falling into step

by mew-tsubaki

Watari, responsible and content and comfortable in all his current roles, doesn't find his third and final year of high school lacking. But a rekindled friendship shows him that it's still possible to miss the good things around you even when you're not looking for them. *A love story where the friendship is just as important as the romance; eventual Matsuwata.

8. Some Kind of Envy, Jealousy

falling into step

A Haikyuu! fanfic

by mew-tsubaki

- ^-^3

Chapter 8: Some Kind of Envy, Jealousy

While June plodded on, Watari only read one other of the short stories. Practice and classes were like normal, but studying became a priority, especially with the oppressive July sun beating down on everyone as a reminder of the beating they'd take if they didn't dedicate time to exam preparations.

Watari would much rather read more and have the discussions with Matsukawa that followed. That first story he'd read at Matsukawa's house, of angels falling in love, had been short, but it'd left an impression on him. Matsukawa had been the same way when he'd first read it, he'd told Watari, because the descriptions were vague and yet the story painted such a clear image in the reader's mind. The romance of the story took a backseat half the time to the fantasy, but both teens found they enjoyed that most about the tale.

"I could do with flying away myself," Watari uncharacteristically whined one Thursday evening spent in—guess where?—the back of the delivery truck. He kept the ice-cold water bottle Matsukawa had given him this time against the back of his neck while Matsukawa drank his own.

"Running away from problems doesn't solve things, it only delays them," the older boy pointed out. "There will be plenty of time to read during your break anyway."

"I know…" And the shorter teen did. He just—frankly, fraternizing with his former senpai couldn't have happened at a worse time, because even Watari could understand wanting to play in lieu of doing academics.

He felt Matsukawa's eyes on him, a sensation he was getting used to since that often happened when Watari went over to his house on Sundays. He understood it when Watari read while they were in Matsukawa's room, with Matsukawa waiting for him to be done, but it made less sense when they watched TV or a movie together since their attention was supposed to be on the screen, or when Watari checked a game guide for Matsukawa since the libero was crap at being backup in a first-person shooter but could look up anything in a flash.

Watari lifted his head, warm gray eyes meeting warm black ones. "I guess, then, the next thing I read when we hang will be my notes."

Matsukawa chuckled as if to agree, a quiet "That's probably for the best" on his lips. He blinked then. "Or."

"Or?"

"I could quiz you. I wasn't in the college prep class, but the material's mostly the same."

The shaven-haired boy broke into a wide grin and finally took a sip of his drink. His grin lessened the more impish Matsukawa looked. "…what?"

"I was thinking. If you do well on your first-term finals. Do you want a reward?"

The bottle slipped a fraction in Watari's grip, but luckily the water didn't splash much on him, only dribbling down his chin some—his chin and lip, which by now were injury-free, no bruises in sight. "Like what?" he asked, but he hoped his voice was steady. The moment the question had left Matsukawa's mouth, Watari's heart had pounded in his chest. He thought he kind of understood why, since he anticipated Matsukawa messing with him again. But, even figuring that to be the reason, Watari had a hard time getting his pulse under control. Damn!

Matsukawa snickered. "Maybe a movie of your choosing. Or someplace you want to eat."

At last, his pulse returned to normal. "Matsukawa-san… There isn't much playing right now. And you almost always treat me when we're out or offer snacks when I'm over."

The older boy stroked his chin thoughtfully, and Watari found it interesting, how the slant of Matsukawa's eyes was flatter when he was thinking. "You have said I should eat better…"

"Hmm?"

"I could cook you lunch next time you're over."

Watari was skeptical. Considering what Matsukawa tended to eat… "You cook?"

"I can survive on my own when my family's at the shop almost 'round the clock, Watari," he replied dryly.

Watari snickered this time. "All right. You can prove yourself then."

"If you want something else, then let me know."

"No, no, that's fine."

