I stared up in the sky. The clouds were slowly moving according to the wind's direction. I subconsciously smiled while I stretched my arms towards the sky, happy to finally get a day off from missions. Well, this day could have been better if only he wasn't gone into a mission and I'd be wasting at least half a day to be waiting for him. I sighed. I kept walking in the streets of Konoha, looking around for anything new that I'd missed. These occasions were rare for me, as I couldn't get a day off easily like the others.
I was about to go into a ramen stand until I sensed something very familiar. I smiled. I turned away and raced towards the village's gates in my white kunoichi outfit. He was almost there and I couldn't wait to see him! After all, it has been at least a few months that I haven't talked to him due to my countless numbers of missions. I quickly stopped to a halt when the gates came into view. I stood beside the gate guard's booth and waited patiently for his team to show up.
It had been almost three years since the incident with Orochimaru, one of the three legendary sannin, during the chuunin exams. The period after that had been a total chaos in Konoha, me and my team had to go back and forth between Konoha and Sound village to fetch important information about Orochimaru, but for some reason, once that Uchiha Sasuke left the village, everything seemed to go back to normal, except for a few people. Well, not that I'm saying he's a bringer of bad luck or anything close to it (Ino would probably chop my head off hearing that). But honestly, he just can't stop to affect Konoha's shinobis, even after his departure. I sighed.
"Chouji! I can't believe you!"
I looked up. There they were! I ran up to them until I could see them and waved to the four shinobis.
"Shikamaru! Chouji! Ino! Asuma-san!" I waved at them, seeing them look towards my way, a slightly shocked expression on their faces. Ino just ran towards me.
"Shiori-chan!" I almost fell back as she jumped on me. Seriously, Ino doesn't look as light as she does. But I guess I just couldn't help but hug her back. "It's been a while!"
"Yes! Long time no see!" they all stopped into a circle around me while Ino pulled away. Honestly, I couldn't stop myself from smiling, it had been such a long time since we've seen each other, it felt like a mini-gathering. When I looked at Shika, the expression on his face reminded me of the time I spent with him when I was still small, he always wore that bored look on his face most of the time. But I guess that's what attracts me to that guy.
"Shiori-chan, how come you're here? You don't have a mission?" I turned my head sideways, looking at Chouji.
"It's my day off today! For once!" Well, I'm not really bragging about it, since it's not exactly something to brag about, but I'm just very happy that after almost 6 years, I finally get a 'real' day off from my daily routine… even though I have to stay on standby… Well, at least I made Tsunade-sama promise me that she wouldn't look for me unless it was an emergency. Who would want to have their day off ruined by unexpected missions, huh?
"Well, it's nice seeing you again, Shiori-san, but I'll have to go report to Tsunade-sama now, so I'll meet you guys at the usual restaurant!" we all nodded before he disappeared into thin air, leaving only dust behind him. I looked over to Shikamaru. What should I say to him? All this time, I've almost always being the one who started up conversations between us both, not that I minded actually.
"What have you been doing these days? You look like a ghost." … well, that's what happens when he talks first.
I felt my eyebrow twitching. So much for wanting to spend my day with him…
"Don't overwork yourself…" I barely picked up a small whisper that I recognized as Shikamaru's voice. Well, maybe I should've expected that. I smiled as I went behind him and pushed him forward.
"Let's go eat! Shika's treat!"
"Yes!"
"This is so troublesome…" I just couldn't help but giggle. He hasn't changed at all since I last saw him, still the same old Shikamaru.
As we arrived at the barbecue restaurant, we all sat down at a table beside the window, leaving a place for Asuma-san. I looked at Chouji order an inhuman amount of meat, while the others ordered some seafood, knowing that the amount of meat would be enough for all of us… for now.
"And you, miss?" I smiled back at the waitress.
"I'll just have some potatoes, carrots, and some other of your fresh vegetables. Oh, and a bowl of rice please." She nodded and left, Ino and Chouji turning towards me.
"Oh yeah, Shiori-chan, you're vegetarian, right?" I nodded.
"I forgot… Maybe we should've gone somewhere else…" My eyes widened.
"No way! It's okay! Don't bother! I'm just glad I can spend time with you guys!" I wouldn't want to trouble anyone with my diet… especially because of my own 'beliefs'.
