A/N: Hi, and thanks for checking out my story! I feel so guilty right now while I have so many ongoing stuff to do, but I already typed this up, so I decided to publish it. This will probably be a one or two-shot.

Disclaimer: You are reading a fanfiction. Repeat, fanfiction. It implies you and I are fans. And if we are fans, we know I do not own Nisekoi.

Ruri didn't understand him. Why couldn't he leave her alone like all the other boys in their class did? She had told him so, once. Instead of melting under her glare, as everybody (minus Kosaki) did, he just laughed and teased her about her glasses. He and her were often the most perceptive of their little group of friends, although she couldn't understand how he could be so lighthearted and still be mature (at least, Kosaki claimed he was mature. Ruri didn't think so).

Kosaki Onodera, her best friend. Her mouth twitched slightly, almost forming a smile as she thought about her kind friend. Kosaki had introduced her to a world of bliss and happiness that only friendship could give. No one had noticed her smile, and she quickly rearranged her expression into her usual poker-face.

It was too late, she realized as she saw a certain boy watching her.

"Oh, and so my Ruri-chan is smiling?" he grinned lazily as others inched away from the scene slowly to not be caught in the coming storm, ignoring her growing impatience.

"I am not," she said shortly, staring at him, slightly perplexed.

Yes, Shuu Maiko was definitely a weird boy.

"Why are you smiling? Come on, tell me! We're Glasses Buddies, right?"

She ignored him, instead facing forward looking at the front of the classroom.

"Ruri-chan!"

She was tempted to kick him in the face, but resisted the temptation. No matter how many times she would kick him, he would always get up again.

It was slightly annoying, how persistent he was. But in a way... it was sort of admirable. Not like she would ever say that out loud.

"Ruuuurri-chan," he whined. "Talk to me."

"Shut up, Maiko," she snapped, her temper flaring.

He brightened, "She responded! Hey, Raku! She responded!"

"And what did she say, exactly?" Raku sighed exasperatedly; his gaze still on her short-haired best friend who she knew returned his crush.

"… for me to shut up," he said, sounding almost dejected. But then, his happy-go-lucky smile returned and the bell rang, signaling for class to start.

Ruri almost sighed in relief, but knew her silence would be short-lived. Instead of dwelling on the subject, she pulled out her notebook and tried to concentrate on the lesson.

Keyword: tried.

The annoying boy just simply wouldn't give up, and he continued to throw a series of notes and paper-airplanes at her, all the while still smiling and paying attention to the teacher.

"Maiko," she said dangerously, craning her head so she could glare at the boy, "Stop that now."

"Stop what?" he asked innocently, giving her a (fake) sweet smile.

The teacher, Kyoko-sensei, noticed their actions. "Ah, young love," she said dreamily, starting to reminisce about her 'younger' days.

"It's not like that, sensei!" they spoke unanimously denying her (indirect) accusation, jumping out of their chairs. She suddenly felt ashamed at her sudden outburst, and quickly sat down. Ruri's gaze settled on Shuu for a second, and she was perplexed at what she saw. Shuu's eyes filled with… remorse? Jealousy? Sadness?

As always, she couldn't tell.

"Maiko, sit down," she told him.

"Hmm?" he glanced down at her, and complied.

His gaze never left Kyoko-sensei.

Something was up. Ruri knew that as soon as she heard Kyoko-sensei was moving. She had seen that brief moment of panic Shuu had displayed before disguising it as a brilliant smile. He was chatting with Raku as Ruri was leaning on her desk, watching him.

He loved her, she realized. But he couldn't do anything about it now.

When he had told her of his "silly" crush, she had dismissed it as another attempt to make her feel sorry for him.

But his feelings were real.

He shouldn't be bottling up his feelings like that. Ruri knew that nothing good ever happened from keeping feelings hidden. The bottle would burst, and the feelings would come rushing out.

She quickly frowned when she realized she was worried about him. Her, Ruri, worried? She wanted to laugh at her stupidity. Of course Shuu loved Kyoko-sensei. Who was she to judge? Maybe he didn't return her feelings-

She paused. Her feelings?

What were her feelings for Shuu?

She bit her lip, frustrated. He was hot-headed, perverted, and an idiot… but he had his nice moments. He was quite observant, and could be surprisingly mature when he wanted to. He was… alright.

They locked eyes for a moment, and she felt heat rush to her cheeks and quickly turned away.

Ruri wanted to bang her head on a wall. What was she thinking? Why was she being so... different?

It was his fault.

Ruri sighed and shook her head. She had a headache. Today was Kyoko-sensei's last day at school. She felt a little remorse at the thought. She was a good teacher, and it was a shame marriage had to end her career like that.

She imagined Kyoko-sensei in a beautiful white, fancy wedding dress. For a moment, Ruri thought of herself in a wedding dress. She, like all girls, thought that wedding dresses were beautiful.

She suddenly blushed and quickly shook her head, as if to dispel the thought. She glanced over to Shuu for a moment, and quickly averted her gaze as Shuu turned to look at her, looking like a slightly confused puppy.

She instead turned her cool gaze to Raku and Kosaki, who were both chatting amicably.

Some people might have thought that she was cold-hearted, but Ruri just more laid-back than others, always going at her own pace. She always kept her emotions in check, to make sure not to bother anyone.

Sometimes it felt like she was in a different world from all the rest of her classmates. It felt that, although she was surrounded by people, she was alone. Ruri had always been content with her little world, but things slowly progressed…

… and she realized that she probably couldn't go back to the way things were before Kosaki came. No, that was wrong. She didn't want it to go back that way.

Yet, she reflected, it seemed as if Shuu was in the same situation as well. As different as they acted, they both understood each other perfectly.

It was at these moments Ruri felt the most vulnerable.