"Watari." Matsukawa waited for his friend to look at him, and he patted the smaller boy's head. "There are times to be selfish. That's okay, you know."

For a second, Watari thought his pulse had quickened again, but the feeling was gone as fast as it'd come. He pulled Matsukawa's hand off him by dragging the older teen's wrist away—ah, Matsukawa's wrists were so much thicker than his own—and placed the hand on the bed of the truck, patting it primly. "No, I know. I'd like that lunch, honest."

Matsukawa stared at him for a second before nodding, accepting that response. His eyes then flitted to the sky, and he sighed. "You should probably get home… C'mon, I'll drive you."

Considering the heat, Watari didn't object. This time the drive was relatively quiet as they enjoyed freezing with the air conditioner blasting them, and they arrived at Watari's house in fairly short order. Watari hopped out, but he called into the cab before he closed the door, "See you Sunday, Matsukawa-san?"

"Only if you bring your notes."

Watari laughed. "Will do." Then he closed the door and went around the front of the vehicle to reach the front gate. But he reached the front door and realized a subtle change in their routine, and he happily waved to Matsukawa since the alumnus had waited to make sure he got inside this time.

Matsukawa gave the usual two-fingered salute. Then he pulled away, though the rumble of the truck's engine seemed, to Watari's ears, to echo in the violet-sky night, even once it was long out of view.

- ^-^3

Yahaba yawned loudly after collecting the printouts about academic standing at the end of the club meeting that weekend. "Half days do me in…," he mumbled to his vice-captain, and he yawned again.

"Stop that…!" Watari groused, but he, too, yawned. He envied foreign countries with school systems that ended the school week on Friday instead of on Saturday. "We've got the last week of the semester off from club because of exams. The last thing I need is a nap—same goes for you. Keep your nose in your books." But, as he said it, it fell on deaf ears, for Yahaba was checking his messages on their way back into the school building.

"Yes, yes, Mother…"

Watari grunted.

But Yahaba's eyes lit up. "Well, I can tell you that the last thing on my mind is napping." He beamed. "Hanamaki-san's free right now."

"Really? Right now?"

Yahaba settled him with a blank stare before breaking into another smile, the kind that put Watari in mind of a scheming hyena. "Actually, you should come with me."

Oh, for crying out loud… Watari thought Matsukawa had been joking about Yahaba ditching him, now that Watari knew the setter's secret. But being asked to be a third wheel? He held up a hand to stop his friend right there. "Um, no. No way in hell."

"Just come with me," Yahaba bitched, and he pushed Watari forward. They paused at the faculty room to drop off the printouts, and then Yahaba got to pushing Watari out of the school, as well.

They didn't head for Yahaba's house, though Watari wondered if that were even a possibility for the couple. Recalling Matsukawa's words about people not embracing Yahaba and Hanamaki's relationship, Watari wondered if either boy's family knew about them. Personally, he thought such revelations invited trouble, if Matsukawa wasn't exaggerating. Agh. These kinds of things made Watari realize how far out of his depth he was….

They took a bus, and Watari had an inkling about their destination when they passed the turnoff for downtown. Just a few minutes later, they got off on a now-familiar street, and Watari had a bounce in his step beside Yahaba as they entered the store with the mustard yellow sign.

Hanamaki's round head popped up around a tissue display inside, and he waved exuberantly. "Oi! Yahaba! Watari!"

"Pipe down, will you?!" Matsukawa snapped from behind the counter. He wore a white shop apron with "Sekitan Apothecary" across the chest over a prim and proper green button-up, and he looked especially worn-out. He pouted when he saw Watari behind Yahaba.

"Long day already, Matsukawa-san?" Yahaba asked. He pulled up on Hanamaki's side, but there was no kiss or hug. Watari wasn't sure what he'd been expecting. Then he glimpsed Hanamaki slipping his hand into the setter's, and their body language shifted, relaxed and gravitating towards one another. Hanamaki's unbridled excitement toned down, too, so he looked to be at peace. Ah. They really did care for each other.

