Written for southern_half over at livejournal. For Valentine's Day. Constructive criticism is much appreciated.
…titles never come easily to me.
Disclaimer: Ookiku Furikabutte is the property of Asa Higuchi.
Pink All Around
It's that time of the year again – a time of wrapped up chocolates and handwritten letters slipped into lockers; a time of expressing one's feelings to unsuspecting members of the opposite sex whilst established couples meet up for romantic walks in the park or dinner at nearby restaurants.
Izumi sighs. People always get so sappy about these things, buying heart-shaped chocolates and going out on dates. Not to mention all the pink. It's starting to hurt his eyes.
Currently, it's lunch break which means plans are being put into action. There was a horde of girls standing outside his classroom when he left, all giggling amongst themselves and shooting not so subtle glances at his teammate.
Granted, this is to be expected. After all, Tajima is one of the most popular guys in school. It's only natural for something like this to happen.
"Izumi!"
At the sound of his name, he turns around and sees Mizutani jogging lightly towards him. "Hey."
"Hey. Where are you heading?"
He rolls his shoulders in a casual shrug. "Just walking around. I had to get out of class. You wouldn't believe the crowd back there."
An understanding look crosses his face and Mizutani nods, slowly. "Right. I forgot about that." Then, he breathes out a sigh. "Tajima's such a lucky guy."
Izumi smirks a little, amused. "Because he's getting loads of chocolate to take back home today?"
"Yeah. It must be nice to be so popular among the girls."
That makes him arch an eyebrow in surprise. Mizutani is staring wistfully into the air, wearing what seems to be a longing expression. Izumi words his next sentence carefully. "So you were hoping for some chocolate too?"
"No!" is the immediate response. "I mean. No. I mean. I never said that. Whatever gave you that idea? What a silly question. Haha," and here, Mizutani chuckles nervously, ever the expert at lying. "Oh, look at the time. I better go. I still need to stop by the, uh, vending machine. You know. To get a drink. So. See you at practice!"
Izumi stares as Mizutani all but runs off – and in the wrong direction, he notes. Then he blinks a couple of times as a dead weight settles and makes itself comfortable in his chest.
So Mizutani really does like someone. Izumi has been suspecting it for quite a while now but he thought that perhaps he was just over thinking things. Well. This is great news.
He exhales, squeezing his eyes shut. What had he expected? Mizutani is a simple guy. It was bound to happen sooner or later and now it has.
Still, Izumi had been hoping…
The bell rings, startling him out of his thoughts. He realizes that he's been standing in the middle of the corridor with his eyes closed and the people passing by are starting to give him strange looks.
He shakes his head at himself. Really, how could he have been so silly?
Izumi turns around and heads back to class.