Anyone still reading this fic? Mm. Writing is fun since I can pretty much create a world I can only dream about but reading is very fascinating as it introduces me to many more alternate realities that escapes me. So yeah, I've been reading everything I can get my hands on in addition to life.
And this is a three-chapters updates! With more to come~!
Pairings : Undecided
Warnings : Teikō Middle School Days.
Disclaimer : I own only the OCs.
Chapter 38 - Hindsight is twenty-per-twenty
The cleaning for the group of friends under the watchful eyes of the Student Council President went exceptionally in order that they were done with their task with one hour into lunch break. It was needless to say, credited to the redhead who was able to persuade (if not intimidate) the members to cooperate and work as they were supposed to with a smile that appeared too kind plastered the whole time.
A certain brunette knew well that her President would somehow be the only one capable of such difficult feat of making troublemakers of different kinds working together. One boy couldn't be bothered to move, the other one couldn't stop complaining which incited another one to get that one to shut up.
It was, to say the least, an interesting experience.
Yume didn't know it at the time, but this kind of moments would later be daily activities for her in the near future. For now though, she was only relieved that the cleaning was finished and that she had one hour to herself.
First thing first, she had to escape this group, because while she adored her bestfriend and her extension friend, she could only take so much of them before it turned suffocating.
Add to that, it had been a while since Yume had a time alone when she was at school, lately it was all spent with either Momoi and Aomine or the other boys with rainbow for hair colours.
'...When was the last time I visit that cherryblossom tree? Has it bloomed yet?' she couldn't help but wonder. Spring has long passed after all.
It was a place for her to seek a refuge from the noisy and overcrowded school, her only safe haven.
...Wait, that's not quite right.
Someone else did find out about the place and she said it was okay for him to keep coming. But it's not likely to bump into him today.
"Um, Sat-chan, there's someplace I have to be... so, uh... I'm leaving?"
The way Yume said it felt more like a question than it was a statement, although it should be the latter. Momoi eyed her friend contemplatively, on one hand, she would like to keep the brunette with her, on another, she knew how her friend appreciated her rare time of solitude.
Momoi had long known that the brunette wasn't comfortable with people and loud noises, but also that she was willing to tolerate certain degrees of those to socialise with others— she couldn't let her friend isolate herself now, could she? After that though, the girl would appeared exhausted, mentally, from what she could see, and needed a 'recharge'.
But the brunette being the hesitant girl she was, would never tell off Momoi for her efforts in getting her to socialise despite that. It was something they were both aware of but never mentioned.
That's why, seeing her friend hesitantly asking for her permission to seek out solace alone without her presence in a place somewhere, she couldn't help but smile at her.
"Mm! I'll see you later at lunch then, Yuu-chan. At the canteen?" the pinkette nodded.
The bright look she received from her friend, with no discontent detected, released the breath Yume didn't know she had been holding. She had been nervous. What if Momoi took it the wrong way? That she thought she didn't like the pinkette's company the whole time? She was afraid.
"...Mm, I'll see you at the canteen. Thank you, Sat-chan," she whispered with a small smile.
In response, Momoi merely smiled wider as she waved the retreating brunette. It wasn't until she was out of sight that she sighed. Now she had to look for someone to spend the time with. It used to be so easy before she met her bestfriend. She couldn't remember what she was doing before.
Maybe it was Dai-chan? Time to seek him out then. The boy had but fled the area soon as the cleaning was finished. But she was Momoi Satsuki and there's nothing she didn't know about that simple-minded childhood friend of hers.
Not even ten steps away from the pinkette, Yume already felt bad about her friend. She had to wonder if she was doing something wrong. Momoi did say it was okay, but was it really? Some words were hard to say, even more between friends. Allowing these words to accumulate might just be the first step to ruin a friendship.
Yume withheld a sigh as she let her feet led her, by now, she knew her way around the school well enough to not get lost. The clearing where the late-blooming cherryblossom tree was in received little to no visitor. Perhaps not even the school janitor went there. If so...
Her feet stopped and her face took on a troubled expression. Following her line of thoughts, then she might need to do some cleaning around said clearing, which meant Yume needed to bring a broom and scoop along with the plastic bag she already had on her person.
"There should be a storeroom nearby..." she mused, looking around the hallway to find the door near the dark corner. Through running her fingers on the walls, she found the small knob.
Yume carefully turned the knob, knowing that some students just threw the cleaning supplies without returning them in their proper places, thus causing all sorts of stuffs to fall when the door was opened. She readied one hand to catch any falling stuffs and as she pulled the door, several brooms and mops tipped forward.
