Archive of Our Own

"Look at this one!" Kotoha holds up a black dress with a floral pattern. "What do you think?"

"Oh, that's so cute!", Tsubaki replies. "But I already have something so similar to it …"

"Hmm, I know which one you mean. Yeah, I guess you don't need two of the same thing." Kotoha puts the hanger back onto the rack with a little frown.

The two girls are at the mall, currently looking for something for Tsubaki in one of their favourite clothing stores. Kotoha has already found a couple of items for herself, but Tsubaki hasn't had any success so far today.

"How about this?", Kotoha asks again, this time showing her a black blouse with long sleeves.

Tsubaki takes it from her, studying the pretty lace details at the shoulders, and she already has an outfit in mind that could go with it. "I love it! Thanks, Kotoha-chan!"

Kotoha smiles at her and turns towards the racks again, sifting through the different garments to find some more things for Tsubaki.

They both end up by the fitting rooms with four items each, showing each other the pieces as they try them on.

"Oh, this one suits you so well!", Kotoha compliments her when Tsubaki leaves the cubicle wearing a knitted grey dress.

"Thank you," she smiles. She looks at herself in the mirror and has to agree with her friend; it looks nice on her. She gets her phone out and takes a picture. Just in that moment, she receives a text, so she sits down on the little stool inside her cubicle and opens the messenger app.

Suzuri Shuhei • 11:04
Hey Tsubakino, how are you?

Me • 11:04
Hi!! I'm good, what about you?

Suzuri Shuhei • 11:05
I'm glad!

He sends a sticker of a happy cartoon cat. Cute.

Suzuri Shuhei • 11:06
I'm good, too. I was wondering if you wanted to hang out today.

"Tsubaki-chan? Everything okay in there?"

Kotoha's voice pulls her back to reality, and she quickly gets up and opens the curtain. "Ah, sorry, I got a text and got distracted …"

"A text?" Kotoha looks at her curiously. She must see something on Tsubaki's face, because her expression changes into a knowing smile. "A secret admirer that I don't know about?"

Tsubaki blushes. "No! It's just Suzuri."

"I see," Kotoha says, but her expression stays the same. "What does he want? Is he doing okay?"

"Yeah, he's good. He wanted to hang out with me, but I'm gonna tell him I'm with you today."

"Aww, I mean, I'm not gonna stop you from going on a date or anything …" She wiggles her eyebrows.

"Shut up, it's not like that!"

"Sure, Tsubaki-chan."

Tsubaki glares at her, then unlocks her phone again.

Me • 11:09
Sorry but I don't have time, I'll be out with Kotoha all day! Maybe tomorrow?

She sends him the picture she took of herself in the grey dress and another one of the black blouse.

Me • 11:09
Look, I found some cute stuff!

Suzuri sees her messages, but doesn't reply immediately. Maybe he's busy right now. Tsubaki chucks her phone into her bag and takes off the dress to put on her own clothes again.

The girls pay and leave the store, deciding to go to one of the cafés inside the mall for an early lunch.

When they sit down, Tsubaki remembers to check her phone.

Suzuri Shuhei • 11:13
You look very pretty, Tsubakino.

Her heart skips a beat.

Suzuri Shuhei • 11:14
I don't think I'll have time tomorrow, though. The next time I'm free would be Thursday after work, if that's okay?

Me • 11:21
Thank you!! Yes, sure, you can come over on Thursday!! ♡

She sends a sticker of a bunny with heart eyes. When she raises her head, she sees Kotoha is smirking at her.

"What?"

"Nothing," she says mysteriously. "Anyway, what do you want to eat?"

"Have a good evening, Suzuri!"

"You too, Hidaka-san, thank you!"

The bell above the door jingles when Shuhei leaves the restaurant. In one hand, he's carrying a bag of leftover food from his shift, in the other, he's holding his phone with the bus timetable open on it. His work clothes are in his backpack.

He's not very good at remembering the public transport routes, so he keeps checking which line he has to take to reach Tsubakino's place on time. Before he had a job, he had to walk everywhere because he couldn't afford the monthly ticket, but now he takes the bus basically every day. Small luxuries.

Me • 18:03
It's route number 15, yes??

Tsubakino Tasuku • 18:03
Yes, it still is.

She sends him a sticker of a laughing cartoon dog. He feels himself blush a little as he continues walking towards the bus station. It's not the first time he's asked her for help with the route number.

He barely makes it in time, but he manages to get onto the correct bus. When he sits down in his seat, he sees Tsubakino has texted him again.

Tsubakino Tasuku • 18:04
How was work? (*´꒳`*)

Me • 18:05
It was good. But I'm happy to be done so I can see you!

Too forward? He cringes at himself as he re-reads the message. It's like Saturday all over again, when he called her pretty. But how could he not, when she sent him that picture of her? Ugh. He needs to get over this before it gets any worse, because he knows there's no point in thinking about her in this way.

He'll never be able to compete with Umemiya.

Before his thoughts can spiral any further, there's an announcement coming from the speaker that his stop will be next, so he presses the button and gets up to stand in front of the doors. While he waits, he checks his phone again.

Tsubakino Tasuku • 18:08
I'm excited to see you too!! ~ ♡

He tries to ignore the fuzzy feelings in his chest, but to no avail.

That's just the way she is with everyone, he tells himself as he walks the rest of the way to her apartment building. It doesn't mean anything.

But those thoughts get thrown right out of the window when Tsubakino opens the door for him and greets him with a smile that would put the sun to shame.

"Hi, Suzuri, come in!"

She takes the bag from him and takes a peek at the see-through containers. "Oh, that chicken looks so good! Did you make it?"

"No," he says sheepishly as he takes off his shoes, "but I made the gyoza."

"I can't wait to try them!", she smiles at him and walks towards the kitchen. "I'll get us plates and chopsticks."

"Okay, thank you," he says and follows her. While she takes out the plates, he picks up the food containers and carries them to the low table in the living room.

He hears her phone vibrate while she's setting the table, and she takes it out and looks at it with a little frown, quickly typing a reply.

"Who are you texting?", he asks curiously. He hopes everything's alright.

"Ah, sorry," she says, "I'll put my phone away in a second, but I gotta talk to Sakura real quick."

Sakura? Shuhei hasn't spoken to the Furin boys much since the party after the fight against Endo, but he hopes they're doing well. "What's up with him?"

Apparently, Sakura hasn't texted back yet, because Tsubakino puts her phone away and picks up her chopsticks.

"Thank you for the food," she says with a smile, and Shuhei feels his cheeks grow warm as he watches her eat. She looks so cute.

"Sakura asked me for help with something recently," she finally answers his question after she's done chewing, "and he's telling me about his progress."

Huh. What kind of advice could the boy need from Tsubakino? Probably something related to Bofurin. "I see. How's it going?"

"I don't know, actually!" She picks up her phone, presumably opening up the messenger app again.

He takes a couple of bites of his own food as she texts Sakura, chewing slowly to savour every mouthful — old habits die hard. It's not easy getting used to being able to eat whenever he wants.

When he looks up, he sees the corners of Tsubakino's mouth are downturned again. "Is he okay?", he asks.

"Ah, well," she laughs, but it doesn't seem to reach her eyes. She takes a sip of her soda before she says, "Okay, honestly? I have no idea."

Shuhei doesn't particularly love hearing that. He's a little worried about Sakura, but he also doesn't want Tsubakino to be upset. "Is there anything I can do?"

"Uh … I don't think so. Not that I think you couldn't be helpful, it's just that Sakura is really bad at letting people help him, and he'd probably be super embarrassed that I'm even talking to you about it."

That makes sense. When Sakura came to him for help against Noroshi, the boy had been an awkward mess, nearly leaving before even asking his question. "Yeah," he says, "he seems like the type. But what about you? You don't look happy with the situation."

She grimaces. "I'm not, at all. I think I accidentally got myself involved in a love triangle. You got any advice for that?"

A … love triangle? Involving Tsubakino? "Oh …", he says, and he can feel himself blush again. Maybe he shouldn't have been worried about competing with only Umemiya. Does she have a crush on Sakura, too? Is she … involved with Sakura? She does seem to love talking about the first-year. God, is Shuhei that blind? He can't stop himself from asking, "You and Sakura …?"

Her eyes widen. "God, no! I'm not part of the love triangle!"

Oh, thank God. "Sorry," Shuhei mumbles. He feels a little stupid now. His tendency to overreact has always been one of his least favourite parts about himself. "Um, who is, then?", he asks.

"I don't know all the details; it's kind of complicated …", she replies vaguely. It doesn't seem like she wants to talk about it.

"I see," Shuhei says. "Well, I don't think I have any advice for that, no." He puts another dumpling in his mouth to avoid having to speak.

Tsubakino returns to her phone, sending messages back and forth with the Furin first-year. For a while, Shuhei is happy to eat in silence and let her talk to Sakura (now that he knows there's nothing going on between them — though it was probably silly to assume that in the first place). It seems like it's important to her, so he doesn't want to interrupt.

After a couple minutes, she lets out a loud groan. When Shuhei looks up, she just waves her hand dismissively and says, "It's fine, it's fine."

He's not fully convinced, but he'll leave her be. If she wants to talk to him about it at some point, he'll be there for her.

Because she's been texting, she takes a little longer to finish her food than Shuhei, so he patiently waits for her and tries (quite unsuccessfully) not to stare at her too much.

When she's done, she picks up their dishes and brings them to the kitchen. He offers to help, but she refuses.

"Alright, Suzuri," she says once she's back. She turns on her TV and looks at Shuhei with sparkling eyes. "Now it's time for you to beat me at Tricycle Race!"

He laughs as he moves over to the sofa and picks up one of the controllers. "You overestimate my skills."

"Hidaka told me you've been gaming during your breaks," she says with a grin and sits down next to him, their arms almost touching. "So I'm expecting a lot!"

"Ah," he chuckles nervously. "I haven't been playing Tricycle Race, though. I've been, uh, playing Animal Crossroad. Because you said you like it." He can feel heat rise in his cheeks again as he looks down at his hands holding the controller just so he can avoid her eyes.

"Oh!", Tsubaki says, and he can hear a smile in her voice. "Are you enjoying it?"

"Y-yeah …"

"That makes me so happy! You should've told me earlier; I wanna visit your island! You should send me your friend code!"

"I will …", he says. He feels kind of embarrassed, like he just made a big confession.

