The silence that followed Kaito's proposal wasn't empty. It was dense, heavy, a social singularity that sucked all sound and air from the courtyard. Kaito remained motionless, his expression as blank as a mannequin's, watching the collapse of Tomoe Koga's social wavefunction.
"SYSTEM ANALYSIS: PROBABILITY OF PROPOSAL ACCEPTANCE: 0.3%. PROBABILITY OF PERMANENT SOCIAL OSTRACISM FOR THE CHOSEN ONE: 99.7%," Fia screamed in his mind. "KAITO, THIS IS NOT A STRATEGY, IT IS SOCIAL SUICIDE!"
The first to break the silence was the primary variable: Maezawa-senpai.
He didn't yell. He laughed.
It was a loud, forced, condescending laugh. The sound of a king mocking a peasant who dared to speak out of turn. He stood up, brushing imaginary dust from his pants.
"Hey, hey, hey," he said, an arrogant smirk on his face, ignoring Koga and focusing all his attention on Kaito. "Look what we have here. Who are you, man? Some kind of comedian? 'Fake relationship'?" He turned to his friends. "This loser thinks he's in a manga."
More laughter, this more nervous, followed the leader's cue.
"Maezawa-senpai is employing a 'Social Demotion Tactic'!" Fia narrated in panic. "He is trying to isolate you and reaffirm the group hierarchy! You need to defend yourself!"
Kaito didn't defend himself. Defending himself would imply he cared about the hierarchy. Instead, he tilted his head, a gesture of clinical curiosity.
"I'm not talking to you," Kaito said, his monotone voice cutting through the laughter. He turned back to Koga, who was frozen, her face a mask of horror. "The proposal was for her. Your opinion is logistically irrelevant to the agreement."
Maezawa's arrogance faltered. He hadn't expected indifference; he expected fear or anger. "Listen here, you weirdo..." he began, taking a step forward.
"Actually," Kaito interrupted him, still not looking away from Koga. "His opinion is only relevant in one scenario." He finally looked at Maezawa. "If you object because you already have feelings for Koga-san and planned to confess to her soon. In that case, my proposal would be redundant."
He stuck the knife in and twisted it. He wasn't just challenging him; he was exposing the exact scenario Koga was trying to avoid with a time loop.
Maezawa stopped abruptly. The flush on his neck was visible. He couldn't admit it publicly, not without looking vulnerable. And he couldn't deny it vehemently without insulting Koga. Kaito had put him in social checkmate with a single logical sentence.
"I..." Maezawa stammered, completely disarmed.
All eyes turned to Koga. She was the center of the universe. Kaito had created a problem that only she could solve. She could ally herself with the popular Maezawa, who now looked like an idiot, or she could ally herself with the apathetic weirdo who was somehow controlling the situation. Both options were a disaster.
She looked at Kaito's face. There was no mockery, no malice. Just an empty expectation. He didn't care what she chose. And that indifference was the most terrifying thing of all.
She chose the only option that gave her an exit. A terrible exit, but an exit.
"I..." her voice came out as a strangled whisper. She stood up, trembling. "I... accept."
The two words fell onto the courtyard like stones. Maezawa stared at her in disbelief. Her friends stared at her, horrified.
"WHAT?!" Maezawa shouted.
"SYSTEM IN SHOCK! INCONGRUOUS DATA!" Fia bellowed in Kaito's mind.
It was then that the universe, perhaps out of pity, intervened. The sharp bell pierced the air, signaling the end of the lunch break.
The sound broke the spell. Students began to move, talking in low voices, eyeing the drama. Koga saw her chance. In a move driven by sheer panic and adrenaline, she ran forward, grabbed Kaito's wrist with surprising strength, and pulled him.
"Let's go!" she hissed.
She dragged him through the parting crowd, ignoring her friends' calls. Her hand on his wrist was cold and trembling. Kaito didn't resist. Being dragged required less effort than walking alone.
She didn't stop until they were behind the gym, in an isolated area where the smell of cut grass and disinfectant hung in the air. She released him as if he were on fire, backing away several steps.
She was panting, her face red with humiliation and anger.
"YOU!" she shouted, her voice finally exploding. "WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING?! YOU... YOU RUINED EVERYTHING! YOU HUMILIATED ME! WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?!"
Kaito just watched her, his expression blank. He rubbed the wrist where she had held him.
"I'm the guy you kicked," he said, with simple, brutal logic. "And I'm the problem you can't ignore."
He looked at her, at the girl trapped in a loop of her own making, now trapped in a farce of his making.
"Welcome to the first day of the rest of your lie, Koga."
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