Lavender | Wakatoshi Ushijima

06 | Who?

It's finally the end of the school day. Kiyo's grabbing a snack from the vending machine and I'm waiting for her so we can head to the team's practice.

"Hana, I need your help."

"Is the machine not working?"

"No, it's working just fine." She takes her box of Pocky and we start walking away, shoes tapping.

"Well..." She starts entwining her fingers into each other while looking down at the packet, a pink tint flooding her cheeks.

"Who is it?" I say, I know exactly what she means. I've only seen Kiyo like this once, all fluttery and flustered. It was our first year, and she had a crush on a boy.

"Who's who?"

"The lucky guy that has you this way."

Her eyes widens, I catch her.

"Hayato."

I stop walking and so does she. I turn to her, lightly resting my hands on her shoulders.

"Don't worry, I'll help you ask him out."

"But how'd you know?"

"I see the way you look at him." I laugh.

She gives me a huge hug as she takes a deep breath,

"You just get me."

I pull away, meeting her gaze.

"It's a full-time job."

We start walking again.

"Tell me a bit about him."

The gym doors are now a couple feet ahead.

"Okay. Kiyo, stay calm like normal. Don't give hints, nothing. Here's what we're going to do. Last fifteen minutes of practice, you're going to ask to talk to Hayato outside. Then, go for it! Say absolutely everything."

It;s as clear as day that Kiyo really loved him. They're the teasing pair. She would tease his hair and he would laugh, never teasing her back in fear of hurting her feelings. They would talk about subjects and she would help, just two kids that understood each other.

You could tell as soon as you looked into her eyes. The way her pupils dilated at his mention, her finger fiddling, the way she looked and talked to him. I've never been happier for Kiyo, truly.

The last relationship she had didn't end on a good note, at all. That cold night, it ended with her completely destroyed. Crying on my shoulder telling me about how he'd ended their relationship over the phone with no remorse.

I really hope Hayato is a good person.

Originally, practice goes by pretty slow. Nevertheless, it goes by faster than usual because of me and Kiyo's esteemed plan. Before I knew it, the sun is cooling and I'm giving Kiyo the signal.

She goes outside followed by Hayato as planned. I head

"Coach Akira, Kiyo went to the restroom but she wanted me to ask you if you can possibly group up the team and distribute their weaknesses and the desired drills for them? She's been meaning to."

"I've been meaning to do that myself, perfect timing."

He does, he starts telling everyone what they need to improve.

"Shirabu, you've got great stamina. You need to work on your strength."

He glances at the paper.

"Says here you need to do spiking drills."

He pushes his glasses up.

"Nakamura has been working on her handwriting, it seems." He mumbles.

"Go ahead and set with him, Eita."

Semi and Shirabu begin their drill.

As Coach Akira is talking, I stand next to him. I notice Ushijima looking a bit confused. After he finishes, Ushijima comes to put a stop to his confusion.

"Takahashi, did you write those notes?" He says, as blunt as usual but with a hint of confusion this time.

That's when I see Hayato rapidly walking in with his head down. He's red and smiling.

"Hayato, come here! You need to start your drill!" Coach Akira calls to him.

Kiyo slowly walks in with a hand over her mouth and I can tell from afar that she is as red as a ripe tomato. Success.

"Who knows?" I smirk.

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Author: V proud of this chapter 👏👏