"But also," she nudges his shoulder with hers, "that means I still have a chance at winning the race ~"

He's trying not to let the proximity affect him, but he can't help but focus the sensation of her arm against his. She hasn't moved yet.

He loses every single race.

So much for getting over it before it gets worse.

The next day, Shuhei is at work when his phone vibrates in his pocket. He knows he should focus on his kitchen tasks but he also rarely gets messages during the day so he wants to check just in case it's something urgent.

He feels his blood run cold when he looks at the text.

Tsubakino Tasuku • 10:52
Suzuri, these first-years are going to kill me.

What? What's going on? Is someone harassing Tsubakino at school? He didn't think that could be possible, considering she's definitely strong enough to defend herself against almost anyone at Furin on her own. But what if she doesn't want to fight her underclassmen to protect the peace? What did they do to her?

His mind is racing as he continues to chop carrots. What should he do? Does she need help?

"I'm sorry," he tells the head chef, setting his knife down. "I need to use the bathroom."

He doesn't even check if the man approves or not; he just wipes his hands on his apron and leaves for the toilets. Once he's inside, he immediately dials Tsubakino's number.

She answers after one ring. "Suzuri?"

"Hi, Tsubaki," he says, and he's so glad to hear her voice, "are you okay?"

"Aren't you at work?", she replies with a question instead.

"Uh, yes …", he says. "But I stepped out for a moment when I saw your text. What happened? Did someone bother you?"

He hears her laugh on the other end. "Oh, no, no one bothered me, don't worry!"

That's a relief. But also, she's laughing at him. He can feel his face heat up. Once again, he overreacted.

"Then what's going on? Do you need help with anything?", he asks, trying to suppress his embarrassment.

"No, it's fine, thank you," she says, a smile still in her voice. "Honestly, I just wanted to complain a little. Remember that weird love triangle thing I told you about? It's just that. I feel like I'm a couple's therapist, at this point."

Oh, he feels so fucking stupid. "I … see. I'm sorry for just calling you out of the blue," he says. "I guess I misunderstood."

"It's okay!", she says. "It's so sweet of you to worry about me!"

Of course I do, he wants to say. I know you're so much stronger than me, and yet I can't help but worry about you all the time. I'm sorry. Something about you makes my brain turn off. Instead, he settles on "Of course, you're important to me."

"Thank you for calling, Suzuri, but I'll be fine," she says. "It's just a bit awkward to deal with teenage drama, you know?"

"Yeah, I get it," he replies. He is a little curious to know what exactly she's talking about — maybe it has something to do with her texts with Sakura yesterday? — but he's sure she'll tell him about it eventually. Right now, all he cares about is that she's okay.

"How's work?"

"It's going well!", he says with a smile. "Hidaka-san complimented my chopping skills today." Her question makes him realise he should be getting back to work because no one takes this long in the bathroom, but he wants to keep talking to her for just another moment. "How's the party?"

"It hasn't really started yet," she says. "Ume still needs to make his big speech about the power of community and sharing food and everything; you know how it is."

Shuhei tries not to let the mention of the Bofurin leader sour his mood too much. He's not sure if he's successful. "Umemiya does seem to love a good speech."

Tsubakino chuckles fondly. "He sure does. Well, I should get back upstairs before I miss it — you get back to work and be good, okay?"

"Yes, ma'am," he attempts to joke. "Have fun."

He hangs up and pockets his phone. The embarrassment that had subsided during his conversation with Tsubakino hits him again with full force. God, what was he thinking with that overreaction?

She is the strongest person he knows, both physically and mentally. He needs to get a grip.

Me • 16:01
Gay news:

Me • 16:01
https://www.instagram.com/nirei_akihiko0921/p/DKAuK-2qiwI/

Me • 16:02
I did that ⸜(｡˃ ᵕ ˂ )⸝♡

Suzuri Shuhei • 16:04
Oh, so that's what you were talking about earlier today. LOL

Suzuri sends a sticker of a laughing cat.

Suzuri Shuhei • 16:04
Happy for them!

Tsubaki smiles at the message.

Me • 16:05
Me too ♡

The next morning, after giving Maru breakfast, Tsubaki decides to stay in bed for a little longer. She scrolls Instagram for a while, going back to Nirei's latest post. Everyone's so supportive of the trio in the comments; it makes her heart feel warm. Apparently, even Suzuri liked the post. Cute.

She sighs and stares up at the ceiling. One thought has been on her mind since yesterday, but she's consistently pushed it back. Now that she's alone at home with no one but her cat in the next room, there's not much she can do to avoid it anymore.

Can you love two people at once?

Picking up her phone again, she goes to Umemiya's profile. His grid consists mostly of pictures of himself with his friends (Tsubaki included), of Kotoha's food at Pothos, and his tomatoes. She clicks on a photo that's just him in front of his rooftop garden, feeling her heart warm at his beautiful smile and his proud expression as he's holding his watering can.

She loves him. Just like she always has.

Who would she be without her love for Ume? She can't have feelings for anyone else.

Her phone vibrates in her hand as she receives a text.

Narita Shizuka • 8:35
Good morning!

Shizuka sends a sticker of a rising cartoon sun with a smiley face.

Narita Shizuka • 8:35
Do you want to have lunch with me at Hidaka's later? (˶ˆ꒳ˆ˵)

Tsubaki thinks about it for a moment. She doesn't really have any plans for today, so why not? It'd probably be good to get out of the house to keep her spiralling thoughts at bay.

Me • 8:36
Yeah, sure! When do you want to meet up? ♡

They decide on 1:00 PM, so Tsubaki still has plenty of time to laze around in bed. And not think about anyone who's not Umemiya. At some point, Maru decides to join her, lying down on her stomach and hanging out with her while she scrolls social media.

"Sorry, Maru-chan, I need to get up," she murmurs when it's time to get ready and gently attempts to pick up her cat. He jumps off the bed without much complaint, and Tsubaki makes her way to her bathroom to take a shower.

She gets to Hidaka's restaurant about five minutes early, but Shizuka is already waiting for her at one of the tables.

"Tsubaki-chan, hi!" Shizuka gets up and greets her with a tight hug. They haven't had time to hang out in a while, so Tsubaki holds onto her friend for a few seconds longer than she usually would.

"Shizuka-chan, I have so much to tell you," Tsubaki says when they sit down.

"Does it have anything to do with Nirei's Instagram post?" Shizuka smiles knowingly.

"You've seen it?"

"Girl, even Ougi's manager messaged me about it. Everyone's seen it."

"Oh! Our Nirei is quite popular, isn't he …"

Shizuka hums in agreement, still smiling. "Honestly, when I first met them, I thought there was something going on between them already, or that Sakura and Suo at least both had feelings for Nirei. I'm surprised it took them this long to get together."

"You don't even know the half of it …" Tsubaki pauses when she sees Hidaka approaching their table with a notepad in his hand.

"Hi girls! What can I get you?"

They both order their usual, and Hidaka happily takes off for the kitchen.

"So, what was that about the boys?", Shizuka asks.

"Well …" Tsubaki tells her a shortened version of the story, only interrupted once by Hidaka bringing them their food. She's happy she can finally talk to people about all of it, but she obviously leaves out some of the more personal details for the sake of the boys' privacy. Shizuka listens intently to every word and it's kind of cute — Tsubaki didn't know the girl cared that much for the trio. They did protect her from Gravel back in spring, though, so that's probably why she's so interested in them and their well-being.

"It's so cute how they're all in love with each other," Shizuka smiles as she picks up the last of her karaage.

"Right?? I never thought that would happen," Tsubaki says. "You don't see that kind of relationship every day."

Shizuka hums, her mouth full. After she's swallowed, she says, "Yeah, they're lucky it all worked out for them. I don't think I could have a relationship with more than one person."

"Kanji is already enough to handle on his own, is he?" Tsubaki grins at her, taking a sip of her juice.

Her friend blushes furiously and shakes her head, "Y-you know we're not —!"

"Sorry," Tsubaki giggles, "the opportunity was there and I had to take it. Seriously though, what are you guys doing? I don't want to pressure you or anything, but …"

Shizuka pouts, her cheeks still a little flushed. "It's not my fault he hasn't asked me out yet!"

Tsubaki sets her glass down and gives her a stern look. "Shizuka-chan, you gotta be proactive. I love him, but Kanji is oblivious and a coward. If you want anything to happen with him, you need to do it yourself."

Shizuka plays with her napkin, still pouting. "Fine … maybe I will. Anyway, what about you then?"

"What do you mean?"

"When are you gonna be proactive?" Shizuka raises an eyebrow at Tsubaki, who doesn't understand what she's talking about.

"Huh?"

"You know, about —"

Shizuka gets interrupted by a loud crash outside the restaurant. The two girls look at each other in alarm as the door to the kitchen slams open and Hidaka and Suzuri run out.

"No need to worry, everybody," Hidaka announces to the other patrons. "We'll check it out, just stay in here and it'll all be fine!"

Tsubaki gets up. "Stay here, Shizuka."

Shizuka looks after her with big, concerned eyes as Tsubaki joins the two men.

"Hi, Tsubakino," Suzuri says when he sees her. "Glad you're here."

"You, too."

They step outside and see that at the liquor store across the street, the large window has been smashed in, and several men have climbed inside, rummaging through the shelves. The shop isn't open yet, so there's no one inside to stop them. Hidaka looks at Suzuri and Tsubaki, who nod.

The three of them approach the store, assessing the situation: There seem to be six men, most of them presumably drunk. They don't look very organised, either. Honestly, Tsubaki thinks, having Hidaka, Suzuri and her fight this group together is probably a bit overkill — it'd be like using a fire extinguisher to put out a candle. But at least this way it'll be over quickly; she wants to go back to her friend.

One of the men is leaving the store through the window, a large bottle of whisky in his hand. He doesn't seem very steady on his feet.

"Hey, dude," Hidaka calls out. "Better take that back in there, right now."

"Who're you, a cop?", the man slurs as he takes a swig from the bottle.

"Nope, those are useless around here," Hidaka says, grabbing the guy's shirt collar. "I'm giving you another chance, man."

In the meantime, the other men have come outside, having heard the commotion. "C'mon, dude, let us have some free booooze," one of them drawls, clumsily clinging onto his companion.

Tsubaki facepalms. "Hidaka, I don't even know if we should fight these guys. They can barely stand."

