Because a GSNK AU needs to be a thing. (Sorry for the last part.)

Please point out any mistakes, because I didn't have time to edit at all.

Kagerou Project belongs to Jin and Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun belongs to Tsubaki Izumi.

W – what's with this situation…?

"So, hmm, where should I begin? Oh, right! Here's my latest chapter."

I confessed my feelings to him by saying "I'm a fan", but now…

"Y – you're a mangaka?!" The extremely delayed reaction had been revealed, but only after he'd given her his autograph (sign number one) and after he'd asked her to help him out with his manga (sign number two). It was a terribly, terribly late response, and now she could only sit there with wide eyes staring at him, wallowing in both her obliviousness and stupidity.

"Y – yes…?" He straightened out the papers in his hands, sitting across from her with such a crooked back she wondered just how much time he'd spent slaving away at his own work. "I thought you knew that, Takane. Didn't you say that you were a fan?"

"Yeah, about that…"

No, no, I can't just tell him that that was a confession! That's too embarrassing…! I've already been dragged to his apartment, so…

If she couldn't confess to the boy she'd always admired from afar, then this sort of closeness, assisting him in his own work…it's a foreign yet exhilarating experience, and she just had to try it. After all, if she's spending it with him…she'd stubbornly denied her feelings up until now, so indulging herself at this point didn't seem like such a bad idea.

"What can I even help you with?" Her face is placed in one of her hands, eyes taking in the numerous supplies scattered along the table. Rulers, erasers, pens, pencils…there were plenty of them in different shapes and varieties, and she couldn't even begin to wrap her head around what each one of their significances were. "I'm not that good of an artist, you know…"

I drew a dog in elementary school once, but they mistook it as a tree.

"Oh no, that's fine!" He laughed like it was the funniest joke in the world, and Takane found her heart skipping a beat or two. (He's too cute, it's got too much power over me. Stop it!) "Actually, I asked for your help because…well, you're in the video game club, right?"

"Yeah…" Her eyes narrowed at the question; she never really liked to discuss her club activities, mostly because she was the only girl there. That, and most of the boys complained whenever she beat them. Surely those nasty rumors would have reached him… "What about it?"

"Well, you see…I'm not very good at stories." He laughed again, but it was gentler than the last one. (Yet with such a subtle difference, even she couldn't stop the blush from appearing on her cheeks.) "And I thought, since you play lots of video games…you might be good at story-telling! So what I'm asking for your help for is…can you help me continue my shoujo manga's story? I'm always getting stuck as it is, and I usually have to ask the others for help!"

"E – eh?!" She straightened up at such a far-fetched conclusion. Just because she played a lot of games, that didn't…well, she was selective anyway, choosing those with a substantial plot and interesting characters. "That's a bit of a stretch, isn't it?! Why me…?"

"Because you seem so good at it!" He leaned closer, his hands on the table for balance. They were practically inches apart, and her heartbeat was truly deafening. She'd known that she had feelings for him, but…did they really have to be this intense? "Please…?"

"F – fine." She didn't think it through. It was a spur-of-the-moment, impulsive question, probably because she couldn't even begin to imagine that she'd gotten this close to Haruka Kokonose in a span of minutes. "But only because you seem so helpless…"

(It's because I actually like you.)

"I'm Ayano Tateyama, a first-year!" The (rather short, but look who's talking) girl held out her hand, and Takane could only take it awkwardly. "I do the inking for Haruka! Nice to meet you!"

"Nice to meet you, too…" They shook hands for a good five seconds before Takane pulled away first, looking at the first-year with a hint of curiosity. "What's with that scarf? Doesn't it just get in the way while you're working?"

"Oh, this?" She tugged on it with a bit of conscious, giving off a sheepish smile. "Well…yeah, but someone told me that it suited me. So, I've been wearing it a lot lately…"

"Eh, someone?" It was against her character, and so not like her, but she couldn't help giving out a small laugh. "It's fitting that you assist on a shoujo manga."

"I – it's not…!" A humiliated look crosses the young girl's face, and Takane can't help but wonder if that's what she looks like when she was embarrassed. She talks quietly now (mostly because Haruka had poked his head out of the kitchen, observing into the commotion), face matching the red color on her scarf. "Well, the person who said it…assists Haruka on the manga, too, and he does the screentones. He only come over during the night, though."

