Shadow Assistance

It's already been over three years, huh?

And here I am.

The black haired boy looks up into the blue sky.

Better than I ever thought I was ever gonna be.

Mayeda looks down at Usui with a small smile.

And here with him. My first ever friend.

That smile would soon slowly vanish.

The one who doesn't know the truth of why I'm me.

…

"So anyways, I remembered what I was going to talk to you about." Mayeda tells him with his arms crossed.

The brown haired boy waits in anticipation to his friend's words, and a possible anger to his disappearance from earlier.

"Why do you actually likeYoshikawa?" Mayeda finally asked.

A puzzled look flashes onto Usui's face.

"Where did this come from? I already said that it's because-"

"No. I need to know your real reason why."

The taller boy quickly cuts him off, not buying it.

"You're not the type of guy to care much about looks and first impressions until you learn more about that person." Mayeda mentions to him.

Silence would fall upon Usui.

He wasn't able to give a proper comeback to those words.

Sigh.

"So why? Why do you really like her?" He asks once again.

"And if you really try to give me some bullshit answer like because she looks kind or she has huge breasts, I'll beat the stuffing out of you." Mayeda points at him.

Stuffing? The fuck?

Usui hums and nodded, understanding his predicament now.

"But you still haven't answered why you weren't back after you were trying to get your cookie from earlier. So at least answer me on why you left me hanging earlier, man." The boy with glasses responds back.

Mayeda quietly huffs.

So that's how we're playing it?

"I had to use the bathroom." Mayeda simply answers.

"FOR OVER HALF AN HOUR?!" His friend quickly exclaims.

"Yup." Mayeda nods with a shrug.

…

He couldn't have needed to use the bathroom for that long, right?

No way.

"So enough with the dodging, tell me why you like her now." The black haired boy demands again.

Usui crossed his arms and taps his foot.

"Why're you so insistent on knowing? It's just a crush." He replies with a smile.

This wasn't much like Mayeda, he would usually mind his own business and not go into anything.

The tall boy smiles.

"Well, isn't it obvious?" He says.

It seems I'll have to play my hand a bit better.

His gaze would turn a bit confident.

Though he would do it just for show of what he would do next.

"It's because I was thinking about how beautiful she was as well."

Usui's eyes widened a bit from what he was hearing.

No way… is he saying-

"So I was just wondering that if you only had a simple crush, then you wouldn't mind if I went for Yoshikawa myself, right?" Mayeda questions with a small smirk.

The intent of a bold lie.

…

***

It was now history class after lunch had ended.

The white beauty was in her seat, her pretty silver eyes laid upon the sheet in front of her.

Questions about the war last century.

She had known them all thanks to her interest in history.

So naturally it was a walk in the park.

With a pick of a pencil and began to write, she neatly wrote on the paper with such elegance.

Though her mind was still stuck on earlier.

I wonder if it was the best idea to tell Mr. Sato's friend about my liking on him.

Yoshikawa blushes and paused her writing.

I wonder if he'll just straight up tell Mr. Sato instead of keeping it to himself.

That'd be so embarrassing, though he didn't take me as that type of person…

Sigh.

She picks up her pencil and continues to write and continue on with class.

After several minutes of answering the questions on the sheet of paper, she takes her sheet and gracefully stood up to the teacher's desk.

"I've finished my assignment for the day. May I please use the restroom?" Yoshikawa politely asked with a smile.

The teacher nodded in agreement and takes her paper in on their desk before handing her a restroom pass to go.

The white haired girl gratefully accepts the bathroom pass before walking outside of the class to the restroom.

So much happened in such a short amount of time today.

Her shoes clicked on the floor while she walks.

The only sound heard since most students were in clsss by now with nobody else but herself at the moment.

Hallway painted with white color, windows reflecting the sun throughout the glass as she was passing by numerous lockers in silence.

Mr. Sato and Mayeda seem to be nice people, especially Mayeda.

She was lost in thought before she accidentally bumps into a white wall in a moment of distraction.

"Ouch." The girl whined a little and placed a hand on her head, rubbing it gently to soothe it.

She frantically looked around, hoping nobody would around to see what just occurred.

Luckily nobody was there.

A sigh of relief escaped her lips.

She began to walk again before a tap would felt on her shoulder from behind.

A startled look would appear before the beauty turns around to see a boy.

Kawamura Atsushi.

A considerably handsome man, similarly as tall as Mayeda, standing at 183 cms with a lean and athletic figure.

It would make sense on why a boy like him would be quite popular in school.

Oh? It's Kamamura! Did he see what just happened?

The boy's black eyes looked down upon the short woman.

Even though this boy had a bit of a reputation for going around with different girls every month, he was still considered a great guy.

"Hello there. You must be Yoshikawa, correct?" He politely asked in a surprising deep voice yet his tone was a bit gentle.

No wonder girls swoon for this guy.

Yoshikawa nodded in response with a kind smile.

"What brings you here?" She politely asked and turns around fully to face him.

The brown haired boy smiled, a coloring of hair similar to Usui but without the glasses.

"I was just wondering what you were doing by yourself. You do know class has started now, right?" Kamamura teased her a little.

"Ah, well, I was just heading towards fhe bathroom." The white haired girl quickly replies to his question.

Kamamura noticed a bathroom pass in her hand.

He nodded.

