierce.
But because her baby teeth hadn't even fully grown yet, even her bristling hair looked like she was acting spoiled.
The flustered little lioness shifted her gaze around for quite a while before stammering, "I-I still have something to talk to you about!"
"Please go ahead."
"It's just"
The girl finally let go of his hand and began playing with the cherry hair on her shoulder, "We're We're almost at the time we agreed to meet Rui and the others for dinner"
"So Before playing fake lovers, s-shouldn't we rehearse first?"
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Chapter 237: Cant Get In, No Matter How You Think About It
As everyone knows, in order for a performance to proceed smoothly, pre-rehearsals are absolutely essential.
Genius actors who can impress people with impromptu performance without any practice are, after all, rare. Most people, without training, may not even have better acting skills than some nearly outdated internet celebrity.
Moreover, compared to solo performances, pretending to be a couple involves two people and tests the tacit understanding between them, making the difficulty even higher.
In order to ensure that there are no flaws revealed in front of classmates, isn't it normal to rehearse and align with the partner before attending the gathering?
Since it's pretending to be a couple, then the rehearsal content should of course also be couple-related. Otherwise, how can one get into character?
So then, here comes the question. When it comes to couples, what do people think of first?
Holding hands, hugging, dating, and that reluctant kiss under the streetlight before parting.
So, it's really not that Anon schemed, acted righteous, and took advantage of the situation. All of this was for the sake of authenticity in the performance. A sacrifice that had to be made.
The more Chihaya Anon thought about it, the more reasonable it sounded. Her initial guilt completely vanished, and she puffed out her chest with an air of justification.
Kaito, on the other hand, didn't think that much.
Since he had already agreed to play Anon's boyfriend, he wouldn't evade responsibility.
What's more, the girl's reasons were quite reasonable. Pre-rehearsal was indeed necessary to avoid embarrassment in front of others.
So he simply nodded slightly, "Alright, how do you plan to rehearse?"
"Ahem!"
Anon cleared her throat, her serious expression resembling an old scholar in academia, "Of course, we should do what couples are supposed to do."
To add more credibility to her suggestion, she swore solemnly and gave an example, "Good actors all immerse themselves in their roles to perform better For instance, that famous actress Minami-chan, in her youth, once took a part-time job for two months at a convenience store just for a minor role as a clerk! And she won Best Supporting Actress that year in one go!"
"Now that we're pretending to be a couple, of course we have to learn to interact like a couple!"
'Minami-san had such an experience?'
'Well, it actually makes a lot of sense.'
Kaito pondered for two seconds, "So, you're planning to"
"In order not to let Rui and the others notice any flaws,"
Chihaya Anon finally revealed her wolf-like ambition, "How about starting with a date as practice?"
[Half an Hour Later]
A nondescript coffee shop.
In a corner seat, Kaito and Chihaya Anon sat facing each other.
"A more formal self-introduction now."
The girl with cherry pink long hair posed in the classic stance of Commander Ikari, "My name is Chihaya Anon, 18 years old, 160 cm tall, born on September 8th, Virgo, currently studying at Shuka Private Academy. My favorite foods are smoked salmon and fruit sandwiches. I dislike pickled plums and sour things. My hobby is watching makeup videos. My measurements are"
"Stop. There's no need to disclose that kind of private info," Kaito interrupted her in time, unsure how to evaluate Chihaya-san's level of honesty.
After agreeing to Anon's date rehearsal, he had been dragged to this caf by the girl, under the high-sounding excuse of a pre-date briefing.
To convincingly pretend to be a couple, they at least needed to know each other's basic information and hobbies.
Otherwise, when Anon's classmates asked, and they both looked clueless, even a fool could tell something was off.
"D-Don't need to say that part?", The pink-haired girl stuck out her tongue, "Well then, next it's your turn, Kaito."
"Kurumizaka Kaito."
He quickly organized his thoughts before continuing, "Height: 182 cm. Birthday let's say February 2nd. No particular favorite foods, no particular dislikes. Likes gaming, occasionally watches anime. Has a cat at home."
"That's it?", Anon blinked, "You haven't said your age yet."
"Hmm"
Kaito paused, "18."
Eighteen years and however-many months still counted as eighteen. At the very least, he was way younger than a certain purple-haired granny who shamelessly claimed to be "forever seventeen."
Anon was clearly surprised. She covered her mouth with her small hand, glanced downward, and paused slightly.
Should one say, never judge a book by its cover?
'That size'
'No way it can get in. No matter how you think about it, it just won't go in!'
Kaito: "..."
He slowly typed out a question mark, "You were asking about age, right?"
"O-Of course age! What else could it be?"
Anon snapped out of it, eyes wandering, "A-Anyway, Kaito, you just said you're raising a cat, right?"
This topic shift was a bit too clumsy. But Kaito was silent for two seconds and still nodded.
"Very good."
The pink-haired girl clenched her right fist and tapped her left palm, "If Rui and the others ask how we met, let's use that as the excuse."
A boy and girl feeding a stray cat together meet on a rainy day, fall in love at first sight, and sparks fly, this setup was straight out of an idol drama. To impress a bunch of love-inexperienced girly girls? Easy as pie.