This…got Takane thinking, but it was too soon to determine whether or not it was a good idea. She even rubbed her chin for a dramatic effect, and it seemed to scare the first-year a little bit, head tilted to the side as she questioned Takane's peculiar action.

"Takane…? Is something wrong?"

"Oh, nothing. I thought of a good scenario for the manga just now."

It seems like shoujo manga and real life are starting to merge together…scary.

She hadn't read shoujo manga until now.

It took her a while to catch up to Haruka's manga. There were many chapters, and her grandmother even asked her why she picked up on such a genre. Still…with each line formed, with each face drawn…he brought the best out of his characters, and his art flowed freely.

(Again, she found herself falling.)

Takane found herself relating deeply to the protagonist that was Ene. She was extremely stubborn, and even Takane (as ironic as it was) found herself getting frustrated by how she kept running around in circles with her own feelings. Tell him, she thought to herself as she turned the page, tell him before I explode!

Up until now, Haruka's story has always been a bunch of clichés, with his own little twist to it. They were things only Haruka would think of, she supposed, and the plot was completely orthodox. Ah, but she still got roped in, staying up more than once to finish a chapter…or two. She sympathized with Ene a little too much, and often wondered if Haruka had modeled his protagonist after her.

That's stupid…we've started talking only recently. It's a coincidence.

(Little did that she was the source of inspiration for his protagonist after their encounter during the opening ceremony. They were both late, his reason being his deadline and her reason being her bad habit of staying up.)

Konoha (Ene's love interest, although secretly, because of course that's how it has to be) was much like Haruka – insensible curious, and incredibly slow. She gave out a small giggle every time the character reminded her of her crush; that's so Haruka, she found herself thinking with a surprising grin on her face.

Somehow, she found herself wrapped completely in the story. And now, to think that she was taking part it in…

Maybe I'll write it in a way that'll finally put them together.

That was wishful thinking in her part, and taking those parallels into thought, her cheeks began to turn pink.

"I win."

"How can you say that with such a straight face?!" Takane and Shintaro were the only ones in the club room, mostly because Takane had already scared off the other opponents.

It was one of those rare occasions where Takane didn't have to help out Haruka; she could only feel a bittersweet emotion in her chest when he said that, no less. She found herself looking forward to the days where she drafted his manga's next chapter, often spoiling herself in the thought that Ene and Konoha were actually her and Haruka, and that she was slowly shaping their own story.

(It was stupid, but what could a girl in love do?)

But he had to reach the deadline tonight, and she'd finish this chapter's plotline, anyway. Haruka seemed to have added two new characters as well, one that deeply reminded her of Ayano, and one that…well, she didn't know where he got the character from. He was apathetic, lazy, rude…a terribly bad person, in her opinion, and one that didn't deserve a character (or assistant) like Ayano.

Thinking about the character now, it kind of reminded her of…

"Again! One more match!" That was what she said thirty minutes ago, and in that time, they'd gotten two more matches in. "I swear I'll beat you this time!"

"Sorry, but I have to go somewhere today." The first-year stood up with a bored expression on his face, one that only ticked her off more. He slung his bag over his shoulder, an action one would often associate with delinquents. He certainly looked the part. "It's not my fault you're so weak."

"Huh?!" She stood up at this point, one hand on the desk and one hand clutching the controller that was mercilessly getting crushed in her grip. "Say that again, I dare you!"

"Look, I don't have time for any of your fits. Save it for another day." Turning around, he started heading towards the door without giving her another glance.

Terrible mistake.

That poor controller was thrown at him without much restraint, although she couldn't hurl it as hard as she wanted to. (She was a "delicate flower".) The controller hit him square on the back, and it was thanks to her endless video gaming that allowed for such precise aim.

The action startled him, and she honestly wished she'd filmed his reaction. He practically jumped, letting out a scream that was much like a girl's. What, did he think he was in a haunted house or something? It was extremely humorous if not for their circumstances, and she had to wipe the satisfied grin on her face to appear more menacing.

