Xander Matthews X Arei Nageishi - Tumblr Posts

ˢʷᵉᵉᵗᵉˢᵗ ᵗʰⁱⁿᵍ ; ˣᵃⁿʳᵉⁱ ⁽ᵈʳᵈᵗ⁾ Summary: Xander Matthews is so nice to Arei Nageishi! It's obvious that he should be since he's her boyfriend, duh, but the way he's this nice to her because he wants to be makes her start thinking about their relationship differently. Word Count: 2,758 A/N: This was inspired by a pin on Pinterest that said, "Why is my boyfriend only nice to me when I'm sleeping? He'll cover me up with a blanket, kiss me on the forehead and sometimes come and cuddle me but when I wake up he calls me a stupid bitch." This was meant to have pre-sleep fluff and end with Arei starting something that makes Xander call her a "stupid bitch," but angst somehow got in when I specifically said that this was supposed to just be trashy fluff. This doesn't even end with the "stupid bitch" comment because the angst makes it look out of place, but we're just going to roll with it. I want to get more motivation to write more Xanrei but don't have it. Maybe posting one shots here will give me it :p

you're so nice...

Arei Nageishi was a wonderful human being! Who could ever say otherwise? Well, maybe Xander Mathews, but he got a free pass. Was it because of favouritism? Obviously! You had to be a special person to get away with calling her insults others called "constructive criticism," and as her boyfriend, Xander was very special.

Arei had a long day today. Going bowling with Ace Markey, annoying J Rosales, hanging out with Xander, annoying J again, studying for an upcoming test with Min Jeung and Eden Tobisa, annoying J for a third time... She was just a very busy person. Xander offered for her to stay at his place for the night, which she, as usual, accepted.

"I'm so tired," Arei said through a yawn as she entered Xander's apartment. She kicked off her shoes and took off her winter coat as she made herself comfortable on his couch. They had been dating for almost a year—longer than the bets Teruko Tawaki and Charles Cuevas made on "when" they would break up—so she could treat his apartment however she wanted. It was basically her home now anyway. She stayed at his place more often than her own. In her defence, it always felt more comfortable here than her apartment. Hers didn't have enough Xander.

As Xander put his winter coat away, he said, "You can get ready for bed. I need to call Whit first."

"Okay then. Goodnight, Xander!" Arei waited until he told her goodnight back before she went to his bedroom.

Xander's apartment had two bedrooms. He lived alone, so the other bedroom was a guest room in case a friend wanted to stay over. When Arei first stayed over almost a year ago, he was ready to prepare the guest room for her when she joked about them sleeping in his bedroom together. Arei received a flustered Xander as a reward, which she enjoyed more than she thought. She wasn't all too aware of her feelings back then, and apparently, neither did he. But, before they knew it, they were dating the next morning. Not like she was complaining.

Unfortunately, he was used to her sleeping in his bedroom with him by now. She wouldn't see him flustered with that anymore, but it was still nice being in his bedroom than the guest room. Like her apartment, the guest room didn't have enough Xander in it. It was always more comfortable surrounded by him—but she would die in a ditch before she said that out loud.

Arei stepped inside Xander's bedroom, closing the door behind her. If she was being honest, his bedroom was her favourite place in the world—her happy place, if anyone ever asked her what it was. Everything was so Xander. From the messy bed to the curtains to the posters, she loved it there. It was the reason she wanted to sleep in his bedroom when she first stayed over. His bedroom looked so safe and comfortable, and it reminded her of him. Even with how he could be stupid and reckless, he knew how to make sure others felt safe. And it always worked.

Arei reached up and let her hair down, blue strands falling over her shoulders. She had some of her own clothes left at his apartment—whether they were by accident or not was something only she would know—but she normally wore Xander's spare clothes to sleep in. She liked to tease him about his clothing style, but they were nice enough to sleep in. He never told her that she couldn't wear them anyway. She knew from the moment she saw how red his ears got when she first wore his clothes that she could wear them whenever she wanted, but she felt something else along with happiness at the realization.

She laid down on the bed with plenty of soft pillows. He bought the pillows a few months after they started dating. While he could sleep wherever if he tried, she needed at least two soft pillows to sleep comfortably. He found that out soon, and so he bought more for whenever she came over. She was surprised that he noticed that, and he was even more surprised at how he casually brushed it off as if it was nothing. Like doing that was just to be expected.

Buying the pillows and letting her wear his clothes showed that he was more considerate that she thought he would be. It wasn't like she had low standards for him; she saw how he cared for their classmates, even if he was reckless at times. She was more surprised at how caring he was specifically to her and her alone. From their relationship prior to dating, she thought he would be a little more hostile. It made her start thinking about how they acted in acted in their relationship, and it stuck with her even now.

Xander hated corrupt people. She listened to him rant about them enough to know that for a fact. She was sure that by his standards, she was one of said corrupt people. How he could stand to date her, she didn't know. How she could stand the niceness he gave her when she was sure she didn't deserve it from him, she also didn't know.

Arei turned on the bed so her back would be facing the door and closed her eyes, forcing herself to stop thinking about it. If she wasn't tired before, she certainly was now. Xander could just do that to her.

. . .

Arei felt a hand on her cheek. She recognized who it was from how the hand felt alone, but she still opened her eyes a crack. She still wanted to see him.

Her eyes found Xander's face almost instantly. Seeing her awake, he quickly said, "Sorry. I didn't mean to wake you."

"It's fine..." Arei found her eyes closing again. He always did this whenever she stayed over. He'd cover her with the blanket, kiss her goodnight, and cuddle with her until they both fell asleep. It was always so gentle, and the reminder of it refilled her mind with the two questions she had for months: Why was Xander so kind to her, and why wasn't she as kind back?

Just as she thought, she felt the blanket climb higher up her body. The bed shifted under Xander's weight as he sat next to her. His hands ran through her hair, brushing her bangs aside. She could feel his gaze on her, and she knew that if she opened her eyes, she would see a gentle look in his eyes. It was a dumb look, but she loved knowing someone could look at her like that. Then, she would remember who was looking at her and why he shouldn't, and she found herself hating hey still loving it at the same time. It was so stupid.

He would leave soon for a bit. She knew that was probably coming. Then, he would come back and finish the rest of what he usually did. Just the thought of it made her stomach twist as she wondered what she had done for him. She had to do something if he treated her like this, right? But she couldn't figure out what for the life of her.

It was probably better to ask now than later. She couldn't have this with her during their one-year anniversary, could she? Arei opened her eyes halfway and said, "Hey, Xander...?"

"You're still awake?" he asked, his voice quiet. Why did she have to fall for someone with such a calming voice? Even his British accent she loved to make fun of was working so well with his voice.

"Obviously." Arei's voice didn't sound as snarky as it might've if she had more energy in her. "Just...had a question."

"Is something wrong?"

"Yeah. Why are you so nice to me? It makes no sense..." Again, her voice didn't sound as snarky and it might've. She decided to blame it on her tiredness.

Even in the darkness, she could see a frown form on Xander's face. "What do you mean?"

Of course she had to explain the obvious to him. Why did she had to find that endearing? "Exactly what I said. Why are you so nice to me?"

"Well...you're my girlfriend."

"That doesn't mean you have to be nice."

"Are you...asking me to be mean to you?"

Arei sighed. "Never mind. Forget I said anything..."

"No, don't go to sleep now...!" Xander gently shook her back awake. "Arei, what's wrong?"

Stupid Xander being so caring. Couldn't he just care even just a little less about her? He was just adding fuel to her questions. Idiot!

But Arei still found herself sitting up by herself to prevent sleep from coming. She avoided making eye contact, which was hard with how brightly yellow his eye colour now was. Words starting coming out of her mouth without permission. "Why are you so nice to me? I'm not stupid, you know; I know how I acted before we were dating. I know how I act while we're dating. You've always been...nice and considerate, and it's weird. Why aren't you at least a little mean to me?"

Xander stayed silent as she talked, and he stayed silent after. She didn't like it. Couldn't he just say that she was delusional and move on?

"I'm nice to you for a lot of reasons. I'll give you three right now," he finally said. "First, you're my girlfriend."

"That doesn't mean—"

"Let me finish." His hands went over top of hers, and he started rubbing circles on them with his thumb. "First, you're my girlfriend. Second, I don't like being mean when I don't have to be. Third, everyone deserves kindness—especially you, Arei."

Again, words came out before she could stop them. "Do I? You know how I treat other people—how I treat you. But you still somehow thought that I can be a worthy girlfriend who deserved...this. Why? Why do you even like me in the first place?"

She hated how she sounded. Her words and voice were pathetically needy. So weak and vulnerable. That was not who Arei was at all. Why did she have to talk in the first place? Just pretending to be asleep until he left wouldn't have caused this.

Xander was silent for a moment after she asked that. Eventually, he said, "I...honestly don't know why I like you."

She felt her shoulders sag as her fingers curled into her palm. That was literally the most obvious answer. She didn't know what she expected.

"But that doesn't change the fact that I do," he added. "And because I do, I want to treat you right."

"To prove to everyone that we can have a relationship that lasts more than a few months?"

"And because I want to."

"But also because of that."

"I'm not going to deny it..."

Despite herself, Arei found herself smiling a little.

"Why are you against me being nice to you though?" he asked slowly. "Just do you know, I'm not going to be mean to you just because you want me to be."

"That wasn't even what I wanted—" Arei stopped herself before she said it. She changed it to, "Xander..."

"You can say it," Xander said with a smile. Was she that easy to read?

"If I say it," she replied, "then I'm just proving my point—and that's not what you want."

"It's fine. Just say it."

Well, if she had permission, she might as well say it. "That wasn't even what I wanted, stupid. Do you even listen to anything I say? Why am I even wasting my time on you?"

That came out a lot easier, but almost too easy. It was just what she was used to, and that was a bad sign, wasn't it? He didn't flinch while she said it—he was actually smiling—but she was sure it did something to him. It had to, right?

Xander lifted one of Arei's hands to his lips. Even though their one-year anniversary was coming up, she still felt tingles spread from where his lips touched her skin like how it was when he first did it. When her hand was pulled away, their eyes met. She pulled her other hand free from his grasp to put it under his chin and lift his head and kiss him.

Arei took note of how the kiss was gentle and nice. That was how she would like to be with him all the time. Even with all her pride, she could say that was what he deserved. It was so confusing why someone like him would pick someone like her when there were plenty of other people who were fitter to be his lover than her. Why would he want to be with a corrupt person when he hated them?

She leaned back, reminding herself to keep even breaking the kiss gentle. Kissing him when she knew that his opinion on her was going to change the moment he found out who he was truly dating was too uncomfortable. He wouldn't want to be with her after he found out what she did to her sisters on purpose. Who cared about how they treated her? No one did before. She was definitely a corrupt person in his book, and that meant a breakup would be very soon.

All of their classmates were right about doubting they could last long in a reltionship. They almost made it to a year only because Arei never told anyone her past. But she should tell Xander before their one-year anniversary. He shouldn't have to know that he wasted a whole year with someone like her.

Xander's hand pushed a strand of her blue hair behind her ear, staying on her cheek. He leaned forward and kissed her other cheek before resting his head on her shoulder.

