𝐌𝐘 𝐈𝐍-𝐆𝐀𝐌𝐄 𝐁𝐎𝐘𝐅𝐑𝐈𝐄𝐍𝐃 [Kozume Kenma]

17. APPLE PIE

~ KENMA ~

The endless droning of my teacher and the miscellaneous noises in the classroom faded into the background as my mind focused on the brown haired girl in the desk next to me.

Only yesterday, I held the same girl in my arms and watched painstakingly as she broke down in tears. Seeing her in such a vulnerable state, all I wanted to do was to hold her close, tell her everything was going to be fine, even if it wasn't. And that was exactly what I did.

In the spur of the moment, my own fear of rejection lay forgotten as I pulled the crying girl into my arms. I could still remember the way her voice trembled as she told me to leave, while her eyes seemed to be begging me to stay.

But today, the mask was back on. From when I first saw her walk past in the morning, to sitting next to her now, I couldn't detect even the slightest hint of the same sadness that should have lingered on from yesterday. She hid it so well, I couldn't help but wonder just how often she had to do it.

Through the shade of my hair, I snuck another glance at Shiro, who was seated beside me. Her chestnut brown hair cascaded onto the table, as she rested her head on her arm. She was scribbling something in her book, and I was quite sure they weren't notes. As far as I knew, she never took notes.

Ripping a page out of my own book, I quickly wrote a message asking "what are you drawing". Scrunching the paper into a ball, I threw the projectile towards the girl. As a setter, I trusted that my aim would pull through. To my satisfaction, the ball landed neatly onto her desk, slightly startling her. If only I could snipe like this. But then again, I didn't need to, not when I had Shiro wth me.

Giving me a puzzled look, she sceptically opened up the paper ball. As she read the note with an indifferent expression, I felt my own anxiety shoot up. I watched sheepishly as she wrote something on her own page and ripped it out. Unlike what I had done earlier, she folded the paper neatly, before tossing it accurately onto my desk. As expected of the top sniper...

I carefully unfolded the page, smiling slightly as I read the hastily written message: "You can keep it."

Beside it was a messy but strangely captivating sketch of a boy. His features were vague and seemed purposefully indistinct. But what caught my eye was the light, delicate smile that graced the face of the unknown boy, the softness of his eyes and the subtle yet unmistakable tilt in the corner of his mouth.

As far as a drawing goes, it was truly alluring. But who was this boy? He must've meant a lot to Shiro for her to depict him like this.

Suddenly, Eito's words resurfaced in my head. "Shiro already has a boyfriend." His irritating voice began whispering to me once more. Or, more precisely, it had never stopped. Ever since I ran into that idiot last week, his taunts had never left my mind. Sure, there were times when they were drowned out by louder noises like Kuroo and Bokuto, yet his words were still there, looming over me. She has a boyfriend...