Queen Bee and Top Dog

“If we are to part in this lifetime, will we still meet in the next?”

“We will, for I vow to find you in every world that dares have you.”

The cast delivered the lines as practiced, their voices carrying across the audience. Against stage lights and handmade props, the main characters, Kaien and Yume, proclaimed their oaths as lovers. While the scene continued, hushed conversations abounded in the dim classroom.

“Shouldn't Airin Seira be the partner? Aren't she and Kinryuji Kaien a couple?”

“They even kissed…”

“And with everyone watching…”

“I saw it! I saw it…!”

Kaien fought the urge to escape from the attention.

His ears were red. He was warm all over.

What happened yesterday was making its rounds among the students. Everywhere he went, he would hear them talk about it. Much like him, they were not moving past it anytime soon.

Then again, Kaien had kissed Seira—the Airin Seira.

‘Why did I do that? I could've done it some other time somewhere else, but… Why there and then?’ he languished.

He was sure of his feelings by now. Though he regretted how he did it, he did not regret kissing Seira. He was even glad to have conveyed his emotions at last.

But she had been silent afterward—unresponsive, making it hard to tell what she was thinking.

“Forbidden our love may be, I’d rather be condemned together than be spared alone.”

On that stage, he regaled everyone with a heart-wrenching romance that he could not imagine manifesting in his own, not with the current predicament.

His eyes swept across the crowd until he found what he sought in secret. There, Seira sat. She wore a composed expression and straight posture.

His gaze met hers.

Without a sound, Seira stood from her seat. He faltered for a heartbeat, barely noticeable to anyone but himself.

All of a sudden, Yume leaned closer to him. Her hand rested lightly against his, an understanding smile on her face.

“You can go after Miss Airin,” she said to him after their scene cued out. “We have an extra who can take your place.”

Kaien stared at Yume, caught off guard.

The thought tugged at him, but just as quickly, guilt followed. He could not leave like this, especially when she did so much for Seira after the incident in the clubroom. Thanks to her, they figured something out. She had the idea of creating a paper mosaic out of the scraps that Seira's art had become.

“I can't do that to you,” he told her while they headed backstage. “Because of you, we're able to use what remains of Airin's works.”

With everyone's help, the literature club still owned one of the most creative attractions in the school festival. Minato and Shun lent a hand despite their duties in class. Nao worked with Ren to handle the students involved in the incident.

Seira, meanwhile, did her best to bring Yume's idea to life and save her art.

“But you still have to go to her," Yume insisted. "She asked me yesterday while we're making the mosaic to pass that message to you.”

He blinked. “She did?”

“I think she has something to tell you today.”

“She never said anything to me that time, though.”

To be fair, Seira never consented to the public display of attention that Kaien had put both themselves in. She had every right to be upset and distant. She was already displeased with the whole fake relationship.

“Kinryuji,” Yume began again. “It hasn't been long since we started getting along, but if there's one thing I know about Miss Airin, it's that she's not how she seems to be.”

Soon, the performers bowed and the audience applauded.

Kaien remained in deep thought as the crowd cleared. Yume's words lingered until after the play ended.

Deciding to take a break, he went to look around the school. His friends had invited him, but he declined. Realization hit them at once, as did the rest of the class.

“Ah, right! It's honey time~”

“Our bad, lover boy!”

“Go and get that pollen!”

‘Idiots.’

Kaien drifted through the current of students darting from one attraction to another.

The smell of grilled yakisoba and caramelized sugar hung in the corridors. Waves of applause rolled out of the gymnasium, where the talent show was taking place. Girls dressed in floral-printed kimonos strolled past, accompanied by boys in patterned happis.

“Takoyaki discount for couples!”

“Wanna try fortune-telling?”

“Haunted house this way!”

Kaien headed straight to the literature club.

The corridor was quieter here, but still alive. Unlike last year, there appeared to be more people wandering this section of the building. At the end of the hallway, the clubroom left its door wide open.

Warm light spilled through. Faint music drifted out.

Kaien stopped before the door, where a mosaic poster of fictional characters from classic literature was hanging.

‘Ah, Airin's drawing.’

As he entered, a bell chimed overhead. Strings of fairy lights draped along the ceilings. Gauzy curtains covered the windows.

