Shy

Chapter 9

          Th-thump! Th-thump!

The sound of Tsukiko's heart was deafening to her as she walked down the street with him. She truly hoped that Tanaka wouldn't be able to hear it.

Unbeknownst to her, Tanaka was thinking the exact same thing about his own heartbeat.

It was an odd sight – those two. They were two students in the middle of the night, walking down the street, looking like a couple. No, they weren't holding hands, but they were awkwardly blushing and trying not to make eye contact. They weren't even exactly walking side by side either. Tsukiko was lagging just a little bit behind Tanaka.

How did this situation come about? Well...

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"W-walk me home?!?"/"W-walk her home?!?" both Tsukiko and Tanaka exclaimed at the same time.

"Yeah, somebody has to! I think you would be the best choice, I mean, she already knows who you are." Daichi explained.

Sugawara chimed in. "Right! You're not refusing, are you? I'm sure you'll do fine in taking care of her. You do want to be a good senpai, don't you?"

Sugawara and Daichi were quite sly, as they both knew how much Tanaka got a swollen head once he was complimented. They also knew how much it meant to him to act like and be called a 'senpai'.

Their predictions were shown to be completely accurate when Tanaka puffed out his chest and spoke proudly. "Of course! What kind of senpai – what kind of man – would I be if I didn't even do that much?!"

Sugawara and Daichi both smirked at each other due to their success.

Kiyoko noticed that Tsukiko was still mulling over the fact that a boy would be walking her home. Her mind was frantic because of her overthinking things. One could practically see her eyes turning into swirls and little sweat droplets flying off her head in different directions. Kiyoko gently set her hand on Tsukiko's shoulder. "Only if you're okay with it." Kiyoko reassured her.

All the boys were now looking at her again, especially Tanaka. He waited with bated breath for her response.

"Pfft. As if any girl would want to be accompanied by someone like him." Tsukishima cut in with a snicker.

Of course, Tanaka got mad at this. "What was that, punk?!!?" He was about to grab the front of Tsukishima's shirt, but Tsukiko's voice stopped him before he could.

"U-um! I-it's all right. I-I'm fine w-with it. Thank you f-for offering."

Tanaka's eyes widened. Did she really just say yes? All previous anger towards Tsukishima had disappeared.

Sugawara smiled. "Well, you better get going then! It's not getting any earlier!" He started pushing the two of them out the doors.

"And don't worry about cleaning duty today. I'll let you off just this once, got it?" Daichi stated. By now, Tanaka and Tsukiko were outside.

Daichi took one of the doors while Sugawara took the other. They were entirely synchronized and wouldn't let Tanaka or Tsukiko get a chance to say anything. "Bye!"

Slam!

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So there they were. Tsukiko had stutteringly told Tanaka her address and now they were both on their way.

Tanaka noticed that she wasn't walking beside him like he expected. He was a little disheartened, but not by much. He stopped walking and turned to Tsukiko, causing her to stop as well.