Archive of Our Own

[Canon divergence au, fluff]

"Right..." (Sister's name) said with a sarcastic tone. She shoved a spoonful of Chocolate Chip ice cream into her mouth.

"What? I'm telling you the truth! The bike shop guy is so cute and..." You let out the most irritating giggle mid-sentence, probably you just can't hide your excitement to your next words later on and you leaned into your sister that was beside you and whispered, "He might be single~"

"Get out of my face." She pushed your body that was somehow blocking her eyes from the television, other people might speculate her as someone rude but that's literally her personality to the point that you can't differentiate if she was furious or not sometimes.

You scoffed when she pushed you all of a sudden, she might not be in the mood to talk and sometimes you just continued on talking to the point that'll she ask you to go back to your room but that's how you spend your years with her, you being the talkative one and her listening to every shit you have to say.

She's surprisingly a good listener. Sometimes you thought she was acting out like she was listening but she truly was because she can recap your stories if she was challenged to. Every detail too. Sometimes she horrifies you because she remembered it better and can correct you whenever you were retelling the same story to someone else.

Or probably right now she's acting that way because the topic you were going to talk about is something....unsuitable for her state now.

I mean, it's about men.

Your sister broke up with her boyfriend 5 months ago and guess she was still heartbroken about it. But clearly, you can't remember how many guys your sister has dated and there were even some that you forget their names but what's for sure is that you never had a relationship with anyone before and yet people ask for love advice from you, even your sister asks from you.

Your sister is someone introverted and unapproachable but at least her flirting skills are not lacking and like most people will always say, the quiet ones are something else and full of surprises.

And then you? Your friendliness didn't lead you to the love life you dream of.

Do you want to know the sole reason why?

Because you treat no one differently and you act like you love everyone equally so that's why the crushes that you have been rooting on before end up with someone else. It's because they're too dense and can't take the hint (well, it was you that was making it difficult).

You might have the bravery to socialize about anything and be comfortable with anyone, but your number one fear will always be confessions.

The fear of rejection gets worse and worse each day.

And it's only because of the horrible thing that happened to you during middle school.

You gave a genuine confession through a love letter to the most handsome guy in your class but then his friends went to the front class and read the letter out loud. Laughing their heart out to every word that you wrote in that letter.

You always want to punch yourself for writing your name in that letter. You didn't even try to be anonymous. You wanted him to know.

And that leads you to such worse circumstances.

It was heartbreaking since at that moment you felt like you pour all your heart out in that letter and there was not even a single lie written in it. But yet there were his obnoxious friends ruining it for you.

Making fun of your feelings and humiliating you.

You do agree that the love letter was horrendous and anyone will gag if they ever read it, but you were just 14. It's normal to do cringy things in order for you to grow and be someone better.

There's nothing wrong with doing mistakes.

But god, does a young girl having romantic feelings for a boy do something wrong?

Does she deserve such humiliation and bullying from others?

Until high school, you have to endure the guy's friends mocking and calling you his name every time you pass by them.

So since that day, you never confessed to anyone, even if your feelings for that person were strong and you were determined about your feelings, you still choose not to.

You just can't.

Even if that incident happened 9 years ago, the effect it had on you was still scarred in your heart.

Some pain in the past does last for a long time.

How horrible people can be? Can't they see that some playful actions they do can hurt others?

Of course, they wouldn't.

Because it's not affecting them so why would they bother?

So there you are in your university years. Hoping that it could just be a miracle that your crush will confess to you out of the blue and make the first move even though they were never aware of your feelings since you treat anyone with no difference.

And some of your friends can't even fathom you having feelings for someone.

Because you treat everyone in a... 'platonic way', this is how they say it. Because you surely have no idea to give someone signals and you believe that it's something embarrassing to do so yeah.

No progression.

No lover.

Then, a plot twist turns out that your crush and your ex-best friend started going out together secretly.

Yeah, you heard it the first time, ex-best friend because that bitch somehow made a move and flirt with your crush when you told her that you have feelings for them.

She never even bother to pursue him before you admitted your feelings for him.

It's like that bitch was doing it on purpose. Probably she thinks it's so satisfying to snatch someone else's crush and rub it in their face just to tell the victim this very sentence: you wish that was you, huh?

God.

These are one of the disbenefits of being someone outgoing and talkative, you just can't expect who will backstab you and you realized that you were sometimes naive and trust people too easily.

And you're so sick of getting stepped on.

So sick of giving up your happiness for others.

So sick of acting like you're okay and happy because if you were acting slightly different, you were scared that they were going to leave or say that 'this new attitude of yours is not a vibe.'

For fucks sake.

It's exasperating.

Being a people pleaser.

Seeking validation.

You had enough of it.

So that's why the day you found out about your crush going out with your ex-best friend, you immediately cut off ties with them instantly. And anyone that's associated with them, you acted like you never knew their name till the day you graduated.

So here you are now.

In the living room, watching 'The Princess Diaries' for the umpteenth time and at this point, you and your sister can repeat every dialogue that the characters say. You were totally sick of it but your sister wasn't, so you have no choice but to give in with her shenanigans.

Since she's still in her break-up phase.

And probably she's depressed that she's about to turn 30 this year so fair enough.

I mean I never found someone jumping up and down after finding out that they're getting older.

The fact her love life is failing and she hates her job even, she truly has no room for happiness so that's why you let her be. And truthfully, she will be the last person that you will ask love advice from because...comes to look of it, you might as well repeat that history of hers if you were daring enough to do that.

But there's another part of you that you like, you sure do move on easily because the day you found out your crush has liked someone else, you moved on 3 days later.

Yeah, that's how fast it was.

You fall in love easily but move on easily too.

And your sister?

She might still be hung up with her current ex if she was already going out with someone else. And that's just not it.

All the guys that she dated were the same guy in different fonts.

But there she goes again to say that 'this one is different', 'this one is the one' or 'this one will be the one I have babies with' (this is the grossest one yet).

Yeah, different names I guess but still, the same level of ugliness (this was meant to be on the inside alright). They will either cheat, have too many 'girl best friends' that it was straight up like a harem anime, or they think they're certified alpha males because they lift up dumbbells daily in the gym.

Your sister sure have bad taste in men but you, on the other hand, you know damn well you don't.

Since you truly do have high standards in men because somehow the romance media had made you realise and reminded you to never settle less and never go for someone that will treat you nothing but trash.

Your crush when you're 14.

Your crush when you're in University.

Your other crushed between that period.

They were not horrible people, in fact, they were respectful, smart, responsible and effortlessly kind people.

So what were you supposed to do? Act unnoticed?

Hell no, you get butterflies in an instant and with no hesitation, you daydream that you were on a picnic date with them (yeah, it's humiliating).

That crush during your middle school days even apologized to you and rejected you in the most polite way, it was just his friends that can't stop messing with you. He even had to apologise on behalf of his friends whenever they went too far and to the point, that cycle goes on and on.

His friends being assholes.

Him apologizing.

You forgiving him.

And repeat.

It was an endless cycle that you can't escape.

It was the time that you don't have feelings for him anymore but still, that cringy love letter was still haunting you and the sole reason why you fear rejection.

Well, how about now?

Do you have a new crush?

Since you did move on from the university one.

So at the moment, no one is occupying your heart.

Well, newsflash, you fell for someone new.

It has been 4 months since you started being an intern at Magic Paws, the most well-known veterinary clinic in Shibuya. You have no idea how the hell you get to be assigned to do your internship at a place near your sister's rent house but you were so grateful.

You were determined that you messed up the interview but guess your semester results intrigued them. You kept on getting a CGPA of 4.00 for every semester so there's no way they will not bat an eye on you.

An internship...was not something to be happy about.

The senior vets kept on ordering around to get drinks for them and even frequently ask you to clean the animals' faeces since they were too gross out to do that shit and obviously, no one wants to do it so they have no choice but to toss that task to the innocent and enthusiastic interns.

Yeah, clearly this is bullying. But you have no time to be dramatic and get mad at them because one slight mistake can give a penalty to your performance because somehow 'respecting seniors' is one of the requirements to be an honourable Veterinarian.

It's such bullshit and you desperately want to stand up for yourself, but you still thought about your career. It was too risky to do that, especially when you're in a vulnerable state where your dream to have your own Veterinary Clinic is just hanging on a cliff and holding on barely.