Hanamaki snickered, bringing Watari back to the present. "Nope," he told the two third years. "His shift just started, so this guy's still got a whole six hours ahead of him." Hanamaki shrugged, as if he knew better than to get a job. "But he still hasn't learned not to stay up past two in the morning, running a campaign."

Watari, who only had puzzle games on his desktop, was glad he'd gotten to watch Matsukawa play his videogames, otherwise he'd be utterly lost in the lingo. But that wasn't what got his attention. "Really? Two in the morning, Matsukawa-san?" he chided.

The black-haired teen heaved a large sigh and dropped his head against the counter. "I know, I know," he mumbled, "but it's his fault." He pointed an angry finger at Hanamaki, who merely guffawed at the whole scenario.

"I feel your pain," Yahaba told Matsukawa. Hanamaki yelped as Yahaba pinched his hand as punishment. "He tells you to stay awake, and then he texts me in the middle of the night, sleep-deprived and delirious."

"You've never ignored a single message, though," Hanamaki purred, and his tone and frankness set the rest of them on edge. Watari felt as red as Yahaba turned, and even Matsukawa groaned against the counter and brought his arms up to cover his ears so as not to hear anything else completely mortifying.

"You'll have to excuse us," Yahaba garbled with a fake laugh to the other two. He turned Hanamaki around and marched him out of the store, not wholly unlike how he'd pushed Watari here in the first place. But of course there was a different air about them than there was around Yahaba and Watari.

The libero followed them with his eyes and then approached the counter. He stifled a laugh, seeing Matsukawa hiding. "You know, Hanamaki-san isn't very different from what I already knew of him."

"Yeah…" Matsukawa slowly raised his head, calmer now. He met Watari's eyes. "He's just more Hanamaki than ever, now that he has someone else to show off in front of."

"He shows Yahaba off?"

"Oh, yeah. After graduation, we grads had a party just for us, right? Just us, no parents, no faculty, all food and fun—mostly Oikawa's treat—and Hanamaki, he…" He leaned his elbows on the counter and clasped his hands. "That idiot invited poor Yahaba, who didn't realize he'd be seeing more than just Hanamaki at the time, and then Yahaba arrived, frozen in the doorway, and Hanamaki put his hands on his shoulders and announced they were dating, and Yahaba—well, I think he almost broke up with Hanamaki on the spot." Serious though his words were, he was grinning, and Watari grinned, too, since the mental image was too unreal not to laugh at it.

"I can see for myself that that didn't happen," the shaven-haired boy interjected.

Matsukawa shook his head. "Nope. Oikawa and Yuda squealed like girls over it. Shido and I went back to eating, 'cause I knew and Shido had figured it out. Sawauchi was frozen like Yahaba, hearing that, and Iwaizumi looked really disgusted."

Watari snapped to attention. "What?!"

"Oh, not about them being gay. Iwaizumi's just bad at handling romance, that's all," Matsukawa explained.

"Oh. That sounds more like the Iwaizumi-san I remember."

Matsukawa smiled and nodded. "Yeah… Poor guy. Can't believe he's known Oikawa for over a decade…"

"It's nice, though, when you think about it. Being close to someone like that for so long," he added at those raised eyebrows.

A yelp outside the shop reached their ears. Through the storefront's window, they could see Yahaba scowling at Hanamaki, but Hanamaki only seemed more delighted by this fact. Hanamaki's face neared his, and Yahaba's anger dissipated—

"Ah," Watari coughed, and he noted he was the only one to look away right before they kissed. He admired how Matsukawa watched openly, calmly and with his cheek cupped in his palm.

The graduate sighed. He was used to this, so he gripped Watari's shoulder. "Don't worry. You'll come to ignore them soon enough."