I've never really like the idea of eating animals' meat, to me, they were beings that lived, equally to us, and I don't want to sacrifice them to fill up my own needs when I can feed myself with other stuffs. Well, not that I've never tried eating meat before, I did before my diet, which was around 5 years ago, and it tastes awfully good. But I guess that my beliefs come first if I had to choose between those two.
Killing was never really my thing… Even if I'm a kunoichi, even if I kill almost every day, I just don't like killing, don't like spilling blood. Killing and fighting would never really solve a problem, but if we really need violence to settle things down… I wouldn't be against it.
"So what kept you so busy these past months, Shiori-chan?" I looked at Chouji finish his bag of chips while we waited for the food. Seriously, this guy could never stop eating. I inwardly laughed as chumps of potato chips flew out of his mouth as he talked.
"I went on a few missions across the country, here and there, so that's why I didn't have much time here in Konoha. But at least everyone of them went well." I looked at Shikamaru, who seemed to be daydreaming more than usual.
"By the way, Shiori-chan, we've never heard you talk about your team or anything about you being a kunoichi." Huh? I looked at Ino, who was looking curiously at me. Well, I guess there's not much to say about it, even if I do, it's not something I can tell everyone…
"Hum… well, it's pretty much like you guys, I'm on a team of four people… it's just that we spend much more of our time doing long distance missions, so I'm not always here, that's probably also why you've never seen my team and I together." I looked around, seeing the waitress coming with our plates of raw food. "Oh, the food's here!" I tried changing topics.
Well, let's say that talking about my kunoichi life was a pretty touchy subject. I couldn't exactly tell them the truth about me, but I don't like lying to people either… It wouldn't be too nice of me towards the Hokage if I started telling everyone that I was an ANBU and that I was secretly investigating on Orochimaru and the Akatsuki, well, it wouldn't be good for my team and myself either, since they would start hunting us down 'til the end of the world. And then if that was the case, I wouldn't be able to sit there quietly and enjoy my meal…
I looked again towards my childhood friend, his expression unchanging. I sighed before nudging him with my elbow, gaining his attention. It wasn't everyday that I see him so troubled, well, more troubled than I usually am. That just didn't seem right to me.
"Are you okay?" well, he might be lazy most of the time, but when he has something in mind, it wouldn't go past me. I looked at his nod, deciding not to bother with it until the diner was over.
[…]
"I'm so full!" Maybe I shouldn't have eaten so much. I felt like my stomach was overloaded with food, which didn't happen every day… Well, I had to somehow at least make up for all those canned food and instant ramen I've been having these past few months…
I looked around me, seeing the dark sky, printed with shiny stars and a moon that lit up the village. Ino and Chouji had already gone home, Asuma-san never showed up (he probably decided to go to Kurenai-nee's place) while Shika offered to walk me home… now that I talk about it, he hasn't talked much today. Well, not that he's very talkative, it's just that he talked more than that normally. I looked at him, noticing that his hands were stuffed in his pockets like they always were.
"Shika?" I looked at him curiously. Why was he being so silent and troubled…?
"Huh? Yeah?" He looked like I just snapped him out of some thoughts. I raised one of my brows as he looked at me, his bored expression never leaving his face, yet it looked more thoughtful.
"Are you okay? You seem out of it since you came back."
"Nah, it's nothing…" I blinked. Did he seriously think I'd take that kind of answer? So much for being a genius, like Asuma-san said.
"Is it the mission…?" I asked. Now, he copied my expression – raising his left eyebrow. I swore he almost smirked.
"Well, that's out of character." Huh? "You never ask me anything, normally, you just know everything." I cringed. Well, I didn't exactly know everything. Just maybe some stuffs about his team and how his missions went. Okay, well, I'm not a stalker, I'm just worried about Shika, and between, it just happens that every time I go report my missions, their team would be there reporting about their own, if not, someone *cough* Kurenai-nee *cough* would definitely tell me (not that I wanted to hear about it). "So what happened to your secret stalking squad?" Oh right, now he thinks I'm a stalker. I just wanted to rip off that smirk from his face.
"Anyways! We're getting off topics now! Let's get back to where we started!" At that, he frowned. I wasn't sure if it was because of what I said or about what he was thinking earlier.