You convince yourself that you just have to wait a little longer, maybe after your internship is over, you can just spout shit and give karma to those self-centred seniors that kept on being delusional about how they're better than everyone else.

Yeah, so that's about your internship. And you clearly have no feelings for anyone in that place because somehow most of them are shitty and musty, probably mustier than the animal's fresh shit.

But here's the thing.

Beside Magic Paws, was a motorbike shop known as S.S Motors.

Truly, at first, you thought it might be owned by some middle age man that you wouldn't care less.

But no.

That's not it.

The owner was the same age as you and for the love of God, that guy is unbelievably good-looking.

You still remember the very day you were having your interview at Magic Paws. You arrived there 1 hour early and probably you expected that the earlier you are, the faster it will end.

But unfortunately, the clinic opens at 9 am and you have no choice but to just wait in front of the place and practiced the 'common interview questions' that you printed.

The parking lot was quite empty and barely a number people were at the place.

And at that time, S.S motors was the only shop that was open on that street.

You don't know what the necessity is for a motorbike shop to open so early in the morning but you just speculated that the owner might as well sleep in the shop.

Probably because they have to fix motorbikes at night.

The street sure was serene, it's like the street was isolated. And you believe that the circumstance is favourable for you to practice the interview questions out loud, without getting embarrassed.

Because last night when you were practising, you kept on mispronouncing words and your sentences sometimes didn't make sense.

You get frustrated and sometimes hit yourself subconsciously when you did a mistake. So obviously, anyone that sees you practising might see you as some cuckoo because you kept on grunting and stomping your feet whenever you stutter or the answers are not running smoothly from your mouth.

So since there were no people yet at Magic Paws and the parking space in front of it was not occupied by any vehicle, you walked back and forth at the front of the clinic and tried to memorize your answers to the possible questions that you might get.

You messed up so many times and you can't help but let out a sigh of frustration. You were a nervous wreck and thought about the possibility of you failing this interview, countless times.

You do excel in your studies during your university days but when it comes to these types of communication skills.... you're totally atrocious at it.

Even during presentations in classes and anything that requires speaking, you're not good at it although you are an extroverted person, still you lack at these types of things.

Probably because your nervousness overtook you and you tend to overthink so that's why it leads to unsatisfying results.

"What are your strengths? I believe that I am someone persistent when given a task and surely I do not favour procrastinating in anything I do. I will also make sure that my...my, my...Oh god, what was the next sentence again?"

You sighed again, you forgot what was the next sentence so you look back at the paper to check back the answer that you have readily written so that you can answer it smoothly if you were asked the question in the interview soon.

"I will make sure that the task that I have been given will be completed perfectly and I will not miss the deadline and strive to accomplish it a day before the due date." You read the words on the paper with an irritated tone.

You sure were tired of messing up and for the love of God, why can't you just say these sentences with ease?

You practised for the umpteenth time now and still, you stuttered and you were still in the same state when you practised those words the first time.

You hate this situation so much.

And you wish that the interview day was postponed because God you're not ready.

Wait, no.

You will never be ready.

Even if the interview was postponed for another century, you still will be in the same state and at this point, you have no hope in yourself.

You definitely can't pass this interview and it seems like it was all just useless from working hard during your university days.

You were still walking back and forth non-stop but it was getting slower than before. And as you were walking in the left direction, you looked away from the paper and moved your gaze to the ceiling, not wanting to take a peek and trying to remember the exact words properly.

"I will make sure that the task that I have been given misses the deadline....eh?" Now that sentence will make you fail your interview in an instant.

You stopped your steps as you realised that you messed up way worse than before.

"For goodness sake." You muttered and gave your forehead a soft slap.

I'm screwed.

You let out a deep exhale. Should you give up at this point? Because the more you practice, the worse the mistakes that you were making.

Your throat was so dry from talking non-stop and you sure need to catch a breath. You were talking at a fast pace even so that sure exhausted you.

This was not the real interview yet and you are already getting tired.

Things are not going right today.

And you can clearly see already the faces of the interviewers being disappointed and uninterested in taking you in as an intern.

You moved back your gaze to the paper, seeing the written words that almost filled the whole paper.

Seeing those too many words made you feel exasperated.

When are they opening the clinic?

You want this to get over as soon as possible.

As you were about to flip the stapled papers to the next page, you halted.

Not because you were giving up on practising but because something distracted you.

Something as in a certain smell.

And surely it was unpleasant.

Because as we all know, inhaling that smell will not just give someone discomfort...

..but also can cause lung disease.

Yes, you guess it right.

Tobacco.

That was the smell that bothered you.

This means that someone near your radar was blowing a cigarette.

And you truly despise smokers, because if any of them pass by you while blowing smoke out of their mouth, you wouldn't hesitate to cover your nose just so you can mock them.

So you clicked your tongue and you can trail the smell coming from the very shop beside the clinic.

You were impatient and wanted to see who in the world decided to make you their secondhand smoker.

Like literally, if this person wants to die early by smoking, it better not get other innocent people involved in it.

So you bring your hand that was clutching the paper to the side and moved your gaze to the shop.

That's when you saw a thick amount of smoke coming out from someone. Someone was sitting on the floor outside of the shop and most of the smoke was coming in your direction.

And the longer you stand still there, the worse the smell gets. The more smoke you accidentally inhale.

You waved your free hand right in front of your nose, acting like that gesture can blow away the smoke entering your nostrils.

Just as the smoke finally fades away from your sight, then you get to observe the face of the smoker.

You don't know why.

But the smoke was fading away in such a slow manner that it wants you to stare at the guy even longer and give the most surprising face reveal that you will ever witness.

As all the smoke finally dissipates, there you could see the smoker's features.

Your eyes widened slightly.

Holy shit.

Your angry expression disappeared instantly.

This is the real definition of pretty privilege because, for the love of God, he was so beautiful that you have no intention to say something sarcastic like you used to whenever you were near any smoker.

This guy...with his dark black eyes that were the same shade of an obsidian stone, his hair matching with it, the plain white shirt that was tucked in his jeans and a silver chain necklace dangling on his neck...

God.

You want to punch yourself in the face. You were mad. Because you can't believe that you can be this weak.

He's smoking which is something that you loathe because obviously, it can just kill anyone that passes by him.

But damn.

Metaphorically, he is killing you.

You don't know if it was the cigarette or his looks that caused it.

No way.... there's no way I can be this weak.

You stayed at your spot and were unaware that you were staring at him...It's like all that your focusing on is him. Every thought in your head is him. And you don't want to exaggerate but your nervousness for the interview surely had vanished, like his cigarette smoke.

You don't even know his name and who he is, but the power that he holds on you was too strong for you to bear.

God, what in the world is this stranger?

"Sorry."

Huh?

Suddenly, you saw him taking a drag and blowing the smoke in the opposite direction. To make it clearer, the smoke was blowing away from you.

Wait...is he being considerate?

You blinked a few times, not knowing what words to respond to him or how to react. You remain expressionless, not wanting to display what you truly feel.

Because if you dare enough to do that...you will literally squeal like you are some fangirl. That fangirling nonsense is only for celebrities but this guy is definitely not one.

Well, his beauty does make him suitable to become a public figure. You bet with that face of his, many directors are playing tug of war on him just so they can cast him in their films.

But you remain calm on the outside, internally you're not. You're an expert at this, not showing how you truly feel with your expression. It's a good trait to be someone not expressive because people will have difficulty reading you.

To add more spice, the way he said 'sorry' was something else. It's not like any other sorry you've heard in your life.

This is the type of 'sorry' that you will not hesitate to accept and forgive the person easily.

It's his voice. His voice is so deep and mellow...but at the same time, the tone of his voice sounds so sincere and genuine.

You don't know why. But he seems like someone respectful and kind. Yes, it's stupid for you to assume that when all you did is stare at him (creepily).

Well, it could be you making things in your head.

Probably because it's been a long time since you feel attracted to someone so your heart and brain were getting too chaotic.

So it automatically makes such fantasies in your head (don't worry, it's not dirty ones).

The guy that was facing away from you before had his eyes back on you.

Now.

This weird eye contact you two are having was only filled with silence.

But then something bothered you.

You really want to convince yourself that you're imagining shit.

You tried to.

But you're confident.

You see it clearly.

You were sure it's not you being too full of yourself.

But it's there.

It's real.