Just in that moment, the man Hidaka's holding in place decides to throw a punch at him. Obviously, because he's drunk, there's neither a lot of strength nor speed behind it, so Hidaka easily fends it off.

"Alright," Hidaka says, annoyance evident in his voice. He forcefully throws the guy at one of the others, hitting the man in the chest. They both tumble to the ground, knocked out, their bottles smashing on the pavement.

"Dammit, I wanted to save as much of the liquor as possible," Hidaka sighs.

Another man comes at them, surprisingly stable and quick on his feet as he swings at Tsubaki. She dodges his fist by ducking and lands a kick straight to his chin. He stumbles backwards, blood spurting from his nose.

"Ow, what the fuck," he slurs, touching his face and staring at his hand when he sees the red colour. Tsubaki is a little disappointed in herself that he's still standing. He tries to hit her, but she is once again faster than him, catching his blood-covered fist with her left hand and punching his jaw with her right. Finally, the man falls to the ground and stays down.

"Suzuri, watch out!!", she hears Hidaka's voice, and her head snaps up just in time to see another one of the guys sprint towards Suzuri, who was fighting another man, with a knife in his hand.

Everything around her comes to a halt as the blood freezes in her veins. The world is moving in slow motion. She violently pushes Suzuri out of the way and thinks she can hear him cry out in pain, but her focus is entirely on the man who just threatened her friend's life. There's the sound of a bone cracking when she kicks the man's shoulder, making him lose his weapon. A well-aimed fist to his face, and he's on the ground. Tsubaki drops to her knees above him and punches him again. And again. And aga-

"Tsubaki!" A strong hand suddenly keeps her arm in place where it was raised in the air to land another hit on the man's face. She's not sure how she's ended up in this position. "Tsubaki, what the fuck!", Hidaka yells at her as he drags her up. "Leave that guy alone, you've done more than enough."

After Hidaka lets go of her, Tsubaki just stands there for a moment, breathing heavily. The fight is over.

"Tsubakino …?", she hears Suzuri's voice behind her. She turns around and sees him looking at her with wide eyes. He is holding his left wrist close to his chest with his right hand. "Are you okay?"

"I — wait, are you? Oh God, what happened to your hand?" She approaches him, touching his arm.

"Um, I fell. When- when you pushed me to the side. It's fine, I don't think it's broken or anything." He's avoiding her eyes.

"Fuck, Suzuri, I'm so sorry, I just wanted to help —"

"You did!", he interrupts, finally looking up at her. "I don't think I could've reacted that quickly. Thank you, Tsubakino."

"But I hurt you," she breathes, "I'm so sorry."

"It doesn't even hurt that much, it's okay."

She's not quite sure if she believes that, but she'll have to let it go.

"Uh, guys," Hidaka says, and Tsubaki quickly lets go of Suzuri and takes a step back. "I'm gonna call Kanji so some of our team members can help clean up the place. Can one of you call an ambulance for these dudes?" He points at the unconscious looters surrounding them.

"Sure," Tsubaki says and takes out her phone to dial 1-1-9. It's the least she can do after what she did to the guy with the knife — she feels a little nauseous when she looks at him lying on the ground with his blood-covered face. It's scary that she didn't even realise what she was doing in the moment, like she blacked out and only came to once the fight was over. This has never happened to her before.

After she's made the call, the ambulances on their way, she looks at Suzuri again. Something dawns on her. "Wait — can you work with your hand like that?"

"I, uh … I don't know," Suzuri replies. "Let's see what the emergency doctors say."

"I'm so sorry," she says again. She kind of wants to cry. Not only did she use way more violence on a person than necessary, but she also hurt Suzuri in the process.

"Hey." He gently touches her arm with his unharmed hand. "Please don't worry about me. I'll be fine."

"Okay," she says softly. She hears footsteps approaching and turns around to watch Kanji, Miyoshi and a couple of other Roppo Ichiza members arrive. Shizuka is following behind them.

"Tsubaki, Suzuri!", Kanji says. "Thanks for helping Hidaka out!"

"Of course," Tsubaki says. Suzuri nods in agreement.

Shizuka walks towards them as Roppo Ichiza start working on securing the liquor store and cleaning up the mess. "Are you guys okay?", she asks, her eyebrows furrowing when her gaze falls upon Suzuri's wrist.

"Hello, Narita-san," Suzuri says politely and bows her head towards her — Tsubaki knows he still gets quite nervous around the girl, always worried about making her uncomfortable. "We're both okay, thank you. I hurt my wrist a little, so we're gonna wait for the emergency doctor to take a look at it, but I'm fine!"

Shizuka looks about as convinced as Tsubaki feels, but she says nothing. The three of them sit down on a bench close to the store while they wait for the ambulances to arrive.

"I'm sorry your lunch got ruined by this whole thing," Suzuri says. "Hidaka-san and I could've probably handled it on our own."

Tsubaki frowns. "Well, Shizuka-chan and I can have a peaceful lunch again some other time. I'm glad I was there."

"Me too," Shizuka chimes in. "I don't like to see you get hurt, Suzuri-san."

The boy blushes and scratches his neck with his right hand. It seems like he doesn't know what to say.

When the emergency doctors examine Suzuri's wrist, Tsubaki breathes a sigh of relief when they tell him it's just a light sprain and give him an ice pack to prevent swelling. He is supposed to rest for 48 hours though, so he won't be able to go back to work today.

"It's okay," he says to Tsubaki, "Hidaka-san will obviously understand. And I have tomorrow off, anyway."

"Fine," Tsubaki sighs. "What are you gonna do now, then?"

"I'm just gonna go home. Though I just realised I won't be able to play games with my wrist like this." Suzuri pouts cutely as he looks down at his hand that's covered by the ice pack. "I guess I'll read, or something. Don't feel bad!!", he adds when he sees Tsubaki's expression. "I didn't have any video games for the first seventeen years of my life; I'll survive a couple days without them."

"Wait, why would Tsubaki-chan feel bad?", Shizuka asks.

"Uh, I'm the reason he got hurt," Tsubaki says sheepishly. "I pushed him away when —" She stops herself, suddenly feeling too nervous to tell Shizuka what happened.

"One of the guys came at me with a knife, and Tsubakino saved me from him. Unfortunately, I fell and hurt my wrist in the process," Suzuri finishes the story (leaving out some details, which Tsubaki is grateful for). He looks at her in a way that she can't identify.

Shizuka's eyes are wide. "She protected you! How romantic!"

Tsubaki feels like her face bursts into flames as Suzuri freezes up next to her. "Shizuka-chan! What the hell!"

Her friend slaps a hand over her own mouth. "Oh, sorry, I didn't mean to say that out loud." Tsubaki thinks she doesn't look apologetic at all. "I think Kan-chan is calling me; sorry, gotta go!"

"Sorry about that …", Tsubaki grimaces after she's run off. "Shizuka-chan doesn't know what she's talking about."

Suzuri clears his throat. "It's fine, no worries. I, uh, should probably go anyways, so …"

"Ah, yeah, you said you were heading home …" Tsubaki can't look at him.

"Um, say goodbye to Narita-san for me. Have a nice rest of your day, Tsubakino," Suzuri mumbles before he walks off, presumably towards the bus stop.

Tsubaki cringes. Well, that was fucking awkward. She can't believe Shizuka said that — there was nothing romantic about her protecting Suzuri; she was just looking out for her friend. That's what friends do. Even though she's never beaten anyone to a pulp in this way for any of her other friends. But no one has ever threatened any of her other friends' lives with a knife, either, so maybe this reaction was completely reasonable.

Anyway.

She looks around, searching for Shizuka, and sees her talking to Kanji. The two seem to be deep in conversation, so maybe Tsubaki should leave them alone.

Me • 14:43
I'm gonna go home, sorry I didn't say bye but you guys looked busy (˵ ¬ᴗ¬˵)

Me • 14:44
Remember what I told you earlier! Love you (˶ᵔ ᵕ ᵔ˶)

Things have been a little weird with Suzuri since the fight at the liquor store. It's been nearly two weeks, and he hasn't texted her first once; Tsubaki is now always the one starting their conversations. It didn't use to be like this.

Of course, she knows it must have something to do with what she did during the fight, or maybe with what Shizuka said after. Maybe it's both. But she doesn't know how to bring it up, so she doesn't. It's so unlike her, and she hates it. She's never been someone who avoids challenging conversations just because of — because of what, anyway? What is her problem?

"What is his problem!!", she yells, throwing her phone onto her bed. The messenger app is still open, where Suzuri once again only replied with a curt text to her message. She notices too late that Maru was asleep on her pillow, and he jumps at the sudden noise and runs out of the bedroom. Tsubaki sighs. "Sorry, honey, I didn't mean to," she calls after him.

She needs to calm down. And talk to Suzuri, probably, so she begrudgingly picks up her phone again.

Me • 17:52
Do you want to hang out with me at my place tomorrow?

The question is completely out of the blue and it's a long shot since tomorrow is Friday, usually a busy day at Hidaka's restaurant (though she doesn't know if Suzuri has to work). But she just wants to see him.

He reads her message quickly, but the reply takes a while.

Suzuri Shuhei • 17:59
Sure! When?

Me • 18:00
Does 6 PM work for you? ♡

Suzuri Shuhei • 18:02
Okay.

He does send a sticker of a cute cat giving a thumbs up, at least.

The next day, the doorbell rings at 5:58 PM. Maru, scared of strangers as always, immediately makes a run for the bedroom. Tsubaki sighs as she watches him leave. She hopes she can introduce Suzuri to him one day.

"Hi!", she smiles at Suzuri when she opens the door.

"Hey," he greets her with a smile of his own. He looks cute today, his long hair not up in its usual bun, but instead falling onto his shoulders and hiding his face when he leans down to take off his shoes.

They sit down on opposite ends of the sofa, facing each other. It's not awkward, but the atmosphere doesn't exactly feel comfortable to Tsubaki either.

The conversation seems to flow relatively easy between them. She asks him how his day has been — nothing exciting, he mostly spent his day off playing games and hanging out with his friends — and he asks her the same question.

"Well, it was our turn for the morning patrol again, and —" She pauses when Suzuri tucks a loose strand of hair behind his ear and she notices something on his hand. "Hey," she says, grabbing his hand and pulling it towards her. There's fresh scabs in the shape of crescent moons on his pointer finger.

