Week 2 (Weekend)
Sunday.
Just as my father said, we left at noon to go pick up my friends, sitting at opposite ends of the limo as we always did whenever we rode somewhere together — his reason was that it was easier to have a conversation that way.
Kokona had told me that Riku would be with her, and Oka said that Shin would be with her, so we only needed to go to two addresses to pick up both couples. Oka and Kokona, surprisingly, did not live too far away from each other.
Once Kokona was inside, she immediately slid to my side and whispered, "Time to tell me everything about your date with Aso yesterday."
I rolled my eyes. "It wasn't a date..."
"But you said he held your hand!" she hissed.
"Well, yeah, but it wasn't a date. We just went to a cafe and watched a movie together."
"What movie?"
"That new rom-com that just came out."
She elbowed me repeatedly in excitement. "That sounds like a date!"
I scoffed, smiling. "Do you really think so?"
"Yes, of course!" The limo stopped at another house, and Kokona tilted her head. "Wait, who else are we picking up? 'Cause Aso and Kizano can't come, so..."
I scratched the back of my neck. "Well..."
The driver, who was clearly just trying to do his job, moved to open the door, but the person approaching waved him off, opting to open the door himself. Osorō, wearing a black mask, hopped into the limo, made eye contact with Kokona, and gestured with his head for her to move, as well as shooing her with a flick of his hand — which she definitely did not hesitate to do.
Osorō sat down next to me and lowered his mask, then glanced at me and smirked. Leaning in close, he tugged on my clothes and whispered into my ear, "Good girl, wearing my jacket without being told."
That single sentence sent my face and heartbeat into overdrive instantly. My plan was to return his jacket today by wearing it over my outfit — a simple white T-shirt and faded ripped blue jeans; oh, and my cute white flats — but by his reaction seeing me wear it, he didn't seem too eager to get it back just yet.
Out of the corner of my eye, I checked him out while he repositioned his mask: a loose white T-shirt ripped at the hem, black ripped jeans, and black Converse shoes. Such a simple outfit, but he made it look better than the Akiyama clothing brand.
My phone chimed with a text, so I slipped it out of my pocket. I wasn't surprised to find Kokona demanding answers from me.
Kokoni-chan: You invited the delinquent leader?? Why?
To Kokoni-chan: I have my reasons. He's not as bad as you think he is.
Kokoni-chan: But still... he's the delinquent leader...
Before I could type another message to her, Osorō snatched my phone and typed for me. When he gave my phone back, I checked what he sent to Kokona.
To Kokoni-chan: i wouldn't hurt the goddess of Akademi. i'm her bodyguard.
To Kokoni-chan: besides, i'm not THAT bad. i respect women.
I giggled. Seemed like I wasn't the only person he pleaded his case to.
Or maybe I'm just the reason he's pleading his case to her...
I shook my head. That couldn't be it, could it?
But then I thought back to the night before, and brought a hand close to my neck, recalling the hickies he'd left on me that I'd covered up with makeup this morning. I remembered how he kissed down from my ear to my neck, how his plump lips tickled my neck, how his sharp teeth bit my flesh...
Maybe I am the reason after all...
Ding!
I glanced down at my phone.
Secret Softie: whatcha thinking about? ;)
A second later he sent another message.
Secret Softie: why is that my contact name...?
I scoffed and replied back. To Secret Softie: Cuz you're secretly a softie for me ;)
Osorō read my message, but instead of replying, he put his phone away, then crossed his legs in a very troublemaker-like manner and stared out the window, giving me no more reaction than a mere huff.
I giggled. He didn't deny it, though.
I glanced up, checking in on the others. Sitting on the left side, Kokona and Riku shared earbuds as Kokona showed him something on her phone. Across from them, Oka and Shin also shared earbuds, but it seemed they were just listening to music since both leaned their heads against each other with their eyes closed.
