Holding Back 2

By the next day, Arata had come up with an idea to tell Yurime. It was one that he believed to be foolproof.

"It's exciting to see you're almost there." She said. Indeed there was excitement within her, but it was also mixed with the feeling of dread knowing that once this was completed. Things were over for her the moment he was finally off the market. Even though she already she was out of the game, her heart still felt the pain. "So what is it?"

"I was thinking, maybe if I get into an… Intimate moment with them, I'll know who makes my heart race." The plan sounded incredibly stupid. However, that was all he could think of after last night where he tossed and turned in bed trying to come up with anything. For him, if perhaps he was forced to look at them in a certain light, his heart would give him the answer.

"Um, okay." She wasn't sure about it. Not only that, but she really didn't want to see him pushed up against another girl, especially some of her closer friends. "It should be a surprise for both of you. So I'll come up with something, and won't tell you."

"Great, thanks." He was fine with that arrangement. At least there was less thinking on his part, even if whatever he got himself into was going to be awkward. "Then I'll come into the library during lunch. Can you get something set up by then?"

"You got it." She gave him the thumbs and they separated so she could get to work. Since they were going to execute their plan in the library, she figured something that could get Hifumi would work. So she got to work thinking of things while in class. It wasn't easy to come up with something at that location, even if she spent a lot of time there. However, the other girl did, and they had a meeting with the committee today as well. So if she changed her mind, it would be easy to get Ichiri into position.

By the time lunch arrived, she had what she believed to be foolproof as she got out a ladder. The feeling inside was strange, as perhaps this was going to lead to the moment where he would fall in love. That boy had gone a long way ever since she met him for the first time, thinking of how to blackmail him. Now she was going to be helping him find the love of his life. Funny how things turned out.

"So, looks like things are getting set up right now." Said Arata, who came into the library early to get ahead of the others. Despite saying he wanted it to be a surprise, the boy couldn't stop his curiosity and had to check her out. At this moment, he was standing below her as she set some books up while standing on the stepladder. "Are these books important?"

"Well, I wouldn't call them our most valuable collection." She wouldn't dream of using the books Hifumi seemed to care most about. Damaging them would certainly incur that girl's wraith. "But as I'm sure you can see, I plan on knocking them over when you get here alone with one of them." The image in her mind would be that he would shelter one of them from the books so they wouldn't get hurt. Then, when he gets a good look when they're vulnerable, that should direct him to finding his true feelings. "I think I can come up with some real clever stuff."

"I think you've been hanging out with Ichiri too much." He responded. This girl sounded rather confident in herself that this would work out. In his head, it seemed like a decent plan, but he wasn't a fan of having hard objects falling down onto his head. "I guess whoever gets here first between them, I'll bring them over. So get into position by then." They both figured that was going to be Hifumi, since she was always here before any of them. The only reason for the difference today was because they got well before anyone would think of coming here.

"No probl-" She was going to give him another thumb-ups, but upon trying to do so lead to her dropping a book. The girl attempted to catch it before it fell, which was foolish as it lead to her losing her balance and begin to fall off the ladder.

"Watch out!" He yelled, trying to break her fall. This ended up with her toppling over him as they got tangled up with more books falling as a result of the force of her tumble. Seeing this, Arata quickly rolled atop of her to block away the books from hitting her. Though that did lead to a pummeling for him. "Ow, that stings."

"Are you all right?" She asked with concern in her voice. He was laid about on top of her, not allowing the girl to be able to stand back up quickly. Instead, as they were on the ground, she got a close look at the boy who saved her. "Oh, um…"

"I…" He was about to speak, but upon realizing the position they were in made him self-conscious. The boy didn't understand this feeling after saving a girl like her. It was like his heart was tensing up, it's beat getting faster and faster. "Sorry." Arata put hands up and backed away so that she could get up.

"Oh my gosh, are you two all right?" They weren't alone in the library anymore either. As she had tumbled to the ground, Hifumi had been just about to enter as she heard the sounds of falling books. That got her really worried… For the books, but seeing her friends also was concerning. "What happened?"

"Oh, sorry." Yurime tried to regain her composure after being in that tense moment. That was the first time she had ever gotten so close to him, and disappointingly, most likely to be the last. "I'm…" She grabbed her ankle in pain. "...Fine."

"It doesn't look like it." He said, taking note of her grimace. "We need to take you to the nurse's office.

"Have no fear!" As they were helping up the girl, Ichiri made her presence known. She had also heard the books falling and rushed here as soon as she could. "As a hero of justice-"

"Just help us!" Arata yelled at her as he supported Yurime over his shoulder. "Don't worry, I got you."

"Thank you." She said, unable to look him in the face. Not only did her plan fail, but she also had the mix of nervousness and guilt from enjoying his touch. It was harsh, because he needed to use his somewhat manly force, but also soft as this wasn't a boy who people called super manly, even regular manly, at all.

Fortunately, the walk to the nurse was short. Of course, the woman running it was shocked to see Arata here yet again. It seemed either he or someone he knew was always getting into medical issues.

"Oh dear, you're always getting into trouble, aren't you?" Said Koume, the nurse. "What happened this time?"

"She just fell." Hifumi answered. "She was putting away some books when she tripped from the ladder."

"Huh, and that's the second time something like that has happened and he was there." She pointed out the similarities with this and the other time Arata was a part of it with Matsu. "I'm sure it's just a coincidence."

"Anyway, is she going to be okay?" Asked Ichiri. "We can have her dying on us!"

"Well, it's just a twisted ankle." She replied with a puzzled expression from how panicked that girl was. "We'll have to check to make sure nothing's sprained, but she should be out by the end of school."

"That's good to hear." Arata breathed a sigh of relief. He felt guilty since she was only in the position because of him. After that, everyone returned to their obligations as Yurime sat alone in the nursing bed. Her heart was racing, and it wasn't because she took such a bad fall. No, it was uncontrollable because of being able to hold Arata so close to her body. This made her breathing so hard from the anxiety.

Why did she have to give him up? She knew why, but it sucked to hold back for everyone's sake. That said, despite questioning her resolve, she knew that she didn't deserve him anyway. It's fine that he forgave her for the blackmailing, but there was no way someone could fall for someone like her.

"Is everything all right in here?" A voice called out to her. It was Syari, the girl who had run against the others in the student elections. "Arata was sad at the meeting about you, so I wanted to check up to keep him up to date."

"I'm feeling better now." She answered. School was nearly finished, so she should be leaving soon as well. "My foot doesn't hurt as much anymore, so I don't think it's injured."

"That's good to hear." She responded by sitting down on the bed next to hers. "He was just so distraught about it."

"He was?" The boy didn't seem like it to her when he was here earlier.

"Oh yeah, he was so distracted during our meeting. It kind of upset Misei with how bad it was." She laughed, unaware of why. "That's kind of funny, but I guess it's sweet since he cares so much about you." Especially since Syari was aware of the blackmail business between them. The idea of feeling bad for someone who tried to cause you pain was still a bit foreign to her, but he somehow was able to do it.

"Yeah…" Yurime laughed along with her, but only in a weaker fashion from thinking about their unfortunate past. "He really is a sweet boy."

"Actually, when I think about it. You should ask him out."

"Heheh, yeah…" As she had been laughing to keep up with the conversation, it took a while for what was said to sink in. "Wait, what did you just say!?"