"I —" He yanks his hand out of her grasp, hiding his fist against his chest. He's avoiding her eyes. "It's nothing, don't worry about it."

"I thought you got rid of that habit," she says gently. "Are you okay, Suzuri? Does it have anything to do with why you've been avoiding me?"

His head snaps up. "O-of course I'm okay," he stammers, "I'm fine. I haven't been avoiding you."

He's not fooling anyone. Tsubaki is worried.

"I'm sorry for the way I acted when we were fighting those guys at the liquor store," she says. Suzuri opens his mouth, but she keeps going, "And I'm not just talking about accidentally hurting you — I'm talking about how I beat up that guy with the knife. I don't know what happened, it was a bit scary."

"It was scary to watch," Suzuri says quietly. Tsubaki kind of wants to cry.

"Are you scared of me?", she asks shakily.

He shakes his head. "I'm not, I just — I've been wondering why you did it."

If only I knew. "When I saw the knife in that man's hand, something in me just … snapped," she admits. "I just got terrified of you getting hurt, or worse, and —" I couldn't bear the thought of losing you.

She doesn't say it.

"I'm glad you were there," he says softly. "But I don't want you to protect me if — if that happens when you do."

"I promise you I'll never act that way again. I already promised it to myself."

"Okay," he breathes. He finally unclenches his fist. She slowly reaches out, giving him the opportunity to pull away, but he allows her to take his hand in hers.

"Will you let me put a plaster on this?", she asks, gently running over the scabs on his finger with her thumb. He nods silently.

Suzuri waits on the sofa while Tsubaki gets the first-aid kit from the kitchen.

"All done," she smiles at him once she's applied the plaster to his finger.

"Thank you," he says quietly, and she can see a faint blush on his cheeks.

After she's put the kit away again, they order dinner from a new Italian place that Kotoha recommended to her recently. (It takes a lot of convincing, but Suzuri lets Tsubaki pay for his pizza.) Suzuri seems much more relaxed now, getting comfortable on the sofa and picking up a controller when Tsubaki turns on the TV and her gaming console. She bought a new fighting game recently, and she's excited to try it out with him.

"Alright, I give up," she whines after he's beaten her for the fifth time in a row. "You're too good at this." She sets the controller down on her coffee table and takes a bite of her last piece of pizza.

"Sorry," Suzuri grins at her, and she's just happy to see him smile again. "I promise I've never played this before."

"That makes it worse!" She jokingly hits him with a pillow. "It's fine, I've never actually been that great at these games. I'll happily let you win," she sighs, dramatically flicking her hair behind her shoulder.

"Well, thank you for your great kindness," he replies, still grinning.

"Anything for you," she says, and it comes out a little too earnestly. She watches his cheeks turn pink.

"Well," he says after a second of silence. "Another round, then?"

She sighs again, glad for the opportunity not to think about what she just said. "Yeah, sure."

Suzuri Shuhei • 23:14
Hey, Tsubakino, you forgot this at the restaurant today. Hidaka-san told me it's yours.

Suzuri Shuhei • 23:14
(Image.png)

Suzuri Shuhei • 23:15
Will you be home tomorrow morning? I'll drop it off at your place.

Tsubaki had been wondering where her scarf was all day yesterday; she's glad to see somebody found it. She went to bed early last night, so she's only reading Suzuri's texts now.

Me • 7:58
Ah, thank you so much!! I must have left it there when I had lunch with Shizuka-chan and Kanji (>.<")

Me • 7:59
Yes, I'll be home all day!!

Suzuri hasn't been online yet today, so she assumes he's still sleeping; it's a Sunday, after all. She goes through her usual morning routine of feeding Maru and herself and taking a shower as she waits for a reply. It comes while she's sitting on her couch, scrolling Instagram.

Suzuri Shuhei • 9:01
Good morning! Okay, then I'll come over at around 10, if that's okay?

Me • 9:02
Okay! (˶ᵔ ᵕ ᵔ˶)

Maru sits down on her lap while she watches an episode of an anime Umemiya mentioned recently — of course, she has to be up-to-date with what he's interested in. Honestly, she's not really into it, but if Ume likes it, surely there's something good about it. Maybe it'll get better in the later part of the season.

When her doorbell rings at 10 AM, Maru jumps off her lap and runs to the bedroom as usual. She opens the door and is greeted by Suzuri holding the scarf out towards her.

"Hey, here you go," he says with a smile, his nose and cheeks a little red. The temperature has dropped significantly in the past few days, and he's only wearing a thin jacket over his shirt. He looks very cute, but Tsubaki frowns. That's not enough clothing for this weather.

"Hi, thank you so much! Do you want to come in for a moment?"

"Uh, sure," he says, stepping over the threshold when she opens the door a little wider to let him inside. "Thank you."

She hangs up the scarf on a hook on her closet door and walks towards the kitchen while he takes off his shoes and jacket. "Do you want some tea or coffee?", she calls out, taking two mugs out of her cupboard. "It's so cold outside!"

"Oh, you don't have to," he says, now standing in the doorway to the kitchen.

She rolls her eyes. "Tea or coffee?"

"A coffee would be nice, I guess …", he replies sheepishly and sits down at the kitchen table. "Thanks."

"Coming right up," she smiles at him as she turns on her coffee machine.

"Did you have a nice day yesterday?", he asks.

"Yeah! I met up with Shizuka and Kanji — I was hoping Shizuka-chan would've finally asked him out, but still: nothing," she complains. The coffee is slowly pouring into their mugs. "How can they both be so stupid?"

"Maybe they're just scared of change," Suzuri says thoughtfully.

"But it'd be a good change," Tsubaki argues. She places one mug in front of Suzuri and sits down with her own across from him.

"I'm sure they'll figure it out," he says.

Tsubaki hums noncommittally into her coffee.

"Or maybe —" Suzuri stops talking and stares towards the kitchen door. "Oh, my God, hi!!"

She turns around to see what the hell he is talking about, and sees Maru standing in the doorway. "Oh, hi, honey!"

"Is that Maru?", Suzuri asks, his voice sounding higher than Tsubaki has ever heard it. "He's so cute!!"

"He is!" Tsubaki feels weirdly proud.

"Hey," Suzuri says softly, holding out his hand towards Tsubaki's cat. Maru still seems a little wary, but he slowly approaches him. Tsubaki holds her breath as she watches him sniff Suzuri's hand, bumping his head into it.

"Oh, my God, he's never done that with a stranger before. Maru-chan, you're being so brave!!"

Maru closes his eyes when Suzuri scratches him between his ears, and Tsubaki wants to squeal. This is so cute; she wishes she could take a picture of it, but her phone is charging in her bedroom right now.

"He loves you," she smiles.

Suzuri blushes. "He's so sweet. I love cats."

Tsubaki feels warm all over. Maru is purring, still enjoying Suzuri's head scratches.

"Did you know most calico cats are female? It's pretty rare to have a male calico!", Suzuri says.

"Yeah, I know," Tsubaki replies. "That's kind of why I picked him. He looks like a girl, but has boy parts? I can relate."

Suzuri's blush deepens. "Ah …" He seems unsure of what to say.

"Sorry, I think I'm the only one who finds that funny," she grimaces. Way to kill the vibe. "Anyway, I'm so happy he likes you. He barely even tolerates Kotoha in the same room, and he's never let anyone but me pet him. You should feel honoured."

"Trust me, I do," Suzuri says as he smiles down at Maru.

At some point, Maru jumps onto Suzuri's lap, and the boy looks like he just won the lottery. Tsubaki can't help herself; she gets up to retrieve her phone and snap a photo of the two despite Suzuri's embarrassed protests. "I'm not gonna share it with anyone, don't worry!"

"I should probably go," Suzuri says once they've finished their coffee. "I have work later." He very gently picks up Maru to let him jump off his lap and gets up.

"Oh, right." Tsubaki feels a little sad he's leaving already, though of course he did say he was only coming to bring her the scarf.

"Alright, I'll talk to you later," Suzuri says after he's put on his shoes and jacket.

Tsubaki opens the door and lets him step outside. "Wait," she says. He turns around, looking at her curiously. She grabs the scarf off the hook and takes a step towards him, watching him turn red when she wraps it around his neck. "It's cold out there. You can have it for now."

His hand touches the soft material. "I … thank you, Tsubakino."

"Of course. It looks nice on you," she says. Her cheeks feel warm.

"I-I'll go now," Suzuri stutters, turning his back towards her. "Bye!" With that, he runs off.

Tsubaki slowly closes her front door. Maru is sitting in the hallway, looking at her. She stares back.

"Don't say anything."

Me • 16:42
Hey, Suzuri!! I was wondering if you have plans for New Year's Eve, yet?

Me • 16:43
If not, I'm having a party at my place — super small though, obviously, because there's not much space!! There'll only be a couple of other people there. You could bring a friend, if you want, but please tell me beforehand. It'll start at 19:00!!

Suzuri Shuhei • 16:45
Hey, of course I'll be there, thank you for inviting me! I'll be coming alone.

Me • 16:46
Yay!! ♡

Shuhei arrives at Tsubakino's place at 19:05 — he's usually always punctual, but the bus was late today. Lots of people trying to get to New Year's parties, probably.

It isn't Tsubakino who opens the door for him, but one of her advisors — Shuhei doesn't know if it's Uryu or Seiryu. He's glad he remembers their names at all, but he hasn't met them enough times to be able to tell them apart. Which one of them has the perm again?

"Hey," Shuhei greets him, and the boy just silently steps aside to let him in.

"Suzuri, hi!!" Tsubakino calls while he's in the process of taking off his sneakers. "I'm so happy you made it!" She's approaching him with a glass in her hand. "Do you want something to drink?"

"Uh," he says intelligently, looking up at her from where he's kneeling in the genkan.

Tsubakino is wearing a short, sparkly black dress with a low neckline that exposes her collarbones, and her hair is tied up in an elaborate bun. The blue of her eyes is accentuated by black eyeshadow and her lipstick is a couple of shades darker than usual.

She's a vision. Shuhei thinks he forgot how to form a coherent sentence.

"Um," she blushes, misinterpreting his silence, "don't worry, it's just juice; there's no alcohol in it or anything …"

He blinks. "I, uh, yeah, sure, I'll have juice," he says, finally taking off his shoes properly. He's glad to have a task to focus on. Tsubakino leaves for the kitchen, presumably to get him the drink he asked for.

