Chapter Text
Another normal day at Hope's Peak. Or at least, as normal as it could be with Ouma around. The girls all received a letter calling them to the sports hall at 8 o’clock. It said the entire year should go there, but when they got there, there was only one boy.
"Hello girls! You must be wondering why your favourite supreme leader has brought you here!" He stood on the stage and yelled at them. "Well, I have-"
"I’m leaving." Maki turned to walk away. Ouma hurriedly jumped off the stage to try and stop her, but ended up falling flat on his face.
"Wait! This is important!"
"Couldn’t you have just talked to us in the classroom?"
"But I want this to be a surprise for the guys."
"Come on Maki, let’s hear him out."
"Thank you, Kaede. Now, after that rude interruption, let me tell you something. All of you have boyfriends, correct!"
"Apart from Tenko." Maki stared off, not wanting to be there.
"I must admit, I am dating a- a male." The others looked at her in shook, everyone thought she was gay. "Hey, don’t look at me like that! He only asked me out yesterday, and my master always said that I should take opportunities!"
"I thought they also said you shouldn’t trust men."
"Well, yes, but he is not a degenerate! He is nice."
"Alright alright, that’s enough justification of the scenario author, let’s get to the point! Now, you do not know who everyone else is dating, do ya?"
"N-"
"That was rhetorical. I can tell you, everyone in this room is dating a boy in our class! Now, who’s dating who? Who knows!"
"That’s got to be a lie."
"I assure you, it’s the absolute truth. Swear on my life."
"But that would mean you’re dating one of us. Who in their right mind would do that?"
"Ouch. But anyway, I have a suggestion to prove it. All of you need to go on a date this week, and take a picture of you and him. On Monday, you will all post it in the group chat. Take it as a sign of love, and an end to the secrets. Alright!"
"Why should we-"
"I promise, it’ll be interesting, maybe a little unexpected! However, make sure you don’t tell anyone who it is until then, this has to be a complete surprise! See ya!" Ouma ran away, leaving 8 confused girls.
Despite her reluctance, Maki was curious, and decided to get this challenge over with. Besides, Ouma probably had a reason to do this, and most of the time he had good intentions deep down.
After class she waited for Saihara. "Hey, let’s go on a date."
Saihara looked around confused. "Wait, really? You’re the one asking?"
"Is that a problem?"
"No, of course not. So uh, that movie you wanted to see came out. Shall we go?"
Maki smiled "you remembered, thank you. Let’s go immediately, it’s 15 minutes by bus." They started to go, but Saihara seemed nervous. "Are you alright?"
"Well, uh... I’m..."
"Ah, right. It’s because it’s a horror movie. Don’t worry, I’ll protect you." She held his hand and walked next to him. He was surprised, she wasn’t usually this affectionate in public.
Maki chose two seats at the back of the cinema whilst Saihara was getting popcorn. They sat down, and realised they were sitting next to a kid. Why any parents would bring a 7 year old to a movie like this was beyond them, but Maki would be damned if anything was going to ruin her date.
Fortunately, Maki was able to calm the child down whenever he got scared, so it wasn’t too bad. His mother even seemed grateful. However, there was another screaming boy next to her. She didn’t want to disturb anyone, so she whispered as quietly as she could. "If you’re scared you can lean on my shoulder." Saihara blushed and did as she suggested. Maki put an arm round him and the date continued in peace. Kinda.
After the movie they got Starbucks and talked for a while.
"That was a good movie."
"Y-yeah..."
"You’re cute when you’re scared."
"Huh?" Maki took this opportunity. She took a picture of the two of them. "Hey! I-"
"You don’t like photos? Well this one looks good, I’m keeping it."
"I guess I can’t argue with that."
They finished their drinks and went back to school. Maki waved goodbye as she entered the dorms. She had completed the challenge. She went onto the girl's group chat.
Maki: Are we really doing this picture thing?
Maki: I’m sure Ouma is plotting something
Tsumugi: When isn’t he plotting something...
Kaede: How bad could it be? It’s just a picture? What could go wrong?
Iruma: You against this?
Iruma: Were you a ducking liar when you said you had a boyfriend???
Iruma: Ugh, autocorrect...
Angie: So curious! Who is it!
Maki: I wasn’t lying
Maki: I have a photo, you’ll see on Monday. Is everyone else ready?
Tsumugi: What sort of genius inventor can’t turn off auto correct?
Kirumi: We still have a week.
Kaede: I’m pretty busy this week
Kaede: I’ll do it on Wednesday
Iruma: Shut up glasses hitch!
Angie: I wonder where I should go with him...
Iruma: DAMMIT AUTOCORRECT