"And that's what happened..." I say finishing my story.
"That's rough." Misaki says taking a sip of her coffee.
If your wondering what I'm doing with Misaki. We happened to run into each other in the shopping district and now we're exchanging stories at Hazawa Coffee. She was telling me stories about Hello, Happy World and all the craziness that Kokoro, Hagumi and Kaoru were up to and I was telling her about CiRCLE, Alisa and my complicated love life.
"I still can't believe that you like 10 different girls." Misaki says. "Are you sure you're not trying to make a harem or something?"
"Yes, I'm sure that I'm not trying to make a harem." I tell her. "And it's making my head hurt and stressing me out."
"Well, with 10 girls, you'd be hard pressed to make a choice." Misaki says.
"Sometimes I feel like I need to hurt myself because of this." I say sipping my coffee.
"Hurt yourself...?" Misaki says, putting down her coffee.
"I get these thoughts sometimes. Thoughts that I'm worthless and need to hurt myself as punishment for being in this situation." I admit to Misaki. "Don't worry, I don't actively hurt myself, but these thoughts can get overwhelming at times."
"Are you alright?" Misaki asks concerned.
"Yeah, I'm fine. I have Alisa, and I do go to therapy sometimes, it helps me." I tell her.
"Okay, just remember that you can talk to me if you need to. You've been listening to be complain about the 3 idiots after all." Misaki tells me.
"Thanks Misaki." I thank her.
"No problem. So how are you gonna move forward with this?" Misaki says.
"I know that I do like Aya, Chisato, Yukina and Lisa. But I'm still not sure with the others. I'm just gonna wait for a chance to know if I really do like them or not. I'm not gonna rush it, but I shouldn't wait for long. I'm gonna have to be the one to take the first step." I explain to Misaki.
"You're right. Let's just hope that Kokoro doesn't find out and try to mess everything up." Misaki says. I agree with Misaki. The last thing I need is Kokoro trying to help. She might think up some crazy scheme that'll be too much for me to handle.
"True." I agree with Misaki.
We continue to chat and exchange stories before Misaki has to meet up with Kanon and I head towards the park for some time by myself.
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A few minutes later
I reach the park and notice a group of girls surrounding someone, and I already know who it is.
"Kaoru-sama!"
"We love you!"
"Marry me Kaoru-san!"
The girls around her were screaming. I decide to walk on by but Kaoru notices me.
"Ah, (Y/N)-kun!" Kaoru says catching my attention.
"Excuse me my little kittens, but I would like to speak with the young knight." Kaoru tells the girls surrounding her as she approaches me. Once she reaches me, she puts an arm around my shoulders. She's already done this a couple of times that I'm getting used to it.
"Excuse us, I'll see you soon once more. Farewell my little kittens." She says to the girls as we walk on and the girls swoon.
"Kaoru-sama!"
"Goodbye Kaoru-sama!"
"Who is he?"
"He seems to be friends with Kaoru-sama."
"He better not be trying to take Kaoru-san from us."
I overhear the girls talking as we walk. After we get far away from her fan girls, Kaoru lets out a sigh of relief.
"Thank you once again young knight, you've saved me." Kaoru says to me. It's happened a couple of times before, whenever Kaoru spots me when her fan girls are around, she goes to talk to me so that she can get away from them. She may seem to like the attention, but she also likes to have some time to herself.
"No problem. I just hope those girls won't hold any grudges against me for 'taking you away from them'." I tell Kaoru while doing quotation marks with my hands.
"Don't worry, I'm sure that my little kittens would never do such a thing." Kaoru reassures me, though I highly doubt it.
"How have you been faring young knight?" Kaoru asks me.
"I'm doing just fine, but I have to admit that I've been troubled recently." I tell her.
"What seems to be bothering you? You may tell me." Kaoru offers.
"Don't worry about it. You shouldn't trouble yourself with my problems." I decline her offer.
"The way I see it, you have helped me a number of times and you're even helping me with my English." Kaoru says. It's true, I've been helping her with her English after she found out that I was originally from the US. "So I should offer you my assistance when you may need it."
I contemplate Kaoru's words for a minute and think about whether or not to tell her my situation. I am worried that Kaoru might tell Kokoro and that they might start planning some crazy scheme, or worse, she might set Chisato off somehow.
"Can you keep this a secret? As in keep this a secret." I say looking at Kaoru seriously.
"Of course. As a prince, you have my word." Kaoru says with a nod.
