I wasn't curious. Not at all. Why would I ever tell myself that I am? I'm not. Like, what does the word even mean? It should be uninterested because I really could care less about that Kagamine Len look-alike. I actually am not interested in what those idiots in the club are doing at all. Stop silently judging me like that, my conscience. I swear, the only thing I'm interested in is anime! Not real people—

"Huh, Hoshino! You came to help us?"

I stopped abruptly in my tracks. Glancing upwards, I was met to see the face of that melodramatic wannabe. Behind him were the rest of the idiots in the club, plus Kazuya Jr., just standing there staring at me.

Fixing my slouch, I cleared my throat. And I ended up here... Stupid conscience. It won.

"No way, you really did?" Wannabe cried in surprise. "How amazing of you, Hoshino! I knew you'd come around. It was impossible to stay away from this club— and me— after all."

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. Sending a glare his way, I scoffed, "Yeah right. Get the hell away from me, Wannabe."

Tamaki #2's jaw fell. "B-but...but..."

Yuji came up and patted his shoulder. "You have to learn your limits."

"I-I th-thought for sure this time..."

"There, there."

"Miyu-neesama."

At the call of my name, I glanced downwards to see it was the vocaloid freshman, staring up at me with his left eye sparkling. His right eye was probably the same underneath his bangs, but just seeing a look so innocent made my black heart melt inside...

My mouth dropped. No. What are you thinking, Miyuki? You do not find this look-alike cute! Stop it!

I needed to get out of here.

I put on my most vicious expression. "What did you want, kid? I was about to head home to watch anime."

The boy flinched in shock. For a split second I thought I saw scorn written on his face. But before I could question it, his head hung. "U-um, it's nothing..."

Hearing his response, I opened my mouth to say "are you kidding me right now?" when I was rudely interrupted.

"It's getting late. Let's call it a day," Hiro said. He most likely did it to rid the dark tension I had brought with me.

"Let's continue the search tomorrow," Yuji agreed.

Hinata nodded. "That'll be better."

Saki held up her hand. "Oh, oh! I have an idea!"

Everyone spared her a glance.

"Since Mi-chan agreed to help but didn't help at all, tomorrow she should be the one to lead the search instead of us!"

My eyeballs nearly bulged from their sockets. "What? Why me?"

"I just told you!" she cheered, already walking off with the rest of them. "Now, let's go home everyone!"

"They're such..." I fumed as they left. "I knew I shouldn't have come. Jeez...it's not like I'm a demon that has solved all the riddles in the demon world and has come to earth just to feast on all the riddles earth has to offer. I don't even have perfect detective skills like Neuro or have an assistant who eats a lot like Yako so finding this stupid ring will be difficult and a lot of work... I could be watching anime instead..."

"Uh...you don't need to help out if you don't want to," Tatsuya commented.

I gave the kid a 'what-did-you-just-say?' look.

He was staring at the ground. "It's not that important," he said in a clearer voice. "I can find it myself."

I eyed his dejected expression for a while before a sigh left my mouth, "I guess I have no choice. You're lucky you look like Kagamine Len." I pivoted on my foot. "But you shouldn't lie and tell yourself that. If you're too lenient, others will find it easy to push you around."

I headed off down the direction of the courtyard but the boy was already keeping up with me.

"Thank you," he said with a forced smile, as if cautious of what exactly I knew. "And you don't need to worry about me, Miyu-neesama. I'm very much capable of taking care of myself."

I bobbed my head. He obviously didn't want my sympathy. "Who said I was worried?" I responded coolly. "But since we're here let's just search around now before it gets too late. It'll save me time tomorrow."

From the corner of my eye I spotted the discrete smirk Tatsuya wore. Disregarding it, I just went on to search for his missing item. The sooner I found this ring, the more anime I'd get to watch.

I could do it.

——————————————————

Unluckily for us (emphasis on unluckily) we couldn't find Tatsuya's ring so the next day we were forced to hunt together again after school. I was still boiling with rage when those losers in the club kicked me out today saying I had no choice but to lead the search, and it only made it worse when Suzuki-sensei came and shooed me away like she always did. And of course with my manga's on the line as they always were because she was too goddamn lazy to buy them, there was only one way this could all end.

"What's it look like again?" I asked the middle-schooler, scrutinizing a few benches.

"Uh," he said, "it's grey and rather layered. Not too big, but..."

"And how am I supposed to find it with a description like that?" I said.

"Oh, um, I'm sorry."

Sighing, I glanced away. I mentally berated myself for being too crabby.

It was hard being harsh on a cutie.

"Sorry, but where do you think you lost it again? We're getting nowhere," I started over.

Tatsuya peered up at me. "Maybe... over there?" he replied, pointing to the east side of the school building a few metres away. "I usually eat my lunch there."

"Let's check then," I ordered and we searched together there. Or mostly I did while he loitered. It seemed like all day today I was the only one putting in the extra effort.

I peeked at the boy just standing there. I clicked my tongue, something I mastered because of Levi in Attack on Titan, and heaved a sigh. Was this kid really shy or was it because he was just as lazy as me? Either way, I didn't like the fact that I was being used. Though, I was almost done for the day. After a few more places I would be good. Nodding my head at the thought, I continued searching.

