Partners
(Tsubasa x Misaki)
Disclaimer: I don't, and never will I, own Gakuen Alice.
Summer vacation flew by quickly. For Tsubasa, it was spent wondering how Misaki and Kaname were doing abroad, while alternating errands at the café, playing soccer with high school friends, and preparing for the second semester as the Projects head in between.
He wasn't a clingy type of person. He doesn't make a fuss of not seeing someone, no matter how close, for a period of time. But he found himself relieved when he finally saw his friends again when the semester started.
"How was it in the US?" they asked the two.
"I think you can see judging by my skin," Misaki said, showing her exposed arms. "We spent just the first 2 days for conference, the rest were on site."
"When's the actual competition? Are you going back abroad?"
"Submission of work will be digital, top 10 teams get to present then winners will be chosen from there," Kaname said. "Narumi-sensei wasn't joking, we really didn't get any vacation. We'd be spending the first month of classes for this too."
"Wow, you two barely get a life. And you're launching a new project for Community, right, Misaki-san?" Megane asked.
"Yeah, but I can do it somehow," she just laughed it off.
"What electives are you taking this sem, by the way?"
"Nobara-chan, Tsubasa and I are taking a management class," Misaki said.
"Is that really advantageous for you, Tsubasa-kun?" Anna and Nonoko whispered to him. "We're both taking an interior design class this sem, Nobara-chan said it was interesting."
They all looked at Kaname this time. "Please tell us you're having a serious class this time."
"What was not serious about creative writing class? I got a real high grade, by the way," Kaname defended.
"Yeah, you're good at it, just that you can be too cheesy. Just don't use your writing skills in wooing a girl, okay?" Misaki said. "He's taking up an urban planning class this time. Thanks the heavens it's something finally related to his career."
Once again, they were pretty much spread out for electives. Megane is taking an engineering elective, while Hayate, as always, is taking another architecture elective.
"Where should we eat later after class? Do you two have training immediately?" Megane asked.
"This has become tradition, huh? No, we have the same schedule for training, Monday and Friday," Kaname answered.
"I heard there's a new taco bar at 11th street, we should check it out," he suggested. They all agreed to that. They went to ahead to their next class looking forward to that.
It was when they were getting out of the building when Misaki received a call from Haru.
"Hello, Haru-kun? Today? Sorry, I'm going out with my friends, we should go next time, okay? Okay, bye," Misaki ended the call and caught up to them.
"Was he asking you to go out today? Why didn't you say yes?" Anna asked.
"I can't just cancel on you guys just because he called. We had plans first so I think this should come first, anyway we can always go out next time," Misaki smiled at them.
Sometimes, he did not know whether to be happy or to pity the guy.
The situation immediately reversed the following day. The boys were having dinner outside after the first assembly of SCA. "Nobara-san's also going with us."
"I'll pass today, I'm meeting with Haru-kun," she smiled. "Oh, there he is."
They all looked as she approached the guy waiting for her by the entrance of the building. She didn't see the short moment of shock registering on Tsubasa's face.
"Let's go," Haru smiled at her and they started walking to the gates of the campus.
They had dinner together, their first time since last semester.
"You're going to be really busy this sem, huh," he said as they were walking back to her place.
"A bit, I'm sorry if we can't meet up often," she answered. They were taking different electives this time, which meant they really had no similar classes for the semester. It's also not easy to meet up often since the Engineering and Architecture buildings were on opposite sides of the campus.
"Nah, it's okay, I know how important this time is for you," he smiled at her. They stopped talking after that, just walking side by side.
They were near her block when Haru finally made a move. Looking away, he quietly slipped her hand into his, continuing along as if he didn't do anything. Since he was looking away, he wasn't able to fully grab hold of her full palm. The fingers of her hand were lightly enveloped in his hand, and he did not make a move to raise his hold a bit.
As for her, she did not know how to react. It was her first time to hold hands while walking, a move that she knew most couples did. It was a foreign feeling to her and she felt like pulling her hand back, but she allowed it to be until they reached her building. She naturally pulled back her hand and faced him.
"Ah, Haru-kun, is it okay if you go in with me?" surprise registered in Haru's face and then she realized what she just said. She turned beet red and tried saving herself. "It's not what you're thinking! Ahm, uh, just go with me, okay?"