Arei took his hand and held it. Could she ever get used to how trusting he was of her?

To distract herself from her thoughts, she said rather quietly, "You better not fall asleep on me again like last time. You're way too heavy for me."

His voice was just as quiet when he responded. "I'm not that heavy. Besides, you're the Ultimate Bowler. You should have some strength in your arms, right?"

"That doesn't mean I want a whole elephant laying on me, Alexander. It's even worse that this elephant's British."

"Hah. Hah." He made no move to get off her.

Arei didn't actually mind that he didn't. His weight was comforting, almost like a heavy yet warm blanket. She laid down on the bed, Xander shifting on top of her just to make them both more comfortable. His head remained nestled onto her shoulder, and her arms wrapped around him to keep him close.

She listened to his breathing, feeling his chest rise and fall with each breath. Her focus was only on his warm body that encompassed her. This was her boyfriend for a few months short of a year. An actual boyfriend who wanted to cherish her. How did she manage to get this far and not realize that? How stupid was she to not know how lucky she was?

"Hey, Xander?" she whispered, not wanting to break the silence.

He didn't respond. From his steady breathing, she guessed that he fell asleep.

"Goodnight, Xander," she told him quietly. After a second, she added, "I'll try to be a better person for you. Even if I know you'll breakup with me once I tell you about my sisters."

Arei was going to add that Xander was dead to her if she was awake the whole time but was only pretending to be asleep, but she stopped herself. Even if she didn't like being that vulnerable around anyone, it felt more natural to not say anything. It was a baby step in becoming a better person.

Arei was going to follow through with it. If he actually was asleep or forgot about it in the morning, she hoped Xander would notice her changes. He was so kind to her, and it was about time she returned it. Then, he could decide if he wanted to breakup. She was a corrupt person, so there was no judgement on his part if he did. She just wanted him to know that she could truly be a good person.

Xanrei shitpost because yeah

These were cross-posted on Pinterest by me, so uhh yeah. (Find me on Pinterest as PIX_3LL!)

Writing a Xanrei one shot right now and I just remembered how short Arei is compared to Xander in the new height list lmao (first pic looks like they're holding hands!? Omg!? That was on accident but wow!)

ᶜˡᵉᵃʳ ᵈᵃᵗᵉ ; ˣᵃⁿʳᵉⁱ ⁽ᵈʳᵈᵗ⁾

Summary: Whit Young wants to set Xander Matthews up on a blind date with his friend. It sounds like fun, so Xander agrees…until he finds out on accident that Whit's friend and his blind date is Arei Nageishi. He cannot go on a date with her and now has to get his classmates to try to help him get out of this date! Word Count: 11,429 A/N: I saw a Tumblr post about reverse tropes, and one of them was about being set up for a blind date, but you know exactly who it is. I can’t find it anymore, but it inspired me to write a Xanrei one shot that was around 5,000 words. But then I got carried away and made it longer. Sorry, but the Xanrei demon is taking over. Run away, kitten, before the alpha in me comes out! The reason I got carried away was because I enjoyed writing Xander’s attempts to free himself from his blind date too much, and the more I wrote, the more I wanted to include all the DRDT characters, even though I only needed to write a little more than half of them. But they’re all just so fun to write, and their shenanigans are so entertaining… Don't blame me for this! Oh, and quick FYI: I’ve only been bowling, like, twice, and it wasn’t a “real” bowling match or anything. If I got anything about bowling wrong, please let me know!

i did what i had to do... but i guess i didn’t have to do it.

Xander Matthews wouldn’t say his life was boring. He was a student at Hope’s Peak Academy, and he went into it as the Ultimate Rebel, even though he didn’t like how his Ultimate title implied he was a bad person. His social life was great, and he had plenty of hobbies. In his opinion, his life was fine the way it was.

Whit Young, though, had his own opinions.

“You think I can get you a date?” he asked one day when they were hanging out at the coffee shop near Hope’s Peak Academy’s campus. They had just ordered inside and were now sitting at one of the table untouched on the round table, the umbrella covering them from the hot sun. The door to inside the coffee shop was open, letting the baristas shout orders to whoever was outside without leaving. The smell of coffee beans and soft classical music drifted out the doors with it.

Xander, who sitting across from him, frowned. “Why would I want a date?”

“Are you too busy for it?” he asked. “Are you not looking it right now? Do you not feel romantic attraction at all? Sorry, I keep forgetting to ask people if they want romance before I ask them something like that.”

“The answer is no for everything.”

“So, is the answer just a no? It’s fine if it is. I don’t judge.”

“Why do you want to find a date for me anything?”

“Okay, it’s not finding you a date. It’s more like... You’re the date I found.”

“What does that mean?”

“One of my friends wanted me to get them a blind date,” Whit explained. “Well, it was actually just a date, but I chose to go for a blind date. Considering who was asking me, I thought the thrill of not knowing who exactly you were going to go on a date with was needed. Anyway, since I came here as the Ultimate Matchmaker, I have to find the best person I can think of. I think you could fill that role. I know I’m technically breaking the rules since you already know each other and blind dates are setting up two people who don’t know each other, but I’m not gonna get arrested. If you could be arrested, I would’ve been locked up a long time ago.”

“I know them? Who’s your friend?” Xander asked.

He turned his palm to face him as he turned his head away. “I can’t tell you that. But if you were thinking about accepting, I’ll tell you that my friend’s a girl, in case you don’t like girls.”

“I like girls.” After thinking about it, he said, “What does this blind date have?”

“You’re actually thinking about it?” Whit grinned. “Great! So, if you agree, the date’s starting at a bowling area—she really wanted that—at around 6:00 P.M., and you’re going to stay for about one to two hours or however long you can go until you get sick of bowling with her. There’s an ice cream store nearby that doesn’t close until 10:30 P.M.—remember that, in case you somehow have enough patience to bowl with her for four and a half hours—and you can hang out until you decide to call it a night. Bowling should take up most of the evening, and the mini-ice-cream date closes it off. If you decide you want to do something after getting ice cream, go ahead, but that’s as far as I’m planning. This date is simple with everything you need to do spelled out for you, but I think that simple is best, especially for first dates, especially for first blind dates. You haven’t been on a blind date before, right?”

“I haven’t been on a date at all.”

“Neither has my friend, so maybe that can help you bond. But even if you did go on tons of blind dates, I still think blind dates should be simple and easy to do. Simplicity gives you your chance to get to know the other person and see if you’d like to spend more time with them. Complicated dates could make it frustrating to try to pay attention to the date and trying to get to know your blind date. It’s hard enough to have complicated first dates when you tend to already know the person you’re dating, but blind? I keep telling other matchmakers to go simple when they’re the ones planning the date, but some just don’t listen, and then I have to listen to stories of dates, blind or not, that went horribly wrong. Hey, am I rambling?”

“No, you’re fine.” Xander was a known rambler himself whenever he was talking about something he was passionate about. He tried not to get too into topics when that happened because he knew it annoyed some people, but he loved listening to others talk about what they liked.

Whit nodded. “Good to know. I’m done talking about the blind date anyway. What do you think?”

“It sounds like fun.”

“Do you want to do it?”

Xander’s life had never been filled with romance. He met people who were interested in romance, and he had small crushes throughout the years, but he wasn’t ever a part of a relationship. He had a lot of free time now that he was in Hope’s Peak Academy, and while he kept his focus on righting the wrongs in their world, he was fine with potentially finding a romantic partner. Besides, if the Ultimate Matchmaker was saying he thought there was someone he could possibly date, who was he to go against it?

“Sure,” he answered. “It sounds like something I’d be interested in.”

Whit smiled. “Thanks, Xander! I’ll let my friend know!”

He pulled out his phone and started to text his friend. While he did it, a barista from inside the coffee shop shouted their order. Before Xander could offer to get it, Whit left his seat to go get their order for him. He left his phone on the table, and Xander could see that it was clearly still on.

Blind dates were called “blind” because you weren’t supposed to know who you were going to meet. Xander knew that, but he also knew Whit had just been texting his friend that he agreed to the blind date. The knowledge of the latter made his body react before his brain could catch up.

Making sure Whit was still inside and not paying attention to him, Xander leaned forward to check who his friend was. Someone like Whit would make him think he saved people’s names in his contacts with jokes. For example, he would guess that he would save their classmate Hu Jing with some joke about her first name—“Hu is this?” would be his guess. It surprised him a little to see the contact name being a regular name in lower case, but he felt himself still as he read the name.

arei !! 🎳 was all it said, but it was enough.

There was no way Xander could go on a date with Arei Nageishi. Not with her, of all people. They could only get along when they were with other people. They didn’t act alike at all. They didn’t have anything alike other than being Hope’s Peak Academy students. Whit might be the Ultimate Matchmaker, but he made a mistake with this one. She was the one person he could never go on a date with.

Xander leaned himself back as Whit came back with their order. If he realized he left his phone, he didn’t seem bothered by it. He should be.

“Uhh, Whit?” He struggled to decide what he was going to say before settling on, “I actually don’t think I can do the blind date...”

Whit looked at him like he just told him he killed a puppy. “What? But you just agreed!”

“I know, but...” What could be a reasonable excuse other than I-saw-who-I-was-supposed-to-go-on-a-blind-date-with-on-your-phone-and-I-cannot-go-on-a-date-with-a-girl-who-angers-everyone-and-uses-her-looks-to-pretend-to-be-the-victim-before-immediately-going-back-to-insulting-people?

Whit used his silence to his advantage. “If you’re worried about being unsafe, don’t worry. You’re always in public areas surrounded by tons of people. She’s cool, and I know you can get along with her. You have a lot in common too. Trust me. Just relax and go with the flow. And I already told her I found her someone, so I can’t just immediately say that you cancelled.”

“It’s none of that. I just... I realized I don’t want to do a blind date.”

The blonde boy’s eyes roamed his face. He sighed and said, “I hate trying to force people to go on a date, but please, Xander, just one. It’ll last, like, four hours at most. It seems like a lot, but it isn’t. Once it’s done, it’s done. Just let me know it sucked, and we can move on.”

“You sound more desperate than before,” Xander said.

“I’ll admit, my friend can be a little scary when her emotions get the better of her. She’ll probably think I played some sort of prank on her, and then I’ll have to deal with that. And if you cancel, I’m probably going to need, like, solid proof that you genuinely had something important to do to convince her that it’s not something I made up—and to let me know that you’re not cancelling for no good reason, to be honest.” He held the coffee he ordered between his hands. “I feel like I’m asking for a favour now. That’s probably what I am doing. Please, Xander, I’ll owe you big time after this.”

Xander knew Arei. He knew how infuriating she was the moment he introduced himself to her and had to have their other classmate, Teruko Tawaki, drag him away before he could get carried away. He had no idea how she could do that, but he wanted to spend as little time as he could with Arei after that. Even though he succeeded so far, having less than 10 one-on-one conversations with her since they met, he didn’t want Whit to go through her rage. While he didn’t get along with Whit when they first met either, he knew Whit wasn’t as annoying of a person Arei was. He didn’t want to put him through discomfort.

But he still didn’t want to go on a date with Arei.

His brain quickly formulated a plan. “I’ll go on a date.”

