𝐉𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐲 𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐭

❣︎

𝚌 𝚑 𝚊 𝚙 𝚝 𝚎 𝚛 𝚗 𝚒 𝚗 𝚎

☁︎ 𝑏𝑢𝑠 𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑝 ☁︎

It was a beautiful Saturday morning.

Your mother woke you up before she went out to work as a manager in a restaurant. She would wake you up all dressed and ready to go. And when you come down, there's a steaming cup of coffee waiting for you in the kitchen. She does this almost everyday as her own way of compensating of not being there in the mornings.

It was already half past 7 when you started cooking. You woke your brothers, Itsuki (13) and Aito (10), up and you three ate together.

After that, you cleaned the kitchen and the living room for more than an hour.

As you drink a much needed cold water, you remembered that you needed to do a little grocery shop for food and then you took a bath before heading out to the store.

It was, undoubtedly, a typical morning of yours.

You arrived at the store and started taking things from your list. You asked, as usual, your neighbor to look out after your brothers that you left at home before you went out. Luckily, they grew quite close with the children in the next house and so now, they were playing at the back of their house.

At the cashier, you were behind a familiar looking man. His back was to you but you knew you know him.

"Excuse me," you voiced out.

You should have known that head of black curly hair.

It was, surprise, surprise, Sakusa Kiyoomi. The guy you avoided for the last two days. And you made it clear you were doing that.

•"Sakura-"

"Sorry, gotta fetch my goat!"

•"Sakura, can I-"

"Kiyoomi! What is up!?"

"Why is your voice-"

"Y-yes! Something is wrong with my voice! I gotta see a doctor, bye!"

•"Sakura-"

"Oh, look at that!"

"At what?"

"Nothing!"

"Sakura."

"K, kiyoomi, hi!"

Can I run away? Do I have time for it?

Kiyoomi faced you, his mask down, he was wearing his yellow blending to green volleyball tracksuit.

"I'm surprised you're not making a dumb excuse to run away," he said bitterly. "Seriously, when did you have a goat?"

You paled in both embarrassment and not knowing what to say. A goat just randomly popped in your head that time. Who knew it'll make a reappearance in a future conversation?

"Hi, agaiin." You looked away and cleared your throat. After breathing in and out, you faced him again, this time, with a smile. "What did you buy here?"

Sakusa Kiyoomi was pissed when you started making excuses to avoid him. He got more snappy and harsh with everyone. He didn't know why you started ignoring him.

His overthinking self got the best of him. This led him to believe that you were with someone secretly and since you two seemed to be getting closer, that person got jealous or anything. Like how he would be if he were that person you'll be in a relationship.

'I really need to stop watching different romantic shows with Komori.'

"I was out of Spic and Span,"he answered and showed you it.

"Ah."

There was an uncomfortable air around the two of you. And you didn't know what to do. Few would have probably know what to do in these kinds of situations. Minds of the included people are clouded by different feelings like nervousness qnd confusion. A trigger that could clear all this is really what you need.

"You?" he asked as you two moved up the line.

"Shopped for food."

Silence was what followed again. It was finally his turn and he paid for what he bought quickly before walking out without saying a word.

You were disappointed. You wanted to talk to him but what would you even talk about?

After paying for yours, you walked out of the store carrying your grocery bag. You kept sighing and sighing, you kept thinking of the 'what could be.'

What would have happened if you didn't avoid him? Will you keep avoiding him to the point where even a 'hello' is awkward?

"Haa," you sighed once again, "I just want to talk to Kiyoomi."

"Really?"

You snapped your head so fast — you're surprise that your bone didn't break — to the voice. There stood a 189 centimeter man behind you with dark, curly hair. None other than Sakusa Kiyoomi.

You were at the bus stop near the grocery store so you glanced at the road to see if there were any passenger vehicles you could use as an escape. But there wasn't.

The time has come.

"Hey!"

"You," he said and pointed at you for emphasis, "wants to talk to me." He walked closer before continuing, "I have been the one wanting to talk to you."

"Oh," you mumbled and looked away, "is that so?"

