As Akaza was approaching the back bench on the right, everyone was watching him.
All the girls were practically swooning over him. Except one.
Akaza's eyes flickered toward Akari—the only girl who wasn't even looking his way.
She sat straight, completely unbothered by his presence.
Akaza raised an eyebrow briefly, then rolled his eyes and kept walking.
He made his way to the back bench where Kazuma and Daiki were sitting.
Akaza looked at me before saying,
— "Can I get some space?"
Me and Daiki shifted slightly to give him room.
But my mind was still lingering on the same thought.
Who the hell is this guy, really?
He hasn't done anything wrong, but the way the teachers are treating him…
It feels way more serious than just "celebrity status."
And that's what's bothering me.
Akaza sat down beside me.
Everyone's attention was still locked on him.
In a blink, he had become the most popular person in the room.
The teacher clapped his hands before speaking,
— "Alright everyone. Since your new classmate is here, we'll begin our lessons today."
He turned to the board and started the lecture.
But honestly
Not a single person was paying attention to the lesson for now.
As the lesson goes on for some minutes,
Akaza's eyes flickered toward Akari again.
Who is this girl who didn't look at me?
I glanced at Akaza—and caught him staring at Akari.
Is he really looking toward Akari?
No… it's just my imagination. He's probably looking somewhere in that direction.
But I looked again.
Now it's no doubt—he's actually staring at Akari.
Why the hell is he looking at her?
I clenched my fist under the bench.
I shook my head, trying to snap out of it.
Why is it even bothering me?
She's very good-looking and gets attention from most students. I shouldn't be surprised if a celebrity is giving her attention.
I took a deep breath.
I shouldn't be bothered by this.
I convinced myself and tried to focus on the lecture—or at least pretend to.
Suddenly, Akaza leaned slightly toward me and whispered,
— "Um, can I ask you who that girl is?"
He said it while secretly pointing toward the middle bench.
Yeah, he's talking about Akari.
So he was staring at her all this time…
I tried to keep it cool before answering,
— "She's Ak—"
Before I could finish my sentence, Daiki cut in casually,
— "That's Akari Matsumoto. The most popular girl in our class."
I looked at Daiki, confused.
— "It's been a week since she joined the class?"
Akaza seemed deep in thought after hearing that, then replied,
— "So I'm the most popular boy in this class, and she's the most popular girl… no wonder she ignored me."
What is this guy even going on about?
— "Didn't you just enter the classroom?" I said.
— "Well, with the attention he got just from entering, I think he indeed is the most popular already," Daiki said with a shrug.
— "Probably…" I said, then looked back at Akaza.
Suddenly, Akaza placed his fist on his palm with a small grin.
— "It's decided then."
Me and Daiki looked at each other, confused.
— "And what is decided?" I asked.
— "Isn't it obvious? I'm going to propose to this girl."
My eyebrows shot up.
— "When you say 'this girl,' you're referring to Akari?"
— "Yes," he said, fully confident.
I couldn't help but let out a laugh before looking away.
— "You don't stand a chance."
Akaza looked at me, puzzled.
— "How are you so sure? Do you know her?"
I was caught off guard for a moment.
But I covered it up quickly.
— "I mean… she's cold towards everyone, so not many people really get close to her. That's why I said that."
I shouldn't be this much blunt.
— "But he is a celebrity, Kazuma. Girls usually fall for guys with money," Daiki chimed in.
I raised an eyebrow at that.
That's wrong. Akari's not like that.
But I can't even say anything because of this damn secret.
— "It's not about money, dude," Akaza said. "She seemed different to me than other girls I've met before. And if you say that no one really gets close to her, I'll be the one who does—because I think if I get to know her more, I'll end up liking her."
My frustration bubbled up at that comment.
I looked down at the desk, clutching my fist tighter beneath it.
Who the hell does this guy think he is?
Who are you to say you'll know her? You think she's that easy to let anyone in?
Akaza noticed me looking down and tilted his head.
— "Are you okay, my guy?"
I looked up with a fake smile.
— "Yeah, I'm alright. It's just… my stomach's hurting a little from this morning."
— "That must be painful."
Yeah… painful, you son of a gun.
You're talking about Akari like you know her—
making me wanna punch you down the bench.
But unfortunately, I can't.
Which makes it more painful.
I shook my head from the thoughts.
It's not like Akari will fall for him anyway.
But even if she does, why should I be bothered by this?
It's her life, right?
Akaza looked at us again before saying,
— "Oh, I forgot to ask your names, classmates?"