Watari nodded dumbly. "Do they come here a lot?" As he asked, he realized that wasn't even what he cared about. Despite being turned away several times before, he finally had the chance to see the other place that so often occupied Matsukawa's time. It seemed like any other drugstore, especially with a few convenience goods sold towards the front. It was the counter that made the difference, and Watari looked behind Matsukawa to see a lot of unusual equipment and containers.

"Hanamaki bugs me almost every Saturday, though Yahaba's pretty good and tries to get Hanamaki to change their meeting location." He followed Watari's line of sight behind him and smiled just a little, perhaps slightly discomfited. "…it really is an apothecary," he stated.

"I'm trying to picture you grinding ingredients and—well, I can't."

Matsukawa shrugged it off. "Same here. My parents are meeting with associates right now, and it's my sister's break, so I'm just managing things, but, aside from stocking, I'm out of my element here." He laughed at himself and scratched the back of his head, but he glanced warily at Watari. "There's nothing to see or do here, Watari…"

His sheepishness brought a smile to Watari's face. "You're here, though. That's something to see." He laughed softly when Matsukawa pouted again.

"Sorry to ruin the good mood," Yahaba said without announcing himself as he came up the aisle. He was frowning and clutching his cellphone quite tightly, and Hanamaki wore a particularly nasty expression behind him. The captain faced Watari. "Irihata-sensei called. Not that I wasn't expecting it, but Kyoutani's grades are crap. Ueno could use some help, too. I thought I'd call up Hoshimura and we'd schedule that ambush you and I were talking about over a month ago."

Watari blinked. He'd forgotten about that. But it couldn't be helped. He gave Matsukawa a brief but halfhearted smile. "Duty calls. I'll text you later, though, Matsukawa-san."

Matsukawa nodded, and Watari left with Yahaba, feeling eyes on the back of his head again. Yet this time the libero looked back, stunned to find Hanamaki eyeing him, jealousy evident in his tawny eyes.

Yahaba did a double-take, and he bowed his head to Watari and told him to wait. The setter jogged back to his fussy boyfriend and placed a hand on the back of his neck, pulling him in close and saying something only to him. Whatever it was placated Hanamaki, so Yahaba re-joined his vice-captain, and they hurried to catch the bus as it just took off.

"Just when I thought the day was over…," the brunet griped as they dropped into the only free seats available, up near the door.

"Hanamaki-san seemed…"

"Oh, he was pissed. Saturdays are for him," Yahaba said. "As soon as school's out or extra practice is over, when we have it, Saturdays are for him." He shook his head and chewed on his lower lip. "I reminded him that small sacrifices now pay off bigtime later."

"Still. Did he have to look at me as though I was the bad guy? I didn't pull you away."

"I know that. He knows that. So I doubt that's it."

How he'd worded it— "Then it's something else?"

Yahaba's eyes widened, realizing how that sounded, and he scoffed and waved Watari's worries away. "No, no. I mean, I doubt it's anything. Hanamaki-san's a kid sometimes, I told you that before. Honest, Watari," he finished, effectively ending the conversation there.

Watari decided to believe him, though he kept replaying the visit to the apothecary in his head. He didn't dwell on Hanamaki, instead zeroing in on how Matsukawa had morphed into his usual self after some cajoling from Watari, despite having wished Watari hadn't bothered with the store in the first place. He liked how good things were between them.

At Kyoutani's house, the circus was in full swing. Kyoutani's younger sister greeted the captain and vice-captain at the door and offered them tea as she showed them in to the living room, but Kyoutani and Ueno were playing with Kyoutani's youngest sister and his two younger brothers. No work was getting done.

"What's the point of an ambush when you just sit here, drinking tea?" Yahaba growled at Hoshimura, who was doing exactly that with a carefree expression on his face.

"Easy," the slope-eyed fellow said. "I just wait for the captain to come along and do his thing." He brightly offered Watari and Yahaba the plate of cookies. "Cookie?"

