“I didn’t know you’ve taken ‘stalking’ as a hobby now”, Yuto tried to break the silence of the girl walking right next to him, obvious that she’s currently in the verge of gauging her eye balls out of their sockets. The boy just chuckled at how miserable she looked and somehow found it cute when she pouted. 

“Was I that obvious? Thank God you were there to pull me out of that situation, or else, I would’ve just melted on the spot”, Rio relaxed her shoulders and continued to keep up with Yuto’s walking pace. She found herself sighing for the nth time as she kicked a pebble on the side walk. She remembered earlier events when Mariya clung to Ryosuke like a koala and pulled him for their date, “I guess there’s no point of me hanging around Yama-chan now since Mariya-chan is back, ne?”, she continued before feeling her best friend scuffling her hair like he always does.

“Baka! That was the deal in the first place, right? You agreed that you’ll be his bodyguard UNTIL he gets over Mariya. But now, I don’t think he needs you anymore”, Rio heard Yuto picture her own nightmare. The image of Ryosuke and Mariya together just kept flashing before her eyes, enough to almost make her crazy. 

“I just wasn’t ready to say goodbye yet”, she replied, her voice softened and Yuto was quick to realise how miserable she must’ve felt seeing the guy she likes being with someone else. “I only watch these in dramas and movies but I never thought it’ll be this hard to have someone you love, love somebody else”.

“You have no idea”, Yuto mumbled sarcastically, thinking how ironic it is to hear this from the girl he likes herself. He thought he whispered that to himself but Rio caught what he just said. 

“What do you mean? Wait—”, Rio abruptly grabbed Yuto’s sleeve, making the tall boy stop walking. The girl squinted her eyes as if ready to interrogate him, “… Don’t tell me, you like someone?!”, Rio’s eyes widened and somehow, excitedly jumped from excitement. 

Yuto, on the other hand just looked at her peculiarly, amazed on how dense she can be. They’ve known each other for almost 20 years and Rio never noticed the boy’s feelings. Yuto waited for awhile and hoped that Rio would realise it herself, but to no luck. The girl just remained obnoxious about everything. 

“Who is it? Do I know her?”, Rio asked curiously. 

Feeling defeated, Yuto just sighed and thought of a way to indirectly confess to Rio. He knows for a fact that his best friend is in love with Ryosuke but having bottled up his emotions for far too long, he is hoping these feelings will someday reach her. 

“I don’t think you know her”, he lied, “She’s very important to me - I even treat her like a sister. I became so over protective of her up to a point that I don’t like seeing her getting hurt. But I can’t really confess now since she’s in love with someone else”, Yuto looked down and felt his chest tighten in every word. It frustrates him knowing that if he confess, he’ll just complicate things for Rio.

“Hmmm… Are you really sure you like her… uhm, romantically?”, Rio innocently replied. Yuto looked at her with a blank expression and waited for her to explain.

“What do you mean?”

“Well, you said it yourself, you treat her as a sister. Maybe you became very overprotective since you LOVE her just as a SISTER?”, she hypothesised, making the poor boy raise an eyebrow. 

“… I love her just as a sister?”, Yuto tried to clarify and just watched Rio continued on with her crazy ideas.

“Yeah. I mean, can you imagine yourself being all lovey dovey with her?”

“Hmm… I guess?”

“Can you imagine yourself making out and having babies?”

“What?! NO!”, Yuto replied with a raised tone as soon as he pictures himself with Rio doing unspeakable things. Sure, he likes Rio but never had he imagined doing those kind of love scenarios with her. By this, Yuto just face-palmed himself, thinking how Rio managed to live in this world being as dense as she is. 

Rio was about to put more disturbing thoughts on Yuto’s head when he finally covered with his palm and dragged her forward towards her house, “That’s enough weird talk coming from you”.

“Wait! I’m not finished… I wanna know who that girl is!”, she said with a muffled voice whilst feeling Yuto’s hand over . The boy then just chuckled at her state and thought that maybe staying friends with Rio is not such a bad idea. He enjoys having these moments with her and will give anything to keep her smile - even if her smiles are not for himself. 

