Author's Note: Do you know I spat out my tea at 3am in the morning after researching online that Pisces/Scorpio and Pisces/Cancer have good compatibility? Like, the FUCK I DIDN'T PLAN THIS SHIT I JUST USED MY OWN SIGN BECAUSE IT'S EASIER TO WRITE FUCK.

Also, this chapter will be a bit more expositional to how Izumi reacts to her surroundings with the help of a certain someone~. PLEASE READ THE END FOR INFORMATION ON THE NEXT CHAPTER.


How To Text A Tsundere
by Newt Is My Shank


"Pudding!" Izumi said aloud with so much hope in her tone it was nearly laughable, "And the last one too!"

Immediately she rushed over to the counter to buy the last delectable looking pudding cup, eyes glittering with so much happiness that she barely even noticed when a large, muscular hand clamped down over the last pudding cup first before she did.

Izumi blinked in shock, "The pudding -"

"Oh, ojou-chan, what do we have here?"

Izumi looked up at the towering, bulking figure leaning over her, and she could slowly, very slowly, feel herself disintegrating into despair.

"Fuck."

The tall man frowned, unintentionally looming over her even more than he should be and forcing her to back up against the counter, color draining from whatever was left from her face (which was not that much to be fair). "Ojou-chan, that's really not nice. You could've told me if you wanted the pudding," and then the man pouted. Pouted, I tell you! It should be illegal for men to be able to pout (especially if it was a certain Hawk Eye player, that little bastard). And with that Izumi's shoulders relaxed and her mind calmed down long enough to carefully survey the young man in front of her.

Tall. Very tall. Brown hair with a shade nearer to grey and thick eyebrows. Izumi literally had to raise her chin all the way up to meet the young man's kindly grandfatherly eyes. Shit, now she felt bad. This was like middle school all over again, except their positions were reversed and she was pretty sure she didn't look as relaxing and sweet-looking as this young man in front of her.

"I am terribly sorry, I thought you were a giant and freaked the fuck out," Izumi wanted to slap herself, "Fuck, sorry. I say stupid shit sometimes. Please ignore everything I say."

"Ehehehe, ojou-chan you're pretty funny," the brown-haired man laughed heartily, sounding more and more like an old man every second she heard him speak, which of course made her feel much worse. Old people were cool! Izumi looked down in shame. She read somewhere in a book that first impressions were key, and she was pretty sure she already fucked it up already and the guy in front her was just trying to be nice.

"So ojou-chan, do you want the pudding?"

Izumi perked her head up attentively at him, eyes sparkling. "C-Can I?"

The brown-haired man grinned patiently at her, a hint of amusement in his kindly brown eyes. "Of course you can! On a few conditions of course."

.Conditions?

"First, you will let me pay for it," the man listed off with his fingers, "Second, you have to win it off me in a game of Koi-Koi. And third -"

The sweet-looking male smiled so dopily it reached all the way to his eyes, making him look like a very old but happy-to-please Golden Retriever, "You have to hang out with me!"

Beat.

Izumi blinked, "Those are some very interesting conditions, um -"

"Teppei. Kiyoshi Teppei," Kiyoshi introduced himself happily. Izumi wondered if he was on some sort of happiness inducing pill or LSD or something. It was seriously not possible for anyone to look this dopey and high on a daily basis, and Kiyoshi looked like he OD'ed on it, "You can call me Kiyoshi! What about you, ojou-chan?"

"A-Ayase Izumi," Izumi replied, "nice to meet you, K-Kiyoshi um…"

"I'm a second year, Ayase-chan. Are you in middle school?"

"I'm a first year in high school, Kiyoshi-senpai."

"Ah, I'm sorry. You look so young, Ayase-chan! You're like a little puppy!"

Izumi's cheeks flushed, again not being used to being fed compliments. Fuck, this was like the Takao situation all over again. She doubted that she'd ever get used to being complimented, even though Kiyoshi's "compliment" was slightly more dubious in nature and she had absolutely no idea how she shared similar physical attributes to a puppy. "T-Thank you, senpai…?"