Whit beamed. “Thank you so much, Xander! You’re a lifesaver!”

“It’s nothing. When is the date planned?”

“My friend’s free for the entirety of next week. You?”

“Same. Is Friday okay?”

“Friday works great!” Whit started texting Arei again.

Today was Sunday. Xander had until Friday to come up with some sort of reasonable, last-minute reason to cancel his date with Arei. Whit wouldn’t have to face Arei’s anger this way, and Arei wouldn’t have to be angry at all. He could do this.

. . .

On Sunday night, Xander called Teruko Tawaki in his dorm. When she answered, he immediately said, “Teruko, I need you to get hurt on Friday.”

“Huh?” was Teruko’s only reply. Her voice sounded tired. He felt bad if he woke her up, but this was important.

“I need you to get hurt on Friday,” he repeated. “Your bad luck makes you get hurt, right? Can you get hurt on Friday?”

“What?” Along with the tiredness, she sounded lost and really confused. “Why do I need to get hurt?”

“Whit set me up for a blind date,” he explained. “I accidentally found out who I’m going on a blind date with, and I need to get out of it. I need you to help me come up with a legitimate excuse, so I can cancel.”

“How does me getting hurt get you out of your date?”

“If you get hurt, you can ask me to help take care of you. Then, I can cancel because my friend is hurt.”

“Why can’t you just lie?”

“Whit will ask for proof that I’m genuinely busy. If you tell him I really am busy, it should be enough proof he needs.”

Teruko sighed. “Well, I’m not getting hurt. Sorry, Xander, but I can’t just control my bad luck like that, and I’m not risking anything because you don’t want to go on a date.”

Xander was about to reply before realizing he had been rude. He just asked his friend—his first friend since coming to Hope’s Peak Academy—to risk her life with her infamous bad luck. “Oh, God. I’m sorry, Teruko. I wasn’t trying to—”

“I know. I learned fast that you don’t think before you act.” Her tone wasn’t mean. “Don’t worry, I’ll keep how you know who your blind date is a secret.”

He smiled. “Thanks, Teruko.”

The call went silent for a moment. Then, Teruko said, “If it means anything, I think you should give Arei a chance. I know you don’t get along, but—”

Xander hung up.

. . .

On Monday, Min Jeung was with Ace Markey right outside Hope’s Peak Academy when Xander approached them. “Min, can you tutor me this Friday?”

Min had a small frown. “I thought you’re doing fine in school.”

“But I want to do better,” he said. “You know, getting higher grades does help get better jobs and get a better life after school.”

“Back off, she’s tutoring already me on Friday.” Ace put a hand on his chest and straightened himself.

Despite her bangs covering her eyes, Min clearly had a judgmental look on her face. “Keep acting like that, and I’ll change my mind.”

“No, you won’t,” said Ace. “You’re being forced to.”

“It’s not my fault your grades are bad.”

“What’d you say? You want to fight?”

“Ace.” Xander knew that all he had to do was send one threatening glare towards him, and he wouldn’t have to deal with him.

Just as he thought, Ace panicked and quickly sputtered out words about how he had to go meet up with some friend. When he ran off, Min asked him, “Why do you want to get better grades?”

“Just a thought,” he answered. “I need proof that I’m busy on Friday. That way, I can cancel on Whit last-minute.”

“What did he do?” When he finished telling her the same thing he told Teruko with the addition of how Whit wanted proof before she could ask, she said, “It sounds like it’s your fault for agreeing to the blind date in the first place.”

“How was I supposed to know I was going to be on a blind date with Arei?”

“Repeat what you just said.”

Okay, she had a point.

“I don’t want to tutor anyone,” Min continued. “Not you and definitely not Ace. I have better things to do.”

“More studying?” Xander guessed.

“I don’t want to have this conversation again. I’ll see you around, Xander.” Min left in the opposite direction Ace went.

Xander wasn’t sure what Min meant. He wasn’t going to start any conversation! Yeah, he did frequently talk to her about the importance of having a life outside of school, but that was, like, once or twice. Or 25 times. But he wasn’t going to do that now, not when he really needed someone to help him be busy on Friday.

As he walked away, Xander realized that he didn’t tell Min to keep how he knew his blind date was Arei a secret. Ace ran off before he could tell him, so he didn’t have to worry about him. He supposed he had to rely on Min not liking to talk.

. . .

On Tuesday, Xander found Nico Hakobyan and Eden Tobisa walking through the hallways of Hope’s Peak Academy together. Xander was specifically looking for Nico, and once finding them, he said, “Nico, do you need any help at the animal shelter on Friday?”

Nico came to Hope’s Peak Academy as the Ultimate Pet Therapist. Most of their free time was spent with animals, some of it being at a local animal shelter. No one who worked at the animal shelter complained about them coming because they received special help and publicity for an Ultimate student helping often. It helped how they sometimes brought some of their classmates with them.

“We’re pretty full on volunteers and staff, so I don’t think so,” Nico answered, confusion clear in their voice. “Why are you asking?”

Xander filled them in on what happened. Nico still looked a bit confused, but Eden said, “You shouldn’t run away from Arei. She’s a nice girl once you get to know her!”

“I have tried to get to know her,” he argued. “Every time I try, we end up almost in a fight.”

Nico tugged at their black scarf. “You’ve barely talked to her since school started. You couldn’t put in that much effort.”

“Excuse me?”

Nico’s red eyes widened, and they lifted their scarf over their face.

Eden filled in their silence. “I think they’re saying that you should try to put more effort than usually, you know? It is a date after all. You have to impress her!”

“But I don’t want to go on that date.”

“It’s only for a few hours. You’ll be okay!” She flashed him a reassuring smile.

Too bad he didn’t feel reassured. “Nico, are you sure you don’t need any help on Friday? For anything?”

Nico lowered their scarf just enough to look at him. “No...”

“Eden?”

Eden shook her head. “Maybe it’s a good thing that we’re both busy. Like, maybe you’re meant to go on that date with—”

“Thanks for trying to help,” Xander interrupted. “Can you keep this whole conversation a secret?”

“Of course!” Eden said at the same time Nico said, “I’ll probably forget about this in an hour or two anyway.”

Xander said his farewell before leaving. Friday was coming up way too fast.

. . .

On Wednesday, Rose Lacroix and David Chiem were about to leave Hope’s Peak Academy’s campus when Xander came up to them. “Rose, you’re an artist, right? Are you doing something on Friday? Can you give me a painting lesson or something like that?”

Rose looked around them. “Is this because of your date with Arei?”

He froze. “How do you know that?”

“Oh, are you dating Arei?” David had his perfect smile he often used during his inspirational speeches. “Congratulations, Xander! I hope you two have the best of luck in your relationship!”

Any slight annoyance he would’ve felt if anyone other than David told him that never came to be. “W-We’re not dating...”

He blinked. “You’re not? Then, Rose, what were you talking about?”

“I heard him talking about it with Nico and Eden,” she explained. “Yesterday, I was going to my next class when I heard overheard them. Whit set him up on a blind date with Arei, and now he’s trying to get out of it. He needs proof that he’s busy on Friday, and he thinks someone saying that they suddenly needed him for something would be enough proof. I didn’t mean to listen in on it,” she added for Xander.

He smiled, but it felt weaker than he’d like. “That’s okay. Just please don’t tell Arei or Whit. Both of you.”

“We won’t tell a soul. Won’t we, Rose?” David nudged her arm with his elbow.

Rose rubbed one of her eyes. “Xander, why are you here again?”

“Xander has a date with Arei he’s trying to cancel.”

“Oh, yeah. I’m free on Friday,” Rose started, “but isn’t it mean to ditch your date with Arei?”

“Arei would feel the same way,” Xander argued. “You know how we act together.”

“Still, this is a chance to fix that,” replied David, placing a hand on his chest. “I know how your relationship with her—”

“Rose, is that a yes or a no?” Xander always loved to listen to David’s speeches, especially since he was the Ultimate Inspirational Speaker, but he couldn’t right now. Time was against him, and if he listened to David, he would probably go with what he said.

“I don’t think so...” She yawned. “I think I might just take a nap on Friday.”

“The entire Friday evening?”

She nodded. “Then, I’ll go to sleep.”

“That sounds relaxing,” said David.

He would ask what the point of taking a nap before sleeping was, but from the corner of his eye, he saw Arei. Quickly, he said, “Thanks for answering, Rose. Bye, David, bye, Rose!”

Xander left David and Rose before they could respond. He hoped Arei didn’t notice their conversation.

. . .

On Thursday, Xander had to use his final card. It was the final day before his blind date with Arei, and time was quickly running out. He had to find her.

Before classes started for the day, Xander looked around Hope’s Peak Academy. After a few minutes, he found Veronika Grebenshchikova with Arturo Giles and Levi Fontana. He had pepared himself for this moment since his failed attempt with Rose, so he approached them with the most relaxed look he could manage. When he got their attention, he asked, “Veronika, there’s a new horror movie coming out on Friday, right? I heard you talking about it.”

True to her nature as the Ultimate Horror Fanatic, Veronika’s eyes sparkled. “There is! I would go”—her eyes darkened with disappointment—“but I already spent all my money on the book series it’s based on...”

“I told her not to do it,” sighed Levi.

“Why do you try?” asked Arturo. “We all know she won’t listen.”

“Veronika,” started Xander, trying to keep his smile relaxed, “how about we go to see the movie together? I’ll pay.”

While Levi and Arturo stared at him in shock and confusion—no one should want to see a horror movie with the Ultimate Horror Fanatic—Veronika’s entire face brightened. “You will? Actually? This is one of the best things I’ve ever heard! I can tell you everything about the movie! When it started production, why it started production, why the cast was chosen... I can go into the story too! I can tell you about it now! It starts when—”

“Oh, he’s doing this because of Arei,” interrupted Arturo while rolling his eyes.

“What do you mean?” asked Levi.

“Whit set him up on a blind date on Friday, and he accidentally found out his blind date is Arei. Now, he’s trying to get out of it.”

Veronika’s face fell. “So, you don’t actually want to watch the movie...”

Xander had to ignore Veronika to talk to Arturo. “Who told you that?”

“I overheard Rose mentioning it to Ace,” answered Arturo. “David was with her and reminded her about keeping it a secret. Rose said you only told her not to tell Arei or Whit, then realized you probably meant not telling anyone. David convinced Ace to keep it a secret, but I didn’t promise anything.”

Xander sighed. “You guys can’t tell anyone else.”

“I can do that,” said Levi.

Arturo scoffed. “I can’t.”

“You said you wanted to go to see the movie with me,” mumbled Veronika.

“Veronika, I can get you Ace and maybe Min to go watch the movie with you. I’ll pay for all your tickets—and more tickets, if you get other people to come with you.” He could probably scare Ace into doing it, and a little convincing could get Min. It would do her good to spend time with her classmates on a Friday evening instead of locked up in her dorm studying. “Arturo, I can, umm...”

He couldn’t think of anything to convince him, but Veronika was happy enough to say, “I can take Arturo with me as thanks for paying for the tickets! Horror movies are always so much more fun to watch with other people!”

Arturo’s eyes widened. Everyone in their class knew how he and Ace were Veronika’s two main victims. “I didn’t agree to this...!”

