Shy

Chapter 3

        This is not happening.

Ha. She wishes.

On her way to the second-year's section, class one, Tsukiko was still stressing over how she could possibly approach Matsumoto Hiroki.

Due to these thoughts, she had forgotten that she already reached the classroom. She was only snapped out of her reverie when she accidentally and unknowingly slid the door open with too much force.

Everybody in the class stopped what they were doing and looked at her.

Now, she was paying attention.

Tsukiko's eyes looked like they were about to pop out of their sockets and she was as pale as snow. She started shaking nervously.

"A-ano!! Is Ma-Matsu...moto H-Hiroki...here?" Tsukiko felt like she did when she introduced herself to her class, but these feelings were amplified because she was dealing with upperclassmen.

The boy walked up to her. "That's me! Matsumoto Hiroki here! What'd you need?" The boy was loud, but not overly so. Just loud enough to be considered cheerful, and his smile shone so brightly that it washed away some of Tsukiko's nerves.

She thrust the papers up to him while she gave a perfect 90-degree bow. "Th-this is from Fujimoto-sensei!" The second-year was a little surprised. Was it normal for somebody to be so nervous and formal while just handing someone else papers?

He slowly took the papers from her hands, but Tsukiko still held her 90-degree bow because she was too embarrassed to look up into his eyes. "Um...would you lift your head please? You don't need to be so formal even if I am an upperclassman. I'm only one year older than you anyway."

"Ah! Yes!" She shot straight up. The speed at which she did so was inhuman. She still did not look at him, choosing to look at the wall to her side instead. Biting her lip with wide eyes, her tension was still noticeable.

Matsumoto blinked. "Pfft...Haha! You're a funny one! Thanks for the papers by the way. I really needed these." She finally looked at him, but his smile and laugh finally did it for her. She flushed a deep shade of red and ran out, shouting an, "Excuse me!"

Matsumoto called out for her, "Hey, wait! I didn't get your name!"

That's okay. Tanaka would get it instead.

Throughout the whole occurrence, Tanaka had been watching her with wide eyes and a gaping mouth. "She looked like an ojou-sama. She was really shy. Kind of cute though, right Tanaka?" Narita asked.

Cute?

Of course she was.

Noticing that he never answered, Narita tried again. "Tanaka?" Said boy bolted after Tsukiko. "Tanaka!" his three friends shouted after him.

He wouldn't stop though. He wouldn't let a chance like this slip by him. He wanted to chase after her, wanted to find her.

Tanaka managed to catch up and grab her wrist. She immediately turned to him. Her eyes widened when she saw his face. Ah, so she recognized him.

Noticing her eyes go down to his grip on her wrist, his hand shot straight up into the air. Both of their eyes widened at his overreaction.

Tanaka slowly lowered his hand and used it to cup the back of his neck sheepishly. "Hey, uh, about that time you were lost..." Her hand was beginning to get clammy. Was he going to yell at her?

He bowed his head. "Sorry!"

Sorry?

What was he sorry for? Tsukiko thought it best if she just went along with it. When he looked back up, she nodded slightly to him, turned around, and left for her classroom.

"Wait!" She flinched, but didn't turn back to him. "Y-yes?"

"I'm Tanaka Ryunosuke! What's your name?" She looked over her shoulder, but turned her eyes downward. In a quiet voice she said, "Kita Tsukiko" and continued her walk to the first-year's section.

Kita Tsukiko

Tanaka thought it was a beautiful name. He tried saying it out loud, "Kita Tsukiko." It lingered on his lips. He started grinning. On his way back to his classroom, he was skipping with a stupidly happy look on his face.

Tsukiko made it back to her class before anybody else. It was still lunchtime after all. She sat quietly at her desk.

Why did he apologize? Of course she was scared of him at the time, but it wasn't like he had done anything yet. Yet...maybe that's not the right word. Would he have even done anything? Didn't he say, 'that time you were lost'? He somehow knew that she was lost.

Tsukiko gasped.

Maybe that boy actually meant to help her when he shouted at her across the hall. Perhaps he was nicer than Tsukiko gave him credit for, especially if he apologized to her when he didn't really do anything.

Besides, Tsukiko hadn't heard anything about delinquents in this school, except for that Azumane Asahi, of course.

Perhaps she should be the one to apologize. She had run away from Tanaka without explanation and that must have been surprising. If he still remembered that moment up to now, he must have been worried about it - worrying about when he would get the chance to apologize.

Right. She should be the one apologizing. Tsukiko became determined to right her wrongs. She wouldn't let somebody feel bad and apologize when it was her who made the mistake. She would go apologize to him after school even if it embarrassed herself in the process.

What did he say his name was again? Tanaka Ryunosuke?

Tsukiko tried saying it out loud, "Tanaka Ryunosuke." It lingered on her lips.

She gave a small blush. The sound of his name gave her a pleasant feeling and the ends of her lips tilted upwards in the slightest of ways.