Magical Lies

Denial

Himiko's P.O.V.

The weekend was over, most of which I was recovering and trying to retain information from the party. Classes were started back up and I listened in on everyone else's conversations about the party. Kaede had apparently spent the entire night with Shuichi and they were blushing every time someone asked what they did. Everyone was also sharing pictures and I didn't even think to look at my phone. While Miu ran around the room squealing about the cute pictures she and Kiibo had taken together, I looked at my own. My mouth fell open over what I saw. Sure, there were pictures that I had taken with the girls, but my eyes fell on the ones with Oma.

Some were just sweet, innocent pictures of us sitting with each other smiling into the camera, but my main focus were on the ones where my arms were wrapped around his waist, staring up at him. One in particular showed his hand on my back, almost reaching my butt. He was smiling down at me and was playing with my cheeks. I don't remember any of these pictures being taken or who could have taken them in the first place. My back and face suddenly felt warm thinking about him touching me.

I nearly jumped out of my skin when I felt a hand on my shoulder. I looked behind me and saw Tenko glaring at my phone. Oh no. Oh no oh no oh no. I looked over at the door. I knew the moment that Oma walked in that Tenko would chase after him.

"Himiko," Tenko looked at me, "What is he doing? Why is he touching you?"

I shrugged, "I don't really remember these being taken."

Tenko thought for a minute, "He seems pretty handsy."

"I mean, so am I."

After observing it a little more, Tenko nearly shouted about how tightly I had my arms around him. Together, we scrolled through more and I couldn't control the blush on my cheeks. There were a few more where I was clinging onto him, and I could see myself getting more and more drunk in them. There was another one where I was happily sitting on his lap and he had his arms wrapped around me, probably to help me balance. Finally, we landed on the final picture and I could have sworn my head was about to explode.

I was standing on my toes, my hands on Oma's shoulders, and I was in the middle of giving him a kiss on the cheek. Even though he was blushing, Oma was smiling in the picture and appeared to be enjoying the kiss. I quickly turned my phone off and covered my mouth with my hand. Tenko stared at me wide eyed and I already grabbed everyone else's attention. This couldn't be real. Why didn't Oma tell me about any of these? He would have...right? Oma walked through the room and as soon as he said good morning, he began to make his usual rounds.

Does he remember the kiss? I know that he was really high that night, so he might not even remember either. Somewhere in the back of my mind told me that that's not how it always works. I waited for Oma to get to me and shut my eyes.

"What are you going to do," Tenko asked, "Are you going to confront him about it?"

"It's not his fault that I didn't think to check pictures," I sighed, "I don't know what to do."

I thought for a few more seconds. Maybe we could make a joke about it. Maybe he'll just ruthlessly tease me about it but I think I'll be able to take it. I chose to get that drunk to the point where I was kissing him. I shivered, what was I even thinking? I wish I could remember. I wish I could go back and tell myself to not kiss him. All I was feeling now was confusion.

"Drunky," Oma took his seat on my desk, "What are you looking at?" He took my phone from me, opened it up, and immediately handed it back to me, "Never mind!"

"Do you remember any of these pictures," I scrolled through the others.

Oma's face got more and more red, even at the most innocent ones where we were smiling and laughing. He bit his lip before speaking up, "Yeah! I told you that you couldn't keep your hands off of me!"

By now, both of our cheeks were the same color as my hair. A few other students laughed at how we were reacting which didn't make it any better at all. Oma shifted on my desk and cleared his throat.

"So, you must like me a whole lot then," he stated.

He must have noticed Tenko glaring at him because he quickly stood up and looked over at Maki probably asking for help. I looked over at Tenko and wordlessly reassured her. I looked back at Oma who was waiting for me to answer him.

"I don't like you," I finally spoke up, "Not like that at least! I was drunk!"

"But I like you," he said.

I felt myself freeze. He looked so honest. His face wasn't twitching into a smile, he looked dead serious, "Oma-."

"Stop messing around with her," Tsumigi yelled, "I'm tired of your shit, Oma!"

Everyone started to agree with her. Oma laughed at them, shrugged, and looked down at me, "They all read me so well."

With that, he took his seat next to me. I felt like I couldn't breath at this point. I don't like him, what reasons do I have to even like him in the first place? Obviously he has no feelings towards me. I frowned. So that day we played video games, how he tickled and pinned me, how he told me how worried he was when I was drunk, and how worried he was the morning after, all of that was a lie? I don't even know why I'm surprised at this point. I shouldn't really expect anyone to like me the way I wanted to be liked. I looked over at Oma every now and then who sat in silence. I wish I could just read him.

"Are you okay, Himiko," Tenko whispered.

In order for her to not worry about me, I gave her a fake smile and laugh, "Of course, I'm perfectly fine."

She knew that I was lying, but she decided to leave it alone. I turned back to the front of the classroom and felt Oma's eyes on me. I told myself to just start ignoring him, then he'll just leave me alone. I looked back into my phone and stared at the pictures of us. I focused mainly on the one of me kissing him. The picture made my heart speed up. He looked so happy in the picture. Then again, he was smoking. Anything could change his perspective of me. At the end of the day, I had to realize that all he saw in me was just a short, ugly girl and that's it.

With that, I ran out of the classrooms crying and locked myself in my room for the rest of the day.