Kiyoshi simply smiled - not like he ever stopped smiling for the entire exchange anyway - and went to the cashier to pay for the custard pudding cup before gesturing at the younger girl to follow him. "So Ayase-chan, what are you in for?" Kiyoshi asked, expertly maneuvering the blue-haired girl around with his hand placed securely on her lower back. Izumi made sure to hold on tightly to the hem of Kiyoshi's hospital gown - or shirt, technically - as he steered her into a busy, bustling hallway of the lower-class wards, careful not to injure her arm as they made it to Kiyoshi's ward.

"Oh, I fell off a building."

Kiyoshi stopped and looked down at her, eyes widening slightly, "Are you alright?"

"Ah, I am. It was just three floors, no big deal."

"Most people would not say that it wasn't a big deal, Ayase-chan," Kiyoshi said, pitch gone down an octave, but did not appear shocked or horrified which was a pleasant change for once, "How did you fall off a building, Ayase-chan?"

Izumi bowed politely as an elderly ward passed by them to greet Kiyoshi.

"I was running away from my teacher."

"And why were you running away from your teacher?"

"Because he was chasing me with blue cheese."

Kiyoshi sweatdropped as he led the two of them to a little recreation room, where there various tables and sofas set out for the comfort of the patients. Most of the people inhabiting the recreation room were mainly the elderly chatting and playing card games, and young families with kids playing around with the board games kept in an open book shelf near the reception counter.

"You'd have to a bit more specific than that, Ayase-chan."

"Hmm...I was late for school, and my sensei was a demon who wanted to chase me into his office while carrying blue cheese, which I deeply feared. This led to an epic showdown in the girl's bathroom, with him telling me to get out or he'd throw the cheese inside like a grenade. To which I decided to escape the battle by leaving through the overhead window in an attempt to scale the building," Izumi explained with as much emotion as a baked potato, "To which I had a tragic fall after attempting the climb from one ledge to another, due to my lack of physical agility. And now here I am." She raised her arms up to accentuate the fact that she "was here" and waved her injured wrist cast around as if she was waving the National Flag.

Kiyoshi simply stared at her and Izumi stared at him back. A few seconds passed before Kiyoshi's smile returned to his face and he started chuckling tiredly as he replayed the entire exchange in his head.

"You're quite a character, Ayase-chan!" Kiyoshi's smile suddenly had flowery aura around it, like he was pleased to hear her story, "I want to hear more of it. Now come sit down here! Here I'll pull a chair for you." Izumi couldn't help a blush as the very gentlemanly Kiyoshi pulled a chair out for her before he jogged to the receptionist desk and returned with a deck of Hanafuda cards. "Thank you for the cards, Oba-chan!" Kiyoshi called back to the elderly grandmotherly receptionist, who smiled in response to Kiyoshi's gentlemanly charms.

"Ho ho, anytime for you Teppei-kun! Next time you don't have to ask~."

Izumi blinked at the friendly exchange between the young Kiyoshi and the elderly receptionist, amazed by how polite and at the same time overwhelmingly charming he was regardless of age gap and gender. The total, polar opposite of her.

"You're very popular around here, Kiyoshi-senpai," Izumi stated, standing up so she could help prepare the Hanafuda cards.

"Well, I've been here for a pretty long time, Ayase-chan, enough time to talk to everyone in your ward," Kiyoshi said gaily, "Have you ever played Koi-Koi?"

"With my mom," Izumi said, "I've never lost after the first round though." With that a devious glint flashed in her eyes. Back with the goal in mind, she thought, I am going to win that pudding fair and square no matter what. "I will win that pudding from you for sure, Kiyoshi-senpai."

"Oh ho," Kiyoshi smirked deviously in return, "You shouldn't underestimate someone who has been taught by the best of the best, Ayase-chan."

"And who is that?"

Kiyoshi grinned with so much happiness and sweetness that something in Izumi nearly died from shock at the amount of visual diabetes she was receiving. "Matsuda-ojiisan from Ward 7~!"

Izumi deadpanned. "I see. Shall we start?"

Kiyoshi chuckled and fingered the top of his card deck in excitement, "Eager for your pudding, Ayase-chan?"

