Heartbeats and Illusions

Things had gotten a bit… troublesome.

After their not-so-stealthy tailing operation was clearly exposed earlier, Natsukawa Kanade suggested that maybe, just maybe, they should fall back and reconsider their next move.

He had tried to be kind, really. "Let's not chase them again," he had said, voice calm, measured, like any reasonable person would suggest after being caught in the act. But Fujiwara Chika, in all her pink-haired glory, simply flashed her signature clueless smile and declared, "It's fine! Let's just follow them discreetly this time!"

Discreet? Coming from her?

Sigh…

Kanade exhaled like a salaryman who'd just found out he had to work overtime on a national holiday. In the end, he could only follow her again, as though some unspoken contract of chaos bound him to her whims.

Their movements were swift. They had only lingered for a short while, but by the time they exited the restaurant, the street was already empty.

No sign of Moeha or the others.

Chika blinked rapidly, her face a mix of confusion and mild panic. "Ehh? Where'd they go? Don't tell me… we lost them again?"

Kanade scanned the surroundings with a quiet sharpness. His gaze landed across the street, where a small accessories shop stood nestled between two larger buildings.

"Behind you," he said, casually raising a hand and pointing.

Sure enough, Fujiwara Moeha and the girl beside her had just stepped out of the shop. Moeha, with that trademark twinkle in her eye, even had the gall to wave at them from a distance.

"…Tch."

Too late. They'd been waiting. This wasn't a coincidence—it was an ambush.

Moments later, Moeha and her companion were standing right in front of them, all smiles and faux innocence.

"Ah, onee-chan! What a surprise~ I didn't think we'd run into you here! And you too, senpai!" Moeha chimed with a voice so sweet it almost triggered a toothache.

Kanade finally got a proper look at the two girls.

Moeha, unsurprisingly, was like a compact version of her older sister—blessed with the same pastel features and bubbly presence, but with a sharper gleam in her eyes. If Chika was a chaotic fairy, Moeha was a mischievous tanuki in disguise.

The girl beside her, however, was someone Kanade didn't recognize. She had a soft, "nice girl" kind of appearance—pure, perhaps even gentle—but after years of being surrounded by high-tier beauties at Shuchiin, Kanade's eyes could immediately detect it: this one had background character energy. She wasn't important—probably.

Still, he gave a polite nod.

Meanwhile, Chika stood frozen. The moment Moeha spoke, it was like someone had hit the pause button on her brain.

"M-Moeha! What a… what a coincidence!" she stammered, forcing a laugh that sounded more like a hiccup.

Moeha tilted her head innocently. "What are you two doing out together? Wait—could it be…?"

"…"

Kanade blinked slowly. He could practically see the script playing out behind Moeha's eyes. Her "surprised" expression was almost Oscar-worthy—if he hadn't already known she saw them earlier. Her acting was solid, but the timing was too perfect. This was a setup.

Still, Chika took the bait instantly.

"Ah! That is—we came out to… um…"

"A date, right? Ehh—so envious!" Moeha said with a teasing grin.

"Eh?! A… a date?" Chika squeaked, glancing sideways at Kanade for half a second. Then she quickly nodded. "Y-Yeah! That's right! A d-date! You found us out… I mean, President insisted! He really wanted to go out and spend time with me, no matter what! Ufufu…"

Kanade: "...?"

Oi oi, now he was the one getting thrown under the bus?

She was the one who dragged him around town like a half-baked private detective, and now he was being painted as some desperate guy who wouldn't take no for an answer? Not fair.

But whatever. She dug this pit—let her sit in it. Kanade offered no rebuttal, choosing instead to silently observe Chika's floundering like someone watching a soap opera with popcorn.

Eventually, after exchanging a few pleasantries and dodging suspicious glances from Moeha's friend, the two pairs came to understand each other's purpose for being out.

Kanade and Chika were "on a date" (at least, that was the official party line). As for Moeha and her companion, the real reason behind their outing was even more absurd.

The girl beside Moeha introduced herself as Sakura Aino. Apparently, a persistent male classmate had been trying to ask her out for weeks, but she wasn't interested and didn't know how to reject him directly. So she devised a plan: ask Moeha to pretend to be her girlfriend, and show the guy their "close relationship" so he'd get the hint and back off.

Seriously?