The pink hues that were painted on his cheeks. His skin was pale, so any slight blood rushing upon it was so prominent that you can't help but notice.

No way...is he...

Is he blushing because of you?

"Are you here for the interview?"

"AH!"

Right, you screamed. Like it was a jumpscare in a horror movie. Automatically, you moved your body to the source and you saw someone unfamiliar but he seems to be in his middle ages.

He's wearing a white coat that covers his dress shirt and a black tie under it. His tie was clipped with a name tag, "Dr Hayashi".

Shit. Shit. Shit.

The interviewer is already here and you already gave him a wrong impression by screaming like a lunatic.

"No!" You shook your head, why in the world would you say that word? You're literally for the interview for fucks sake.

"I mean yes! Yes, I am."

Just as you saw Dr Hayashi was about to open his mouth, a sudden snorting sound halted him.

Dr Hayashi peeked his head to see a clearer view behind you and furrowed his eyebrow. His eyes narrowed, you don't know if he was showing perplexity or he just have bad vision. But it could be both.

"Is there anything funny, Shinichiro?"

Shinichiro.

You heard him chuckle. Yeah, the guy that somehow hypnotized just now.

And.

You.

Were.

About.

To.

Drop.

On.

Your.

Knees.

"It's nothing, Hayashi-san."

His voice.

That husky voice of his.

God, please give me strength.

Shinichiro. What a beautiful name. The fact that the meaning of his name is 'genuine'. You have no time to think about your feelings for him.

Because you totally cannot believe that you just fell in love at first sight with some guy that might be out of your reach.

He looks like he already has a girlfriend. I mean, someone charming like that, who wouldn't fall for him?

Girls might be chasing him.

And you thought that you wouldn't stand a chance.

Especially when your first encounter with him is you staring at him like a creep, screaming embarrassingly and also making a joke out of yourself.

Although it's humiliating for a first impression, you were quite proud of yourself that you made him laugh.

Not laugh but he snorted, well at least he was trying to suppress his laugh because he doesn't want to be rude. You bet that if he was rude enough you could hear his handsome laugh.

This is another level of down bad because you will be happy if he was laughing at you.

Well, sometimes being complimented funny feels better and more genuine than beautiful.

Beautiful can be inside or outside.

But being funny?

God, that obviously means someone will like you for you.

After that amazing first encounter, you two had, nothing did much happen though.

And you can say that you were only excited about your internship because you get to see him, even if it was just a glimpse of him. You were truly grateful that God have given you an internship next to a hot motorbike shop owner.

Sometimes he does sit outside of his shop and takes a smoke. Sometimes he also visits the veterinary clinic since he always buys food for the vets during lunch.

Yes, it's such a normal occurrence that it pisses you off. Because somehow it's making him a pushover.

Since you know how shitty the seniors in the clinic are and the audacity for them to say, "Let's not buy lunch anymore. Let's just ask that naive idiot to buy for us."

Naive idiot?

How dare they. You can't hide how displeased you are with them.

You got protective of him all of a sudden, even if he wouldn't care less about your help and probably he didn't need one.

Sometimes you wish just to tell him that they're being fake all this time and they're definitely using him since they don't want to use their own money to buy their own fucking meal.

The annoyance in you when they were acting all kind and shit whenever Shinichiro enters the vet clinic and brought them lunch. The fact they can joke around with him like they're buddies and give an 'I got your back whenever you needed' type of vibe.

It's so infuriating how fake they can act just so they can get what they want.

You don't eat the food that he bought because you felt guilty. Knowing the fact that his sincerity is abused by others and they even laugh at him most of the time.

They'll say he's naive, and people like him should be fooled and taken advantage of.

It sure does sound illogical but it's true, that Dr Hayashi is the only person that you respect because of his kindness and also he is such an inspiring person, you do wish that you can be as amazing as him one day. He's quick-witted and someone calm, God you somehow wish that you were reborn as him in your next life.

Nothing truly progresses between you and Shinichiro. Probably because you two just witness each other's presence and that's just it. No words, no greetings or no conversation.

Just nothing.

The farthest you two had talked was just him saying 'sorry' because he accidentally blew his smoke in your direction and probably because technically, you clicked your tongue at his actions so that might have made you unapproachable to him.

The next days, were just you and him having brief eye contact. Sometimes he smiles at you and you reciprocated, just to be polite. And yeah, nothing after that.

But even if with those just little interactions that seem normal if it happens to other people, to you, it made you happy. Sometimes it is the best part of the days in your internship.

That one close-eyed smile he gives to you.

And sometimes from afar, you hear him conversing with the other seniors, he laughed a little and he told them a joke that let out boisterous laughs from them and all you can do is secretly laugh.

It's because you're embarrassed if he hears how ugly it sounds.

Well so far, the most memorable interaction you had with him was when you were on your way to buy lunch outside. You headed your way to the exit door, truly you want to get out quickly because somehow lunch was the only time you can avoid such aggravating seniors that were nothing but horrible.

As you were still furious with such misogynistic bullshit that one of your male seniors said to your other female intern friend, you didn't notice that someone else from outside was also about to enter the vet clinic.

So you and that very person will have no choice but to face each other.

Your hand was pulling the handle while the other person was pushing the outside part of the handle and you accidentally pulled quite harshly to the point the other person jolted forward.

And then, your view was only the person.

His white T-shirt and his metal chain on his neck.

To be clearer, it was his chest that you only see. This person was definitely tall.

The smell of nicotine sure was strong on them but God, the smell doesn't make you uncomfortable, because you inhaled the smell more, it was addicting. According to scientific facts, nicotine sure causes addiction so you have no hesitation to agree on that.

Just as your eyes move to the very person, you already guessed who it was before and you were totally right.

Shinichiro.

His expression seems flustered but it's probably just your imagination. But you do have expertise in keeping a composed expression, in fact, you look the opposite of what you were feeling inside.

You're too good at it.

Internally, you might have fainted because this was the first time in the three months of your internship, that you are this close to him. The proximity is driving you to insanity.

You stared at him (again). This time you get to see him so closely that you thought that it was a dream. His hair was short and unkept but it sure suits him a lot, his black eyes that were dark like his hair colour, his well-defined nose and his lips.

Fuck, his lips. The lips are the part of the face where it's too...dangerous to be stared at. Because that's what lovers do when they want to initiate a kiss.

But God, you can't control yourself and you did stare down at his lips. And to your misfortune, he fucking notices it.

And oh, boy.

His cheeks were getting hotter. Maybe hotter than the lunch that is hanging in a plastic bag in his free hand. The heat might be evident on his thigh but still, nothing can compare to his cheeks.

Just as you realise that you were being a creep, you snapped back to reality. You shook your head to make yourself stop that weird gesture you're doing to him.

So you stormed your way out of the vet clinic, not even uttering an apology to him and your steps were fast. You want to get away from him quickly.

Because you're so embarrassed that not even a single word can describe how you feel.

But still, it somehow makes you happy. It sent tingles down your spine. He is so fucking beautiful that you were glad that you get to see him up close. He's definitely god's favourite and the Almighty might have taken the time to create such a perfect-looking human being.

Yes, you know it's creepy but you don't care. This is one chance that God had sent and you just have to take it. It's once in a lifetime chance, so you can't waste any time but stare at him.

Still, you did realise that you just made him uncomfortable. Especially when you end up staring at his lips.

Now that's something else. He will definitely misunderstand that. But you truly have no intentions of kissing him. Hoping that he will be your first kiss will straight up be a delirium.

And you have no choice but to end your staring session instantly.

But still, the very image of him getting flustered sure was repeating on your mind endlessly.

You can't believe you can turn into someone like this. Crushing hard on someone that you never had a conversation with before and in fact, all you did was listen to him talk to someone else, watch him from afar and definitely, dream about him every single night.

Those dreams sure are delusional. You know the type when you make fake romantic scenarios in your head and sometimes that shit even has a plot and setting. It sure was getting more concerning.

You usually do that with your favourite celebrity or your favourite fictional character that you are having a hyper fixation about. But for fucks sake, you can't believe you can go this far with Shinichiro. Your tall, handsome, always smiling, always smoking (you don't care about that surprisingly), a motorbike shop owner crush that probably...will not feel the same way.

I mean, he's that handsome. Unbelievably handsome. His handsomeness is out of this world and because of that, he must be a magnet to girls, attracting them to him. Girls might be lining up at his front door and all he left to do is choose.

