"Here you are! Takami," she called out.
*Flinch! *
"Huh?" he jolted, turning his head in a hurry.
That voice, soft yet monotonous, calm yet loud enough to get one's attention, could only be hers.
'Alicia, you came,' he mumbled in a little sweet voice before greeting, "Prez! You came quite early."
'...Yes,' she whispered, "You said there were some urgent matters you needed to talk about, so I left as soon as lunch break started."
"Thanks, and sorry to bother you at this time of the day," replied Takami, unsettled.
"I was planning to take a little break anyway since we are almost done with the work."
"So, while we are at it, why don't we settle that urgent matter you were talking about earlier?"
Alicia stood upright, chest pumped and arms crossed, waiting for Takami's response.
*Gulp*
His heart skipped fast like a locomotive, as if an invisible pressure had just dropped on him.
That stoic face showing no hint of feelings, those piercing eyes fixing him like they were peering into his soul,
Once again, reminded him that he was not dealing with a regular classmate but the school council president.
Nakajima Alicia, a girl of the high society, a noble young lady who took pride in her duties and role as part of the elite.
Excellent grades, great manners, and a refined attitude matching her beauty and elegance…
It was no surprise she had the respect and admiration of many, students and teachers alike.
As for the boy, Takami Daichi, third-year sophomore, class 3-A, the average student one could find anywhere in this private school.
Simple stature, not short nor tall, fluffy dark hair coming down the forehead, brown eyes, round as his little soft cheeks.
Although his grades weren't the best in the class, they were consistent and good enough to be praiseworthy.
In fact, if not for his introverted nature, the gloomy and depressed look plastered on his face due to the dark circles under his eyes,
Daichi could have scored above the average.
Regardless of the reality of things, his overthinking mind and pessimistic nature could never have figured it out.
All his attention was focused on figuring out how to start this conversation.
'What should I do? What should I do? Should I tell her everything from the start, or should I change the topic first...' He kept asking, paralyzed by his inability to make a decision under pressure.
'No! Doing that would only make things more difficult. Then, maybe I should just tell her?'
Daichi was dabbling between ideas, going back and forth in his thinking like he was solving a jigsaw puzzle.
Then, a sudden thought came, disrupting everything.
'What if... It doesn't work out? What if it ends up like last time...'
"..." Daichi paused.
His whole body stiffened, and his mind went blank for a second as if his brain had stopped working, just as a self-defence mechanism protecting its host from self-harm.
''No! Not right now...' He thought, sweating all over,
Those forbidden thoughts, those memories he painstakingly buried inside, should never resurface!
*Whew*
'I have to calm down.'
Daichi took a deep inspiration and breathed out everything in his mind in one fell swoop.
Then, he lifted his head and said, "Sorry for the wait. I was thinking a little bit."
"..." Alicia stared him in the eyes, 'A little bit, huh?'
She rolled her sleeve slightly and took a glance at the watch on her small wrist.
"Don't worry. We still have plenty of time left," she confirmed.
It had only been a minute or so since her arrival there on the school building rooftop.
In addition, she didn't mind it because she already knew what was on his mind before coming here.
Head slightly down, eyes moving left and right, flicking hands, and a stiff posture showing awkwardness and hesitation…
Just by looking at his body language, Alicia could figure out the reason she was called here.
After all, she has been dealing with it ever since primary school!
"Takami, don't force yourself if you don't want to. There are things which are better left untold," she warned, knowing the consequences of such actions.
*Tick*
Daichi flinched.
'What that she mean by that?' He wondered. With the sudden change in tone and expression, there seemed to be some sort of hidden message behind her words.
'Did she perhaps find out… No, it's impossible.' Daichi dismissed the possibility.
After all, only he knew about that truth.
But he couldn't shake that uneasiness, that doubt, that fear that someone else knew about the thing he tried to hide so much.
"Prez... there is something I have to tell you. It's something I have been holding in my heart for a long time…
But, before that, there's something else I wanted to ask first," declared Daichi, garnishing all the power he could muster.
'Is this path truly inevitable? Does it have to end like this?' she mused, eyes down, sighing over the foreseen outcome.
'Since that's what you want, then, there is nothing I can do.' She came to accept and finally spoke.
"Fine, go on."
Once again, Daichi felt the subtle change in her tone and manner but still proceeded as intended.
"Prez, do you remember... the first time we met?"
"..."
Alicia flinched for the first time since the beginning of their discussion.
"The first time we met...," she went into a sudden daze while remembering the scene.
"It was last year, at the end of the semester. I was standing here near the fence when the door suddenly opened..."
Alicia began narrating the story of their first encounter on the lonely school building rooftop, and no one ever came to them.
From their first eye contact and the awkward silence that followed just after, to the moment where he panicked and tried to run away.
Then, the brief Interrogation he went through before he managed to lower her guard and clear the misunderstanding.
