Chapter Text
Natsu is late to school, and on the worst possible day, too.
It all began because her older brother, Shouyou, had overslept yet again.
"When I was your age, I used to bike to school!" he grumbles, making desperate attempts to pull up his pants as Natsu urges him to hurry up. "Up and down a mountain, Natsu! Every day!"
"You know that my high school is farther than that," Natsu snaps back, then slings her bag over her shoulder, making sure not to squish the small Vabo-chan keychain she had gotten last Christmas, limply hanging off the side. "If I knew that you were going to fall asleep, I would have just called Kageyama-kun!"
Shouyou throws on a half-ironed polo shirt, an abhorrent shade of green, may she add, which tousles up his absolute bird's nest of hair even more.
"Stingyama wouldn't have answered anyway,” he says with a shrug. “I specifically instructed him to ignore your calls."
Thankfully, today wasn’t the first day at her new high school. However, since it was already nearing the end of the first week, and classes were being set into first gear, being late without having memorised where everything was, was practically a death wish.
"Nii-san!"
"Yes, yes, I'm coming!"
They practically run out the front door, startling the poor stray cat living on their street in the process.
“Sorry, Momo-chan!” Shouyou coos at the fat tabby from across the road, but is violently swerved in the opposite direction.
“Shouyou, there is no time for apologies!” Natsu all but screams, hauling her bag into the trunk of his car. “I’m already running late!!”
She inwardly curses at herself for not having the time to eat a proper breakfast as they hop into the sleek and somewhat obnoxious orange car Shouyou bought semi-ironically last year.
Semi-ironically, she has to remind herself, because, and quoting him, it “looks just like me! Why wouldn’t I buy it?”. She’s not even kidding.
"Why are you in such a rush anyway?” Her brother asks, turning the keys, and starting the engine. He leisurely adjusts the rearview mirror, ignoring just how disheveled Natsu seems to look in the backseat. “You're all like bwah!"
"School began…" She checks her phone with a frown. "Twelve minutes ago. And I’m still at home. Do you see the problem here?"
Shouyou waves one hand in dismissal with a laugh, backing out of the driveway. "Hah, that’s nothing. It's just the first week of school. You won't miss anything important."
"You’re such a bad influence on kids." Natsu shakes her head, but still smiles at the sight. "You're supposed to be the example older brother, remember?"
"And I am!" he huffs up his chest proudly, revving up the engine, and rolling down the window, letting the warm April air in. "I was an excellent student back in my day!"
“Back in your day…” She mouths in disbelief, acutely aware of the fact that Shouyou had, in fact, graduated not so long ago. "In volleyball, maybe."
She knows that she has him cornered, checkmated at the spot, when she sees Shouyou smile ruefully in the rearview mirror.
"Yeah, probably,” Shouyou says, swerving to the left, past the Miyagi elementary school. “But hey, I still turned out fine! I have a stable job, a wonderful boyfriend, and a lot of money."
"You do know that our parents probably love your boyfriend more than they love you, right?"
The car drives over a speed bump, making them both jolt. Well, Natsu for the most part - Shouyou looks pretty unphased by the whole ordeal. "For what it's worth, I love Tobio the most. They have nothing on me."
Of course, Natsu thinks. He just has to make everything a competition, doesn't he?
"Keep your eyes on the road, you old sap," is all she responds with, letting her brother’s vibrant cackling fill up the empty space between them.
Much to Natsu’s surprise, despite all the bickering, she still somehow manages to come to school with twenty minutes of the first lesson left to spare, which - isn’t great, truth be told, but at least she arrived.
"Have fun at school, Nat-chan!" Shouyou hollers, sticking his head out the rolled down window, and Natsu only grimaces at the old nickname that, despite all the years it's been, has still stuck with her. "I love you!"
"You're such a loser," she mutters, a tired smile on her face. “Must you make it your life goal to try and embarrass me at every opportunity?”
“Well, duh. That’s like, rule number one in the siblings’ guidebook. Rule number one in the brother code. Verse numero uno in the—”
"Okay, I get it,” Natsu groans, inadvertently adding more fuel into the fire. “Love you, too. Now get lost."
"Prickly," Shouyou grins, and Natsu turns on her heel, sprinting into the school.