And you don't stand a chance at all. As much as you want to be confident in your looks and how sometimes you stare at your bathroom mirror and tell yourself that you're the most beautiful girl to ever exist but yet there were times you will be insecure.

This time you are.

Totally insecure about your looks and your personality. Definitely, there will be women out there that are far more interesting and way 100 times better than you.

The fact that he's also effortlessly charming, he probably had gone out with many girls to the point it exhausts him. You did overhear one of your vet seniors ask him, 'You got a girlfriend already?' and he simply laughed, not saying yes or no. It's like he's ignoring the question.

From the likes of it, you assume that he doesn't have a girlfriend. Maybe he doesn't want one and he probably doesn't like commitment. I mean guys like him? He might just hook up with pretty girls when he's bored and ignored their text the very next day.

God, you just don't want to think of such horrifying possibilities so that's why you never try to talk to him. Because if you go further in your relationship with him, you're scared that your feelings will get even stronger, to the point he'll probably haunt your dreams way worse than he already has.

It's totally such a bad decision to have a crush on someone before even knowing who they are.

So that's why you thought that you just have a little crush on him. It's nothing deep. You'll probably move on from him one day. You stated that one of your strengths is moving on easily.

But you are quite wishy-washy if the fact fits with Shinichiro's case.

After spending your time briefly watching The Princess Diaries with your elder sister, you gazed at your clock and it had shown it was 6.10 pm.

God, you wish that time will turn backwards. Because the more forward it goes, the closer the day will end.

Yup, it was a Sunday.

Sunday is the second worse day of the week because the next day will be Monday which is actually the worst day of the week.

Although Sundays are holidays, still, your mind will start realising back and reminding you that the next day is another torturous day of your internship.

You just sighed out of frustration. You truly want your internship to end fast but that thought was 50/50. Because you don't know the possibility of you'll stay in Magic Paws or being transferred somewhere else after your internship ends.

Yeah, your internship is a year but still, it can't be taken for granted. One year sure flies fast.

You do want to be transferred because then finally you get to escape such sexist and immoral senior vets in that clinic but the sole reason that you want to stay is that you get to see Shinichiro on a daily basis.

God, he's the only person that it's still making you sane enough to endure those fuckers.

Well, you did say that you're going to move on sooner or later. Probably getting transferred is not a bad thing. But yeah, you're just going to storytell to your future colleagues that you were an intern at a clinic where you have an unrequited crush on the motorbike shop owner beside the clinic.

Life sure gives good things but surely nothing is getting better. They stay stagnant as they have always been.

______________

"Go buy us coffee, (Last Name)."

For fucks sake.

You have no idea why today your mood sure was different than other days. It might be because you were already exhausted with this shitty treatment from your seniors.

You were here to gain experience as a Veterinarian and learn new things from your seniors. But the only shit that your senior is teaching you is to bully interns and slack off. Sometimes they even ignore their work and toss it for you to do.

On the positive side, you get to gain new experience and also you can improve on things that you were lacking, but for fucks sake, there is wrath in you that keeps on reminding you that this is not the list of the tasks that your mentor have given to you, it was just your senior using you to make your job done and just run away from their responsibility.

You have done lots of things and had expertise in such stuff. You were glad that Dr Hayashi mentioned that you were good at taking TPRs, measuring the patient's blood pressure and there will be times that your mentor will test you on your positioning and anatomy knowledge, and you were acing all of them. (except for radiographs because DV and VD of animals sure have no difference in your eyes and you still were trying to improve on that)

But surely, you were doing great with your internship and you were happy that you were not timid as you were on your first day, you became more confident and you don't mind getting scolded if you have done something in the wrong way because you know it's part of learning.

But for the love of God, you just can't stand your seniors.

And you have enough.

At this point, you were going to snap.

"I can't. I'm busy, I'm going to clean the ex-"

"What are you talking about? You can clean that room at any time and that can wait. But right now, coffee can't wait. So go buy it for us! Are you just trying to make excuses?"

You let out a sigh. After 4 months of this misery, this was the first infuriated expression you have ever given to your senior there. You usually just smile and will not give excuses for their orders.

You just let yourself get trampled on. And you fucking hate yourself for that.

No way, you're going to let yourself be submissive forever.

"I'm an intern here. Not a slave."

Oh shit.

Yeah, you sure were panicking internally because you were meant to say something else that wouldn't show how infuriated you are but your task failed successfully. You probably have been too driven with your emotions to the point you didn't think before you say.

Fuck, there goes the deduction of your 'respecting senior' marks.

"What did you say?"

Whatever. You were already doomed anyways so you have no time to waste letting out that pent-up anger of yours.

"I said, I'm an intern here to learn and gain experience so that one day my dreams to open my own clinic will come true. I'm not here to get bullied by some seniors that definitely still can't pass anatomy basics of their own patients without referring to a book!"

Now, you really did make it worse. Especially when you insulted them. But you were not lying, you don't know how the fuck they even get to pass to become a certified Veterinarian when their basics sure were still ass. Sometimes you thought they were also in their internship because pretty sure they're like inexperienced vets.

"You seniors are always full of yourself! Acting like you're better than us interns just because of what? You're older than us and have been longer in this field and we interns are just clueless, enthusiastic, naive people that you can bully?" You clenched both of your fists at your sides, your chest was also heaving up and down in a fast manner.

Your senior only chuckled at your sudden lashing out, he's acting like his not affected because truthfully, his ego sure was hurt.

"You know that you can't disrespect us, right? That's a part of your internship assessment...I can walk to your mentor right now and straight up inform him that you raised your tone and insulted-

"Like hell, I care! You piece of shits deserves none of my respect! The way some of you sexualize us female interns and judge our bodies as we asked for your opinion. The way you take advantage of that motorbike owner guy to buy you broke idiots' lunch. The way that some of you are half-ass treating the patients, purposefully raising up surgery bills, forgetting to do regular checkups to warded patients and some of you are gross enough to fuck in the store? What the fuck is up with you people?" You took a breath before you continue your outrage. "I don't care if I get 0 marks on my assessment because I believe that's way fucking better than trying to please horrible people like you."

You move your steps towards the examination room immediately. It was embarrassing to storm away after lashing out but you could have cared less. Your head was in a mess that you can't think straight anymore.

You just wanted to go straight up to Dr Hayashi and quit your internship here. Maybe you'll just have to find a new vet clinic far from your sister's rented house. You don't mind going back to square one, it doesn't matter as long as you don't have to endure this type of torment from horrible seniors.

You were exasperated with all of this.

You want it to end now.

You don't want to do anything or even step in this place ever again.

You were sick of everyone here. Yeah, now it's everyone, even Dr Hayashi that you adored. Because he knows the situation of the seniors being such assholes to interns but then he will just ignore and act like nothing happen or he didn't hear anything.

Doing nothing is also something wrong.

He just wanted to keep his hands clean. You bet the thought in his head will say that it's normal for interns to experience 'bullying' from seniors, it's one of the bittersweet moments in an internship.

Right, getting bullied is so fucking bittersweet so that's why some people commit suicide from it. Very inspiring, Dr Hayashi.

You have no idea what you were doing in the examination room because you just wanted to flee from the situation before. You never even intended to clean it anyways, you were just making an excuse before so you can avoid buying coffee for them.

You were the type to cry when you get angry. And you hate that nature of yours.

You were trying so hard to suppress your tears because if you cry, it will feel like you got defeated by them. Well, that just makes you feel like shit.

This was the first time you fight them back and it's definitely not leading to something good. You totally have ruined your internship marks big time.

It's been a long time since you haven't felt like this.

The last time you lashed out this intensely was when you caught your ex-best friend and your old crush kissing in front of your house. Yeah, the time when you and she were housemates and still you thought she was such a good best friend.

It was devastating to know that you were excited to bring her back with her favourite pizza but yet you get to see her kissing the guy you love.

How unfortunate.

Why in the world everything in your life will never go right?

Getting humiliated by your 14-year-old crush's friends till high school ended.

Getting betrayed by your ex-best friend that decided to pursue the guy that you're in love with at the moment (the fact she started texting him the day you finally have the guts to tell her that you liked him).

Now, getting an internship in a clinic where the seniors were horrible and shitty.

Everything is never going to go right.

Guess you should've just changed your name on your birth certificate to 'Misfortunate Bitch'.