Then, I made eye contact with my father, who had his arms crossed and was staring me down with a hard look. He didn't even need to say anything for me to know he was questioning my choice of friends — most likely because of Oka, Shin, and Osorō. Oka and Shin since they were dressed in an obviously gothic fashion, and Osorō since he didn't bother to hide the fact that he was the type to view rules as something made to be broken.
My father's eyes narrowed and glanced between Osorō and I. I could see where his thought process was going, and I gulped as I realized he was probably more bothered by his presence than Oka's or Shin's. His eyes conveyed the message he couldn't say out loud until at least next Sunday since he was still in the process of rewarding me.
You'd better not be dating that guy.
You'd better not make that mistake again.
I sighed, attracting Osorō's attention. He leaned down and whispered, "You good?"
I merely nodded and said, "Yeah, I'm fine."
His head tilted up, and I glanced over to catch him looking at my father. He didn't glare or scowl at him, but I could tell by the fiery look in his brown eyes that he wished he could say something against him right then and there. "Osorō," I warned.
His eyes shifted back to me and considerably softened. He smiled, and muttered, "I know, girly."
I raised an eyebrow at the nickname but didn't comment on it.
We finally arrived, and everyone piled out. My father led the way into the building, and it was a busy haze from then on as the workers immediately greeted him and got to work taking everyone's measurements and asking what kind of dress or tuxedo they wanted.
As Haru Akiyama's daughter, I went first. There were only two workers on call to take measurements that day, and Kokona decided to go at the same time as me.
"Young miss, do you know what kind of dress you want? Style, color, length?"
I thought about it. "Well, I definitely want something red — preferably a darker shade of red. I'm not sure about the style yet, though."
"That's okay," she said, measuring my chest and bust first. "Do you know how long you want the dress?"
"Not too long, but not too short. Not longer than my knees, but not too much above the knees."
"Okay, okay," she said, then hummed. "I think I have a few styles I can show you after I finish with your measurements."
My father walked over. "That'll be unnecessary. I designed these after speaking with her."
He held up his sketchbook, open to a page with four beautiful dresses sketched. One, in particular, stood out to me — a dress slightly longer in the back, ending just above the knees, with a floral design on the top and at the waist, and off-the-shoulder sheer short sleeves. I pointed it out immediately. "That one."
The woman nodded. "That, I can do."
"Excellent." Father circled the design, ripped the page out, and handed it to her.
When the two women were done measuring Kokona and I, they took Oka and Osorō next. While their exchanges were going on, Kokona slid next to me and muttered, "How did you befriend the delinquent leader, anyway?"
I sighed. "He has a name, you know." I paused, then continued, "Honestly, it just kind of... happened, I guess. Remember how I asked you to cover for me last weekend? When Aso was asking about my weekend?"
"Yeah?"
I came in close and whispered in her ear, "I spent that weekend with Osorō."
Her eyes widened. "Really?!" When I nodded, she said, "Wow. I didn't think he'd be the type to go to makeup stores and the mall and cafes and movies."
I shrugged. "Why not? He's still a person; he's not an alien just 'cause he's a delinquent leader, you know."
"Well, tell me I'm at least right about him being a horror fan."
I scoffed. "Oh, absolutely. We had a hard time picking a movie because he hates romance, and I hate horror. We decided to watch a comedy, but it ended up being a rom-com, so he forced me to watch a horror movie with him when it was over."
"Oh my god!"
"It's okay," I said, waving a hand dismissively. "To be honest, it wasn't that bad. And he was nice enough to let me cling to him when I got scared."
Kokona smiled. "Aww, that's kinda sweet."
I smiled, too. "Yeah."
"Now, tell me all about your date with Aso!"
I rolled my eyes, not surprised she'd want to change the topic to Aso so quickly; anything to get to the juicy bit and anything to get the topic off of the scary delinquent leader — who really wasn't all that scary once you got to know him better.
The entire time I was describing my day with Aso, though, I stared at Osorō as the woman who took my measurements measured him. It didn't take him long to meet my gaze, and he held my stare without breaking eye contact, even as I told Kokona every "juicy" detail about Aso that she wanted to hear.