"Hey, Suzuri," the other twin — Shuhei thinks this one is Seiryu — greets him when he steps into the living room. "How are you?"

"I'm, uh, I'm good," Shuhei replies. As he looks around the room, he sees that besides the Sakaki twins, there's two other people here: Mizuki and Momose from Furin are sitting on the sofa. So Shuhei is the only non-Bofurin member. He'll try not to get too in his head about that. "What about you?", he remembers to ask Seiryu as to not seem rude.

"Me, too, thanks," the twin grins at him.

"Here you go!" Tsubakino comes up behind him and hands him a glass.

"Th-thank you," Shuhei says, feeling himself jolt a little when her fingers brush his. Out of the corner of his eye, he can see Seiryu's grin widen. He goes to sit down on the couch next to Momose, who is currently doodling on a large sketchpad.

"Hello, Suzuri-shi," Mizuki addresses him politely.

"Hey, Suzuri-chan!"

"Hi," Shuhei replies nervously. He hasn't talked to the other three Heavenly Kings a lot, so he's not sure how they feel about him. "Uh, where's Hiragi-san?"

"Tsubaki-chan did invite him, but he got dragged to a different party by Sako-chan and Kaji-chan," Momose says, not looking up from his drawing. "Honestly? Thank God those three are not hanging with us tonight."

"It gets a little … weird when they're all together," Mizuki agrees delicately.

Shuhei really doesn't know enough about those guys to contribute anything to this conversation, so he just takes a sip of his juice — it tastes like it might be from Hidaka's restaurant. He looks at Tsubakino who's having a conversation with Seiryu on the other side of the living room, her head thrown back in laughter at something he said. Her hairstyle is exposing her sharp jawline.

He chokes on his juice.

"Oh, no, Suzuri-chan, are you alright?", Momose asks, putting down his pencil so he can pat his back.

"Y-yeah," he coughs, "no worries." He leans forward and sets his glass down on the coffee table. Tsubakino is looking at him. He gives her a tentative smile.

This is going to be a very long evening.

Shuhei spends the next couple of hours trying not to look at or talk to Tsubakino too much, because every time he does, his brain stops working. It's quite a challenge, considering she is basically always in the same room as him.

At around a quarter to midnight, she approaches him with a pout. He's currently sitting alone in the kitchen with Maru who was brave enough to come out of Tsubakino's bedroom and eat the rest of his dinner. "Suzuri, are you avoiding me?"

"O-of course not," he says, but he knows he doesn't sound convincing. He looks down at the cat in his lap.

She hums and sits down on the chair next to his. "I don't believe you."

"I —"

"Are you not having a good time?"

"I am. I'm sorry, I, uh —" He cannot possibly tell her the truth. "I'm not avoiding you, I'm just trying to get to know your school friends better. I didn't mean to ignore you or anything." It's not a complete lie; he has been enjoying talking to Momose, in particular.

"Okay," she says. She's still pouting, though. "Are you coming back to the living room with me? It's almost midnight."

He fails at suppressing a yawn. "Sure."

She smiles. "Tired already?"

"A little bit."

"I get it. I'm usually in bed by, like, 11."

They get up and go to the living room where someone's turned on the TV to a channel that displays the countdown to midnight in the corner of the screen. Momose is still sitting on the couch with his sketchpad — Shuhei isn't sure if he's moved at all this evening — while the twins are standing outside on the small balcony with Mizuki.

He sits back down on the sofa next to Momose. His drawing looks quite abstract, so Shuhei can't really tell what it's supposed to be. "Is everything okay, Suzuri-chan?", the boy asks him.

"Yeah, I'm good," Shuhei yawns. "Just kind of tired."

"You've almost made it, ten more minutes!", Tsubakino grins at him, standing in front of the couch now. Her legs are so very long. He swallows. "Let me sit next to you," she says, motioning for Momose and Shuhei to move over.

"You know," Seiryu says, coming back inside with his brother and Mizuki, "in America, they have a New Year's Eve tradition where you have to kiss someone at midnight." He wiggles his eyebrows at Shuhei, who feels himself blush.

"Seiryu-chan, no one here wants to kiss you," Momose deadpans.

"I know," the twin sighs dramatically. "My goal for the new year is to find a boyfriend … or girlfriend," he winks at Tsubakino. She rolls her eyes.

"Yeah, Seiryu, because you and I are perfect for each other," she says sarcastically.

"I know you prefer Uryu, anyway," Seiryu pretends to pout. His twin brother just blinks while Tsubakino laughs.

Shuhei feels kind of out of the loop. He looks between the three of them.

"Don't worry, they're just kidding," Momose whispers into his ear. "It's some weird inside joke between them."

Shuhei tries not to think about why the boy feels the need to tell him this. "I see."

The clock on the TV screen is nearing midnight, so the twins and Mizuki sit down in front of the couch to be able to watch it with the others. Shuhei can't help but throw glances at Tsubakino. Her eye makeup is a little smudged, but she still looks absolutely beautiful. There's a strand of hair sticking out in front of her ear that he wishes he could fix for her. He thinks about what Seiryu just mentioned.

This last year was probably the best year of his life — he met Kanji and Roppo Ichiza, he and many others in Gravel got jobs to support the other members, and of course, he met Tsubakino.

What would it be like to start the new year with a kiss from her?

"Ten!"

Shuhei jumps when Momose shouts next to him. Lost in his thoughts, he hadn't realised how close to midnight they were.

"Nine!" The other boys are joining in — well, all of them except Uryu —, but Shuhei can't bring himself to look away from Tsubakino. She herself is quiet as well, seemingly focused on the TV.

"… Six!" Suddenly, she turns her head and looks at him.

"Five!" His heart gets stuck in his throat.

"Four!" She smiles at him.

"Three!" His gaze drops down to her lips. Her lipstick is immaculate, like she reapplied it recently.

"Two!" She leans towards him.

"One!" He holds his breath.

"Happy new year, Suzuri," Tsubakino whispers in his ear. "I hope this year will be good to you."

With that, she sits up straight again, cheering with the others. Shuhei feels dazed.

"Happy new year, everyone!" Seiryu says, holding up his glass of lemonade as if for a toast. "May it bring girlfriends and/or boyfriends to all of us."

"You should rather wish for good luck on your exams," Mizuki mutters as he pushes his glasses up on his nose. "You need it."

Seiryu pouts at him. "My scores are higher than the Furin average."

"The bar is on the floor," Tsubakino laughs.

Seiryu continues to squabble with them while his twin brother sits on the ground with a bowl of popcorn and Momose keeps working on his drawing.

Shuhei thinks he's having an out-of-body experience. For a second, he thought Tsubakino was going to kiss him. What a stupid idea.

He yawns again, and feels his eyelids getting heavy. Usually, he doesn't get sleepy so early, but maybe the emotional turmoil tired him out.

May this year bring me a girl who likes me back, is the last thought he has before he closes his eyes and dozes off.

"Suzuri?"

"Hmm?", he mumbles. The pillow underneath his head is a bit hard, but warm. Someone is gently shaking him awake.

"Suzuri, the others are leaving. Do you want to stay here?"

He opens his eyes and startles when he sees how close Tsubakino's face is to his. His head is currently resting on her shoulder; he must've been sleeping like this. Oh, God. This is mortifying. He feels his cheeks heat up.

"O-oh," he stammers, sitting up, still feeling a little disoriented. "What?"

"My other friends are going home," she says. Shuhei can hear them talking in the hallway.

"Ah, sorry, I'll leave, too, then," he says, rubbing his eyes.

"You can stay the night, if you want," she says. His eyes widen. What — "O-on the couch, obviously!", she adds, her cheeks turning red when she notices his expression. "I just don't want you to have to get on a bus when you're so tired."

"I — uh." He doesn't know what to do. On one hand, he really doesn't want to have to take a bus home right now, but on the other hand, staying the night at Tsubakino's apartment of all places might be a bad idea. He needs to get over her, not sleep on her couch while knowing she is only one room away.

Fuck it. He can get over her after tonight, when he's less tired. "Okay, sure. Thank you."

She smiles. They go out into the hallway to say goodbye to the others. Seiryu gives Shuhei a look when Tsubakino tells them that he's going to be sleeping on her couch.

"Well, goodnight to you guys then," he grins. Shuhei feels an embarrassed blush creep up his neck. He's sure Seiryu can see right through him and his feelings.

Tsubakino closes the door once the boys have left. "Okay, I think I should have a spare toothbrush somewhere. Let me check." She goes into the bathroom and searches the cupboard. Shuhei watches her, standing awkwardly in the hallway.

In that moment, Maru leaves the kitchen and approaches him with a "Meow". Shuhei kneels down and scratches him between his ears. "Happy new year, Maru-chan," he murmurs.

"Found it!", Tsubaki comes out of the bathroom and presents a toothbrush to him, still sealed in its packaging.

He gets up and takes it from her. "Thanks."

"I'll also get you a blanket and a pillow," she says. "And, um," she blushes, "I assume you don't have any spare clothes with you, so I could give you some of mine to sleep in …?"

Shuhei's heart is beating fast in his chest. "I-I, uh," he stammers, "yeah, okay, thank you."

He uses the bathroom and brushes his teeth while she goes looking for the stuff she mentioned. It's kind of embarrassing how affected he is by the thought of her sharing her clothes with him. This is different from the scarf, even though that was already bad enough. It feels so … couple-y. But of course, friends can share clothes with each other as well, so for Tsubakino, this is probably not a big deal. He sighs as he looks at himself in the mirror. What is he doing?

"Suzuri?" There's a knock on the bathroom door. "I got the clothes for you, if you want them."

He opens the door. "Thank you," he says as clearly as he can with the toothbrush still in his mouth, taking the shirt and sweatpants she's holding out to him. She smiles at him before he shuts the door again to change.

The clothes are a simple black, clearly not something Tsubakino wears outside a lot (Shuhei thinks she would probably not be caught dead in public wearing sweatpants). They're a bit big on him, which was to be expected. He sees his reflection and blushes. When he raises the fabric of the shirt collar up to his nose, it smells like her. He closes his eyes. For just a moment, he lets his thoughts wander, lets himself imagine what it'd be like to walk out of this bathroom and get into the same bed as her, to be surrounded by her scent, to —

Alright. Enough of that.

