Partners
(Tsubasa x Misaki)
Disclaimer: I don't, and never will I, own Gakuen Alice.
"This is why they call us the overachieving friends," Megane exclaimed. She and Kaname had just reached them in the cafeteria and delivered the news. "Imagine, we've got project legends, club executives, top guns, geniuses, and now we've got the reps."
"Congratulations, you two, I'm pretty sure we've got a good shot at winning this year too," Nobara said. She then remembered that last year's reps got all the way to finals international and ended up 4th place. She suddenly felt scared.
"Oh gosh," was all she can say. Of course she and Kaname happily agreed when Narumi told them about it. Being the representative meant being one of the best architects in the batch, as selected by their core Architecture professors. It didn't sink in at first, until they kept congratulating them. She felt overwhelmed yet happy at the same time. But with a reputation to uphold, she became pressured, and scared.
"We'll do our best," Kaname said with a smile. She looked at him. Kaname did not look pressured at all.
"Aren't you nervous at all? Our school's always been winning in this competition you know, we have to maintain that," she said to him. She remembered it was during Tono's batch that they won in the finals. Toki, Marketing head of SCA that time, was one of the representatives.
"Well, just the competition is already a lot to think of, if we still have to worry about that, that's just additional burden," Kaname said simply. "Ah, we should go celebrate later. Let's eat out after class."
And this is why Kaname was unanimously their leader. She was still feeling pressured about the whole competition thing but somehow she felt relieved simply by Kaname's words.
"Where do you want to go, Misaki-san?" he asked her.
"I want to go for burgers and milkshakes," she happily answered.
"We're eating out a lot these days," Tsubasa said.
"We'll be forced to eat dorm food after this month, that's for sure, so it's fine," Kaname said and they both laughed.
"Misaki-chan, Kaname-kun! We heard about the good news, congratulations!" Chiaki and other 5th years from SCA arrived in the cafeteria and saw them.
"We just got informed and you all know already, senpai?" they asked incredulously.
"As Tono-senpai had said before, elders are always quick on inside scoop," Chiaki said proudly.
"Or more like it's because it's thesis time for the elders, so we get to hang around with the professors much," their upperclassmen all laughed. "Tono-senpai is particularly more knowledgeable than necessary, though."
Just then, she felt her phone vibrate. "Oh, speak of the devil, Tono-senpai is calling. Hello, senpai."
"Misaki-chan! I heard Narumi-sensei already told you about it, congratulations! Good luck to you and Kaname-kun, I'm pretty sure you two would do great," Tono loudly said on the other line.
"No, seriously, senpai, where the hell do you get all your information from? But thanks," she passed the phone to Kaname. "Here's Kaname-kun, senpai."
"Yo, Tono-senpai, are you sure you're really working now? How come you have the time to be updated with everything happening around here? But thanks, senpai, we hope to see you on the competition," Kaname passed back the phone to her.
"Now I suddenly miss defying Tono-senpai just like that," Chiaki said. Tono was popular in SCA. Everyone looked up to him, but at the same time, everyone defied him like that. "Well, congratulations again, do your best. SCA is proud to have you two."
"Come to think of it, it's probably the first time the reps are not members of JAA," Megane said, referring to the almost default organization that architecture majors join. "Last year they were both from JAA. Same goes for the year before that."
"Toki-senpai is from SCA, right?" Anna asked.
"Yeah, but he was a member of JAA too, though he spent more time in SCA because he said it got boring for him in JAA," Kaname said loudly. He probably realized he said that aloud too because he put his hands over his mouth. "Oops, I probably shouldn't say that out loud."
"I can already imagine Tono-senpai calling up Shizune-senpai just to brag about this," Tsubasa said with a chuckle. "That old geezer likes having some sort of edge over JAA over things like this and shows them to Shizune-senpai's face. Just like that time when I got the scholarship too."
"Funny how no one among us really did end up in JAA," she said and then stood up. "Well, we should go now before we start some club fight in here."
They all followed suit and they headed for their next class that afternoon. As they had agreed on earlier, they went out to eat on a burger place right after class.
"We're all so busy now, don't you think? 6 of you are SCA's executives, and now we have Misaki-chan and Kaname-kun as reps for the competition. Starting this Monday, they'll be having training with Narumi-sensei," Anna said. "Will we still be able to eat out like this?"