"You betcha."

"Hah~ I like your energy~! Koi Koi!"


"Ah, I won again."

"NO FUCKING WAY. I DEMAND A REMATCH."

"Maa maa Ayase-chan there's children here - "

"FUCK THEM. HOW? HOW DID YOU - "

"Hohoho~ I told you not to underestimate me, Ayase-chan. You got too ahead of yourself there. But it's okay, I'll give you your pudding anyway - "

"I REFUSE. I WILL WIN AGAINST YOU TO EARN MY PUDDING!"

"Oho~? I don't mind at all but I might not be so kind to you if you lose again, Ayase-chan~."

"I ASSURE YOU I WON'T FUCKING LOSE AGAIN, KIYOSHI-SENPAI."

"Haha, now that's the spirit~!"

Izumi yanked her hair in frustration, glaring at the cards laid out in front of her. Kiyoshi won with the yaku. Three times in a row. THREE TIMES. This was ridiculous. This entire situation was ridiculous. In fact, because of Izumi's angry ranting and Kiyoshi's buoyant laughter, they had attracted quite a tiny crowd that hung around just to watch the well-needed hospital entertainment, including an elderly geezer who was watching their game and chuckling amusedly at Kiyoshi's very intentional egging on.

"You need to relax, Ayase-chan. Getting all heated up will hinder your thought process," Kiyoshi advised calmly as they restarted the deck.

Izumi sighed exasperatedly but realized the older male was correct. She would never be able to win her pudding if she didn't calm down. All she technically had to do was act and think faster than Kiyoshi did so she could obtain the yaku combo. A random thought sprouted in her head.

"Forgive me for asking Kiyoshi-senpai, but was there any reason why you gave me those three conditions at the cafeteria just now?" Izumi inquired, "I technically could've just paid for the pudding."

"Hmmmm…." Kiyoshi mused, eyes shut in contemplation, "Well, now that wouldn't be any fun, wouldn't it?"

Izumi and the crowd sweatdropped. For some extremely convoluted, Kiyoshi-like reason, that made absolute, perfect sense. Kiyoshi chuckled heartily and leaned over to ruffle the younger girl's already messy hair. At the gesture Izumi's ears turned pink, not used to receiving this kind of physical affection from anyone aside from her mom and Takao. It felt very comforting to be patted by the tall boy, whose impressively large palm managed to cover her entire head.

"To be fair, you stuck out like a sore thumb, Ayase-chan. I just thought you might be interesting to hang around with," Kiyoshi explained, and at Izumi's questioning look, pointed to the oversized varsity jacket that she was wearing around her shoulders, "That's the Shuutoku Basketball Team's varsity jacket, isn't it Ayase-chan?"

"Yes," Izumi nodded, fingering the long sleeves of Takao's varsity jacket, already forgotten that she was wearing it while she was walking around the hospital, "It's my f-friend's. He left it here last night."

Kiyoshi's expression immediately became sly, "Oh~ you've got a boyfriend, Ayase-chan?"

Unbeknownst to Iron Heart, Izumi still had an extremely difficult time understanding when she was being teased with romantic implications. Considering all form of media she was exposed to were mostly historical texts, non-fiction and fiction books that had sparse romantic elements, textbooks, memes, and shonen manga (in fact she skimmed through pages/chapters she doubted were relevant to the plot eg. the main character professing that he was going to protect the female protagonist etc), her response to anything romance-related was pretty skewed, if not unusual and at times borderline comedic and prone to a huge misunderstanding.

"Well, of course he's my boy friend, Kiyoshi-senpai," Izumi said firmly, eyes flaring in determination at the fact that Takao was her friend, "I mean, he's a boy and my friend!"

Everyone who heard in on this declaration promptly fell over comedically. They felt bad for whoever was the owner of said Shuutoku jacket. Bless his soul if he were to ever catch feelings for the blue-haired girl.


Somewhere in Shuutoku, Takao sneezed.


"Hoho, I see," Kiyoshi broke out into a jovial chortle, "You like him a lot then?"