As you eyed around the unoccupied examination room, you saw an exit door on your left.

Right, this room was situated at the most behind part of the clinic, meaning that the door will lead to the backside of the clinic. The backside of the stores was empty since it will lead to another unknown forest and most likely it's a suitable place for delinquents to hang around since it's unnoticeable and people will not have the necessity to go there.

So you went your way out of the clinic, finally getting fresh air outside since the intense scene before was suffocating you.

You were walking back and forth like when you were rehearsing the interview questions 4 months ago, you're contemplating your decision to quit or not.

If you stay, you might be diagnosed with multiple mental illnesses by a therapist and probably you're going to lose motivation to veterinary.

If you quit, you have to go back to square one with your internship in another clinic and the worst part is you wouldn't get to see Shinichiro again (this is a big issue alright).

God, you're about to lose your mind. You're so indecisive that you just wanted to bang your head on the wall for making such simple things become difficult.

You ruffled up your (hair colour) hair and it was in a huge mess, if anyone walked past you, they could mistake you as a runaway patient from a mental institution.

You halted your steps, trying your best to catch a breath because you were walking back and forth so fast that it drained your energy. You then saw an empty trashcan beside you, it seems like it was left abandoned since no one in the clinic uses it.

Perfect.

Perfect for you to fucking kick till it flies off to another galaxy because you have no place to lash out your anger.

Since you were alone on the backstreet, so you didn't hesitate to lift your leg up and kick the trashcan with all your might. You were shameless at this moment and you embarrassingly made a 'bruce lee' scream when you were doing it.

A huge clang sound came from the trashcan.

Well, it's just loud because you put so much force on your leg when you were kicking it.

Unfortunately, the trashcan stood still, unaffected by your kicking.

But what happened was your foot was starting to throb because of how strong you hit it on the trashcan.

You winced in pain and cursed, "Fuck!". You looked so stupid since you were standing on one leg, jumping trying to regain back your balance from standing and your hands were stroking your injured foot that you lift up closer to you.

This is so humiliating.

You thought you will get a satisfying result from kicking the trashcan but guess you just hurt your foot instead.

Definitely, a misfortunate bitch, that's what you are.

Thank god, no one was seeing this embarrassing scenario that you were doing.

Because if someone did, you will literally dig a hole, carve your own tombstone and bury yourself in an instant.

It's like you were ready to prepare your funeral if that ever happen.

Yeah, you better do that now.

Because someone did witness all of the things you did.

How did you find out though?

It's because of a sudden noise.

Coming from a tree that was behind S.S Motors.

You heard it clearly with your damn ears even if you haven't waxed it yet this week.

A sound of someone snorting, stifling a laugh and trying to act like they didn't just get caught by you.

You predicted that it must be some delinquent that hang out on the backstreet that were hiding on purpose, just so they can see what you were doing 'privately'.

This angered you more.

How fucking dare they invade your privacy and the audacity to laugh at your misery?

You can't help yourself from lashing out.

"What's so funny, huh?" You said.

You were saying directly to the person hiding behind that tree. It looks weird, to be honest, it's like you were conversing with the tree like a mentally unstable person (you already are, so fair enough). Because that person's hiding skills sure was good, you can't even see their figure at all but you're confident that they were there.

"Seriously? You were so brave to laugh at me and now you're being a pussy when I caught you?"

No response. It was just silence.

You were expecting that person understands what you were implying. You wanted them to show themselves and apologize to you.

But no.

They're trying to stay hidden.

"You want me to drag you out of that damn tree or something? I'm so pissed with my shitty seniors that are nothing but misogynistic bullies and I fucking hate this clinic so bad. I wish I have my internship somewhere else and the only good thing about this clinic is it's beside a motorbike shop owned by someone handsome! I bust my ass off in University and get a 4.00 CGPA for every semester, hoping I have a good future and this is what I got? A HORRIBLE AND TRAUMATIZING INTERNSHIP! So you better not piss me off and show your fucking face, whoever you are!"

You screamed all of that in one breath. Kicking the trashcan sure does not satisfy your anger but screaming that was.

It was actually you venting to this unknown stranger, you almost told everything that you don't want anyone else close to you to know. There was some information that your sister doesn't even know, you never told her that you got bullied here because you never want her to get worried.

If you even try to tell her, you were sure that you were going to lose your internship because she is going to cause World War III in that damn clinic. She's overprotective.

And still, you waited for that person.

Hoping by hearing your venting will convince them to finally reveal themselves.

But.

Nope.

Still, no person coming out from that tree.

You grunted and you don't know what was controlling you, because it was definitely not your brain but it was your anger instead. You marched your way to the tree. Your steps were fast but you have to drag your injured foot before so you look like those fast zombies in Korean movies.

You saw the person's shoulder peeking out from the tree and your common sense was just telling you to just drag them out liked you promised just now. You took a fistful from the person's white shirt and pull him out from the tree that he was busy hiding.

"Why can't you just listen-

Your furrowed brows relaxed all of the sudden. Not because of relief, it's because of stupefication.

You didn't expect this person was behind the tree all along.

And the fact your lashing out was mentioned about him being handsome.

Now, embarrassment started to creep up in you instead.

"You?"

Yeah, you were only capable to mutter 'you'. Because you never talked to him and you don't even know what to call him. You know his full name but you don't think you should be formal by calling him by his last name and you also don't think you have the right to call him by his first name since you never have a conversation with him.

So yeah. 'You' is the safest option.

Shinichiro was only stunned on how harsh your grip on his shirt was and you were surprisingly strong enough to pull him out of the tree.

You were staring at him again.

Shinchiro can't decide if it just excite him or make him nervous. Well, regardless of what he feels, there was heat rising up to his cheeks, to make it worse, the red color on it was obvious.

He was not expecting this to happen at all. Or even get himself caught. One of his weaknesses is holding in his laugh and even if he tries to he will always turned out to snort like a pig.

So yeah, he just can't help himself when he saw you kicking the trashcan but ended up hurting your foot. His humour is broken (like his skull). And he tend to laugh at things easily.With that scene of you failing rolling off in front of him.

That's definitely one of the most hilarious things that he had witnessed in his entire life.

Right. You said something.

You said 'you' to him. And that weirded him out. You never knew his name after your 4 months (yeah he counted it) interning at Magic Paws?

That's disappointing.

To make matters worse that is the first word you ever said to him.

You.

It's not special but for him, that's one cute word to say because it was still about him. As in him being the 'you' that you were referring to.

Shinichiro look around except for your eyes and he doesn't know what to respond to your stunned state.

So he only found one way to answer the question.

"Me...?"

This guy is an idiot.

He just made the situation even awkward because that made you cocked up your brow at him. You were dumbfounded by his response.

But that makes him effortlessly adorable.

He's so clueless on what to say to your words, so he just went on to respond to you with the best answer he could think of.

Shinichiro moved his gaze to your hand that was still gripping on his shirt and he awkwardly said, "Can you...uh...

You followed his gaze and realised that you have been holding on his shirt too harshly so you let go of it quickly. You stepped back a little from him and cleared your throat.

"Sorry..." you apologized.

"It's fine."

Now...

...what.

You two stay silent, like nothing happened between the two of you. This situation is getting more awkward then it used to be.

You weren't the type to be awkward with someone and usually you are skilled to make people loosen up. But I guess, internship did change you, you wonder when was the last time you were being friendly to a stranger.

Because at this point you were imagining someone else was that extroverted and social butterfly person that you used to be.

Well, the only way to get out of this situation is to go back the clinic and act like nothing happened.

When you were about to move your foot to go back to the clinic, you winced in pain all of the sudden. The pain in your foot started to get worse. You hissed in pain and a hurtful expression was written on your face.

You were busy getting furious before that you didn't even notice that your foot was in pain.

That truly concerned Shinichiro and he asked, "Are you okay?"

Oh, god. That give butterflies into your stomach. But you don't want to show that you are and you tried your best to suppress a smile. He literally laughed at you just now...in fact, this was the second time he snorted to something that you do and say.

You can't let that slide.

You shook your head as a response and refused to look him in the eye. "I'm fine, it's nothing."

Shinichiro only narrowed his eyes at you. It was obvious. That you were trying to act like it was nothing. Shinichiro knows it hurts.

He was a delinquent 5 years ago. And he wasn't joking that he cried in pain when he tried to punch someone. That shit hurts like a bitch and till this day, he never knew what was the right technique to punch someone because he didn't bother to get lessons in the dojo.