Books were everywhere—stacked on shelves, spread across tables. The scent of tea and paper filled the air. All the room's occupants spoke in low voices.

Then, Kaien noticed the costumes. ‘Oh, Minato mentioned this suggestion from Airin.’

At the nearest table, a student in a suit and cap adjusted a pair of round spectacles with theatrics, imitating a detective. Near the shelves, another member wore a silver-trimmed coat and held a paper rose, acting like a prince.

But the center of the room caught his attention—and with it, his heart.

Seira stood behind the cafe counter, dressed in golden Victorian attire with a brown ribbon tying back her hair. When she looked up, the candlelight flickered in her eyes.

“Ah.”

Captivated, Kaien stared.

The club president noticed him and let out an awed gasp. Nobody saw him there until now, it seemed. The other members also turned toward him in surprise.

“Kinryuji, hey, welcome,” the club president greeted. “So glad to see you!”

“Come, come! Let's have someone serve you.”

“Why don't you sit over there at the counter?”

“Yes, please do! We don't have enough room here, so…”

There's a reason why they're the literature club and not the drama club.

But they had given him an opening. This was his chance to do what he needed.

Kaien approached Seira. “Let's talk.”

Her eyes flicked everywhere in panic. Before she could run, he held her hand. She jolted in surprise and flushed red.

“W-What is it…?”

“If you're not comfortable with all these people around, then…” He brought her to a corner hidden behind thick curtains, all while the onlookers watched with interest.

She ran toward a chair at the side, then placed it in between like a shield. “Didn't we just make it worse?! It'll appear like we're doing something naughty over here!”

“...You wanna?”

She blushed harder. “A-A-A-As if!”

It was not every day that Kaien saw Seira this shy and flustered . She looked adorable, even when frowning. He smiled, finding it endearing

“I saw you during the play. What did you think of it?” Kaien started once more, stepping closer to Seira.

“Terrible—your acting, that is. The heroine deserves better.”

“Forgive me. I can never match the acting prowess of a certain villainess.”

She crossed her arms and scoffed, “You didn't have to. It felt dry and flat only because you're not giving it your all. You’ve just had to have emotions.”

“...Like what I have toward you?”

She let out a soft whimper. He grinned and drew nearer.

“Airin, you see, we're the opposite," he said, "I can't express feelings that I don't have, and what I do have, I can't help but express."

"So, you...k-kissed me in front of everybody?"

"I apologize if that frightened you. Seeing you cry like that, I just couldn't stop myself."

"No, I... T-The kiss didn't scare me at all."

Kaien studied Seira, his smile widening. 

She appeared to be opening up to him again now. He worried that she would continue keeping to herself. Trying to get rid of the gap but still letting her have her distance, he sat on the chair between them, his chest against the backrest and his arms folded over the top.  

"But you didn't say a word after that. Honestly, I'd rather you throw a fit like usual than ignore me. "

"I-I wasn't ignoring you! If anything, I think of you more ever since. You're...always in my mind."

His breath stuttered. "I am?"

Her eyes gleamed with tears as she stared back at him. She seemed overwhelmed but ready, making his heart beat erratically. He braced himself and nodded for her to continue.

"How can I not? Nobody has ever done such a thing to me, has ever seen me that way," she said in a small, quiet voice. "I was so lonely and afraid when I came to this world, but that changed after you stepped into it. For once, I feel seen and heard, and you're just so...so wonderful. You are not the perfect person I thought you were; you're better. Then, I started feeling things I shouldn't have. I get a tad too happy when we're together, then jealous when I see you with someone else. All of it was...too much."   

 "I understand. Thank you for telling me." He reached up to touch her cheek. "I wasn't any different, you know. Before all of this, I never believed I could...love someone. To me, it felt like a whole other world. I was content with that, but you showed me how happier life could be. For that, I'm grateful. I hope someday I can do for you everything you've done for me. Really, you're the most amazing girl I met."

Suddenly, she bent forward and closed her eyes, capturing his lips with her own. 

The kiss was slow, shared in in the stillness between their breaths. A gentle, lingering warmth spread through. At that moment, their hearts beat as one. 

When they pulled apart, Seira gave a most radiant smile that had Kaien falling all over.

"I love you, Kaien."

In that far hidden corner of the room, the love between villainess and male lead blossomed in earnest, unfolding a new chapter in their story.