"We all expect that just one month into classes and we'll all be busy anyway," Tsubasa answered. "It's gonna be that time where we have so much to do that we can't get out of our rooms much."
"And we'll probably have meetings over dinner with the SCA officers, huh," Nobara said.
"Misaki-chan, would you still have time to cook your own dinner? I imagine you'll be relying on fast food more this time, you'd probably have late night snacks while you work with Kaname-kun," Nonoko said.
"Fast food makes you fat. You'll get fatter, Misaki," Tsubasa said to her with wide eyes. WHACK!
"I told you to stop picking on my eating habits," she said, her nostrils flaring. "Am I fat already?"
"Not at all, Misaki-chan. It's actually amazing how you're able to maintain despite eating a lot," Nobara said. "Your body type is the type that if you eat a lot, it'll definitely show, but you're keeping it together."
"So you too think that I eat too much," she said, depressed.
"No, no that's not what I meant," Nobara tried remedying the situation while panicking.
"You do eat a lot, Misaki," Tsubasa said and laughed with Megane. WHACK! "Hey, he laughed too!" WHACK!
"Anyway, aren't you guys excited for tomorrow? Tomorrow's the first day for the elective subjects. I'm really excited for wood shop," she said, diverting the topic away from her fats.
"That's right, I'm looking forward to interior design class," Nobara agreed.
"Oh yeah, but I'm more excited on the prospect of meeting new people," Megane said and high fived with Kaname.
"Well, there's that too," she said. "But we're really sawing wood and all that stuff in that class, right?"
Tsubasa nodded. "Who is the girl best friend and who is the boy best friend again?"
"Misaki-chan isn't interested at all in meeting anyone, is she?" Nonoko smiled.
"It's not that. It'll be nice to make new friends, but my goal here is more of the class itself. I've never cut wood before, you know," she scratched her head.
"Well, that's Misaki-chan for you. And anyway she won't really be needing to talk to everyone else much because she has Tsubasa-kun with her," Anna said.
"Do you two plan to never stay apart?" Hayate said which made her choke on her food.
"That's why we're a pair," Tsubasa answered.
"But since I'm with her in this competition, does that make me her other half now?" Kaname said and they both whacked him.
"Why are you always pairing me up with people?" she glared at him.
"I'm still the partner, I'm only lending her to you," Tsubasa said. WHACK!
"What am I, a book?"
"Oh, looks like we've got a pretty diverse class this time," the professor said. They were introducing themselves as per usual for first day of classes and so far, no one has yet to hail from the same course.
"I'm Harada Misaki, a 4th year taking up Architecture, nice to meet you all," she said when it was her turn. She sat back down and Tsubasa, being seated right next to her, stood up next.
"I'm Andou Tsubasa, same block as her," he said with a smile and sat back down.
"He's so cool," she heard some of the girls squeal. She shook her head with a slight laugh. Of course, that's Tsubasa for you, she thought.
"I recognize him, he's from the East Dorms too. I heard about it, he's the supposed international scholar from the College of Architecture. I heard he's really smart," she heard another squeal.
"Oh yeah, that's him. He's best friends with that other cute guy too, Sono-kun, isn't he? But I think I recognize that girl beside him too," she froze. "I think I saw her a few times in the boys dorm. Is she his girlfriend?"
"Oh gosh, it started," she said as she placed her head on her hands.
"What started?" Tsubasa asked. "You not feeling well? Is it that time of the month?"
WHACK! "Ugh, the Tsubasa effect, that's what started."
"Okay class, starting next meeting, I suggest you dress down for this class. There would be lots of manual labor in this class, you'll be using those arms for real work," the professor said.
"It's a good thing that's in the afternoon, we don't have to be tired first thing in the morning," she said when they got out of the classroom.
"Yeah, we'll have time to change our clothes before we go back to Shizuoka," Tsubasa agreed. "When's your first meeting with Narumi-sensei, by the way?"
"On Monday after classes. We'll decide from there the training schedules. We might go for Friday afternoons, though, since we have an almost whole day schedule for Tuesdays and Thursdays," she replied. They reached the Architecture building where Hayate was waiting for them and they went on to drop by her place to get her things and then to the train station.
As she said, she and Kaname met with Narumi on Monday afternoon.
