ɪ ʜᴀᴛᴇ ʙᴇʟʟ ᴘᴇᴘᴘᴇʀꜱ [𝓐𝓺𝓾𝓪 𝔁 𝓚𝓪𝓷𝓪] {𝒪𝓈𝒽𝒾 𝓃𝑜 𝒦𝑜}

ℂ𝕙𝕒𝕡𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝟞 ~ 𝔹𝕖𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕕 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝔹𝕦𝕤𝕙𝕖𝕤

Author POV:

"Got you!!" Kana threw apart the leaves and branches apart, forming a gap in the shrubbery to reveal Aqua and Frill standing far too close to each other.

Aqua looked at Kana with his usual calm demanour, not flinching at all, whereas Frill jumped about a mile up in the air.

"Oh! Arima-chan." Frill smiled awkwardly. "Konnichiwa."

"What were you two doing there?" Kana demanded, then turned to Aqua, squinting. "You're dating Akane." It pained her to say the words, but she forced it out with confidence.

"We weren't doing anything," Aqua replied smoothly (smooth like butter anyone <3) "I was just telling her something. It's personal."

"I'll bet it's personal," Kana spat out the word with disguist, "It's so personal I'm sure Akane would just love to know it!"

Aqua's eyes narrowed.

Aqua POV:

There was no way out of it. I hadn't prepared a good excuse, not realising Kana was amongst the crowd and hadn't dispersed to class.

I'd have to talk her into silence.

"Come. We need to talk." I pulled her by the arm away from Frill, who was looking confused and traumatized. 

I led Kana behind the fence and stared at her sternly.

"Look, whatever happens stays between us," I said, "Akane doesn't need to know."

"Yes she does," Kana insisted, "She's going to be so betrayed. You're a cheater! I never thought Aqua Hoshino would be a cheater, out of all people. Actually, I have thought that before. JUST THEN, WHEN YOU WERE LITERALLY CHEATING ON YOUR PERFECTLY FINE GIRLFRIEND."

"I thought you didn't like Akane," I said.

"That's besides the point! Don't change the subject!" Kana cried. "This is terrible. No matter how much I hate Akane Kurokawa, it doesn't give me the right to stay silent about her own boyfriend cheating on her! Have I no loyalty to my fellow girls? No, I do have loyalty, unlike you!"

Great. Just great. Of course it had to be Kana, the most stubborn girl on the planet.

I needed to lure her with something. Something to keep her mouth shut, so I could date Frill and Akane both without any tumour.

But I didn't know what Kana Arima wanted.

"I'll do anything you want if you keep your mouth shut," I pleaded.

"You can't do anything I want you to," Kana hissed, "I don't want you to do anything! Oh, wait, maybe I do want you to stop cheating on Akane! Or anyone!"

"I'll boost your career for you. I'll offer you all the jobs I can get from my contacts. I'll recommend you. I'll help B Komachi. Anything." I usually liked to keep my superiorty to others as Aqua, but I didn't know how to at this stage.

"I don't need you," Kana frowned. "I'm not one of those girls you can just play around with. You lure girls in everywhere. It was you who saved Akane from suicide. You who made MEM-cho an idol. You who saved Ruby's career. You who got onto a dating show and made all the girls in this school fall head-over-heels for you. How can you waste all that? Trust me, Aqua, millions of boys out there would just die to get your life."

No, they don't, I thought bitterly, Or at least they wouldn't want it if they knew the dark truth of my past life. And this one, for the matter.

"You are so ungrateful," Kana spat out, her eyes burning furiously, "You could literally get any girl you wanted. But one isn't enough for you, is it?"

Suddenly, I remembered the things she had said to me back in the apartment.

And how happy she had sounded while saying it.

"Hey, Kana," I lowered my head, "Would you hate this so much if you were the one I was cheating on Akane with?" 

The questino made Kana flinch and take a step back, her face closing up even more and her mood taking a dark turn.

"Of course I would," she defended herself, "I can't even begin to explain how wrong it is to cheat on anyone, with anyone!"

But her confidence had faltered.

"Look, Kana, I don't really love Akane," I sighed, trying to convince her that my motives were good, "Even though I made things official with her it's still really just for work. I just think it would be more convincing if Akane herself thought I was for real."

Kana raised an eyebrow but looked a tiny bit happier.

"It's not the only reason. I feared Akane might ask me about it sooner or later, and I didn't know I was going to meet Frill back then. She's the one I like, not Akane, but I can't lose Akane. I need her for publicity. To ensure the ongoing fanbase commuinty of Love Now. I don't want to cause chaos. But I also can't reject Frill. She likes me back, and I can't lose that either." I tried to sound innocent. My acting helped.

"To me, it just sounds like you're too greedy," Kana narrowed her eyes, "You can't have everyone at the same time. And you're lying to Akane. You're lying to a woman. To a person! You're also literally lying about love. God, you're as dirty as the rubbish dump."

Her sharp words and snide remarks didn't make me flinch or send quick jabs of hurt to my chest like they once had. They did nothing as much as slide down my cold, locked heart that opened to no-one except Ai and Ruby.

"Just don't tell her and I'll do anything." I tried again.

"Why Frill?" Kana suddenly said, abruptly. "She's a famous model and known for the beauty, sure. But is it really worth it? I'm sure Akane would understand if you just explained it to her. Love Now's popularity has reached it's peak. You won't ruin anything. Akane probably doesn't like you seriously either." She said the last sentence sort of desperatly.

"I just- I don't want to hurt her," I didn't know what other excuse to make. 

"You'll hurt her more by lying to her," Kana said quietly, looking down. We remained in silence for a few moments.

"Look, I'll keep it silent," Kana said, looking away, "But not to everyone. There are some people I just have to tell. You have to allow me to tell three people of my choice."

"And whom would those three people be?"

"Ruby, MEM-cho,  and Miyako."

Of course she would choose the three people most important to me to tell. She doesn't want my close friends and family to think I'm a liar and abandon me.

She's not so bad after all.

But what would Ruby think? And MEM-cho? Or Miyako?

They would be so disappointed in me.

But this deal would be the best one I got.

"It's a done deal."

We shook hands and left to class, but Kana looked disappointed in me and I felt troubled.

If Ruby, MEM-cho or Miyako told anyone else and it became a rumour that was to be spread to Akane, everything would be ruined.

I just had to trust these four people not to leak.

I didn't have trust in people, though.

A/N: Aqua seriously needs a therapist. ASAP.