But I didn't have any luck. Again.

"Well, it's not here," I told him after I thoroughly checked the surrounding areas.

He frowned. "Oh... I see."

His answer snapped something inside of me. With a groan, I set my hands to my hips. "Are you sure you even lost it?"

He flinched.

Seeing that, and recalling his odd ones from previous times, I continued, "If it was important to you, you would've been searching with all your might but you're just shoving it on to me. I don't like working for others and instead would prefer to be home wrapped up in my blanket and watching the newest anime releases so if you have some ulterior motive behind that baby face, I'll be happy to listen."

Tatsuya was silent for a moment. Just him staring at me as cutely as he usually was. I was just about to shake my head and say "never mind" when Tatsuya's timid smile grew into a more cynical expression. Without warning, the boy started snickering.

"Oh man, I knew there was something about you, Miyu-nesama!" he laughed, rubbing his eyes to rid the forming tears. "You're the only one who was able to tell from that club. This is why you are so interesting."

I pointed to myself, utterly incredulous. "Interesting? Me? I don't think I'm anything extraordinary," I said, still trying to digest his sudden change in behaviour. "If anything, the others in the club are just too trusting."

Tatsuya died down and smiled. "You're right. I know my brother is also. And I do have my ring with me, by the way," he said.

He dug into his blazer and pulled out an expensive looking grey promise ring. I furrowed my eyebrows at the sight of it. I knew it. So that odd feeling I'd been getting from him was because of this? Wow, talk about the plot twist where the cute, innocent character ends up being the villain. Still, Kagamine Len played a really unexpected villain in The Riddle Solver Who Can't Solve Riddles, too. Tatsuya now reminded me of him in it.

But wait... then that means that I wasted my time—time that could've been spent finishing the series Monster—searching for absolutely nothing? Seriously?

"It's not like I wanted to trick anyone though," Tatsuya went on, snapping me out of my thoughts. "I just wanted to meet you, Miyu-neesama. My brother started acting strangely lately because of the newest member in his club, so I wanted to mess with you because of that."

Taking in what he said, I sighed. Of course he did.

"Suzuki-sensei told me that you used to be a loner who refused to involve yourself with others. But you don't seem that way to me now. Was that a lie?"

"Oh no, don't worry, I'm still like that," I responded, peering down at my nails.

Tatsuya blinked, probably questioning why I wasn't gawking with the revelation. Psh, I've seen so many of these antagonistic plot twists it'd take more than this to affect me. Take Shou Tucker from FMA for example. The guy was deranged.

"Anyway, so I became interested in you," Tatsuya continued regardless, smirk in place. "I came to the club with this dumb request because I wanted to mess with you, like I said. But now I realize that it wasn't worth my time. This past week was a waste."

I smirked back at him. "You're right," I agreed. "And if you wanted to mess with me so badly, using that cute face of yours would've been enough. You could totally get anything you want with it too."

"No you can't! This face is a curse!" Tatsuya snapped.

My eyes widened a fraction at his unexpected hostility.

"A few days ago he came to my office and told me he's been getting pushed around a lot lately," I recalled what the hag said. "He said that others get fed up with his lack of facial expressions and how cute he is despite that. He's as popular as his brother I tell you."

I made a face at the memory. This kid getting bullied? Yeah right. It was like believing that Yako and Godai actually solved cases instead of Neuro.

"The difference between the two of us is that I didn't choose to be alone, Miyu-neesama," Tatsuya said out of nowhere, eyes still reflecting his anger.

"Alone?" I echoed in disbelief. "You have your family and brother, don't you? How can you be alone?"

Tatsuya made a face at the mention. "My brother..."

I hurriedly cut him off by holding up my hand. "Nah, you're right. I'm sorry for ever considering him as a solution."

We both bobbed our heads in agreement, and then he returned to glaring at me.

I rolled my eyes. "Anyways, this whole act to mess with me... Is it going to stop here?"

"It's already stopped," he replied. "Now that I know how much of a waste this was, I'll maybe annoy the rest of the club members instead. There's no need to prove to everyone in this school just how vulnerable you are under that "I don't care" persona anymore."

"I see. So you wanted somebody to empathize with, is that right?" I concluded, referring to the reason behind his bullying. "Look, does your brother even know about your whole situation yet? Maybe the wannabe will even become your bodyguard to protect you if you ask. There's no need to annoy the rest of the members because of that, not that I actually mind if you do."

He made a face. "That's—"

I folded my arms. "Don't get me wrong, I won't stoop that low to get back at you. I don't even think that having no friends at all is a bad thing. Being left alone is the best feeling. I'd rather be left alone even if I have to endure a little bullying."

"Be quiet. The likes of you would never understand... You..." He clenched his teeth and fists, his head low. With a sniffle, he shook his head curtly. "Excuse me."

The middle schooler hurried off with that. I peered over at his fleeting figure and sighed.

I never would've thought I'd have a scene like this with someone, much less a middle school student... And for such a villain, he really was hung over about solitude. Being left alone wasn't so bad... was it?