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"Aaaaasahiii, good morning!"
He looked up from his desk, seeing Suga at the classroom door. He avoided his gaze in the same second, pretending to scribble something important in his math notebook. "I d-don't have time right now, Suga."
"Ah come on." The setter mumbled, walking in uninvited and pulling a chair next to Asahi's desk. Making sure no one was near enough to hear him, he leaned closer to their ace: "Look ... it's Valentine's."
"S-So?"
"So, what better day to confess than today?!"
"Suga! Shush ... please." Asahi mumbled, nervously checking his surroundings.
"Don't worry, she's not here, I checked. I'm just saying ... it's kinda your last chance this year."
"It really d-doesn't matter that much."
"The way you've been stealing glances at her in the hallways says otherwise."
"You're really mean, Suga."
"I know, I know. So, what do you wanna do? A card? No, wait, here's a better idea: get her some chocolate! Girls love chocolate, you can't miss with that!"
Slumping his shoulders, Asahi shook his head: "Please ... just leave it. B-Besides, I already ... did s-something stupid, so it's-"
Suga's eyes lit up: "You did?! What did you do?"
"Suga, please-"
"Did you confess? Told her you loved her? Asked her to marry you?!"
"Suga!" Before Asahi could go on, the bell rang for their last class of the day, and Suga was forced to run back to his classroom. Sheepishly staring after him, he used his departure as an excuse to keep his eyes on the door just enough so that he could see her walk in less than a minute later. For once, he liked being kinda invisible ... because it meant he could stare at her without anyone really noticing.
It's not like she even knows I exist ... maybe I should've signed it-
He shook his head right away, scaring himself with the thought.
No, no, no ... the way things are right now ... that's probably for the best.
His gaze wandered from her smiling face to the pile of gifts that awaited her on her desk: four cards, five chocolate boxes and one beautiful rose.
That guy probably has it all figured out ... yeah, if I were her, I'd pick the guy with the rose over me any day.
He slumped his shoulders even further, selfishly hoping she didn't like flowers all that much.
~~~
Once our last class started and my friends scattered back to their seats, I finally had the time to vaguely inspect all the gifts I've received. One by one, I opened the cards while our literature professor was busy writing passages on the board:
"Happy Valentine's, Beautiful."
"Wanna be mine?"
"I think you're cute."
"You stole my heart, mind giving me yours?"
Ergh ... this is horrible. Did anyone, anyone at all take more than 3 minutes to Google these sappy excuses for pickup lines? Doesn't look like it.
I pushed them off to the side of my desk with the rest of the chocolates I didn't particularly like and the rose which, albeit being beautiful, got on my nerves just as much as the stupid cards. Subtly, I glanced over my shoulder, my heart aching at the sight of Azumane leaned over his desk, meticulously taking down notes on the novel we've been reading for the past week.
None of these are from you, are they? No ... of course they aren't. If you wrote something for someone, it would definitely have some depth, some meaning, some ... some emotion. Wait ... what if you did write something for someone?
I took a deep breath, trying to calm myself down, but I couldn't forget all those times I 'just happened' to pass by his desk and saw him writing things that looked faintly like verses ... and each time, I walked away without saying anything, selfishly hoping they weren't meant for anyone.
This is our last Valentine's Day together though. Should I- nope. Nope! But ... maybe he wouldn't say no right away? I can just say that I like him a little or something, so I don't scare him off. Should I, though? I don't know ...
Building up the courage, I turned around to his desk as soon as I gathered my books after the class was over, but he was already gone like the wind.
Of course, stupid ... volleyball practice. It's not like he's gonna hang around here waiting for me to confess to him.
"Hey, wanna go to karaoke today?"
Shaken out of my thoughts, I looked over at my friend, waving my hand with a smile: "Sorry, I just ... don't feel too well. I think I'll go straight home."
"Oh ... I'm sorry. I told you you should have taken your scarf with you when you left the house in the morning!"
