[Scene: A Normal High School Day]

The late afternoon sun cast a golden glow over the schoolyard as students bustled about, heading home. Inside Class 2-B, a tall, slightly disheveled boy named Ryo Asakura slouched in his chair, lazily spinning a pencil between his fingers. His best friend, Aoi Minami, a bright and sharp-witted girl with long dark hair tied in a ponytail, stood beside him, arms crossed and eyebrows furrowed.

"Ryo, you're seriously not worried? Your grades are terrible, your parents are nagging you to get your life together, and now they're threatening to arrange a marriage for you?" Aoi scolded.

Ryo sighed dramatically, leaning back. "Yeah, yeah. It's annoying. My dad says if I don't find someone serious by the time I graduate, he'll set up some 'proper match' for me. Like, who does that anymore?"

Aoi flicked his forehead. "Your family's old-fashioned, duh. What are you gonna do?"

Ryo groaned. "No idea. But there's no way I'm getting tied down to some rich girl I don't even know. Ugh, my life is over…"

Aoi stared at him for a moment before smirking. "Then why don't you just marry me?"

Silence.

Ryo blinked. "...Huh?"

Aoi shrugged nonchalantly, as if suggesting something as casual as borrowing a pencil. "We've been best friends since childhood. We already know everything about each other. Plus, if we fake it, your parents will leave you alone."

Ryo stared, dumbfounded. "That's your solution? Fake dating and then fake marrying?"

"Unless you want to meet some weird rich girl who only talks about tea ceremonies and calligraphy." Aoi leaned in with a teasing smile. "I bet she'll call you 'darling' in that creepy, formal way."

Ryo shuddered. "Okay, gross. No thanks."

He looked at Aoi again, really thinking about it. They'd always been close. She was bossy, but fun. Smart, but a little crazy. And... strangely, the idea didn't seem that bad.

"…You sure?" Ryo asked.

Aoi grinned. "Why not? It's just a marriage of convenience. What could go wrong?"