Osaka Rain || N. Yuta [Completed (✓)]

十八

The Scent Of Honeydew
甘露の香り

Sei sat up properly, seeing that Ryo had come to visit her. "Did Honda-kun send you here?" She asked, already knowing in such a short period of time, how persistent Yashiro could be.

"No." Ryo stepped closer. "I came to check if you are alive or not." Yuta rolled his eyes at him being concerned about Sei in a clear tsundere way. Sei, on the other hand, was a little surprised. He was not the type to worry about her.

"Also uh—" Ryo looked elsewhere before continuing, "You can skip tomorrow's practice if you want to." Sei spoke up, "I don't need to skip though. I think I will be fine. There is not much time left anyway."

"You won't listen to me like this, will you?"

Yuta scoffed, poking the inside of his cheek with his tongue. He was getting extremely bothered by their interaction for some reason. Sei noticed it but decided to drop it since she had done nothing wrong.

They must have a lot of bad blood between them.

Her suspicion became even stronger when Yuta kept his hand on Ryo's shoulder. "Shirabu," he gritted through his teeth, "Isn't Sei telling you she will be fine? You shouldn't force a girl to do something she doesn't want to, you know?"

"What? You call Hayashi by her first name?" Yuta cockily raised his eyebrow at Ryo's question. "Why? Do you have any problem with it?" He shrugged his shoulders. "No, it's just you never call anyone by their first name."

Sei perked up at the mention of something she was actually proud of. "Yes, I initiated it. It's such a funny story. You know what my name was saved in Yuta's phone as?"

"That's enough," Yuta hastily put a barrier between them by standing in front of Ryo, facing him. "Sei should take some rest. You can go now. You don't have to worry since I will take her home." Her jaw dropped, seeing Yuta deciding everything by himself, without asking her.

"She won't come to practice tomorrow and if Honda causes any problem because of that you are going to handle him saying that you didn't let her."

Ryo squinted his eyes realising that he would not be able to have a proper conversation with Sei if Yuta was around. So he nodded and looked at her. "Take care," Ryo said before leaving, earning another roll of eyes from Yuta.

"You don't have to walk me home. I can go by myself," Sei muttered, getting up from the bed and picking up her backpack to hang the strap on her shoulder.

Yuta grabbed the material of her bag, causing Sei to stumble back. "Don't be so stubborn all the time," he uttered before walking ahead of her.

Once again, Sei was having trouble to catch up with Yuta. So she decided to give up and just walk in her normal pace. Yuta noticed it and slowed his pace so that they were walking side by side.

Sei broke the silence between them, "Did something happen between Shirabu-kun and you?" She asked, trying to know the reason behind their bad blood.

"Him and I just don't along," Yuta said, frivolously kicking a pebble out of Sei's way. "Why?" He glanced at her. "Are you worried about Shirabu?" She halted in her steps to look at him.

Yuta paused too, mouthing a 'What?' to her before starting to walk again. Sei shook her head being disappointed, continuing to follow him.

After they reached her house, the brunette stood in front of the entrance. "Thanks," she said with a small smile. Yuta reached up to touch her forehead.

Sei flinched at the sudden physical contact. Noticing that, Yuta abruptly removed his hand, letting out a cough afterwards. "You have slight fever. Make sure to check your temperature before coming to school tomorrow. I can inform that bald—Takeda sensei that you are sick."

Sei could not but crack up every time Yuta called him like that. She curtly nodded before entering into the building. The male turned on his heels to leave. But he could not—turning around again—looking at the building.

Unfamiliar feelings came rushing to him—the way Sei seemed so fragile against his chest earlier—the way she had tightly tugged onto the hem of his shirt—the way her hair scented like honeydew—the way her forehead felt so warm against his palm.

Yuta shrugged off those thoughts before starting to walk towards his house. What's wrong with me?