"Okay, I've seen your schedules, it's a good thing you're from the same block. Looks like Friday afternoon is the best day for us, will that be okay with you?" Narumi said, referring to their schedule of training. They both nodded. "Ah, and we'd still meet on Mondays too. I know this is your heaviest day of the week, but we have no choice. Your Tuesdays are lighter so that would mean less work you have to work on the night before, works well for us too since my class is your core subject on Tuesdays and Thursdays. The training plan goes like this, we'll have trainings on Mondays, then I'd usually give you a homework for you to submit on Thursday in our class. We'll deliberate on that on our Friday training, then another homework to be submitted when we meet again on Monday. Is that clear?"
They both nodded again. "You can't go home on Fridays anymore, Misaki-san," Kaname said to her.
"It's okay, I kind of expected that, I might not go home weekly this semester," she said with a smile.
"Ah, and Kaname-kun, how's your condition, by the way? For trainings, I usually ask you to go out for research. We can limit it to the city but I prefer going outside," Narumi said.
"I'm already fine, as long as I don't do too much physical activity," Kaname smiled.
They started training right there and then. Narumi also gave them a homework due on Thursday already.
"I can already feel how heavy our load for this sem is going to be," Kaname said as they were getting out of the building after the training.
"Training seems fun though, so I guess it won't be much different from usual," she said. "Well, I'm going this way, see you tomorrow, Kaname-kun!"
"You're back, have you had dinner yet?" he said when Kaname got inside their room. Kaname shook his head. "Let's head down, we haven't had dinner yet."
He closed his laptop and stood up, their other two roommates following suit. "How did training go? Hey, if you think it will be too strenuous for you, tell Narumi-sensei immediately, okay?"
Kaname laughed. "You always say I've got feminine habits but you're quite the fusser like a mom, you know? Anyway, aren't you going to ask about your beloved?"
"Eew at your word choice, dude," he said. "Why would I ask about her? We'll see each other tomorrow, I'm sure she'll tell everything."
"Don't people who like someone tend to ask about that person a lot?" Kaname teased. "What, did you give up already?"
"I don't have to monitor everything she does, especially when she's going to tell anyway. And it's not that I'm giving up, I just tend to lose the chance every time. Damn that Hayate during spring break," he remembered again his ruined plans and made a face.
"You'll get your chance again, dude," Kaname tapped him as he laughed. They arrived at the dining hall and lined up to get their food.
"Thanks God, that's over," she said as she stretched her hands when the professor got out of their classroom. "It's only the first week but I felt like a sem has passed already."
It was already Friday and their morning class had just ended. "I know you've got training but yeah, I agree with you, feels like we did a lot already. Hey get up already, we gotta eat to have energy for the wood shop class."
"Oh yeah, that's right," she immediately stood up and packed her things. Their group went out of the classroom and headed for the cafeteria.
"What are you doing for wood shop today?" Nobara asked.
"The professor said we're gonna try the basics of sawing wood and hammering," she answered with a cheery laugh.
"Sometimes I really doubt you're a girl," Tsubasa said shaking his head. WHACK!
"Sexist," she hissed at him.
"On the contrary, I'm actually glad you can hold your own at anything," he said.
"Go ahead and be a lovely couple, we'll go ahead and have lunch," Kaname jokingly said as he led the rest to walk ahead of them. They both laughed and caught up to them. They had lunch and rested for a while then headed off to each of their own classes.
"Woah, Harada-san, you're a quick learner," her groupmates said. They were divided into groups to share one saw within a group.
"Can't believe it's that clean at the first try too," she said as she shook off her hands.
"Okay, let's try hammering nails this time. Those pieces of wood you've got right now, I hope you chopped them nicely, you'll be using that for the main activity for today," the professor proceeded to show them how it's done and made them try the same. He gave them the rest of the period to create something out of the pieces of wood they currently had.
"Wow, he's really good at this," they all looked at the sudden commotion. It came from Tsubasa's group. Everyone, even his groupmates, was watching him as he was hammering a nail to a piece of wood with a focused expression.
"Hey, want to try doing the other one? You haven't perfected it, right? You just have to do this on the other side, just like this," Tsubasa said to a female groupmate who was beside him, offering the hammer to her.
"Huh? Me? Uh, sure," the girl, who was looking at Tsubasa rather than at his work earlier, confusedly agreed. She took the hammer and nail and looked at their work. "I just have to do the same thing you did, right?"