He finally let out a laugh and was grinning the whole time they were walking to her unit.
"Take a seat," she said when they got inside her room. She quickly went to the ref and took out a box; as swiftly as she went, she came back to him, him having barely made himself comfortable. "It's for you."
"What is it?" he looked at the clear portion of the top of the box and saw the pretty cake she made early that morning. He smiled, a smile even wider than his usual. "Thanks."
"I suddenly thought of making you one when I was shopping for grocery yesterday," she smiled shyly. "And it's kind of an apology treat too for not being able to go with you yesterday. And I'm going to be busy too for the whole month."
"Hey, it's okay, I understand that," he lowered his head to meet her eye level. "You don't have to apologize for things like that. Anyway I should go now, it's getting pretty late."
She nodded and she went with him outside to see him off. "Haru-kun." She looked up. "I've never been in a relationship so being sweet and all those are not stuff I'm used to, but I'm trying, okay? I'm trying."
"I know, I'm not rushing," Haru ruffled her hair before heading off, and she heard him humming happily as he went.
One of the disadvantages of being best friends with the girl you like is that she's comfortable with you that she lets you in on anything. Ever since Misaki introduced Haru to them, she wasn't that secretive of her phone with him anymore. It didn't matter to her anymore whether he read her texts with Haru or not.
Like now, she left her phone with him while she met with her SCA team. He was playing on his own when hers vibrated. It was a message notification from Haru. It contained a 'before-after' photo of a cake. 'Ok. Ah, and look, I didn't share it with anyone ^^ Thank you for the pretty cake, Misaki-san!' The accompanying message said.
He scrolled up the conversation, and saw that the message before was from Misaki saying that she'll be leaving her phone with him. He felt a vein pop in his head. "So that's why I saw her getting flour when she was doing her grocery," he said aloud as he rubbed his temples. Was he really trying to get on his nerves?
Just then, Misaki's phone vibrated again in his hand. This time it was a call from her mom. "Hello, oba-san, yes, yes, she's out right now. Ah, that book, yes, we'll get that for you, I'll reserve it from the bookstore right now, okay, we'll get the others too, okay, yes, bye, oba-san."
"If I didn't know Misaki-san is seeing someone, I'd have thought you're her husband or something, you're even sharing her mom's tasks," Kaname shook his head at him. He just shrugged at him and proceeded to go to the bookstore's website to reserve a newly-released book that Misaki's mom wanted. Apparently, it was immediately sold out at the local bookstores in Shizuoka.
"Did my mom call? What did she say?" Misaki came back a little while later.
"She gave a few things we need to buy. She's going to try Korean cuisine, apparently, she told us to get these at a Korean mart," he gave her the list. "Also, I already reserved that book she wanted at the bookstore, we can get it later before we go."
"Oh, okay, thanks," she said as she took back her phone. "Were there any other messages?"
"None." "There was." He glared at Kaname. Kaname just laughed. Misaki looked at him weirdly before checking her inbox. She chuckled upon seeing the photo.
"Good morning," Nobara then arrived, followed by the North Dorms trio. "Ah, Tsubasa-kun, Ryuu-kun said he left the expense list with—"
He raised the paper between his fingers keeping his eyes on his game, his taps more forceful by the moment.
"Is Tsubasa-kun mad or something?" "Yeah, his mood seems pretty dark." "Dunno, he was like that when I got back." "Consider it 'that time of the month' that you girls have." WHACK!
"I can hear you, guys."
As the two had said, things went hectic for them pretty quickly. Even though their trainings were only on Mondays and Fridays, Kaname and Misaki spent even their other free times for the creation of their output for the competition. It entailed a lot of staying late in the campus and little to no sleep days for the two, especially since they were juggling their academic requirements and the competition.
"Coffee delivery," Tsubasa raised the to go coffee in one hand and a paper bag in the other, a smile in his face. It also entailed snack and coffee deliveries from him, the only way he can somehow support his two best friends.
"Thanks, you're the best, Tsubasa," Misaki said as she took a cup from him. She sat down on a chair and he sat beside her. "I'm tired."
She rested her head on his shoulder as she sipped her coffee. "Is Narumi-sensei dropping you off later?" Misaki shook her head. "What time are you two planning to end for today?"
"Around 8," he looked at his watch, it was a few minutes past 7.