Izumi nodded shyly, bringing up the varsity jacket sleeves to hide her face with them, unintentionally revealing cute sweater paws, "Kazunari is extremely kind. He approached me first when no one else did and teases me all the time and is a very affectionate person. I also find him to be very observant and non judgemental, which is something I admire a lot about him. I truly appreciate his friendship." Her face went a little hot at the attentive stares she was receiving as she continued on, "He...always brings me snacks whenever he visits and is very playful. He's entertains me with a lot of stories and I like it when he laughs." At that moment of time, anyone with a working pair of eyes and a beating heart momentarily felt their heart burst in moe at the sight before them. It wasn't everyday that you saw a small teenage girl in a hospital wearing an oversized basketball varsity jacket and acting all shy and embarrassed over her supposed "boyfriend". This was practically first class romcom right here!

"Mou onee-san! You need to be more honest with your feelings!" a little kid no older than eight spoke up wisely, eliciting a few vigorous nods from the older audience, "Or else he'll give up on you!"

Give up on me? For some reason that proclamation didn't entirely settle well for Izumi, who was clearly horrified at the thought over losing Takao as her friend. Something upsetting crawled and twisted into the pit of her stomach.

"He's right, jou-chan, you gotta be more assertive you know? If you can't show it with your words then show it with your body!" a young man huffed indignantly, earning a whack across the head from his mother, "Don't be crude, Haru!"

Quickly enough the thought of winning the Hanafuda game had been forgotten and the conversation divulged into a crowd of people aggressively trying to give out romantic advice to Izumi, with Kiyoshi egging on the conversation and laughing at Izumi's focused expression as she did her best to absorb all of this useful information in order to keep her "boyfriend."

"Tell him how much you care - "

"Hugs, hand holding - "

"My advice to you jou-san is to use every opportunity you can to sit on his lap. Guys love that shit - OW!"

"Make sure to bring the point across that you truly appreciate what he's done for you - "

"I see, thank you everyone, this is very useful," Izumi bowed her head politely as gratitude for all the advice, "So should I apply these techniques for both of them?"

Beat.

Beat.

Beat.

"EEEEEEEHHHHHH? BOTH OF THEM?"

Izumi jumped a little in her seat in surprise, "Yes, of course. I have two male friends." Everyone in earshot of this stared at the girl in disbelief.

Kiyoshi hummed and leaned forward to ruffle her hair again to get her attention, "How is the second boy like, Ayase-chan? Is he the same as this Kazunari-kun?"


Somewhere in Shuutoku, Midorima sneezed. Clearly today was an odd day for Cancers.


"Well...not really. He's - " Ayase smiled and laughed into her hand at the thought of Midorima acting anything like Takao, "Shintarou is kind of a tsundere, I guess? He always tells me to eat my vegetables and loads me with a lot of information about medical stuff and advises me on how to take care of myself. He's a little eccentric and sounds somewhat arrogant and mean sometimes but I think he's actually a pretty nice person. He never comes to visit but he makes Kazunari deliver my lucky item to me everyday."

"I see. They're both very special to you, aren't they Ayase-chan?" Kiyoshi asked, placing several cards next to each other to make his combo.

"They are!" Izumi exclaimed happily, eyes brimming with delight and a dazzling smile on her face, "They're my first friends ever!"

First? Kiyoshi thought, slightly taken aback at hearing this but didn't let the emotion show on his face. He didn't think that such an eccentric, energetic girl would proclaim two guys in high school to be her "first friends" and no doubt he was a little curious about it. Thankfully, Izumi seemed to read his questioning look on that matter and started explaining while matching her own cards.

"I have a lot of difficulty making friends because I don't approach people and people don't like to approach me. I've been told that I look very serious and scary and I give off a bad vibe which could be the reason why," she managed to match 2 of her sets and grinned to herself triumphantly.

"Eeeehhh? I don't think you're scary at all, Ayase-chan," Kiyoshi said, smile still present but tone dipped to a little seriousness, "I think it's because you were smiling when I first saw you. And the face you made when I took your pudding." Izumi flushed all the way down to her neck and glared at Kiyoshi, who all in all just chuckled at the bluenette's attempt at sending him an annoyed look, "See? You don't look scary at all! Right everyone?"