Yahaba screamed—not too loudly, just out of frustration. He enlisted the help of the second-eldest in getting her siblings to behave, and Ueno came to his senses when Yahaba scolded him. With all that going on, Watari mentally apologized to his friend and then joined Hoshimura on the couch. He took a cookie but didn't eat it.

"You guys got here fast," Hoshimura commented with a side glance to him.

"We were with Matsukawa-san and Hanamaki-san…"

There was a glimmer in that blue–gray gaze. "Ah. So, Yahaba…"

"Yes, I know."

Hoshimura, remarkably, gave him an empathetic smile. "So you've seen firsthand how he and Hanamaki-san are."

"Yep."

"Drives you nuts, doesn't it?"

Watari furrowed his brow. "Not really…?"

"No, I mean—they're not annoying. Well, they can be, but—" Hoshimura twisted his lips around, his eyes following Yahaba as their captain triumphantly grabbed Kyoutani by the collar of his shirt. "He comes to life so easily around Hanamaki-san, and vice versa. Kinda makes you envious, doesn't it?"

The libero opened his mouth to reply, but he quickly shut it. Huh. The truth was, Hoshimura had a point. And Watari wasn't certain he disagreed with Hoshimura's point of view.

- ^-^3

"…Watari."

Watari snapped out of his daze upon hearing an unusually firm tone from Matsukawa the following afternoon. Yet he stared at his notebook.

"What's the answer here?" Matsukawa's finger entered his field of vision and pointed to the second question on the page.

"Forty-two."

A pause. Matsukawa's finger moved to a question on the opposite page. "Years for the Russo–Japanese War?"

"1904 to 1905."

A sigh. "Hey."

It was as if Matsukawa had tilted Watari's head up with his hand. "Yes?"

"What's on your mind, Watari?" He furrowed his thick brow, as if adding, "This is so unlike you." Which was a valid point. Watari had decent focus on the court, off the court—except for right now.

Watari pursed his lips and dropped his eyes again to his notebook. He put his pencil down. "I guess…a lot." Though he wasn't sure he wanted to bring any of it up to Matsukawa.

Matsukawa put Watari's study guide down on the table and leaned back. "Thinking about the future?"

Watari tensed. In a general sense, Matsukawa had hit the nail on the head. He picked his head up again, frowning and watching Matsukawa in his natural habitat.

The black-haired boy stretched slowly, lazily, like a cat. Then he crossed his arms on top of the table and leaned forward on them. He glanced at the textbooks and study guide and notebooks spread out, everything Watari had brought in a small knapsack, and returned his eyes to Watari's face. It was there, readable in his dark eyes: "Sorry I'm not much use in this way."

"Oh, no, you're helpful, trust me," Watari assured his companion.

Matsukawa's head-on gaze was doubtful.

"Really," Watari insisted with a small chuckle. But even he knew his heart wasn't in it when he laughed.

Matsukawa stole a peek at his wall clock, hanging above the dresser with the TV. "We've been at it for three—no, damn. Four hours." Watari had come over after lunch, so they hadn't had to stop to eat, though they'd finished a bag of chips and a small box of candy together, and Matsukawa alone had eaten half a bag of marshmallows and finished off his leftovers from last night's dinner. The big guy was always eating, Watari had realized a while back.

The younger teen ran a hand over his face, pausing to rub his eyes and pinch the bridge of his nose. "Have we? Frankly, I didn't notice."

"Yeah, I get that." It was subtle, the soft flatness of Matsukawa's lips, but it was the precursor to his frown.

"Sorry," Watari fumbled. He scratched his cheek nervously.

"Y'know, Watari… It'd probably sound hollow if I gave you a lecture based on how well I knew you when we were still teammates. But I hope you'll listen to me now that we genuinely know each other, because I consider you a good friend, and I don't like seeing you unraveled."

The smaller boy blinked. It was amazing. Matsukawa had never spoken so much, and Watari didn't want to interrupt him, partially out of fascination. He nodded for Matsukawa to continue.

