"So, anyways, I think this is the year I'll finally go out with a girl. For real this time."
Severa laughed. "Oh, yeah, Inigo. And the year that Owain stops stealing my damn tots."
Leo watched as Owain grabbed another handful of Severa's tater tots. After gym class and history, Leo really wanted to just settle down and eat lunch with his friends, no matter how silly they always were. Inigo was always trying to be some romantic hero, Severa was always incredibly competitive, Owain was always spitting out memes and anime jokes, and Niles… was just Niles. But most importantly, they had all stuck with him through all the hard times and were reliable friends.
Inigo was still indignant about Severa's response. "Hmph. I'll have you know that I'm already convinced that there's a girl who likes me."
Niles stole one of the slices of Inigo's apple. "Who is she? Your mom doesn't count."
Inigo glared at Niles. "Niles, I'd like to see you get someone."
"Hey, why would I want anyone else? I already have my loving family with me right now." Niles spread his arms, gesturing to their tight-knit group of five.
Severa scoffed. "If I was related to you I'd actually kill myself."
"What, are you afraid of… forbidden love?"
"Niles, that's disgusting."
"Oh, yeah… you wouldn't cheat on Prince Charming after all."
Owain spoke through the tater tots he had stolen from Severa. "Oh, Severa's Prince Charming? You mean Subaru Automobiles?"
Severa planted her palm in her face. "First, his name is Subaki, not Subaru. Second, I don't like that arrogant hack at all. I bet he's still salty that I beat him at the mile run in gym yesterday."
"Your class already did the mile run?" said Leo. "Geez, all I did was talk about Pokemon with some girl in my class. Beat that, Inigo."
Niles leaned forwards. "Some girl? No, it's not just some girl… it's obviously Little Tomato-chan, your one true love!"
Inigo leaned in too. "A girl? Am I hearing this right? Is Leo Windmire talking to girls?"
"Did you just assume Severa's gender?" said Owain.
"Shut up, Owain." was the only response Severa gave.
"Ugh, fine." Owain slumped in his seat. "Anyways, what does 'Little Tomato-chan' even mean? I feel like I'm being left out of a meme. And nobody keeps the great and spicy Odin Dark away from mighty memes!"
Niles had a massive shit-eating grin on his face. "So, you know how Leo kept almost bumping into that girl last year? And TOTALLY EYING HER?"
"Niles, do you really need to mention that? It was an accident." asked Leo.
"Yeah, I do. Anyways, he's totally in love with her now. Because she's got her pink hair and she's like, 5-feet tall, so she's little and red. Just like a tomato."
Leo looked down at his sandwich, which had very thickly cut tomato slices on it. He resisted the urge to fling a slice right into Niles's face. But it wasn't worth wasting the tomato.
"What makes you think that, Niles?" Leo had a feeling his face was slightly red now, but if it was, nobody said anything.
"Oh, well, other than her being just like your favorite thing to stick in your mouth? Well, you were talking about how you almost bumped right into her for the whole bus ride yesterday, so…"
"Niles, I mentioned the incident for like two seconds."
"Pfft. Tomato, tomahto. But what I'm saying is it's even more obvious than your little sister's crush on Owain."
It was Owain's turn to turn red. "She doesn't like me that way!"
Severa raised her eyebrows. "Oh really? Then why is it that she's the only one who ever calls you Odin Dark back? Is that why she keeps trying to join our D&D games? Is that why Camilla's telling me how Elise is always saying how cool you are?"
"She thinks I'm cool?"
Leo reached over and flicked Severa right between the eyes with his pointer finger.
Severa tried to grab Leo's wrist, but he pulled back too fast. "Ouch! What the hell was that for?"
"Eh, you kind of deserved that. You know, Elise is still my sister."
"Hmph." Severa turned away, even though she clearly wasn't actually angry.
However, Inigo appeared unfazed by the total change of subject. "So, Niles! Back to the subject at hand! Tell me all about how Leo has found love!"
Leo glared at Inigo, but Inigo either did not notice or did not care. Note to self: never make a joke about beating Inigo to anything involving girls.
"Oh, they've been bumping into each other, checking each other out when they think the other one isn't looking. It's really just a true romance."
Leo balled up a fist. "It's just awkward shit."
Owain suddenly interrupted. "Ooooh, I know what you've gotta do! You're always bumping into each other, right?"
Leo looked at Owain warily. "Yeah."
"And you just talked to her, right?"
"Well then obviously, you've gotta make a move!"
"IT'S NOT LIKE THA-"
"You've gotta have an epic anime romance! First step: trip right into her bazongas. And then stutter while apologizing for like, five minutes!"
Leo laughed. At least Owain wasn't going to be serious about this. "No, I'll make it even better. Trip right into the bazongas, AND spill a cardboard box willed to the brim with spaghetti on her in the process. Then stutter for five minutes and call her senpai."
Owain offered his hand for a high-five. "That's the right way to think, my dude!"
Leo slapped Owain's hand way harder than necessary. "Good one, Leo!"