"Onee-san was pretty scary when she walked in," the wise 8-year-old noted, "But when she smiles she's really pretty!"

Izumi's flush darkened even further and she resorted to shielding her face in her hands while everyone started playfully teasing and laughing at her shyness, amongst some reassurances that she only looked scary when she wasn't showing any emotion. Despite her initial embarrassment it truly did warm her chest at the thought that people didn't really find her that scary at all, and wondered if instead of showing no emotion all, if she had smiled brightly and sincerely on the first day of school would people have approached her more easily.

Izumi looked up admiringly at Kiyoshi, and noticed the scheming, coy look in his eyes and her jaw dropped open in shock, "You planned this, didn't you?"

Kiyoshi gave her an innocent look and grinned, "What plan? I didn't plan anything. You're just seeing things~"

The bluenette sweatdropped and was about to make a comeback when an elderly geezer tapped her on the shoulder and pointed to the cards, "Ojou-chan, you won."

Izumi's eyes went back onto her cards and practically glowed at the realization that she matched all her sets.

A noisy cheer went up for her victory as several people clapped her on the shoulder or offered their congratulations while Kiyoshi laughed at her bedazzled reaction, watching on as people of all different ages went up to tell Izumi good job for winning after four rounds of losing with a gentle smile. Even when the same old geezer who pointed out Izumi's win gave an exasperated "You lost to her on purpose, didn't you?" look to Kiyoshi while nobody was paying attention.

Kiyoshi laughed in return and shrugged. From the looks of it, Izumi was somewhat enjoying the praise and the positive feedback she so badly needed, despite her flustered reactions and her response to it all by stammering out her thanks to whoever went to congratulate her. It was quite a beautiful moment, seeing this young girl who clearly wasn't well versed in making friends receive praise and attention from people she barely even knew.

To be fair, Ayase-chan isn't really that scary, Kiyoshi contemplated while cleaning up the card deck, Even when she's not smiling, to me she doesn't really give off a bad vibe. But I can see why others think she does. During the entire exchange, the Uncrowned King had quietly surveyed the young girl's interactions while she was distracted. Much earlier when they had just arrived into the room, he had realized that many of the patients and staff were trying their best to avoid looking at Izumi. That was, until she started losing in Koi-Koi and showed more reaction that her serious face and petite stature implied and garnered everyone's curiosity.

Kiyoshi then wondered why he didn't feel that way when he first saw her in the cafeteria earlier, and came to the conclusion that Izumi didn't feel scary at all to him mostly because he'd faced much worse on court. What with the overwhelming presence and horror the Generation of Miracles imposed on other teams back in middle school...whoever faced that could definitely face a mildly serious blue-haired girl with one hell of a swearing streak.

" -senpai, Kiyoshi-senpai!"

Kiyoshi shook his head and snapped out of his funk only to see Izumi staring at him eagerly, pout on her face and hand extended to receive her prize.

"You owe me a pudding!"

Kiyoshi blinked and handed over the custard pudding, placing it on the small girl's palm with a sincere grin.

"Congratulations Ayase-chan~ guess you did win me after all!" Kiyoshi laughed as the girl raised the pudding cup into the air as if she was raising Simba from Lion King. At that moment, Izumi had a smile on her face that could literally give the Sun a run for its money and for those short, couple of seconds, she felt like she could take on the world.

That was...until Doctor Tsukasa came over and plucked the pudding cup right out of her hands.

And then karate chopped her directly on the head.

Everyone watched this entire exchange with shock as all color drained from the previously smiling girl's face as she slowly stared up at the doctor whose smile could literally send a whole fleet of soldiers running away from battle.

Instead of chastising her in front of such a big audience, he turned to them with a much more pleasant smile on his face and explained, "Everyone, I'm terribly sorry for ruining the mood, but Izumi-san has terrible lactose intolerance, and I would oblige if everyone could watch over her and make sure she doesn't try to take in anything that contains milk or lactose, for the sake of her swift recovery."