Now, Natsu wouldn't have been so nervous if it wasn't for the fact that they had chemistry as their first lesson, and she had absolutely no idea where the chemistry labs were.
Sure, she did her best on orientation day, but memorising this absolute hellscape of a school was already off the table, and on her first week, too!
She couldn’t ask any unsuspecting student because, well, all of them were already having classes like the responsible pupils they were, probably having showed up fifteen minutes before the final bell even rang.
So, she resulted to the best course of actions she could fathom -
And she's running through the empty halls like a madman, nose buried in a paper with the map of the entire school imprinted on it. Good thing that she had unwarily accepted those leaflets on the first day of school. Truly, she can’t thank herself enough.
Now, to figure out how to get to the chemistry laboratories.
If she was on the ground floor right now, and the chemistry labs were on the other side of the school, she could always take the hallway on the second floor—
Her thoughts are cut short when she rams into something. That something in question wheezes in surprise, and her eyes widen when she realises mournfully that it was a person.
Too scared to say anything, she simply peeks up at the figure, a chill running through her spine once she spots who exactly she scared the bejesus out of.
The first thing she notices is the black curly hair, twin moles planted right above his right eyebrow. His face was twisted into an annoyed scowl, and god, was he tall. Why was he so tall?!
Is this the day that I die? Natsu thinks to herself weakly, feeling quite faint, come to think of it. Is this how I go?
"Why are you running in the hallways," he says slowly, and Natsu can definitely see today being the day that she dies. Welp, it's been a good run. "Aren't you supposed to be in class?"
"I- ah- um- I was late to school and uh- I don't know where the chemistry labs are," she stammers out, mentally slapping herself multiple times.
The man glares at her unwaveringly, and suddenly, Natsu wishes she was anywhere but here, eyes darting in all possible directions, looking for some sort of escape.
But then, he raises a singular eyebrow, and asks, "Are you one of Miya's kids?"
Her mind bluescreens.
"Um- I—" Who the hell was Miya?! She really wishes she would have memorised her teachers the night before.
The teacher sighs, long and drawn-out, then jerks his head. "Seems like it. Follow me."
Natsu just squeaks in affirmation, scurrying after the teacher, who begins walking at a rapid pace. A thick silence hangs above them, interrupted by only the clacking of shoes on the cold floor.
They walk through a long hallway, then up a flight of stairs, and then they walk some more, and Natsu does her best to try and remember everything as they go, her brain running a hundred miles a minute.
The man stops in front of a white door which reads ‘chemistry lab A1’ in katakana, and Natsu feels a wave of relief crash down onto her. She wasn’t going to die. She was safe.
But, of course, her wave of security was taken away from her as soon as it came. It doesn't end there, because life just loves tormenting her for some godforsaken reason.
No, instead of just leaving her there, and returning to his other teacherly duties, like any normal teacher, he opens the door with a slam, marching into the laboratory with a fixed glare.
Oh, she was definitely going to die now.
The teacher sitting on the table, who had been talking up until now, snaps his head around towards the source of the noise, twenty three heads following suit.
"Sakusa-kun!" The man, presumably Miya, says easily. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"
"One of your students seemed to have gotten lost," Sakusa drawls, and Natsu takes the hint, stepping into the room with a red face. "And I do not get paid enough to play chauffeur and round up lost students. Do not let this happen again."
The entire class is silent. Natsu can spot several students quietly mouthing to one another, but aside from that, nobody dares to speak. Well, nobody but Miya, because apparently, he isn't afraid of imminent death.
"Sakusa-kun, yer chewin' me out like it's my fault! And, ta poor student…" he glances at her, giving her a prompting look.
"Hinata Natsu," she croaks out.
"Poor student Natsu-chan, is it okay if I call you that? Yeah, she's a first year, so don't be too harsh on her," Miya says, hopping off his desk. "I do thank ya fer takin' her here, though. I felt like we were missin’ someone."
Sakusa just squints at him. "Right,” he says roughly, straightening out his tie. “I’ll be off, then."
Miya gives him a blinding smile as he leaves, door closing with a loud thud. Then, he turns to Natsu. "Ya alright? Sakusa-kun tends to be a bit prickly like that sometimes."