"I thought you were reliable before, and I can say for sure, now that we're together so often, that you're precisely that. You're a good kid, a good guy, a good friend, a good student, a hell of a libero. I get the sense that you're very comfortable in your own skin. You have your opinions and feelings about things and people, and they don't really change unless necessary. But…you're also very used to being you, so you don't quite know how to handle something too large that's been thrown at you."

…ouch. Watari winced at the sharpness of Matsukawa's words, though his senpai's tone was rather tame. But, yet again, Matsukawa wasn't far off.

"Don't worry about the Spring High or about graduation. Trust me. Life doesn't end after high school, though I'm sure you'll do better than Hanamaki has, or even me." He ended his little speech with a wry grin, hoping to ease the tension.

If anything, Watari felt his heart break a little. In all honesty, he wasn't worried about those things, not more than anyone would expect from a third-year high school student. But Hoshimura's words, Yahaba's secret, Matsukawa's friendship… They were all reminders to Watari of how precious time was. Though he hadn't thought this way before, he now wondered if he'd spent his time wisely. His parents weren't the types to go on and on about reminding their son to "live while you're young," but he wasn't a stranger to the idea.

Matsukawa sat up straight while Watari stayed silent. The former blocker closed the study guide and snapped the textbooks shut and, when the other boy didn't resist, reached for and swung Watari's notebook shut, too. He made a nice, neat little stack and gingerly pushed it towards Watari. "…all right. I know a losing battle when I see one. Let's call it a day, Watari."

Watari gave him a tight smile that didn't reach his eyes and obliged, slipping his books and stationery into his bag and getting up from the table in Matsukawa's room, Matsukawa right behind him as they went downstairs. Matsukawa's house really was an ideal place to study on Sundays, because it was always empty and therefore always quiet.

By the door, Watari tied his sneakers and bowed a little to Matsukawa. But the taller boy ignored his parting and crammed his feet into his own sneakers, too, breaking the backs before he tied them loosely.

"Do you have an errand to run for Kako-san?" Watari asked, confused. It wouldn't be the first time Matsukawa's older sister left him a note to take care of something. Sometimes Matsukawa and Watari would duck out just for that purpose on Sundays before they returned to relax or, as of late, prepare Watari for finals.

But Matsukawa shook his head. He held the front door open for Watari, and he followed the shorter boy outside after locking up. They walked to the low gate at the front of the property, which Matsukawa also held open for him, pulling that, too, shut behind them.

Watari almost told him that Matsukawa didn't have to walk partway with him, but he quelled the thought as soon as it bubbled up in him. It was a nice day, even if it was ending, and Watari enjoyed walking with Matsukawa. Where before he was reminded of how much taller Matsukawa was than he, of how much longer Matsukawa's legs were, of how much bigger Matsukawa's strides were, these days Watari liked to keep count of the number of steps he took with each of Matsukawa's, to see when their paces overlapped, to note the difference in their shoes even, how Matsukawa's were one and half times bigger but were a little dirty and a lot more worn and looked beaten especially in the back, compared to Watari's near-pristine white ones that looked well-loved and just this side of used.

After they cleared the first block and arrived at the second, with Sekitan in view, Matsukawa lightly bumped Watari's shoulder with his arm. "It's not as bad as I've probably made it out to be," he said, jutting his chin towards the mustard yellow sign.

They walked by, and Watari noticed through the window how many customers the store had. Sundays really were busy for them. "It's the family business," Watari stated.

Matsukawa shrugged. "Yeah. But jobs like that—as I said, that's not in your future, Watari. Heck, I'm not even sure how long it is in mine."

That got Watari's attention. He came to an abrupt halt at the end of the second block. "What do you mean?"

