title: obliviousness is a charm

summary: she attempts (key word: attempts) to properly confess to nozaki this time. —nozaki/chiyo, nozachiyo

genre: romance/humor

a/n: please get together, you two

Chiyo thinks it's finally time. Time to confess to Nozaki. Well, she did but it got misinterpreted - but this time, she will succeed. No playing around or hints to get Nozaki to notice her. She will do it.

.

2 weeks later...

"I don't think I can do it, Yuzuki!" Chiyo cries out in despair. "Whenever I'm about to confess, I just get so nervous and I run away!"

Yuzuki listens, uninterested as she doodles in her notebook. "Don't be a wuss, just say it. It's simple."

"You don't know how I feel," Chiyo sighs and rests her head on her desk. "It's just...I'm afraid though. I don't want to change the relationship we have. I mean, I like it now but-"

"Alright, you can stop there. Listen, Chiyo-" Yuzuki huffs, exasperated. Chiyo raises her head and stares at her, questioning. "Get your man. Just do what you gotta do."

Chiyo gives her friend an earnest smile. "Thanks, Yuzuki." She sits up straight and nods in confidence. "Alright!"

.

attempt #1

"I'm gonna take a restroom break," Mikoshiba announces and puts his tools down.

"Go ahead," Nozaki says absentmindedly, engrossed in his work.

Mikoshiba saunters off to the bathroom, leaving Chiyo and Nozaki alone. Chiyo wonders if now would be a great time. She's been holding in those simple words in so she wants to get it off of her chest. She takes a gulp and exhales slowly.

"N-nozaki-kun..." Chiyo stutters, her hand stops what she was doing.

Nozaki continues working. "Yes, Sakura?"

"The truth is...I-I lo-" Chiyo begins but a ringing rips through the air. Nozaki instantly whips out his phone, looking happy.

"Ah, Ken-san! What is it?"

Chiyo looks dejected. "Ah..."

Mikoshiba comes back and takes a quick glance at Chiyo. "What's wrong, Sakura?"

"Mikorin!" Chiyo wails as Nozaki chatters happily to Ken on the phone.

Mikoshiba looks taken aback as Chiyo puts her face into her hands, wailing.

.

attempt #2

"Nozaki-kun, is it okay if we eat lunch together? You know, the same place we ate together last time?" Chiyo requests to Nozaki after spotting him in the halls and running up to him. She grips her boxed lunch tightly.

Nozaki nods. "Sure, I don't mind."

Chiyo mentally cheers. "Alright! Let's go!"

They arrive at the school grounds and sits on the bench.

"Er, Nozaki-kun, I know I probably shouldn't say it now but..." Chiyo starts.

"It's ok, I understand," Nozaki says out of nowhere.

Chiyo looks confused and glances at Nozaki. "Huh?"

"It's been in my mind awhile too. Sorry I didn't said it earlier," Nozaki continues.

Chiyo's heart beats faster and her cheeks turns red. Could this be...?

Nozaki opens his boxed lunch and proudly presents it to her. "Tada! I remembered from back then when I was pretending to be Mamiko. You were confused at the curry underneath the rice, right? But after that you liked it, right? So I made more for you!"

Chiyo could feel her heart break. She takes the boxed lunch with shaky hands and looks inside. Sure enough, there were rice. She used the chopsticks and flips the rice to reveal curry underneath. "Ah...thanks..."

Nozaki grins down at her. "No need to hold back-" he took out two more boxed lunches. "-I've got more!"

Chiyo could feel her appetite worsening.

.

attempt #3

Chiyo and Nozaki were shopping at a local art shop near their school for more art supplies they need for Nozaki's manga. After they were done, the sky gradually turned dark so Nozaki offered her to walk home and Chiyo accepted.

Now, they were walking - side by side - in silence. Chiyo looks up to Nozaki and bites her lip gently. "Erm, Nozaki-kun?"

"Hmm?"

"I-I want to be with you forever! I want to be useful to you and spend every moment with you!" Chiyo blurts and her face heats up.

Nozaki stops walking. "Really?"

"Yes..." Chiyo mumbles, her face still red.

Nozaki turns to her, looking serious. "Then...do you want to stop by my place?" He rubs his neck, not looking at her.

Chiyo brightens. Nozaki is being...bashful? "Yes, I would love to!"

...

"That's great. I kinda slept for the whole day yesterday and the deadline is coming up so please, Sakura!" Nozaki bows to her and Chiyo stares down at the drafts of the manga pages in front of her, her smile forced and eyes dead, in Nozaki's house.

"Oh...sure, hehe...he."

.

Chiyo gives up. Because she knows she's not gonna succeed. And this is Nozaki she's talking about. She's content with the relationship she has with him right now.

"Are you tired, Sakura? Do you want to take a break?" Nozaki asks her, whose head down on the desk, as he puts his tool down.

"No, sorry, I'll continue working," Chiyo mutters as she lifts her head and stretches her arms out.

"So what is it you want to tell me last week?" Nozaki pipes up suddenly.

Chiyo looks surprised. "You remembered?"

"Yeah, sorry, I forgot to ask after the phone call," Nozaki nods.

She contemplates if she should confess. Well, he bought the topic up so...

"I love you."

It all comes out easily like a water breaking out of a dam since she's holding it for so long, not really feeling hopeful. Nozaki will probably misinterpret it...

"Huh? Well, me too," Nozaki answers and goes back to his work.

"Oh..." Chiyo mumbles. Wait... Her eyes widens and she stands up so quickly that she accidentally bumps the table, almost making the ink spill. "W-what?"

Nozaki looks perturbed. "What?"

"W-w-what did you say?!" Chiyo's tone reaches an octave higher.

"Me too," Nozaki stitches his eyebrows. "What happened, Sakura?"

Chiyo feels her knees weaken and she falls to the floor. "To what? 'Me too' to what?"

"You said 'I love you', right?" Nozaki raises his eyebrows.

"B-but, I-I-" Chiyo stammers and feels her cheeks. It's warm.

"What happened? Are you feeling fine, Sakura?" Nozaki looks concerned.

"I've been trying to confess to you!" Chiyo bursts out. "R-really? We could be a couple?!"

"Sakura...aren't we dating now?"

...What?

Chiyo stares at Nozaki. He stares back. "Whaaaaaat?!" She scrambles back until her back hits the wall. "Huuuuuuuuh?!"

"Sakura, are you sure you're okay?" Nozaki begins to stand up.

"We are dating? Since when?" Chiyo asks and she feels dizzy. This is all too much to take in.

"I dunno, but we are dating, right...?" Nozaki shrugs.

At this point, Chiyo doesn't know whether she should cry, be happy, punch a wall or do it all at once.