Daiki snugged,
— "Yeah, let me introduce. I'm Daiki Sato, glad to be classmates."
He reached his hand out.
Akaza gladly shook it.
— "Me too."
Then he looked at me.
— "And you?"
I got my head up from the bench, reclaiming my cool before answering,
— "I'm Kazuma Shinomiya. Nice to meet you."
Akaza raised his eyebrows.
— "Kazuma Shinomiya? Are you really Kazuma?"
Daiki looked confused as Akaza recognized me.
— "You knew him, Kazuma?"
I looked at Daiki, just as confused.
— "No, this is my first time even talking with him."
Akaza watched him closely before saying,
— "You do look like Uncle Kazuki… So you are Kazuma," Akaza said.
I raised my eyebrows.
— "Wait, how do you know my father?"
Akaza let out a small sigh.
— "I know your whole family, duh. You're my cousin, after all."
My eyes widened the second he said "cousin."
— "I'm your what?" I asked, raising my voice a little.
— "I'm your cousin. We share the same last name, you see. I'm surprised you don't know me."
— "Okay, now that's a pretty messed up way to prank someone. Where's the camera?"
I looked around, thinking it was just a joke the second he noticed the same last name.
— "The video title can be like this—'I met a person with the same last name and told him he was my cousin and he believed it.' Really funny," Daiki said, laughing.
— "Do you guys think I'm kidding? Who else named Shinomiya would come into this college with a proper introduction?"
I raised my eyebrow,
— "Didn't you get introduced because of your celebrity status? And there are plenty of families in Japan with Shinomiya as their last name," I said.
Akaza sighed.
— "I didn't get introduced because of my celebrity status. It's because of my family name."
— "And what's that got to do with anything?"
I asked confused.
— "Are you seriously kidding me? You do know our family owns this college, right?" he said casually.
My eyes widened.
Our family… owns this college?
If this is a prank, it's going way too far.
But now that I think about it…
how I got accepted into this college suddenly makes sense.
Is this guy really my cousin?
Then how do I not know about it?
I sighed.
— "If this is a prank, please just stop already."
— "Yeah man, this is too much," Daiki added.
Akaza let out a small groan.
— "You seriously don't know anything, huh?
You don't even know about your own family.
Then let me tell you—"
He paused before continuing,
— "Your father and my mother are siblings.
And since I didn't grow up with a father, my name was given as Shinomiya.
I didn't even know about you until one day, I found pictures of your dad and my mom together.
When I asked her who that was, she told me that's my uncle—her brother.
That's when I learned he had a boy the same age as me.
From that day on, I really wanted to meet my cousin.
Just a week ago, Uncle Kazuki said Kazuma was going to study at our college… and I decided to transfer here too."
I blinked, trying to process it all.
I still didn't want to believe him.
Still thought this was a prank.
But this much detail?
It doesn't feel like one anymore.
— "Then why don't I know about you? If you were my cousin, I would've known, right?"
Daiki just sat there, watching the convo heat up.
— "Like I said, I didn't know about you either.
They live separately, so they're not much connected.
So I guess Uncle Kazuki didn't bother telling you."
I sank into thought.
Our family owns this college?
This guy's my cousin?
It all starts to line up when I think about it.
But… why would they hide it from me?
Don't they think I can handle it?
— "You said our family owns this college, right? How do you know about it?"
— "Oh, I knew about that from the get-go.
I'm just surprised you didn't.
Not knowing about cousins is fine—
but this is much bigger."
He leaned a little closer and whispered,
— "Don't you ever wonder how you got here?"
My eyes widened.
He knows.
Yeah… that makes sense.
There's no way I could've gotten into this place with the terrible results I had.
He's telling the truth?
— "Even celebrities and influencers need a really good score to step foot in here.
And you—
with the results you had—
you should've been glad if you got into a local college in Kyoto," he said with a smirk, glancing away.
He even knows about my results.
This isn't a prank.
But I still can't believe it fully.
— "Okay, I get what you're saying. But I can't be convinced until I actually get proof."
— "Pretty stuck-up, aren't you, cous?" he smirked.
— "Well, just ask your mom about it. You'll get your answers easily."
— "I'll call her at lunch break."
If my family is actually hiding something this big from me…
Then I need to know why.
12:32 PM — Cafeteria, Lunch Break.
Daiki and Kazuma were sitting on a bench on the left side of the café.
Meanwhile, Akaza was surrounded by a crowd of girls and boys, all pushing in for pictures with him.
— "Ok guys, one by one. And this is just for today, alright? You need to stop doing that and treat me just like a normal student."