Still forcing a smile, I gave her a thumbs up: "Yep, that's probably it ... too much wind on the way to school. I'll see you guys tomorrow!"
"Got it - and good luck with all those dates!" She waved back, chuckling as she left the classroom.
I sighed, picking up my bag, shoving the chocolates between the notebooks and carrying the rest of the gifts towards the trash can. I dumped the cards in without a second thought, only pausing at the rose in my hand:
"I'm sorry ... you're beautiful, but ... you're not Azumane." I whispered with a cynical smile, letting the flower fall down into the bin and walking out of the classroom towards my shoe locker, my heart sinking further and further with every step I took.
It would be really romantic if I told him today ... he kinda seems like the romantic type ... but what if he isn't? Does he even like Valentine's Day? Maybe it's better if I just tell him after the graduation ceremony ... I guess.
As I absentmindedly opened my locker and reached for my shoes, I felt something light bump against my foot. I looked down, seeing a rolled up piece of paper tied with a red bow rolling on the floor next to me. Surprised, I picked it up, slowly undoing the ribbon and carefully laying it on top of my bag before I rolled the paper open, revealing beautiful handwriting in black ink:
I shall pretend
To be partially dead
So I can't perceive
The earthquake in the air
In the blazing aftermath
Of the electricity shot
From the depth of your eyes.
And standing still
Is the world outside.
Seems like you only shook mine.
I wasn't sure about my world, but my hands sure as hell were shaking like two sticks on water. Without a second thought, I put on my shoes, grabbed my bag and ran out to the boys' volleyball gym. Stopping at the door, I looked outside just as he jumped up to spike a ball, his form so magnificent in the air, yet threatening at the same time ... and just as charming. Panicking for a moment, I didn't even realize when I called out his name:
"Azumane!"
He looked at me, but less than a moment later, the ball he was supposed to spike hit his face and he hit the floor, yelping in pain.
My heart stopped and I froze in place as I watched his teammates rush to him to see what happened.
"Asahi! Are you okay? Asahi?"
He sat up, staring at me with confusion in his eyes. He was just sitting there, his teammates buzzing around him after I've just caused him to get injured ... it was the worst possible moment, but it was the first time our eyes met for more than just an accidental glance, and I've never felt more entranced in my whole life. His expression turned into something between hope and fear, his cheeks slowly grew red and I knew that mine were probably the same shade, but I couldn't look away - his deep brown eyes were the only kind of chocolate I wanted.
I barely registered it when Sugawara turned around, grinning at me: "Excellent timing. He seems to have hit his head, but we don't really have time to stop practice, so ... you wouldn't mind walking him to the nurse's office, right?"
"I ... uhm ... actua-"
"Great, get going, you two! And Narita, come take his place until Asahi comes back."
Still dazed from the fall, the ace looked up at his setter: "B-But Suga, tha- that's ..."
Not taking a no for an answer, he pulled him on his feet, shoved him outside the gym next to me and closed the door: "Good luck!"
Wondering if it even made sense to hide my blush, I pointed to the side of his forehead: "That ... looks like it's gonna be a bruise. L-Let's just get you over to the nurse as quickly as possible, okay?"
He nodded, following me.
Not knowing what to say, I decided to break the silence by apologizing: "I'm sorry for making you fall."
He looked up at me right away, another confused expression on his face: "W-What? B-But it wasn't y-your fault, I shouldn't have looked at y-you - I mean, it's not that I d-didn't want to look at you, it's just ... just ... I'm sorry."
"It's my fault, really!"
"It isn't, I fell on my own."
I shook my head, opening the door to the nurse's office: "Hello?"
"Come in, what happened?"
I pointed to Azumane: "He fell and hit his head at volleyball."
"Volleyball club, huh? Come, take a seat right here." She said, patting one of the beds as she reached to grab an ice pack. "Don't think I've seen you in before, it's usually Hinata that comes to say hi. Uf, this doesn't look too nice - you're gonna be a little purple starting tomorrow. What's your name?"