But his point is that he knows that kick hurts.

So yeah, there's no use lying.

"Let me help you treat your foot, I have icepack in my shop."

You just shook your head again, not wanting any help from him. You don't want to prolong all of this because if you do, you will faint right here and he has no choice to give you CPR (well, it's not bad actually but you don't want your first kiss to be when you were unconscious).

You don't know why but you like this proximity with him and at the same time, you want to run away. Probably because you were embarrassed of the fact that he saw you kicking (a failed attempt) a trashcan, lashing out like a crazy bitch and the worse part you...lowkey admitted about him being handsome.

That's one of the things that you don't want him to know.

You know men, they're so...full of themselves when someone call them handsome and it definitely boost their ego more.

And you kind of hate it that you make him feel that way. Probably he already found out that you were into him all this time.

All of the sudden, you felt your wrist getting pulled and you heard him say "I insist."

And just like that you were already in his shop, sitting on a chair in the garage section. There was motorbike with its parts messily scattered on the floor and there was toolbox beside it. You assumed he was halfway done fixing it.

There was also motorbikes arranged neatly at the front part of the shop. There were so many of them and although you're not a big fan of bikes, they were so astonishing and you bet you are tempted to buy one if you have enough money to buy it.

Just as you were busy roaming your eyes around the shop, Shinichiro finally stepped out from a room (you assumed it's his bedroom and he might have sleep in there on work days) and he had an icepack on his right hand.

He walked straight right in front of you.

You were about to reach for the icepack from him and put it on your foot on your own.

But the least expected thing happened.

You were about to say that happened to you probably is just one of your delusions but...no.

It was real.

It is happening.

Shinichiro walked near you and still holding on to the icepack...and...

....he was kneeling.

Yeah, kneeling like he's going to propose to you.

That's why you can't fathom all of this being real. This can't be real. You must still be in bed, having nice sweet dreams about him since you already can accept the fact that you can never have him.

But now.

It is real.

This is not a dream.

You're in his shop, sitting on a chair that he let you sit on, him kneeling for you so that he can treat your injured foot.

What in the world is happening?

You can't decide if things are getting worse or better. Because regardless, you think that you can fall off this chair and faint.

"May I?" He points to your shoe. The one that was on your injured foot.

Good god.

He's a gentleman.

He was going to take off your shoe for you? He might just be the reincarnation of Prince Charming because you really felt like you are Cinderella.

Fuck Cinderella, this is one hundred times better. This was real and not some fairytale.

You nod to give a sign that it's fine for him to take your shoe off. He went closer to your foot and took off your shoe gently.

You don't know what to feel in this situation but thank god, you know how to keep your composure when internally you were screaming like crazy and you don't want this moment to end.

He then hold your foot and put the icepack on it, you felt the cold sensation and it made you flinch a little.

"Does it hurt here?"

"Urm...no...it hurts more near the toes."

He moved the icepack nearer to your toes, you felt bad, to be honest. It's like you're ordering him around and all you did was tell the truth.

Probably it wasn't your style to ask for help from people much, you're too independent to the point that people offering you help makes you uncomfortable.

"Better?"

You nodded, the pain that was surging in before was dying down bit by bit. Guess ice do work to ease up your soon-to-be swollen foot.

You two remained silent. You were on the chair with one of your feet getting held by Shinichiro, it felt bizarre. It feels like you were acting out a broadway play with him well except there was no audience to see and you must say it's better that way.

It was too soundless.

And you don't like it. He was probably focusing on treating your foot while you on other hand can just sit down and watch him do his thing.

So you decided to initiate a conversation or what you shall say was...introducing yourself?

Well, you both never did any proper introduction and somehow you were here with him treating your foot out of the blue, it's going too fast.

Especially when you two have never spoken a word to each other for the last 4 months.

"I...um..." You cleared your throat, not wanting to be heard by him how you were nervous and your heartbeat was beating rapidly.

"We didn't... even introduce ourselves...um..."

You paused for a moment like you were going to reveal something surprising to him. "I'm (Last Name) (First Name)."

That sounded too awkward and the way your voice squeaked...God, you were restraining the urge in you from giving yourself a hit on the head.

That was so embarrassing!

Shinichiro's eyes that were focusing on your foot before moved their way to meet yours. He was stunned by your sudden introduction. He didn't expect it was necessary because actually, you don't even have to.

"I know," He beamed.

Huh?

You wander your eyes away from his. It is probably due to discomfiture or you just want to hide the fact that you were proud that he knows your name and he's nice enough to remember it, you just want to melt into a pool at this point.

"Oh." You just said it as a reflex. When in reality, you actually wanted to ask 'How did you know?' and 'How in the world did you care to know?', but yeah, you were embarrassed to ask.

But here's the good thing about Shinichiro, he's good at reading people, or I shall say reading people's minds.

"I asked Hayashi-san."

Oh for the love of God.

"Oh, I see." You tried to stay composed when in reality you were about to scream from happiness or jump in joy like a kangaroo. He cared enough to want to know your name. Even if he's not interested in you, at least he noticed your existence and had a curiosity to know your name.

"Do you know my name?" Shinichiro asked and he cleared his throat a little, he might be ashamed to ask you the question, I mean it's humiliating to just know someone else's name but that person doesn't even bother to know.

You scratched your nape, he must have thought you never knew his name because of the incident before. You totally understand why he did. You only muttered 'you' to him and with a dumbfounded expression, it seems like you don't know his name or what to call him.

The first statement is false but the second is true. You don't know which name to call him. Literally.

Sano-san? Sano-kun? Shinichiro-kun? Shin? (Oh, now settle down, please, we're not near that level yet)

"I know your name but I just...don't know what to call you." You let out a nervous chuckle.

"Shinichiro is fine. I don't remember the last time people call me by my last name." He adjusted his knees a little. "I hate formalities, anyways."

When he said that, you automatically muttered "Shinichiro." softly. You just wondered what it sounds like when you say it and you didn't intend for him to hear it.

Too late.

Because the guy had turned beet red. Redder than he ever had in his life or even before the encounters he had with you.

Someone, please give Sano Shinichiro life support because death is about to come near him (well it did come if we follow the manga). It is only caused by you just saying his name.

Well, you thought that you were the weak one. But you're wrong. Shinichiro is definitely way worse than you.

He's called the 'Weak King' for a reason.

He's not just weak in fights but the weakest human being when it comes to women.

Or I shall say at this moment...to you.

He's weak to you.

"Are you okay?" Now it's your turn to ask about his condition, when actually you're the only one that got injured or in pain. He's probably in pain.

Painfully in love.

You can see clearly his face is getting red but yet again this time, it was way worse. It's like his whole pale face now is red. Before this, it was just his cheeks.

And still, you were in denial. There was no way you were doing this to him and you want to convince yourself that you were delusional and making up your own fantasies since you know for sure how your internship was so horrible that it makes you get diagnosed with different types of mental illnesses.

Shinichiro stayed silent but still, he nodded as a response and he tore his gaze away from you. He can't look at you.

Because it will definitely get worse.

He wanted to cover his face with his hand so bad but both of his hands were occupied. One is still loyal to holding on to your foot while the other was still holding the icepack.

And again.

You two stay silent. There was nothing to say anyways. You two were still strangers. You two have nothing in common for the time being.

He's a motorbike shop owner while you're a veterinarian.

You can talk about animal anatomy if you want and he can talk about motorbike brands if he wants to but that's just weird to come up with those topics all of the sudden.

There was nothing much to say anyway.

But there was this one thing that you always want to tell him.

He deserves to know about it.

And you have to stop him from doing it.

You were so sick of seeing him getting laughed on. It felt weird to be so protective of someone that you don't know much but fuck it, you were exhausted seeing it.

"You know...about my seniors." Shinichiro furrowed his eyebrows with this sudden change of topic. How can it when from introducing each other (it doesn't count as that when you two already know each other's name) to talking about your seniors?

"I think you should stop treating their lunch. They were never nice in the first place. They're horrible people that like to take advantage of others. And they're fake to you even, they were acting like their buddies with you but all they did was laugh at you and call you a 'naive idiot'."

Shinichiro smiled.

He smiled so bright that he can light up the city if it were night.

He felt a fuzzy feeling creep inside him. It feels so nice. It's been a long time since he felt like someone was protective of him. He will always be protective of someone else, be it Manjiro or Emma or any of his friends.