"Alright Akaza, we won't! Just let us take pictures for now!"
"Me now, please! I've been waiting so long!"
"You're such a nice guy!"
The crowd buzzed around Akaza like a firestorm of energy.
Back at the bench, Daiki glanced toward the scene.
— "Look at him getting all the attention," Daiki muttered. "To think someone like this is related to you is crazy."
I looked away slightly.
— "It's not confirmed yet, you know? So you can stop saying that."
— "I mean, it doesn't seem like a prank either. This much information wouldn't be used for a not-so-funny joke."
— "I'm not worried about him being my cousin. I'm just overthinking… If my family is hiding something from me, I need to know the reason," I said, eyes dropping toward my feet.
— "All the things Akaza said really made you question your own family?"
— "I'll say slightly, but I still don't know if it's true. I'm still hoping it's a not-so-funny joke he's pulling."
— "But you know… I don't think he'll joke about family things and related stuff for fun. At least, he doesn't seem like the type of guy to joke about anything."
— "Well, we aren't sure though," I said, rolling my eyes.
— "In all honesty, why would a celebrity go around getting information about your family just to prank you?"
I narrowed my eyes at him.
— "Oh shut up."
As we talked, Akaza took his last selfie, gave the crowd a nod, and started walking over. He stopped beside our bench with a relaxed look.
— "What's up guys?"
We both looked up. Daiki replied first.
— "Just eating our lunch… come sit here."
Daiki shifted to give him space. Akaza sat beside him, then looked over at me. I kept staring at my phone, pretending not to care — but my expression said otherwise.
— "You looking mad at something?"
I looked up slowly from the screen.
— "No, I'm not mad at anything. It's just the way I look."
— "No, you don't," Daiki cut in without hesitation.
I narrowed my eyes at him.
— "This is how I always look."
Daiki looked away awkwardly.
— "Yeah, that's how he always looks."
Akaza chuckled.
— "Ok, I get it."
I gave him a fake smile before turning back to my phone.
The truth is… I'm not mad. I'm just annoyed by his presence — and the fact that he likes Akari.
The way he acts like knowing her is going to be so easy pisses me off. Like it's something anyone can just do.
And if he really is my cousin… and he really likes her?
Then what can I even say?
Wait — why would I say anything?
If he treats her right, if she's happy… who the hell am I to interfere?
I shook the thoughts out of my head.
It's not like she's going to fall for him anyway.
And even if she does… it shouldn't bother me.
I shouldn't be overthinking about a girl I supposedly stopped liking in middle school.
The bigger question is still hanging — is this guy actually my cousin?
After a few minutes, Akaza looked towards me again.
— "So, are you going to call your mom and see if it's true or not?"
I looked up at him.
— "I've already called her twice. She didn't pick up."
— "At this time of the day, pretty sure your mom's really busy right now," Daiki said.
— "Yeah, no need to rush. You can call anytime. We still have two more college hours to go anyway," Akaza added, trying to reassure me.
Just then, my phone started ringing.
I glanced at the screen, then looked up at them.
— "It's Mom."
— "Pick it up, then," Akaza said.
— "Yeah, right." I answered, tapping accept and putting it on speaker.
But before I could even say hello, Mom stormed from the other side.
— "What are you doing calling me at this hour of the day? Don't you know how busy I am?!"
Akaza and Daiki instantly looked away, awkward.
I flustered, quickly replied.
— "I know that… you don't need to shout it so loud."
— "Whatever! Why did you call me, then?"
— "Oh, right… I wanted to ask you something."
Here we go. I didn't know if I was about to be embarrassed or finally learn that my family kept something from me. Either way… I had to speak now.
— "What is it? Spill it out already."
I took a deep breath and just let it out.
— "Mom… who is Akaza?"
She went silent for a second.
— "Mom?"
— "Oh, Akaza? That's your cousin. You met him or something?" She said casually
My eyes widened.
She just said it casually—like it was no big deal. So… he was telling the truth?
Akaza smirked at me from the side, with a look of "I told you" And Daiki? He was just soaking in the moment like it was a drama series.
I raised my voice slightly.
— "Wait, how is he my cousin? You ne—"
— "He's your Aunt Kazuhi's son," she cut me off.
My brows knit.
— "Who's Aunt Kazuhi?"
— "Akaza's mom. Your dad's sister."
— "Why didn't you tell me about her before?"
— "Did you ever ask me about it in your entire life?"
…She had a point. I'd never really cared about distant relatives. But still—my dad's own sister?
