A.N: I have no regrets. None.

Somewhere along the line, it had become a daily occurrence to have Sakura waiting for him at his doorstep. Nozaki was grateful; his sleeping schedule was always out of whack due to deadlines, and with Sakura there to wake him, he was able to get to school on time.

And of course, she was waiting for him that morning, too, smiling up at him cheerfully when he stepped outside.

"Rough night?" She asked, and Nozaki snorted at her.

"I couldn't decide whether Suzuki should hold Mamiko's hand, or defend her from bullies in the next chapter." He pinched the bridge of his nose, sighing as he headed down his apartment steps. "I went with hand holding."

"Good choice," Sakura chirped, "The bullies thing has been done before, remember?"

"Yeah, that's why I changed it." Nozaki yawned, rolling his neck as he walked. Sakura fell into pace beside him, and for a while, it was nice and quiet.

He took a moment to appreciate her coming all the way from the station to his house just to see if he'd wake up. Mikoshiba probably would've done it if his mornings weren't so crowded (that guy had a weirder sleep schedule than Nozaki, with his dating sim marathons).

They were about a block from the school when Sakura finally spoke up again. "Oh, Nozaki-kun, look! Cherry blossoms!"

Nozaki's eyes immediately snapped open, and he stared up at the tree behind the fence they were walking beside. Sure enough, there were cherry blossom petal flickering down perfectly, just like they did in manga.

Taking advantage of the mood, Nozaki stood with his feet apart, clearing his throat. "S-Suzuki-san!" He cried, in his most effeminate voice.

Turning towards him, Sakura arched a brow in confusion. Excited, Nozaki waited for her to understand, and when she did, she mouthed 'oh' and then giggled.

"Mamiko?" Sakura asked, making her voice as low as it could get. "What's up?"

It was hard not to laugh, she had such a serious expression on. But Nozaki pulled through, for his manga's sake.

"I've got something I need to tell you, I've held it back long enough!" Nozaki announced, with a mockingly shy look towards the ground. "The thing is...Um..."

Sakura (or Suzuki) gave him an encouraging nod, and Nozaki crammed his eyes shut, attempting to look like a tsundere.

"I've always liked you!" Nozaki (Mamiko) confessed, bowing his head. "Ever since the day we've met, I've been falling for you, Suzuki-san."

A few feet away from them, a couple of kids had stopped, overhearing the confession. "No way," a girl whispered to her friend, "Under the cherry blossoms? How cheesy!"

"Mamiko," Sakura stepped forwards, outstretching her hand, but Nozaki fumbled backwards.

"No! I know you get tons of girls confessing to you day in and day out, I've heard it all before!"

Some more bystanders had gathered, and they were all commenting in confusion: "Did he just say girls?" "I'm pretty sure he said girls." "Ssh! It's getting good!"

"I'm grateful," Nozaki looked at Sakura in faux sadness, "For all this time we spent together. But I couldn't hold my feelings back any longer... I'm sorry." He was about to walk away dramatically when he noticed Sakura seemed upset- and not fake upset, but the real deal.

"Mamiko, you idiot!" Sakura cried, grabbing Nozaki by the arm. "Who's to say I don't love you?! You can't just list off my feelings before you even hear them!"

Startled by her sudden rush of emotion, Nozaki almost broke character. "Sa- Suzuki-san?"

With a frown, Sakura's hand trembled as she kept a grip on him. "You really are a fool, Mamiko... I've always liked you. You've never even compared to those other girls!" Sakura looked up, her eyes glistening dramatically.

Nozaki was moved by her performance; it could've given Kashima a run for her money.

"She said girls, too." Some boys in the audience mumbled, "What's happening here?"

"Suzuki-san," Nozaki murmured, and Sakura let go of his arm. She was red-faced, and stared at him confidently. "You really mean it?"

"Yes, dummy!" Sakura muttered, and then she brought Nozaki in for a hug, her little arms weaving around his waist. "I like you."

And for some reason, the words didn't seem like an act that time. Nozaki settled his arms around her shoulders, resting his chin in her soft, orange hair.

"Kiss her! Kiss her!" Chanted some girls in the crowd, "Kiss her! Kiss her!"

Sakura blushed, pulling back. Nozaki did the same, and then he made the mistake of looking at Sakura's face.

"Shall we, Mamiko?" She wagged her eyebrows in comic seduction, and Nozaki lost it.

They were laughing so hard, they started crying, and they even lost balance. Their bystanders looked at them in confusion, wondering what on earth had changed the mood so abruptly.

"They're sure having a hoot over there..."

"I really thought they'd kiss..."

Finally, someone looked at their watch and realized the time, and everyone hurriedly rushed for the school.

Nozaki and Sakura, however, were still wheezing out laughs, and it took them a few seconds to regain their calm. As their chuckles died down, Nozaki glanced upwards to watch the cherry blossoms fall, as they had been doing in the background throughout their act.

One of them landed right on his nose, and Sakura giggled cutely. "I'll get that, Nozaki-kun!" She offered, sitting up straighter to brush it off.

It was then Nozaki realized what kind of position they were in. He was leaning back on his arms, sitting on his butt, while she had her knees neatly folded underneath her. She had to lean in rather close to get the petal off his nose, and Nozaki found himself staring straight at her lips.

Funny, he'd never noticed how soft they looked.

"You made a good Suzuki, Sakura." Nozaki said, and she smiled at the praise, her cheeks going pink.

"You're too straight faced for Mamiko, Mikorin would've been better." She teased, and Nozaki found himself frowning.

"So he's your type, then?" Nozaki asked, starting to get to his feet. Sakura looked at him in exasperation, and she took the hand he offered to help her up.

"No, Nozaki-kun. Mikorin isn't my type at all." She sighed, and then she blinked. "Shoot, we'll be late!"

"No problem!" Nozaki shot her a thumbs up, and he scooped her over his shoulder, "This is good exercise."

"WHAT THE HELL?!" Sakura squawked, but Nozaki was already running, the cherry petals drifting behind him. "NOZAKI-KUN!"

And that was how Nozaki wrote Mamiko's confession in the storyline sketch, although Sakura insisted he leave out the over-the-shoulder carrying sequence.

(He never did tell her that he liked how light she was and how she had laughed along with him that morning. Nozaki was sure she'd figure it out.)