𝟹𝚛𝚍 𝙿𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚘𝚗 𝙿𝙾𝚅

"Alright, we'll be going now." the couple left the student council, leaving the vice-president and treasurer alone.

"Laser Death Beam!" Ishigami yelled, cursing the couple. His sudden yell made Shinomiya jump as the papers flew out of her hand.

"What in the world is a laser death beam?" Shinomiya inquired, bending down as she picked the pieces of paper up.

"Any couple struck by it will break up." Ishigami explained, an irk mark popping out of his forehead.

"You shouldn't be envious of other people's happiness." Shinomiya advised.

"It's not like I'm envious or anything. High schoolers should be focusing on their studies! They shouldn't be wasting time getting caught up in stuff like romance!" Ishigami exclaimed.

"So, you don't have a girlfriend because you're focusing on your studies then?" Shinomiya rephrased.

She seemed to be in disbelief as she watched Ishigami playing with a game console in hand right after he said that.

"Exactly. I don't even need a girlfriend anyways." he humphed, denying his feelings for one special girl.

"My, aren't you straight-laced." Shinomiya commented on his behavior towards the topic 'romance'.

"Good afternoon, I just came by to hand in some reports on the Cooking club and Music Club." Y/n came in with a few papers in hand.

"L-L/n! What are you doing here?!" Ishigami shouted as he accidentally dropped his game console.

"I just said earlier, I came by to hand in some reports on the Cooking Club and Music Club." Y/n repeated.

"So like I was saying, the Cooking Club would like to have a booth for the Cultural Festival. It would be nice to have a booth where they sell some good quality food." Y/n gave a piece of paper to Shinomiya.

"And for the Music Club, they're planning on holding a live concert using the gym. This might interest a lot of students, so I recommend accepting it." Y/n added, handing her a piece of paper.

Shinomiya nodded and noticed how Ishigami was acting rather strangely when Y/n stood next to him.

He fiddled with his fingers with a light blush. He would turn to look at Y/n from time to time as she explained her report.

"I'm planning on taking photos of them to advertise their booth, what do you think?" Y/n asked.

"Your report is very detailed and I like the idea of advertising the booth since I'm sure they would catch others' attention." Shinomiya stated.

"That's good to hear. What do you think about it, Ishigami-kun?" Y/n inquired, bending down and grabbing Ishigami's game console that had fallen on the ground.

"I-It's amazing! Anything you say is amazing!" Ishigami squeaked, heating up as his hand brushed Y/n's hand when he tried to grab his game console.

"I'm glad to hear that. Anyways, I have to get going now. I still have so much to do." Y/n bid them farewell before leaving the room.

The Student Council room was filled with silence. None of them said a word to each other.

Shinomiya watched as Y/n left while Ishigami tried to calm himself down from Y/n's sudden presence.

"I see, so that's how it is." Shinomiya smirked at Ishigami.

"What's that supposed to mean? I think you're misunderstanding something." Ishigami retorted.

"You like her, don't you? As in...like-like her." she persisted.

"You're way off the mark. I was just surprised that she showed up all of a sudden." Ishigami argued, continuing to play his game.

"Is that so? Sorry for saying something so strange." Shinomiya apologized.

"It's fine as long as you understand." Ishigami mumbled. Shinomiya's apology sounded sincere, but of course, she had something up her sleeve.

"It's just, I've heard that there are plenty of guys in this school who find Y/n adorable, so I thought you might be one of them." Shinomiya recalled.

This was the truth. Although Y/n was shy and introverted, there were guys in their school that find her awkwardness adorable.

"Oh...really now?" Ishigami mumbled.

"Actually, it's better this way. Why, I was positively scared to death that you might be hopelessly in love with someone so far out of your league." Shinomiya provoked.

"Come to think of it, as popular as she is, there's no way she doesn't already have a person she's interested in. I'm sure she likes some handsome guy with a great personality." Shinomiya continued, trying to get Ishigami to admit that he likes their Historian.

"Laser Death Beam...Laser Death Beam." Ishigami formed a gun with his hand and pointed the finger gun at his head.

"Wait, what are you doing, Ishigami?! You're scaring me! Stop!" Shinomiya stopped Ishigami since he started acting scary.

"Darn it! Let me die!" Ishigami cried, fighting back against Shinomiya's hold.

"The Laser Death Beam only makes couples break up, so you won't die no matter how much you shoot yourself with it!" Shinomiya reminded; Ishigami gave up.

"See? Just look at you. There's no way you'd react like that if you didn't like her." Shinomiya retorted.

"Ugh..." Ishigami groaned, realizing what he had done.

"I want to hear all the details. What is it you like about Y/n?" Shinomiya interrogated.

"Girls really like talking about this kind of stuff, don't they?" Ishigami sighed.