Taking one broom and placing it outside the door, Yume moved the rest of them into the small room and putting them to the corner where other brooms and mops were located. She noted that despite the numbers of brooms here, there's only one scoop. Someone must have misplaced those scoops elsewhere.
Somehow, just the thought of such irresponsibility caused an image to pop in her head; of Akashi-kun with a disapproving expression as he silently stared down the sweating perpetrators to defeat. Yume would never want to be on the receiving end of that and would never wish it on someone else either. Too cruel.
Shaking her head to rid of the image, Yume exited the storeroom with a scoop in hand, closed the door behind her and collected the broom she had set aside before. With all three items ready, she set out towards the clearing where the late-blooming cherryblossom tree was at.
It was a short trip. Yume could already see the bushes obscuring the clearing. She rummaged her way through the bushes, expecting to see the cherryblossom tree. But it wasn't to be.
"Uh. Hi...?" the unexpected surprise lifted a hand as greeting.
Calm limegreen met sheepish golden-yellow and awkward words were exchanged.
"...Hello," the brunette responded, at a lost herself.
Kise Ryōta had that smile whenever he knew he was in trouble but unsure on how to proceed. Ordinary girls would have squealed and blushed as they persisted to tell him 'it's okay' and he had nothing to be worried of. The situation was somewhat reversed.
"I-I didn't skip cleaning duties!" he tried to convince the girl who walked on his phone conversation sometime ago.
A brief glance at the tattered boy assured Yume of the truth in his words. His white shirt was dirty and ruffled, as if a group of obstinate loansharks made him their target. He looked tired too, physically and mentally. She found his efforts in telling her he did his work a bit funny, if not endearing.
'Kise-kun is a nice person...' she smiled softly, an instinctive reaction that surprised the blonde. "I know," she said.
For a while, Kise was stunned. He tried to recall if he had ever received a smile from the brunette before and came up blank. He decided it was nice, to received a smile without ulterior motive. After that, neither of the two made any moves and both were fidgeting. Until he saw something that could help.
"That, you're going to sweep this place?" he pointed his finger at the broom and scoop the girl brought with her, hidden from view behind her.
Yume blinked once before realising what he was talking about, "O-Oh, yes. I was thinking... of cleaning. I-If you don't mind, of course...!" she tried to reassure him that she was definitely not shooing him.
"Then... Maybe I can help?" he offered sincerely, if a bit awkwardly. He used the place as a refugee, it's only natural to help. And maybe fix her impression of him.
Needless to say, he took her by surprise. This, the boy who was making a call to his manager (probably) just so he can avoid attending the mandatory school cleaning duty? And she could tell he wasn't fooling around or just saying it.
Thing was... she had only a pair of broom and scoop as she didn't expect extra assistance. Kise noticed this too and deciding not to further fluster the brunette, he offered to take one of them.
"I can take the scoop. Either is fine," he put his hand forward, palm upwards.
Yume stopped fidgeting, slightly thankful that he made the decision, "O-Okay. I'll have the broom, Kise-kun, please hold the scoop for me," she answered.
And as Yume took a step forward, knee lifted higher than usual to pass the bushes barricading the clearing, one hand holding the broom and the other a scoop, misfortune struck as her socks got caught up by the thorny branches of the bushes. She lost her balance but she was certain she could get her other foot firmly planted on the ground to avoid falling.
Kise didn't appear to agree. He leaped forward, ready to be her knight in shining armor, his hand quickly steadying her shoulder and the other touching her hand that was holding a broom. He meant to help.
"Eep!" the sudden contact caused the quiet girl to squeak, inwardly not wanting to admit she can make such embarrassing noise. She recoiled immediately, losing both the broom and her balance. Only the scoop was unharmed.
If only to save her from any more embarrassment, Yume managed to regain her equilibrium soon after. Unfortunately, the broom she had let go earlier wasn't of the same opinion: it bounced off the bushes and returned with vengeance as the handle struck her head just as she was steady, before falling flat on the ground.
"...Owie," she muttered, despairing the fact of how silly she must have appeared to the person before her. And it hurts too!
The first time they met, Yume bumped into him and dropped her panda pouch which he later delivered. Then she and Momoi crashed into his karaoke session. The third time, she again bumped into him and empty boxes came tumbling down on them. Always, she suffered some kind of humiliation in his presence. She wasn't normally this clumsy!
House chores, she did them splendidly by the time she entered primary school. Part-time jobs, she manned them better than most. Finance management, she had them neatly calculated and budgeted for the household. School, never was a problem before she was inducted into the Student Council and had a sadist as a President.
So why did Yume keep embarrassing herself through ridiculous circumstances that statistically should not happen? Lately, it happened more often than she liked it.
