I Can't Call Your Name

Kimura-sensei turned to Kaito, who was standing there with a dazed expression, clearly lost in thought about what kind of punishment Misaki might unleash on him later.

"What was your name again?"

"Kaito... Kobayashi," he stammered.

"Alright then, Kaito Kobayashi will be your class president this year, and Misaki Okada will be the vice president," she announced.

After motioning for the two to take their seats, she continued, "If you have any questions or requests, go to them before coming to me. Understood?"

As Sakura-sensei returned to her desk, Misaki and Kaito, both looking like fish out of water, reluctantly shuffled back to their seats with dead-eyed expressions of defeat.

After sitting down, Misaki, unable to contain her frustration, shot Kaito a sharp, accusatory glare.

Kaito, in turn, met her gaze with a sheepish, apologetic look, as if pleading for forgiveness.

After the bell rang, and Kimura-sensei left the classroom, the students let out a collective sigh of relief, and the chatter resumed, louder than ever.

From the front row, a young boy stood up, facing the class with a sarcastic tone.

"Alright, everyone, let's have a moment of silence to honor our class president and vice president, who sacrificed themselves to save us from a great disaster!" he said mockingly.

The class erupted in laughter, throwing teasing glances at them, remembering how last year, the class president under Kimura-sensei had been held back.

Izumi quickly stood up, visibly irritated, and scolded the boy, "Enough, this isn't funny!"

She then walked over to Misaki, offering a cute, friendly smile and extending her hand.

"Hi, Okada-chan, right? I'm Izumi Sasaki. But you can call me Izumi-chan!"

Misaki hesitated but gave a forced smile, shaking her hand. "In that case, you can call me by my first name too."

"Misaki-chan, could you give me your phone number then?" Izumi asked, smiling as she extended her phone.

As Misaki entered her number, she felt a tap on her shoulder and turned around to see a sweet, slightly embarrassed face—Yui Tanaka, 16.

"Um... can I have your number too?" Yui asked shyly.

Misaki opened her contacts list on her phone. "Okay, how should I save you?"

"Yui Tanaka."

"I'll save you as Yui-chan then," Misaki said, handing her phone to Yui.

Yui smiled, her face full of childlike charm, as she entered her number.

Meanwhile, Kaito, a bit annoyed and even a little jealous, watched the exchange. Then suddenly he felt a pang of uneasiness.

He couldn't shake the feeling of misfortune, not only for being in the same class as Misaki but also for the burden of being elected class president.

He left the class, wandered the corridors aimlessly for a while before heading to the restroom to splash some water on his face and shake off the shock of what had just happened.

As he passed by the library on the way, someone suddenly shoved him from behind, pushing him through the open library door.

When he turned around to see what was going on, he caught sight of Misaki closing the library door behind her.

Misaki, her eyes practically blazing with anger, quickly scanned the room to ensure they were alone.

Once certain, she whispered furiously, though her tone carried unmistakable wrath.

"You... What are you doing in my class? Out of all the other classes, why mine?"

"How would I know? Do you think I get to decide this?" Kaito shot back, equally flustered.

"I don't care! You're going to go talk to Kimura-sensei right now and ask to change classes!"

"W-What? Are you kidding me?" Kaito's voice came out louder than he intended, but he quickly dropped it to a whisper.

"Do you even know Kimura-sensei? That's impossible—forget it!"

"What do you mean?" Misaki checked the library one more time to make sure no one was around before continuing in a frustrated whisper.

"Living with you under the same roof is already punishment enough, and now we're in the same class, too?!"

"What do you expect me to do? You're talking as if I have any say in what happens to me!"

They stood silently for a moment, both seething with frustration and helplessness, unable to shake off the tension of their unfortunate encounter.

Eventually, Misaki must have realized that arguing further wouldn't change anything. Without saying a word, she turned and left.

Kaito, still a bit dazed, remained standing there for a moment before finally snapping out of it and heading toward the restroom.

After both of them had left, Yui, who had been holding her breath, finally exhaled.

She had been crouching behind one of the library's back shelves with a book in her hands.

She had overheard their entire argument and needed some time to process everything she'd just learned.

With a mix of fear from nearly being caught and shock from what she'd discovered, Yui sat frozen for a while, unable to move a muscle.

Yui kept sneaking glances at Kaito and Misaki during class, replaying their argument in her mind over and over.

"Do they live together? In high school?" she wondered, her cheeks flushed with embarrassment.

She wasn't sure how long she could keep such a big secret, since not many people found themselves in a situation like this every day.

When the final bell rang, Misaki left to study at her aunt's café, while Kaito hopped on his bike and pedaled toward his courier job.

Although school had worn him out, he stayed a little longer than usual, almost as if he wanted to avoid going home.

It was as if a feeling deep inside told him that Misaki was already waiting for him, sitting on the couch with her legs crossed, sipping coffee.

After spending enough time delaying, he finally decided to head home. He opened the door, and the sight that greeted him was one he had expected.

Misaki sat on the couch, coffee in hand, eyes narrowed as she glanced at Kaito entering the room.

Kaito froze for a moment, swallowing hard before stepping inside. He avoided her gaze and hurried to the bathroom.

Once inside, he shut the door behind him and stared at his reflection in the mirror.

The faint trace of fear on his face made him uneasy, so he splashed cold water on his face several times.

Feeling a little braver, he stepped back out, and before she could say anything, he rushed to explain himself.

"Look, I had no idea we were in the same class until you walked in with Kimura-sensei. And even if I did, what difference would it make? Kimura-sensei isn't the type to let us switch classes just because we ask!"

Misaki waited for him to finish, her expression tight with impatience.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," she interrupted.

"The point is, we're in the same class now, and we need to figure out what we're going to do about it."

Kaito didn't expect her to be so calm, which helped him relax a little. But her tone made it clear that a long night of arguments and scolding was ahead.

He headed to the kitchen to make himself coffee. Carrying his mug, he settled into the farthest corner of the couch, as far from Misaki as he could manage.

As he sat down, he suddenly realized that the mugs they were using were part of a couple set he'd bought earlier.

Misaki seemed to notice this at the same time. She quickly set her mug down on the table, visibly uncomfortable.

Misaki picked up where they had left off.

"I don't think I need to remind you, but… we have to keep it a secret that we know each other and live in the same apartment, right?"

Her face was a mix of sarcasm and tension.

Kaito took a small sip of his coffee and nodded. "Yeah, I get that."

He added, "But, you know, we're the class president and vice president now. We can't exactly act like we've never met."

Misaki sighed reluctantly, clearly frustrated. "Yeah, there's that, too…" she muttered.

Suddenly, her temper flared, and her voice rose without warning.

"Why did you even raise your hand in the first place?!"

Kaito flinched, spilling coffee on himself. He quickly wiped it off, then shot back with equal tension.

"And what about you? You stood up and banged the desk, and you just stared at me like I'd done something bad!"

Misaki rubbed her temples, clearly frustrated. After a moment, she stood up, exhausted and unwilling to keep arguing.

As she walked toward her room, she muttered, "Whatever. We'll figure something out. Let's at least pretend we just met in class, like everyone else."

She stopped at her door, turned back to him, and said with a mocking tone, "You can handle that much, can't you?"

Kaito nodded while Misaki gave him a skeptical look before disappearing into her room.

That night, neither of them knew that their secret was already out, and someone else was aware of it.