"Well, she helps me out a lot. Even back in middle school, she tried her best to help me in anyway. She's kind and doesn't treat me as if I were some gross insect." Ishigami started as Shinomiya prepared some tea.

"She's determined and straight-laced. She refuses to do anything else if her work isn't finished." Ishigami sighed, hopelessly in love.

"Don't you know how hard it is to practice rehearsing your lines in the mirror? When she entered the room, I couldn't act properly so I looked like some kind of fool." Ishigami chuckled.

"At first, I thought she was just talking to me since she felt pity, but eventually, I realized she isn't like that. She wasn't putting up an act." Ishigami stated.

"Well, I just admired her back then, but my admiration turned into liking and I kind of..." Ishigami blushed as he fiddled with his fingers.

"Oh my, that's so cute, Ishigami." Shinomiya said as she sipped her cup of tea.

"But just like you said, it's hopeless love. She's completely out of my league. There's no way she'd like someone like me. It's fine, I had given up right from the start." Ishigami sighed.

Ishigami Yu's inferiority complex. Stemmed from his lack of personal success.

His life has been one failure after another. 'I'll probably just fail again', this thought always lingered at the back of his mind.

"Ishigami, it doesn't matter what methods you have to use. Make the famous L/n Y/n yours." Shinomiya demanded, lifting Ishigami's chin up with her hand.

"Hold on! What the hell kind of impossible challenge is that?! There's no way I could manage that!" Ishigami argued, slapping her hand away.

"Nothing is truly impossible. The way I see it, right now you're nothing more than a coward afraid of getting hurt." Shinomiya insulted.

" 'What if she turns me down?', 'What do it ruins our current friendship?'. I understand those feelings..." Shinomiya sat back down.

"But if you don't confess, it'll go unresolved forever. You need to have courage." she advised.

The words that had weighed most heavily on Shinomiya's soul for the last year came spilling out.

"Courage? Well actually, hypothetically, if I were to confess, I do have an idea with a high probability of success." Ishigami blushed.

"A high probability of success?! R-Really now? You wouldn't mind letting me heart it, would you?" Shinomiya also blushed, eager to hear it.

"Well, first of all, I know that if I confess normally there's no way it would work, but, what if it were an ultra romantic confession?!" Ishigami exclaimed.

"Ultra romantic?!" Shinomiya repeated.

"So, everyday, I leave a flower on L/N's desk. On Monday, I leave an Aganpanthus. Tuesday, a Strawberry Flower. Wednesday, a Peony. Thursday, an Easter Lily. Friday, a Lupine." he paused.

"Then, if you put their initials together, it spells out 'I love you'! Well, what do you think?" Ishigami turned to Shinomiya.

"That's creepy." Shinomiya deadpanned.

The first character of each Japanese name of the flower spells out 'Aishiteru' or 'I love you'.

"Some stranger, day after day, put a single flower on your desk? Normally, when someone you don't like does something like that, its creepy." Shinomiya said.

In the author's opinion, she finds it very romantic, but she wouldn't be able to figure out the meaning of it.

"Also, why make it a puzzle? What if she doesn't notice? You have some really creepy ideas, don't you, Ishigami?" she insulted.

"I told you! It's hopeless if I confess normally, so like, I need an idea that's crazy enough to work without being too crazy." he explained.

"Well, I'll think of something a bit more subtle. Here's one I've heard of before. Showing a girl your picture album will open up her heart." he mentioned.

"Yeah, that's probably true. Plus, Y/n is into photography, I'm sure she'll love it." Shinomiya agreed with the idea.

"Right?! So basically, I give L/n my photo album as a present and then I leave a message on the last page, saying 'I want to fill the rest of this album together with you'. What do you think?!" Ishigami exclaimed.

"It sounds like a horror story! I'm telling you, it's creepy!" Shinomiya shouted.

"What part of that was supposed to be subtle?! Getting an album from someone who doesn't like you back is already creepy enough, ending with that intense note makes it even worse!" she yelled.

"That idea clearly crossed the line when you said you needed an idea that's crazy enough to work without being too crazy!" she informed.

"Anyways, I think I've figured it out. Your weakness is your inherent creepiness. If a person whose already weird tries to do something strange, the end result is even weird than usual." she pointed out.

"You're saying some awfully mean things, you know." Ishigami sweatdropped.

"Listen up. It's creepy because it feels like you're being eccentric to get attention. What you should aim for is becoming a good, honest man who naturally turns heads." she stated.

"A good man, huh? That's far too abstract. Please define what it means to be a good man." he requested.

"What do you think makes a good man, Shinomiya-senpai?" Ishigami inquired.

"Studying, huh?" he mumbled. Shinomiya continued to give him advice and even offered to study him since they wanted it to be a surprise to Y/n.

She demanded that for the next final exams, Ishigami should make it into the top fifty to make everyone look at him differently, Y/n included, of course.

Thus, Ishigami's special training began. He only felt pain and torture and suffered every day.

