Futoshi is mine!

The fall breeze swayed, catching her hair along with it. It flowed in the wind like cherry blossoms in spring. Reina grabbed the open window, swinging it open. Various birds chirped all at once, going past in a flock. The leaves on the trees had turned an orange tint, a sign of the cooler weather. 

"Everyone ready?" 

She raised her arms in the air, getting the crowd below pumped up. From the sounds of it, various students from different years all lined up awaiting her speech.

"I wonder if I'm gonna get confessed to?"

"No chance, not with those tacky glasses, you're not!"

There was various banter and laughter heard from below. Futoshi sat up against the door with a cup in his hand tied to some threaded string. This was a common way for people to communicate. 

He had cut a tiny hole at the bottom of each and attached the string to both ends. 

The plan was for him to listen through the door with the cup and pass what he heard on to Reina. 

On the other side of the door stood Haruto and Rin, who would let the person talk through the other cup.

"I'll get started now!" 

Reina eagerly awaited Futoshi, who held the cup up to his ear. It had been a blue plastic cup, one that was often seen at get-togethers or events. 

"I like, Tsukimiya-san. tell her it's Yoshida-kun from the baseball club."

The first voice echoed to him. Tsukimiya-san. From what Futoshi knew, she had been in the swimming club. Not popular but not a nobody either. 

He whispered the words he had been told to say to Reina. Reina grabbed the speakerphone that had been left there by Rin and spoke through it. 

Before that, she put her lips together, doing a drumroll. 

She is so stupid. 

A second later, she shouted:

"From Yoshida-kun from the baseball club: Tsukimiya-san, I like you! Please go out with me!"

"Go on, Yai-san, say something."

"Yeah, say something!" 

From down below, you could hear what Futoshi presumed to be her friends calling out to her.

Aoi and Shuchin had been down there with another speakerphone, so the person could shout their answer back. 

"I accept!"

Futoshi imagined a girl bowing while blushing. 

Probably because of all those Light Novels I've read.

Various claps and cheers could be heard in the distance, echoing through the air.

He put his love for fiction aside and continued with the next confession. He grabbed the cup that he had idly placed back on the table, up to his ear.

"I-it's Mami- san from class 2-B, and my confession goes out to Yusuke-kun: I loved you ever since that day, please go out with me!"

Futoshi whispered it to Reina, and she announced it like last time - drumroll and all:

"This confession is for Yusuke-kun, from Mami-san: I loved you ever since that day, please go out with me!"

A wave of cheers and applause rang out once again, clashing against the birds' chirp. 

She really does put so much passion into these things. No matter how stupid it is, she always tries her best. 

Futoshi gazed at Reina, who had stood facing the outside world. Her small stature compared to the giant window made him almost laugh. 

A few more confessions happened, all ending in a 'yes' followed by a wave of applause or a 'no' followed by an awkward, eerie silence. Those were the ones he especially hated. 

Poor guys. I'll salute in your honour.

A few even happened to be aimed at Futoshi, of which he didn't tell Reina purely because he was scared of her shaming him. 

She can get weirdly hung up on trivial things like that. 

                                                                                            ***

-So the confessions had ended as lunch had come around. The group had sat in the club room, eating their bento. Like any other day, Futoshi and Reina had the same bento- one that he had made the night prior. 

"I shouldn't be making your bento if anything, you still owe me that meal!"

Futoshi announced his desire for Reina to keep her word. When she came round, she had promised she would cook for him-a promise that had yet to be fulfilled. 

Reina scoffed, lifting her twin set of golden chopsticks to her mouth and biting on a bit of octopus sausage. 

"I'll do it later..be patient!"

"And don't talk with your mouth full either."

"I'll do as I please. Thank you very much."

Futoshi just rolled his eyes. Rin, who was sitting opposite the two, spoke up, placing her chopsticks neatly to one side. 

"So you've finished the confessions then?"

She looked at Reina, who had been whistling to herself. 

"...Yeah, right, Futoshi?"

She nudged Futoshi in the arm to get his attention. He puffed out his chest and declared that they had done so, calming Reina's nerves slightly. 

"...right, well, good luck."

"Yep!" 

The club had finished eating their bento and tidied away. Futoshi and Reina headed back to the room where the confessions were held. 

It was quiet in there.

It clashed with the outside that was still loud and cheerful. That's what cultural festivals were like; the once quiet school halls were littered with decorations, and the outside had students and teachers alike enjoying the festivities.

Futoshi started packing up, grabbing the plastic cup and string combo and placing it into a nearby trash can.  

It got tangled around some loose electronics that were left on the nearby table. 

Does no one know how to clean up after themselves?

Just then, Reina raised her hand. 

"U-uh e-everyone. I have one last confession to make."

Her voice shook, like it were on the verge of crying. 

Reina?

All the shouts and laughter coming through the window were silenced by her announcement. It was as if time for everyone had stopped. 

"I have one final confession to make, please listen intently."