— "But you could've at least told me Dad had a sister," I said.
Mom sighed.
— "Twenty years ago, the Shinomiya company became one of Japan's most trusted brands. They expanded fast—new branches, new cities. But the success was short live for your grandfather, Becuase four years later, he died of a heart attack. And for that Your father became the heir to the Tokyo division and Your Aunt Kazuhi took over the Kyoto branch. That's when they split. And since then… they haven't seen each other for almost sixteen years. Your dad probably didn't think it was important to tell you, he never wanted to talk about things you got separated from"
All three of us sat silently, listening.
So that's how they got separated… for the company?
That make sense why no one mentioned about them.
— "Then why are you telling me now?"
— "Because you met your cousin, right? You're not separated anymore, are you?"
I looked at Akaza… then back to my phone.
— "No… I guess not."
— "But even if you asked me before I would've told you anyways but you never did. Like father like son as they say" Mom said with a chuckle
She said that on speaker, and I nearly died of embarrassment—but I kept my cool.
There was one more thing I needed to know.
— "Okay, forget the cousin thing… why didn't you tell me this college was owned by the Shinomiyas?"
Another silence.
— "Huh? You didn't know that?" she asked, confused.
Akaza and Daiki both cracked—trying hard not to laugh.
— "How was I supposed to know that?" I asked.
— "Kazu, dear. I assumed you had enough sense to realize you couldn't get into a prestigious college with your grades. I also thought your father had told you."
The way those two were holding in their laughter was painful to watch.
— "Nobody told me anything," I muttered.
I looked like a total idiot at that moment
— "Well, now you know. Cheer up. Since you've already met Akaza, I'm sure you'll meet Aunt Kazuhi soon too. Enjoy your day. Bye."
— "Wait, Mom—" click.
The call ended.
I looked up at them. They were still holding back their laughs.
— "So funny, huh?" I said narrowing my eyes
Akaza smiled.
— "You're one out-of-this-world cousin. Now do you believe me?"
I sighed.
— "Yeah… I believe you. Cousin."
It was weird. All those things I'd been wondering about… they suddenly made sense.
The guard on day one, Akaza's VIP introduction, the teachers' behavior…
Everything lines up now.
Wait, why wasn't I introduced?
Whatever. That wasn't the main concern right now.
Now that I knew the truth… I couldn't stop thinking that,
I don't belong here.
Akaza leaned in suddenly.
— "What are you thinking now? Trying to figure out how to take advantage of owning this college?"
I smirked back.
— "Sounds fun. What can we do?"
— "You can skip classes without paying fines."
My eyes widened.
Wait now this isn't half bad advantage
Suddenly, the cafeteria doors opened. Akari walked in with Hana.
She was straight-faced as always. Hana, on the other hand, kept sneaking glances toward there bench.
Akari caught her.
— "And what are you looking for?"
Hana looked forward quickly.
— "Nothing… just saw a bug on the window."
— "Maybe the bug's name is Akaza Shinomiya."
Hana's eyes widened as she blushed.
— "N-No, I was just glancing at—"
— "Yeah, yeah. We all know," Akari cut in teasingly.
— "Stop teasing me… it's not like that," Hana said, red-faced.
They sat at the middle-right bench.
Hana looked toward there side of the café.
— "Kazuma and Akaza are getting close."
— "He can get close to anyone really easily," Akari replied.
— "You know Kazuma quite well now."
Akari hesitated, then admitted:
— "I mean, yeah, I guess. I'm living with him, so… I've gotten to know him a little."
— "Yeah, Probably."
Back on our side…
Akaza glanced at Akari.
— "Hey, look. That girl from earlier. What was her name again?"
I followed his gaze. Akari and Hana were eating peacefully.
Family drama had me so distracted, I almost forgot…
This guy still wants to go after Akari.
And now that I know he's my cousin, if they ever get together…
Akari would become my cousin-in-law?
Hell no.
Daiki caught the vibe.
— "What, you planning to make a move or something?"
— "Yeah. Why not?" Akaza said casually.
I looked back and forth between them.
Is he serious? Right now?
Suddenly, Akaza stood up from the bench.
— "Yeah. Let's do this."
I stared at him, stunned.
He's really going to do it?
Should I stop him?
But why… why should I bother stopping him?
She won't be with me forever. In six months, we're strangers again.
That's what I wanted… right?
I don't like her. Then why is it bothering me?
What am I afraid of?
I watched helplessly as he approached her table, confident and smiling.
And I just sat there—gripping the edge of the bench—wondering
what the hell I was so afraid to lose?