"A bit prickly?" A kid with fluffy brown hair says, eyes still blown out wide. "Sakusa is horrifying! I had English with him yesterday, and he damn nearly gave me a heart attack!"
"Oikawa is right!" A boy sitting in front of him exclaims. "Atsumu-san, how is that a bit prickly?"
The class begins talking over themselves, and Atsumu laughs in response, ushering them to quiet down.
In the meantime, Natsu sits down next to the brown haired boy, still a bit disheveled.
"You good?" He asks quietly. "I have no clue how Sakusa spared you like that."
"He spared me?" Natsu asks incredulously. "I was positively shitting my pants the entire time."
The boy laughs. "I'm Oikawa Takeru."
"Hinata Natsu, though you already know that."
"Yeah," he sticks out his tongue apologetically, "the whole class does by now."
"What a grand entrance," she says with a huff, then turns her head around when Atsumu begins talking again.
"Okay, quiet down everyone!” he calls, giving them all a disapproving look. “We’re not here today to trash talk one of the teachers. Sakusa-kun may come off as scary, but I assure ya, he’ll grow on ya eventually.”
“You don’t understand, Atsumu-san!” A girl with pigtails cries, both hands on the desk. “It’s easy for you to say because you’re so friendly with everyone, but how could he ever grow on us? His glare alone is enough to send us running in the opposite direction!”
Natsu turns her head towards the teacher once more, and she swears that for a split-second, his grin has turned a little bit forced. She decides not to think of it too much.
“That’s enough,” Atsumu replies firmly, sitting back on top of the desk. “If ya have a problem with Sakusa-kun, I’d advise ya to discuss it with him personally. Would anyone here like ta volunteer?”
The talking ceases slowly, and Atsumu only gives them a pointed look. “This is a chemistry lesson, so I’d rather get back ta that. Well, an introductory class, but an important one, nevertheless.”
He turns to the blackboard, writing notes for the class to take. Natsu bends over and takes out a blank notebook, scribbling down everything onto the paper in hopes to catch up.
“Nice keychain you got there,” Takeru whispers, and Natsu almost jumps, momentarily forgetting that he was there.
“You like volleyball, too?”
“Yeah, my uncle plays professionally.” There’s pride in his voice, but then again, why wouldn’t there be? Natsu can’t help but think of her own brother fondly.. “He nearly got into nationals when he was in high school. He’s that good.”
“What position does he play?” Natsu whispers back, and Takeru grins at her.
“Setter.”
“Oh, that’s so cool,” she says, watching as Takeru’s grin only doubles. “I’ve always wanted to be a setter. My brother is a middle blocker. He’s really good, too.”
And Natsu realises, during the quiet conversations and occasional glances at the teacher, that she might have just made herself a new friend.
As the weeks go by, Atsumu is quick to become Natsu’s, as well as practically everyone else’s, favourite teacher. Not only is he really funny and laidback, evidently really smart as well, but what makes Natsu like him so much are all the little stories he shares during his classes.
She learns that he has a twin that he likes to make fun of, that he used to own a dog when he was younger, and that he has an abundance of nephews and nieces that he loves very much. What tops it all off though, is the constant mention of his boyfriend, Omi.
The first time he mentioned Omi was on an uneventful Wednesday morning, whilst they were preparing for an experiment.
“Right,” Atsumu clasps his hands together. “So, we’re gonna be testin’ out the acidity of these samples that I’ve brought here today.”
He gestures to the array of bottles on the table. “We have soap detergent, oil, a couple of highly dangerous mystery mixtures,” at that, he wiggles his thick eyebrows, which makes a couple students laugh, “milk that I stole from Omi, water, tap water, and the list goes on.”
“Who’s Omi?” A boy peeps up, making several heads turn towards him, then back to Atsumu again.
“Omi’s my boyfriend,” he says nonchalantly, then picks up the milk carton. “I’ll hafta go to ta store afterwards, and buy a replacement fer him. He’ll probably kill me if he finds out I nicked it.”
“A boyfriend?” Somebody repeats, and Atsumu raises his eyebrows.
“Ya guys got problems with that? I thought ya were cool.”
The entire class begins shaking their heads at the suggestion quite vigorously, Natsu included. To be fair, her own brother had a boyfriend, and Kageyama was pretty cool, so it’s not like Natsu was against it or anything.