His bag had fallen to the floor, its contents spilling out without much grace. He turned around with a terrified look on her face, and it made Takane wish she'd gotten her phone out. This was perfect blackmail.

"W – what was that for?!" His voice trembled in the most hilarious way possible, and she had to push back a laugh. His eyes were now wide, and they glanced at the floor with a miserable gleam in them. "Ah…"

She had gotten curious about the bag, too. (What kind of embarrassing stuff does he have in there, anyway?) The contents which she had missed earlier were now being scouted out, hoping that she'd get more material to use against him. He must have something embarrassing, seeing as he was nothing but an almost-NEET.

Wait, are those…?

"Screentones…?" The word came out of her mouth before she could even think about it, and the pieces quickly fell together.

Hey, you're the one…?!

"No way!" Her hands went to her head in an instant, the surprised look on her face scaring the first-year a little (third-years are crazy, he thought.) "You're…you're the one that does Haruka's screentones?! Is that why you leave so early?"

"H – hey, be quiet!" His face flushed, looking just as surprised as her. "Seriously, it took you that long? It took one lunch session to see that you were Haruka's new assistant."

"Shut up! I'm not as smart as you, you know!"

"Ask me anything!"

"Tomoda…he's kind of nice, isn't he?" Haruka looked over at Shintaro with a questioning expression on his face, his head even tilted to the side. "Does he get anything in return?"

"Does it matter?" Shintaro bit into a chip, rolling his eyes at his companion. He wrote shoujo manga, and yet…he didn't understand anything about love, seeing as Haruka had never experienced it. (I'm sorry, Takane, he added mentally, as he had noted Takane's affection towards the mangaka easily. He's a real idiot. What do you see in him?) "You ask him stuff, he delivers."

"Well, okay…"

"Here's your current popularity!"

"Wow, I'm really popular with Shizuku!" Haruka's eyes lit up in an instant, smiling gleefully as he continued the game. That "Shizuku" was a glaring reflection of Takane – the same pigtails, the same angry stare, and the same personality. Shintaro had to wonder what was going through Haruka's mind when he picked Shizuku's route. "So…I just try to win her over, right?"

"Yeah, but…why are you calling Tomoda so much? It makes me wonder…"

"Hey there, you two. Going to school together?"

"I don't mind covering for you, so just go!"

"You can't give up! You like her, don't you?!"

"Congratulations on graduating. Those three years just flew by, didn't they? I'm glad I got to be your friend."

"Tomoda…!"

The scene was this – two teenage boys on their knees, desperation on their face and shame around their atmosphere. A two-dimensional boy, mind you, was to account for their current state.

"H – how could he spend three years helping a protagonist like me…?"

"That idiot! He deserved his youth, too!"

"We should…do something." There was a clank, and Shintaro looked up from his feeble position to see what Haruka was up to. He was shifting through his work desk, grabbing pencils and papers with haste. He turned to Shintaro with resolve on his visage now, clutching the pencils with a tight grip. "We should do our best to give Tomoda the happiness he deserves!"

In the morning, Takane was left wondering what type of genre Haruka liked in a manga.

The summer festival.

He had said that he was going to take pictures for reference, but it felt more like a date to her. When she'd offered a candy apple, he'd bitten into it without hesitation. He treated her to some food, too, but he ate more than her (as usual). She'd gone out of her way to wear a yukata, something she wouldn't do with just any boy.

In the end, Takane had a young girl's heart, too.

And now they were watching the fireworks. Okay, maybe their spot wasn't the most conventional; in the end, they ended up on a kid's play structure, partly because Takane couldn't see, and Haruka wanted the best spot for reference pictures.

But they were so close, their fingers almost brushing, and they would if they made even the slightest movement. It was enough to send Takane's heart beating at a hundred miles per hour. It was enough to send that overly-familiar warmth to her cheeks. It was enough to confirm that yes, she still liked him.

"Haruka, I like you."

There was a boom from a firework, and she turned to look at him, his profile so elegant along the night sky. She didn't care about the trials; she was more than fine with the person she chose to love.

He turned to her, and she wondered if he'd finally heard her. And he leaned closer, a gentle smile on his face that she knew she didn't deserve.

God, please –

"I like the fireworks, too."