Feathery Foe

Arata-kun walked down the hallways as if he owned the place.

Hands in his pockets, tie loose, the corner of his mouth tugged up in a smug curve, he replayed the president’s words in his head.

“If you can guarantee that there wouldn’t be any disruption in the clubs activities. I’’ll allow it…For now.”

He could still remember the gentle, forced smile of the student council president as she’d said it.Beyond the hallway’s end, he saw the usual peaceful gardens with various plants and birds flocking around.

And in the scenic atmosphere he saw Hiro-kun and Yua-san together.

Arata froze instantly. Not out of fear. Not out of surprise.

His eyes blinked in confusion.

The two of them sat together on a wooden bench bathed in daylight. The breeze stirred Yua-san’s long hair, making it sway softly behind her. Hiro-kun leaned slightly forward, listening to her with a serious, quietly attentive expression.

And then Arata saw it.

A small Tit bird perched delicately on Yua-san’s shoulder, puffed up like a tiny guardian spirit.

“That Daiki Hiro… He isn’t the type to go around on dates, let alone with such a beauty,” Arata muttered under his breath as his fists clenched.

“That bastard was enjoying his lovey-dovey life while I dealt with Ryoken-kun and Rei-senpai?”From where he stood, the scene looked like it had been ripped straight out of some shoujo manga spread.

Both Hiro-kun and Yua-san smiled as the serious conversation came to a sweet end.Suddenly, the Tit bird was snatched from Yua-san’s shoulder and trapped gently in Arata’s palm.

He bowed his head, his shoulders trembling as a single tear slid down his cheek.“It’s not fair…” he whispered to the bird, voice low and raw, offering no context to both of them who were watching in terror.

“Arata-kun! We can talk it out… just let the bird go,” pleaded Hiro-kun, a scared expression twisting his face, while Yua-san didn’t dare move a muscle under the thick tension.

After a long, dramatic pause, Arata finally loosened his fingers.

The Tit stared up at him in sheer terror, so overwhelmed by Arata’s unhinged performance at point-blank range that, for a crucial second, it forgot to flap its wings.

Instead of taking flight, it dropped like a stone and landed in Yua-san’s lap with all the tragic grace of a wounded soldier collapsing on the battlefield.

Hiro-kun watched this unfold in horrified silence and thought, with a chill running down his spine, that ‘even a bird isn’t safe from this man’.

Arata continued his dramatic speech.“I didn’t even realize I’ve been dragging you into my mess all this time, Hiro-kun… keeping you from going on proper dates like this.”

“Forgive me, my friend… I’ve been barging in and never once letting you two just be a normal couple until now.”

Though his incredibly bad delivery made it clear that he was being sarcastic.

Yua’s cheeks reddened at the word date.

“It’s not like that!” she protested quickly.

“This little one just landed on me. I think it was tired.”

Hiro-kun sighed. “We were just talking. Don’t start your weird theories again.”

Arata’s smile only grew. He crouched a little, bringing his face level with the Tit.

“So,” he said to the bird, as if addressing a witness on the stand,

“Tell me, feathery accomplice. Did you feel the romantic vibes too?”

The bird blinked with its beady black eyes, entirely unimpressed, entirely done with this man’s terrible acting as it looked away instantly.

Yua-san stifled a laugh. “Arata-kun, don’t tease the poor thing.”

In a single smooth motion, Arata reached out.“Eh—?” His fingers closed gently but firmly around the Tit before it could react. The bird let out a shocked chirp, wings flailing, as Arata scooped it off Yua-san’s lap and straightened up.

“Arata-kun!” Yua-san gasped, half-rising from the bench.

“Relax, relax,” Arata-kun said, cradling the bird carefully in both hands. Its tiny heart fluttered madly against his palms. “I won’t hurt it. I just need it for a second.”

Arata flashed him a grin over the frantic bird. “Evidence collection, Hiro-kun. That’s what this is.”

“What evidence are you getting from a terrified Tit?” Hiro-kun shot back. “Its testimony?”

Arata cleared his throat theatrically and faced the bird again.“Witness,” he said solemnly,

“You were present at the scene where Hiro-kun and Yua-san were sitting side by side, suspiciously close, with the wind and sunlight collaborating to create an unreasonably romantic atmosphere.”

“If you believe this to be a budding romance, please kindly chirp once.”

The bird, utterly panicked, it looked as if it was sweating buckets, if birds could do that. It softly chirped.

Arata-kun’s eyes lit up. “Excellent. Testimony confirmed.”

Yua-san groaned, burying her face in her hands. “That doesn’t count! It’s scared!”

Hiro-kun pinched the bridge of his nose. “Arata. Let it go before it dies of stress. Or before I hit you.”

“But look at this scene from my perspective, okay? You two, alone on a bench, talking quietly, her hair fluttering, a tiny bird perched on her shoulder like it’s auditioning for the cover of a romance light novel. What am I supposed to think?” Arata confessed.

“That you’re overdramatic,” Hiro-kun replied with a blank face.

“That you read too many romance light novels,” Yua-san added weakly, her face equally as pale.

Arata glanced down at the trembling Tit. Its small claws pricked his palm as it fought not to be part of this madness.

“All right, all right,” he said softly, the teasing edge in his voiceas he said.

“You did well, little spy. You’re dismissed.”

He slowly opened his hands.

The bird shot into the air like an arrow, beating its wings in a desperate blur before perching on a distant tree branch, glaring back from what it clearly deemed a safe distance.

“See?” Hiro-kun said. “Even the bird hates you now.”

“Hate is a strong word,” Arata-kun replied. “I prefer ‘nervously respectful.’”

He slipped his hands back into his pockets and leaned forward, his eyes flicking between Hiro and Yua.

“So then,” he said lightly, “are you two going to explain yourselves or should I report directly to the president about the suspicious bench meeting with avian approval?”

Yua-san sputtered. “There’s nothing to report!”

Hiro-kun met Arata’s gaze, unflinching. “Say whatever you want. Just don’t drag the bird into it next time.”

Hiro-kun was used to Arata’s antics by now. He was more confident as a line of birds sat upon a branch, consoling the traumatized tit and chirping at them.

Yua-san fidgeted with her hands, eyes darting away as she spoke.“A-actually… I was just… um… telling him that my dad is, well… the defence minister,” she began hesitantly.

“I… I don’t really remember much of my early childhood. It was all… military training and drills at first, but then he got promoted to more formal posts, so things calmed down.”She swallowed, glancing nervously at Arata’s face.

“But when I saw Arata-kun’s smile up close just now, I… I don’t know why, I just… stiffened up. Like my body remembered something and got scared on its own…”Hiro-kun stifled back a laugh as he looked away.

Arata-kun could hear the entire family of birds perched on the tree chirping in laughter at him.

"People feel uneasy around me... huh?" thought Arata, as his sorrow didn't even last a mere second.

Arata-kun smiled once more as an idea struck his mind.