But he listened to Shinomiya's advice, he wanted to be a good man that would catch Y/n's attention.

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

"Starting today we should take a break from Student Council Activities to focus on exams." Shirogane announced.

"Oh? But up until now it's been business as usual, even before exams." Shinomiya reminded.

At Shuchiin, exams are conducted five times a year. This is the fourth round of this year.

"Well, I would personally have no problem studying in the student council roo. Like I always have, but we have more member now. So, I think it's best if we take a break." he said.

"Oh Prez, you care so much about us!" Fujiwara exclaimed, flattered by his considerate act.

"Well, yeah..." Shirogane nodded. That was a lie. This man was thinking only of himself.

Shirogane, aiming for 1st place, couldn't afford to spare a thought for anyone else.

Rather,he was only concerned with stomping out the opposition. He was to preoccupied to study!

Even now, in this very moment, he was sneaking glances at everything Shinomiya did.

Ishigami is also trying his very best to study and make it to the top fifty to appear as a 'good man' to Y/n.

But the fact that L/n Y/n, his crush, is sitting right next to him distracts him! He would steal glances at her and just stare when she flipped a page.

"Ishigami-kun? Are you okay?" Y/n's voice snapped him back to reality. She noticed Ishigami staring at her and she felt the need to say something.

"Y-Yeah!" Ishigami exclaimed, getting back to studying. He could tell Shinomiya was mischievously smirking at him.

"You're studying hard, Ishigami-kun." Y/n struck up a conversation as she noticed the piles of books on the table.

"Y-Yeah..." he answered, turning away as he tried to hide the massive blush on his face. He took a deep breathe and regained his composure.

"You must have some big motive if you're working that hard. Whatever that motive is, I believe in you." Y/n encouraged.

"Oh...thanks, that means a lot to me." Ishigami stated. That was the truth. What she said gave him even more motivation.

"Even if no one's by your side...I'll believe in you no matter what." Y/n whispered, turning back to her book.

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

"I know as soon as we self-scored the tests, but my name's not up there, is it." Ishigami mumbled, staring at the scoreboard.

"Judging by the average, you were probably around 150th this time. That's pretty far from 50th. It's a fine score. At least you didn't go down." Shinomiya tried to brighten up the atmosphere.

"Yeah..." Ishigami agreed, his eyes glued to the scoreboard.

"Are you...frustrated?" Shinomiya inquired, noticing the gloomy look on his face.

"No. This is just about what you'd expect from someone of my ability. I figured it'd end like this." he said.

"Is that so?" she muttered.

"Um, I need to use the bathroom." Ishigami informed, leaving her alone as he headed to the men's bathroom.

That was a lie. This man was so frustrated, he could have cried tears of blood.

𝙸𝚜𝚑𝚒𝚐𝚊𝚖𝚒'𝚜 𝙿𝙾𝚅

I tried my best. I aimed for the top 50. I tried my best, and I didn't even get close to the average!

Even though Shinomiya-senpai tried her hardest. Even though L/n believed in me so much!

What the hell is wrong with me?!

I didn't have the basics down at all. I thought I was more serious this time around. But even so I...

"Were you telling me the truth?" Shinomiya's voice made him jump.

"Shinomiya-senpai? This is the men's room!" I pointed out.

"Irrelevant. Ishigami, I'll ask you again. Are you frustrated by these results?" Shinomiya repeated.

𝚈/𝚗'𝚜 𝙿𝙾𝚅

"Of course I am, damn it! Don't make me go out of my way to say it! I thought that even a failure like me could get good grades by trying a little harder! I wanted to show that I could be cool!" Ishigami yelled.

Ishigami-kun...

"But I'm just not that kind of person! Now that I can see where I fell short, I just need to fix it. I swear I'll make it to the top 50 next time. I'll be the good man that L/n would want." he cried.

"I figured things would turn out like this. That's why I called her over." Kaguya-san sighed and pulled me out of my hiding spot.

"L/n...did you hear...all of that?" he questioned.

"Yeah...but don't be discouraged. Don't be afraid to start over. Who knows you might get it right this time, and if you don't...you can always start over again." I beamed.

"It's not always about trying to fix something broken. It's about starting over and creating something better." I pointed out.

"Even if you fall a hundred times, just stand up again! If you stumble or trip, I'll be there to help you regain your balance." I said, wiping away his tears like always.

"L/n..." he whimpered.

"I believe in you, Ishigami-kun." I extended my arms to the side, offering a hug. He accepted the hug and cried into my shoulder.

"My job here is done." Kaguya-san said before leaving the bathroom.

Ishigami-kun, always remember that even if you fall. Even if you get pushed or kicked around, I'll be there to help you regain your balance.

No matter what.

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

(A/N: I finally got it done!! Next chapter might take a while since my exams are starting. I have an exam in an hour! Wish me luck!!)