He splashes his face with a bit of cold water to hopefully reduce the redness in his cheeks, and opens the bathroom door again. Tsubakino is waiting right in front of it, and oh no, she's so cute. Her face is still covered in makeup, but she's wearing a pink pyjama set that consists of a button-up shirt and shorts that show off her long legs.

When she looks at him, he thinks he can see her blush a little. "Oh. You look very cute."

"S-so do you," he says, biting his lip nervously. Girls call other people cute all the time, this isn't anything special for her, he thinks. "Thanks for the clothes."

"Of course!", she smiles. "The couch is ready for you."

He thanks her again and goes to the living room to let her get ready for bed. The blanket on the couch has a Hello Kitty pattern on it. Cute.

He sits down and takes a couple of deep breaths. He can do this. Maru comes to sit on his lap while he waits for Tsubakino to come out of the bathroom, and Shuhei pets him dutifully.

"Oh, I hope he won't wake you up in the morning," Tsubakino says when she enters the living room.

Shuhei looks up at her, and thinks he stops breathing for a second. This is the first time he's seen her bare face, and while she looks beautiful and confident when she's wearing makeup, without it, she looks … soft. Her hair is falling onto her shoulders, surrounding her face, and as usual, Shuhei is wondering if it feels as fluffy as it appears.

She's playing with a strand of it as she looks at him, and he realises she was talking to him. "Uh, what?", he asks.

"Maru," she clarifies, "He tends to get up early, so if he wakes you up, just send him to my room and I'll take care of him."

"Ah," he says. "Yeah, sure, no worries."

"Okay!" She smiles at him, "Goodnight then, Suzuri ~"

"Goodnight," he yawns. "Sleep well."

"You too," she says and leaves for the bedroom.

Shuhei lies down on the couch, Maru next to him. Man, he thinks as he closes his eyes. I'm so screwed.

Tsubaki wakes up at around six, a couple of minutes before her set alarm, to a sound that she would be able to identify even in the middle of the night: Maru's meows. Her cat isn't standing right on top of her chest as he usually is in the morning, though. Instead, the noise seems to be coming from the kitchen. She gets up and heads into the hallway.

"Maru-chan," she hears Suzuri say in a hushed voice, "please be quiet, we don't want to wake Tsubakino …"

Maru-chan? She barely suppresses a squeal. How cute. There's the sound of Maru's food bowl being set down onto the ground, and if she listens closely, she can hear his little chewing noises.

When she enters the kitchen, she is met with a sight she mostly expected: Suzuri, already fully dressed in his clothes from yesterday, his hair up in its usual bun, is standing at the sink, refilling Maru's water bowl to place it next to him while the cat is eating.

She tries to tamp down the butterflies in her stomach as she watches the scene in front of her. It's so sweet to see Maru trust someone this easily, and for someone to care so much about him.

"Oh, good morning, Tsubakino." Suzuri is looking at her, a light blush starting to spread across his cheeks. He looks like he just got caught doing something embarrassing.

"Good morning! Thank you so much for feeding Maru!" She smiles at him. "Didn't I tell you to let me take care of him, though? I'm sorry he woke you up so early."

"It's not a problem," Suzuri sheepishly returns her smile. "I'll have to go soon, anyway."

"Oh, are you not staying for breakfast?" She can't stop herself from pouting. Where in the world does he need to be this early in the morning on New Year's Day? Does he not want to watch the sunrise with her?

"I'm sorry, I have … something I have to do," he says, still looking a little awkward.

"Where are you going? Can I come with you?" Maybe it's a bit too forward, but she was hoping to spend more time with him today.

"Uh … yes, if you want to. I just have to … feed the cats …" His voice trails off, so quiet by the end she can barely hear him.

"The cats?", she asks curiously. She didn't know he had pets; how could he not have told her?

"Yes …" He looks at Maru, who's still busy happily munching his food. "There's a lot of stray cats in the Sunaba district. I've been feeding them since I was little."

Oh.

"Suzuri, that's so cute!! How are you so sweet!?", she asks, her voice involuntarily rising in pitch.

Suzuri is so red, she just wants to lean in and pinch his cheeks.

"I don't know how to reply to that," he mumbles, rubbing his neck.

She really needs to calm down. "Ah, sorry, I didn't mean to embarrass you — I'd love to join you, if I may."

"Yeah, sure, if you want to." Suzuri says shyly. "But I need to go home to pick up the food first."

She's never been at his place before; they always hang out at her apartment. She can't say she's not curious about what his home looks like.

"Okay!" She looks at the digital clock on her oven. "I think the sun will rise soon, though. Do you want to watch it with me?"

He stares at her with a blank expression for a second. Then he seems to realise. "Oh, right, it's the new year. Sure, we can do that if you want to!"

"How could you forget it's New Year's Day?", she laughs as she turns on the coffee machine. "We literally had a New Year's Eve party yesterday."

"I haven't forgotten," he grumbles defensively. "I've just never done the whole first sunrise thing. But if it's important to you, we can do that before we leave."

"I usually go to the Furin rooftop to watch it; it's obviously not a mountain, but it's one of the highest points in the area. Is that okay?"

"Will we be there in time?", he asks, checking his phone.

"It's 6:11 right now, and it'll take us about ten minutes to walk to Furin … If I get ready now, I'm sure we can make it before sunrise."

"Well, then." He looks at her expectantly.

She points at the coffee machine behind him. "You can make yourself a cup of coffee while you wait, if you want. I'll be ready in like, twenty minutes, okay?"

"Okay." Suzuri leans back against the kitchen counter. "I'll wait here."

She goes back to her bedroom to pick out an outfit, choosing a grey knitted dress for today. She'll probably have to wear tights, as well, if she's going to be outside for a while. After deciding on her clothes, she takes a shower, skipping washing her hair since she won't be able to get it dry fast enough. She hopes it doesn't look too greasy.

She quickly does her makeup and gets dressed before checking her phone for the time — her routine took her exactly nineteen minutes today.

When she re-enters the kitchen, Suzuri is waiting for her. He raises his head, his eyes going a little wide. She watches as he blushes and quickly averts his gaze.

"I'm ready," she announces, feeling a little self-conscious. Maybe her hair looks greasy, after all? "Should we leave now?"

"Oh … yeah, sure," he says distractedly.

"Is something wrong?", she asks.

"No! Not at all, uh …" His ears are red. "That's the dress you bought a couple of months ago, right?"

"Yeah," she says. She's suddenly reminded of that shopping trip with Kotoha in September, and how she sent him a picture of herself and he called her pretty. She can't believe he remembers. The memory makes her blush a little, too.

"You … you look good, Tsubakino," he says, avoiding her eyes as he walks past her towards the genkan.

She stands there, frozen for a moment as she hears him putting on his shoes and feels her own face heat up even more. She takes a deep breath in an attempt to calm down her heart before she has to turn around and head to the entrance of her apartment, as well.

"Thank you," she says quietly as she slips into her boots.

Suzuri clears his throat and looks down at his phone. "So, I checked, and apparently the sun will rise at 6:50. If we leave now, we'll be there with some time to spare."

"Okay," she smiles at him. She already knew the time of the sunrise, of course, but it's cute that he looked it up. "Then let's go."

They're not the first ones on the roof.

"Hi, Ume!!", Tsubakino calls out when they enter the rooftop and she sees the Bofurin leader seated on a couch that's been moved closer to the edge, a very grumpy-looking Furin first-year with long hair next to him (Shuhei remembers seeing him at the party in summer, but doesn't think he caught his name. The kid doesn't seem very sociable, anyway).

Ah, Shuhei thinks. Of course he would be here. He hopes Tsubakino doesn't notice the way he tenses up for a second.

The thing is, he likes Umemiya. He really does. How could he not? Umemiya is such a good guy and a great leader who cares so much for his school and his community. He's genuine, helpful and kind. But none of that matters to the sad, pathetic little creature that has nestled inside of Shuhei's heart and rages with jealousy every time Tsubakino mentions the head of Bofurin.

"Hey, guys! Tsubaki, I wasn't sure if you were gonna make it! Nice to see you again, Suzuri!" Umemiya smiles at them, and he's so nice. Shuhei is a terrible person.

"You know I'd never miss it," Tsubakino says, returning Umemiya's smile. Her heart eyes are hard to bear when they're directed at someone else. Not like they'd ever be directed at Shuhei, anyway.

He needs to get out of his head before he starts looking weird or rude. "Good morning," he greets Umemiya and the first-year, the latter acknowledging Tsubakino and him with a grunt.

"Sit down, sit down," Umemiya says, "the sun is going to rise any minute." He motions the boy next to him to move, and they both shift on the couch to make room for the two newcomers. Unfortunately, there's still not enough space for four people.

"Uh," Shuhei says, "It's okay, I can sit on the floor."

"Absolutely not," Tsubakino says sternly. "One of us can sit on the armrest. Do you want to sit next to Ume?"

"I don't want to get between you guys," he says, and he almost laughs out loud when he hears the sentence leave his mouth. Except it's not really funny at all, is it?

Tsubakino blushes a little, but she takes the seat on the couch next to Umemiya. "Okay."

When Shuhei sits down on the armrest, the position is a little awkward and not that comfortable, but he'll make it work. He unconsciously leans into Tsubakino's side and feels her pause for a split second, but just as he is about to move back, she relaxes.

The four of them sit in silence for a moment as they wait for the first rays of dawn. Shuhei doesn't remember the last time he actively watched the sunrise. Everything feels so quiet and peaceful in this moment as they look down at the city.

"Look, there it is!" Umemiya excitedly points towards the horizon where Shuhei can see the first couple of sunbeams now. "Everyone, make your wishes."

Shuhei closes his eyes and focuses on the feeling of his shoulder against Tsubakino's.

He knows exactly what he's wishing for.

After the sun has risen, the four of them stay on the roof for a little longer. Umemiya asks Suzuri how work has been going, and Tsubaki shows Sugishita a few new hair products on her phone that she's found online, the first-year listening intently.

She's glad Umemiya and Suzuri are getting along, though Suzuri seems a bit shy with the Bofurin leader sometimes. The two boys are some of her closest friends, so she wants them to be friends with each other, too.

"Tsubakino?", Suzuri asks after a couple of minutes. "I think we should leave soon."

"Ah, right, the cats! I'm so sorry, I almost forgot!", she apologises. "Let's go!" She gets up from the sofa.

"The cats?" Umemiya looks up at her questioningly.

