Surprisingly I started writing this right after chapter 8 was posted. -_- I actually had to reread the story to write this chapter because it had been so long. Thanks so much for reading, only one chapter left so be on the look out for it.
Sumino woke up early the next morning with a yawn. Stretching her arms over her head she realized how refreshed she had felt. Today was the day she was going to put her master plan to follow Teru into play.
Opening her closet, she looked for the plainest clothes she had so she wouldn't stand out too much. She continued to dig until she found an old pair of black pants and an old black sweater.
The dark haired girl looked at her reflection in the mirror, giggling at how she looked like a ninja ready to go on a mission.
Sumino had already come to terms with being in love with her blonde friend, but today she planned to find out if he really liked her or not.
She couldn't help but feel a sense of doubt wash over her. What if he was out with the beautiful girl again?
Sumino quickly shoved her distressing thoughts aside and decided to have some fun today.
"Where is a good place to find Teru?" she pondered out loud to herself while pacing around her room.
She looked at her clock and noticed that it read 8 o'clock. Considering how tired Teru always was, she figured it was early enough that he would still be at his apartment.
Sumino left her house and continued down the path to his apartment. She had only been there a few times before with Hinata, and hoped that she would remember the way.
The young girl's thoughts quickly drifted to memories of her first visit to his apartment. That was when she first found out that he lived alone. When she had asked him why that was, he gave her the simple answer that he preferred to be alone.
"That's just like him," she quietly giggled to herself.
Sumino reached Teru's apartment complex just in time to see his door open. The dark haired girl quickly ducked behind a bush so as not to be seen.
She saw Teru emerge from his apartment with a yawn. She couldn't help but blush at how cute his yawn was.
Sumino held her breath and didn't so much as move an inch when he walked past the bush she was hiding him.
When Teru was far enough away that he wouldn't see her, she moved to follow him, making sure not to make a sound.
She trailed her friend all the way to the city. When they reached the central square of the city, she noticed Teru stop and look at his watch.
"Is he waiting for someone?" she yet again wondered to herself aloud
Sumino felt sense of dread wash over. She was certain that he was waiting for that beautiful brunette he seemed to like so much.
She tried to move closer to get a better look at Teru, but someone briskly walked into her causing her to stumble in the opposite direction.
When she regained her balance she saw Teru had been talking to someone.
"Late as always," she heard Teru complain.
"Sorry, I was busy," Sumino recognized the voice he was talking to, but she couldn't get a good enough angle to see the person's face.
"You're always busy," the young girl watched as her friend began to walk away with none other than Hinata.
She felt herself start to smile as she was happy that they were fixing their friendship.
Getting caught up in the moment, she quickly realized that they had gotten out of sight.
She took off into a run, bumping into people and frantically apologizing, trying to find them.
Sumino finally spotted them a few minutes later sitting by the inside window of a small café.
She entered the door causing the small bell attached to it to chime.
Sumino found a table close enough to her friends that she could hear what they were saying, but far enough away that she wasn't in their direct line of vision.
She ordered herself a small milkshake and proceeded to hide her face in a book she had brought with her.
For the most part their conversation wasn't all that interesting. However, Sumino's ears perked up when she heard Hinata inquire about their friendship.
"It really hasn't been that great," Teru made the statement in a bored tone while pushing his straw in circles around his drink
"Really," Hinata had a hint of surprise in his inquisitive voice, "You know I always got the sense that she was closer to you. Part of the reason I decided to end things with her was because she always seemed so much happier when she was around you. You are her precious Blackrabbit though."
Teru, still not looking up from his spinning straw, didn't acknowledge Hinata's comment.
This led to Hinata questioning Teru about what exactly had happened.
Teru, finally looking up from his drink, proceeded to tell his friend everything that had happened since their breakup.
"You know Teru," Hinata started in a serious knowledgeable tone, "you're used to things being easy for you. You never had any issues getting girls in the past because dating was something that you did just to pass time. Now that you've found someone you actually care about, you realized how hard it is to get them to share your feelings."
