Chapter 16: If I Confess to Her, Will I Also Hit My Head?

"Oh? Don't tell me that King Kobra is too much for a cute girl like you to handle~. The King has a gentle side too~"

The girl Kenta was talking to backed off a couple of steps.

"Oh? Then maybe you would be the one to give the king a shot?"

Another girl couldn't even hide the disgust as she backed into the crowd.

Maybe it was due to recent events, or maybe Kenta had truly grown out of this phase, but he felt his face burning with shame for every moment he spent making a fool out of himself.

If only they would all leave, he thought.

If only they could all forget I exist...

Yet the young man shook his head, banishing any thought that he should stop.

You owe me one for this! You better not mess up!

For a good friend, to put oneself in an embarrassing situation for the sake of your friends was nothing if not normal. Especially when so much was at stake. 

No matter how many people would laugh at him and no matter whether Kenta would ever get to live the normal student life, he had made up his mind to save his hopeless friend.

So what if he were going to end up pushed aside? Hasn't his life always been like that? So what if everyone would laugh at him for the next three years? One day, he would graduate regardless. So what if he ended up all alone with nobody to love? He could always go back to his village. So what if—

*Clap! Clap! Clap!*

"Huh?"

For a moment, even the mighty King Kobra was stunned.

"Wohoo! Go King Kobra! Bust a move!"

That was the first time words of encouragement were spoken to the king.

"Show us what you've got!"

For what reason were they shouting? For what reason was he being encouraged to do the thing that had brought him shame so many times before? He wasn't sure what had changed, but—

"Haha! Let's go! Everyone, look at your mighty King, and rejoice!"

—but Kobura Kenta was not one to miss out on his chance to shine.

"Now look in marvel! For King Kobra is going to bust the nastiest moves you've ever seen, yo!"

As for what kind of moves were the ones Kenta performed next, they were at the very least less than gracious. Even so, the ovations didn't stop.

"Yeah! You show them! Stomp on all those damn ants!"

"Huh? I thought he was dancing..."

"Shhh! Whatever it is, don't let this mood die down!"

And once the dance was done, King Kobra cleared his throat, ready to make an announcement.

"Ahem! Now that you're fully entranced by your handsome king, let me call forth one of you in the audience."

"Oh! He's going to call Airi forth!" one of the boys shouted, yet Kenta only glanced over the girl who made his head skip a beat, looking next to her instead.

The one the young man had signaled to come to him was none other than Yuurei, and with no hesitation, the demon girl stepped forth.

"To think you'd pick me in the end~" she said, but when she reached Kenta, the boy stopped her, grabbed her by the shoulders, and turned her around, pointing her gaze to the top of the main building.

"My fellow subjects, now you will witness the main attraction of the show!"

*****

Haruto took a deep breath.

"It's worked better than I expected..." he told himself, a nervous grin blooming on his face.

"Maybe I shouldn't have made up all that about haunting the campus..."

But by now it was too late to take it back, and the boy's biggest lie resounded in his own head again and again.

"So when he starts going on about King Kobra again, make sure you all applaud and cheer for him. That way the ghost will finally be put to rest, and Kenta will come back as a normal student we can all be friends with!"

"Still... who would have thought so many would gather? Word sure does spread fast around here..."

Now, standing atop the main building, overlooking the masses, all of the attention he had been directing on Kenta was now back on Haruto. In the middle of it all was her, the one this grand scheme was targeting.

"Yet I can't calm myself down..."

The rooftop felt nothing like a branch. It felt stiff. It felt judging, just like everyone below. It felt as if it were telling Haruto to back up.

"But imagine how embarrassing that would be now!"

So Haruto gulped down and cleared his throat. Realizing too late that he should have brought a megaphone, all he had left was his own voice, so he shouted towards the girl whose hair had once again turned pale white.

"Yuurei!"

First, he shouted her name.

"I thought about how to make this the most memorable event of your life, but the room with all the balloons was locked! Sorry!"

Then, he shouted his excuse.

"Even so, I am here, so I might as well say it to you loud! I like... everything about you!"

After that, he shouted something vague.

"I liked the way you grabbed me by the hand back in high school! I like the way you have been watching over me for the past year! I like the way you used to look at me every morning! I like the way you hung around me on walks... and wherever I went actually! I like the way your eyes and your hair change color and the way you can't hide your emotions from me! I like... your horns and that tail... I guess... But most importantly, there is something I love above all of that! An answer you've been waiting for for too long!"

He didn't forget to shout his reasons.

"I love you! Yuurei! Please make me the happiest man on Earth and go out with me!"

Finally, he shouted back his answer. After more than a year of dragging things on, and only when he felt like he would forever lose her, Haruto became the man he dreamt of being.

Now all he had to do was wait for an answer, and as he did so, he desperately looked down in the crowd at the girl with white hair. Hair that, as he had pointed out before, was quick to turn before she could even give her answer. An answer that was as clear and bright as the pink on her head.

"Yes! Took you long enough!"

Then, for his final trick, Haruto felt his legs go numb, and he fell off the building, leaving everyone terrified.

As for when he landed...

"Huh? So the mattresses had nothing to do with Kenta? We've brought them all the way here for that?" a confused boy asked another as he scratched his head.

"Now now, isn't that plenty? Look how happy those two look on them~"

"Okay, you two, give the newlyweds some privacy!" a girl butted in, covering their eyes. At the same time, everyone else faced the other way. 

For it was nobody's business to stare upon their first kiss.

*****

"Kissing in public like that... they must be from overseas!" a boy proclaimed as he left the scene, but not before showing a thumbs up to Kenta, who replied the same way, yet with much more awkward moves.

"Come on, now it's your time to help him."

With a bright smile, Yuurei pushed Haruto off of the mattresses they hadn't left since.

"Or what? Don't tell me you're the one who doesn't want us to be apart now~"

"Hah! Don't get yourself carried away! I may not be as good a friend, but I'm not letting him down!" Haruto proclaimed. Then he turned towards Kenta and took a step, but somebody else was faster than him.

"You were like, so cool out there, Kenta! No, King Kobra!"

The boy's eyes opened wide. Kenta seemed to have completely forgotten the character he was playing the moment this blonde senpai complimented him. He tried to look another way as he scratched his bald head, but the second he tried to move, Airi grabbed his face with both palms and turned it back towards her.

"Now, let's award the hero of this show with a date~"

That's when Kenta froze.

"Now?"

"Of course now. Let's go!"

"Wait, Airi... senpai. Let me first grab my hat!"

At that moment, Airi looked at the red line on Kenta's head once more. She tried to wipe it off with her thumb and a bit of saliva, but to no use. Then she smiled, grabbed him by the hand, and dragged him along all the same.

"Nope~ It's much cooler this way!"

Baffled, Haruto watched the two as they ran out of the campus. He then smiled, turned around, and offered Airi his hand. The demon girl in turn grabbed it and got off.

"Eh~ Is this as far as your friendship goes? Stolen by a pretty gal?"

Haruto nodded. There were clearly some things that would only be understood between friends.

"Not really..." he said.

"Sometimes you just have to let them learn by themselves."