Matsukawa stopped when he heard Watari's voice behind him. He turned, hands in pockets, wearing a casual expression. "I've been debating attending university. My grades were okay, so I could manage it, I think. Unlike Hanamaki, though I think he'll get a job before summer's over." He waited for Watari to catch up, and he continued only once they resumed walking. "I never had any solid plans for after school, but the teachers didn't pressure me because of my family's business, which has been around for so long. Oikawa and Yuda and Iwaizumi and the rest—they all knew what they were doing."

"So…you're leaving?"

Again, Matsukawa shrugged. "Who knows? The future's ever-changing, though I admit I like Shido's way of doing things, living at home and commuting to the nearby university." He bumped Watari's arm again and smiled, trying to coax a smile from his friend. "Hey. Come on. It's not the end of the world, Watari. You'll be off at university yourself come next year."

Watari put more effort into generating a real smile for him, which Matsukawa appeared to accept, as he dropped the subject. They cleared the third block, and the street with the hardware store came into and went from view, and then they were finishing out the rest of Watari's usual route home. "Thank you," he bumbled to Matsukawa once they were two streets from his house.

"It's nice to get the exercise in."

Those last few minutes were quiet, almost painfully so, and Watari didn't know if he felt relief or despair when he read "Watari" on the nameplate outside his house. They slowed to a stop outside the gate, and the libero turned to the taller boy. "Thanks again."

Matsukawa shook his head. He gestured to the house. "Get some sleep, Watari, and calm down. Do well on the first round of exams tomorrow." He grinned brightly then. "After all, I'll owe you a lunch in the end for it."

Finally, Watari felt the desire to laugh again. "I'll hold you to it," he said, happy that he sounded believably okay now. He headed inside, waving over his shoulder, and he took a calming breath with the door at his back.

He trudged upstairs and dropped his bag on the floor before collapsing face-first onto his bed. He groaned into his pillow, knowing he was a perfect mess. As luck would have it, his phone buzzed to interrupt his misery.

Watari grabbed his phone from his pocket and saw it was just a quick "good luck" from Yahaba about tomorrow. Watari thought of wishing him the same, but, considering Yahaba hadn't bothered with capitals or punctuation like usual, he figured Yahaba was busy…or distracted, if Hanamaki were around. Must be nice, having all the time one wanted to spend with a favorite person of their choosing, Watari whined to himself.

His phone buzzed again, and then a second time when he didn't look at it right away. It was Matsukawa this time:

-(*￣Ｏ￣)ノ

-Yo. Look out your window. |ω・）

Watari blinked at his screen and sat up in bed. He hastily pushed the light blue curtains aside and craned his neck before opening the window to see better outside. Ah. He had a good view of Matsukawa from here. The younger teen laughed, his worries and jumbled thoughts ebbing. His phone buzzed again in his hand, and Watari embraced the new notions running through his head as he read Matsukawa's last text of the evening:

-Good luck. ＼（⋆´ω｀）人（Ő‿Ő⋆）／See you Tuesday. (｡･ω･｡)ﾉ

He would. He'd see Matsukawa on Tuesday, on Thursday, Saturday, Sunday, and as often as he could during the break—and he'd see him after that, too, because the thought of not seeing Matsukawa was one of those "too large" things that had been thrown at Watari. But Matsukawa was wrong, as Watari knew exactly how he'd handle it.

- ^-^3

-w- So much to say…but I think I'll let ch9 do most of the talking. ;3 I don't think there's anything wrong with the way Watari's life has gone before now, but it's not a bad thing, embracing change. Hanayaha…so cute. But Makki is such a baby sometimes when Yahaba's taken out of reach, *lol*. Mattsun in the shop is a cute thought, too. :3 My headcanon for Kyoutani's family finally emerges…! *keeps thinking of a dogpile* Lastly, please tell me if you get the dumb joke of Watari giving the answer to a question as "forty-two." XD

Well! Thanks for reading, and please review! Ch8 was about as angsty as this story will get, and 9 will almost bring us to smooth sailing. See you there!

-mew! :D