Lastly, the most important part was the precious moment that was engraved in Daichi's mind and heart, a memory he would never forget to this day.
"...If you spend all your life only worrying about your problems without doing anything to fix them, you will end up regretting everything in the end.
But if you focus on the good things and do your best every day to change your life and move on, then, eventually, you will figure out the answer you were looking for."
Those were the same words of Alicia had said before leaving the rooftop that day.
"Prez... You do remember!" He said, overwhelmed by joy to the point he forgot the reason he was even asking this question.
"Yes," she replied, 'I remember everything. Every single detail.
Even the one you tried to hide from me…'
Daichi's heart started beating faster than a stereo; he was unable to control his excitement.
This simple fact has made his confidence skyrocket, and he was ready for the next step.
"But, why did you bring that up?" Asked Alicia.
"About that..." He hesitated, "Nothing. Just a bit of nostalgia."
"I see. It's understandable," she nodded.
After all, they were already in the last semester of their high school life.
It was just a matter of time before everyone got busy and focused on their studies, and soon there would be no time to relax, especially for the student council.
Therefore, it was the last chance he had.
"Prez...No. Alicia, to be honest, the reason why I asked you to come here today was because..." Daichi stopped, took a deep breath, and continued,
"I LIKE YOU!" He shouted, "I have always liked you ever since that day on the rooftop.
To you, maybe that random encounter was insignificant, but to me, it means a lot because..."
"Because..." Daichi couldn't finish his words, 'I can't say it. I just… can't say that to her.
The fact that that day... I was trying to kill myself!'
A terrible secret he could never tell anyone.
Not to his former crush Kaori nor his best friend Tatsumi, not to that damn gal and her friends, nor the little junior who he once supported, and surely not to his parents, especially his mother!
*Tsk*
Daichi clicked his tongue.
He felt powerless, desperate, and tired of holding everything inside.
'Seems like you're still not ready to talk about it,' thought Alicia, observing, listening without a word.
*Sigh*
"Anyway, that's what I wanted to say," he resumes, "So Alicia,"
He bent down, giving the best bow he could ever offer, and said out loud,
"PLEASE GO OUT WITH ME!"
"Sorry."
"What?" Daichi's mind was unable to process the answer.
It was too sudden!
"Sorry, but I just can't go out with you, Takami." She repeated.
*WHOOOOOSH*
The silence was deafening. More than the wind blowing on the rooftop.
Daichi was lost for words. He was petrified, unable to lift a finger while his body was still bent down.
"I see..." He mumbled, eyes shut in complete defeat.
But before giving up, he mustered all the remaining force left inside him to ask her a last question,
"Can... Can I at least know the reason?"
"..." Alicia stared down at the poor Daichi, trembling all over, fists clenched, doing the best he could to hold it in.
*Sigh*
"I didn't want it to end up like this, but you leave me no choice," she said, hand on her forehead.
"Takami, to tell you the truth, I was already aware of your feelings for me. I knew everything from the start,"
"Wait…You knew everything?" asked Daichi, flabbergasted, "Then, why..."
"Because you never tried to cross the boundary," She answered right after.
"You have been working diligently since that year and have never tried anything in particular to impress me nor gain my favors, so I turned a blind eye to it.
But now that it has come to this, I will be honest with you,"
*Ba-dump! *
Daichi's heart jumped out of his chest.
'Though the confession is a failure, it wouldn't hurt to know her true feelings…'
He thought, after all, it was already over.
"Daichi, you are a good student who has good manners and is very respectful. Even though you don't stand out from the crowd, you are hardworking and do the best you can at school.
For that, you have my respect," Alicia made a light bow with a smile,
"And I'm sure if you open up more to other people, they will also come to recognize your good qualities and appreciate you for that.
But... To me, you are just a classmate and nothing more."
*Crush! *
A sharp pain was planted in his chest as if a knife had penetrated deep into his heart.
His eyes turned blank, his mouth dry, and his body wobbly.
'Just a classmate… Just... a classmate… Just... a .... Classmate…' He kept repeating those words over and over again until he reached a point.
'So... after everything I have done, I was not even a friend to her?'
The painful realization hit harder than a truck.
His mind was completely shattered, waking him up from his 2-year-long delusions.
"I see, ha-ha," he laughed, "Thanks for telling me the truth, Prez."
'Thank you for opening my eyes to reality.'
"..."
"It's fine. As long as you understand." She replied.
"Don't worry. I fully understand what you mean, so... I won't be bothering you anymore," he promised, hand on chest with a bow.
"Good, then, if there is nothing else, I will be going."
Alicia took a step back and turned around, but before she made her way to the door, she muttered a few words he could not quite understand at that time.
"Don't be hard on yourself, Takami. You have done nothing wrong. It's just that...
We don't belong to the same world."