You hear him sigh. He sounded so tired that you quickly wanted to console him. And take care of him.

"Are you okay?"

"No, I am not. I didn't sleep enough these days."

You settled your grocery bag on the cemented ground as you sanitized your hands quickly. Afterwards, your cold hands quickly came up to his forehead to check if his temperature has risen.

"Why didn't you? You should sleep on the right time and not indulge on unnecessary things, Kiyoomi. You're an athlete, with all the practice and matches you have, sleeping is essential for your body. You're making me mad."

You continued rambling on why he must sleep on the right time as you keep patting his head. You already knew that he didn't have a fever but touching him felt so natural that you didn't notice you still have not stopped.

All the while, Kiyoomi was just staring at you. He loved how you looked so frustrated because you're worried. He thought you looked cute.

"Aren't you going to say anything?"

"You didn't give me time to."

"Oh." You realized how pushy and annoying you might have acted. Feet slowly walking backwards, you thought, 'You're an idiot, why do you have to go and be like that?'

(You are a wonderful person, saying "you're an idiot" to yourself is just a dramatic response in this situation.)

"You mentioned you wanted to talk to me?" he asked.

"Yes," you quickly bowed, "I'm sorry for making excuses and avoiding you and for touching you and making you uncomfortable and-"

"Calm down, Sakura," he said annoyedly. "Let me talk for once."

You lift your head and you saw him with his eyebrows furrowed at you. An irk mark appeared on his forehead and he looked pissed.

Why is he pissed?

The answer is that he wanted to apologize. Yeah, he'spissed because he wants to apologize. Last night, he talked to Komori about you. He let out his frustration because he genuinely didn't know why you were avoiding him.

Komori was actually surprised that he didn't know. He told him that you were clearly hurt when he rejected, very coldly, his suggestion of you four eating together. When Kiyoomi heard it, he can't believe how he didn't think of that.

And he was embarrassed about that and so, when you kept rambling, you were prolonging his frustrations which annoyed him.

"O, okay, what do you want to say?"

"I'm sorry."

"For what?"

He sighed, "I should have explained to you why I said "no" that time. A lot of girls sit around us, not on our table, just around us during lunch. And when you and your loud friend came by us, they were glaring. When Komori suggested that you eat with us, their glare intensified and I don't want them to bully you or anything. So I said no." He really just wanted to avoid any dramatic scene that might make you uncomfortable.

Your eyes went wide because he said a lot to you and also the fact that he's looking out for you.

You clapped your hands once and grinned at him. "Thank you for looking out for me! I really wanted to be your friend but I didn't think of all the things that would come with it."

He averted his eyes as a small blush appeared on his cheeks. "No problem. And you're already my friend."

If possible, you grinned even wider.

"Okay! I'm glad to hear that!"

He looked back at you and squinted his eyes, "at times, you're quite childish, aren't you?"

"N-no."

"Hm. Sure. Now, lift your grocery bag already, it's making me uneasy seeing it on the pavement."

You picked it up and stood straight as you wait for the bus.

"How was morning practice, Kiyoomi?"

"Same old, same old."

"Hmm," you nodded your head, "why is Komori not with you?"

"Some players, mostly the first years, wanted to go to the amusement park that had just opened. They wanted to go before hectic practice starts."

You smiled knowingly, "and you don't want to go there because it's crowded."

"Damn right, I don't."

You laughed a little, "have you never been on an amusement park?"

"I went recently because Komori dragged me there. It was a cousin's day or something."

"Wah, really? What did you do?"

"Stood under the tree most of the time waiting for them to finish riding rides."

You laughed again, "I can picture you doing that. With your brows furrowed."

"Add some sort of fluffy cat headband."

You snapped your head at him, "NO!" You yelled in disbelief and amusement.

"Yeah."

"I want to se-"

The bus came and interrupted you.

"Oh, I have to get on," you mumbled and looked at Kiyoomi, "you can say no but do you want to have lunch at my house?"

When the bus arrived, he lifted his mask up which is why you didn't see him smile happily as he said, "Sure."