"You are giving it back to me?" asked the tense brunet as he tried hiding his tone of disbelief.
"Yes, I am..." you replied as you kept your head bowed down, looking at the ground blankly and felt your heart clench and unclench over painfully.
"Ah! My camera strap broke..." you said disappointedly.
"Here, you can borrow mine," looking up from your kneeling position, you saw none other than the tennis prodigy of the Seigaku Tennis Club: Syuusuke Fuji.
"Fuji-senpai!" you couldn't help but exclaim in surprise.
Moments later, your brain then processed what's happening before your very eyes and you couldn't help but fidget on nervousness.
"Ah, that's very kind of you but I can't just accept it just like this... You don't know me all too well. You shouldn't really... be this kind." 'let alone be this charitable.' You stood up and dusted your knees. You really do appreciate the kind gesture but shouldn't he be wary?
'Unless of course... he took a... sort of liking towards me?'
That thought alone made you blush profusely.
"Ah... That is true but if you look at this scenario: Your strap broke and you also have a lot of extra items to carry. I, on the other hand, have an extra with me. You need one, I have a spare one. If I lend you my spare then it will make things easier." He eyed your books and bag then shook his head.
"You need this more than me right now _-san." he said with a smile as he took your hand into his and gently place the black strap into your hands.
"Besides, you'll return it to me, ne? Until then, please take good care of it for me." He smiled and spoke with a firm finality in his tone that you weren't even able to voice anything in turn.
"Fujiko! Hurry! Gomenasai _-chan demo we need to go or else I don't know what'll Tezuka do to us or worse what'll Inui make us drink!" Eiji said in such a state of panic that has him jump around in frantic gestures! Thinking about the past events with Inui's juices made his face turn a sick shade of green.
"Hai hai, saa, ja _-san." Because he found Inui's juice quite tasteful, he wasn't all that worried what can happen. It was quite intriguing for him too.
"Ja Fuji-senpai, Kikumaru-senpai."
Everything felt surreal and happened too fast for your mind to fully register what occurred. You watched in a trance as the brunet and re-head walk in a fast phase towards their clubroom.
*Thumpthu-thump thumpthu-thump*
You placed a hand over your rapidly beating heart. You sure do admire that brunet huh?
"Saa, Thank you then..." he said as a smile came to life upon his face. He was such a good actor if he was able to mask the real emotion he was feeling underneath that closed-eyed smile.
"_" he called out softly.
"Hmm? Nani Fuji-senpai?" you asked while adjusting your camera lens and took a quick photo of the match before your eyes.
"Nandemonai, just wondering what you'll do later after school today..." he said nonchalantly and watched beside you on the bench as the match between the pillar pair and the golden pair took place.
"Ah, I got nothing planned. Why do you ask?" you questioned after finished taking pictures of the ongoing match for pleasure and looked at him.
"Just asking _" he replied to you smiling. And it might be your imagination or he moved just a tad bit closer to your form.
'Wait am I hearing right? Did he call me by my first name?'
"It's alright if I call you by your first name ne?" the tensai asked the girl beside him. As even beneath his lids, he can see her tilt her head in confusion.
"Hai... you can Fuji-senpai." She didn't even have to think about it. Hearing her name from his lips without honorifics sounds just about right.
She saw him shake his head left to right and tut to her in a scolding manner, like a mother to her child.
"You should call me Syusuke-kun then. It's only fair..."
"Iada... That's kinda embarrassingly intimate."
"Syusuke then," looks like he won't back down.
"Ie. That's even worse." Her cheeks started to get warmer than possible.
He stared at her which made the scene comical if it weren't for that tense atmosphere between them. The poor kouhai felt her heart beat faster and her face grow warmer. Thinking fast to save herself from caving in, she settled for a better compromise. Not embarrassingly intimate and not at all too formal either.
"Fuji-kun. That's final."
*snap*
The sound catches her off guard as she swirled from her seat.
"Fuji-kun! did you just took a picture of me?"
"Maybe..." he didn't bother himself from hiding his mischevious tone.
"Ah! Iada! Delete it!" Standing up in a rush, she tried to lunge for his camera.
"Why? you look so cute in it" He evaded her and held the device up away from her reach.
The silence was suffocating and you felt your heart break a little each second that pass by. It seems he doesn't return the feeling after all.
You looked down and tried to run away only stopping when arms caught you mid turn.
He smiled and using his hands he pulled you into a tight hug which earned a blush form on your cheeks. He never fails to make you warm even from just the smallest of gestures. Granted this is nothing of a small gesture. Your eyes widen as things start to piece itself in your head.
"Silly I like you too. Just don't run away after confessing to someone. You need to let them process what you said first. It doesn't fully sink in that fast you know... especially if it is a confession of their beloved girl."