Probably it's because he's the eldest sibling, it's his nature for him to be protective of others and he has no one elder to look up to (he has his grandpa but come on now, his grandpa was old and busy with the dojo, sometimes he handle things on his own because he doesn't want to burden the old guy).

So yeah. It didn't make him nervous but it made him happy. Guess he misunderstood you all this time.

"I know they're horrible. I never liked them either." He pressed the icepack a little harder on your toes. "I started treating them the last 4 months. I never bother to talk to them before. Honestly, it's just an excuse."

Wait. Wait. Wait.

You can't fathom his sudden words. It was so much and so fast. You were trying to digest it one by one and it doesn't make sense. What does it mean by him hating your seniors all this time?

He was acting so nice and genuine but all of that was just fake. Man, he really did deceive them. They even call him a 'naive idiot' when all this time they were the ones that are dumb enough to not realise that he was pretending all along.

Even you were buying that lie.

But if he hated them, why would he bother to buy lunch for them? Why all the fuss?

He did say the word 'excuse'.

Right.

Now you know what to ask. After all his statements, shooting up on you like bullets.

"Excuse for what?"

Shinichiro hesitated at first to say it. He was shy to say the real reason why and he just wants to slap himself to even let the word 'excuse' slip up from his mouth, he didn't mean to and he got carried away.

But a part of him was trying to say this was a golden opportunity that he can just tell the truth and just go on with it. He wants to convince himself to stop being such a coward. He might been weak in fights in his delinquent days, but still, he has the bravery to fight people that stronger than him.

So why in the world telling the truth to you will be so hard.

Shinichiro let out a deep breath and managed to say the words that he have been holding back all this time.

"To see you."

You blinked a few times, not understanding what he was saying like he was talking in a different language.

"What?"

"It's an excuse for me to see you."

Is this all real? This is not a dream, right?

What in the world is going on? You felt like the whole world went frozen and it was just you and him and nothing else in this world.

At this point, you don't know how to keep your composure as you accidentally pull away your foot from him. Probably because his touch will feel different after what he said to you before.

You didn't mean to be rude and he might misinterpret what you were doing. You're not disgusted by him, you were too stunned by what he said and you can't believe that it was real.

He looks crestfallen when you pulled your foot away, his hands were still in a position of treating your foot before but he then put his hand to his sides. He thought that you were uncomfortable with him when the truth is you don't.

"I'm sorry! I'm not mad...I'm just...uh...shocked.That's all."

Shinichiro only let out a sigh, is this going to be another rejection? He remembered the time when he went on 20 blind dates all of the women will end up rejecting him.

It's probably his bad luck.

But yeah, that's why he called it his '20 consecutive rejections.' Because after all those unbelievable amounts of blind dates, he still didn't win any of the women's hearts.

He was exhausted from hoping so in the end he quit finding himself a girlfriend. It's humiliating he will say, it seems like he was desperate (he is actually). Or he must say he might be love-deprived or desperate wanting someone's affection.

It's stupid and he knows. Both of his parents had passed away, his grandpa was not the affectionate type and always scold him whenever he tried to skip dojo and he has younger siblings, the ones that he has to shower with affection towards.

He never got any from anyone. And that's why he falls in love (madly even) easily and he got labelled by his friends as someone girl-crazy (even Manjiro called him that).

Sometimes he couldn't care less what people call him because it is the truth anyways.

If people were in his shoes, they will probably understand. He always wondered what it feels like to get the loveliest affection from someone.

You only looked at him with a weird expression, he was staring into space and he might have been lost in thoughts so you leaned in him a little and gave a little wave in front of his face.

Shinichiro finally snapped back to his thoughts and made eye contact with you. Right, he will always turn out to be lost in his thoughts. He has too much responsibility and too much to think that it somehow becomes a bad habit of his.

"Did I say something wrong?" You asked guilt written across your face.

Shinichiro shook his head instantly and said, "Oh...no...it's just...I think I made you uncomfo-

"No, no, no. I'm not." You waved both of your hands, denying his statement about you being uncomfortable because that's definitely the last thing you will feel when you hear him say that.

You were elated, on fucking cloud nine after hearing his words.

"I'm happy actually." Now, even if you know your words sounded shameless, you don't care. He had the guts to tell you truth why can't you just do the same? It's not like anyone else except for you two here.

It's a great opportunity. Tell him how much you have been fantasizing about him in your dreams and you can't bear it anymore.

Fuck the rejections that you got in the past. Until when do you want to still be a coward and not go for anything that you want?

You're sick of being like that. You want to be happy and reach for anything that you dream of. Be it owning your own clinic or even having this motorbike guy fall in love with you (he already did and that makes things easier).

Shinichiro was confused at first, he thought that he was going to get another 'I'm sorry, I'm not interested' type of response from you but no. You just say that you were happy that he wanted to see you.

Wait...does that mean-

"I'm always happy when you came by the clinic. I'm just good at showing that I don't feel anything." Oh god, you were about to combust but you stay calm. "I'm sorry I never ate the food that you bought...I felt guilty. Since most of the seniors were using you to buy lunch for them, I don't want to be one of them. So that's why I decide to buy food on my own."

Ah...now it makes sense. Shinichiro thought.

He must say he was (always) disappointed when he saw you not even touching the food that he bought whenever the other seniors and you were in the resting room. The room has sofas and even a table in the middle, it was a nice place to get a good rest.

You tend to sit far away from them and just stared at them dining in, or you will just get a nap instead. Never he seen you eat any of the lunch he bought and sometimes you already stepped out first to buy your own lunch so he will sometimes join in to eat with the other seniors and wait for you to come back with your own lunch.

Right, he really hates endeavour (me too if he's talking about the MHA character) but when it comes to you, he definitely just lost his self-respect and went on trying when he knew the result will be the same.

You not even bothering to eat the food that he bought.

I will say that if compared to you and Shinichiro, it was him that was more...down bad. He literally knows your schedule, like when will you come in or come out of the clinic.

He will wait outside his shop anytime you were about to enter and exit. You thought it was just a coincidence he was outside his shop and blowing smoke, like his first encounter with you.

But no.

He planned it all along. Even if he can just get a glimpse of you, he just takes every chance he gets. Sometimes it was a  lucky day for him that you look back at him and gave him a smile, but then some days you were storming in quickly.

And as every time you exited out, it's rare that you will look back at him. Mostly because you want to get home in an instant, after knowing how shitty your internship is, he understands that.

That's why anytime you were about to enter and exit the clinic he will always chant this secretly:

Please look at me. Please look at me. Please look at me.

And it must be weird, right? Why does Shinichiro have to go on waste his money every day (for these 4 months of course) to treat the seniors and go that far just to see you? Why can't he just go straight up to you and asked you yourself if he would like to treat you to lunch?

Why can't he just be bold?

Right, he has the same fear as you. Fear of rejection. And he might have misinterpreted your actions before. Your first encounter with him was you got irritated with him for smoking in your direction.

So he just assumes that you despise him. And it's rare for people to hate him. I mean, who in the world hates him? People always say that he's an angel. Everyone close to him adores and loves him. Girls that rejected him didn't hate him, they were just disinterested to be more than friends with him.

And that's just it. No hate.

But you, he thought that you hated him. And obviously asking someone that hates you to go on a date with you is one dumb move. So that's why Shinichiro didn't dare to come up to you and just say that 'I like you and have been crazy about you. Now, please go out with me.'

But after you're lashing out at him (unintentionally), his misunderstanding about you fades away. Why is it?

Oh, it's because you called him 'handsome'. He was actually grinning like an idiot before you pulled him out of the tree and that actually was the least expected thing that he thought will happen. When you were busy getting angry and asked him to come out...he was actually replaying back the words that you lashed out before and he didn't even hear you.

So that's why he never did come out from the tree.

Because he was busy thinking of your words and all the words you said to him at the moment were blocked out of his mind.

That explains why he was shocked when you pull him out of the tree all of the sudden. He didn't even realise that you had stomped your way to him and were angry.

To add more, the best day that ever happen in his life was when you two accidentally bumped into each other at the entrance door of Magic Paws. You will have no idea what you do to him because he will always reimagine back that scene for weeks and the fact that he will constantly bring it up to Benkei and Wakasa, those two were exhausted hearing the same thing.