—

After taking Rio home, Yuto went on towards his own house, thinking about possible scenarios if ever he went through his confession. He somehow felt relieved that he didn’t tell Rio how he feels since he knows that this will just make the situation messier. His main goal is to make Rio happy, and if that means sacrificing himself for this, then so be it. 

He sighed and continued to let the music blasting from his headphones drown his sorrows. With his thoughts clouded, he didn’t even realise that he was already near his studio apartment. He forced both his feet to the entrance when a familiar figure welcomed him, “Yama-chan?”, he squinted his eyes to confirm that it was indeed his band member. 

The boy looked up as soon as he heard Yuto’s voice calling for him. Everything happened in a flash when the older boy grabbed Yuto’s collar and pinned him on the wall, making the latter taken aback by Ryosuke’s violent actions. This is the first time he saw him like this - angry and pissed. 

Yuto didn’t say anything but just waited for Ryosuke to explain his sudden visit. The two boys looked at each other intensely, as if ready for a fight. Only a few seconds had passed and Yuto saw Ryosuke’s expression slowly calmed down. He loosened his grip on his collar and avoided eye contact. 

“There’s no point. You’re too handsome”, Ryosuke gave an exhausted sigh before turning his back on Yuto. 

“Eh?”

“If you confessed to me, I would’ve said ‘yes’ too”, Ryosuke huffed once, making the younger boy speechless. “How did your confession go?”

“Did you just come here to ask me that?”

“Yeah. Just thinking about my best friend confessing to the girl I like, it makes me frustrated”, he replied and messily scuffled his hair. He then rested his back on Yuto’s entrance door and the taller boy followed this gesture, giving the impression he is in for a man to man conversation. 

“Well, she indirectly rejected me”, he started. He chuckled at his own misfortune while remembering how Rio mistook his confession to be for someone else, “It’s really hard to confess to a girl who’s in love with someone else, and especially to a girl as dense as Rio”. 

Yuto’s voice tingled inside Ryosuke’s ears. Did he just say Rio rejected him? 

With this, the older boy looked back at Yuto and somehow, a subtle smile was formed on his face. 

“Do you enjoy my misery that much? You don’t have to look that happy that she rejected me, you know”, Yuto playfully said before patting his friend’s shoulder. 

“Uhm… Sorry. I just…”, Ryosuke’s smile faded and suddenly felt sympathy for the boy. After all, Yuto is still his close friend and he hates seeing his glum expression. Ryosuke then positioned himself in front of Yuto and extended his arm for the latter to take. “Yuto… I promise I won’t make her cry”, he mumbled before feeling Yuto’s hand returning his friendly gesture. 

“If you do, I’m sure to take her away”

—------

With his chest almost in the in the verge of exploding from the overwhelming flush of emotions, Ryosuke hailed for a taxi and anxiously waited for the moving vehicle to reach Rio’s house. His mind started playing images of Rio which consequently pulled his own lips apart. He doesn’t even know how to start his confession… all he knows is that he has to see Rio today. This is something he cannot delay anymore. 

As soon as he reached Rio’s front door, Ryosuke gathered all his remaining courage to press the door bell. He silently waited outside, hoping not disturb any of her next door neighbours. They might think he’s some sort of a stalker ringing for attention at this time of night. 

He pressed the bell the second time for luck before hearing a set of footsteps coming towards the opposite side of the door.

“Wh-Who is it?”, Ryosuke heard Rio say from the inside. Her voice sounded muffled but a bit terrified. 

“It’s me”, the boy said which prompted Rio to open the said door. Ryosuke felt himself squint from the bright light coming from Rio’s mobile phone. He shifted his vision slightly to see Rio’s clear complexion and was suddenly amazed when he saw the girl holding a frying pan, posing like she’s ready to hit/murder someone. She also has her mobile phone’s flash light beaming at him. “Why are you holding a frying pan? Are you planning to cook me with it?”

“Y-Yama-chan?”, Rio sighed in relief as soon as she confirmed the identity of her visitor. 

It’s nearly midnight, for Pete’s sake! Who in the right mind would come at this ungodly hour unannounced? She then took a deep breath and looked at Ryosuke peculiarly, “You scared me! I thought you were a robber!”

“A robber?… so you’re planning to prevent a crime with a frying pan?”, Ryosuke chuckl