"Eh? Ruu…"

Nami didn't expect me to say that. She thought I would just create a whole new story about how we first met.

When Arisa-senpai sees her like that, she puts on another playful smile.

"What's wrong? You said it's fine to tell them. Are you embarrassed?"

I teased her a bit as part of an act and well, also for real. I still remember that day when she first approached me.

"…No. Go on, tell them. We'll have a talk later, prepare yourself."

I don't know if that's her act but she sure showed me a scary glare while her smile was still plastered on her face.

"Shoot, you're in for trouble already Onoda-chi. But to think it will be her who will approach first. Which spell did you put her under?"

Arisa-senpai laughed at our exchanges. She's enjoying this.

This is a sign that our act is convincing.

"Eh? No, there's nothing like that. It was last Wednesday when she suddenly called out to me and asked if I am a stalker."

I'm sure Nami is also thinking back on that time.

Back then I was just someone she took interest in because she found similarities between us.

"Stalker?! Pfft. That sounds like her. So, why did she ask you that?"

Arisa-senpai even changed seats to get closer to us. Among the people here, she's the only one who kept asking us questions, the others were just listening curiously. 

But so far, no one called out for our act.

"She said she noticed me looking at the back of a senior."

Now not only Arisa-senpai is listening closely. Ogawa and the others from our class didn't know how Nami suddenly became close to me when we never talked to each other in class.

"Heh, I can imagine her doing that. Nanami-chan is always that interesting. When she first approached me, she also asked something absurd out of the blue."

Ah. This is new. So Nami's always like that. Well, she's somehow straightforward as well. Even if we only know each other's name from being in the same class, she didn't hesitate to ask me that question. Even more so, it was outside where others could hear her.

"At that time, I'm thinking what have I done to get on her bad side. Though she left swiftly after I answered her. Then the next time she approached was last Friday when I was about to go to the cafeteria."

"Oi. Wait. You'll really tell us your whole love story? And you two, stop gazing at each other. Until when will you do that?"

Arisa-senpai stopped me from retelling everything. I guess it's lengthy for her.

I have a lot to tell her though. And most of it is true anyway.

"Err… Is it bad?"

I took my gaze away from Nami and turned it to Arisa-senpai.

When she mentioned that we're gazing at each other, Nami blushed out of embarrassment and maybe I was the same.

I didn't notice that our eyes were locked to each other in front of them.

Maybe Ogawa will mention this earlier. I'll just make an excuse that we did that for a more believable act.

Well there's also a possibility that he'll just gulped it down and convince himself that this is all part of the act.

"No. Just jump on how you beat Ogawa and got her to say yes."

Ah. This Arisa-senpai. She didn't have any breaks in her mouth. She mentioned Ogawa's name.

I saw him flinching from it at the corner of my eye.

"Ogawa?"

I acted like I don't have any idea about what she's talking about.

"You don't know? Kazuo also has the hots for Nanami-chan but he was too scared to confess. Now he doesn't have a chance to do that anymore."

She even smirked at Ogawa's direction while answering me.

"Arisa-senpai…"

Finally, he couldn't keep his silence anymore.

"Sorry Kazuo, Arisa is always like this, I'll stitch her mouth later."

Izumi-senpai apologized instead of Arisa-senpai.

Right. This confirmed that Izumi-senpai likes him as well. This harem protagonist…

"Eh? I didn't know about that. Ogawa, why didn't you confess? Ah. This is not me trying to rub salt on your wound. I'm just curious. In class, you and Nami seem pretty close."

"N-no. You don't have to worry about that. It's cool. Nanami accepted you so I guess it's really my fault that I didn't confess. There's no other reason, like Arisa-senpai said, I was scared. Now I don't have a chance anymore."

This guy, he's riding our act. That's good. Excellent even.

I tried reading his expression and it's real. No, it looks real.

Well, if he really lost it, he wouldn't act like this. He will flip out and confess that Nami and I were acting.

"Kazuo… we're still friends, right?"

Nami supported his act by asking him with a worried look.

"Of course. I'm happy for the two of you, Nanami."

With a refreshing smile that's probably what captured most of his harem, he answered her.

"Now now, let Onoda-chi answer my question."

Arisa-senpai interjected again. This girl, even if she was reprimanded by Izumi-senpai, she's still at it.

She was truly amused at what's happening. Now I can feel the atmosphere in this room turning awkward.

"Err... I don't think it's anything special. Last Monday, I confessed to her and Nami accepted me."

I answered.

Ah. I really confessed to her. It was yesterday and not last Monday though and I was not asking her to be my girlfriend.

"Oh? Nanami-chan. Is it really that simple?"

Arisa-senpai was not convinced at my answer so she turned to ask Nami next.