Silence filled the area as Yume bowed down her head to hide her reddening cheeks while Kise didn't know whether to be concerned and ask if she was okay or laugh at the absurdity of it all. In the end, he did a bit of both and sounded like he was choked when he was laughing. Yume was definitely blushing.
"S-Sorry. I-I just, huk...!" Kise grinned, trying to cover his laughter and failing. He did however, tried his best.
At the very least, the boy did bend down to pick up the broom the brunette dropped and offered it back to her, stifling his amusement as he did so. She quietly took it and gave him the scoop, still not talking or lifting her head.
After few moments had past, Kise, now calm, coughed into his hand, "Let's clean," he said decisively.
A deliberate nod from Yume, eyes anywhere but at him and the two students got to their cleaning. Very very quietly.
It should be known that Manai Yume was never a clumsy sort of person, she always made sure to double-check to avoid offending her employers as it showed in her paycheque she desperately need. Which was why she wholeheartedly believed that a being called Kise Ryōta should be avoided at all costs.
That said, one of her redeeming traits was her impeccable politeness. Yume was always aware of the position the other party held and knew that some words needed to be swallowed and worded differently. In this situation, their positions were mostly equal but still, she was polite.
So when the two students finally finished their cleaning, slowly, Yume extended her hand for the scoop Kise held. After he wordlessly gave it to her, she stayed put and he waited. For the first time since they started cleaning, the brunette lifted her gaze, soldering her resolve and meeting the confused golden pools.
It took a few tries but Yume eventually managed to get her jaw to work. "...D-Do you want to join us for l-lunch? I-It's not just me! My classmates, many of them, will be there too!"
Yume made sure she didn't let any thoughts of her certainly flustered expression she was wearing crossed her mind, none. Because if she did, then her whole face would burn and she would embarrass herself further. Just like that one time with a certain ravenette Captain.
"...Thanks. Maybe next time?" Kise offered a grin he appeared to be using often.
And Yume could see it. How the smile lines in his face looked so natural that it couldn't be genuine and his eyes...his eyes had that hopeful shine in them.
"Sorry, I'm going first, okay?" Kise shifted his posture so he was leaning on one leg, his hands in his pants' pockets. Then he turned and left.
That, was how Manai Yume procured guilt towards one Kise Ryōta. Because she was sure her reluctance showed on her face and his refusal was due to that. Even when he wanted to accept. For so long, Yume had worked hard and as earnest as she could that she had nothing to be ashamed of. Yet this one time, she felt like she just committed a crime.
It reminded Yume of the times she avoided a certain senpai because she wasn't sure how to face him without blushing nor stuttering. Or the one before that where Kuroko-kun had to confront her and tell her it was fine between them.
...Now that she had time to reflect on it, it appeared this wasn't the first time for awhile after all.
"...I shouldn't have applied for Teikō. Mm. I should have listened to obaa-chan and accepted Lobelia Girls' Academy's offer," Yume sighed, long and resigned as she imagined what life would be like had she gone to the all-girls school.
At that time, while the offer itself was good and not at all lacking compared to what Teikō could offer if she succeeded in meeting the requirements they asked for, there was no boys in Lobelia Academy and while she would have liked that, Yume knew she had to deal with boys, noises and anything she was adversed to sooner than later. So she made her choice.
Now though, Yume allowed her mind to wander. Manai Yume, a student of Lobelia Girls' Academy.
No such thing as forced into the Student Council. No blushing around people because she was less likely to make mistake. And perhaps, perhaps, a friend.
"...but not Sat-chan. Not Sat-chan..." Yume murmured, her tone of fond exasperation.
There was probably some like Sat-chan in Lobelia Academy but it wouldn't be Sat-chan. There wouldn't be the basket-baka Daiki-kun. And she dearly hoped there wouldn't be anyone like her President. The horror.
"Okay," she lightly slapped her cheeks, nodding, "I will just return this and go have lunch. Sat-chan is waiting." Not to mention, Shinkawa-san, Akimoto-san, Kumamoto-san and Shimizu-san.
It would be her first time having lunch with so many people.
...No. There were those times where she had lunches with the rainbow-gang. Many girls. Yeah, she should go with that. It would be her first time having lunch with so many girls.
This Cleaning Day turned out to be more that Yume had bargained for. Starting from those meetings she was chosen representative for, it all just went wrong. Then again, it began since she chose Teikō. So maybe much more earlier.
It's a small comfort that all the hassles would end when all the classrooms were cleaned and students were allowed home.
Very small comfort.
So yeah, how is it?
Reviews are very much appreciated!
Next time, It's Sunday! And it has never been sweeter! What's happening?