“Since that’s settled...” Levi turned to him. “Xander, you should—”

Xander sighed. “If you tell me that I should give Arei a chance, please don’t. That would be my third time hearing that...”

“Isn’t that a sign that you should give in, then? It might be fun.”

“No, it won’t. Maybe if it was someone other me going on the date with her. Or the other way around. Just not us together...”

“You sound so pessimistic...” Levi offered him a small smile.

Xander tried to return it, but he had no such luck. He was about to leave when an all-too familiar voice asked, “What are you guys talking about?”

Arei appeared beside Levi. She had that smile that made him think that she was planning something. Everything suddenly felt uncomfortable.

Veronika was the one to answer. “I was telling Arturo about the movie we’re going to see on Friday with Ace and maybe Min!”

It was clear that Arturo was scowling behind his mask. “I didn’t—”

“Wow, Min? Doesn’t she only study?” Arei’s eyes seemed to scan her to see if she was telling the truth. “Horror movie, right?”

“Yes! It’s about—”

“Cool, cool, yeah, whatever.”

Veronika had a small frown at being interrupted. Meanwhile, Levi asked, “Arei, are you doing anything on Friday? I have some clothes I bought that I was trying to figure out what to do with, but now that you’re here, I realized they could work well with you.”

Her cunning smile was replaced with a neutral expression, but Xander could see how her eyes were slightly bigger than before. “Really? I am going on a blind date tomorrow, so I guess new clothes will be good.”

Levi smiled as Veronika and Arturo shared a look between them before looking at Xander. As the Ultimate Personal Stylist, there was no doubt that Levi would have fun choosing a fitting outfit for Arei. “Great. Come by my dorm after school. I’ll show them to you, and we can figure out what to have you wear. You can keep it after the date too, by the way.”

“I’ll remember that!” Arei’s gaze fell on Xander. “You know, Xander, you’re really quiet right now. Aren’t you supposed to be yelling about something?”

“I was going to leave now.” Xander didn’t like how quiet his voice was.

“Uhh, okay?” Arei’s skeptical blue eyes were the last thing Xander saw before making his escape.

. . .

On Friday morning, Xander called J Rosales. She was with Hu Jing right now, so J put it on speaker for him to be able to talk to both of them.

“J, how do you successfully fake being sick?” Xander asked.

“Why are you asking me?” she asked.

“You seem like someone who could always fake being sick.”

“Huh?” Her voice raised as she demanded, “What kind of impression do you have about me?”

Hu’s quieter and calmer voice came in to say, “J, just yesterday, you faked being sick so you didn’t have to meet people to work on a project because, as you said, they were just going to mess around while you did all the work. You did it last week and two weeks before that, too.”

“That was three times!” argued J.

“It’s still enough to prove Xander’s point,” pointed out Hu.

“Can you just tell me?” Xander asked before the conversation could get out of hand.

“I’m not helping you get out of your date with Arei,” J told him.

“You should go through with it, Xander,” added Hu. “I think you two could have fun together.”

He sighed. “Who did you guys overhear it from?”

“No one,” answered Hu. “Everyone in our class knows how you were going around and trying to find a way to be busy this evening. Well, everyone except I think Whit and Arei. Before this call, the only people you haven’t asked for help from were Charles, J, and I. The three of us were talking about it yesterday, and after realizing Arei’s blind date, which she’s been talking about her these last few days, is at the same time you’ve been asking people to do something with you, it wasn’t hard to put it together.”

Xander didn’t reply. Was he really that obvious? Now that he thought about it, he did go to basically everyone in his class, but he thought he was a little sneaky about it.

“We’re not going to help you get out of the date,” continued Hu, “but if you want help, you can ask us.”

J’s voice grew quieter, probably caused by her moving away from her phone. “What are we helping him with?”

“You know, the usual things you help people do for first dates.” Hu’s voice was quieter, probably caused by the same reason as J’s, before it returned to its previous volume. “Do you need help with anything, Xander? Do you know what you’re wearing? I know we’re not Levi, but I think we could help you pick a decent outfit.”

“Since when did we become personal stylists?” J asked.

“Since now, if he agrees to our help.”

Xander realized he couldn’t get out of this. It was Friday morning, and his date was this evening. Even if Arei was the last person he would want to go on a date with, he had to go through with it. He could always cancel without anything else to do, but he couldn’t have Whit go through Arei’s anger. With a sigh, he reluctantly said, “A little help would be nice...”

“Great!” He could hear the smile in Hu’s voice. “J, I’m turning this into a video call so we can see his outfit.”

“Hey, it’s my phone!” After some rustling, the call ended. A few seconds later, J called him again but as a video call.

Xander answered it. It wasn’t like he could go against it anymore.

. . .

Before Xander left his dorm, Whit sent him a text telling him what his “blind” date was wearing. He also gave a tip about her hair colour to make it even easier to find her, so Xander was sure Whit didn’t know about his attempts. Or, maybe he did know but was pretending not to.

After some debate from Hu and J—the latter more interested than she let on—Xander had his outfit of a black sweater over a white shirt. They agreed on easily on that as it was getting colder in the evening, but they got into a debate on whether he should wear a cross body bag for no reason other than to look nice. J thought it was pointless to wear a bag if he wasn’t going to put anything in it, and she thought fanny bags were stupid enough around the waist and didn’t need to be put across your body, but Hu told her that sometimes, fashion didn’t make sense, and she thought cross body bags were nice. In the end, J agreed only if he carried some stuff, which included his phone, his keys, and some money. He had to say that he had fun watching them debate on what clothes would work the best, but now that he had to wear it, he would rather have this outfit just to save it for another day.

When 6:00 P.M. neared, Xander went to the bowling alley. He was supposed to meet up with Arei outside the building, and he found her too fast. She was standing near the front doors on her phone with her hair down in a black shirt over a white one. Like him, she had a bag, although hers was a dark blue canteen bag. She had two belts over her denim skirt, and while he questioned why Levi would let her wear a short skirt when it was getting cold, she did look like a model for the Ultimate Personal Stylist.

She didn’t notice him. He could probably make a run for it while he still could, but then she would think her blind date ditched her. Everyone already knew he was supposed to be her blind date, and that could cause a lot more trouble than needed.

Xander took in a deep breath, steeled his nerves—why was this harder than asking Veronika to watch a horror movie with him?—and went to her.

When Arei heard him calling her name, her head turned towards him. It took her a few seconds to realize why he was here. When she did, she asked, “Why did Whit set you up with me?”

“That’s exactly what I’ve been wondering.” For the last six days, he finished in his head.

They stared at each other for a second. Then, Arei shrugged and said, “We might as well do what Whit planned. He had to spend his own money on this because I got friend discount, you know.”

“Yeah, let’s go.” Xander tried to put on a smile.

The bowling alley Whit chose was bigger on the inside than the outside. There were lots of bowling lanes, and each one seemed to have purple lights shining down on them. Meanwhile, the sitting area was lit with a dark yellow light, and each lane had two tables of four to sit at. Bowling balls of all sorts of colours waited to be used as other players played each other.

Now that he was inside, Xander was hit was an obvious realization he should’ve made when he first found out who his blind date was: Of course Arei was going to want to go to a bowling alley when she came to Hope’s Peak Academy as the Ultimate Bowler.

Arei looked immediately at home as they changed into bowling shoes. She actually looked excited to be here. The way her eyes reflected the lights of the building was fascinating, he had to admit, but he wasn’t sure why she wanted to be here. She knew she would beat whoever was her blind date. It was a lost cause to even try to compete against her.

As they headed to their lane, Xander decided it was better to not make a fool of himself and said, “I’ve never gone bowling before. How does this work?”

“You never went bowling?” Arei studied his face before having a confident smile. “Luckily for you, you have the best of the best! I’ll teach you how to bowl!”

When they arrived, the first thing Arei asked was, “How much do you weigh?”

He frowned, blinking a few times. “What does that have to do with anything?”

“Because before we can bowl, we need to find you a ball that’s the right weight and size. I know you’re crazy strong and can work with any ball, but we still need to deal with your fingers. Plus, a general rule is your ball weighs 10% as much as you. So, how much do you weigh?”

“Well... I weigh 170 pounds, last time I checked.”

“Then you need a ball that’s 17 pounds.” Arei picked up one of the bowling balls waiting for them with 17 written on it, and she was about to hand it to him before saying, “Oh, you’ve probably never held a bowling ball before.”

“I haven’t,” Xander confirmed, looking away from her face. Why did he feel self-conscious about this?

“I gotta help you with this one too.” She turned the ball, so the holes were facing his fingers. “Are you a lefty or a righty?”

“Righty.”

“Put your thumb in the bottom hole and your middle and ring finger in the other two.” When he followed her instructions, she inspected it. “The holes are too big for your fingers. You need a different one.”

“Is it a problem if it’s too big?”

Her eyes flashed. “What, are you going to ignore everything I say? I’m trying to help you, but you’re just gonna do your own thing?”

This was exactly what Xander was trying to avoid. Something like this happened a lot whenever they were left to themselves. However, after almost a week of begging his classmates to do something with him today, he didn’t have the energy to argue back. “No, I won’t. I’m sorry.”

A beat of silence passed. After it, Arei kept her eyes on the ball and said quieter, “Your fingers are meant to slide into the holes smoothly. If it’s too small, you can’t even put your fingers in, and if it’s too big, you’ll have a hard time controlling the ball. Control is important in bowling, just like in other sports. So...if you want to at least be decent, you should take the time to find a good ball.”

Xander had never heard her use a voice like that before, even after being classmates for months now. He had to remind himself that he had to answer. “Okay. I’ll look for one. But, umm... Can you help?”

Arei agreed, and they tried multiple different balls. When they finally found one he could hold comfortably, she said, “Hold the ball a little to your side and put your left hand on the bottom side. Keep your thumb at 10:00 position.”

“What...?”

She sighed, but she took hold of his hands and helped put them where they were supposed to be. Her hands were softer than he thought they would be. When she was done, she said, “Remember two things. First, this is how you’re going to hold the ball when it’s your turn to play. Second, this is your ball. You can use other balls like this, but this one’s perfect. Remember how it looks like, and when it comes back, use it as often as you can. This is your lucky ball for today.”

“Is that a thing for bowlers?” Xander asked.

“It is for me.” She went to look for a ball that fitted her.

He decided to listen to her and tried to remember how the bowling ball looked. It was blue. The same shade of blue as Arei’s eyes. He could remember this.

Arei found her ball much faster than he did. Hers was a yellow ball with the number 13 written on it. “I’ll go first so I can tell you how it works.”

Xander sat on the chair closest to their bowling lane. Arei pointed to a line on the ground and said, “That’s the foul line. You know how bowlers approach this line, right?”

“I’ve seen it online before.”

“Then you already saw the standard approach. It’s where you stand with your back straight, your shoulder centred at your target, and your knees bent a little. Whatever hand has the bowling ball should be at your side. Oh, and your back tilted forward, but not a lot. Your feet should be apart, and your slide foot—opposite of your bowling hand—should be in front of the other. Am I making sense?”

“A little...” There were a lot of words and a lot of people bowling around them. It was hard to pay attention to just her.

“Are you a visual learner?”