“We don’t have a problem, Atsumu-san!”
“It’s totally cool!”
“Don’t worry, Atsumu-san!”
“Can you tell us a bit about him?”
The teacher laughs at them, placing the milk down onto the smooth surface. “Ya just wanna stall the lesson, don’t ya? How about we do it like this - if we finish this experiment earlier, I’ll tell ya about him. Deal?”
After a few fervent nods, they all get to work, following the instructions Atsumu had written on the blackboard down to the t. Natsu asks Takeru to be her partner, naturally, sitting down together in the farthest corner.
“It says we need to prepare the cabbage juice,” Takeru reads, already mashing up the leaves. “Go boil it, and I’ll get the other stuff.”
“What, the other test tubes?” Natsu snipes back, but places the leaves into a beaker above the bunsen burner, watching it boil. “If this explodes, it’s your fault.”
“There won’t be any explodin’ on my watch or else yer payin’ fer all the damages,” Atsumu calls from a table away, currently helping two other students prepare their cabbage juice.
Natsu grins at him innocently, then turns to the bunsen burner, and keeps a very close eye on it (just in case).
Surprisingly, nothing explodes, and they’re all able to complete their experiments in record timing. Somebody keeps yelling at everyone to hurry up, so that they can interrogate Atsumu about Omi, which makes the blond teacher chuckle at just how set they are on it.
After they’re finally done, they sit back down, looking at him expectantly. Atsumu snorts at their dedication.
“Ya guys sure are eager. Well, a promise’s a promise. Whaddaya guys wanna hear?”
“How did you meet?” A boy with flaming red hair asks.
“Well,” Atsumu cracks his knuckles, gazing up at the ceiling with a fond smile. “Omi and I met in a volleyball trainin’ camp. We were in different high schools back then, but ya could say that we were high school sweethearts.”
Natsu hears a few girls aww at that. “We went ta different universities as well, but we still dated all throughout that, but yeah, that’s how we met. I used to look up to that loser, can y’all believe it? He was just that good at volleyball.”
“And what’s he like, Atsumu-san?" A girl with huge glasses prompts.
Atsumu hums in thought, then tilts his head a bit. “He’s reserved. He’s very funny though, and really smokin’ hot, like damn, I keep askin’ myself this question every day I wake up by his side - how on earth did I score that?”
That earns him another round of chuckles, to which he nods along sagely.
"It's true, though! Omi is such a sweetheart, too, like man, I love him so much," he rambles, then shakes his head. "Sorry fer goin' off track there. Did that answer yer question, Aimi-chan?"
"Yes, Atsumu-san," Aimi says, adjusting her glasses.
Takeru raises his hand from beside Natsu tentatively. "What would you say is your favourite memory with him?"
"Favourite memory, huh?" Atsumu asks, letting out a long hum. "I have too many. Couldn't possibly choose one, but…"
Natsu feels her heart melt as Atsumu's face grows impossibly softer. If her future boyfriend doesn’t look at her like that, then she doesn't want him.
"Okay, okay, I have one!" he says, waving his hands around. "Not sure if it's my favourite, but it’s definitely up there. It's the time when I first confessed to him."
Suddenly, everyone's paying even more attention.
"Okay, so, I was waitin' fer him to come over to my house fer the first time - all the way from Tokyo! And one of my high school friends was stayin' over 'cause he was tryin' ta bone my brother."
Atsumu's hand flies over his mouth, realising that his choice of words wasn’t exactly ideal for a class of fifteen year olds. Natsu is trying her best to stifle her giggles, and Takeru looks like he's on the verge of passing out.
"Ahem, anyway," Atsumu coughs again, smiling apologetically. "Ya know, I say he was tryin' ta uh- woo my brother, ah, but they did end up gettin' married two years ago, so."
He shrugs helplessly. "My brother also has really low standards, so I ain’t surprised, but, well. Anyway, Omi was comin' and I had rehearsed this whole speech in my head, and all that, ta ask him out. It was so poetic, too, I really outdid myself!
"He rings and I go get it, and I was plannin' on startin' out with 'I really like ya', but then my friend reappeared when he heard the door creak open, right?" Atsumu makes a face. "And I was like 'go away, Sunarin, please', but then I kinda mixed up those two, and ended up sayin' 'I'd really like if you went away' straight ta Omi's face!"
