Chapter 66: The Idiot Squad Intervention

The TV is still on.

The man on the screen, Prince Kenji, is bowing to a foreign ambassador. He is perfect. He is cold. He is a stranger.

In my lap is a note from Fuji. The one who likes penguin aprons and gets flustered by my parents.

My phone is buzzing so hard it's about to overheat.

Toujo: "AOI. DUDE. HE'S A PRINCE. A PRINCE! I KNEW IT! ...Okay I did not know it, but HIROTO KNEW IT!"

Rika: "Aoi-chan, are you okay? This is... this is a lot. That uniform was really... intense. He looked sad. Are you okay?"

HirotoSparkles: "SEASON 2! THE PLOT TWIST! IT'S BEAUTIFUL! The commoner girl! The runaway prince! This is ratings gold, Angel! GOLD! My agency is already drafting a press release about how I know you!"

DaikiJerk: "A prince. You left me for a literal prince. I cannot compete with that. That is the most broken 'Pay-To-Win' character build I have ever seen. This is bullshit."

I just stare at the screen.

Prince Kenji.

My rival. The guy I kissed. No, the guy who gave me CPR. The guy I confessed to. The guy who held my hand.

He is a Prince of Japan.

This means my life is not just "not peaceful." It is a "national incident."

I am so screwed.

I hear a noise downstairs. A loud one.

"AOI-CHAN! WE ARE HERE! WE BRING SUPPLIES!"

It is Toujo's voice.

I hear my mom. "Oh, Toujo-kun, Rika-chan! Welcome! And... oh my! Are you... Hiroto Suzume?"

"Indeed, madam!" Hiroto's voice. "We are here for an emergency script meeting for our leading lady! Is she upstairs?"

"And... Daiki-san?" my dad's voice booms. "Deception? In my house? You're Aoi's friend too? This is amazing!"

"Just here to check the network security," Daiki mutters.

My door flies open.

Rika, Toujo, Hiroto, and Daiki all pile into my room.

Rika is holding a bag of convenience store snacks. Toujo is holding a whiteboard. Hiroto is holding his phone, already recording. Daiki is just looking awkward.

"Aoi-chan!" Rika rushes over and hugs me. "Are you okay? You're pale!"

"He's a prince," I whisper.

"I KNOW!" Toujo shouts, slamming the whiteboard down. "This is huge! My best friend is going to be a Duchess! Or whatever! I am going to be a Duke! Or a Viscount! I demand a castle!"

"You are an idiot," Daiki grunts, slumping against my wall. He looks at General Fluff, the giant pink bear. "He even left... loot. Typical."

"Angel, this is perfect!" Hiroto says, pacing. "You are the center of the biggest story in Japan! You, Bloody Twilight, have captured the heart of the runaway prince! My agency is exploding. They want to sign you! We can do a reality show! 'Aoi and the Prince'!"

"I am going to punch you," I say, my voice dead.

"See? That's the tsundere spirit!"

I look at them. My idiot squad.

Rika looks worried. Toujo looks greedy. Hiroto looks ecstatic. Daiki looks broken.

"He lied to me," I say, finally letting the anger bubble up. "He pretended to be a normal, run-down apartment guy! He let me meet his... wait, no. I let him meet my parents! My dad told him to 'use protection'!"

Daiki chokes on his own spit.

"Your DAD?" Toujo howls with laughter. "He told the PRINCE to... oh, that is the best thing I have ever heard!"

"This is not funny!" I roar, standing up. "He's gone! He left! He just vanished and now he's on TV in a... in a costume!"

"That's not a costume, Aoi-chan," Rika says softly. "That's his life."

I stop.

She's right.

The run-down apartment. The penguin apron. That was the costume.

The cold, perfect stranger on TV... that is his real life.

I look at the note in my hand.

"It was not a lie. You are not a lie... Wait for me."

"He's trapped," I whisper.

The idiots all stop.

"Trapped?" Hiroto asks, his eyes wide. "Ooh! A gilded cage! Even better!"

"He said his 'vacation is over'," I read from the note. "He said he would 'find a way back'. He said he might have to 'start a war'."

Daiki pushes off the wall. "Start a war? Okay, that part is kind of cool. Still a jerk. But a cool jerk."

"So," Toujo says, grabbing a marker for his whiteboard. "What's the plan?"

I look at him. "What plan?"

"Operation: Rescue Prince Charming, duh!" Toujo draws a terrible picture of a castle. "We have to go get him!"

"We are high school students!" Rika shouts. "He is in the Imperial Palace! We cannot just... 'go get him'!"

"I can!" Hiroto says, puffing his chest out. "I am a star! I can get into any party! I will go to the Palace! I will find him!"

"And I," Daiki says, cracking his knuckles. "Can find a weakness in their security. Every system has a flaw."

"And I," Toujo says, "am the... the... the distraction!"

I look at the three of them. The Gamer. The Actor. The Fool.

And Rika, the sensible one, who is already bagging up the snacks for their "mission."

This is my life.

I look at General Fluff.

"Fine," I say, grabbing my jacket. "This is the stupidest plan in history."

"So you're in?" Toujo asks.

"He is my rival," I growl, cracking my knuckles. "Nobody traps my rival except me."