“So none of your friends know, right? That you manifested?”
Koi steered the conversation that way.
“Yeah.”
Ashley replied.
“The only ones who know I’ve manifested are a few teachers, the coach, my dad, and his secretary. ...Though there is one risky person.”
“W-Who?”
Koi tensed as he asked. Ashley looked down at him with a serious expression and spoke gravely.
“There’s this person who regularly sneaks into my house. They know my secret.”
“W-What? For real? Shouldn’t you install so kind of security system or sothing?!”
Ashley shook his head.
“Nah, no need. They’re really small. Not even half my size.”
“Still! You never know! Even you’d be in danger if soone attacked you while you were asleep or sothing.”
Ashley paused like he was considering it, then nodded slightly.
“You’ve got a point. There was this one ti I was sick, and they broke in. It almost got dangerous.”
“See?! So nothing happened, right? Right?”
Koi responded instantly, eyes wide with worry. Ashley kept up his serious tone.
“I don’t think they were trying to kill , but how they got past the front gate security is a mystery. It’s terrifying.”
“They got past the gate?!”
Koi echoed the words, then suddenly paused as sothing clicked. Ashley nodded solemnly.
“Yeah. I don’t know how they figured it out, but they looped around the mountain and ca in through the back.”
The realization hit Koi, and he fell silent. Ashley, still speaking in a low, conspiratorial tone like he was sharing a dark secret, looked down at Koi’s increasingly red face.
“And do you know what their thod of transportation is? Not a car. A bike. And not even a decent one—just a rusted hunk of junk.”
Ashley scrunched his face deliberately at Koi’s now tomato-red face.
“How do you beat soone who hauls that thing around a mountain? Isn’t that just terrifying?”
“I-I don’t know!!”
Koi spun around and sprinted toward the classroom. But Ashley caught up easily with just a few lazy strides.
“Hey, Koi, you know what’s even scarier?”
Koi didn’t answer and kept running like his life depended on it. Ashley jogged beside him with a grin.
“They changed bikes!”
“Stop iiiit!!”
Koi finally lost it and swung a fist at him. Of course, it barely had any force—and didn’t even land properly, just grazing Ashley’s arm. Still, Ashley let out a loud, dramatic yelp and collapsed to the ground. Koi, already a few steps ahead, turned back in a panic.
“A-Ash?!”
Oh no! Koi turned pale and ran back to him. Ashley was hunched over, clutching his arm dramatically. Koi flailed in a panic.
“A-Ash, are you okay? I’m sorry! You’re probably still not feeling well after your manifestation... What do I do, I’m really sorry—”
Should I call 911?! He was about to pull out his phone when Ashley suddenly grabbed both his arms. Koi stared wide-eyed as Ashley smiled up at him.
“Gotcha.”
“You tricked !”
Koi struggled too late, but of course [N O V E L I G H T] it was useless. Ashley stood up in one smooth motion and pulled Koi into a one-ard hug.
“This ti, you ca rolling right to .”
“You’re the one who tricked !”
“Yup. Sorry.”
Ashley said, not sounding sorry at all. Koi tried to stay angry, but all he felt was relief.
Thank god he’s not hurt...
Ashley smiled at the sight of him breathing a sigh of relief. If they weren’t at school, he would’ve kissed him right then. But he held himself back, wrapping an arm around Koi instead as they continued walking.
Once they’d walked side by side for a while and caught their breath, Koi suddenly rembered their earlier conversation.
“Hey, Ash.”
“Yeah?”
Ashley answered imdiately, as always. Koi pulled together everything he’d read and asked cautiously,
“About what we were saying earlier... So you’re fine normally, but you release pheromones at ho, right? So if I co over... I’ll be exposed to them?”
“Yeah.”
Ashley replied without hesitation, but inwardly, he was tense. Maybe Koi would say he wasn’t coming over anymore. And he couldn’t bla him. All of this was because of his cursed manifestation.
He braced himself—only for Koi to nod and say,
“Okay. Got it.”
“...That’s it?”
Ashley turned to stare at him, unable to hide his surprise.
“Huh? Uh...”
Koi scratched his head, looking sheepish.
“I an, as long as I wash up properly, right? It’s fine. I shower twice a day anyway.”
He added with a bright smile.
“I was with you the whole ti you were manifesting, and I didn’t manifest myself, right?”
He didn’t ntion what his father had said about staying away from Ashley. There was no point—Koi had no intention of following that advice anyway.
Ashley recalled Koi’s words, and a slow smile spread across his face.
“...Yeah.”
Ashley said.
“Let’s be together.”
“Yeah.”
This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.
Koi nodded. It didn’t matter what his father said. He wasn’t going to leave Ashley.
With that firm promise in his heart, Koi turned to Ashley and bead.
“I’ll stay with you.”
At that mont, Ashley had to clench his fists so hard his nails dug into his palms to stop himself from grabbing Koi and kissing him senseless. We’re at school, he reminded himself like a mantra. Hold it together, for Koi’s sake.
They weren’t officially dating yet. Ashley desperately hoped that would change soon—but no one knew when that day would co. To him, every day, every hour, every minute, every second felt too long.
“Koi.”
As they reached the classroom, Ashley spoke. Koi turned to look at him, but Ashley kept his eyes forward.
“I can’t wait forever.”
Uh...
Koi blinked, caught off guard. Ashley let go of him and stepped into the classroom. Koi stood there, flustered and unsure, then hesitantly followed him in. He sat down beside Ashley, stealing glances. Ashley turned and flashed a deliberate smile.
So admit it already, Koi. Admit how you feel.
Another student entered, and the teacher began the lesson. Ashley glanced over. Koi looked more tense than usual, clearly rattled by Ashley’s parting words. Watching him, Ashley thought,
If I can’t take it anymore, I might just kidnap you.
*
“One, two, three—done!”
At Ariel’s command, everyone froze. The music cut off too, and a few seconds later, the team mbers exhaled and relaxed. Koi hunched over, panting and catching his breath.
The cheerleading team’s practice was way more intense than he’d imagined. The physical activity alone was far more than he expected, and the mbers were incredibly fit.
Since joining, Koi felt like he owed an apology to every cheerleader he’d ever seen. He’d never imagined such grueling effort, training, and tears could hide behind all those bright, smiling performances. More than anything, they took their roles seriously.
“We’re going to lead Buffalo High to victory!”
At Ariel’s cry, everyone shouted in unison. Koi shouted along, swept up in their pride and spirit.
But the inspiration didn’t last long—he always had extra practice.
“You’ve got no muscle.”
Ariel would regularly poke at different parts of Koi’s body with sharp critiques. And to be fair, the entire team had clearly been through extensive training. They were all lean and strong, and Ariel, as captain, was the top among them.
“Ariel won an amateur boxing tournant, you know.”
One of the vice-captains had said it with pride once, and Koi had been amazed—while also recalling Ashley’s bruised face and feeling a chill down his spine.
“All right, good job today, everyone.”
As practice wrapped up, Ariel clapped her hands to get everyone’s attention. Once everyone turned toward her, she continued.
“We’ve got a hocoming ga coming up, so we’re going to order new uniforms. If there’s any issue, make sure to tell or the vice-captain. This ga marks the start of the season, so we have to nail it.”
“Okay!”
“Yes!”
The team responded with fired-up voices. Ariel nodded, then suddenly flashed a bright smile.
“Which is why... let’s all head to Green Bell for a little team bonding ti today!”
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