The boy sitting next to Takeru makes a low noise of empathy. Atsumu grins at him.
"I know, right? And I slammed ta door in his face outta embarrassment, too. That's how I confessed, guys, but it all ended well 'cause I ran after him, like I was in a shoujo manga, and I told him everythin' I wanted ta say. We started datin' on the same day."
"That's weirdly sweet," Natsu says at the same time that the doors reopen, and none other than Sakusa walks in.
Another thing that happens during chemistry lessons, albeit rarely, are the visits of Sakusa Kiyoomi, their English teacher. It’s always for some serious issue, too, though their seniors have told them that it’s the other way around, too.
Which, frankly, is something that Natsu probably doesn’t think she’ll ever get used to, which is why she’s glad that these ‘visits’ come every once in a blue moon.
Sakusa walks in like he owns the place, though this time, he is not dragging a kid with him. Instead, he makes a straight beeline towards Atsumu. The entire class watches with bated breath as the taller of the two leans in, dropping his voice to a whisper.
Atsumu mouths something to return, smiling at him as Sakusa slinks out, waiting by the exit. The chemistry teacher turns to his students.
"Ah, I'm afraid that I'll hafta cut this class a bit short 'cause Sakusa-kun needs my expertise elsewhere," he says, a collective groan resounding through the classroom, realising that they won’t be able to interrogate him about his boyfriend any further. "Don't forget that yer lab reports are due in two weeks, though. We'll be off. Bye guys!"
And just like that, he's getting off the table, jogging over to the English teacher with a slight bounce in his step.
Natsu doesn't catch what they're talking about once they leave, but Takeru is busy packing next to her, so she decides to leave it, and pack, too.
"What do you think that was about?" The girl with the glasses, Aimi, asks.
Takeru only shrugs, then slings his backpack over his shoulder. "I hope that Atsumu-san keeps talking about Omi, though. I don't know about you guys, but listening to him talk about his boyfriend is more interesting than listening to him talk about acids and alkalis."
They later do find out that listening to him talk about his boyfriend is definitely so much more interesting than about acids and alkalis, seeing as the teacher can't seem to shut up about him.
In the few weeks that they have classes with him, Natsu learns that Omi's favourite colour is yellow, that he loves umeboshi, and that he has a cousin so different from him, that when Atsumu first met him, he thought that they were dating. He ended up getting so jealous, in fact, that he consequently held a three month grudge against him, unbeknownst to his cousin.
("Ta my defense, how was I supposed ta know that he was Omi's cousin?"
"You could have just asked him, Atsumu-san."
"Nah, nah, it all ended up fine, though. He laughed when I told him, honestly."
"A laugh of pity, I bet."
"I heard that, Takeru-kun!")
It's never a dull moment in their chemistry class, with the way that Atsumu somehow manages to sneak in fun facts about Omi whilst simultaneously teaching them the given material. And damn well, too, with Natsu actually retaining the information!
He makes sure to keep them entertained during the classroom lessons, showing them videos or detailed powerpoint presentations, when the days lack an experiment.
"I have a great video prepared fer today's class," Atsumu says, opening up his laptop with a grin. Natsu sees Takeru straighten up from the corner of her eye.
She twirls her pen in her right hand, then opens her notebook as the teacher begins setting up his computer. He reaches for his backpack, but after a few moments, he looks up.
"Huh. I might have forgotten ta remote control fer the projector," he muses, then turns to his students. "Takeru-kun, would ya and Natsu-chan be willin' ta go fetch the remote control? I think that ta English department should have a spare one."
“Sure,” Takeru says, standing up alongside Natsu, both of them moving towards the door. Then, in a lower voice, “Anything to get me out of a lesson.”
Natsu smirks, shoving him out of the classroom before Atsumu picks up on whatever he just muttered. They slip out in a haste, walking down the hallway with amused expressions on their faces.
"Hey, where's the English department again?" she asks after they arrive by the staircase.
Takeru glances down, then shrugs. "Third floor, I think? Wherever it is, let’s take a leisurely stroll. I’m sure Atsumu-san won’t mind the wait."