Benkei can even repeat back and predicted his exact words...imagine how many times he has repeated it.

"That's okay. You noticing me was enough actually."

Oh, for fucks sake this guy needs to stop being like this.

"I also want to apologize for lashing out. I didn't know it was you were behind that tree."

"You shouldn't apologize."

You were stunned by his statement, "What...why?"

"You called me 'handsome'." he gave you a smirk.

Shit.

"That...uh...was not meant to-- I mean, it slipped out." You averted his gaze, trying your best to handle the humiliation.

Shinichiro shrugged, "I'm thanking God that you did."

You let out a giggle (an ugly one though), he has a way with words and he has a sense of humour. He's nice, kind and even polite. Fuck, he's so perfect that you can't imagine anyone better than him.

There was no way he was real.

And the way he was subtly saying and hinting that he likes you back, God you just want to go back home and tell your sister everything that was happening now.

"Well...you must have heard that from multiple girls already. Why are you acting like it's the first time you heard someone say it?" You cocked up one eyebrow, his reaction sure perplexed you.

Shinichiro let out a chuckle. If only you knew, how bad his luck with girls is, despite his good looks. He doesn't understand it either. He knows that his handsome. Still, that doesn't stop him from getting rejections.

But a girl acknowledging it...well, actually you are the first girl that ever did.

"You're nice to think that girls are crazy about me." He scratched his not-so-itchy nape slightly.

"When I'm actually the one that's crazy about girls."

You were in disbelief. You didn't assume that he was joking around, because he seems serious and the way he conveyed it, it sounded like it is a fact that he doesn't want to admit it and he's forcing himself to.

But he's good at pretending to be friends with your seniors, so you still doubt about it.

"Wait, what?" You cleared your throat, your tone was unnecessarily high out of a sudden, it embarrassed you. "No way. Are you lying?" You narrowed your eyes at him, still not trusting his words.

"Why would I? It took me a lot of courage to admit and accept the fact, you know."

You nod your head slowly and stared at him intently. It is a fact.

You're crushing on someone that can't even pull girls or to make it even better, he's inexperienced with girls. So he's just as clueless as you. Not knowing how relationships work.

Wait, why are you saying that?

He didn't even say that he likes you (verbally), he is hinting at it and he didn't even ask you out yet.

Right. You need to calm down.

"I believe the other girls are blind."

"You think so?"

"Yeah! I even thought you have a girl-"

Oops, now you just talked too much.

"Girlfriend?" Shinichiro can guess what your next word is.

You roam your eyes somewhere else except on his. Embarrassment crept inside you and you were tongue-tied. Regretting talking too much. It's been a long time since you're having a nice conversation with someone, probably that's why you tend to slip up.

"Yeah..." you bit your lip a little. You hesitate to agree but what's the point to deny it? It was obvious that was your thought.

"I got rejected every time I confess my feelings for someone."

Your body straightens up out of the blue. It's like his words were inspiring or something.

But no.

It's not like that.

You were surprised because that has always been happening to you. Getting rejected by people that you fall in love with.

Is this...like destiny?

Two people that constantly get rejected finally found each other. Are the rejections that you have gotten before is so you can end up with the right one all along? People always say that anything happens for a reason.

For once, you felt good for getting rejected all this time. Guess it has a solid reason but you never noticed it.

Maybe it is so that you will not end up like your elder sister that constantly struggling to find the one and she will always choose the wrong person.

But your circumstance..probably God was saving you from ending up with the wrong person that doesn't deserve you.

Probably, the day has finally come.

The right person or the one is right in front of you.

"Me too actually." You nervously admitted. You stared down at your foot, you had forgotten that one of your feet was supposed to hurt but guess the ice pack he put before did help ease the throbbing. So you wear back your shoe on the foot, crouching down to the side and using one of your hands to fit it in properly.

As you were about to go back to your normal posture and continue your conversation with Shinichiro, you were stunned all of the sudden.

You don't know when did he stood up from his kneeling position but now...

...he's just one inch in front of you.

To the point, you can smell nicotine and a burning scent on him.

He must have smoked a lot.

Well, you can't decide if you were nervous or thrilled because at this point you felt both at the same time.

And for the love of God, he was making things even worse.

He leaned into your face to the point, his beautiful features were the only thing you are witnessing. His hand was resting on the chair, just above your shoulder. You can feel his fingers brushing on your coat a little.

That made your stomach flip a few times.

You were frozen in your spot and you have no intention to push him away at all. This is a pretty privileged situation indeed. Because if it weren't for his good looks, you might have punched him for behaving creepily.

But when he does it...you don't know why you trust him enough and think that it was innocuous.

It feels absurd if he was trying to take advantage of you.

It doesn't seem like him. It's not very Shinichiro of him if he does.

"Can I be your boyfriend, then?"

What the?!

"Wha–wait–" You try to catch a breath first. Holy shit. Your heart was pounding like crazy that it can burst out of your chest at any moment.

This is not the first thing you expect him to say.

You didn't know it will escalate this fast.

Man, this guy is shy sometimes but then in an instant, he becomes flirty and bold. It's like something else possessed him or something.

"Aren't we going too fast?"

Shinichiro pouted a little. It's not like he's disappointed or something. He asked that question to his previous failed 20 blind dates, and all of them said 'No' without even thinking for a second.

But you didn't.

And in fact, you were just asking for time. You didn't say 'No'. So you are giving him a chance to prove how amazing he is.

Shinichiro removed his hand from the chair and leaned back a little.

"We can go slowly if you want~" he said the words with a flirtatious tone

Now.

This is not the right time to be dirty-minded.

Because god, if this is in a different situation, it will mean something else.

"Maybe ...going on dates first?..."

"Sure, we can have lunch together. That'll be our first date."

"Wait, already?"

"Yeah...when else then?" Shinichiro cleared his throat a little.

"I'm impatient."

He needs to stop talking with those types of words!

You felt butterflies roaming around your stomach. 

Damn.

He's definitely putting you in a chokehold. You can't believe you made him desperate of wanting you. It's like he wants everything between the two of you to be fast.

In fact, you didn't attempt to do anything to make him go that way. 

You are just being yourself, that's all that you ever did.

If this was a romantic novel, this was definitely not a slow burn, it might have been Insta Love or Love at First Sight. Because this is quite fast paced to have strong feelings for each other.

"Uh....okay, then."

Shinichiro's flirtatious antics ended when he took your hand and pulled you back to your feet and smiled at you brightly. He don't know what part of him was that, but that was the first time in his life that his confession didn't turn out awkward like the previous ones.

It felt natural. In fact, it feels like that sentence he said before was meant to say to you only and no one else.

"You should get going, isn't this the time where your patients will come in?"

Shit! I got carried away!

"Oh my God! You're right." You glanced at the hand that he was holding and beamed. "Anyways, thank you for treating my foot."

Your hand slowly let go of his. God, you don't want to let go of him. You want to hold it forever but yet circumstances wouldn't allow you.

You walked your way in a fast manner to the exit door at the back of his shop. You were holding onto the doorknob and were about to twist it open.

But then, his words halted you.

"See you later, (First Name)."

Shit. Shit. Shit.

Why does it have to be now? Why at this moment when you were urgent and wanted to save your ass from getting whipped by Dr Hayashi is the time when he said your name the first time?

He's doing this on purpose. He's messing with you. Man, this guy is really killing you slowly.

You turned your way in his direction, glancing at his gloomy expression.

Wow, guess he actually doesn't want you to go yet. He probably will not stop glancing at the clock, wanting time to go by faster till it reaches lunchtime. He might as well lose focus from doing his work, overthinking about his 'first date'.

So you give him a closed-eye smile. You don't know if you were trying to cheer him up or something but whatever it is, that is the most genuine smile you have ever given to someone in your whole life. And you were glad that he was the first person that gets to see it.

"See you later, Shin."

A/N: Well, this was longer than I planned it to be but I'm satisfied with how it turned out SKKSKSKK. Yeah, so since my Shinichiro Brainrot was worsening after the latest chaps, I believe this was such a suitable time for me to write a oneshot for him. Anywaysss, I think this book gets abandoned most of the time because I don't know when to update before but now I planned to update once a month hee hee (insert Michael Jackson sound). Yeah so the next oneshot that will be in October, will be Koko's. So that's all, I have nothing else to say tbh. But regardless, thank you for reading this oneshot <3.

-zuu