Her ears were beet red, guessing by that, Futoshi deduced her face would've been too. She gripped the speakerphone tightly as she spoke. 

Silence filled the air. 

"There's this boy whom I've liked for quite a while. When we first crossed paths, he had been different than i'd imagined. More pessimistic and rude, honestly, h...he pissed me off. He had been more stuck up than I'd imagined and a total dense idiot, even now, I bet he doesn't know who I'm talking about, right?"

Nope. ain't got a clue. 

Reina continued, her face as red as ever. 

"It was at our entrance ceremony when we first met. He was tall, and I was one of the shorter ones at school. He stuck out like a sore thumb while I blended in. He's always been popular and shows off, but underneath all that, he has this soft side to him. "

Futoshi listened closely to every word she said, trying to find a name to latch onto. 

When Reina and I first met, it was at the entrance ceremony. She had scored fairly well on a test, above average actually and was the talk of the school. It wasn't till that day with the locker that I had met her, though. 

She was putting a love letter for someone in there, but had somehow gotten milk to spill all inside it, so I had to help clean it. 

"He had sprinted into an empty classroom where I had been trapped in a locker doing my confession club duties, attempting to sneak a love letter in there on behalf of someone and then milk spilt on me. Even though he didn't have to, he helped me clean it up."

I helped her clean it up, and then she blackmailed me into her scheme: 'the confession club.' 

"That's when I invited him to help with getting the confession club started. He's even the reason so many people joined."

She had given me one day to get someone to join, otherwise she'd tell everyone what happened in that empty classroom; that's how Haruto joined.  

"He was even nice enough to cook for me. We fought, laughed... even some sad moments too. Now I'm not gonna stand here and say something corny like 'he found the real me,' but he was the first person to give me a place where I felt safe."

She was the first girl I had let into my home. The first girl with whom I was honest about how insecure I had been getting cheated on. Granted, I still haven't told her the full truth, but I hope to someday.

"At first, I tried to suppress these feelings, ignore them. And yet here I am, standing right now telling him how I feel. I wrote his actions off as just kindness and that I'd never have a chance to stand by his side."

At first, I was her punching bag. I wrote those actions off as her hating me, but then the more we got to know each other, the more it was clear that was a lie. She was the first person who helped me. 

She turned to Futoshi, who slumped back down to the floor. 

"So, Futoshi... do you get it now?"

That truth... was this it?  Was this what Rin was trying to tell me? I had buried the thought as I knew we were getting closer. 

The way she looked in that moment made Futoshi understand. All this time, he had turned a blind eye to what was right, and that truth had been...

Reina.

He had been a fool for not noticing, downplaying every interaction. He hid behind that 'kindness,' so he wouldn't be hurt. 

Her hair drifted in the wind as she turned, her round eyes gazing back at him. 

I love Reina. I want to be the one there for her. 

He stood up, clenching his fists.

"Yeah."

Reina put down the speakerphone. The outside remained quiet. The only thing making noise was the birds in the sky above. 

"So, do you love me?"

She put her hands behind her back and spoke with teasing intent. 

"Do I? Why don't you ask yourself that question?" 

She averted her gaze, looking elsewhere in the room.

"Well, I hoped you would say it first. I didn't plan this far."

"So you planned this, really?"

She shot him a mischievous grin. 

"Yep! Praise me all you want."

"No chance."

She's so stupid, but something about her makes you secretly root for her. 

Futoshi held his hands up. She fooled him. He breathed a sigh of relief. 

"You got me."

"So say it."

"Why don't we both say it?"

Reina nodded.

The two looked each other in the eyes. Reina's gaze reflected on him. There he stood, his unkempt hair and longer-than-average bangs. 

"I love-" The two said in unison. 

Just then, the door swung open, and who stood there was Rin, Haruto Aoi and Shuchin. Rin gazed at the two now hand in hand. 

"Took you two long enough."

They both looked at each other before quickly breaking away. Futoshi picked up the idle mic on the table, and Reina ran her fingers through her hair.  

                                                                                        ***

School. I hated it. Listening to boring lectures, I don't care about the drama, the gossip that came with it, the lot. I would've even called it my own eternal nightmare. But now? Well...

"Reina, come on, let's go, we'll be late."

The two rushed out the door of his house, a loose sock hanging off one of his feet. The birds had been chirping, and the sun was beaming from the horizon. 

The air had a slight chill to it, not cold enough for a coat, but cold enough to feel it. Reina wore plaid mittens with a scarf of the same. 

"Almost there!"

He stopped to pull up his sock that had fallen, and sprinted up the hill.

"Are you really that slow? Pick up the pace, slowshi!" 

The two made it up the hill to school in time, barely missing the first bell. 

Futoshi turned to Reina, who was beside him. 

"I love you."

As she heard that, Reina blushed, gripping her plaided scarf tightly. She wound up for a kick before hitting him in the back. 

"W-why say this now, you're supposed to wait for the right moment for this kinda thing."

The two headed into school as their new life together began.