“I am.”

“I’ll show you instead of talking. It’s too much work talking anyway. Ugh, but I still have to explain to you the terms.” Despite her words, she didn’t sound annoyed. “You get to roll the ball two times a frame—two times a turn—so if you knock all the pins down on both rolls, that’s a spare. Like this.”

Arei threw the bowling ball down the bowling lane. It hit several of the bowling pins but left a couple. She picked a new bowling ball and threw it down the bowling lane again. It hit the rest.

Xander clapped as the final bowling pins went down. His clapping was stopped when he caught her look towards him. He couldn’t read her emotions, but he remembered that she was the Ultimate Bowler. She was used to doing amazing at bowling and didn’t need him to applaud.

Arei turned her head towards the TV screen above their bowling lane. It lane now had a score for Arei: 3/ over 13. “The upper left of each frame is to record the first ball,” she explained. “The box to the left is the second ball. I don’t wanna teach scoring, especially if this is automatic, so just know that spares are marked with that slash, and a strike is marked with an X.”

“Strikes are where you hit all the bowling pins at once, right?”

“I guess you’re not totally hopeless when it comes to bowling.”

“I’m not stupid...” Xander heard light laughter coming from her, so he decided today would be an okay day to be laughed at by her for just this once. Doing anything about it required determination he didn’t have.

“It’s your turn,” she said, taking a seat at the table he was at. She rummaged through her bag.

Xander held his bowling ball the way she taught him too. When the bowling ball went out of his hands, it rolled into the gutter. He decided not to look at Arei.

When he picked up his next bowling ball—admittedly taking a longer time than Arei—he was about to go again when Arei said, “Xander, you see the dots and the black arrows? Aim the ball in the centre of them.”

He decided to take her word for it and tried aiming as she said. When this ball rolled, it hit several of the pins and knocked them over.

While more pins were being added for the next frame, he turned to Arei with a smile. “I did it!”

“I know. I saw.” She smiled. “I’m a great coach.”

“Don’t get cocky.”

“I’m not cocky if it’s a fact!” She gave him a bottle that wasn’t on the table before—something he assumed to be from her bag. “Here.”

He took it, but he still asked, “What is this?”

“Rosin. It makes your fingers and thumb a little tacky and less slippery. You always have to wipe your hands after your turn’s over. If your hands are sweaty, the ball can slip out of your hands. A handkerchief or just wiping your hands on your clothes work, but I’m a professional, so we’re going to do this professionally.”

“Do hands get slippery when you play blowing?”

“If you have sweaty hands.” Arei found the yellow ball she was using in her last frame and turned towards him. “I told you to aim on your last frame. The marks help beginner bowlers a lot. I used them when I first started, but then I realized I was already way too good for them. They’re there to help you hit the pins, but your ball can slow down or roll towards the gutters. You just have to keep adjusting your aim.

“Also, you see the bowling pin closest to us?” She pointed at the bowling pin stationed at the front. “That’s called the ‘headpin.’ The marks are there to help you aim for that and a pin next to it. If you get that, then you can knock down most of the pins and raise your chance of getting a strike. But, if you only hit the headpin, you might get a split.”

“What’s a ‘split?’” Xander asked.

“When the first ball knocks the headpin and leaves two or more pins on opposite sides. They’re the worst, and it’s hard to hit a spare with splits. It’s worse if you have a 7-10 split. They’re the two pins way in the back. I’ll show you one.”

Arei rolled the ball down the bowling lane and knocked the headpin down. Other bowling pins went down with it, but two in the back on either side remained. A 7-10 split, if she did what she said earlier. When she went for her second ball, it rolled through and knocked both of them out. The sound of both pins knocking themselves over as the TV updated the score made the fact that the Ultimate Bowler was really bowling right now hit him.

“You’re really good at bowling,” Xander told her as she put rosin on her hands.

“Duh,” she responded. “I’m the Ultimate Bowler.”

“I know. But it’s still amazing to see how you can just”—his hands moved around as he paused, trying to look for the right word—“decide what you want the pins and the balls to do. It looks so easy and natural for you. I don’t know how to describe it, but it’s just so interesting to watch.”

Arei’s bottle of rosin remained opened because of her hands stopping before she could close it. Her attention was on him, and once again, he couldn’t read her face. Her eyes were looking at his, and he wasn’t sure if he should look away.

It was over in a moment when she turned her head away and closed the bottle of rosin. “Whatever. It’s your turn—and don’t you dare fail me as your teacher.”

The rest of their bowling game went smoothly. Arei helped him when he needed it, and Xander got to listen to see her look comfortable with what she was doing. She gave him tips throughout the game, such as focusing on the marks and not the bowling pins, and as it went on, she was more willing to explain why he should listen, other than how the Ultimate Bowler was telling him to do it. When the game ended, it was no surprise that Arei won, but what was surprising was that going bowling with Arei was actually kind of fun. They only got into a brief argument once when first trying to find a ball, but other than that, it was just Xander learning how to bowl with Arei being more helpful than he’d ever seen.

Was this really what he was trying so hard to avoid?

After the first match, they decided to play another one where Xander would try bowling without Arei’s help. Again, Arei won with 300 points—the highest score a bowler can get, apparently—and another game started, this time Arei switching between helping him and not. Before they knew it, two hours had passed. When they noticed it, they left the bowling alley and started heading to the ice cream parlour. The one Whit chose was close enough to the bowling alley to walk, but it was still quite far. He must’ve chosen that one on purpose to get them to talk to pass the time.

Because of that, Xander decided to say, “Arei, there’s been one question on my mind since this date started.”

“What’s up?” she asked.

“Why are you wearing a skirt in this weather?” As if to help prove his point, a chilly breeze went by.

Arei looked at him like the answer was obvious. She gestured to her outfit. “Because I look nice.”

“Weren’t there any other outfits Levi had?” he continued. There was no way the Ultimate Personal Stylist wouldn’t have better clothes that fit her and the weather.

“There were,” she admitted, “but this one’s my favourite. I got to keep the outfit he gave me, so I had to pick the one I liked the best. He tried to get me to wear pants, but this goes better with the skirt, right?”

Xander tried to imagine how she would look wearing pants instead of a skirt. “I think you would look fine either way.”

“That was supposed to be you agreeing with me,” Arei said.

“I don’t even know how the pants looked.”

“It’s like this skirt but as pants.”

“I still think you’d look fine.”

“You’re supposed to call me pretty too.”

“What? I feel like this is some sort of trick...”

“It is. I’d point out how you don’t know exactly how I’d look wearing jeans and make you feel bad.”

“It’s not going to work now that you said so.”

“I know. I’m trying to be nice. You don’t have to tell me that I’m already the nicest person ever.”

“I wasn’t going to.”

Their conversation didn’t have any hint of anger or annoyance. Maybe it was the bowling, or maybe it was how it was getting late, but talking to her like this felt comfortable. Easy. Like this was how it was always meant to be. Xander wasn’t sure what to think of it, but he could get used to it.

When they arrived at the ice cream parlour arena, they found that there were quite a few costumers despite it getting late and the semi-cold weather. The white walls looked pink due to the lighting, and the floor was checkered. Small tables lined against the windows where some people were talking amongst themselves.

Xander and Arei went to look at the ice cream offered. Xander felt a bit intimidated by the number of options they had, but Arei’s eyes were immediately drawn to one of them. The side of her body pressed slightly against his as she pointed to one of the flavours. “They have cherry chip!”

“They have what?” His eyes found what she was pointing to. It looked to be cherry-flavoured ice cream with chocolate bits inside. “Is that your favourite flavour?”

“Yep. Chocolate tastes kind of bad on its own, but it tastes so much better when it’s with ice cream!”

“Why cherry?”

“Cherry’s the best flavour, even if it doesn’t have the chocolate bits. Chocolate tastes worse with other flavours.”

“That’s a...unique flavour to like,” Xander said.

“Only because it’s found, like, nowhere. If it was more popular, more people would like it. Instead, they have to stick to mint.”

“What’s wrong with mint?”

“It’s the worst thing to ever exist. It’s bad enough that it exists as food or whatever, and it was worse when it became a flavour for gum and stuff, but now you made it into ice cream too? Everything is ruined with it! It should be illegal to have mint exist!”

“That’s just stupid. Mint’s just a flavour.”

“Oh, I bet you like mint. One of those mint lovers.”

Mint was always an okay flavour to him, but right now, he said, “I do like mint.”

“I should’ve known.” Her blue eyes that were narrowed relaxed for a bit when she said, “I thought your favourite flavour was vanilla, though. You look like someone who’d like vanilla.”

Vanilla was his favourite flavour, but for now, he said, “Well, it’s not.”

“So, what, are you going to order mint chip?”

Looking at the flavours the ice cream parlour offered, Xander noticed that there was an option to just have mint with no chocolate bits in it. “I’ll order just mint.”

“Just mint?” Arei found the flavour he saw and immediately cringed. “That’s even worse! At least mint chip has the chocolate to try to distract you from the mint! Why would anyone want just mint?”

Xander had a satisfied smile watching her disgust. He never thought she would be someone who hated mint so much, but the thought of a reaction like this was the reason he chose that flavour in the first place. Now that he was seeing it, it was kind of cute.

Once they ordered their ice cream, Arei wanted to sit outside on a bench. Xander thought that was a bad idea with how exposed her legs were, but she insisted. They found themselves sitting on a bench not too far from the ice cream parlour with the ice cream they ordered. Just as Xander thought, it was getting colder, and more wind was starting to pick up. He waited for her to say something.

He even counted. 75 seconds passed before Arei finally said, “I probably should’ve worn pants...”

“You should’ve worn pants,” Xander corrected. “Do you want to eat inside the parlour?”

“But we already left. It’ll be weird if we go back inside with our orders.”

“Why do you care about being weird?”

“Because some people have reputations they have to keep up. I get that you’re the Ultimate Rebel and don’t care how people see you—”

“I care about how people see me.”

“Not enough to not be seen as a weirdo. You have the title of Ultimate Rebel. That’s, like, the definition of ‘weird.’” After a second, she added, “But I guess it could be weirder.”

Xander continued eating his mint ice cream in silence. Going strictly off of Whit’s plan, the “blind” date was coming to an end. Now that he experienced it, he wasn’t sure what he was so scared of. Looking back it his attempts, he was a little embarrassed at how desperate he was to do something—anything—to avoid this. It was all calmer than he thought it would be. If he was being honest, he wouldn’t mind going through it again.

“Xander?” Arei’s voice cut through his thoughts. “Why’d you agree to go on a blind date?”

“Whit asked me if he could set me up,” Xander answered. “After saying it was a blind date with his friend, he told me his plan for the date. It sounded interesting, so I decided to give it a shot. You were the one who asked him for a date, though. Why?”

She seemed hesitant to answer. Eventually, she said without looking at him, “We’re in a world where marriage is, like, a must. If you get married, you get bonuses single people don’t have, and everyone around you is getting into serious relationships and talking about settling down one day and stuff. Plus, some people are starting to ask, ‘When are you going to get married?’ like I’m not still in college. I know we’re all still pretty young, but it still feels weird when I haven’t even been on a date before. So, I asked Whit if he could help set me up...”