"Suzuri needs to take care of the cats in his neighbourhood, so we have to go," Tsubaki says. Suzuri gets off the couch, as well.

"I see," Umemiya says. "Have fun!" Sugishita mutters something that could potentially have been a "Bye".

"Bye ~", she says sweetly and takes Suzuri's arm, pulling him towards the rooftop door.

They walk downstairs and leave the school grounds.

"How was your first hatsuhinode experience?", she asks as they make their way to the bus station.

"It was nice," Suzuri replies with a little smile. "Maybe I'll do it again next year."

"We should!", Tsubaki says happily. "I'm glad you had a good time."

The boy hums in agreement.

They get on the bus and take a seat in the back, Suzuri leaning his head against the window.

Tsubaki notices him getting more fidgety the closer they get to their destination. "Hey," she says softly, grabbing his hand when she sees his thumbnail digging into his index finger. "What's wrong? Are you okay?"

"Ah, sorry …", he mumbles. "Honestly, I'm a bit nervous to show you where I live."

"Why?", she asks. His hand feels warm in hers.

"It's … I mean, it's the Sunaba district. You know how it is." He's avoiding her gaze.

She tightens her grip. "And? You don't have to be ashamed of where you come from."

He laughs humourlessly. "I don't know … You have such a nice place, and I live in a shoebox with two of my Gravel friends. We can't afford much more because everyone shares their income with the guys who don't have jobs."

It still amazes her how generous Suzuri and his team are. "You don't have to compare yourself to me. I want to see your place, if you're comfortable with that. Will your friends be there?"

He looks down at their joined hands. "They'll probably be asleep. I mean, we don't really have to go inside, anyway; I just need to pick up the cat food."

"Okay," she says, "I can also wait outside, if you want."

"It's okay," he mumbles as he leans forward and presses the stop button.

Tsubaki hates seeing him so turned in on himself, but she doesn't know what to say without sounding like she's pitying him.

They're quiet as they walk towards Suzuri's apartment complex, Suzuri putting some distance between the two of them. Tsubaki tries not to dwell on it.

When they get there, she is reminded of the one time she visited Sakura's house, except this building looks even more run-down than the first-year's residence: The outer walls are covered in graffiti, there's piles of waste in the yard, and it looks like the front door doesn't lock. Suzuri just pushes it open wordlessly to let himself and her inside.

She follows him up the stairs to his apartment on the first floor. There's no New Year's decorations anywhere.

Next to the door is a sign that other than Suzuri, two people called Miyamoto and Yamaguchi live here. He unlocks the door and steps inside, waiting for her to follow. "Welcome," he says, and she doesn't like the sarcasm in his voice.

She looks around while he toes off his sneakers and walks into the apartment. There's not much to see from where she's standing, just a small, overstuffed shoe rack and a closet to her right and the kitchenette right ahead, where Suzuri is currently rummaging through a cupboard and putting cans of cat food into a plastic bag. To her left are two doors that probably belong to the bathroom and toilet, and behind the kitchenette is another door that she assumes leads to the bedroom. Do they all share one room?

The place really is tiny, but it looks like they take good care of it. It's tidy and clean, and the boys have added some personal touches with posters (the gaming ones must be from Suzuri) and photos on the walls. Obviously, it's a far cry from Tsubaki's 1LDK, but she gets financial support from her uncle to pay the rent. Otherwise, she doesn't know what she'd be able to afford on her own, either.

"Suzuri?"

"Hm?", her friend asks distractedly, counting the cans in his bag.

"Your place looks nice. I mean it," she says gently.

"I guess it's better than living on the streets," he mumbles, not looking up. "I've got everything; we can go."

He kneels down to put his shoes back on before he stands up, the plastic bag in his hand.

"Okay," she breathes. She wishes she knew how to make Suzuri less uncomfortable.

The two of them leave the apartment, Suzuri locking the door behind them.

She wants to take his hand again while they walk because earlier on the bus, it seemed to have calmed him down, but she feels too nervous to initiate anything. So instead, they walk in silence, once again a respectful distance between them.

"Where are we going, exactly?", she asks at some point.

"The park is where many of the cats hang out during the day," he replies. "We're almost there."

The park looks as neglected as most places in the district, the fence surrounding it broken and rusty, the grass overgrown.

"Good morning, Kuro-chan," Suzuri coos when a black cat approaches them, and he kneels down to pet it. Kuro immediately sticks his little head inside of Suzuri's bag, clearly already aware of what's in it. "Stop it," he laughs, gently pushing the cat away, and Tsubaki bites the inside of her cheek to stop herself from squealing. God, he's so cute. She's happy to see a smile on his face.

Suzuri pulls one of the cans out of his bag and opens it up, setting it down on the ground in front of Kuro. The cat inhales the food immediately.

"Did you … did you name them all?", Tsubaki asks, butterflies in her stomach again.

Suzuri looks up at her, his cheeks turning pink. "I did. That's Kuro, and over there is Momo." He points towards a second cat that's approaching them now. It's a calico that reminds her of Maru, except this kitty is much smaller and skinnier than him.

"Can I feed her?", she asks and kneels down next to Suzuri.

He grabs another can of food from his bag, opening it up. "Of course," he says and hands it to her.

"Hello there," she greets Momo sweetly and holds her hand out towards her. The cat sniffs her fingers for a moment before she moves on to the food in her other hand. Tsubaki quickly puts it down to let Momo eat.

"Suzuri, how are you affording all of this?", she asks as she watches him feed another cat that came over while she was interacting with Momo.

"It was a lot harder when I was a kid," he admits while he pets the tabby who's sitting next to Kuro now. "Now that I have a job, I have more money to buy them food. I've always hated seeing the cats look so skinny and hungry."

He is so … For a second, Tsubaki imagines what he would do if she leaned into his space and —

"Meow!", Momo interrupts her dangerous thoughts as she butts her head into Tsubaki's knee.

"Oh, you're so cute," she murmurs, scratching the cat's chin. Momo flops onto her back, presenting her belly to Tsubaki who dutifully rubs it. "You should've brought me here earlier," she says to Suzuri. "Can you introduce me to the others?"

Suzuri plays with the tab of the closed can he's holding. "Uh, sure. This one's Mimi, she's Momo's sister. Or, well, at least I found them together." He points at the tabby near him. "And over there are Hoshi and Saki." Two other cats are lingering near them, presumably too shy to approach Tsubaki.

"They're all so cute! I'm so glad they have you to take care of them."

Suzuri blushes again but says nothing as he gets up and takes two cans of food to Hoshi and Saki. They greet him happily, rubbing against his legs and waiting for him to feed them. Maru is never this patient, Tsubaki thinks.

She watches the boy talk softly to the cats, and the butterflies still haven't stopped.

Can you love two people at once?

Ah, she thinks, so this really is it. I'm not getting out of this. She feels something wet run down her cheeks, and when she wipes it off with her hands, there's traces of mascara on her fingers. She sniffles.

"Tsubakino? Are you okay?" Suzuri is looking at her from where he's kneeling, his eyes wide.

"Yeah!", replies quickly. "Sorry, uh, the air is just a little cold." She pointedly rubs her hands together.

"Okay …", Suzuri says, and he doesn't look entirely convinced. "We can leave soon, don't worry." He gets up and starts collecting the empty tins to put them back into his plastic bag. "Do you … um … do you want my jacket?", he asks when he's done, looking down at where he's fidgeting with its zipper.

She feels her cheeks heat up. What a gentleman. "That's very nice of you, but I don't think it'd fit me."

"Ah, I guess you're right …" He chuckles awkwardly. "Sorry."

"It's okay," she replies just as awkwardly. "It's not your fault I'm so stupidly tall."

"I like that you're tall," Suzuri says, and as soon as he closes his mouth, he turns as red as Tsubaki probably is right now.

They stare at each other for a long second, and Tsubaki is just about to say something that she might regret later, when Suzuri clears his throat and turns away. "Let's go," he says, walking back in the direction of the park gate, not checking if Tsubaki is following him.

She's not even sure where they're going (the bus station, she presumes), but she runs after him anyway.

"What are your plans for the rest of the day?", she asks once she's caught up with him, just so she can think about anything other than whatever is happening to her heart at the moment.

Suzuri's plastic bag rustles as he swings it back and forth between them. "My flatmates and I are probably just going to stay in and play games, or something. What about you?"

"Ito-san invited me to visit the shrine with him later, so I'll do that after lunch." She smiles when she thinks of the old man. Ever since she met the elderly couple when she was a child, she'd been going to the shrine with them on the first day of the new year. Her parents had never cared about doing anything with her during the holidays.

"How is he?", Suzuri asks.

"He's been doing well — he still asks me to bring Sakura almost every time I come over," she laughs.

Suzuri grins. "I'm glad he's doing well. I hope I can meet him someday."

Tsubaki has an idea. "Maybe … would you like to join us? At the shrine?"

"Oh!" Suzuri stops for a moment. "I didn't mean to invite myself, or anything."

"No, no, you didn't! I'm sure he'd love to meet you!"

Suzuri is blushing again. "Um, if you're sure …" He starts walking again; they're almost at the bus station.

"Yeah!", she says, hopefully sounding less nervous than she's feeling. "Let's meet up at mine before we go to there, so I can show you the way, okay?"

"Okay," Suzuri agrees quietly. "But I, uh, I don't really know what to do at a shrine, to be honest."

"That's okay, Ito-san will be happy to teach you!" She smiles at him. "If you're at my place at around two, we'll have more than enough time to get there."

The bus is already waiting at the stop, so they walk a little faster.

"Thank you for helping me with the cats," Suzuri says, gripping the handles of his plastic bag tightly.

"Thank you for introducing me to them," she replies. There's a lot more she wants to say, but the words are stuck in her throat. She's looking at him, and he's looking at her, and she wishes she were a braver woman.

But she's a coward, and she's confused, and a little terrified. So instead of saying anything else, she just gives him a tight-lipped smile and gets on the bus.

She waves at him until he's out of sight.

And because she usually tries to avoid making a scene in public, she waits until she's in the privacy of her own home until she breaks down.

Tsubaki is sitting on her couch, absentmindedly petting Maru. Her eyes hurt.

She's not stupid. She knows what's going on, even if she doesn't want to admit it to herself. With the hand that's not stroking Maru's fur, she opens Instagram on her phone and looks at Nirei's post again.

Can you love two people at once?

