The first time I really began to notice him was after I had watched him play.
During classes, he sat in the back, talking and laughing with his friends. He was the nice, funny one, but the teachers had thought otherwise about that group. Which was why whenever a teacher called on him, I would hold my breath, hoping he knew the answer. I didn't know why, but I didn't want him to get in trouble. And he never did. He was smart and clever too, which explained why he never failed to give the correct answer. That always made me smile just a teensy bit. I pushed back my glasses and tucked a stray hair behind my ear.
"Suzuhara-chan." I sat up and gave the teacher my full attention. "What's the answer to number twelve?"
I looked down at my paper and read off of it, "Radical twenty-three."
The teacher nodded and moved on.
I noticed him in the halls too. He was tall and lean and many girls did seem to have an eye for him.
"Hey Izumiko-chan!"
I raised my head to look around. Kiyoshi Teppei was at the end of the hall, maneuvering through the thin crowd to get to me. He stopped a foot away, towering over me with a large grin.
"What is it?"
"I heard you have a kendo match against Seika today!"
"Yeah, I do actually."
"I came to wish you good luck! I've really wanted to see you in action since I found out you were on the team, but I have practice today so sorry. Maybe next time!"
I was genuinely surprised that he knew, or even cared to wish me good luck. A blushed dusted my cheeks as I politely said, "Thank you."
He patted my back. "Well I have to go now. See you later."
We waved goodbye to each other before he disappeared.
I started this series a while back when my writing style was still "young." Honestly, I only decided to publish it now because I found it in my drafts. Lol. The first two chapters are completely raw and unedited. I'll think about publishing more. However I have to worry about updating my other stories and writing those in the process.