lend me your ears | bokuto kotaro

1 ' banana milk

"IS THIS YOURS?" Bokuto asked the short-haired girl fishing her hands through her skirt pockets.

Not seeing her react, Bokuto wondered how he didn't get heard. With the bright pink wallet on his right hand, he taps her shoulder with left.

"Yes?" Hoshino mouthed as she turned around.

Her bangs slightly swept to the sides and her eyes widened upon seeing the tall boy. She had to look up even, and she felt much smaller as he took a step forward. She tapped on her ear and raised her brows in her inquiry.

"Is this yours, Hoshi-san (star)?" he repeated his question, paired with a raised brow.

She looked at his hand and spotted her wallet embellished with keychains. "Yes," she mouthed and nodded.

"I found it on the floor," he explained as he handed it back to her.

"Thank you," she muttered softly and glanced at the ground, visibly shy and nervous.

"What?"

Hoshino bit her lip before forcing a subtle smile. She looked up at him once again and placed her wallet back on her skirt pocket. Afterwards, she lifted her hand on chest level and flattened her left hand. She taps her left with her right, mouthing a "Thank you."

"Oh, thank you," Bokuto murmured, slightly nodding his head.

He copied what she just did, flattening his left and tapping it with his right. "This is thank you?" he confirmed, looking fairly amused in learning something new.

"Yes," she mouthed and did a thumbs up.

"Ah, I see. By the way, you're from my class, right?" Bokuto continued asking while she grabbed her wallet to buy a drink from the vending machine.

She nodded in response and they heard two loud drops from the vending machine. She crouched down to get the two banana milk drinks and with shaky hands, offered him the other. "For me?" he asked with a bright smile. "Yes," she answered in a hushed voice.

Their break ended soon and they went back in the classroom. She sat a few seats away from him and Bokuto later found himself stealing glances of her before the lecture began. He also noticed her fiddle with her ear, which got his curiosity.

Hoshino turned off her hearing aids again, muting her senses from the volume of the world. Finally in peace, she grabbed a notebook from her bag and started doodling as she waited for class to start. As usual, she'd only turn them on again during class.

"Hey, Bokuto-kun, are you friends with Hoshino?" Bokuto heard his seatmate.

"What?"

"Hoshino, the deaf girl over there," he clarified.

"Ah, she's really cute. She just transferred two weeks ago, right?" 

"Wait, cute? Well, uh, yes, she did."

"What about her? She's deaf?" Bokuto asked.

"Yeah, she has hearing aids on. Anyway, she's a little weird, haven't you heard the rumors?" he explained, "I don't think you'd want to be friends with her."

Hours later, the school bell signaled the long-awaited end of the last subject, marking the end of the school week. Hoshino, being part of the cleaners assigned for the day, stayed behind and proceeded with her duties.

"Hoshino-san," one of her classmates called.

"Hey, Hoshino-san, can you hear us? Hey," they repeated.

Irritated with how she seemed to have ignored them, they poke her shoulder to grab her attention. It surprised the girl and she immediately turned around, then fiddled with her ear.

"Y-yes?" she mumbled.

"The volleyball team has a practice match today and we wanna cheer them on. Can you take over our work? Just for today?" they requested, though with the way they said it, it seemed more like a demand rather than a favor.

"Well?"

"No," she timidly disagreed and shook her head.

"Huh?"

"Last week, it's the same excuse," Hoshino added in a hushed voice.

"Huh, we don't have a match today. But the basketball team does," Bokuto interrupted the conversation, trying to prevent the situation from worsening, "But that's okay, I'll help you out, Hoshi-san."

Hoshino looked up from the ground, then unto the boy approaching.

"I'm a cleaner for today too," he added.

"Then, it's, it's the basketball practice match we're going to," the girls spoke, "Is that reasonable now?"

"Fine," Hoshino finally permitted them, and the girls walk out of the classroom immediately after.

"I'll clean the windows, you can erase the writings on the board, Hoshi-san," Bokuto suggested and grabbed one of the washcloths.

"I'm Hoshino-san, Bokuto-san," she corrected, a smile slowly forming on her lips.

"Really? I really thought it was Hoshi, like, a star," Bokuto chuckles, "Sorry about that, Hoshino-san."

"It's okay," she reassured and held the blackboard eraser.

"But doesn't Hoshi-san seem like a cool nickname?" he asked.

"It does, Bokuto-san."

"Then can I call you Hoshi-san?"

For the first time today, Hoshino didn't bother turning off her hearing aids again.