"Azumane ... Asahi."
"Which date is it?"
"F-February 14th ...."
"What were you doing in your last class?"
"Eugene Onegin by Pushkin ... we did the full character analysis."
The nurse smiled, patting his head lightly. "Looks like you don't have a concussion. I'll just have you sit here for ten or fifteen minutes to make sure you don't fall again because of vertigo. Now, let me just find some pain ki-"
At that moment, the door bust open, a distressed soccer team captain almost jumping into the room: "Nurse, our left wing tripped, coach thinks he twisted an ankle ..."
Sighing heavily, the nurse grabbed her bag, shooting a quick glance at me: "Can you watch over him for the time being? He's good to go after fifteen minutes, just make sure he doesn't stand up before that, okay?"
She and the soccer captain left the room before I even had the time to say yes, leaving me and Azumane alone.
I guess now's about the right time.
I reached into my bag, handing him the poem I found in my locker: "You ... you wrote this right?"
Looking away, he nodded. "I ... I'm sorry. It's s-stupid, I should have just gotten y-you a normal card, or c-chocolate, Suga said girls like chocolate, and I'm n-not sure about p-poems."
I sat down next to him, shrugging my shoulders. "I don't know about others, but ... I like poems."
"Y-You do? I didn't know that ..."
"And ... I guess you didn't know I liked you either." I mumbled, staring right in front of me, too afraid to face him.
"Oh." He mumbled, and then we were left sitting in an awkward silence, both looking out the window as the snow began to fall. Getting lost between the snowflakes, I suddenly felt the warmth of his hand on top of mine: "I-If you want t-to, I have more poems that I wrote for y-you ... that's i-if you want t-to see them."
Slowly, I leaned against his shoulder: "Actually ... I'd love to see them."
"Really? But s-some of them are ... very bad, I think."
"I'll be the judge of that, right?"
"Y-Yes. So that means you want to .... c-come over to my place today?"
"If I'm invited?"
"Y-You are. I didn't tell my parents I'm bringing someone home, but I don't think they'll say anything ... not until y-you're gone, at least!"
"And once I'm gone?"
"Dad will probably tease me about it ... it's a dad thing, I guess."
"Mine keeps asking when I'll say yes to something I get on Valentine's." I mumbled, enjoying the warmth of his presence so close to me.
"B-But why haven't you? I mean ... y-you sure get a lot of cards every year. Why didn't you say yes t-to any of them?"
I smiled, looking up at him: "Do you really wanna know?"
He nodded, his eyes meeting mine as he slowly reached his arm around my shoulders.
"Well ... in first year, I was on clean up duty with this boy once, and while he was taking out the trash, I accidentally knocked his notebook off his desk. When I picked it up, I saw the poems that were in there, and .... nothing anyone else ever wrote to me came anywhere near to what I saw in your notebook, Azumane."
He continued to stare at me, his mouth gaping open: "But ... that's when I got a crush on you too! My hair kept getting in my face when I was trying to sweep the floor, and I said maybe I should cut it short, but then y-you laughed and said ... that you think I should let it grow out even more and then wear it in a ponytail. I really liked that idea ... and then I figured out I like the mastermind behind it too. "
I smiled at how cute he was, taking a quick peek at the back of his head: "So ... where's the ponytail?"
"Making a bun is easier ... I can never get a ponytail to look good - but I tried a lot of times!"
"Can I try?"
He nodded, lowering his head. I reached my hands up, letting all his hair loose before combing through it with my fingers and pulling it into a low ponytail ... which, so up close, really looked good on him. He looked back up, our faces suddenly so close to each other, I could feel his breath on my nose as his beautiful eyes sparkled right in front of mine. Still pressing the ice to his head with one hand, he slowly lifted the other, gently touching my cheek as his gaze shyly dropped down to my lips:
"Can I ... try something too?"
I nodded, nervously taking a deep breath ... and good thing I did, because the kiss he gave me right after didn't look like it was gonna end any time soon.