"We've spotted the Akatsuki during our last mission." His bored look turned into a more serious one, and I could almost see what was coming. Nothing much could really bother him normally, but seeing him like that, means that this must be something serious that the Hokage needs to consider. I didn't say anything, I just let him continue. "It seems like they recruited a new member to their organization." I bit my lips. I already knew that, but remembering about it didn't help much. Honestly, them having new recruits wasn't a good sign, definitely not. Then I heard a sigh. "It's going to be so troublesome…" I almost laughed at his trademark sentence, if it wasn't for the topic we mentioned about.
The Akatsuki… It was nice enough to hear that we've gotten rid of at least one of their members, but now, they just recruited a second one like it was nothing… Well, I guess there'd be no surprise if I was sent on a mission about them, instead of Orochimaru, this oncoming week… I looked up to the dark sky, the thoughts almost fading from my brain.
"Ahhh, the night sky looks the most relaxing!" I said, intertwining my hands together behind my head – a habit I picked up from my former teammates, when I just became genin. I turned sideways looking at Shika, noting that he was staring at me. Huh, well, it kind of felt awkward… Let's say I just barely felt my heart go crazy for a mere second. He never really stared at me for so long before. But I guess I'll let it pass…
"Um… Shika?" Okay, seriously, who can ignore some guy or some girl staring at them? … Well, maybe that Uchiha could do it pretty well, but I'm not him! "Why are you staring at me? You're making me… er… uncomfortable…?" It sounded more like a question than a statement… but I wasn't sure how to describe that feeling. He just looked up at me, parting his lips to say something, but then he looked away.
"I just never saw you wearing a real kunoichi outfit…"
"Yeah, huh?"
… Wait, wait. What did he mean by there? That I never really looked like a kunoichi, but like some effeminate guy?
I barely closed my eyelids over half of my pupil and glared at him.
"What do you mean by real kunoichi outfit?" I kept my voice low as I kept walking at a slow pace, waiting for his answer. He did not flinch at all from my glare, he just kept his bored look on his face, his sight not on me anymore.
"Well, I only saw you wear cargos or shorts before, I never really expected you to wear a skirt." He glanced at me for a short moment, and went back into his star gazing, sometimes, I would just wonder if he ever walked into a pole or something, if he did, that'd serve him right for saying that. Just the mental image of it wanted to make me laugh. Even if I'm a kunoichi, I could wear skirts sometimes if I want to (but honestly, it's not as comfortable as shorts when you're fighting). "It's different I guess." I looked at him, hearing that totally erased my thoughts. Somehow, I just felt my cheeks heating up, my heart racing in my chest. Let's say that night time was the best moment to talk with him, for he couldn't see my blush…
"Well, people change, Shika. We haven't seen each other in so long after all!" I grinned, remembering about the last time I saw him.
"… do you want to come over to my place? My mom would love to see you." I blinked. "And she would stop bothering me about the chores… troublesome women…" I barely heard his sigh before I laughed out loud. Well, he is the laziest guy around the village, or better, the whole country.
"I-I'm sorry, but I have a mission early tomorrow!" I almost couldn't stop myself from laughing, so much that I almost missed the curiosity in his next sentence…
"Another mission? How come you're always showered with missions?" I almost immediately stopped laughing, but I tried keeping it going. But I guess it didn't work. I just looked at him, losing the grin I had earlier. "It's just so abnormal the amount of missions you're getting, unless you're an-"
"Shika." I cut him off. I couldn't let him say it out loud even if he had guessed I was an ANBU. It wasn't until now that I had noticed that I'd stopped in my tracks, the feeling of my heart stopping any moment filling my nerves. "You know that I hate fighting… and most of all… that I despise killing…" I looked down, my arms instantly dropping to my sides. He stayed silent, so I went on. "But why did I become a kunoichi was another story… I wanted to protect Konoha and the Fire Country like my parents did, so I chose to become a kunoichi, even if I knew I had to fight and to kill to reach this goal…" I heard him sigh. I knew exactly what was coming up next, we had gotten over this conversation at least one hundred times.
"Have you ever-"
"I have, I have thought of becoming a medical kunoichi, long before even becoming a real kunoichi." I looked down, my hand automatically pulling out a kunai. I slowly pulled it up to my chest level and looked carefully at the weapon resting in my hand. "But I realized after becoming a genin that I will do more contribution in the frontline with my bloodline," a small smile crept to my lips as I looked at the black kunai in my hand stretched and transformed into a black kusanagi. "Don't you think?" I turned sideways to look at Shikamaru, yet, our eyes never met. I listened to the wind blowing past us, I knew he wouldn't answer, and I didn't expect him to either…
"Shiori, I-" I took a deep breath, ignoring what he was going to say.