"That makes sense, sorry for not noticing the bathroom pass sooner." He hums to himself and placed a hand on her shoulder.

Touching me again…

She clears her throat.

"I think it's best I get going now before the teacher suspects me skipping class." The girl tried to play off and tries to pull back.

But he didn't let her off just yet.

!?

She tries to pull away again.

Still no progress on breaking out of his grip.

"Um, what're you doing?" Yoshikawa asks with curiosity, trying to remain patient.

She glances up at him and noticed the boy's gaze.

Following his gaze, she looks down until noticing he was checking her out, especially her body.

Oh, so it's this again.

She couldn't help but blush and unconsciously try to cover herself with an arm.

We're seriously in the middle of the hallway and he's doing this type of thing in public?

Yoshikawa looks around, noticing the spot they're both at were in a rather secluded spot next to the stairs, nearly underneath it.

He must've took advantage of this opportunity by a spot being rarely noticed and classes still ongoing.

However, she wasn't just some fragile short girl who was all looks for show.

SLAP

"Snap out of it!" She exclaims after slapping Kamamura in the face, a red mark being present with such force.

Definitely something that you wouldn't expect from such a kind and thoughtful girl, but it was something very good too.

***

…

Mayeda looks at Usui, studying his reaction.

The brown haired boy with glasses clenched his fist with a determined look on his face.

In a determined voice, eyes with a burning sense of pride.

"I won't let you take Yoshik-"

"Chill out, I was just kidding." Mayeda cuts him off with a straight face.

…

Usui was puzzled on this odd little banter they had going on.

"Oh man…" He sighs with a small disappointed look on his face, his shoulders slumped a little.

Mayeda noticed this.

Why does he look so disappointed? Was he actually looking forward to some anime romcom love triangle?

The boy in glasses looks at him again.

"Wait, then why'd you say-"

"I don't know why, I just did it for fun."

The black haired boy retaliated with a casual shrug, a look as if this was just a normal conversation to him.

What the heck is up with Mayeda right now?

Usui sighs, not understanding much before looking back at him.

"So tell me, what makes Yoshikawa stand out to you?" His tall friend asks for the final time, not letting this go.

Despite privacy and secrets, Usui knew Mayeda would figure it out eventually.

After all, his grades were the cream of the crop no matter how little he studied.

"You really wanna know the real reason why?" Usui responds and walks to him before sitting by his side while Mayeda remained standing.

Good, he's opening up a little. Now to just press it a little further.

"Of course I do, I just want to understand and help her fall for you." The black haired boy slides down to sit next to him, now sitting on his level.

Usui hums with his eyes closed, seemingly thinking of what to say before looking back at him again.

"It's truly because she does seem kind and beautiful." He admits.

…

Well, that wasn't completely out of the realm of possibility… and he looks very honest about it…

Sigh.

"Really? That's not usually like you, man." He puts a show of care and curiosity.

If I can just understand how they both feel in the deepest ways possible, I can see a vision where this plan may go well.

The boy with glasses looks down at his hands, the foot crossed over the other.

"I know but… I can't help it…" He covers his face.

"For the first time, my heart skipped a beat for a girl for the first time since forever… clearly it has to mean something, right?" His hands kept covering his face, not knowing what to think.

Mayeda's eyes looked thoughtful for a moment before looking up at the sky.

"So it really was first impressions, huh?" He murmured.

Usui nodded, a small blush was relevant on his face now.

"I can't help it… she seemed so kind and beautiful. She didn't laugh either when I slipped, not a show of humor on her face when she accidentally did that to me…" The brown haired boy mumbled and looks back down.

Of course… I get it now…

Mayeda placed a hand on Usui's back and rubs it gently.

Even if it's completely out of Usui's character, he's still only a young man, a human. There's just things we can't control within ourselves no matter how much we try to control them.

Especially when it's all of our emotions.

It seems like this is both of their firsts feeling this way…

Good grief.

Love is such a powerful thing, huh?

"Hey man, it's all good. I understand now, sorry for pressuring you earlier on this." The black haired boy softly spoke as he rubbed his back.

Usui takes his face out of his hands and sat back up with a soft huff.

"It's all good, taking interest in love and stuff is very intriguing after all, especially when someone you know is dealing with it." He mumbles and stood up, now having his friend's hand off of his back now.

It had felt like some weight had been lifted.

"But thanks man, I felt like I really needed that just now." Usui smiled and looks down at his friend, who was still sitting down.

A puzzled look forms.

"Huh? Thanks for what?" Mayeda questions.

A hand was offered down to him.

"For letting me understand why I felt this way. The source of my feelings being heard by someone I can trust all these years even when I can't understand them myself ." His short friend said with a small, warm smile.

He looks up at his hand.

Look at him go, now he's really starting to look a bit more cool when he's actually genuine.

A small smirk plays on his face and takes his hand to stand up now.

They were now both back on their feet.

Mayeda was thinking before walking a few feet away.

Usui calls out to him from behind.

"Hey, class already started awhile ago, so going back is probably useless now. Let's just skip cl-"

"Usui Sato."

Mayeda cuts him off.

"Huh?" His friend was surpised to hear his full name being suddenly mentioned right now.

Mayeda turns around with a calm expression with a relevant smile that radiates… confidence?

"From here on out, I promise… to definitely make Yoshikawa Manami yours."

Mayeda declares to him.

Let's get this love story started.