Chapter 39 : Raise the stakes

If you’ve never been voted into public embarrassment before, let me tell you, it’s not fun.

“Okay, okay, let’s make this fair,” Daiki said, grinning like a villain. “We’ll vote who should act out the next card!”

The card he held up said: Childhood Crush.

I immediately raised my hand. “I vote not me.”

“That’s not how voting works, Yuuji,” Hina said flatly.

Half the class immediately started chanting, “Airi! Yuuji! Airi! Yuuji!” like this was a sports game instead of my downfall.

“Wait, wait, wait—!” I held up my hands. “There are other people here! Look at Mika! She’d do great! Or Kenta! He’d love this!”

“Don’t drag me into this, man!” Kenta yelled, already laughing way too hard.

Mika covered her face. “I-I can’t! I’ll mess up!”

Daiki slammed his hand on the desk like a judge. “The people have spoken! Childhood crush… Yuuji and Airi!”

The room erupted.

Airi tilted her head with her perfect “innocent idol” smile, but I could see something in her eyes that said You’re not escaping this one, Yuuji.

The classroom café turned into an arena.
Desks were pushed aside, people leaned over counters, and Kenta somehow found a broom to use as a microphone.

“Ladies and gentlemen!” he shouted into it. “Welcome to today’s main event! Our childhood crush performance by Tanaka and Airi!”

“Kill me,” I muttered.

Airi clasped her hands together, cheeks glowing like she was born for this. “Oh, Yuuji-kun… we’ve known each other since forever, haven’t we?”

Gasps filled the room. Daiki was already pretending to cry into a napkin.

I scratched my cheek, trying not to die. “Uh… yeah. Since… forever.”

“You always protected me,” she said dramatically, stepping closer. “Even when the other kids were mean…”

That was the complete opposite, but if I corrected her in front of the class, I was a dead man.

So, I played along. “Y-yeah. Totally. I’m basically a hero.”

More laughter. Someone whistled. Hina was scribbling notes like she was grading our performance.

Then Airi suddenly leaned forward, eyes sparkling. “And… even now… I still…”

The class leaned forward.

I panicked. “—still think I deserve a raise!”

The room burst out laughing. Mika nearly fell off her chair. Kenta banged the broom on the floor like a drum.

But Airi didn’t flinch. She just gave me that terrifyingly sweet smile. “Raise, huh? Don’t worry. I’ll raise the stakes.”

And before I could escape.

she grabbed my hand.

The class screamed.

“WOOOOOO!”
“JUST CONFESS ALREADY!”
“BEST ACTING EVER!”

I swear Kenta was about to climb on the counter and start a wave.

By the time the scene ended, my face was red, Airi looked satisfied, and our classmates looked like they’d just watched the finale of a drama series.

The café finally quieted down after the last group of customers left.
We were all tired, but at least no one spilled hot chocolate on themselves.
(Except Daiki. But that's on him.)

Just when I thought we could rest, the school speakers decide to speak up.

“ATTENTION ALL STUDENTS!” boomed Mr. Kumagai’s overly dramatic voice.
“PLEASE GATHER AT THE COURTYARD. IMMEDIATELY. THIS IS NOT A DRILL!”

Daiki groaned. “What is this, a fire alarm?”

“No,” Hina said calmly, “this is worse.”

She was right.

We walked out to the courtyard, and there it was.

the giant Christmas tree shining like something out of a Christmas commercial. And right under it, the stage we’d seen earlier. The one with the huge banner in bold letters : CONFESS OR DARE.

“Ah. So it's time,” Daiki muttered.

“This is insane,” I said. “Who even allowed this?”

“Kenta,” Airi answered flatly.

And right on cue, Kenta ran up onto the stage, waving like a maniac.
“WELCOME, SEIRYOU STUDENTS! The moment you’ve all been waiting for!”

“No one was waiting for this,” Daiki shouted.

Kenta spread his arms wide. “Tonight, we’re making history! Confess or Dare stage! You can say your feelings here, OR if you’re too chicken, you can do it from backstage where no one sees you. Either way, something’s going down tonight!”

The crowd broke into loud chatter.

“This is so dumb,” I said.
“This is so fun,” Daiki corrected.
“This is so interesting,” Hina added.

Then the chaos began.

Students started lining up like it was karaoke night.
Some went on stage and shouted random things.
“I CONFESS I ATE MR. KUMAGAI’S SNACKS FROM THE FACULTY ROOM!”
(That was Kenta, obviously.)

Another student yelled, “I CONFESS I LOVE DOGS MORE THAN HUMANS!”
Then someone dared him to bark, which he actually... did.

Soon it was a mix of awkward confessions, weird dares, and bad singing on the side stage.

Meanwhile, Daiki clapped like he was watching the best show of his life.
“This is gold. PURE GOLD.”

That gold made me wanted to crawl into a hole.

The chaos went on. Confessions, dares, yelling, dancing. The energy was insane.

And then—
The crowd went quiet.

I followed everyone’s gaze.

Airi Fujimoto was walking toward the stage.

She climbed the stairs, her short hair glowing under the Christmas lights. She stood at the center, gripping the mic with both hands.