Izumi could literally feel herself wither away in despair as everyone present happily agreed to the doctor's wishes of keeping anything containing milk away from her as long as she was in this hospital, unintentionally plummeting her to her pudding-free doom. She could already feel Midorima aggressively agreeing with Doctor Tsukasa's words and calling her a fool and Takao laughing himself sick if she ever told them about this incident.

Doctor Tsukasa then tossed the pudding cup back to an amused Kiyoshi, who caught it and sent a half-apologetic smile to Izumi.

"Sorry Ayase-chan, looks like I'll have to hold onto this for awhile."

Izumi felt herself slump into her chair with a pout.

DAMMIT! FOILED AGAIN!


Much to Izumi's surprise, three o' clock had struck by fairly quickly as she wandered about - cough cough more like dragged around - with Kiyoshi while exploring all the wards, finding herself chatting way more than she usually did around the patients, including some of those who had offered her romantic advice earlier during the day. It was amazing how having a well-known and popular senpai walk around with you could do to your "friendliness factor", as whoever Kiyoshi approached, he made sure to introduce Izumi as well, much to her embarrassment. The elder boy's comforting and reassuring smile did wonders in helping Izumi curb her anxiety while she talked with her fellow patients, and by the time three o' clock had arrived she had made very solid acquaintances with the wise 8-year-old, the mildly perverted boy by the name of Haru, and several old aunties and uncles who couldn't help but pinch her cheeks and offer her rice crackers while she visited them at their beds.

"Ho ho, Teppei-kun, what happened to your other girlfriend? Not cheating aren't you?" questioned a sleazy uncle who had to cough five times before voicing his question out to the bashful Center.

"Maaa, Riko and I broke up a long time ago, ojii-san! Don't make Ayase-chan misunderstand~," Kiyoshi pouted at the hospitalized geezer, who barked back a hoarse laugh in return. Izumi looked up in curiosity at Kiyoshi, who the entire time had his hand placed safely on her upper back to prevent her from bumping into things accidentally and also from escaping (lmao).

("Kiyoshi-san, I would like for you to keep an eye on Izumi-san for me. She tends to walk right into trouble, from what I've heard," Doctor Tsukasa warned the Center, eye bags prominent to accentuate his point that this was likely not the first time Izumi had unintentionally caused herself trouble - and for her poor doctor, "On her first day here, I turned away for one second and next thing I knew she was playing with a syringe and trying to inject herself with it 'for the lols'. I have not been the same ever since.")

Indeed, Kiyoshi had not yet truly seen Izumi's "playful" side yet, and so far was only exposed to her "serious, learner" side, her "shy, inexperienced" side and her "F-bombs everywhere, unused to being teased" side. The Iron Heart, very used to handling asshole teammates, decided not to take any chances and made sure to keep her by his side at all costs - in fear of wrath from the mildly violent doctor.

"Kiyoshi-senpai, you used to date?"

Kiyoshi scratched his head in embarrassment, reminiscing the times where he used to date Riko, current Seirin coach, "Ahh, we did. We had a good run together, but we broke up sometime after I got my knee injury." Kiyoshi observed as Izumi stared down at his knee with a concerned expression on her face, "we're still very good friends, and she's the Coach of my basketball team! That's amazing, right?"

Izumi returned her stare onto him and mouth opened into an awed 'O'-shape before nodding eagerly.

"Holy shit, she's accomplished more than me than I had in my entire life," Izumi gushed, wondering if she'd ever get to meet this Wonder Woman in person. So far, Izumi had rarely ever interacted with a person that was the same sex as her, much less someone so close to her age group and was apparently this incredible. She hoped that she'd be able to be friends with this 'Riko' person if she ever got the opportunity to meet her.

Kiyoshi chuckled and patted the younger girl's hair in a somewhat similar way he did to Riko when she found out about his knee injury. "Don't say that about yourself, Ayase-chan. It'll take time, but all you need is courage, okay?"

Izumi beamed back at him with a little less uncertainty than she usually had, "Okay!"

Ding~! Ding~!

"Ah, you better answer that, they're probably from your boyfriends," Kiyoshi teased, knowing that the younger girl still didn't catch onto the romantic implication behind "boyfriends", still assuming it was "boy friends".