Kanade kept his face neutral, but inside, he was blinking in disbelief. Normally, one would just ask a guy friend to play the role of "boyfriend"—but using another girl as a fake girlfriend to repel a male suitor? This was some 5D shoujo chess.

But hey, it wasn't his business.

Well—except for one thing.

Sakura Aino kept glancing at him.

It wasn't overt, but it was there. Every so often, her eyes would flick in his direction. And when their gazes met by accident, he clearly saw it—that slight hesitation, and a faint glint of hostility.

Haa? What did I do? he thought, confused.

They had all returned to the same restaurant from before. Apparently, the meal from before hadn't left much of an impression, and with the conversation still going strong, the girls had unanimously declared that it was now time for dessert.

As expected, the table was soon swept up in chatter. Moeha and Sakura Aino led the conversation with effortless energy, with Chika jumping in with equal enthusiasm. Meanwhile, Natsukawa Kanade—stuck as the token male in this whirlwind of feminine energy—could barely squeeze a word in edgewise.

He kept a polite expression, occasionally nodding or responding with a safe "Sou da ne..." or "Wakaru..." here and there, but the truth was, he was fading fast. His social stamina had been burned to the core. So, under the pretense of needing the bathroom, he gracefully bowed out of the battlefield and headed toward the restroom to regain some mental HP.

After washing his hands and stepping out, he didn't expect to nearly walk right into Sakura Aino—again.

"Oh, gomen," he said instinctively, raising a hand in apology.

But before he could slip past, Sakura grabbed the edge of his sleeve. Her voice was firm but low. "Come with me."

"...Eh?" Kanade blinked, confused. "Wait, nani?"

Before he could politely decline or ask any more questions, she added, "It's about Moeha."

That got his attention.

"...Yosh," he nodded, suddenly intrigued. He followed her into a quiet corner of the hallway, away from the crowd. His instincts told him this was going to be weird. He just didn't know how weird yet.

"So, what's going on with Moeha?" he asked, straight to the point.

But Sakura didn't answer right away.

Instead... she reached up and started unbuttoning her blouse.

"...NANI?!"

Kanade's brain short-circuited. His eyes widened as he stumbled backward, both hands up in surrender. "Oi oi oi! Are you serious right now?! Stop! What the hell are you doing?!"

This kind of sudden plot twist didn't even happen in daytime dramas! He wasn't even the kind of harem anime protagonist this situation required!

"Calm down! Let's talk this out like normal people! For real, just—button your shirt back up! Onegai!"

But Sakura didn't stop right away. Instead, she muttered to herself in a disappointed tone, "As I thought... I'm too small... It's girls like Moeha who catch your eye."

"...Eh?!" Kanade's jaw dropped again.

What in the name of anime logic was going on here?! This wasn't about confidence or insecurity anymore—this girl was living in an entirely different genre!

Finally, perhaps spooked by his growing panic, Sakura began to refasten her buttons. Kanade let out a long sigh of relief, but his body remained on high alert. Who knew what this girl might try next?

"Okay. You've got my attention. Now please—talk. No weird stuff. Just words," he said firmly.

Sakura nodded, then dropped a line that nearly knocked him over:

"I want you to stop making a move on Moeha. If you're into younger girls, I... I can be your substitute."

"STOP!! Just—yamero! Don't finish that sentence!" Kanade practically screamed, waving both hands like he was directing traffic.

"Forget the last part," he groaned, rubbing his temples. "Let's rewind. What do you mean by 'making a move on Moeha'? Since when have I—?"

"She's looked at you nearly twenty times in the past hour," Sakura interrupted, arms crossed. "Peeking, staring—don't play dumb, senpai. That girl's clearly interested."

"Wait wait wait," Kanade raised a brow. "We were sitting across from each other. Isn't it natural to look this way while talking?"

"Sure," she said with a frown. "But she wasn't looking at me. She kept sneaking glances at you. Don't you see what that means?"

Kanade groaned internally. "Okay, but she also looked at her sister a lot more! What about that?!"

"That's because it's her sister. Of course she'd look at her more." Sakura looked at him like he was the idiot here. "Geez, are all guys this dense?"

"Oi... you're jumping to conclusions." Kanade sighed. "For the record, I wasn't hitting on Moeha. She's in middle school, for crying out loud!"