“To fit in?” She didn’t answer, but Xander assumed he was correct anyway. “Well, did you have fun?”

“It wasn’t that bad.” He assumed that was Arei for “yes.” “I thought I’d be set up with someone who doesn’t go to Hope’s Peak, so I’d get to show off my amazing bowling skills, but instead, I got set up with someone who does go to Hope’s Peak and already knows how awesome I am. That ruined my plan.”

“You still showed your skills. And yes, I knew you were great, but I didn’t realize how great until tonight.” He didn’t let himself praise her any further. He remembered the look she gave him after clapping for her.

She turned the ice cream cone around in her hands. “Yeah, but I also got stuck teaching you how to bowl.”

“You didn’t have to,” he pointed out.

“But if I didn’t, I’d get a headache watching you and decide we can’t bowl anymore. I’ve been bowling with people who never went bowling before. I know how it goes.” She sneaked a glance at him. “But you weren’t that bad for a beginner. Better than other beginner bowlers I’ve seen, at least.”

A smile came to him before he could stop it. “Thanks, Arei.”

“Yeah, whatever, don’t think about it.” Arei went back to eating her ice cream.

Xander decided to let it go and finish his ice cream. When they were both done, they were technically as far as Whit planned. He knew that he didn’t want things to be awkward now like Whit’s loose planning was the only thing keeping the date floating, so when Arei finished her ice cream, he said, “I had fun.”

“Even though you kept losing at bowling?” Arei replied. Her voice wasn’t teasing nor did it sound annoyed.

“You’re the Ultimate Bowler,” Xander said with a light chuckle. “It’s hopeless to go against you.”

A smile formed on her face. “Yeah, it is.”

“Still, it was fun. Even if you hate mint for no good reason.”

“I hate mint for lots of good reasons!” Arei glared at him as he laughed. When he was done, he noticed that the expression on her face wasn’t as angry anymore. It looked to be more shy. She looked to be more shy with how she avoided looking at him and was fiddling with her bag. Even her voice seemed shy as she said, “It was fun, though...”

Xander didn’t reply. Since when was Arei Nageishi capable of acting like that, and why did he actually kind of like it?

“Do you... You know...” She gestured around them. She didn’t finish her sentence and looked at him like it was obvious what she was trying to say. It was, but the way she didn’t want to say it because of what he thought was embarrassment was endearing.

“We can go on another date,” Xander said. “But how about we plan it instead of Whit?”

His answer made her shoulders visibly relax. “We can do that. But give me your number. I don’t think I have it.”

After they exchanged numbers, Arei said, “Xander, umm... Thanks for just, you know...coming to the date.”

“You make it sound like it’s a big deal,” Xander responded. “Did you think I wouldn’t come?”

“Kind of. You arrived late, you know.”

“What? No, I arrived on time.”

The topic change made her words flow easier. “I was on my phone when you arrived. I was checking the time. You arrived at 6:01 P.M. That’s late.”

“By one minute!”

“Still late. Next time, you better arrive on time.”

Xander had a lot of things he had to change for next time. The memories of the last few days crashed down on him, and it suddenly felt weird to be standing in front of Arei when she didn’t know about them. He appreciated his classmates’ efforts to not tell her or Whit, but he didn’t know if he could trust them enough to keep the last few days a secret for long. Someone was going to tell her sooner or later, and it was probably best if that “someone” was him. “Arei, I have a confession to make.”

“What, did you murder someone?”

“No, but... You know how Whit set us up?”

“What about it?”

“Me and Whit were at a coffee shop when he brought it up. When I agreed, he sent you a text telling you that we were going to have our blind date. We didn’t have our order, and when it was called, Whit went to get it. He left his phone on the table, and the screen was still on. I... Curiosity got the best of me, and I saw you were my blind date.”

Arei stayed silent, her face unreadable. Xander felt a little scared for what would come out of her mouth. Would she be angry? Probably. Scream? Maybe not. But there definitely wasn’t going to be a next date anymore.

After long, agonizing seconds, she asked, “Why did you still come?”

“Because no one would help me be busy today. I went around asking everyone except Charles and Ace—I missed talking to Charles, and Ace ran away before I could ask him—to help me get proof for Whit that I have a good reason to cancel. Everyone was either busy or didn’t want to. So, I was forced to go.”

“You could’ve lied and said something came up when nothing did.”

“Everyone already knows what was happening today, though. Plus, I was worried that you would get upset and drag Whit into your emotions.”

Arei didn’t reply. He still couldn’t read her face. The seconds went by, and Xander felt more and more uncomfortable. He wanted her to say something , anything to let him know how she felt about this. The emotionless face she had made him feel too uneasy.

After what felt like an eternity, Arei said, “It was probably funny how you went around begging people to do something with you. You probably looked like a friendless loser.”

Xander would’ve tried to defend himself, but he asked, “You’re not upset?”

“I mean, I am, but now that I think about it, I probably would’ve done the same if I were you. You’re one of the last people I’d choose to go on a date with. Except I wouldn’t be a friendless loser and would actually get the job done.”

“Funny.” After a second, he asked, “So...we’re still good?”

“Obviously,” Arei answered. “I’ll text you in a few days if you want to go on another date.”

“Didn’t we just go on one?” Xander replied.

“Yeah, but I don’t know how many dates people are supposed to go on.”

“Neither do I, but isn’t this a little fast?”

“I don’t know, how fast are people usually when it comes to dating?”

Xander’s silence was his answer. Arei broke it by saying, “I’ll just ask Whit for help.”

“That’s probably a good idea,” Xander agreed.

. . .

On Saturday, Xander and Whit sat at the same coffee shop they were at almost a week ago when Whit first set up the blind date. This time, they had their orders, and Whit had brought Charles Cuevas with him.

“How did your date with Arei go?” Whit asked Xander.

“Didn’t she already tell you?” asked Xander.

“She did,” admitted Whit, “but I like hearing both sides of the date. So, how did it go?”

He smiled. “It went great! Me and Arei got along better than I thought, and it was genuinely a fun time. Did she tell you how we agreed to go on another date?”

“She did!” Whit exclaimed. “I’m glad you guys enjoyed it! I was kind of scared something would happen and questioned if you two were the right pair, but I trusted my gut, and it was right!”

“You’re the Ultimate Matchmaker,” reminded Charles.

“It still feels good to know that I helped another couple!” Whit’s smile softened. “Xander, I wish you and Arei the best of luck.”

Xander’s face felt a little warmer. “We’re not an official couple or anything...”

“I’m still wishing you good luck!”

Charles sighed, his eyes meeting Xander’s. “So, was almost the entirety of last week worth it?”

“No,” he admitted. “I wouldn’t have done all that if I knew it was actually going to be fun.”

“I was told Teruko, Eden, Hu, Rose, David, and Levi said you should go. Whit too, if you include him. That’s almost half of our classmates.”

“They just said I should go, not that it was going to be fun...”

“What happened last week?” Whit looked between the two of them, leaning forward in his chair a bit.

Charles continued to look at Xander. “Do you want to explain, or should I? You never even came up to me, but I already know the whole story because everyone talked about it yesterday while you were having your date.”

“You were?” Xander asked as Whit said, “Who’s ‘everyone?’”

“I guess I’ll explain.” He finally looked over to Whit. “Xander gave Veronika money to buy tickets to go see a new horror movie. Only Arturo and Ace were meant to come, but Levi wanted to come to help them. Levi knew Min might go, so he tried to get her. She didn’t want to, but Eden was with her and tried to convince her with Levi. Min only agreed to go if Eden went with her, and when the animal shelter Nico volunteered at was closed for the day because of a pipe breaking, she invited them so they would do something with humans instead of animals. Nico didn’t feel comfortable watching a horror movie with the people already there, so they brought Rose. Rose was planning to take a nap the entire afternoon, but David said that she needed to go to help Nico, so he came to help her stay awake. David mentioned it to Hu, and Hu thought it was a great idea that so many of us were going to see a movie together that she invited herself and J. J and Veronika realized it was basically everyone in our class going, so she had J call Teruko to invite her and ask her to invite me on Veronika’s behalf, since J doesn’t have my number. Teruko called me and told me how three people seeing a movie turned into 13.”

Xander should’ve realized that 13 tickets was a suspicious number of people. His date made him ignore how weird it was that Veronika managed to get 12 other people to watch a horror movie with her when she told him how much money she needed.

“Wait, how come I wasn’t invited?” asked Whit.

“I’m getting to that. We all went to the movie theatre and got our snacks if we wanted any. Veronika realized you weren’t here, Whit, and asked if no one invited you. I told her that you were always on standby in case something went wrong in a date you set up, and Rose asked if Xander’s date with Arei actually happened. Some people were surprised that more than a couple people if any knew about the date, and it turned out that no one except Hu, J, and I realized that Xander was going around and asking everyone to do something with him so he could avoid his blind date with Arei. Until the movie started, it was just us talking about what Xander wanted to do to have proof he had a legitimate reason to cancel his date. I have to admit, that was a nice conversation, mainly because we were all making fun of Xander.”

“I’m right here...”

“I know.”

Whit’s eyebrows furrowed together. “But, wait, Xander, how did you find out Arei was your blind date?”

He rubbed the back of his neck and chuckled nervously. “When you texted Arei about how I agreed, you left your phone on the table when our order was called. Your phone was still on, and I checked to see who my blind date was before I could stop myself. I found out it was Arei, and...everything that Charles said happened after that, basically.”

“So that’s why you suddenly didn’t want to go on the blind date anymore when I got back...” Whit sighed. “I don’t know what to be sad about, me accidentally leaving my phone here and ruining the thrill of blind dates or no one inviting me to watch a movie with basically our whole class.”

“You’re always on standby on the day your client has a date you set up,” reminded Charles. “You told me that.”

“That doesn’t mean I didn’t want an invitation!”

“I knew you were going to say no, so there was no point. Besides, you should be happy you didn’t see the movie. No one except Veronika wanted to talk after watching it...” Charles shuddered and muttered something about how a psychological horror with no gore or anything a typical horror movie had shouldn’t have been the scariest thing he had ever seen.

“Next time, I guess...” Whit had a small smile at Xander. “At least one of us had fun on Friday.”

Xander smiled back.

“And you”—Whit’s face became as serious as someone like him could make it—“after saying this, I’m not going to talk to you until you give me a sincere apology for not inviting me.”

Charles frowned. “Why?”

Whit turned his body away from him, crossing his arms.

“You didn’t give him an invitation, and he’s upset,” Xander answered for him.

“He was going to say no,” argued Charles. “What was the point of wasting my time asking him?”

“Even if he was going to say no, it’s the thought that matters. Plus, everyone was taking one extra person with them. You were supposed to at least ask Whit even if he wouldn’t come.”

“I didn’t know that! I’m not going to say sorry for something I didn’t know!”

“Then I guess Whit’s giving you the silent treatment.”

Xander took his coffee and sipped it slowly. If his classmates had gotten a memory they definitely wouldn’t get rid of because of his embarrassing actions, then he supposed they weren’t that bad. He managed to get himself another date with Arei, his classmates were all closer, and the only downside was Whit being angry at Charles. Whit wasn’t the type of person to hold grudges, so he would get over it soon enough. It was just a question of if Charles would reluctantly agree to apologize before then, and Xander was interested in seeing it.

