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Coach Uwabami was the hardest cheerleading coach ever, but that’s what made cheerleading practice so much fun. Coach Uwabami knew exactly what she was doing, and made sure she was doing it correctly and carried tabs on all of her girls. It was as if she had a sixth sense when someone was off. The three snake tattoos that made themselves evident when she only wore her sports bra made it seem as such.
Since she pulled Tooru out from lunchtime practice with a slip to go to the nurse, Tooru realized she wasn’t at top performance. And to be fair, she wasn’t. She had pulled an all-nighter studying for Miss Kayama’s History test—and her head was pounding. Every so often, she felt her eyelids droop and her hypothetical HP bar drop from twelve all the way to zero. Then, she would find some metaphorical power-up fruit in the corners of her sleep-deprived muddled brain, and gain some hypothetical HP enough so that she could get through the morning. She stayed at an average ten points, probably.
So, Tooru left Miss Shuzenji’s office with a small capsule of pills and a bottle of cold water. She gazes at the small capsule of Advil, biting her lip. She can’t take it yet—not without eating something.
“Babe!”
A smile makes its way on Tooru’s face, when she hears the familiar voice of her girlfriend. Ashido Mina was one of the only three girls on the football team, the other two being Yaoyorozu Momo and Kendou Itsuka. Mina’s voice broke through the headache, shaky limbs, and half-thought out thoughts, getting Tooru to simply take a deep breath and relax.
“Hi,” Tooru breathes, walking to catch up with Mina. Tooru’s shivering a little bit, from the lack of food and sleep or cold; she can’t really tell. Autumn’s slowly creeping on them—September just rolled around the corner. Mina laughs, wrapping an arm around her and pulling her close.
“What’s up,” Mina asks, tightening her grip on Tooru gently. “Why aren’t you at practice? Isn’t that right now?”
Tooru looks at Mina sheepishly. “Coach kicked me out or practice for the day—I didn’t get any sleep last night, and I didn’t have time to eat breakfast, so…” she bites her lip when Mina gives her a look of alarm and reprimand. “Don’t look at me like that,” Tooru whines. “I’m fine. Exhausted, shaky, and like five other negative things, but I genuinely feel a lot better with you here. The nurse gave me some pills for my headache and some water, and told me to eat… So once I do, I’ll be perfectly okay for the rest of the day. Then, I’m chilling in your dorm and passing out.”
Mina hums, before moving to peak out of the window. “Follow me,” she says, grinning an impish grin that makes Tooru’s sleep-deprived heart melt instead of ask questions.
It isn’t until they’re turning at the fence behind the school that Tooru has any mind to question her girlfriend. “Mina,” Tooru whispers. “Where are we going? Are we—are you making me skip?”
Mina just laughs. “You have math next, don’t you? You can afford to skip. There’s a sub today,” she tugs Tooru until they’re on the other side of the fence. Then, Mina sheds her uniform top and slips off the skirt, revealing some shorts and a t-shirt underneath. She shoves the uniform into the small backpack she had, and handed it to Tooru. “Get changed once we get to the stores so no one asks questions—I know exactly where we gotta go.”
Tooru obliges, too tired to do anything else.
The two wander aimlessly through the city’s sidewalks—Well, Tooru walks aimlessly. She’s just clinging to Mina’s arm while Mina leads her towards somewhere. The wind picks up somewhat, and Tooru shivers a little closer to Mina’s warmer body. It’s nice, being like this: alone with her girlfriend. She’s almost completely dozing off on Mina’s shoulder when she abruptly stops. “We’re here, babe!”
A hand shakes Tooru back into steady semi-coherent consciousness, and when she lifts her eyes to see where they are—
“You brought me to a Starbucks,” Tooru deadpans. Mina just laughs, and gestures for Tooru to walk in first. “I know I apparently act like a white girl but I’m not, so this is utter bullcrackery—” She cuts herself off when she sees who’s at the counter. “Wait… Shinsou-kun!”
Mina laughs behind a hand, and Tooru rushes to the counter. “How’s Mashirao-kun treating you? I haven’t been able to speak with him much because we have a lot of different classes... Wait—why are you here right now? We had school today!”
Shinsou just stares at Tooru with heavy eye bags, similar to the ones Tooru has covered underneath her makeup. “Same reason as you, probably,” he cracks his back, adjusting golden eyes to take in both of them. “And he’s treating me… Fine. What will it be, Hagakure, Ashido?”
Tooru turns to her girlfriend, before shrugging. “Black coffee, and the sweetest pastry you got. Grande is fine. And Mina will have… a venti sized hot chocolate. Yeah, that’s it…” Tooru trails off, before snapping her back straight and bags meet bags when Tooru squeals. “Actually—add a pumpkin spice latte to that order. That’s all, thanks, Shinsou-kun!”
Shinsou just nods silently, and begins to brew the drinks. Mina and Tooru move to a corner table, before Mina tosses the backpack to Tooru and gestures for her to the bathroom. Oh, right— She was supposed to change so no one would ask why she was out when she was clearly a student at the most prestigious academy in the country. It’s not very ‘prestigious’ to skip class—if Iida-kun found out, the two of them would by no doubt be reprimanded heavily by their class rep.
However, Tooru is sleep-deprived and tired and exhausted, so logic didn’t exactly come to her first at the moment. She just changes into the clothes (they’re definitely Mina’s; they smell like her detergent) and walks out in the too-big t-shirt and skirt.
“It’s comfy,” Tooru says, yawning. Mina stares at her adoringly for a few seconds, before grinning wildly. Once Tooru sits down, she rests her head on the table and closes her eyes. She’s already half-asleep when she hears Shinsou’s voice calling her name—but it’s as if it’s through water. The noises don’t process at all, and Mina has to grab Tooru’s hand and pull her into standing so that she doesn’t actually pass out on a Starbucks table. Mina stuffs Tooru’s pastry in the backpack, and puts the backpack on Tooru’s back.
After paying, the two walk outside, when the wind picks up again. “Mina, I’m cold,” Tooru whines, gripping the two coffee cups in her hands. Mina just laughs. “Babe, I’m serious! It’s too cold to walk,” she grumbles.
“Here, then, stand on the bench,” Mina says, amused. Tooru obliges, and squeals with shock when she’s suddenly in the air, her legs are wrapped around Mina’s waist and her arms are around her neck, chest pressed against Mina’s back.
Mina’s giving her a piggyback ride.
“Oh my Gosh!” Tooru shrieks when Mina starts sprinting. “Mina, no, stop! I’m going to dROP THE COFFEE! MINA!”
Mina’s just laughing like a demon, and slowly adjusts into a walk. Tooru’s still gripping her coffees—hard enough that the cups have bent a little.
Tooru feels a little less tired though. It’s a nice scene—red leaves gently falling down and touching the sidewalk, wind blowing soft breezes on her face.
“Hey, Mina?” Tooru hums, closing her eyes.
“Hm?”
“I love you.”
Mina’s quiet for a little bit, before she shifts Tooru a little higher. “I love you too.”