The proxy confession service

-It was the night before they had to leave the beach house, and Futoshi had been lying in bed.

"Ugh, what do I do? She really might..."

The room was dim. The one loose bulb swayed from left to right in a repetitive motion, like it had traced the same path before. It had been the outlier in the villa; the rest of the house had been covered in expensive LED overheads, all except for this room. 

It had the interior of a modern-style Japanese condo; a random tatami mat had been thrown over the wooden floor. A far cry from the marbled exterior.

Futoshi lay sprawled out on the idle Futon, the sheets clung tightly to his body. 

"Ugh, what was she going to say!  Curse the idiot who made cliffhangers a thing."

Putting his hatred for cliffhangers aside, Futoshi closed his eyes. He had thought that it would be better to sleep it off than dwell on a bad ending. 

                                                                                      ***

"Futoshi, how long are you gonna sleep? It's time to go!" A loud voice pierced through the calm silence.

In his blurry vision, he noticed the figure before him, who had pink hair and an attitude that matched the 'bad ending' he had written off.

"Reina?"

"Yes, it's Reina, now get up!"

As she said that, she threw the futon off of him and dumped a clean towel on top of him. It was rough and smelled fresh - a perfect start to one's day. Or so he thought. 

He looked into the dining room, and Rin was there with a puzzled look on her face.

"Ojino-"

"Rin."

"Right Rin-senpai... You ok?"

She looked at him with an expression, to his relief, that wasn't disgust. She grabbed a twin set of chopsticks, holding them in such a way that brought out her elegance. 

"I'm alright, I guess. Just thinking."

"About Haruto?"

She didn't say anything, she just nodded gently. Picking up a string of udon in between her chopsticks, she spoke softly.

"Mhm." There was a pause as she finished the string she had eaten. "Hey, Futoshi? Thank you for last night."

Last night? All that happened last night was-

"Futoshi?" 

Cutting through the pause that had started, Rin broke him out of his train of thought. He tapped his foot against the marbled floor. 

"Oh, sorry. Yeah, don't worry, I wasn't gonna let Reina-"

"When are you gonna open your eyes, Futoshi?"

 She said it in a tone that was stern but also calm. Just enough for Futoshi to pick up on it.

Open my eyes? To what?

"Wha-" 

Before he could finish what he was about to say, Reina walked into the room. Her pink hair was up in twin tails; she wore an oversized t-shirt, one Futoshi had given her. Rin put a hand to Futoshi's ear.

"To the truth."

Then, Rin left the room, carrying her cup of unfinished Udon with her. Reina sat down next to Futoshi, pulling on his sleeve. 

"It's been nice, huh? Being here."

"It's been anything but nice; it just proved how much different Rin is from us, I mean, look at this place."

She looked at him, chuckling to herself.

"Someone jealous?"

"Not jealous, just being realistic."

"Whatever you say, Jealoushi"

"Stop with the stupid nicknames!"

"Never."

The two gazed upon the ocean that stood before them, basking in their last few moments in the beach house.

"We should come back here one day."

"With you? Couldn't think of anything more horrible."

"You should feel grateful, dumb Futoshi!"

Then a loud voice rang out, breaking the two out of their idle chitchat. 

"Time to go!"

The two grabbed a few open bags and headed toward the source of the voice. The car had been packed with various luggage ranging from a few boxes to a dozen. Futoshi turned to Reina and helped her lift her set of luggage into the back. 

It was heavy.

He could barely lift them into the back; a few even had to go on the back seat due to there not being enough room in the trunk.

She gave a teasing smile.

"Thanks, Futoshi."

"Whatever."

They all got in the car and left the beachouse. It stood there tall and proud. They had seen a lot of things there, even heartbreak.

                                                                                        ***

Monday.

School had arrived once again to welcome in the new term, and the confession club was getting ready for the cultural festival. 

Throughout the halls, students were setting up their classes' cultural festival projects. Voices echoed throughout the halls in exaggerated bursts.

"Let's do a maid cafe!"

"No, a haunted house."

These were just a few of what could be heard. As for the confession club...

"So we're all good for 'the proxy confession service?'"

"Yeah," They all raised their voice in sync.

The proxy confession service.

This aims at helping students confess without them being the ones to physically do it.

"So, who wants to announce the confessions? "

As expected, no one raised their hand, all except for one. The pink-haired girl, known to all as Sakura Reina.

Reina? Who coulda guessed that outcome? 

She raised her tiny hand as far as it could go, her sleeve on the verge of bursting open. The buttons stretched and pulled, gripping her skin tightly.

"The buttons are gonna burst, calm down!" Futoshi placed a hand on her head, tousling her hair. 

"Would you stop that!"

But when will I know I'm ready? I mean, there's the thing with Reina, and now  I need to 'open my eyes to the truth.' But what is that truth? I still don't even know.  We've spent near enough everyday with each other, there has sure got to be something there. But with us? I'd rather live a life of solitude than be with her. But then, there are these times, where I can't help but feel the times with her are kind of...

"Perfect! So, Reina is announcing the confessions, and Futoshi can be the one to listen."

Rin took the wooden stick that lay bare on the table and pointed it at the whiteboard. 

"Haruto and I will be on door duty."

The group got to work setting up signs. The signs read: 'Welcome to the proxy confession service. Got that special someone you want to confess to, but don't have the guts? We're here to help.'

It's so cheesy, it's practically telling you who wrote it.

Futoshi begrudgingly grabbed a sign and put it outside. Haruto was out there laying out some tables and chairs.  Futoshi waved a hand, getting his attention.

"They got us doing all the heavy lifting."

"I guess they did."

There was an awkward silence, and Futoshi desperately tried to interrupt. 

"So... What happened-"

"I told her I loved her."

"You've done that more times than I can count."

"Not like that, I was serious."

Futoshi took a seat on a nearby chair, bracing himself for the worst. He looked into Haruto's eyes; the colour had returned to them. 

"She said nothing. All she did was nod and go back to normal."

"You ok?"

Haruto shook his head, smiling. 

"I'm ok. She didn't reject them after all. That's the whole reason she joined this group, though, wasn't it?  To understand what romance was when it was right in front of her."

"Yeah, but she clearly likes you."

Haruto turned to him with a half smile.

"Even if that's true, I want her to accept her feelings on her own terms."

If that were me, I would've chosen another ending. If that was the good ending... I'd have to go with the bad one.

"What are you gonna do?"

"I don't know."

"Well, you have a job to do right now, so you'd better do that first."

The club had gotten the preparations ready, and the proxy confession service was underway. Futoshi's role was simple: He would be the one to tell Reina the confessions to shout out. 

Then, Reina would shout out the name of the person and who they like. 

"Reina you ready?"

"Yeah!"