"I'll walk you home. It's okay, I was planning to run tonight," he gave her a reassuring look before standing up. "I'll go now, just text me when you're done."
And it also entailed walking Misaki home when Narumi was staying late too and can't drop Misaki off.
The only time they were finally able to take a breather was when they submitted their output. As students in their senior year, their days were mostly packed with submissions despite being only one month into the term. While the two were given allowances for their requirements, there was still a lot to catch up on.
"It's really different when it's you I'm working with," Misaki said as she eased away from her laptop with a satisfied smile on her face. They both looked at their laptops which were side by side. "It would be nice if there could be one project we'd work on together when we're really architects, don't you think?"
"You want to work on the same firm?"
"Not necessarily. I don't know yet, but that'll be nice too," she looked at him and smiled. "Working with Kaname-kun is okay. But I guess since we got each other memorized, I'm more comfortable with you, like a perfect pair."
They continued working on their parts and finished them without talking for a while.
"Tsubasa, I suddenly feel like shopping, can you go with me?"
"How random. Shopping? Why me? Don't you want to call Nobara-san or Anna-san or Nonoko-san instead?" he looked at her incredulously.
"I'm not really sure. But I just feel like going out and stroll and shop for stuff. And for some reason, I feel like going with you."
"Ah. I get it. You want me to be your bag carrier, don't you? Misaki, you're strong as a bull, you don't need anyone to carry your bags for you." WHACK!
"I didn't even ask you to carry my bags, why are you picking on my strength again!" Misaki gritted her teeth and started packing her stuff. "I'll go on my own then."
"Okay, okay, I'll go with you, I'll carry your stuff too," he chuckled as he started packing his things too.
They went to the bargain mall at the city. They simply strolled for a bit, checking merchandise as they went pass them, until Misaki really started going in and out of shops.
"I knew it, you're going to make me a bag carrier today," he said. They were in a clothing shop for girls and he was stuck holding Misaki's bag which contained her laptop.
"Which one is better?" she took no mind, instead raised two tops for him to see.
"Any," he answered simply. Misaki pursed her lips then turned around to face the mirror. "Just buy both if you want them both."
"My dad gave me extra allowance this month but that doesn't mean I can suddenly go on a shopping spree. I just want to add a bit to my closet, I think I've been using the same clothes to school for 4 years," she said without looking at him. "I'll get this one."
Misaki paid for the chosen top and they checked out more shops. She bought an assortment of stuff. There were clothes, accessories, cookie cutters, supplies, and other things.
"Oh, that looks cute," she went to a cellphone accessory shop. She was checking out phone cases. She was particularly checking out one which came in pairs. "I think I haven't changed my phone case since I got it. This one looks nice, don't you think? The pink one."
He nodded. The case did look nice. It wasn't bright or baby or anything too girly pink. Just that it was a couple item. It came with another case that had the same design but was blue.
"I'm getting this. Tsubasa, we have the same phone, you get the other one. I don't remember you changing your phone case ever since too," she said with finality in her voice.
"My phone case is still fine," even though the design was not really too childish, it still seemed childish for him.
"You dropped it last time, I saw the crack on the lower part. And the design's not childish," she said as she took the set and went inside the stall to pay for it. She immediately changed her phone case, giving him the other one.
"My phone case is still fine," he said, keeping the case she just bought inside his back.
"Killjoy." He stuck out his tongue.
Misaki finally decided that she was done shopping and he walked her to her house.
"It didn't feel like a lot earlier when I was carrying them, but you actually bought a lot," he said when they dropped the shopping bags on the floor when they reached her unit.
"I don't really go shopping often, so I think it's okay," she said as she started keeping some of them. "Anyway thank you for joining me, Tsubasa. It's times like these that I'm really glad I have you. Don't ever get tired of my random wiles, huh?"
"I really should get paid for this," he chuckled. He then stood up from his seat after drinking the water she gave him. "I should go now, it's getting late."
"Wait, I'll see you out," she stopped what she was doing and hurriedly took her keys. They were just getting out of the door when her phone rang. "Wait, I'll pick that up."
She grabbed the phone from the table and followed him out the door. "Yeah, Narumi-sensei? I just came home. Kaname-kun? No, but Tsubasa's with me. Oh my gosh! Tsubasa! We're going to international finals! Yes. Yes, okay, see you, Narumi-sensei."