The more Anon thought about it, the more reasonable it seemed. She enthusiastically added new settings, "The first time we met, your clothes got wet in the rain, and I invited you to my house to dry off. Then we exchanged contacts when saying goodbye. After that, we naturally went out a few times and ended up dating."
"As for who confessed first let's say I did. I prefer to take the initiative. You don't dislike being passive, do you, Kaito?"
"Also, although we've only dated for six months, our bond is strong. We've already met each other's parents and plan to get married after graduation."
"No plans to have kids for the first three years of marriage, but if you want to, Kaito, that's negotiable"
"Stop. Chihaya-san, don't you think you're going a bit too far?", Seeing the pink-haired girl falling deep into her future fantasy, Kaito knocked on the table and sighed helplessly.
"We're only pretending to be a couple once. Your classmates shouldn't be nosy enough to ask about your post-marriage life, right?"
"A-A full prep is just being thorough", Anon also realized she might've gotten too carried away. She quickly calmed herself and muttered softly, "Who knows they might be even nosier than you think"
Being a girl herself, she understood all too well how unrestrained girl-to-girl conversations could get, especially those love-starved girlies who'd never dated. When they start fantasizing, even your wildest imagination couldn't compare.
Why did she know this so well?
Ahem, it's definitely not because she had once had many similar cherry-colored fantasies about someone.
Definitely not.
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Chapter 238: Ordinary Passing Little Penguin
The two discussed for quite a while in the caf.
They finalized many details and even made up various little interesting things that happened during their supposed relationship. While increasing credibility, these could also be used to deal with gossipy classmates.
Most of the time, it was Anon doing the talking, and Kaito was just a merciless nodding machine, fully responsible for saying "Mm," "Oh," and "I have no opinion."
After carefully scrutinizing everything in her mind and confirming all was ready, the pink-haired girl finally ended the coordination phase with a light cough, her small face slightly red.
"Theoretically speaking, details are just temporarily discussed up to this point. If there are any other settings, we'll add them later Next is the practical session."
"First date rehearsal, Kaito, is there anywhere you'd like to go?"
Kaito shook his head, "You decide."
He was the quiet type, not very clear on what girls liked, and besides, this time pretending to be a couple was Anon's request, so everything should naturally prioritize the client.
"S-Since that's the case", Anon thought for a moment, recalling some plot lines from shoujo manga she'd read before, and quickly had an idea, "Then how about starting with shopping?"
Everything must have a gradual progression.
The young girl was still too shy. Experiencing the daily life of a couple for the first time, even if it was only an act, still made her heart pound nervously like a deer about to crash into something.
Too extreme things she didn't dare do, nor had the courage to. On one hand, it was embarrassment; on the other, worry that Kaito would reject it.
'But if it's just shopping, that's not too over the top, right?'
When they left the caf, it was still Anon who took the initiative to pay the bill.
The girl came from a fairly wealthy family. Though she might fall short of a real rich lady, she'd never worried about money. The pocket money she'd saved since childhood was more than enough not just to treat once, but even to sponsor an eighteen-year-old boy with Kaito as name.
The date location was chosen at a nearby commercial street.
A large chain mall had just opened recently here. The fourth floor was filled with men's clothing stores. Taking advantage of the chance, Anon planned to buy some clothes for her boyfriend (fake) to wear on Friday.
Although the boyfriend (fake) was already an impeccable pretty boy, dressing up was never a mistake. Plus, it could fulfill her own little selfish wish. Ever since she met Kaito, she had never seen what he looked like wearing anything other than the school uniform. Naturally, she couldn't miss such a good opportunity.
But before that
"Hey!"
Anon turned her face slightly, reaching out a slender white and soft hand, like scallions, and her delicate ear tips flushed slightly red, "Since we're a couple, when shopping of course we have to hold hands, right?"
Kaito didn't refuse. Since he had agreed to pretend to be Anon's boyfriend, he wouldn't be perfunctory about it.
He took hold of that delicate, boneless little hand, like a petal drenched in morning dew. Her fingertips felt cool to the touch.
The girl's lashes lowered slightly, and her porcelain-white cheeks were dyed in the colors of the sunset glow, reminiscent of the rose fields in the Valley of Bulgaria.
The burning heat spread from their fingertips to the palms, like a flaming blaze, yet strangely reassuring.
Hand-holding, this kind of thing, once you get used to it, it becomes natural. [T/N: l*wd!]
After going through the initial shyness and excitement, Anon quickly adjusted her mindset.
Pretending to be a couple, no matter how beautiful, was still fake.
Rather than indulging in this illusionary experience card, it would be better to find a way to make it real, turning a "one-day boyfriend" into a "lifelong boyfriend." Then she could hold hands however she wanted. Not just holding hands, she'd even kiss.
As for now, there was something more important.
Girls seemed to have an extraordinary enthusiasm for dress-up games.
School uniforms, hoodies, baseball jerseys, suits, tailcoats, haoris
Dragged around by Anon from store to store, Kaito was like a puppet on strings, being dressed up by an enthusiastic puppeteer in all kinds of styles.