They walk up the staircase, and Natsu counts the amount of steps it takes before they reach the third floor, walking down a corridor in hopes that the English cabinet was there.
Luck must be on their side, however, as they’re soon greeted by a framed picture which says 'English cabinet' in all bold, a list of English teachers written underneath.
“Please let it be Michimiya-san,” Takeru whispers, crossing his fingers on both hands.
Natsu gives him an unsure expression before knocking once, waiting by the door. There's a shuffling from the other side, and then the door creaks open.
She swallows awkwardly when Sakusa Kiyoomi opens the door, staring them both down with furrowed eyebrows. Of course, it’s Sakusa Kiyoomi. Natsu’s luck never fails her, so it seems.
"Don't tell me you got lost again," he deadpans. Natsu begins to shake her head fervently.
"We were sent here by Atsumu-san to get a spare controller for the projector," Takeru cuts in before she can begin spiralling. "Because he uh- forgot to bring his."
"Of course, he did," Sakusa says, with such disdain laced in his words, but still steps aside for them to enter.
The first thing Natsu notices is just how clean yet cramped the whole office is. There are huge piles of papers stacked on top of his desk, with a table on the other side for the other English teachers.
The two of them enter hesitantly as Sakusa rummages around his desk for the controller. Aside from Sakusa, there’s only one teacher sitting in the back, one that Natsu doesn’t recognise.
“Atsumu forgot his projector remote again?” he asks with the slightest hint of mirth in his gaze, brushing the dark hair out of his eyes. Sakusa doesn’t even bother with a response.
Natsu stares off into the distance, trying her best not to lock eyes with Sakusa or mysterious English teacher. It isn't until Takeru nudges his shoulder against hers, that she looks over, eyebrows shooting up to her hairline.
Amidst the clutter of papers, notebooks, and other paperwork that Sakusa's working on, there are a couple small pictures in brown picture frames, sitting on his desk.
One is of Sakusa and another man with brown hair and round eyebrows, grinning at the camera on a sunny day. Another is of a cat, which makes Natsu smile, but then the last picture catches her eye. One of a familiar blond laughing with a displeased Sakusa next to him.
"Atsumu-san?" Takeru mouths and Natsu shrugs wildly, trying to keep it on the down low, especially because she has a hunch that mysterious English teacher might be looking their way.
After another inconspicuous glance, she comes to the conclusion that it is unmistakably him, smiling widely with his tongue lolling out, accompanied by their grumpy English teacher, but if she looks close enough, she can see the amusement laced in his scowl.
They look younger - much younger than now, Sakusa’s face much rounder and softer than it is now, and Atsumu’s hair as vibrant as ever. Natsu shouldn’t be looking so much, she really shouldn’t, but—
"Here it is," Sakusa says, snapping both of them into reality. He mechanically hands it to Natsu, then frowns. "Do tell Miya to bring his own controller next time, though."
“As if that’s going to do anything,” mysterious English teacher chimes in the back, and Sakusa sends him the most withering glare that they’ve ever seen him conjure.
"Yes, Sakusa-san," they chorus, pretending not to have heard him and quickly slipping out of the room before things take a turn for the worst.
Once out of earshot, Takeru whips his head towards her. "Am I crazy or was that a picture of Atsumu-san on his desk?"
"If you're crazy, then we both are," Natsu replies, fidgeting with the controller as the two run down the stairs. "It was him, wasn't it? Like.. really him and not some creepy doppelganger? Do you think the two are friends?"
"Well, I think that would be pushing it. Sakusa is so… y'know. He's so curt with everyone." Takeru lets out a long sigh. "I mean, if he acts like that to his colleagues…” he jerks his head towards the general direction of the cabinet. “Do you think he even has any friends?"
Natsu makes a noise of surprise, slapping him lightly on his shoulder. "That's so mean! Of course, he does! There was a picture of a brown haired man - I bet that's his friend, too."
"He does look like a ridiculously happy person, just like Atsumu-san. How Sakusa keeps attracting such happy people will always be a mystery to me."
"Takeru!"
"Hey, I'm just being honest," Takeru says, then grimaces. "Though, for all we know, he could be really nice… somewhere deep inside of him."
He could, Natsu thinks to herself belatedly, as the two enter the classroom.