"You got in? Congrats!" Misaki excitedly leapt to hug him. "You're going back to the US? When?"
"Three weeks from now. Oh god, Tsubasa, we actually got in the top 10, I thought we won't even make it there. This is even greater pressure. Toki-senpai won 1st place before, and then last year we got 4th place."
"Relax. You already got in the top 10, that's a great thing already," he calmed her down. "We have to celebrate tomorrow. Did sensei tell Kaname already?"
"Right now, he called me first, yeah, let's have dinner together tomorrow. Wait, I still have to call Mom."
"Okay, I'll tell the others. I'll go now, I'm pretty sure Kaname's excited too. Tell oba-san I said hi," he said and started heading back to the campus.
He started calling the others as he walked. It was the weekend and no one among them went home due to the requirements they had to pass for the week.
The following day, he met up with Misaki over lunch to consolidate the homework they were working on together yesterday. They finished early for the meet up with the others.
"We still have time, can we go a bit later? I'm waiting for Haru-kun, he said he's dropping by to give me something," he felt his mood darken but let it be. If he thought about it carefully, he should probably pity the guy because Misaki would not have time to meet up with him again.
Haru came around 10 minutes after. He was clearly informed that he was there with her in her unit for there was no surprise that registered when he saw him comfortably laying on the bed, playing games in his phone. They nodded at each other civilly. This had got to be the most awkward situation a guy should be in.
"Congratulations again. I was only supposed to get these for you, but I got these too," he raised both his hands. One carried a bag of delicacies from his hometown. The other held a bouquet of flowers.
He tried not to look but the delight in Misaki's eyes didn't escape his vision. He turned and focused his attention on his game, but his eyes got fixated on the phone itself. He remembered the phone case that was still in his bag. He pretended to be packing up but secretly took the new phone case and switched it with the one on his phone.
"Tsubasa, we should go too, Nobara-chan said she's on her way," her phone was in her hands. She then turned back to Haru who was standing in front of her. "Sorry I can't have dinner with you."
"Megane texted saying they're on their way too," he got up from the bed and raised his phone naturally as he was texting. Since Misaki was not looking at him, she didn't see that he had already switched his phone case.
He felt satisfied when he saw the sharp look Haru had when he noticed the matching phone cases.
Misaki didn't think preparations could get any more intense but it actually did. The visuals, the script, everything was done carefully and scrutinized by many people. Former representatives like Toki even dropped by to watch them practice and critique them.
She wasn't as fast a worker as Kaname was, all her works she did with a high level of detail and scrutiny, thus her schedule, filled with academic and competition work, almost left her with free time for eating, bathing, and sleeping only. When there was no training or meeting, she went home immediately and studied and worked on her homeworks. She made an exception however when her friends from high school decided to hang out one day.
"It's been a while since we last came together like this, we thought you won't be able to make it, Misaki-chan," they were studying at different universities, two of them both in Tokyo, the other one in Nagoya. Yuki, the one studying in Nagoya, dropped by Tokyo for research and decided to call them up.
"I wasn't even able to see you two during summer vacation, of course I won't miss this chance, it's lucky there's no training today," she smiled. The only times they were able to meet up was during vacations when all of them were home in Shizuoka.
"You seem so busy now, because of that competition, do you still have time for yourself?" Yuki asked.
"More like, do you have time to talk to people? Even Yuki-chan here already has a real boyfriend," Rio, ever the one who loves talking about love issues, said. "I saw your pictures, your partner's a guy, and he's really handsome, a bishounen, eh? Do you have something with him?"
"Kaname-kun? No, I don't. The guy is a casanova, in and out, but we're close friends," she almost forgot that when she was with this two, the topic would always be her lack of a love life, or Yuki's forever short-lived romances that leads back to her lack of a love life.
"What about that one, you told us about him before, the one you're always with in pictures? When I started to notice that you were always with him in your pictures I thought that he was your boyfriend for sure," Yuki followed up.
"Ah, Tsubasa, no, like I told you before, he's not. He's my best friend, you should totally meet him, and I'll probably not survive even a day if I become his girlfriend. His legion of fangirls is already after my head as it is," she laughed lightly.