To: Ayase Izumi
From: Midorima Shintarou

Subject: the match


Ayase,

I see. I shall see you then. Please do not embarrass me by shouting my name constantly when you see me. I hear it enough from Takao despite the fact that we are on the same team. I advise you to arrive on time so as you do not get caught in the crowd, it would be misfortunate if you were to get foolishly injured again when you have been discharged so recently. I expect you to at least be chaperoned to the event, just for your own safety. It would be in your best interests if you had someone accompany you up to the stadium in case you stupidly manage to get yourself in trouble again, as always.

I am...excited to meet you as well. I predict that Oha-Asa is in our favor on that day. I do not wish for our meeting to be on bad terms. If you'd prefer it, you may wait for us outside the locker room after the match is finished or inform us on your whereabouts beforehand. Please do not idiotically rush yourself by trying to beat the crowd while your wrist is still injured.

- Shintarou


To: Ayase Izumi
From: Takao Kazunari

Subject: ✿*∗˵╰༼✪ᗜ✪༽╯˵∗*✿


IZU-CHAAAAAAAAAN!

Coach is cutting practice short for us to rest up so we're supposed to go back soon~! Ah but I can't visit you for too long~! Got a date with Shin-chan! (╭ರᴥ•́) I'm really sorry Izu-chan~! But I hope you had a lot of good luck today since you have your lucky item on you! I'll come by the hospital later to take my jacket back~!

(Phrase your words better Izu-chan you nearly got me killed today┌(˵༎ຶ ل͟ ༎ຶ˵)┐I nearly died by Shin-chan!)

We can't wait for you to get discharged, Izumi-chan! We can go dinner, karaoke, lucky item hunting, oh but Shin-chan says we can't do any of that until review tests are over, which is in sooooo looooooong! It's not like we can even fail them anyway, but Shin-chan is just being Shin-chan, he says he wants to "teach you a lesson in who's better in academics", so you better prove him wrong, Izu-chan! I got my bets on you for once! Eheh but don't tell Shin-chan that he'll get all moody and annoyed with me and I'll never hear the end of it ᕕ 〵ง.

Can't wait to see you, Izu-chan!

XOXOXOXO

- Kazu °˖* ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ


Kiyoshi hummed as he read the emails over her shoulder, watching her smile at each and every line the two boys had sent her. From his own observation, Izumi tended to chuckle under her breath while reading Midorima's email, scoffing at the tsundere-like tone in the message before smiling with so much affection that it baffled Kiyoshi to learn that she had yet to meet the boy in real life yet as of date. And her affection wasn't the obsessive, love-at-first-sight type of affection either - Izumi truly liked and enjoyed Midorima's interactions slash banter and Kiyoshi could tell that she held the tsundere boy in very high regard. It was such a puzzling thing for even Kiyoshi to comprehend. Even after Izumi showed him some of the messages Midorima had sent her over the past weeks, which mostly contained insults, concern and some form of interest in whatever topic Izumi decided to rant about and even a tiny hint of playfulness.

In a not-so-different comparison to Takao, where Izumi simply smiled and giggled the whole way through despite noticing that he would not be able to visit her for very long. Her energy spiked a ton when she read the amount of the things Takao was hinting that they could do once they discharged. She even tugged Kiyoshi's shirt eagerly while bouncing slightly up and down when she recited that specific line for him, clearly overjoyed at the prospect of hanging out with friends.

Ayase-chan...what kind of lonely life have you been living so far to be this excited?

"Heh, as if Shintarou will beat me in academics! I'm a introverted hermit for a reason!" Izumi proclaimed proudly to herself, earning a confused smile and a sweatdrop from the Center. Haha, that's an interesting thing to be proud of, Ayase-chan…

At the last line Izumi couldn't help but squeeze the phone to her chest with the most intense look of excitement Kiyoshi had ever seen on her face during the past three hours of spending time with her. He realized that in comparison to her reaction to Midorima's messages, Izumi was purely exhilarated and balls-to-the-walls high on drugs when she was reading Takao's. The Iron Heart assumed this was more intensified when they were together in person, or possibly not? She did mention that Takao was very affectionate, so it was under his assumption that her affection for Takao bordered more on the physical and emotional side. It really did that Izumi did really care for both of them equally with no hint of romantic affection anywhere, and Kiyoshi humorously wondered if she'd even understand the concept of flirting if it hit her in the face one day..