He could, but they're quick to find out that he isn't.
It isn't helping that Natsu isn't the best in English. Apparently, it's a genetic thing, since her older brother was also absolute dogshit at speaking English.
It also isn't helping that they're beginning to read some of Shakespeare's works and analyse his sonnets. Only God knows what he meant when he wrote those.
"Hinata-san," Sakusa's sharp voice calls on her, and she stands up with a jolt. "Read the third and fourth verse out loud, and tell me what the poet means in these lines."
Gulping down the internal screaming, she looks down at the paper, positively sure that she had no idea what any of these words meant - especially seeing how this was even harder than regular English.
"Uh… rough winds… do shake the um…"
"Darling," Takeru whispers from beside her.
"Daring—"
"Darling," Sakusa corrects, and Natsu shrinks down slightly. "With an l."
"Darling buds of… May," Natsu takes a huge breath as she continues reading in English, ignoring how Sakusa was practically drilling daggers into her. "Eh… and summer's lease… hath? Um.. hath all too.. short a date."
She looks around the class for any help, but to her dismay, the rest of her classmates stay silent.
She sighs, then continues. "Um… I think that in these two verses, Shakespeare is talking about the er- weather… since he mentions the winds of May.”
“Those were the buds,” Takeru groans, shoving his face into his hands. Natsu lets out a squeak.
“But, uh- he compares the reader to a summer’s day, right?” she says awkwardly, tilting her head towards her classmates. A couple girls in the back of the class cough. “I think that in these verses er- he compares the reader to a summer’s day, saying how he thinks they are um- like the May buds…”
“He compares the reader to a summer’s day,” Sakusa repeats, unimpressed. Several classmates stifle giggles behind her. “Congratulations, Hinata-san, you’ve read the name of the poem. Sit down.”
Cheeks flaming, she sinks into her seat, wishing that the floor would swallow her whole. Takeru just gives her a sympathetic glance, as Sakusa calls on yet another unsuspecting student to continue with the analysis.
“Well, he sure has a stick up his ass,” Takeru deadpans, and Natsu lets out a surprised snort of laughter. They’re quick to quiet down, though, before Sakusa can reprimand them for disrupting the lesson.
The rest of the class passes by rather uneventfully though, with Sakusa only chewing out three students instead of the usual five, and it isn’t long before they’re finally packing up their notebooks, sighing as their teacher assigns them yet another paper due tomorrow.
“So,” Natsu turns her head towards Takeru once they’re 100% sure that Sakusa has left. “That stick you were talking about?”
The boy laughs, eyes crinkling at the corners, at the same time that a girl with brown hair pops out of nowhere, eyes wide and lips parted. “Stick? What stick?”
“I was just telling Natsu about that stick up Sakusa’s ass,” Takeru repeats, and the girl giggles, successfully nudging herself between the two of them. “You’re… Yamamoto, right?”
The girl puffs up her chest, flashing them both a bright smile. “Yamamoto Akane, at your service! Though you can just call me Akane. You’re Natsu, and you’re…”
“Oikawa Takeru.”
“Oikawa!” She gasps, eyes sparkling. “A last name just like that famous volleyball player, Oikawa Tooru! What are the odds?”
What are the odds, indeed, Natsu thinks to herself with a tired smile. Takeru only ends up giving her a half-hearted look. “Oikawa Tooru is my uncle.”
It only takes three seconds for Akane to process that information, Natsu finds out, before she starts babbling at a thousand miles per minute, her light curls bouncing with each excited shake. “You’re related to Oikawa Tooru?! The Oikawa Tooru?! You have to get me an autograph!”
“He sells them 5,000 yen per piece,” Takeru says. “Take it or leave it.”
“Judging by her reaction, she might just end up taking it,” Natsu whispers, and Takeru snorts.
“I’ll think about it, Takeru-kun,” Akane ends up saying, much to their dismay. Her lopsided smile only grows. “So, I’m taking it that you two don’t really like Sakusa-san, right? I would have been so embarrassed if I was you, Natsu-chan! You took it so well!”
"Oh, it was not that bad," Natsu says, ignoring the not-so-subtle fluster growing in her cheeks at all the impromptu praise.