"This is why you can't get into a relationship, Misaki-chan, you always have a counterattack or you intimidate them. Do you plan to never have a boyfriend or see someone, at least?"
She bit her lip and fiddled with her spoon. "I am seeing someone right now," she carefully told them. The two's eyes and ears went big. They were totally in for a big shock.
"Why didn't you tell us that first?!" and the two started bombarding her with questions.
"He's not my boyfriend, we're still trying to get to know each other, we go out to eat sometimes…"
"You were seeing him since, when, last sem? Just how many months have passed already, Misaki-chan?" Rio said, with a matching drop of her palms on the table.
"That sure is one devoted guy," Yuki said. "What does he look like, by the way? Is he good looking? Like your two friends?"
She reluctantly showed them a picture on her phone. "Woah, he's good looking too, Misaki-chan. Why are you surrounded by good looking guys? He seems really kind too."
"He is," she smiled. The two looked at each other upon seeing that smile.
"Oh my gosh, looks like our Scary Queen will finally have a boyfriend. A miracle has happened!" The two continued to tease her as she did her best to switch to another topic, to no avail. "You should have told us earlier, you should let us meet him. Does he live near? Can you call him over right now?"
Haru lived in the city with a relative, a bit further from school than her. "He might be doing something right now. And as I said, we're not yet official or something like that…"
She went home thinking about it carefully. She knew there wouldn't be any problem if she called Haru on the spot. He was open to everything to get to know her. It was just her who felt awkward calling him up. What exactly it was that made her feel awkward about it, she couldn't pinpoint.
"Argh! I've got an international competition right around the corner and this is what I'm worrying about!" she ruffled her hair wildly in frustration. She hit her head a few more times before she straightened up and continued going in her building. As soon as she got in, she sat on her desk to face her work. "Preparing for a presentation in front of an international panel is much easier."
Before she knew it, they were already down to the last week before they fly to the U.S. They were leaving Monday evening, and it meant missing a whole week of classes.
Someone who doesn't like missing a class, Misaki crammed most of her requirements, even if they were not yet due, so that she doesn't have a lot to catch up on when she gets back. It was a Friday afternoon when she received a call from Haru.
"Hey, are you working?" "Yeah." "Can you spare an hour at most?"
She looked at the time. It was only 7 pm. She had already done a lot of work and studying. She could use a break. "Sure. Did you want to talk about something?"
"Meet me outside." Her eyes widened. She ran out the door and looked outside. She saw Haru waving at her from outside the building.
"What are you doing here?" she ran back inside and took her coat and keys, then ran out to meet him. "Did you have dinner already?"
"Yeah, I did. You're leaving on Monday, I thought I should see you before that," he smiled as he led her on a walk.
"I'm starting to get nervous," she told him.
"You prepared really hard for this, there's nothing to be nervous about. You'll do well, for sure," he assured her. "What time are you leaving on Monday?"
"Flight's at 6, we might leave around 3. We're not even attending class that day, just final presentations in front of the faculty."
"Okay, I'll see you, either before you leave the campus or lunch break," he promised. They stayed in silence after that, they were already at the park. After a while, Haru stood up first. "We should go home, you should rest."
She nodded and stood up too. They started walking back to her building. They were almost out of the park when Haru quietly took her hand, just like he did last time. This time he had a fuller and firmer hold. Again, however, she did not know how to feel.
They reached her place and Haru finally let go of her hand. "When you get back, let's be together more often, okay? You should go inside, I'll go now." She nodded and he turned around and started walking. He was already a couple of meters away when he turned around again. "I like you, Misaki, I really like you."
He smiled, and then quickly ran away. She would have laughed and found Haru cute, if she weren't currently confused. She quickly went up to her unit and threw herself on her bed.
"Nobara-chan," she dialed Nobara's number.
"Misaki-chan? What's up?" "Nobara-chan, why am I like this? Is there something wrong with me?" "Why? What happened?"
She turned to lie on her belly with her phone in her hand. "I was with Haru-kun earlier. We were walking and he held my hand and I know that's natural, but I just felt weird. I like being with Haru-kun and he's the first guy I liked and we've been seeing each other for quite a while now, but I don't know what's wrong with me."
"Maybe it's because it's your first time, Misaki-chan. You're not used to holding hands with guys and dating, you're finding it all weird because it's new. You can take your time, Misaki-chan, Haru-kun is a nice guy, he looks like he really likes you too, he'll wait for you," Nobara assured her.
