This was not supposed to happen. It simply was not. It was enough of a struggle for Monoma to consider himself your friend. Why would you, so strong and interesting and attractive and- well, everything- want to befriend a side character like him? He was honored that you even accepted his presence. You were his closest friend, but did you think that way too? No matter what, it was hard to fully convince himself of that. But just when he finally got comfortable calling himself your friend, your best friend, his feelings had to change. Because of course they would.

Honestly? He should've seen it coming. You were great, the very definition of what a main character should be, but you were also a great friend to him. He appreciated you deeply. Every time he bragged about your class, you were the first person he brought up. It was different now though. Whenever he tried to talk about you, he would feel his face progressively getting warmer, and he ended up either talking way too much or stumbling over his words. Either way he looked like an idiot.

Part of him couldn't stand being away from you. Part of him wanted to keep his distance and avoid making a fool of himself. Of course, he was too clingy to choose the latter. Following you around, trying to make conversation, stuttering more often than usual as he tried to calm his racing heart. Just looking at you clouded his mind.

Once in a while he tried to keep a little bit of distance, and on some rare occasions he'd try to drop hints, and then he'd pretend none of that ever happened. He ended up sending mixed signals in his attempts to figure out what to do with his newly discovered feelings.

As he walked with you through the halls of the school, he thought maybe he should just blurt it out. It would be easier, right?

"Uhh..." Yeah, no. Absolutely not. He could not do that. It felt like his voice wouldn't even work as soon as he thought of saying it. This was becoming an issue.