Inigo wistfully sighed. "Leo, stop denying your feelings. You totally like this girl."
Leo gave Inigo a deadpan stare. "Seriously? Niles was just teasing and Owain was just joking. Why do you think I like her?"
"Come on, you've talked about her so much!"
"I mentioned her once before Niles dragged it out. She's just a friend. And a friend I've literally talked to for ten minutes. One time."
"Sure, Leo, whatever you say."
Sakura was sitting at a small picnic table in the courtyard outside the cafeteria, completely unaware of the conversation Leo was having with his jolly crew inside. She was sitting with her usual small group of herself, Hana, and Subaki.
Hana, of course, immediately went to tell Subaki that Sakura had talked to a boy.
"Really, you talked to someone new? Good job, Sakura. I know that's always been hard for you." Subaki gave Sakura a comforting pat on the shoulder.
"Th-thanks Subaki."
"Really, Subaki? That's all? IT'S A BOY."
"So what, Hana? I'm a boy. She's been talking to me since we were nine years old."
"Well that's because when she met you, you were crying because you got hit in face with a dodgeball and she helped get you to the nurse's office."
"Hana, it doesn't mean anything."
"Really? Well what if I told you it was the same boy she's been bumping into for the past few years and totally looking at when she thinks we can't see?"
"Well, um…"
Sakura puffed out her cheeks. "Come on, Subaki, you too?"
Subaki almost looked defeated. "Well, what can I say? There's nothing wrong with having a crush on anyone."
Sakura suddenly had a fiercely confident look. "Oh yeah? Like you a-and that Severa girl?"
Subaki's face was suddenly as red as his hair. "I already told you, it's not like that! I only respect that she beat me in the mile run, nothing more!"
Hana punched Subaki in the shoulder. "Ha! Now you're both out in the world, looking for love!"
Sakura let herself smile again. At least now Subaki was embarrassed too.
"But really, it's not like that with me and that boy either. We just talked about Pokemon for ten minutes, and I know his sister too. It would be weird if we were… you know."
Hana gave Sakura a slap on the back. "Come on, Saku. I'm just teasing. I've always got your back!"
Sakura smiled. "Yeah."
She may have been happy with her small core group of three, but the possibility of growing closer to Leo in the coming months still excited her.
After leaving lunch, Sakura had to go to her last two classes for the day. Art class was pretty easy and uneventful, as she just spent the whole time drawing Pokemon, mostly motivated by her conversation with Leo from the beginning of the day. After that came her anatomy class. She had taken the introductory course and knew it wouldn't be an easy class, but it was a necessary part of her dream of becoming a doctor.
She was probably one of the first people to get in, and there was only one face she recognized.
"Heya, Sakura!"
As soon as Sakura noticed her, Elise started waving. Of course, she sat next to her, not knowing anyone else in the class.
"Hi, Elise. H-how's your day been?"
"Oh, it's been great! How's yours been?"
Do I tell her that I met her brother? Sakura thought for a moment. Sure, why not?
"W-well… it's been nice, I suppose. Um… I actually talked to someone without them saying anything to me first."
"Ooh, nice! Who was it? Were they nice?"
"W-well… yeah." Why can't I just say it was Leo? Why doesn't that feel right?
Suddenly, the teacher began to call attendance and their conversation was cut short. Why am I relieved by this?
There was not much work, as it was the first day of class and a Friday, but Sakura still just wanted to go home. She couldn't shake the feeling of awkwardness when she was with Elise after her friends had insinuated that she "liked" Leo. When the bell rung, she gave a quick goodbye to Elise, gathered up her things, and darted out the door.
When Sakura got outside, she took a deep breath and closed her eyes. No. Don't be scared. I'm just friends with Leo, I've only spoken with him once. And Hana is just making fun of me.
When she opened her eyes, she felt less scared and began her walk to the back parking lot. Hinoka wasn't going out with her boyfriend Hinata today, so she had agreed to drive Sakura home. Sakura took another deep breath. The only person I'll have to speak to is my sister. That's easy. No anxiety here.
However, she forgot one key factor. As she was busy looking at the ground to avoid eye contact with the people around her, she heard a quiet "Excuse me" all too late.
Leo had just left his history class and was making his way to his bus. Well, having Owain a class was… interesting. Leo thought back to how many times he had to hold his breath and try not to crack up in the middle of class. He let himself smile and look up at the sky.
Soon, Leo saw the same face he did every day. A face he could now name and describe the personality of: Sakura. However, she was a bit too busy looking at the ground to notice him.
"Excuse m-"
Sakura clearly didn't hear him, as she walked right into him. While he was fine, he could not say the same for Sakura, who fell backwards and immediately started scrambling to get up. Oh god, I am so glad Owain isn't here for this…
"O-oh, I'm so sorry!" Her face was incredibly red. She threw her hands up to cover it and immediately scurried away.
"It's alright, I should be the one who's sorry… have a nice weekend!" called Leo, but she was already long gone.
Well, it looks like getting to know her might take some time. And effort.