They talked some more before she finally retired for the night. The following day, the gang decided to have a celebration lunch together before they went home for the weekend.
"You guys are leaving on Monday already. Are you nervous?" Megane asked.
"Of course we are. We're presenting in front of important international personalities, you know," she said.
"Not to mention we're presenting in full English. Kazu-sensei was really scary during English training," Kaname said. They all laughed. Kaname's only weak point was English. She didn't have a problem since she understood the sentence construction of the language, she understood her own sentences and only needed help with pronunciation. Kaname, on the other hand, had to cram English lessons and pronunciation practice so that he could understand his sentences and be able to deliver it better.
"You're good at delivering even the most utter nonsense, you'll have no problems even when you get lost on what you're saying," Tsubasa said. They all laughed at that.
All of them were going home for the weekend except Hayate who decided to stay behind, and Kaname, who was instead going over to his relative's house in the city where he'll meet his parents. Nobara, Hayate, and Kaname decided to walk with them to the train station.
"Oh, Tsubasa, look at that!" she pointed to a bakeshop. It was newly-added to the known food street, specializing on macarons.
"We just ate, may I remind you?" Tsubasa looked at her incredulously. WHACK!
"Guys, we're going to buy some to take home," she said to the others as she pulled Tsubasa by the hand into the shop. The others laughed as they followed them in, though she did not notice Nobara zero in on something else. "I'm going to buy a whole box for my mom and dad. I bet your mom and sister will love it too, Tsubasa. Ah, I want some to eat on the train too. But I'm on a saving goal for that dress I want to buy."
Tsubasa placed an arm over her shoulders and pulled her down from her half crouch to a full crouch in front of the macaron stands. "Go ahead, choose, let's get a box for ourselves."
Her eyes lit up at him and she readily chose the flavors for their snack box. "Tsubasa is such a savior," she said, her eyes feasting on the macaron box she held as they walked to the station.
Nobara pulled her so that they lagged behind the others. "Misaki-chan, about that topic we talked about. Do you think you can hold Kaname-kun's hand? Like if you're walking and you suddenly pull him to a store?"
"Kaname-kun? Yeah," she answered quickly. Until she realized what she just said. "Yeah? I guess?"
She tried imagining it. She never had to pull Kaname anywhere. Or maybe she did, but she did not remember ever having to hold or touch Kaname's hand. She tried thinking if she can naturally grab Kaname's hand. She and Kaname were truly close, but the thought of it felt awkward to her.
"What about a hug? To any of our guy friends," Nobara continued.
"No issues there. You know I'd give support to any of my friends," she smiled.
"Hmnn, okay, what about if you want to cry, you think you can go into the arms of any of them, aside from Tsubasa-kun?" now it was a hard question again. If Nobara didn't remove Tsubasa from the choices, she would have easily answered yes. But now that she thought about it, while she can go to any of them if she wanted to cry her eyes out, she didn't think she could rush into them for support just like she did with Tsubasa. She can see them giving a hand, patting her, but not a hug. "You're comfortable with Tsubasa-kun, Misaki-chan. Very comfortable."
"Isn't that because I am? I mean, we've been close and best of friends since second year," she replied.
Nobara opened her mouth to point out something but decided against it. She just gave her a smile. "Well, don't think too hard about it for now. You've got a competition ahead of you."
She shrugged her shoulders once but decided it was for the best. They arrived at the train station too. They said goodbye there and the rest of them who were travelling split up inside the station as they were taking different trains.
In the train, she had totally forgotten her conversation with Nobara due to the macarons.
"Well, I'm getting off here. I'd still see you on Monday, but I'm wishing you good luck now. You'll do well, Misaki, you'll do well," Tsubasa said to her when it was his stop.
She pulled him for an appreciative hug. "I wish you could be there." She realized how much support she gathered from Tsubasa when she saw him watching them during the national finals presentation. When they were teammates, no matter how nervous she is, she always gets an added dose of courage to speak up because she knew Tsubasa was there beside her. When they weren't, she gets that boost by looking at him from the audience first, before panning to everyone else.
"I'll try to die on Thursday so that I can send my ghost there to watch you," he joked. She pulled out laughing and he got off the train. "I'll see you on Monday."
