1 The Play

"Um, Saton-chan, is it really okay for us to continue this? Everyone's staring at us wherever we go," I said to the girl walking beside me, her hand intertwined with mine.

"Takahashi-kun, I told you not to worry about that. Just play along for now. I don't think this will last long. Sooner or later, the interest in our relationship will wear off," she replied, turning toward me with a reassuring smile.

Her smile made my heart flutter, even though I knew what we shared wasn't real love. We never expected to end up together like this, but I couldn't help but feel a tinge of envy for being Saton-san's boyfriend, even if it was just pretending.

Now, let me explain what I'm dealing with. The girl I'm talking about, Sato Aoi, is my childhood friend. We've known each other for as long as I can remember, growing up as neighbors. She's hardworking, beautiful, and popular among both boys and girls in our school because of her cheerful personality.

On the other hand, I'm somewhat antisocial and average in appearance. I've been unlucky in love, often facing rejection when I muster the courage to confess my feelings. The rejections weren't always kind, and they led me to become distant and indifferent toward meeting new people.

Fortunately, Sato-san was always there to cheer me up and protect me from the ridicule of others. Despite spending so much time together, I never saw her as a love interest, believing she was out of my league.

However, now that we're pretending to be a couple, I can see that she's just a normal girl. Yet, that doesn't mean I'll fall for her. She's my friend, and this whole couple thing is just a charade.

Let me backtrack and explain how we ended up being considered a couple by the entire school. Yesterday, we performed a theatrical play at school, with Sato-san and me as the main characters. It was a rendition of Sleeping Beauty, and I played the prince while she portrayed Princess Aurora.

In the final act, the prince has to kiss the princess to wake her up and conclude the fairy tale. Our plan was to reconstruct the scene without actually kissing. I was supposed to stop just before touching her lips, and then she would awaken.

However, my nerves got the best of me as I approached Sato-san, and I didn't notice one of the fake vines on the floor. I tripped and fell onto Sato-san, but I managed to catch myself and avoided hitting her head by placing my hands on the bed.

Unfortunately, I fell a little further than intended, and our lips touched. I couldn't believe something like that happened to me. It seemed more like a scene from a novel than real life. But what made it worse was that the entire school was watching the play, and they witnessed me kissing one of the most popular girls in school.

The crowd reacted with fascination and excitement, while I was in agony over what I had done. Sato-san remained composed, continuing her role as if nothing had happened, though I noticed a slight blush on her face as she tried to hide it.

After the play, we were surrounded by students wanting to know if we were really a couple or if it was a mistake. Everyone was convinced that we were together, but I knew it was just a misunderstanding that Sato-san could easily resolve.

To my surprise, she agreed to the rumors and claimed that we were a couple. I never expected her to say something like that. When I looked at her, she smiled and made a face that meant, "I'm sorry, please play along."

We had no other choice but to continue the charade; otherwise, it would have been even more embarrassing. So, we decided to pretend to be a couple until the situation calmed down.

Most of the students had already uploaded videos and pictures of our unintentional kiss...it would be really hard to tell them that we are not a real couple and that was just an accident. Our school page was full of us.

"The unexpected but perfect couple" That line became popular on social media.

We gained instant fame, especially me, as my status became more popular. Walking down the corridor, holding hands, almost every student stared at us, some talking to their friends while stealing glances.

Honestly, I felt embarrassed by the attention and the whole situation. Going from being antisocial to suddenly having Sato-san as my girlfriend was a drastic change. But I'm determined not to fall for her. I shouldn't fall for her because I know she doesn't see me as a love interest, and this isn't real for either of us.

"Just to remind you, I don't have feelings for you, and I never will. All of this... it's just an act, okay?" she said.

"I know that. I never wanted a real relationship with you in the first place. Even the thought of it sounds astronomically impossible. But here I am, in a fake relationship with you."

"So... let's cooperate in our downfall as a fake couple, okay?" She extended her hand for a handshake.

"It's a deal, Mrs. Girlfriend."