Suzumi Pov

'Well, this is where we separate.' Hanamaki-san said with a smile and a wave.

Matsukawa-san simply nodded, then yawned. Oikawa and I bid our goodbyes to them and went left, while the couple continued walking down the main road.

The sun had only just barely started to set. Summertime meant long days and short nights after all. This didn't deter Oikawa in the slightest though, claiming it was a gentleman's duty to escort a lady home. I'd been pretty excited about this, always happy to have one on one time with the pretty setter. However, somehow one escort had turned into three at the blink of an eye. I didn't really mind, you know, if you ignore the teasing at every turn. Both Hanamaki-san and Matsukawa-san seemed to have made it their personal mission to remind us of every single embarrassing thing we've ever done. Thankfully for me, but unfortunately for Oikawa, the two troublemakers knew the brunet for a lot longer than me, so we spent most of our time together talking about Oikawa.

Now you might be wondering: Where's Iwaizumi-san? Turns out, Chi-chan invited him to stay over. This might come as a surprise to you, but the gruff ace had absolutely no objections to this idea. He was also the one that gently and nicely asked me to leave a little early, while he basically kicked the other three out without mercy. I thought it was adorable. Maybe someday, someone would be head over heals for me like Iwaizumi-san was for Chi-chan.

I sighed with satisfaction. The day had past all too quickly in my opinion. Even the hours of studying had flown by. Especially after the little 'encouragement' Chi-chan had given me. I rubbed my forehead at the memory.

'Still hurts?' The setter asked. This broke me out of my thoughts and I looked up at him with a sheepish smile.

'Kinda.' I said. We'd stopped walking and I saw that while I was lost in thought, Oikawa had navigated us to my house.

'Why do you ask? Will you kiss it better for me?' I asked teasingly, not even thinking about the meaning besides those words.

His motions were fluid as he placed both hands on my cheeks, like it was natural. He tilted my head slightly upward and placed a soft, chaste kiss on my forehead.

The only things I could register in my mind were the feeling of my heart skipping a beat and the thought that his lips really were incredibly soft.

He pulled back and swiftly released my cheeks.

'Feel better?' Oikawa asked sincerely.

'O- oh, um yeah, yup. No pain to be felt.' I stuttered. 'Well, thanks for walking me home, really appreciate it!'

Impulsively, I gave him a quick hug before basically sprinting into the house. When I shut the door, I leaned against it and slid down to the floor. I touched my forehead tentatively, while I placed my other hand over my heart, which was beating quite a few beats faster than usual.

'That was… not what I was expecting him to do.' I whispered. 'Why did I say that?'

Oikawa Pov

I watched as the blonde all but ran inside and close the door. I wanted to smash my head into a brick wall, real hard. Then I realized that that wouldn't help me, like at all, so instead I opted to burying my face in my hands with a groan.

'Taking it slow huh?' I muttered, 'Not doing anything rash… huh? God Tooru, could you be any more stupid?'

I just couldn't help myself, I wasn't going to pass up an opportunity to kiss her. Besides, I tried to rationalize, she didn't seem to totally hate it. I mean, compared to the last time, where she broke down crying, this was a vast improvement. I would take cute, blushing, stammering Suzumi over crying, angry, disappointed Suzumi any day of the week.

'No use beating myself up over this now.' I sighed and started making my way home.

I couldn't change anything now, so if she wanted to beat me up over this or something, she could.

So, good news, bad news. Good news first, because I'm an optimist like that.

Suzumi did not want to beat me up for last night's kiss. It was the next day and the two of us were walking towards school. More specifically, the spot where the six of us will meet up and walk the last bit of the way to school together. All according to plan. Don't worry, I'll explain the plan sometime in the future.

The blonde seemed to be unaffected by the whole event, which was both relieving and the slightest bit disappointing. That said, when I observed the girl beside with scrutinizing eye and a bit of imagination, I could detect a hint of a blush. That was good enough for me, for now.

Now onto the bad news, Suzumi is planning on joining a club. I don't really mind that in and of itself, it's the specific club she wants to join.

'A club?' I repeated.

She nodded vigorously.

'The volleyball club is going to get more and more busy after tests are over right? I know you promised me you wouldn't let me be lonely, but after giving that some thought I feel like I've made an unreasonable request. You'll be working your butt off to beat Shiratorizawa and I want to support that. But while you and the others are busy, I want something fun to do as well.' She said thoughtfully.

'You sure? You were pretty upset and scared about being alone a few weeks ago, what changed?' I asked curiously. I was going to uphold that promise anyway, but still.

She hummed, 'Not a lot, I'm still worried about it, but I suppose I've got a bit of a different mindset now. I could depend on you to fix everything, but why not take charge myself? Joining a club seemed like a great way to do that.' She said and grinned.

'I agree.' I said, smiling at her enthusiasm, 'Got any clubs in mind?'

'Yup, one in particular actually. The movie club.'

'I thought that maybe you'd like the literature club or something.'

'Sure, I like books, but I only like some very particular genres, the rest is just kinda 'meh' to me.'

'That's fair. So why the movie club?'

'Well, there's this guy I've talked to a few times. A third year, actually, he said he's in the same class as you. He's helped me clean up after class a few times, recently too. When I said I was looking for a club to join, he told me I should come check out the movie club sometime!'

A sense of dread filled me, because a very particular guy came to mind with that description. A guy that sure would love to have the blonde in close proximity to him.

'He… wouldn't happen to be called Onodera… right?'

'You got it, that's the one!'

Dang it. I took in a deep breath, told Suzumi she should totally go for it, before desperately trying to remember who else was in the movie club. Maybe I could bribe them into making sure those two would stay as far apart as possible.

Poor Oikawa, things just won't go the way he wants them to. What'll happen next? Find out next week!

My many thanks for the wonderful review on the last chapter, you're just the sweetest!

I hope you all have an amazing week~ See you next Sunday!