A/N: Fun Fact: Xanrei’s blind date was supposed to include laser tag in between bowling and ice cream. They were supposed to be on different teams but teaming up to get rid of all their competitors, and when it’s down to the final three, Xander accidentally pushes Arei against a wall to get rid of the other person. Arei already realized what position they were in, and Xander realizes it a second after. They look into each other’s eyes (maybe I’m just aegoaroace, but it sounds so gross when I write it like this), but eventually, Xander feels like they should probably get out of that situation, so he shoots Arei with his laser gun. Arei gets (playfully) upsets and refuses to talk to Xander until he buys her ice cream, and then the ice cream scene comes. Whit didn’t plan that, though, so you’d get a bonus scene of Xander asking why Arei would want ice cream when it was getting cold, and Arei telling him that he just didn’t understand her. The reason why laser tag wasn't included is just because I didn’t want to write it. Traces of what was supposed to happen after remain in the final scene with Whit and Charles, though, if that counts for anything. Maybe I’ll write Xanrei playing laser tag another time.

ᵐᵒⁿᵉʸ ; ˣᵃⁿʳᵉⁱ ⁽ᵈʳᵈᵗ⁾

Before I die, I’d like to do something nice. Take my hand, and I’ll take you for a ride. You hit me yesterday Because I made you cry, So before we die, I’d like to do something nice. Warnings: Chapter 1: Legends Never Die spoilers Word Count: 1,911 A/N: Happy Xander Day, everyone! Don’t forget your daily clicks!

i know you didn’t plan it, but thanks for being here.

Teruko Tawaki was going to die soon because of Xander Matthews. Because of that, Xander’s death would follow soon after hers. That was how it worked in a killing game, going based off of what MonoTV said. Xander didn’t have much time left before he killed Teruko, which meant he didn’t have much time left before he died.

They were such pessimistic thoughts. There was always the chance that he would be spared death because he managed to get away with the crime. He wasn’t sure if he could, though. He prepared for it by having all the necessary components to frame Charles Cuevas for Teruko’s murder, but he didn’t know if everyone would fall for it.

Although, he wasn’t sure if he wanted them to fall for it. Doing so would mean everyone else would be executed as he stood and watched. The heroic thing would be to say he would be willing to be executed on behalf of everyone excluding Teruko, but death was such a scary factor of life.

Xander stood in the infirmary, standing next to the cabinets as he stared at them. How unusual he must look to anyone who happened to come inside the infirmary. He was only there to think. That was not how he wanted to spend his final moments, but he wasn’t sure if he could spend it the way he wanted.

Fortunately, because no one had any medical emergencies for the last bit, the infirmary was pleasantly empty. Xander hoped it would stay that way until he had to leave, but he was interrupted by someone opening the door and asking, “What are you doing here?”

He turned around to see Arei Nageishi at the entrance. Her usually-gloved hand was bare, the glove being held by her other hand, with her index finger held out. He noticed why she came here.

“Did you cut yourself? I’ll help you!” he decided for her, already rummaging through the infirmary for bandages. Despite doom looming over him, he felt happy someone needed help, even if it was a bit small. Xander always knew that in his final moments of life, he would like to do something nice. It didn’t have to be anything big. As long as it was nice, he was fine with anything. Plus, it could also distract her from him being here for, to her, no reason. He didn’t want to have to explain to her what he was going to do.

Arei sat on the nearest hospital bed right as he found the bandages. Xander approached her and helped wrap them around her finger. He was a little fascinated by how soft and slender her fingers were—was that something all bowlers had?—but he decided not to comment on it. He didn’t want to start anything he couldn’t finish now.

Once her finger was wrapped up, he put the bandages back. While doing so, Arei pointed out, “You didn’t say why you were here, you know.”

He could now see she couldn’t be easily distracted. There was no reason to remember that now, though.

Xander didn’t look up as he lied. “I was changing my eye patch.”

“Why do you wear that anyway? It looks stupid.” She put her glove back on her usual hand.

“I have to. I don’t have an eye.”

“Really? I thought it was just something you wore because you thought it makes you look cool.”

“I think it does.” He smiled slightly at the face she made. “Do you want to see it?”

Her face twisted, and he was going to take it as a no. She surprised him by relaxing her face, shrugging her shoulders, and saying, “Why not?”

Xander smiled as he lifted his white eye patch. With his only eye, he watched her for any signs of discomfort. He showed it to Teruko and Eden Tobisa the other day, and Charles accidentally saw it just before them. They were all disgusted or uncomfortable. Arei narrowed her two eyes at his missing one as if she was studying it. She then scoffed and said, “I thought it was going to be worse.”

He readjusted his eye patch as he asked, “What do you mean?”

“It’s not that bad,” she explained. “Ugh, you made it a bigger deal than it was, and now I’m disappointed!”

“But I barely said anything?”

“You said enough.”

Xander knew they hadn’t been stuck together for long, but he still didn’t understand Arei Nageishi’s thought process. He never would.

He still had time before he had to kill Teruko, so he decided to continue this conversation. “You’re not phased by it. The other three people who saw were disgusted.”

She scowled. “Those three had soft lives then. Sheltered as they grew up. Wait until they find out how the real world works.”

He felt annoyance rise as she insulted people when she didn’t know whom he was talking about. Something like this happened when he and Teruko were introducing themselves to everyone, and he would’ve gotten himself into a fight with Arei, if Teruko hadn’t pulled him away. He had to remind himself that he or Arei were going to die soon, so he couldn’t afford any fights. “I’m guessing you didn’t grow up like that.”

“Obviously not. I was surrounded by people who showed me exactly how the real world works. So, I’m a strong, independent woman who knows all about how to make it by in this world!” She posed and winked.

It wasn’t that funny, but Xander still laughed. Did the possibility of dying do that to people, make them wish their final moments were happy memories? Or did they wish the other person or people they were with had happy memories of them before death? After all, it seemed that the last moments one had with a deceased were the memories they could vividly remember the most.

“Never laugh again,” Arei ordered, a frown on her face. “You sound weird.”

Xander stopped laughing. The moment was officially ruined.

He didn’t want his final conversation with someone other than Teruko to end in awkward silence, though. He had to continue as if nothing was wrong. “How did you hurt yourself?”

Arei’s glove had several of her fingers bare, her index finger one of them. She held it up to her face. “I cut myself on one of the knives in the kitchen.”

“Were you trying to make something?”

“Just fooling around.”

“Knives are dangerous. You shouldn’t play with them.”

“Relax, I’m not going to die from them. I’m not stupid enough to stab myself with it.”

“I wasn’t trying to say you were.”

“It sounded like it.”

“Then I’m sorry.”

Arei stared at him, confusion clouding her pretty blue eyes, before scowling. “What’s up with you? There’s something weird about you, but I don’t know what, and that’s bothering me.”

Xander chuckled nervously and rubbed the back of his neck. “I’m not sure what you’re talking about.”

“You know what I’m talking about. So, what, did you fight someone? Someone insulted you? Are you homesick? Tired of everything? Like, what’s the problem?”

“You’re the last person I expect to ask me those questions.”

“How stupid do you think I am if you think I’m falling for that?” Arei leaned forward ever-so slightly, her fingers, even her injured index finger, gripping themselves onto the white bedsheet. Her eyes bright with anger, her gaze pinning him down, daring him to argue against her.

Xander would love to do that, to give in to what she wanted and relax into the thin strings of what was their relationship, but not now nor ever again. He couldn’t tell her he was going to murder Teruko, but he could tell her some of what he was fretting over. “I was just...thinking about how I—how anyone here—could die in less than 24 hours from now.”

For a second, Arei’s expression falter, leaving a softer face. However, it was replaced with the look she had just before so fast that he wondered if he had simply imagined it. “Yeah, well, suck it up. You’re in a killing game, so obviously people are going to die, idiot! People die in the real world anyway. What’s so different about dying here and dying out there?”

“A lot, actually.”

She was ready to argue but said, “Fair point...” Her expression went back to the face she had before, proving he hadn’t imagined it and she could look so thoughtful.

“It’s hard to ignore it,” he continued. “I know I should try not to think about it—”

“You should think about it.”

“But it won’t be that good—”

“Aren’t you supposed to be the Ultimate Rebel? You want wrong stuff to be right or whatever. This is wrong. Ignoring it won’t do anything to change it.”

“I guess...”

“You’re so quiet, and it’s so weird.” Arei shuddered. “Where’s all the yelling? Do I have to make fun of your Ultimate title to get you to act normal?”

“Why do you care if I act normal or not?”

“Because it’s weird like I just said?”

“I just didn’t think you would care.”

“Why would I not care about people being stupid? I love people being stupid! But only if it’s the funny-stupid and not the annoying- or weird-stupid.”

“I’m the annoying-stupid and weird-stupid, right?”

“Obviously!”

Xander sighed, but he felt a small smile on his face.

Arei stood up and stretched her fingers. “Well, I’m going to head off if you’re going to be weird—”

“Wait, no, don’t go.” Xander didn’t know why she was looking at him weirdly until he realized he had invaded her personal space and took her wrist. It was the same hand that she injured. He let go and took several steps back. “Sorry, I, umm...didn’t mean to do that... Sorry...”

She gave him a look as she held her wrist closer to her chest. She stayed silent for a moment before talking again. “Like I was saying, I was going to leave now if you’re being weird. But if you’re going to freak out again, I don’t actually think you’re weird.”

“You don’t?”

“I do. But not enough to leave a room, I guess. There’s weirder people we’re stuck with in here.”

“I think that’s the nicest things you’ve ever told me.”

“I can be nice if I want to be.”

He smiled. “I never said you can’t.”

She stared at his face, then scoffed and rolled her eyes. “Whatever. I’m still leaving now. I wanna bug people. Maybe J. She’s fun.”

“Don’t annoy her too much.”

“What are you, my dad?”

“Just looking out for other people.”

“You do you. Bye, Xander!”

“Bye, Arei.” Xander tried to focus on everything about Arei as she left. The last thing he saw of her was her hand touching her gloved wrist. That was, from what he could tell, the last he would see of Arei—the last he would see of anyone before getting Teruko to murder her.

Alone in the infirmary again, Xander smiled. Arei didn’t realize it, even if she was a little suspicious of him, but she did help him feel more relaxed. He most likely would panic again once he was face-to-face with Teruko in the computer lab, but that would be later. For now, this was okay. A silent thank-you to Arei.

ᵖʳⁱⁿᶜᵉˢˢ'ˢ ᵒʳᵈᵉʳˢ ;; ᵈʳᵈᵗ ⁽ˣᵃⁿʳᵉⁱ⁾

Summary: Having personal guards is so annoying, but since Xander Matthews is the only one protecting her at night, Arei Nageishi can tolerate it. Warning: DRDT Spoilers (Arei's backstory) Word Count: 2,521 A/N: I meant to post this yesterday to celebrate the end of DRDT’s hiatus, but I got distracted by the actual episode. Anyway, let’s go, we’re going to find out Arei’s killer soon! Can’t wait to see if I’m right or not about my culprit theory, especially since the person I’m the most suspicious of is on, like, everyone else’s innocent list, but I might as well ride it out with that theory until the actual killer becomes clear (I think it’s Whit, by the way. I also thought David might be an accomplice, but that theory may or may not have been ruined with the new episode).

it’s my command!