Tsubasa nodded and watched the girl position the wood piece she was going to attach on their work. "No, like this," he said as he took the nail from her to show her the proper grip.
"Awww," she let out a laugh and shook her head. Everyone, or mostly the girls, sighed in awe. "That's Tsubasa for you, great at everything, even in teaching and awing people."
Tsubasa suddenly let go when he realized everyone was looking at them. He scratched his head and looked her way immediately with a 'what's happening' look.
"Good at everything, eh, top gun?" she laughed before turning back to their piece and started working again.
"Ne, Harada-san, is Andou-kun your boyfriend?" her groupmate asked her.
She turned her head to her to smile then faced their piece again. "No, he's not. Well, we shouldn't lose here, let's do our best to make something out of ours too."
Everyone soon followed suit and went back to their own work. In the end, Tsubasa's group really did get the best output.
"You always end up a superstar wherever you go, huh," she said to Tsubasa when class ended. "You're really good at this, by the way."
"My dad and I built a treehouse together when I was young so I actually got background, he taught me how to saw and hammer and those stuff properly," he just said. "Are you going to training immediately?"
"I still got 30 minutes, I think I'll rest in the caf a bit," she said. "Feels weird that we're not going home together."
Tsubasa looked at her confused. "We're going home tomorrow morning, right?"
It was her turn to look at him confused. "You're not going home today?"
"No 'cause we're going home tomorrow morning," he said matter-of-factly. "Better for me too since I'm usually lazy to go home after classes."
They arrived at the cafeteria and bought drinks. "I'm getting a sandwich, want me to get you one too?" he asked as they were drinking from their juice cans. She nodded. He stood up to line up at the counter.
She took another sip of the juice and looked at Tsubasa as he picked their sandwiches. She just assumed that he was going to go home ahead of her since it seemed like the normal thing to do, though she couldn't really remember when the last time they actually did not go home together was. They had the same schedules ever since second year but there were still chances to go home separately since they had different PEs and also headed different projects last year, but still usually ended up going home together. She felt a surge of happiness as she thought about how Tsubasa was actually going to wait for her and go home with her. She realized that she would have been lonely if she travelled alone tomorrow morning.
Tsubasa came back to the table with the two sandwiches he bought. They stayed there chatting until it was time for her to go to training.
"Oh, Tsubasa, you're still here," Kaname said when they arrived at the training room.
"We're going home tomorrow morning because of your training. I'll head back now, see you at the dorm," Tsubasa gave Kaname a high five and then left.
The following week, Narumi got them registered for the competition and on Thursday, they received the instructions for the preliminary round.
"Tomorrow, we're going sightseeing so come immediately after your last class," Narumi told them. They nodded and went out of the classroom with the others.
"Where are you going?" the others asked them.
"We're going to look at historical buildings in the city," Kaname answered.
"That's so fun, you get to go on field trips. But pretty hassle too, you have homework every day. If you collect all your outputs for this sem, you'd probably have a portfolio already," Anna said.
"Speaking of outputs, damn, Tsubasa, Sawata-sensei really have you under close scrutiny," Megane was referring to their Advanced Architecture Professor, the one who stressed out rankings at the start of the sem. "It's a good thing your outputs are always good."
"I think that gets him raise the bar higher on Tsubasa, though," Kaname said.
"Yeah, but I've got a feeling Tsubasa's gonna keep exceeding his expectations," Megane said and then he whacked Tsubasa. "You're too good at this."
"And he's likely going to be best in class in wood shop too," she added. "Not even the engineering students know how to handle a saw properly in our class."
"That's just so not fair, you're like those shoujo male leads who's got everything and good at anything," Megane said with a cringe. "All the girls like you too."
"That is where he failed," Kaname said and laugh out loud. Tsubasa got him in a lock hold and whacked him.
"I do not get creatures called boys sometimes," she said as she and the girls lagged behind the boys. Nobara, Anna, and Nonoko just giggled in response. "He's really popular, all the girls in wood shop immediately became his fangirls at the first day."
"I can imagine the sharp stares at you," Nobara said to her.
"You said it. I just hope no one suddenly pulls my hair," she said, clutching her hair.
"Where's Narumi-sensei?" she arrived at the Architecture building lobby after wood shop class the following day. Kaname was already there but was alone.