If Aso Rito was like the god Apollo, then Osorō Shidesu was like the god Hades.
He didn't radiate the same glowing tan warmth as Aso, but he had a warmth of his own that was one of a kind. At first glance, all you'd see was a tough guy covered in scars — but Osorō was so much more than just a tough guy. If you took the time to analyze him further, you'd see that even with his tough persona, Osorō had a charm of his own. He had piercing eyes that could equally scare and mesmerize a weak-hearted girl with affection for him, and his hard face was undeniably attractive enough to melt hearts; though he did have a resting bitch face.
On the surface, he was a delinquent with a fearsome appearance. Under the surface, however... he was a sexy bad boy with a secret soft side.
No, wait. The "sexy bad boy" part could be seen on the surface, too.
It didn't take Kokona long to realize that even though I was talking to her, my attention was focused elsewhere. She followed my gaze to Osorō and quickly put the pieces together. "Athena-sama, do you... do you like Osorō?"
Her voice shook me back to reality, and I turned to face her. Without missing a beat, I denied it, saying, "No, I don't."
"Do you like Aso then?"
I forced a giggle. "I think I'm starting to."
She playfully nudged me. "Oohh, Athena!"
I nudged her back and shushed her, then dragged her over to a corner of the shop, into a thick circle of floor-length gowns, where no one else could see us. "Stop, people will stare at us."
"Let them stare. You and Aso would be such a cute couple."
I smiled; albeit sadly. "We would, wouldn't we?"
Aso was a great guy — really, he was. He was charming, he was gentlemanly, he was friendly and considerate of others, and he knew how to treat a girl. Unfortunately, the more time I spent with Osorō, the more I couldn't help but compare Aso to him and find him falling short in comparison. I really wanted to like Aso, for my father's sake and my own safety from my father, but even though Aso had a gentlemanly charm to him that I liked, Osorō was just as charming and sexy at the same time.
Unfortunately for Aso, at this rate, nothing he did could win against a guy like Osorō. He was a walking triple threat: a gentleman willing to compromise, a bad boy with charm, and a guy who was sexy and aware of his sexiness — and owned it, without any real effort.
Really, for someone like Osorō, it was as easy as a kabedon to make my heart do jumping jacks.
Just thinking of it had my stomach turning over with butterflies.
I was so lost in thought that I didn't even realize that Kokona had left me because Osorō's measuring session was done until he was standing next to me, whispering into my ear, "You're zoning out."
I blinked and immediately scrambled away from him, cupping my ear. "D-don't surprise me like that!"
He shrugged. "I thought it was kinda funny."
I pouted. "I-it's not funny!"
He smirked. "Whoa, it's not that deep. Why are you so flustered?"
"I-I'm not!"
"I think you are."
Osorō grabbed my arm and yanked me in closer to him, his nose brushing against mine as his other arm snaked around my waist. "If you're not flustered, then why is your face so red?"
I hesitated, then stammered, "Be, because you keep doing embarrassing things like this!"
"Ah, but ya weren't this flustered with that sports guy yesterday," he stated, then released me and started to walk away.
It was then I connected the dots and grabbed his arm to pull him back. "So that was you yesterday!"
He leaned into my face again. "Maybe it was. But am I a culprit here? All I did was walk by."
I pouted. "You, you must've done something."
He hummed, then shrugged. "Let's just say I lost five hundred yen for a good cause yesterday."
He winked, and this time I didn't stop him when he walked away, I just blinked.
Osorō... intentionally paid that kid to sabotage my almost-kiss with Aso?
Jesus, I thought, my face warming up at the idea that he'd done it out of jealousy. I can't get a break, can I?
(Athena's first and only boyfriend was someone Haru Akiyama didn't approve of. They dated in secret for six months, but when Haru Akiyama found out, he forced them to break up and then home-schooled Athena for a year as punishment. This ex-boyfriend will be mentioned again later on in the story.)