Supposedly, rumours of the two eldest princesses of the kingdom being sent away for drastic misbehaviour was bad for the kingdom’s reputation. That was what Princess Arei Nageishi was told when her older twin sisters were sent off. As the king and queen, her father and mother were sending out word that they were being sent to stay with family to help understand the lives of others better. Nothing mentioning starting fires near rural villages, messing up trade routes so villagers couldn’t get as many necessities as they should, or any of the other things her sisters did for fun.

Obviously, Arei knew nothing about it. She was the innocent younger princess. Disliked by many, yes, but also the one who had done nothing wrong, in contrast to her cruel older sisters. In her parents’ eyes, she had to stay that way to preserve the royal family’s reputation. That made them come up with the idea that she needed personal guards.

Arei didn’t like it. She didn’t need anyone to watch over her for every hour of the day. She didn’t need multiple people doing that job every hour of the day. Fortunately, her nights were spent with only one guard outside her chambers, but having personal guards itself was so annoying. They probably had better things to do anyway, so if she didn’t want them here, they could go somewhere else! She didn’t even want to do anything destructive anyway! Not anymore, at least.

At least she could have her pick at who could be guarding her chambers at night. She couldn’t remember half of her personal guards’ names and could barely remember what all of them looked like, but she knew Xander Matthews. He would never snitch to anyone about anything she did as long as it wasn’t disruptive, unlike all the others who thought their job was to tell her parents the exact moment she went to the bathroom. That meant she could bother him for as much as she wanted!

Annoying people in the castle’s long hallways wasn’t fun, though. If either of her parents found her—or worse, if both of them did—she would get scolded for at least 10 minutes about how her sisters were disappointments to the family, and she couldn’t join them. It was ironic since they called her the disappointment of the family plenty of times before her sisters were sent off, but they apparently had to show love for at least one of their daughters to keep up the appearance of a loving royal family, even if that daughter was her.

Luckily, her chambers were private enough! The only people allowed coming into it were anyone there to clean, but they couldn’t stay around for long or else they would have to face her. Her parents never came into her bedchambers unless she gave them specific permission to, and she could count on one hand how many times she did that! Especially since there were no snitches to run to her parents, Arei could have Xander inside there with her all she wanted!

One of the things she liked most about guards were their swords that they wore all the time. They were so sharp but so light. Arei was sure she could be pretty good at dealing with swords if she tried. That was why she always asked Xander to hold his sword every night he came into her chambers. Today was the first time he actually let her.

Arei sliced the sword through the air, the sword’s blade looking bright even in the very dim lighting. Xander warned, sitting at her desk, “Careful not to hit anything. If you mark something, your parents might realize I come here, and they’ll reassign me at best.”

“I didn’t know you liked coming here,” Arei responded while she continued swinging his sword. He didn’t have to worry about her hitting anything. She spent, like, five minutes with it. She was basically be a knight now!

“You force me to come here,” he reminded.

“And you like it!” She swung the end of the sword to barely touch his neck. He didn’t flinch. Well, she would get him to flinch with her amazing swordsmanship skills one of these days. “Anyway, you shouldn’t have given me this.”

“I know,” he replied. “Now, you’ll hold today over my head and keep bothering me more to let you touch my sword.”

“I will,” she admitted, “but I’m a princess! Your princess. You’re meant to follow my orders!”

“The only orders I’m supposed to follow are your parents’, specifically the ones that keep you safe.” Xander moved the tip of his sword away from his neck. “I’m already failing at my job since I’m letting you do this.”

“It’s not unsafe if I don’t do anything that isn’t safe!”

“You just holding it would be unsafe in your parents’ eyes.”

“Then it’s good they’re not here!” Arei swung her sword at one of her bed’s four pillars. It grazed against the wood and left a thin line paler than the dark wood surrounding it.

They both went closer to inspect it. Xander ran his finger over it. She noticed they were long. “Someone is going to ask you why that mark is there.”

“I was feeling bored,” Arei suggested, “so I looked through my stuff. I flung one of my old earrings around, so it might’ve made that scratch.”

“You don’t wear earrings,” he reminded, pointing to her ears.

She covered her ears with her hands and found herself wondering if he preferred girls with earrings. “That doesn’t mean I don’t have a lot of earrings from when everyone thought I would because every other girl who ever existed did. I can just say I was trying to throw them out.”

“You never throw anything out.”

“I do! You just never see me doing it.”

“You’re throwing your stuff out when it’s the other guards’ shifts?”

“I definitely do!” She just happened to not throw everything out. It wasn’t her fault she received a lot of gifts because she was a princess. Even the one no one liked could achieve that.

Xander sighed, his focus going back to the scratch. “Even though that story is unrealistic, it’s better than the real one... Give me my sword back.”

Arei reluctantly handed it over. Now what was she going to swing around her chambers? Her pillow?

Xander sheathed his sword. “It’s getting late, Your Majesty. You should start getting ready to go to sleep.”

“I am ready.” Every time before Xander came, Arei got ready for bed. She was already in her nightgown, and her hair was braided to prevent knots in the morning. To make sure no one knew about their secret meetings, she let all the lights be turned off, but she always lit a candle that was bright enough to see but small enough for no one outside the chambers to notice. In a way, it felt more intimate to her, and she liked that more than she thought.

“I meant ready to actually sleep.”

She shook her head. “I can’t do that right now. Let’s talk more!”

“About what?” he asked, skepticism laced in his voice.

He should never worry about her ideas! They were always good and innocent! Like, her idea right now was, “Teach me how to sword fight!”

“No.”

“But why?” Just in case, Arei put on one of the many sad looks she had prepared. It was sad enough that it looked like she was genuinely disappointed but happy enough that it didn’t look like she was about to cry.

“Your parents won’t let me,” Xander answered.

“Teach me in secret. It can be our little thing!”

“Our ‘little thing’ is talking in your chambers when I’m supposed to be outside your door all night to make sure you’re safe.”

“We can have two little things!”

“I don’t have the time to be teaching you things.”

“Make time. I’ll clear up your schedule! I’ll order it to happen.”

“Please don’t do that.” His voice sounded a little more genuine. “I want to do everything I have to do.”

It was her turn to be skeptical now. “What do you have to do?”

Xander counted what he had to do on his fingers. “Being your guard is the obvious one. I also have to sleep since I’m meant to be awake all night. There are meetings between all of your guards in case something like a ball comes up. We need a plan to make sure you’re safe. There are also people I want to see too.”

The last part stuck out to her the most. “Which people?”

He shrugged, looking away. “Just people I know.”

“Who are...?”

“People I know. You don’t know any of them,” he added.

“You don’t tell me anything about your life,” she pointed out.

“You never asked. Besides, I’m here to protect you, so really, everything should be about you.”

Arei wasn’t sure what to think of these mysterious people he knew. She wasn’t stupid and was fully aware that he knew people outside of her life, but it was still weird to think about. She knew him as a fun-to-bother guard who was the best out of all the personal ones she had. They probably knew him as something different because of the time he spent with them. She didn’t like thinking about that.

“I think I’ll go to sleep now,” she declared with less enthusiasm than she liked to admit.

Xander blinked a few times before frowning. “Did I say something wrong? I’m so sorry if I did.”

“I’m disappointed that you’re not giving me my sword back,” she forced herself to say with the enthusiasm she lacked earlier.

He lost one eye before she met him. The one he had left was very expressive, and she liked to think the other one was too when it was still there. It looked brighter when he was panicking over saying the wrong thing, but it relaxed after she successfully played it off as a joke. She liked looking at his eye.

“It’s my sword,” he corrected, “and you’re not having it back after today.”

“All I did was get a little scratch on my bed that’s barely even noticeable! I deserve a sword!”

“If you are, you’re not getting one from me.”

“Why? Am I not good enough for you? Am I too weak as a princess for you?”

Usually, when she said stuff like that, Xander either got really defensive or was too tired of her to argue. Today, he laughed. She was caught more off guard than she would like to say. It wasn’t like she heard him laugh before, though. The other people he knew probably did tons of times.

“If you want to go to sleep,” Xander said when his laughter died down, “I’ll let you. Good night, Your Majesty.”

“Good night, Xander!” Arei smiled. Xander smiled back before he left her alone in her chambers. It felt quieter with him gone. Then again, it always did.

Arei decided to follow what she told Xander. She blew out the candle before getting under the covers. When her back hit the mattress, her mind thought back to the people Xander knew and liked to spend time with. He was right about her never asking about who he knew. She never thought about it before.

It wasn’t like she was too obsessed with herself to notice other people’s lives. Everyone in the kingdom, including and especially her parents, thought she was, and she always let them think that, but she wasn’t. She knew what was happening throughout the kingdom. She knew the struggles the people were facing better than probably everyone else in the royal family. They were always obsessed with what was happening and could happen to them. The minor problems such as inflation, the difficulty to get food to the villages outside the one closest to the castle, the low-paying incomes many made, and so much more were unnoticed by the others. She did. She couldn’t negotiate to make peace with a rival kingdom for the life of her, but she could maybe make laws to help the daily lives of the little people of the kingdom if she became queen due to her sisters now being seen as criminals to their parents.

Their problems were better to focus on than her own. Whenever she wanted to try to distract herself from her sisters’ recent bullying, the commoners’ problems were what she went to. Hearing about things they dealt with didn’t make her feel any better about her own, but it gave her something to think about. She could be a good person and help them, or she could be cruel and make their lives worse. Or, she could be just like the rest of her family and let them continue on with their lives and doing nothing to worsen it but also nothing to help them.

Xander was a commoner. She knew he was raised in the farthest village from the castle, right next to the boarder between their kingdom and the next. He worked his way to get to where he was now. The problems he had were definitely more interesting than her current ones, but he never shared them with her. She understood that she wasn’t the kindest to him, but even if she was, he probably wouldn’t. He was only meant to be her personal guard, not anything else. They were already crossing a line with their secret meetings, and he wouldn’t try to push it any further.

The other people he knew probably knew of his problems, though. He probably shared all the problems he had to them, and they listened or offered solutions. They knew him better than she did.

For a while, Arei read books when she was trying to escape her sisters’ torment. No one liked her, so it was the only way to entertain herself. There were multiple books where she saw a stereotype of a princess having no friends. She hated that she fell into that stereotype. There was no one in her life that she wanted to spend time with, and there was no one who wanted to spend time with her. Everything was out of pure obligation before Xander came in. He was the first person she wanted to be with, and he was the first person to want that with her. She didn’t know how to talk to him, but she knew she liked feeling seen, feeling comfortable, feeling like a person when she was around him. She liked knowing he enjoyed her company and wouldn’t try to leave because he didn’t want to be with her. It was almost amazing how good someone could feel around someone because of that.

Of course, there were other people Xander liked more than her. There had to be. She couldn’t imagine herself being his favourite person to be with, even though he was surely hers.

Thinking was too much work. Arei should definitely go to sleep.

Confession: Even though this was meant to be posted yesterday, I just finished it today. Whoops.