Hmm...probably for Izumi-chan...it'd probably take a lot of time. And patience~!

Ehhhhh, Kiyoshi sighed internally as he watched the bluenette frantically type out a friendzied reply, still hopping up and down from her position, At least that girl has two very intimidating bodyguards to prevent her from getting into trouble when that happens~!


To: Midorima Shintarou
From: Ayase Izumi

Subject: Re: the match


Shintarou!

MOUUUU I CAN'T BE HELPED IF I WANT TO CHEER YOU GUYS ON OKAY! And it won't be just you, you tsundere! I'll cheer on Kazunari too! With all my heart! I'll break my vocal chords if I have to even though I doubt that is physically possible. I'll make sure to scream your name loud and clear so you'll get embarrassed and then I'll find out who you are!

Heheh, I wanna meet you too, Shintarou! It feels like I've known you for fucking years but it's not and I wanna talk about dumb shit with you like your favorite politician as of date, what do you wanna be when you grow up, what kind of cake you'd like for your birthday. And like weird shit too like if you've watched Harry Potter, or if you've read anything good lately, and the story of the rickshaw! Kazunari keeps telling me that you should be the one to tell it and I've been fucking DEAD to know how the fuck did you guys get a fucking rickshaw. OKAY, MOST IMPORTANTLY, THE RICKSHAW. LMAO. Like? Did you find it? Did you BUY it? STEAL IT? Ohoho, the possibilities are endless.

And no, I won't injure myself again lmao you got no faith in me Shintarou I'm wounded. (;´༎ຶД༎ຶ`) Heheh I won't interrupt you guys at practice now~!

- Izumi ᕕ( ՞ ᗜ ՞ )ᕗ


To: Takao Kazunari
From: Ayase Izumi

Subject: Re: ✿*∗˵╰༼✪ᗜ✪༽╯˵∗*✿


Kazunari,

! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! HAVE FUN ON YOUR DATE! AND YES TO KARAOKE AND DINNER AND EVERYTHING YOU GUYS WANNA DO EVEN IF IT'S STUDYING ALL DAY! MY MOM MAKES BOMB SNACKS AND SHE'LL LOVE TO HAVE YOU GUYS OVER. And I assure you your bet won't be in sacrifice, Kazunari! I'll do my ab~solute best.

Also...sorry for getting you killed? I don't really know why though! See you later~! Go back to practice!

(And yes, I had a lot of fun today with my lucky item! Thank you for leaving it here, Kazunari~! I'm gonna hug you really hard when you get here, so watch out! c( ⁰ 〰 ⁰ )੭)

- Izumi


"I think there is something wrong with our first-year duo…" Shuutoku's captain Ootsubo pointed up with a deadpan look as he gestured over to the first year starters who were looking at their phones. For one, Midorima was actually fucking smiling at it, as if that wasn't fucking freaky enough. Like, not an "evil, slightly dubious intentions, competitive" smile but a small, sincere smile smile that was actually so adorable the third-years were honestly kind of taken aback to see it. And second, Takao was practically fist bumping into the air, complete with a Mt. Fuji atmospheric background and a literal Hawk sitting on his shoulder to match while yelling, "CUUUUTE!"

It was sickening.

"Kimura, give me a pineapple, I'm going to knock whatever the fuck is fogging up their brains with it."

Kimura sighed. "And for the last time, I don't have one."


To be fair, I don't exactly like this chapter a lot, so it's probably gonna be rewritten~! Should I even continue with this fic though? While I love writing for it it's a little discouraging to get sparse feedback from it. But I shall try.

ALSO FAIR WARNING! The next chapter will be OMAKES/Side Stories. There will be MidoTaka elements for all you MidoTaka lovers as well as Takao basically um, dying. At some times. Okay maybe a lot.

*Koi-Koi: A card game using Hanafuda cards. It also means "come on!"