"Just finishing a few things, he said. Told us to wait here," Kaname answered. A little while later, Narumi arrived to pick them up.
"Good timing, Misaki-chan's here too, let's get going," he said and started leading them out of the building. Just then, a group of fifth years, most of whom she isn't really familiar with, entered the building.
"Naru-sensei," they greeted Narumi with familiarity. "Oh, are they the representatives?"
"Yeah, we're heading out today for sightseeing," Narumi smiled at them. Narumi nodded at them and continued heading out the building. They started following but she caught wave of remarks from the upperclassmen.
"I'm pretty sure the boy's Sono Kaname of SCA. The girl's Harada Misaki of SCA too, isn't it?" "Yeah, but I'm surprised that guy, Andou Tsubasa isn't one them. With all the hype about his talent, I kind of expected him to be one of reps immediately."
Narumi led them to the staff parking area so she didn't hear any more.
"We're going to different places today, take note of the details of each, take pictures just in case you forget some of them," Narumi told them as he started the car. Narumi talked to them about buildings as he drove along and her thoughts focused on the trip.
"Hey, you two, I brought along some people to join us for today's training," Narumi came inside their designated training room with 3 people they recognized as upperclassmen. "I'm their thesis advisor. I asked them to help us today."
Narumi asked them to show their homework from last week's trip. The three gave their comments to that.
"You two are good. But for this one, don't you think it defeats the purpose if you're going to incorporate the traditional Oriental style? If it were me, I would have highlighted the Western style aspects of the building more since you'd want to preserve its historical symbolism. Again, that's just me," one of them said, holding out her drawing. She smiled at her and gave her back her drawing. She faced Narumi and spoke again. "We're still surprised you didn't get that talked about guy for this. Everyone just talked about him that we assumed he was a default for this already."
"Yeah, yeah, we heard he even impressed Takamura-sensei. That says something," the other agreed, to which Narumi just laughed.
"Ahh, Tsubasa-kun. Just because he's top gun doesn't mean he's default. I've got my reasons for choosing these two. As you can see, it doesn't seem like I was wrong in my judgment," Narumi said proudly. "Anyway you three run along now, just email me for the next schedule of consultation."
Narumi shooed the three away while she looked at her homework disappointedly. How could she not have considered that? She silently hit her head.
"Don't worry too much about it, Misaki-chan, like she said, those kinds of things are more of personal preference," Narumi said. "You two should consider that aspect too, the purpose of the building or the message it has to deliver."
They nodded and Narumi started their training.
"I see you don't disappoint as ever, Andou-kun," their professor said. They had just presented as a trio, she, Tsubasa, and Hayate. "Didn't expect such design for this simple class activity and the things you considered are much more advanced."
"Misaki's pretty much advanced because of training, sensei," Tsubasa answered modestly. It was obvious the professor didn't think of them as a team but rather as Tsubasa's team.
"Ah, yeah, that explains it. Looks like Narumi-sensei's teaching you the right things, well he should, he's got a reputation to uphold," the professor said in what seemed to her as a dismissive tone. He talked a bit more about their presentation and then moved on to the next group.
"Wonder what's in the caf today?" she said out loud when they got out of the classroom. "Tsubasa, let's eat quickly, we still need to change our clothes for shop class later."
He nodded at her and as she said, she really ate lunch quickly. "What's with the hurry?" Tsubasa confusedly looked at her.
"Nothing, just want to change my clothes already," because of their presentation, she was wearing a pencil skirt and long sleeves. He nodded in understanding and hurried finishing eating too. They went ahead of the others to change their clothes.
"There, I'm done too, let's go," she said as soon as she got out of the women's restroom.
"You know, you seem excited for shop class every time. You look more excited for this than your training," he commented as he caught up to her. "You used to be most excited for trainings."
"Well, this is more of a hobby for me. An outlet where I can do things the way I want it," she smiled at him.
"Are you having a hard time with training?" he asked. He had probably noticed she felt a bit down whenever training came up.
"It's okay, I miss a few details sometimes, but it's okay," she said, trying to wave it off.
"It's only natural, you know, since you're learning advanced stuff," he said, patting her shoulder. They arrived at their wood shop classroom and continued to chat there, this time about other things.
"Okay, for today's session, this is your groupings," the professor said as he flashed on the screen the groupings.
"Looks like we're still not groupmates today," she said to Tsubasa.
