Work Text:
When Nozaki arrived at the school entrance after classes were over, he was pleased to note that Sakura was already there waiting. Good! He needed her help with something important, and the short walk home would provide a perfect opportunity to do it.
“Sakura!” he called out to her.
“Ah, Nozaki-kun!” she replied, turning around and giving him a smile.
“Sakura, I need your help with something,” he said as headed towards the school gates, slowing his pace as she fell into step beside him.
“Sure, what is it?” she asked.
“I want to do more perspective studies, like we did last time on the subway,” he said, looking straight ahead and missing the slight blush that rose to her cheeks.
“Ah, s-sure! Like more point-of-view angles?” she wondered.
“A bit, yes, but also to understand a character’s feelings in a certain situation. But it should also give me a good reference point for my drawings as well,” he stated, before reaching down and grabbing her right hand with his left.
“Ah! N-N-Nozaki-kun!” she exclaimed, stuttering and turning red.
“Sorry for startling you… if you don’t want to help anymore just let me know, but this would be very useful for me.”
“Oh. Right, this is what you need… help with… for manga research. Of course,” she answered him, turning and giving him a bright smile. “Anything for Nozaki-kun!”
They continued walking in comfortable silence. Nozaki quite liked the feeling of her small hand in his, and was glad Sakura was often around to help him out in situations like this. He looked back down at her often, trying to commit the view from this perspective to memory, in case he later decided to use it in one of the panels of his manga. Every so often she would glance up at him, but she always quickly turned away when she caught his eye. Was this making her uncomfortable? He didn’t want her to think he was acting like some kind of pervert… Nozaki did know that sometimes he was a bit too casual with Sakura, and this was after all something that only couples did. Perhaps she didn’t actually want to do this, but was too kind to refuse him? Was his hand too sweaty? Was he holding her too tightly?
Wait… he thought, coming to a sudden stop as a realization hit him. I’m thinking just like Mamiko! Is this what she would feel if she was holding Suzuki-kun’s hand?
He glanced back down at Sakura, but this time he was the one who quickly looked away when their gazes met. What was he so worried about? This was just him and Sakura. Just doing research for his manga. It didn’t mean anything, right?
Besides, Sakura had talked about having a crush on somebody… but from her description of him, he didn’t seem like the kind of guy who paid her very much attention. Nozaki tried to imagine Sakura holding hands with the mystery-guy, but for some reason the thought caused a flash of jealousy to run through him. This caused him to give her hand an accidental squeeze, and she looked at him in concern.
“Nozaki-kun?”
“Sorry, I was just thinking. I… remembered something important, that’s all,” he replied with what he hoped looked like a natural, relaxed smile. When had he ever had to lie to her before? And about his emotions, no less?
Because the more he thought about it, the more he realized he did not want Sakura to go out with whomever her crush was. No, that kind of guy would be no good for somebody as kind and as caring as her. She needed somebody who would notice her, take care of her, spend time with her… much like he did, in fact. Truth be told, Nozaki did not want to see her holding hands with anybody… anybody that wasn’t him.
This sudden, earth-shattering realization left him mentally reeling. When had he started to think of her this way, to be so possessive of his shorter friend?
He had to admit that he had grown quite used to her company during the last few months, and he greatly enjoyed their time together. The days when she wasn’t over at his place felt strangely empty; and looking back on them now, it was obvious that what he had truly been missing was her presence.
He couldn’t imagine what would happen if Sakura started dating somebody else… because she would have to dedicate more time to them, would she not? Meaning less time with Nozaki working on the manga… less time with Nozaki going out to look for references and ideas… less time with Nozaki just enjoying his company as friends. And the thought made him both angry and sad – he didn’t want that happening!
He had to do something… even if she didn’t want to date him, he still had to find a way to turn her thoughts away from that crush of hers. He would have to do more research, perhaps ask Kashima for advice… anything that would turn her attention to him, and perhaps eventually, change her feelings for him as well.
He could just imagine it now: the two of them, holding hands like this every day as they walked around town, and at night she would curl up against him, her small form fitting so well against his…
“Nozaki-kun?” Sakura asked timidly, her voice pulling him away from his thoughts. The had arrived at his door and stopped, and she seemed worried that he had just been standing there, not saying a word, his brow creased as if pondering something important.
“Right,” he said, mentally shaking himself and unlocking his door. He noted distantly that they were still holding hands, her soft hand still warmly held in his grip, and that neither of them had made a move to change that. “What would you like for supper?”
“Anything Nozaki-kun makes is fine!” she beamed at him. “Your cooking is always delicious!”
“All right,” he said, mentally going through the contents of his fridge and settling on something that wouldn’t take too much time to prepare. With an internal sigh, he finally let go of Sakura’s hand to head to the kitchen, and if she seemed disappointed about it well, that was probably just his imagination.
They ate and worked on the newest pages, their conversation light as usual. Sakura seemed especially cheerful tonight, and her smiles were doing weird things to his heart and his stomach. Or maybe it was just the food? Then again, Sakura hadn’t said anything was wrong with it, and she seemed perfectly fine, so that couldn’t be it. He’d have to look it up online once she’d gone… perhaps he was falling ill.
“Oh my! I didn’t notice how late it’s gotten!” Sakura exclaimed, looking out the dark window. “I should probably get going before it starts to rain.”
“In that case, please take my umbrella as a precaution,” he said, standing up with her and following her to the door as she grabbed her things.
“That’s, that’s very thoughtful of Nozaki-kun!” she said, rubbing the back of her neck. “Are you sure? It’s your only umbrella… you might need it tomorrow morning.”
“Well, I wouldn’t want a repeat of last time you didn’t have an umbrella… your clothes were completely soaked,” he began, absently playing with one of her hairbows as memories of their failed attempts at using his coat as an umbrella resurfaced. Her cheeks grew red, probably just because she was embarrassed he was bringing up that particular failure of theirs… darn, he shouldn’t be embarrassing her, it was probably making her uncomfortable!
“And besides, I… I still need more data, today wasn’t enough. If you could walk with me to school tomorrow, that way you can return my umbrella and we can try… try holding hands again. If you’d like,” he said, trying to keep his tone and expression neutral.
“Yes!!! I mean, that’s fine! Good night!” she said quickly, grabbing his umbrella and rushing out the door. “See you tomorrow!”
“Good night,” he parroted, slowly closing the door once she was out of sight.
He smiled; tonight had to be some kind of success, was it not? And tomorrow they would show up at school holding hands. If the person Sakura had a crush on saw them, then that would hopefully dissuade any thoughts he might have of pursuing her. With any luck, Nozaki’s presence by Sakura’s side will keep any unwanted rivals at bay, and maybe, if he was lucky, slowly but surely win her over.
He turned and went to his room, practically skipping down the halls. He had a sudden burst of energy and wanted to draw; no way was he going to sleep just yet. With a contented smile, he sat down and took out paper and a pencil, letting the familiar motions of drawing finally put his thoughts to rest.
Little did Nozaki know that he was, in fact, his very own rival for Sakura’s affections.