"No… Ruu, when I first saw him, I felt like I found someone like me. I approached him and I was right. Then we started talking after that day, the more I know him, the more I became drawn to him. Last Monday, when he suddenly told me he wants me to be his, it put me into some kind of wonderland. I felt happy and--"

"Hey hey. Stop. I stopped him to retell your whole story but you finished it by yourself. Nanami-chan. Is that the effect of being in love?"

Arisa-senpai cut off Nami.

She's really into our acting that after our visit here, it's possible to naturally act as lovers in front of them next time.

But yeah, once we leave this room and I pass her to Ogawa, the act will end.

"Effect of being in love? No, you asked me and I answered."

"Arisa, shut your mouth now. Nanami, it's enough. Onoda here looks sincere enough for me. You both don't have to be so tense at answering this girl's questions."

Izumi-senpai finally intervened and stopped Arisa-senpai to ask more questions, she even hit her head.

"Thank you Izumi-senpai."

Nami thanked her and I followed suit.

"Looks like you got a perfect match."

She smiled at us but I guess she's happier that her greatest rival for Ogawa was now out of the competition.

My desire to steal her was ignited since earlier but I'm suppressing it. I vowed not to add more targets for now after all.

"Ah. I wouldn't call it perfect. I was expecting you will all find it weird that I decided to accept him."

Nami answered honestly.

Normally that will be their reaction but you have competition here. If the strongest girl suddenly got a guy, they would welcome it with open arms. Ah so much for being friends. They probably separated their friendship and rivalry. Who knows.

"Nanami-chan, I don't think they will find it weird. They're even happy, you know? Izumi and Hina-chan are smiling, they now have a chance at Kazuo."

Arisa-senpai voiced out what I was thinking.

"What are you saying, Arisa-senpai? They don't look at me like that."

Ogawa reacted and denied Arisa-senpai's words. I guess he was already aware of their affection, he was just playing dumb since he only has Nami in his eyes.

"This guy… You should open your eyes and stop being this dense."

Arisa-senpai shook her head and showed how disappointed she was at his answer.

This girl. She really doesn't have any breaks on her mouth. Is she always like this?

Ogawa chose not to answer back and just stayed silent.

"Arisa… pick one, ruler or belt?"

Izumi-senpai glared at Arisa-senpai while pulling her on the ear to put her back to her previous seat.

"Eh? No. Izumi, we stopped using violence, right?"

It was at this scene when then the door to the clubroom opened again and a familiar face entered. 

Ah, here she was, the Student Council President of this school.

"The clubroom is this lively, what's the occasion?"

The newcomer asked. She scanned the room and her gaze landed on me. I was the only unfamiliar face in this clubroom.

"Shizu! You're finally here. Look! Nanami brought a guy."

Arisa-senpai shouted and pointed at me like she found a lifesaver from Izumi-senpai.

"Huh? A guy?"

Her eyebrows raised as she observed me and my reactions. I vowed to her and greeted her.

Nami also did the same but didn't say anything.

"She got herself a boyfriend and she brought him here to be introduced to us."

Only now did I realize that even Izumi-senpai turned silent when the Student Council President showed up.

What is this? Are they afraid of her?

"Are you sure? Kazuo, why are you sitting calmly there?"

She turned to Ogawa and with a commanding tone, she asked him.

Ogawa flinched but he didn't answer. Instead, it was Nami who answered her.

"Shizu-senpai. Why are you asking him?"

"Nanami. You're not him. Why are you answering?"

Ah. What's the story between them? Looks like this Shizu-senpai was unconvinced about our relationship.

It didn't look like she saw through our act but she's asking Ogawa why he was taking this calmly.

"Kazuo is unrelated to this."

"Oh please, Nanami. I know how you two are into each other. Now, you brought a guy who simply neither has the features nor looks that could make you fall."

Shizu-senpai, the President, explained.

I see that's why she's unconvinced. And clearly, she's not putting me into her eyes. Haa.

"Can I say something?"

"No. I don't know who you are and I don't care so shut your mouth."

With a calm tone, she answered me. Normally one would be intimidated by that but yeah, I'm not a normal one.

"I see. I'll introduce myself then, senpai. I'm Onoda Ruki. Nami picked and accepted me. If you're unconvinced, I don't care about that. You can have your opinion but don't force it on us. If you don't like me, just say it outright."

I stood up and faced her. Nami was pulling on my hand as if telling me to sit and not provoke the President.

We might be acting but yeah, I don't like the way she ignored me and shut Nami down.

Right now, Nami is mine. They seem to be scared of her, I don't know why and I don't care. I'll ask Nami later. Whether she has her reasons or not, that doesn't matter