"The amount of missions I get doesn't matter as long as I can protect Konoha."
[…]
It couldn't be him!
I felt like my heart was racing one hundred times quicker than my legs, it was pounding in my chest, I could feel it. Everything around me just blurred into spots of blue, brown and green as I ran past them at my quickest pace, my subordinates following behind me. Even while running, I could feel my legs and arms shaking.
I was scared.
I couldn't even manage to breathe properly through that ANBU mask, something I thought that I've gotten accustomed to many years ago.
Just a few moments ago, Tsunade-sama told us that she's received a message from one of the ANBU's that Team Asuma had been trapped in the enemy's lair and that they needed immediate back up to prevent further damage, since two of the members had been seriously injured and were in no condition to complete the mission. Just hearing this news launched my heart into a sprint. This exactly happened like when Shika and the others went after the four Sound shinobis… We couldn't get there in time, and I was terribly worried, but I was glad that Gaara, Kankurou and Temari got there in time to save them. But this time, no one could except for us…
I looked around, my senses telling me that we were getting close to the enemy's lair. I took a deep breath, ready to launch my order.
"We're approaching the assigned area… keep your guards up." I ordered, trying to keep my voice as steady as it could be. "Yen, Tora, you both head towards the south, to the closest river. Kaizen, Renka, you both head towards the north, the land there will be at your advantage. Shin and Kizuka, you both stay with me until we reach the lair." I put my hands up, preparing to signal them to follow the given instruction. As I started feeling some weak chakra, I moved my two fingers towards the front, everyone disappearing in a matter of seconds.
All this was like a repetition of everyday life for me, but I wasn't sure if that was the right thing to do anymore. I was too worried about Shika and the others. And this would just get in the way of my strategies.
"Hgn…." I looked below me as I heard some heavy breathings.
My eyes widened. Shika was lying close to a tree, badly injured. I bit my lips. There wasn't anyone around, and normally I should've only sent Kizuka to the injured so she can tend to them. Shin and me would always go right to the enemy. But it was different this time, Shika was someone important to me, unless I saw him alive and well, I could never shake off that worry in me. I took a deep breath. I could care less about anything but him.
"Shin, you'll be taking care of the operation for now! Kizuka, follow Shin's order!" I immediately jumped down, ignoring the calls of my comrades. I ran towards Shika and bent down to look at him. I bit my lips seeing him. He had a big gash on his stomach, though gladly, he was still conscious, but barely.
"AN… BU…?" Every sharp breath he took felt agonizing to myself, it felt as if I was the one lying there, helpless. Even though I've seen countless of shinobis wounded thousand times worst, but I had never thought that I'd see him like this… he could never be that much injured, even in my mind, just the sight of it threatened the tears out of my eyes, my heart to stop.
"Lay down, I'll tend to your injuries!" I helped him down, removing my gloves and taking out my first aid kit. I started by putting down my hand over his injured stomach, but his hand only stopped me.
"A-Asuma… Ino and… Chouji…" I frowned. He's the one half dead there and he still cared so much about other people… How can I not be jealous? I felt a tear slip out of my eyes, but I tried to ignore it.
"It's okay, the others went to take care of them. Now, stay still." I tried keeping my voice neutral.
"Shio… ri…" my eyes widened as he called me. I looked up to him. Did he find out…? No… he wouldn't know… "You… you know… Shiori… right?" … what?
"I…" why is he asking this so suddenly…? I just didn't know how to reply him. Our ANBU identities are strictly top secret, so no one can know that I'm an ANBU… I just bit my lips, nodding. I was glad I had a mask.
"D-Don't tell her… about this… she'll be… worried…"
I just didn't know how to reply. He was still worrying about me..? Damn him… why did he have to be like this? Worrying about the others, and then about me, who's not even supposed to be here.
"It's going… to be… troublesome… if she… knew…" I just tried to ignore him and placed my left hand over his wound and removed his hand from the way with my right, subconsciously holding on to his hand.
"Just shut up… Worry more about yourself." I didn't know what to say anymore. "Let me heal you."
I just let the healing chakra heal his wound slowly. I just can't believe he still thinks about me in these critical moments… He could be so smart, but seriously, sometimes he's just a…
"Baka…"
"Uh…?" My eyes widened at what I just did. I just said it aloud. Oh my god. I took a deep breath and tried to act professionally.