Her homecoming was short. She went back to Tokyo the following day, Sunday, so that she could pack her bags for Monday. When she got out of the station near 11th street that Sunday afternoon, the sky was a bit dark, and she knew that something was looming above. She rushed to her apartment, and just as she got inside the building, a moderate rain shower poured. It was moderate, but it poured the whole night.
The following morning, however, the sky was different. It was bright and she could see the skies and clouds clearer today.
It was when she got to the campus that she realized that it was November 11 that day, 11-11, Pocky Day. She got to school early even though she and Kaname were not attending any of their classes that day. She met Haru that morning before she went inside the Architecture building.
"I asked to meet because I wanted to give you these already," he said, handing her a box of Strawberry Pocky. "I'm still going to see you off later, but I thought you'd like to eat some lest you get nervous while presenting in front of the admin."
"Oh yeah, it's Pocky Day. I completely forgot because I was nervous. Thanks, Haru-kun," she smiled at him appreciatively. Everyone who knew her knew that she loved Pocky.
They then split up, Haru went to the Engineering building and she went on her way to the Architecture building. She headed for her supposed first class where she saw the north dorms trio, early for class as usual. She had barely taken a step into the room when some of their male classmates approached her, various Pocky boxes in hand.
"Harada-san, good luck on the competition. And this is for you." Most of them were shy, and she realized they had crushes on her but too intimidated to approach her. While she did not want to use the word, she knew she had a small group of fanboys of her own too.
She thanked them and went to her chair. She saw that Anna and Nonoko both had boxes of Pocky too, Anna getting a real lot. "Imagine just how much Nobara-chan will have." They all laughed. Nobara was probably the most popular girl in their batch. Heck, both she and Anna have admirers from other batches too.
"Women are lucky, you have White Day and you have Pocky Day too," Megane said. They laughed as they offered some of their boxes to him.
"Misaki, you're already here," just then, the east dorms trio arrived too. Tsubasa excitedly went to his seat beside her. He took out something from his bag which turned out to be a bunch of Pocky boxes. "I don't know what's up but they were on sale in Shimoda. Mikan asked me to buy her a lot and I thought of you."
He then noticed Anna's desk. "I didn't know you liked Pocky a lot too, Anna-san." He then faced back to her, the bundle of Pocky boxes still on his hand. "Look, I got all your favorite flavors."
She didn't know what happened to her that morning. All she knew was that she felt a sudden jolt in her chest when Tsubasa presented the bundle to her. It vaguely registered to her that Tsubasa did not even realize that it was Pocky Day.
"It's Pocky Day, you idiot, obviously they would be on sale. And you did not even offer me one when you got to the dorm," Kaname's words flew by her head.
She froze on the spot, her eyes fixated on Tsubasa's hand. She slowly raised her vision to look at Tsubasa himself. How many Pocky boxes had she received that morning already? She remembered receiving one from Haru, which made her smile, and then several from her classmates, and then this one from Tsubasa.
It suddenly dawned on her how vastly different her reactions are, to Haru and Tsubasa. It wasn't the Pocky, or the fact that this one was all her favorite flavors. It was the fact that it was Tsubasa who was giving it to her.
"Hey, aren't you taking it?" still in a trance, she nodded and took the Pocky boxes, cradling it in her arms. Tsubasa then smiled at her. Did she ever mention that she had a very good looking best friend?
"Oh, no," were the only words that came out of her mouth. It's Tsubasa. It's Tsubasa she fell for. She likes Tsubasa.
And there, after lots of cutting and retyping and rearranging, this chapter is done. Actually, this chapter was the cause of the more than 2 months of hiatus before. This was one of the first scenes I thought of, when I first came up with the idea of this story. But getting here was harder than I thought. And there were a lot of changes too. Supposedly, this was going to happen on White Day, but due to other developments I made to the story, it had to be earlier, way earlier. I had to come up with a substitute for White Day, and then I thought of Pocky Day (I've got a big bias for Pocky as against Pepero, I hope everyone respects that, plus we're in Japan XD), problem solved.
And yes, it was really planned that it would take this long for them to fall for each other, or just realizing the fact. We're nearing the end by the way, we're down to the last arc, thank you to those who held on, despite my Hunter x Hunter-esque hiatus. See you on the next chapter!