We take a seat on a nearby bench and for the next couple of minutes I'm telling Kaoru about the complicated situation that I'm in. Of course I leave out the part where Lisa basically pinned me to a couch, stole my first kiss and suggested a 3-way relationship with Yukina. That one's private.
"I see, that is quite the predicament that you are in." Kaoru says with a hand to her chin.
"But I must know." Kaoru looks at me seriously. "Are your feeling for these girls true and not some sham?"
"They're real." I say with all seriousness as I look at Kaoru straight in the eye.
"Very well, I will believe you young knight." Kaoru says with a smile and patting my back. "So how do you intend to proceed?"
"I want to affirm my feelings for each one of the girls before I make my final decision." I tell Kaoru.
"Sounds like a plan. If you are ever in need of advice. You may come to me and I will do my utmost to aid you." Kaoru says while giving me a comforting smile.
"Thanks Kaoru. Just please remember to keep this a secret." I tell Kaoru.
"Do not worry young knight, you have my word as a prince, that I will keep your predicament a secret." Kaoru says in a flamboyant manner. I couldn't help but chuckle at her action.
Kaoru and I then proceed to exchange some stories with each other for the next couple of minutes.
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2 hours later
I was walking through the shopping district while thinking to myself, when someone suddenly bumps into me.
"Whoa!" I hear a girl let out as I lightly grunt from the impact.
"I'm so sorry." The girl says.
"I'm sorry as well." I say looking at the girl and I recognize her as Himari from Afterglow.
"Ah, (Y/N)-san, hello there." Himari recognizes and greets me.
"Hello Himari." I greet her back.
"What are you doing?" Himari asks me.
"Nothing just walking around. What about you?" I say.
"I'm thinking about what to do since I haven't finished my homework yet." Himari answers.
"Do you think you can help me with my homework?" Himari says looking up to me with her hands held together.
"What?" I ask.
"Can you help me with my homework?" Himari repeats.
"What subject?" I ask.
"Just English. I'm not very good with it." Himari says.
"If it's just English I think I can help." I tell her.
"Really? Thanks! Everyone else is busy and left me to do it by myself." Himari says "Let's head to Hazawa Coffee. We can do it there."
Himari leads me to Hazawa Coffee. We reach the shop and enter.
"Hello, welcome to- Oh, Hii-chan, (Y/N)-san." Tsugumi says greeting us.
"Hey Tsugu." Himari greets Tsugumi.
"Hello again Tsugumi." I greet.
"What are you doing together?" Tsugumi asks.
"(Y/N)-san is going to help me with my English homework." Himari answers.
"Okay, let's find you a table." Tsugumi says before she leads us to a table at the back where it's quiet. We order some coffee and cake then Tsugumi goes to get them. Himari takes out her homework.
"Okay so what do you need to do?" I ask Himari.
"I need to answer this and write an essay about any topic." Himari says she points to a question sheet and a pad of paper.
"Okay, answer the sheet first and I'll help you out if you have questions." I tell Himari.
"Alright!" Himari says as she begins to answer the question sheet.
Tsugumi arrives with our orders shortly afterwards and places them on the table. Himari continues answering the question sheet while I answer her questions and give some advice. Eventually she finishes it and starts to write the essay. She decides to write about Afterglow. After she finishes her essay, I read it and make corrections to her spelling and grammar then she rewrites her essay. We finish in just over an hour.
"Are you done?" Tsugumi asks while approaching our table.
"We're all done. Thanks (Y/N)-san." Himari says while stretching her arms.
"No problem. It was just English, so I could actually help." I tell her.
"You're very good with English (Y/N)-san." Himari says.
"Thanks." I say then I look at my watch to see the time. "I should get going."
"Okay, I'll stay here with Tsugu. Thanks again (Y/N)-san."
"Goodbye Himari, Tsugumi." I bid them farewell as I stand up.
"Bye." Himari says while waving.
"Goodbye, (Y/N)-san." Tsugumi says.
I head outside and start heading home. Today has been pretty normal, Although those thoughts have been plaguing me and have been getting a bit worse recently. I have to resolve this situation soon.
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Author's Notes
This is chapter is just a filler. I'm sorry if I triggered anyone with the thoughts about self-harm. I will say it now, our Protagonist may mention it at times from now on, so if that concerns you, please tell me and I will not write about it anymore. I actually do have such thoughts sometimes including feelings of worthlessness, but I do go through therapy and try to stay strong and continue on with my life.