"Maybe next time," he said with a smile. He started gathering his things since everyone was starting to move with their assigned groups.
"Harada-san, we're in the same team again," Haru, a Civil Engineering student who had been in the same group as her before, approached her.
"Oh, Haru-kun," she smiled at him. "Tsubasa, I'm going to go to my group now, okay?"
"Huh? Ah yeah, I'm moving too," for a moment there, she thought she saw him blanking out. She waved it off and went with Haru to their other groupmates.
"You're doing well, Harada-san," the professor approached their group when they started working. "Hmnn, try holding the plank this way so that you don't have a hard time. There, look at the way Andou-kun's holding the plank and the saw."
She looked up and examined the way Tsubasa was sawing. He definitely looked like he wasn't having a hard time. She tried copying it and found it didn't strain her back. "There, better. Keep it up." The professor moved on to examine the other groups.
"It's really a good thing we've got Misaki-san on our group," her groupmates said. She smiled at them and continued sawing.
"Here, let me do the sawing. You help the others," Haru said to her kindly. She thanked him and gave him the saw and helped their other groupmates who were drilling some holes to the sawed planks.
"Okay, that's it for today. I can see everyone improving in handling the tools already. Starting next meeting we'll alternate between individual and group works, okay? See you next week," the professor said afterwards to dismiss them.
"Are you going home immediately?" she asked Tsubasa when they got out of the classroom. She wasn't going home this weekend due to training.
"Maybe not. Hayate said he didn't feel like going home this weekend, don't get why either," he answered. "Are you going to training immediately? Want to rest a bit in the caf?"
She nodded and they headed for the cafeteria when they got in the Architecture building.
"Ahh, it's training again," she said as she laid her head on the table. "And then tomorrow we've got special training too."
Tsubasa followed after buying drinks and sandwiches for them. He opened the bottles and drank from one. She took the other and drank too.
"What?" she asked. He was looking at her as she drank.
"Since we're just going to be here, want to go somewhere on Sunday? It's been a while since we last went out too," he said nonchalantly.
"Sunday? Hmnn, I was thinking of practicing for practicals but yeah, I can go. Where are we going?"
"Somewhere," he smiled and took a bite of his sandwich instead. "It's almost time for your training, come on, I'll walk with you there."
He got to the café near the subway station 10 minutes earlier than their set time that Sunday. He ordered a light to-go breakfast for them, though he started sipping his coffee while waiting for her.
"Morning," she arrived smiling at him. He allowed her to sit in front of him first and take her coffee. "So, where are we going really? I presume we're taking the subway?"
"Yeah. We should get going," he said and stood up. They walked to the station and he bought the tickets.
"Are we going to where I think we're going?" she asked when she saw the tickets. He just shrugged his shoulders and smiled at her. He diverted her attention during the train ride by talking about other things. Just as she suspected, though, they did go to the architectural street.
"Let's go," he said and walked along. The street was prettier than ever. It seemed more and more houses got inspired to adopt distinct architectural styles.
"Whoa, it's pretty as always. The first time we went here was already one year ago. We were preparing for Blueprint back then," she said, her eyes taking in everything. "Is there an exhibit by the firm again?"
"No, there isn't," he shook his head simply. He knew she wanted to ask why he brought her here but decided against it and instead just enjoyed the stroll.
They took their time to walk the entire street. They noted every house, the ones they remembered from before and the new ones they haven't seen.
"Look at that, Tsubasa, the landscaping's really done well. When I have my own house, I will definitely have a lawn as wide and as well-kept as that," Misaki said, wide-eyed at the simple bungalow with a well-kept lawn. She skipped towards it, her skirt flowing as she did so.
"You're wearing a skirt today," he said casually as he caught up to her. Misaki rarely wore skirts to school, or even when they go out with their friends. She actually looked loose today than the usual, as if she were on a date or a hang out with her girl friends.
"I think they've been in my closet since first year but never used," she said simply with a smile and then placed her attention back to the house in front of them.
After a while they headed back down the street and decided to eat lunch at a restaurant they saw earlier. They stayed for a while then decided to head back to the station. They dropped by the street lined up with flower shops. He allowed Misaki to go from one shop to another, checking, smelling, and admiring various flowers.
"Here," he bought her a bunch of her favorite tulips again, this time buying it of his own accord.