But Akane only shakes her head, ignorant to the looks that Takeru and Natsu swap. "It was that bad, Natsu-chan! What is Sakusa's problem? Is he always that sour?"
Takeru just squints at them grimly. "Yeah, pretty much. Some older students ended up talking to Aimi-san about it."
At that, Akane flops down onto their desk, groaning loudly. "It's hopeless! We're going to have to deal with this for the next three years!"
"Yipee-ki-yay," Takeru drones monotonously. "I can't wait. Look at me, trembling with excitement.”
"No, but seriously," Akane continues, slowly picking herself up, and squatting down next to their chairs. "Why is Sakusa so pissed off all the time? Is it even humanly possible to always be so mean?"
Takeru shrugs, taking out his chemistry notebook, and letting it fall onto the desk. "Maybe he was just born that way. Always pissed off. Constant resting bitch face."
Natsu can't help but smile as none other than Kageyama Tobio comes to her mind. In her defense, the description is spot on - it’s not her fault, goddamnit!
"I mean, my brother's boyfriend has a kind of resting bitch face," she says, then sighs. "But he isn't always mean or whatever; at least, not to me."
She tactically omits the fact that he kept calling her older brother a dumbass for the longest time, even once they began dating. At this point, she thinks it might as well be his love language.
They are quiet for a little while, each one thinking deeply about the situation, until Akane's face lights up.
"What if he's always so annoyed because he's single?"
Takeru and Natsu look at her, both sporting equally baffled expressions. "What."
"No, no, no, no, but think about it." She raises both hands, gesturing to the sides. "Your brother's boyfriend has a similar stone face, but he isn't always annoyed! What if that's because he has a partner, but Sakusa does not?"
"That… that's so dumb," Takeru says finally, which makes Akane's nostrils flare.
"Okay, but do any of you actually think that Sakusa's in a relationship right now?"
Natsu closes her mouth because Akane has a point. As much as she hates that she does, she truly can't imagine Sakusa being in a relationship with a girl.
Akane's face is smug when all she's rewarded with is a few seconds of defeated silence. "See? I told you so."
"Right, we get your point," Natsu says, clicking her pen in her right hand. "But if he is annoyed because he's single, then there's nothing we can do about it but suffer."
A slim finger is pointed in her direction, nearly jabbing her in the nose. "That's where you're wrong, my friend."
"Wh—"
"Behold," Akane stands up, curls bouncing all over the place. "The secret to fixing Sakusa's neverending irritated personality is to set him up with someone!"
A moment passes in which nobody dares to speak, whether out of pure bewilderment or disappointment is beyond her.
“Akane-san,” Takeru and Natsu say in perfect unison, gazes unwavering.
“What? I’m literally a genius.”
“And I’m literally saying that if you try to set Sakusa up with someone, he’ll execute you on the spot.”
“It’s worth a try,” Akane counters, pressing her hands onto her hips with a challenging smile, “because face it, I’d rather try and play cupid than have to sit through another million English classes in which he’s as brutal as ever.”
“Akane-san, no offense, but I think you’d rather play cupid either way,” Natsu says with a frown. “I don’t know whether we should meddle with someone’s love life, let alone a teacher’s!”
“It’s not like we’re going to make a fake Tinder profile for him!” Akane rolls her eyes, sitting on the desk in front of them. “Come on, have some tact! They’ll only be gentle yet auspicious pushes in the right direction, that’s all.
“And when he gets in a relationship and finally loosens up, you’ll all be thanking me,” she finishes, then extends her right hand towards them. “What do you say? Shall ‘Operation: Get Sakusa A Girlfriend’ commence?”
Natsu looks over at Takeru with a bazillion conflicting feelings bubbling in her chest. On one hand, if they ever got caught, they probably would be executed on the spot… but… on the other hand…
“This is so dumb,” Takeru repeats under his breath, but takes her hand and shakes it. “If this works, then you can get my stupid uncle’s signature for free.”
Akane’s grin doubles, stretched out across her face like the Cheshire Cat. “Glad to hear that you have so much faith in me, Takeru-kun.”
“Okay, okay,” Natsu says, and takes her hand as well. It’s soft and smaller than hers; she shakes it once, then lets go. “Let the operation commence. I mean, what’s the worst that could happen?”