𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐅𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐁𝐞𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐔𝐬

♡︎22♡︎

I came home from my shift at the store on Saturday just in time to see my brothers all tuxed-out for the wedding. "Look who cleans up nice," I said.

"You're one to talk," Eiji mumbled.

"Have fun," I said bounding upstairs. I only had about two hours before Awase would show up at my door, and I hadn't exactly planned what I was going to wear yet. The last time Awase saw me, I was wearing my work clothes and more makeup than I had ever worn in my life. I knew I wasn't going to replicate that, but I had no idea how far back I wanted to scale it. 

My phone rang and I picked it up. "Hello?"

"Hey, Y/N, it's Mina. So I bought a really cute UA jersey to wear to the game because I had no idea what to wear to something like this. And then I wondered if that's what I should wear and I didn't want to feel stupid being the only one wearing a UA jersey."

She honestly thought it was possible that she'd be the only one wearing a UA jersey at a UA game?

"So I bought one for you, too. They aren't the same because I didn't want to be twinsies or anything, but they were kind of boring so I bedazzled them." 

Bedazzled? What the heck was a bedazzle?

"I hope that's okay. What do you think?" 

"That's cool. Jerseys are good. Thanks. How much do I owe you?"

"No, nothing. It's on me."

"Are you sure? Jerseys are expensive."

"I'm sure. When do you want me to come over? I can come over soon and we can get ready together. Do you want me to, or would you rather I just come over right before the guys are going to come to get us?

"Yeah, why don't you come over. I haven't decided what to do with my face yet. You can help me." 

I hear her clap. "Yay. I'll bring my makeup case."

｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆　　 ｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆

And when she said "makeup case," she meant a large briefcase contraption that opened up and then expanded even further with different layers and pullouts. 

"Just more natural this time, okay?" After all, my dad was downstairs. He'd see me.

"Of course. This is a baseball game, not a night at the club."

"Right."

She got to work right away on my face. 

"What are you going to do with your hair?" she asked.

"I was just going to throw it back into a ponytail."
(A/N: If you have short hair then leave it as is...or whatever.)

"Yeah, that will be cute. Then our hair won't take away from our awesome shirts." 

"True." She hadn't yet shown me those supposedly awesome shirts, but I was beginning to feel nervous about them. And I was right to feel that way because when she revealed them I learned that bedazzling meant turning something cool into a glittering atrocity. My mouth hung open for a full minute while I took in the glowing gold UA on the blue V-neck jersey.

"I know, awesome, right?" she said, throwing it to me, then stripping off her shirt and putting her own jersey on. Hers was yellow with a silver UA. There was no way out of wearing this and I knew it. So instead, I took off the shirt I wished I were wearing and put on the bedazzled jersey, thanking whatever form of good luck had made it possible for my brothers to be gone at What's-his-name's wedding.

"You look so good," Mina said.

She did a full circle, and I realized that girl code required me to return the compliment. "Yeah, you too." 

My phone rang and I picked it up. "Hello?" 

"Y/N, hey, it's Awase."

"Hi, what's up?" I glanced at the digital clock on the nightstand. It was four-thirty."

"Bad news."

For a millisecond I hoped he was calling to cancel so I could take off this shirt.

"Manga is sick. Like, beyond sick. Vomiting and the whole works. I've been trying for the last hour to find a replacement with no luck. Do you think one of your brothers can go with us instead?"

"My brothers are at a wedding. . ." I stopped and looked at Mina, who was checking out the back of her shirt in my mirror, a big smile on her face. "I'll find someone."

 "Are you sure?"

"Yeah. See you in half an hour."

"Sorry," he said as he hung up.

"I'll be right back," I told Mina. 

In the hall, I put the phone to my ear and listened to it ring three times.

"What?"

"Katsuki."

"You don't need to give me any threatening speeches. I really wasn't planning to bug your date at all tonight."

 "The fact that you remembered I have a date makes me doubt that entirely." Wait, why did he remember? Did it bother him? No. That didn't matter. We were friends. "But actually, I have the best news ever. You will love me for eternity."

"Uh-oh."

"It's not a bad thing."

"Okay. What do I have to do?"

"One of our friends got violently ill today. . ."

"Wow, that is great news."

I laughed. "Well, I guess that's not good news. But his ill fortune is your gain because he can't go to the game. Do you want to come with us?"

"To the UA game?" I could hear the excitement in his voice. 

"Yeah."

"So am I replacing a guy or a girl?"

"A guy. Manga. His date is Mina. She's hot. Another reason you should be forever indebted to me." I couldn't believe I was doing this. I was setting up Katsuki with Mina. He really would fall for her. This was a good thing, I told myself. Exactly what I needed to happen so that Katsuki and I could maintain the amazing friendship we'd had for years. 

He breathed a small laugh. "All right. You twisted my arm."

"Be over in half an hour."