Facade

In The End...

He went straight home. He wanted to compete but he didn't wanna talk to Hitomi. If he goes back he'll probably have to admit she's right. He thought about it for a couple of agonizing minutes. He's not gonna come. But then he saw the book he brought on the table. It looked as if though it's tempting him.

He eventually opened the book. Pretty boring shit, he must say. He read the first sentence.

'Marco Polo traveled trough Asia...' And with that, Saito fell asleep.

After roughly one hour, he woke up.

"Mmm... What's the time, anyway?" He checked his phone.

5:30. Oh well. Wait, what!? The competition starts at 6! He clumsily ran out of bed, rushing out of his house. Of course he tripped over his cats, and wasted 15 minutes apologizing to them like an idiot.

Wait, why was he hurrying anyway? He said he wouldn't come. He stopped in his tracks. Maybe he shouldn't come? Hell, he didn't even study! He wasn't useful if he came. But... He felt kind of happy when he was competing. It was fun. Saito never really had fun like this. Quite pathetic and emo. But then he'll be helping Hitomi. He really didn't wanna help her.

He finally made a half-assed decision. He was gonna compete. Not for Hitomi, or Koiichi or Yoko. He was doing it for himself. He wanted to have fun in once in a while. He smiled and continued running.

Holy fuck, two smiles in a day! That's gotta be a new record. He finally made it, he ran backstage and saw everyone.

"Ah, look who decided to come!" Hitomi spoke up.

He came in a good mood and she ruined it with one sentence. That has to be a talent. He glared at her and she raised her hands in defense.

"Did ya study?" She asked innocently.

"Uh... Yeah! Of course! I-I'm full of knowledge!" He stumbled.

"I'll take that as a no."

He smiled nervously and laughed.

"Last competition, second grade, come on." The group followed them on stage.

There were four seats and one table on each side of the stage. Each table had red buzzers on it.

"You probably know how this works. If you know the answer, press the buzzer." She added with a smile.

Everyone nodded.

"First question. From which body part was Athena born out of?" One of the judge asked.

Yoko pressed the buzzer.

"A head."

"Correct! Point for Shiruki!"

Yoko grinned in satisfaction while Hitomi threw an arrogant smirk at Thoma.

After about thirty minutes, both teams were equal. Yoko and Hitomi were the ones who answered the most, Koiichi would answer here and there while Saito just sat there uncomfortably. Not one question was answered by him. He wasn't having as much fun as he thought he would.

"Last question. Which sailor explored Asia and written a book about it?"

Saito's face lit up. He knew this one! He hit the buzzer like a maniac.

"Uh, Marco Polo?" He answered, well, questioned.

"Correct! Shiruki wins by a point!" The judge yelled.

The Shiruki students cheered. Saito was still in a bit of shock, Hitomi was fist bumping the air, Koiichi was pretty nonchalant while Yoko smirked.

"We won! We motherfucking won! In your face! Ha ha!" Hitomi rubbed it in everyone's faces, specifically Thoma who looked like he was gonna throw up.

A girl with blonde hair in pig tails and blue eyes came with a camera. She was tan and had a child-like air around her. Her whole presence just screamed innocence.

"Smile for the school newspaper!" She said and prepared the camera.

Hitomi wrapped her hands around all of them energetically. Saito stiffened and blushed. Not used to girls hugging him. Koiichi shrugged and hugged back. Both of them were smiling for the camera. Saito and Yoko looked at each other. Saito smiled and hugged back. She rolled her eyes, sighed and did the same.

"Shoot." Miyuki said and the camera automatically shot the picture.

"Overwhelming! All of you look stunning!" The blonde exclaimed.

"Let's go on a pizza. My treat." Yoko said out of nowhere.

"That's strangely generous of you, Taruhako-San..." Koiichi said skeptically.

"Don't question me. Wanna come too, Mitsuki?" The goth girl asked.

"Ah, no, no, I must decline! This is for your contingent only." Mitsuki answered politely.

"You sure?" Yoko asked while everyone else was wondering what 'contingent' meant.

"Don't concern about me! I have to hand these photographs to Yui-San anyway." She said reassuringly.

"Whatever you say." Yoko answered.

Mutsuki glanced at Saito and smiled. His face heated up. She approached him and asked him a question.

"Are you not the guy that sleeps with a pink teddy bear?"

His face fell.

"I-It's not mine!" He blushed even more.

"If you say so, Teddy bear guy." She said and walked off.

He stared after her until she was in an other room.

"Someone took a liking to Usami-San~!" Hitomi cooed.

"..." He glared at her.

She looked back at him with a smug grin. He continued to glare.

"What?" She inquired.

"I'm known as teddy bear guy because of you." He said as calmly as he could.

"I'm trying very hard not to punch you right now." He added.

That didn't faze her, seeing how she continued to grin.

"Are we going or what?" Yoko asked irritably.

They nodded and left. At the end of the night Yoko had to pay because the whole group fucked her up. Hitomi said she wasn't paying, Saito agreed and Koiichi just nodded so they don't fuck him up. Of course Yoko angrily payed and tried to never talk to them again.