"Just stay put." I looked at his wound, the blood ceased a bit, but it was still pouring out. I couldn't move him around like this, or it'll only get worst. I was never really good at medic ninjutsu, one of the reason I didn't want to become one… I should've just let Kizuna heal him. I was useless. I'm just causing him more trouble. Why didn't I assign her here…? No, it was a wise choice, they'd be more to need her over there. I looked off to the direction they left, frowning. Everyone, please e okay.
I can't give up. I bit my lips and put my right hand over my left, trying to forget about who I was healing and concentrate on my job, letting all the medic ninjutsu stuffs I've learned flash back into the back of my head. I took a few deep breaths and slowly healed him.
After a while, I opened my eyes, not really noticing that I'd closed my eyes while I was healing him. I saw that the gash stopped bleeding, so I decided to pull out the bandage from my first aid kit and roll it around his wound. I helped him sit up against a tree as I stayed close beside him. I smiled to myself, letting out a relieved sigh, happy to know that I was able to heal him, even with my horrible medic skills.
"Shiori…?"
I felt like my heart had just skipped. I looked at Shika, eyes wide. Did he know it was me…?
"S-Sorry… you just sigh like her…" he barely said it in a whisper, but I could hear it perfectly. I didn't want to lie to him anymore, I just wanted to tell him 'Yes, I'm Shiori!'… But no, I can't. I suppose that when I get back to Konoha, I'll request to Tsunade-sama to never send me on missions with Shika, or he'd find out sooner or later for sure.
"Why do you care about her so much…?" it just came out like this, I hadn't really planned to ask him this, but I couldn't stop myself from asking it. Out of all people, why me? Was there a specific reason? I tried making this question casual as I cleaned up the place from the mess I created and put back everything into my pouch. He hadn't said anything, so I just looked up at him. He was looking into the distance, looking somewhere where I'd never reach.
"She's very… important to me…" and then his gaze just suddenly turned towards me. I tried my best not to flinch or show any reaction to his actions, which worked pretty well since he didn't notice. "She was just an orphan when I met her, a year younger than me… I was eight years old at that time."
My eyes widened as I realized he still remembered about how we met…
I was crying alone on a bench, the passing people not even caring to take a look at me. It had been a week since I was told that my mother passed away in a mission, and now, I was left to live alone, with no one to care about me. My dad had left when I was a year of age, so I didn't really remember anything about him, nor did I expect seeing him ever again…
I understood everything, the concept of missions and all, since I just turned into a genin last year… but my mother promised me she'd come back for me. And it hurt a lot to know that now, every day I go home, no one would be at home, waiting for me, saying 'Welcome back'. Now, all I go into is a dark place with no one to live with, to share my life with. Mom was my mother, but she was also my best friend, we were practically like sisters…
I didn't cry at my mother's funeral. I was trying to be strong, to show everyone that I was an amazing kunoichi, but now, I couldn't take it anymore. I just had to cry it out, seeing all the children around their parents, they make me jealous. The people wouldn't care anyways, they were too busy with their own business to notice a child like me.
Just as my sobs got a bit louder, people would just take quick glances at me and walk away… As I expected, not that I would be expecting more from them…
"Hey, why are you crying?" Huh?
My crying quickly subsided as I looked up, seeing a kid about my age or older, his black hair tied back. I looked at his expression, it showed nothing but boredom, laziness. I frowned, thinking he was making fun of me.
"It's none of your business!" I looked away, drying my tears with my hands. "You wouldn't care anyways." I took a deep breath and tried to calm down, but then I heard a soft sound beside me. I turned to my left to see the same boy sit down beside me. I frowned. "Get away from me."
I waited for an answer, but none came, as if he ignored me…
"The weather is amazing today, don't you think it's a very good opportunity to relax?" I turned to look at him, blinking a few times. He was just sitting there, his expression never changing, looking up to the blue sky. I just copied his moves, added a deep breath and tried to clear my mind.
"Fresh air." A small smile crept to my lips.
It is true, my mother always said that even if someday, by misfortune, she couldn't be there anymore, she'd be looking after me from the sky.
He remembered about that. Honestly, I didn't expect him to, it was nothing important to his eyes, maybe it could have been another normal day for him, but for me, that day almost meant everything to me. He reminded me of what my mother has taught me, to live strong.