Teru let Hinata's words sink in before replying, "I guess you're right, I should try and fix our friendship again,"
Hinata smiled victoriously at his friend.
Across the café Sumino couldn't believe what she had heard. She realized that Teru really did value their friendship.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Teru and Hinata get up and leave the table once they had paid the bill.
Once they were outside she saw Teru wave goodbye to Hinata before heading off in the opposite direction of his friend.
Sumino quickly pulled out enough money to cover her own bill before proceeding to once again trail Teru.
She followed him through many turns wondering where the he could possibly be going.
She was dumbfounded when he came to a stop in front of a hostess club.
Sumino was silently hoping that he had just gotten himself lost. She knew he we would never go into a place like that. At least that was what she thought until she witnessed her blonde friend open the door and walk in.
Sumino was pretty sure her jaw hit the ground at that point. She couldn't believe she just witnessed her dear friend walk into a hostess club.
Through the window, the young girl saw her friend talking to the hostesses as if he had been there before. She felt herself wondering if this was a place he often came to.
Sumino vigorously paced back and forth outside the front door not sure what to do. She found herself debating whether she should wait outside for Teru and continue to follow him, or to call it a day and return home.
Deciding on the first option, Sumino decided that she would casually bump into Teru on his way out.
When she saw Teru begin to walk towards the door, after what felt like hours, she moved out from her hiding spot. As soon as he was outside, Sumino walked began to walk towards him smiling casually.
"Hi Teru," She waved happily pretending as if she had just casually run into him.
He turned and smiled back at her. Sumino took this as a chance to question him, "What were you doing in a hostess club Teru," she asked the question as if it had been a normal thing to ask.
Teru gave her a playful smirk before responding, "Teasing you,"
Sumino found herself at a loss for words. Had he known that she was following him?
"What?" she questioned rather dumbly.
Teru walked towards her gently placing his hand on her head, messing with her hair.
"I saw you hiding in the bush when I left this morning," He once again gave her a playful smirk, "I think it's cute that you couldn't help but follow me all day."
His statement once more left her speechless. Sumino couldn't believe that he had known the entire time.
"How did you see me?" Sumino felt as if she was asking a really stupid question, but she couldn't help but be curious.
"I could never miss this beautiful hair of yours Sumino," as if to prove a point he grabbed a strand of her hair, letting it fall through his fingers.
Sumino felt her face turn red and she quickly turned her gaze to the ground.
"Teru," she demanded a bit hesitantly, "What are your feelings for me?"
Teru's eyes widened at her forward question.
Sumino wanted to crawl in a hole and die; she couldn't believe that she had seriously just asked him that. She silently prayed that he would reject her quickly and they could go back to being best friends as always.
"Sumino," Teru started quietly, almost in a whisper.
Sumino closed her eyes tightly shut, she wanted to run away. She stayed motionless, waiting for Teru to laugh off her question and say that she was nothing more than a friend to him.
"Sumino, I like you a lot, love you even. You don't know how much it hurt to help get you and Hinata in a relationship. I had such strong feelings for you, but I knew you would never look at me the way I looked at you… and I just wanted you to be happy."
She felt her eyes widen in astonishment at what he had just said.
"Your wrong Teru," Teru gave her a question look at her statement, "I do look at you that way, I realize now that you were always the right one from the beginning. I was so upset when I saw you with that stunning girl…" Her voice trailed off as she found herself at a loss for words.
Frustrated with her lack of ability to form proper sentences, Sumino gently placed her hands on Teru's face and pulled him into a kiss.
Teru once again found himself in shock with her boldness, but nonetheless, he wrapped his arms around her tiny waist and pulled her closer to himself.
Sumino was the first to pull away her face a dark shade of red.
Deciding it was now or never, she stared into his eyes before confessing, "I love you Teru,"
Teru chuckled at how cute she was before pulling her into a hug.
"I love you too silly," he laughed.
Sumino smiled into his chest wishing that this moment would never end.