The Monster // Junpei Yoshino x Reader

Chapter 12 // A Letter From Me To You

I walked a little bit more nervously to school today. I tried to keep my usual tough exterior, but it was incredibly difficult because of the crushing weight of everyone's stares. They didn't have those hateful expressions they wore whenever I walked past them. No, this time it was mostly stares of confusion, shock and awe.

I lowered my gaze and sped up the pace to my classroom, but even there I couldn't escape the stares, in fact, their intensity seemed even greater in the room of familiar people.

My eyes landed on the one person who mattered the most.

"Good morning, Junpei" I bit my lip as I approached his desk.

The boy, who was enjoying the view out the window, turned his head to look at me and almost chocked on his breath. His eyes opened wide as a pink hue dusted his cheeks.

"Y/n, g-good morning. You look..." Junpei was at a loss for words, trailing off his sentence as he got lost examining the 'new' me. I felt really small being under his gaze. The bashful boy opened his mouth, about to finish his sentence when he was cut of by a much louder voice.

"Hey hey hey! Good morning, l/n-chan!"

I twisted my body to look at the doorway where an overly animated teen walked in, swinging his arms above his head. He was followed by a shorter, more timid boy who waved his hand at me.

"Kentaro, Inuoka, good morning" I swung my hand lazily at the two boys who, upon approaching me, released a sound of great surprise.

"L/n-chan, you look absolutely gorgeous! I barely even recognized you!" Kentaro's booming voice echoed among the four walls as he yelled his compliments out while bearing a grin keen to that of an excited little puppy. Inuoka stood right by him, nodding his head, his eyes sparkling with adoration.

"Thanks guys" I giggled bashfully. Within the short while that we've known each other we all got pretty close and before I knew it the two best friends had become my personal cheerleaders.

I turned back to Junpei, whose eyes had been burning holes in the back of my head. He looked up at me with a hopeful gleam in his gaze.

"Y/n, could we meet up for practice today?" My heart ached at his question. I knew I would have to give him the answer he did not wish for.

Kentaro draped his arm over my shoulders, holding up the other as he gave the seated boy a cheesy smirk "Ah sorry, Junpei, she's taken for the day! We have another study session together"

Junpei's brows noticeably furrowed as he stared viciously at the taller male "Sure" he mumbled out through gritted teeth. He then turned his head away from us, resuming his previous viewing of the world outside.

Class resumed and ended, so did the study session with the three, I made it back home and rested in my bed. The entire time I couldn't get Junpei's weird behavior out of my mind. I sigh after drawing a complete blank, turning in the sheets before closing my eyes for the night. Boys are weird...

Today my attention was all on Junpei, we had practice and he seemed a bit more aggressive with his punches than usual. I didn't ponder on it too much though, it's not like it's too out of the ordinary. The sky turned golden, indicating our practice's end. We gathered our stuff before going on a slow walk through the park.

My tired eyes mindlessly traced the edge of the river as I dragged my feet across the gravel.

"You look very beautiful..." I heard a faint mumble from my side. It was so quiet that one could've easily missed it. However, for me Junpei's voice can cut through the deepest of thoughts. The raspy unsure sound has become quite sensitive to my ears and easy to pick up on, even when it's barely audible.