"I'm pretty sure she's thinking that I'd never remember something as small as that, but it's not true." I looked at Shika shift from his slumped position, so he could make himself more comfortable. And then I noticed that he was still topless from when I healed him. This realization just hit me as my cheek heated up almost immediately. "I remember every single thing…"
Shika… Does he… actually like me…?
No, no, no, no, no! Impossible! I turned my head sideways, biting my lower lips. There's no way that'd happen, maybe in thousands of years, but not now.
My eyes widened as I just remembered who I was now. I was an ANBU, not Shiori. I looked up at Shika, who was looking back at me weirdly. I felt sweat forming around my body, my pulse tense.
"Sorry." I apologized, but he just looked away, his hands over the white bandages around his abdomen.
"I love her."
…
…
…
I almost dropped to the ground if it wasn't for the fact that I was on one knee beside him. I gulped. What should I say? He just told me one of his secret… about me. Sure, I could never expect him to say this in front of me, but seriously, why out of all time and place, why do I have to know here and now?
Then after a while, I heard him sigh. I looked up, seeing his trademark expression plastered on his face.
"Well, maybe letting that out feels better." I raised an eyebrow. "I wouldn't tell the others because they'd be bugging me about it and it's going to be troublesome. Seriously."
I just stayed silent the whole way, something I thought that another ANBU would normally do in those cases. I couldn't let him find out now that I was right in front of him and that he kind of indirectly confessed to me.
"Captain!" my head snapped around at the familiar voice. I looked towards the trees, seeing Yen, Tora, Kaizen and the others, along with Team Asuma. Relief overtook my whole being as I noticed that Ino and Asuma only had minor injuries, as for Chouji, he had bandages around his torso, his legs and arms, pretty much all his body, but seeing as he was still conscious – and lively enough to retort back to one of Ino's comment, he was probably out of life-threatening danger, thanks to Kizuna, one of Konoha's best medic nin in the whole ANBU squad.
Three days later
I sighed. I looked around me, today's weather was as good as ever, but everything has turned upside down since I came back from the rescue mission. When I returned to report to Tsunade-sama, she temporarily suspended my captain position because of the actions I took during the mission. I couldn't blame her, I was expecting for some kind of sanction anyways. I thought she'd be pissed at me and throw a fit about it, but instead, she asked me to think about learning medic jutsu from her, saying that my bloodline could be a lot of help. I reluctantly accepted, thinking that maybe I was better off as a medic nin after all. If not, I'll just return as being an ANBU.
On top of that, I always kept thinking about the conversation with Shika three days ago, which made my heart flutter and my mind go blank.
I lazily walked up the stairs, heading towards Chouji's room. I had been giving him daily visits at the hospital since we returned, trying to avoid Shika as much as I could. When Chouji asked about how I knew, I would just shrug it off. I turned a corner, not expecting anyone coming from the other side.
But I was wrong.
I almost fell back. Almost. But the person gripped my wrist quickly and pulled me up. The movements were just full of laziness I could guess who it was, even if my eyes were blind. I looked up, seeing Shikamaru look down at me.
"H-hey." The events the other just came back sprinting at me.
"Hey. What are you doing here?" I tried avoiding his gaze.
"J-just visiting Chouji…" Uh…
"You knew about it, huh?" I immediately knew that he was talking about his mission. Well, Shika had been stationed in the hospital for a day only (to my surprise), and seeing his condition when I left him had me less worried than expected, so I didn't really bother visiting him there. Plus, he didn't really want me to know about it anyways, so I'd just do like I never knew.
I nodded.
"So, um, what do you think about it?" I blinked. What is he talking about? Did I guess wrong about what he was trying to say?
"Um… I'm sorry to ask… But I don't think I get it…"
"What I said in the forest."
I love her.
I blinked. He didn't mean that, right? He couldn't have known! And then I heard a sigh from him.
"You didn't say anything. But seriously, did you think I wouldn't notice it was you? Your voice, your small moves and sighs, it's just easy to recognize."
Okay, honestly, I felt like my heart wanted to jump right out of my chest right now. I heard my heartbeat, and I was afraid he'd hear it too.
I waited a bit. Then a bit more. Then more.
Then I smiled, ignoring the heat attacking my cheeks. I took a step forward and pecked Shika on the lips, my smile almost becoming a grin.
"You said it indirectly, but I'll take it!" my smile just grew bigger as I saw his small smile.
The End.