Volume 2: Prologue- It's not like that!!

[Volume 2 is released earlier than I informed it. Well, It was boring to publish it late. So enjoy. Tomorrow or day after that, I will publish chapter 1. So stay tuned to it]

================================================================

In a room inside an apartment building. Within the silent atmosphere, a girl threw herself onto the bed while making many different expressions.

"Why…no, but…"

She mumbled to herself, her face constantly changing. She was the owner of this room, Alisa Mikhailovna Kujou.

Still in her school uniform with only her blazer off, Alisa repeatedly rolled back and forth on the bed without care for the wrinkles on her uniform. It was a bit crude and uncharacteristic of her, but that's how overwhelmed she was at the moment.

She recalled what had happened about 30 minutes ago. On the way back from the school, a determined Masachika extended a hand to her. And the words she let out in response:

"Like? Like who? Eh? Ehhh??"

Almost unconsciously, the words slipped out of her mouth. She found herself coughing up the words as if they were being pushed out by a huge wave of emotions that came up from deep inside her chest.

"Like? Kuze-Kun? I, I, sh… ~~~!!"

To confirm this, she asked herself again, and immediately afterward, her forehead turned red and she dived into the pillow.

"No! That's, not, it~~~~!"

With her face pressed against the pillow, she shouted denial as if it was a reflex.

(I like him? I? Kuze-Kun? Non! That's not possible!)

There was no way she could like such an unmotivated person. Though it was true that she'd said some dumb things in Russian before.

But, that was only to tease Masachika. He was always trying to look like he's better than everyone else. It was ridiculous how he doesn't see the goodwill of others, and I was just saying things that weren't on my mind.

(…Really?)

The question echoed from the back of her head, and Alisa forcefully demolished it.

"It was true. I'm not in love with Kuze-Kun. That was…just, a little bit of a spur-of-the-moment thing. That's all!"

After forcing herself to say that, Alisa got up and went to the closet.

(Even…say, take a hundred steps. No, ten thousand steps even if I like Kuze-Kun…I still have more important things to do right now.)

As she changed her clothes, Alisa reconfirmed once again what was most important to her.

She doesn't even have to think. It was to become the student council president.

It would be an unforgivable act to indulge in something like love affairs and neglect the efforts needed to become president.

That would be equivalent to betraying Masachika, who said he would support that dream.

(That's right…now that I have Kuze-Kun's cooperation, what I need to do is to live up to his expectations. If I were to abandon my campaign and confess my feelings…what would Kuze-kun think?)

As Alisa answered her own question, Masachika's image appeared in her head.

"Eh? you like me? …No, I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that when I said I'd 'support' you…is that how you took my words? It's a little…too much. I shouldn't have said anything…"

A phantom image of Masachika saying such a thing in a completely detached manner.

"Ka, ha…"

Hurt by her own imagination, Alisa staggered back.

She walked back to the bed and collapsed on the quilt with sluggish steps.

She was stunned for a while, but then she raised her eyebrows and began to slap the quilt with a bang.

"Of course not! Neither do I! I do not! Like you! At all!!"

She swung her hand down while shouting, her breathing ragged.

(Besides, it's Kuze-Kun after all. If I go to school tomorrow, I'm sure you'll be irritating me with your unmotivated attitude again.)

After everything, we've been through. I-I.

"Tsu!"

Thinking about it made Alisa angry again, so she got up from the bed and closed the closet door roughly.

At the same time, she heard the front door close, Alisa held her feverish cheeks and changed her expression three times.

"Welcome home, Masha."

"I'm back, Alya-chan."

"?"

Mariya smiled fluffily, as usual, hugged Alisa's shoulders with her free hand, and kissed her cheeks on both sides. However, her movements were somewhat distracting, as if she was out of it.

"Aashiqui…did something happen?"

"Eh…what is it?"

"What do you mean…"

Alisa said, but she was unable to elaborate and was at a loss for words.

Mariya looked at Alisa with a somewhat unusual gaze, but suddenly she smiled and pulled out a stuffed animal from a plastic bag in her hand.

"Yes, yes, you're right! Actually…I had a very nice meeting!"

"Eh?"

A stuffed cat was suddenly thrust in front of Alisa's eyes, who was taken aback by the flamboyant voice.

"Ta-da! Alya-nyan!"

"Ah, Alya-nyan…eh?"

"Look, look! Doesn't it look like Alya-chan?"

"…Which part?"

Alisa took a step back to look at the stuffed animal and asked with a straight face

"Ehh~ Like these eyes?"

"The stuffed animal, the eyes, it has everything~ here look!…"

"Ah, yeah, yeah, I get it…also, don't call it that."

"Ehh~?"

"It feels like you are calling me, so I can't compose myself."

"Mmm~, then…mind if I go with Buunyan?"

"Then, that's…"

"Wow, let's go to your house then, okay~? Alnyan?"

Mariya hugged the stuffed animal to her chest with a happy smile on her face and headed to her room.

As Alisa looked away with a dumbfounded expression on her face, Marija suddenly stopped and called out to Alisa over her shoulder.

"Oh yeah, Alya-chan, about Kuze-Kun…"

"…What?"

Suddenly, the name of the person she had just been thinking about was mentioned, and Alisa took a moment to prepare herself. Whether or not she knew about Alisa's alarm, Mariya continued in a cheerful voice

"No, I just thought he was a nice boy. I can see why Alya likes him so much~"

"I kept telling you, I don't like him."

"Really~"

"So persistent."

As if to hide her inner turmoil, Alisa made a strong sound of dismay. Immediately after, she gasped at Mariya's gaze over her shoulder.

Because contrary to the cheerful voice that had been used before…there was a scary seriousness in her eyes.

However, those eyes were soon hidden by her usual smiling face.

"Mm-hmm. I see."

"Eh?"

"I see how it is~ Alya-chan is so cute when she can't be honest."

"Wha, huh?"

"But if you like him, you'd better tell him that you like him soon. It would be too late after someone else took him."

"W-What are you saying!?"

"Fufu~, youth."

Without caring about Alisa's words, Mariya was convinced and said whatever she wanted to and retreated to her room.

"My goodness, what was that…."

When Alisa saw her sister's resignation at her usual base, Alisa tried not to worry about it anymore and went back to her room.

But even though she tried not to think about it, it was still on her mind.

"…"

That serious look Mariya had shown Alisa over her shoulder was now stuck in her head for a while.