"Ohhh, I get it." Sakura's eyes narrowed. "So you're saying it's not okay now, but it will be once she's in high school? Right? What a pathetic excuse for a man. hmph"

Kanade nearly choked. "Oi! That's not what I meant! Don't twist my words like some villain!"

But she clearly wasn't convinced. In her eyes, he had already been labeled as "just another shameless male protagonist."

Left with no other choice, Kanade did the only thing he could to protect his (already fragile) reputation.

"Alright, alright! I'll tell you the truth." He leaned forward, his voice serious. "We weren't out here on some love-hunting adventure. Chika and I weren't even on a real date. We were following you two—because Chika was worried about Moeha."

Sakura blinked. Her expression wavered.

Kanade didn't stop there. "So maybe ease up on the accusations. I'm just here playing sidekick to a worried older sister."

Sakura's mouth slowly closed. "Oh..."

Kanade exhaled, feeling a migraine creeping in. "Mou... I just wanted to enjoy a peaceful weekend, not walk into some yuri soap opera full of misunderstanding and surprise strip scenes..."

"No, I get it," Kanade said, rubbing the back of his neck. "I mean, we're not exactly close, so it's not like you'd know what kind of person I am."

Sakura gave him a long, unreadable look. Then, unexpectedly, she smiled.

"Well... I guess I'm a little relieved," she said, visibly more relaxed. "Then I'll leave you to it. Enjoy your dessert or whatever."

Kanade sighed. Finally, the boss battle ends.

But just when he thought the event flag had cleared, Sakura turned back, a serious glint in her eye.

"Still... just in case," she said, reaching into her pocket. "Let's exchange contact info."

"Eh? Nani?"

"If you do try anything on Moeha," she continued grimly, "come at me instead. Don't you dare mess with her."

Kanade froze. "I would never make a move on a middle school student!"

Sakura gave him a face full of "doubt it" and shoved her phone at him anyway.

Forced into compliance, Kanade sighed deeply and exchanged contacts, wondering if this counted as a curse mark. After that, Sakura walked off like nothing had happened, humming to herself. Meanwhile, Kanade stared blankly at his reflection in a nearby window, wondering if this counted as surviving a social boss fight.

After a quick rinse of cold water to regain some mental clarity, he returned to the table, only to find the girls still in full-on chat mode. Laughs, gossip, and cheerful teasing filled the air like background music in a slice-of-life anime. Sakura was back in her element, giggling with Moeha and Chika, not a single trace of the dramatic exchange that had just taken place.

Incredible, Kanade thought. Girls really are natural-born actresses. She doesn't even look shaken... or guilty...

As he sat back down, Fujiwara Chika tilted her head at him curiously.

"President, you were gone forever. We're already almost done with dessert."

"Ah... yeah. Had a bit of a stomach ache," he said smoothly, returning to a blank-faced zen mode, eyes half-lidded like a monk trying to forget mortal sins.

"Speaking of which," Moeha suddenly chimed in with a spark of mischief, "shouldn't we be leaving soon? But... we still haven't completely finished eating, have we?"

Kanade's brow twitched. Something felt off.

Sure enough, she followed up with that cute-yet-dangerous smile.

"Then... maybe I'll ask you, senpai~? I mean, boys have bigger appetites, right? So, could you help me finish my parfait?"

Kanade's mind went full alert.

Danger. DANGER. YURI SNIPER LOCKED ON.

Sure enough, Sakura Aino was sitting just two seats down, side-eyeing him with the intensity of a hidden final boss.

Nope nope nope. He wasn't about to step on that landmine. But before he could even open his mouth to reject Moeha's trap—

"NO WAY!"

That familiar voice thundered across the table. Chika slammed her hands on the table like a judgmental older sister at a disciplinary hearing.

"You can't just ask the President to eat after you! That's gross! Moeha, don't act like a baka—pay attention to your image!"

Kanade blinked. Wait... what?

He looked at Chika with a face full of disbelief. Those words... just came out of Chika-senpai's mouth? Did I slip into an alternate dimension when I went to the bathroom?!

He leaned back in his seat, numb from everything that had happened. This entire trip—this entire day—had turned into one strange episode after another. Misunderstandings, half-confessions, yuri drama, and now being scolded for eating parfait.

There was only one thing Kanade knew for sure:

He was absolutely not getting involved with dessert duty ever again.