"And you got rejected?" Tsūmen was laughing hard as I was telling him and Gaisen about yesterday's event. I nodded to Tsūmen's questions, and he slapped the table as he continued laughing.

"Wait… really?" Gaisen was looking at me with curiosity and was trying his best to not laugh shamelessly like Tsūmen.

​​

"Bruh…" Gaisen's face palmed himself.

We were sitting in the cafeteria, eating our lunch. I don't know how, but the news of a junior asking the president of the kendo club spread overnight and now half of the school knew about my pathetic rejection.

As I stepped into the class, Tsūmen stared at me in a weird way and I knew something was wrong. Then he told me he knew I asked Tsubakihara out.

I wouldn't be surprised if I got to know that Vivian's loud mouth spread this news like I spread butter on my toast this morning. Though this situation is useful for me.

"I can't even imagine someone asking Tsubakihara Senpai out, let alone you." Gaisen said while slurping on the noodles in front of him.

"I know… but she is really cool… you know?" I said with a bit of hesitation, trying to act as if I was disheartened to make my situation seem more authentic to them.

"Ahha…" Tsūmen playfully slapped my shoulder and looked at me with an excited smile.

"What can I say?" I shrugged and took a sip of my chocy milk can.

"Well, she is indeed cool, but I think she is way above your league." Gaisen said, which was indeed true. Compared to her, I was a mere rock. She was quite popular because of amazing feats in kendo, but I, on the other hand, wasn't good at anything and was almost invisible to others.

"I also think that…" My voice trailed off, and looking at my tone, Gaisen thought that he said something that might have demotivated me so quickly tried to rebound.

"Wait… but you can always try… you never know…"

There was a bit of awkward silence among us and we all kept staring at each other as if we were going to give the theory of everything. Taking a deep breath and nodding slightly, I continued, "Now that I think about it… I shouldn't have just gone there and asked her out like that."

"No shit sherlock." Tsūmen looked at me with narrow eyes.

"I still don't understand how you got the balls to just outright confess to her." He added with a slight chuckle. Looking at his downcast eyes, I knew that it wasn't because he found this funny.

"Yeah, I know right… she has a really intimidating aura around her." Gaisen added in.

"Well… I might be built differently." I shrugged with a nervous smile because this was to some extent, really embarrassing for me.

"Sure… you have some screws loose." Tsūmen commented.

"Says you?" I gave him a slanted look with an irritated smile.

"Of course… says me." He smiled proudly, and he straightened his posture.

"But doesn't she already have a boyfriend?" Gaisen asked.

"What?" I looked at him in confusion. I didn't know about her having a boyfriend. I thought she was single. That explains why she rejected me, but that just makes it even harder for me to approach her.

"No, no… I guess she isn't in any relationship right now." Tsūmen shook his left palm to deny his claim.

"They broke up?"

"Quite probably." Tsūmen nodded. Having friends like Gaisen and Tsūmen was great because they are always up to date with any new gossip that circulates around the school.

"She had a boyfriend!?" I acted a bit dumb since if Lilith wasn't there to provide me the prerequisite knowledge about her, that's what my reaction would be.

"Bruh... you didn't even know that?" Tsūmen face palmed himself. I think I can be more dumb than Tsūmen sometimes.

"I… uhm…" I tried to explain myself and he cut me off.

"You're… you should take tips from me on how to get girls."

"Absolutely don't listen to him." Gaisen outright destroyed his offer for help.

"Hey! I'm quite experienced." He retorted back and took a slight pause before adding, "I think."

"Senpai is quite beautiful too." I complimented her beauty because even though I was against the idea of dating, that doesn't mean that I can't appreciate beauty.

"Oi, oi, oi… I just can't wrap my head around it." Tsūmen was looking at me with his mouth hanging open and Gaisen staring at me with a frown on his face.

"Huh?" I was confused at their reaction.

"I never imagined Saishi simping for someone." Gaisen laughed while looking at me.

"That's true… he is like the most anti-romantic among us." Tsūmen supported him.

"What happened to your 'dating' is a waste of time!'... huh? Saishi?" He asked me in a sarcastic tone.

"I… don't remember saying that." I denied saying that.

"What a liar!?"

"I changed my mind… okay!" I replied to him, complaining. Gaisen was rather chill about this matter and he was observing us with a sly smile on his face.

"Damn… so finally you decided to enjoy your youth." He commented, and I turned my head towards him to reply.

"I was already enjoying it."

"I won't call that enjoying… I mean it is… but…" Tsūmen said while scratching the back of his head.

"What?" I asked him.

"I think you two are talking in completely different contexts." Gaisen looked at us for a moment and we shared a moment of awkward silence.

"Tsūmen… don't tell me…" I asked him and he instantly nodded his head and answered my question.

"Yes."

"Bruh… this guy!?" I shook my head in disappointment as we all laughed and soon the lunch time came to an end.

Today, I wasn't able to make any progress with Tsubakihara because my approach was wrong to begin with. Though, I was only testing her reactions yesterday and from that I can tell that she won't be easy to break. I have to devise a well thought out plan for this target.