Misaki took the bouquet from him with eyes wide in surprise. "What's up with you today?"
"Nothing," he said, shrugging his shoulders nonchalantly. They continued walking, and for a while, no one spoke anything. He looked at her and saw her fixated on the flowers. They reached the end of the flower shop-lined street. He remembered it was the same spot he took a picture of her last year.
Unknowingly, his steps went quicker. He breathed in. If he was ever going to confess, now was probably the right time. He took one last deep breath and turned around to face her. This made her stop in her tracks. He opened his mouth to start saying it. "Misaki—"
"Thank you so much, Tsubasa. Honestly, I was feeling really down because of the contest. I feel really pressured that I won't be able to meet expectations. Coming here really took a lot out of my mind and allowed me to relax a bit," she spoke first. She probably didn't realize he was about to say something to her.
He looked at her carefully. He realized that must have been why he felt like there was something really different about her today. Aside from her outfit, it was the first time in a while that she seemed really relaxed. He didn't notice it immediately but recently, she seemed always weary. He almost wanted to hit himself at that moment. He took a deep breath again.
"Why didn't you tell me, dummy?" were the first words he was able to say. He now understood why Misaki felt so frustrated when she realized his dilemma with the scholarship last time. He should have noticed her situation earlier.
She bowed her head and mumbled a short apology. He went up to her and gently patted her shoulders.
"If you wanted to take your mind off things, we should have gone to the amusement park," he said.
"This was actually the right place. I needed somewhere I can just calm down and relax, so thank you, Tsubasa, thank you so much for being here," she said, smiling up at him as she wiped a few tears. "Sorry, I sometimes cry when I'm so frustrated. Is it too out of character?"
"Nah, kinda used to your conflicting habits by now," he joked. "We should go now, I know you need time to prepare for practicals even though it's still next week."
"Okay, tell us about what happened yesterday, Tsubasa-kun," Nobara said as soon as they settled inside the meeting room of SCA's clubroom. "Finally! I couldn't ask since Misaki-chan was around."
They all laughed at Nobara's frustration.
"Yeah, yeah, tell us about it, Tsubasa. Kaname here said you wouldn't say anything yesterday when you got back to the dorm," Megane said.
"You ask him. All he said was that it went well," Kaname said, his hands up in the air. They were going to have a short officers' meeting before Kaname and Misaki's training, though Misaki went out for a while to meet a project team under her department.
"Misaki-chan said you guys went to that architecture firm's street again, and also the flower shop-lined street. Did you do it? Or you know, at least a bit closer to it?" Nobara asked, she was obviously excited for this.
He blew out air and decided to shut them up. "No, I didn't confess. It's not the right time. She's pressured about the contest and all that. She needs her best friend more right now than a boy problem."
He laughed when he saw their expressions fall down simultaneously.
Just then, Misaki came inside the clubroom and into the meeting room frantically.
"Oh dear, oh dear," she said, her eyes looking at each of them quickly as if she was looking for something. Her eyes stopped at Nobara and she went to her and held her hands. "Nobara-chan, what am I going to do? Haru-kun just asked me out."
They all looked at each other. "What do you mean, where is he right now?"
"Downstairs at the lobby," Misaki seemed to have realized that she ran all the way up the fourth floor of the building and left a poor guy hanging. She ran out of the clubroom frantically again.
"What just happened?" Nobara said, having still not recovered from the shock. "I better follow her."
Nobara quickly ran out of the clubroom to follow Misaki.
"Dude, who's Haru?" Kaname elbowed him, all their eyes still fixated at the door where Misaki and then Nobara had run out of.
"Our classmate in wood shop," he answered.
"What was that about she needs her best friend more than a boyfriend?" Kaname asked.
"Someone just did what you weren't able to do for more than 3 months now," Megane said.
"You're screwed," Hayate deadpanned.
Hello, everyone! I am back with another chapter. I'm sorry if I took too long again. My classes is going to start soon too so expect the frequency of release to be at least every two weeks, I will do my best not to go for more than four weeks.
Looking at the story in published form, I realized just how long it turned out to be. The list of chapters from the drop down menu is already longer than the Author's Note in the first chapter. To those who are still holding on to this, thank you so much. There's still more chapters to go but I can already see the end. I hope most of you can join me all the way to that point. Thank you again and see you on the next chapter.