Chapter 63: The Idiot Squad "Helps"

I am moping.

I am sitting on a swing set at a park.

Bloody Twilight does not mope. Bloody Twilight does not sit on swings.

And yet, here I am.

My reputation is ruined. My life is ruined.

He dumped me. In the most dramatic, cowardly way possible. Withdrawing from school.

Who does that?

"ANGEL!"

Oh, no. Not him.

Hiroto Suzume slides onto the swing next to me. He is wearing a disguise. (It is a fake mustache and a fedora.) He looks like an idiot.

"I heard!" he gasps. "The Main Lead... he vanished! Poof! Right after the Confession Arc! What dreadful writing!"

"Go away, Hiroto," I mutter.

"I cannot go away! My leading lady is depressed! The plot is stalling! Where did he go?"

"How should I know? He withdrew. He ran off. It is over. You win. The Main Lead sucks. Congratulations."

Hiroto stops swinging. He looks at me.

"Angel... you're actually sad. Oh, no. This is real."

"Of course it is real, you moron!" I snap.

"So... the limo thing... was real?"

I turn and look at him. Rika and Toujo are standing behind us. They must have called him.

"You told him?" I hiss at Toujo.

"He's weird, Aoi-chan! He understands dramatic exits!" Toujo defends himself.

Hiroto gasps. Loudly.

"A limo?" he whispers. His eyes go wide behind his sunglasses.

"And a man in a suit?"

"Yes..."

"And he called him... 'Your Highness'?"

Hiroto... screams.

It is a high-pitched, dramatic shriek.

"A SECRET PRINCE?!" he yells. A dog-walker stares at us.

"IT ISN'T A SECRET PRINCE, YOU IDIOT!" I roar. "IT'S... I don't know what it is! It's a weird prank!"

"No... no... no..." Hiroto is pacing. He rips off his mustache. "It makes sense! The Ice Prince! The perfection! The secretive family! The sudden withdrawal! Angel, your boyfriend is ROYALTY!"

I stare at him. He is insane.

"He is not..."

"Yo."

Oh, God. The whole squad is here.

Daiki Hanata is leaning against a slide. Hoodie up.

He looks terrible.

"Heard your Prince Charming ditched you," Daiki mutters. He walks over. He isn't smirking.

"What do you want, Daiki?" I sigh.

"He's a jerk. I knew it. I came to... make sure you were okay. Or whatever. Rika called me. She said you were moping. It's gross."

"So this is it?" Hiroto gasps, looking between Daiki and me. "The Main Lead (Fuji) is revealed as a Prince and leaves! Now the Misunderstood Second Lead (Daiki) swoops in to comfort the heroine? What a classic trope!"

"I am NOT a trope!" I yell.

"I am NOT swooping!" Daiki yells.

"He IS a Prince!" Toujo yells, suddenly believing it.

I am surrounded by idiots.

I stand up.

"I'm leaving. You're all insane. He's not a prince. He's just a liar. And I'm done."

I storm off. Leaving my three protagonists arguing in a sandbox.

Secret prince. What a joke.

...But why did he call himself Fuji if he was Kenji? No. Prince Kenji.

Ugh. My head hurts.