I never expected Hinata to come watch me.In fact, when I told her I was going to shower and freshen up at the club, she casually said, "No worries, I'll wait for you."I was so shocked my eyes almost popped out of my head. For a second, I thought my eyes might do the horror-movie crawl like Samara from The Ring, sliding out of a TV screen just to scare her.
Thankfully, that didn't happen.
Completely aware that I probably smelled like concentrated regret and old gym socks, I ran into the shower. Once I felt human again, I looked into the mirror, slapped my cheeks with both hands, and gave myself a pumped-up, "You got this, man."
Outside the club, Hikari was playing with the clips of her backpack and drawing invisible circles on the ground with her toes."Hey, I'm back," I said—without stuttering this time. Major improvement since our first convo.
She looked up with a smile that bloomed like a flower. "Wow, that was fast. I thought I'd be waiting longer."
That smile? Dangerous. Made me forget how to breathe.
"I don't believe you," I grinned. "You were playing with your bag and drawing rings on the floor out of boredom."
"Oh, so you did see that," she said, giving me a fake annoyed face as she smacked my shoulder."Ow," I exaggerated, rubbing the spot. We both burst out laughing.
It was strange how close we'd gotten in just a week. But it felt… right. Like finding a cool patch of shade on a scorching summer day.
While we were still giggling, we noticed Yukari-senpai standing silently in front of the club like a ghost on standby."Ahh!" we both blurted at the same time.
Surely she hadn't been there through our entire conversation… right?
"Well, I thought you two would finish talking quickly, but uh… you didn't," she said, scratching her head with one hand and holding her purse behind her back. "So, Hinata's your girlfriend, huh?"
Hinata and I instantly blurted, "No no, we're just friends!" in perfect, panicked unison.Then Hinata added, "Close friends," with a weird emphasis. I decided not to overthink that part.
"Mmhmm, I see…" Yukari-senpai said, giving us a mischievous smirk.Hinata subtly moved behind me like I was some kind of human shield.
"Anyway," Yukari broke the awkward tension like a hero, "let's head to the station together."
Thank goodness for that.
We started walking, and before we knew it, we were already at the station.Yukari-senpai got off just two stops later—her house was ridiculously close to school. I was slightly jealous.But on the bright side, my dorm being farther meant I got five whole metro stops sitting next to Hinata.
We talked about school, basketball, karate (unfortunately), literature, and by the time we realized, our 25-minute ride had come to an end.I said goodbye with a dumb grin stretched across my face. She must've noticed how happy I was—probably from the way my cheeks were stuck in "smile mode."
"See you tomorrow," she said, smiling back.
As I reached the dorm, I saw Makato waiting outside like he'd been rehearsing a dramatic movie entrance.
"There you are," he grinned, staring at me like a predator who just found his prey.His smile widened as I got closer. I could practically see the flames of curiosity in his eyes.
I waved. "Yes, here I am. What's up?"
"My broooo!" he cried. "So I heard you started karate at school. Lookin' good!"Before I could respond, he kept going. "Don't look so surprised! I have ears everywhere."
He leaned in closer, practically bouncing with excitement. "You know what this means, right? Daily practice. Let's go, show me what you learned today!"Without warning, he grabbed my collar and started dragging me off like a man possessed.
I don't even like karate…