Nirei, Sakura, and Suo can, apparently. Lots of people can; she knows this. She literally gave Nirei advice on this very topic.

Then why is she being so stubborn?

She has been in love with Ume for over half a decade. He's been her friend, her saviour, her prince on a white horse. But he'll also never love her the way she loves him.

If you were a woman, now that would be a different story.

It's not the first time Sugichi's words from their fight have entered her mind without her permission, but now, she just scoffs at herself for even thinking about him. What does that fucking creep know, coming back into her town with his pathetic schoolboy crush on her, thinking he can tell her anything?

Umemiya knows she's a woman. And yet, that doesn't matter at all.

She lets out a loud groan, startling Maru. He jumps off her lap and sits down on the rug in front of the couch. Why does she have to be like this? If she could just get over Umemiya, everything would be so much easier, but she doesn't want to get over him. Their relationship is special to her, and she wouldn't change a thing about it.

But doesn't she also deserve to love someone who loves her back?

"If he does," she mutters to herself. She probably shouldn't be getting her hopes up —her love for Ume is not a secret to anybody, so why would anyone else even consider being with her?

Why would he?

She buries her head in her hands and lets out a long sigh. At this point, she can no longer pretend she doesn't love Suzuri. Has loved him for quite a while, probably.

Is it the same love she feels for Umemiya? Probably not. It feels different. But different doesn't have to mean worse, or less.

"You know, Maru, this is just going to end with me being in love with two men who don't like me back," she tells her cat matter-of-factly.

It's fine. Hopefully, she'll get over it soon enough. Though if her track record with Umemiya tells her anything, she probably won't be so lucky.

She checks her phone again and realises she should probably have lunch soon if she wants to have enough time to get ready before Suzuri arrives at two. For the fraction of a second, she considers cancelling her plans, but she doesn't want to let Ito down just because of her stupid feelings for a boy.

She prepares her food with a pack of frozen peas pressed to her face in attempt to reduce the puffiness. If she just applies a bit more makeup than usual, she's sure no one will notice anything.

Tsubakino is quiet, Shuhei notices while he's walking beside her to the shrine. Did he act weird when they were feeding the cats earlier? Was offering her his jacket too much? He's probably too in his head, but he's terrified of her figuring out how he feels about her. Their friendship might not survive that.

"Tsu-"

"I like the way you did your hair; it's cute," Tsubakino tells him before he can start his apology.

His ears are starting to feel warm. He touches the little bun at the back of his head that he used to pull back some of his hair, the rest of it falling onto his shoulders. "Th-thank you," he says. He feels too nervous to look at her, so he keeps his eyes straight ahead.

It's the only thing she says to him until they reach the shrine.

Half of Makochi seems to be gathered at the site, but one elderly man stands out from the crowd — he's wearing beige tweed trousers and a light blue shirt, with a coat matching the trousers over it. He's definitely one of the best-dressed people around.

As soon as Tsubakino spots him, she runs towards him, greeting him with "Hello, Ito-san, you look great today!!"

Shuhei approaches the two of them slowly, feeling a little shy now that he's about to meet someone who had such a big impact on Tsubakino's life when she was younger.

"This is Suzuri! I hope it's okay that I brought him with me, we hung out together this morning!"

"H-hello," Shuhei says and bows to the man, feeling a little awkward standing in front of someone who's dressed in such fancy clothing while he himself is wearing a random shirt and jacket he found at the second-hand store.

"Oh, so you're Suzuri-san! It's so nice to finally meet you!", Ito smiles at him. "Tsubaki-chan talks about you all the time!"

Tsubakino blushes, elbowing Ito gently. "Stop it," she whispers, but Shuhei can still hear her.

"Nice to meet you, too," he says politely, trying to ignore the warmth that's spreading all over his body.

"Suzuri hasn't been to a shrine before, so maybe you could show him what to do, Ito-san?", Tsubakino asks the old man.

"Of course! Come with me," Ito says, patting Shuhei's shoulder.

Following Ito's lead and going through the necessary motions feels foreign to Shuhei who's never been a religious or traditional person — there's usually no time for things like faith when you're worried about whether you'll be afford to eat the next day. (Though even now that he doesn't have to worry about that any longer, religion will probably not become a big part of his life.)

Ito seems quite knowledgeable about everything Shuhei has questions about, and he's very patient and kind with him. Shuhei can see how Ito and his wife were such important people in Tsubakino's childhood. He wishes he could've met Yui, as well.

"Ito-san, I have something for you!", Tsubakino says excitedly when they return to her. She places a small object in the old man's hand. It's an omamori pouch made of yellow silk. Shuhei saw a couple of stalls selling them when they arrived.

"Oh, thank you, Tsubaki-chan, you didn't have to!" The old man smiles at her.

"But I wanted to," she says, returning his smile. She links arms with him. "Shall we go to your place and have tea together?"

"Yes, let's go," he says. "Will you be joining us, Suzuri-san?" Both he and Tsubakino look at Shuhei expectantly.

"Uh, sure," he says, but he feels a bit insecure. They seem so close, and he almost feels like he's intruding. He still follows them to Ito's house, trying to keep up with their chatter.

After about an hour of hanging out with the two — Ito tells Shuhei some delightful stories about Tsubakino as a child, much to her dismay —, he realises how late it's gotten.

"Sorry, but I have to leave soon, my friends and I wanted to make dinner together."

Tsubakino frowns a little. "Aw, okay. Let me walk you to the bus station?"

Ito sees them to the door. "It was very nice to meet you, Suzuri-san. I hope Tsubaki-chan will take you with her to see me again sometime soon!" There's a glint in his eye that Shuhei doesn't really know how to read.

He bows politely. "It was nice to meet you too, Ito-san. Have a nice rest of your day."

"Bye, Ito-san!!", Tsubakino says sweetly as they leave.

"I think he really liked you!", she tells Shuhei while they walk towards the bus stop closest to Ito's house. "I can't wait for him to tell me to bring you around every time I'm there." She grins.

Shuhei knows he should reply, but he's too focused on how close they're walking to each other. His shoulder brushed hers, like, a minute ago, and his face still feels warm.

He thinks he's losing it a little.

"Suzuri? You okay?" Tsubakino has come to a halt while he's kept walking, too in his thoughts to notice. He stops as well and turns around, embarrassed.

"Oh, I'm sorry — yeah, I'm okay, don't worry. Just … thinking."

"About what?" She takes a couple of steps until she's next to him again. "Is everything alright?"

"I'm, uh … thinking about how nice today was. With you," he says, and it's the truth. He can feel himself blush.

"Oh," she says, her cheeks turning a little pink underneath her makeup. "I had a great time, too."

If this were a romantic movie, he imagines this would be the time the protagonists had their first kiss. But unfortunately, she is in love with someone else, so he just says, "I'm glad," and continues walking.

They reach the bus stop in silence, Shuhei's fingers itching as his hand is so close to Tsubakino's.

"Um," she starts once they're at the station, the bus already in sight at the end of the road. "I got something for you." She reaches inside of her handbag and pulls out a small silk pouch and holds it out to him. It's an omamori from the shrine.

It looks different from the one she got for Ito; this one is light blue, and it doesn't have any inscription except the name of the shrine. Instead, there's dark blue and pink flowers embroidered on it. It's pretty.

"Oh," he breathes, taking it from her carefully. "Thank you."

"Y-you're welcome," Tsubakino stutters, and when he looks up at her, she's the reddest he's ever seen her, avoiding his eyes. "Uh, your bus is here."

He turns around, and indeed, the bus has stopped at the station, its doors open. "I, uh, I better get going then. Bye, Tsubakino."

"Bye!"

He gets on the bus, still holding onto the omamori, and when he sits down and looks out of the window to watch her walk away, he sees something dangling from her bag that he hadn't noticed before.

It's a light pink omamori with flowers on it.

Yeah, definitely losing it.

"But I don't even know how to contact any of them," Tsubaki says, playing with the hair tie in her hand.

"Hmm," Shizuka says on the other end of the phone, "I could ask Kan-chan if he has anyone's number. I know at least one Gravel member works at Ougi."

"That's an idea."

"I'll text him right now!", Shizuka says. "Can I tell him what it's for?"

"I guess …", Tsubaki mumbles.

"Aww, are you embarrassed?", Shizuka teases. "Listen, I don't think he'll be surprised you're pulling out all the stops for a birthday party for Suzuri-san. He probably thinks you guys are already dating."

"Stop it!!", Tsubaki protests, her cheeks heating up. "I still don't even think he likes me like that."

"Girl, I told you —"

"Yeah, I know, but I'm not gonna get my hopes up," Tsubaki mutters. "This party will be my one chance, and hopefully I can just get over him after he rejects me."

Shizuka hums unhappily. "He won't."

"Sure … How are things with Kanji, anyway?", Tsubaki asks, trying to change the subject.

"Uh," Shizuka says. "I may have asked him out on New Year's Day."

"What!!", Tsubaki yells, surprised. "That was over a week ago! And you didn't tell me?!"

"I'm sorry, it's still so new; I wanted to wait a little before I told people …"

"So he said yes," Tsubaki grins. She can't help feeling a tiny bit hurt that Shizuka didn't tell her immediately, but she gets it.

"He did!", her friend says, a smile in her voice. "I'll tell you everything next time we meet up."

"I'm really happy for you, Shizuka-chan," Tsubaki says genuinely.

"Thank you … Now, you're next!"

Tsubaki laughs, but it ends in a sigh. "I appreciate your enthusiasm."

They talk on the phone for a little while longer before saying goodbye — apparently, Shizuka is going on a date with Kanji later.

Shortly after hanging up, Tsubaki receives a text from her.

Narita Shizuka • 15:57
Here's Miyamoto's contact info that Kan-chan gave me.

After that, she's sent the Gravel member's number, and a sticker of a cartoon cat giving a thumbs up. Tsubaki recognises the name as one of Suzuri's flatmates.

Me • 15:58
Thank you! ♡

Time to plan a surprise party.

Me • 8:05
Good morning, Suzuri! (˶ᵔ ᵕ ᵔ˶) Do you want to hang out with me next Friday?

Tsubaki knows he doesn't have anything planned; Miyamoto told her as much. Apparently, Suzuri never celebrates his birthday.

The reply comes a little later, while she's at school.

Suzuri Shuhei • 8:58
Sure! When should I come over?

Me • 9:00
Actually, I wanted to go here: (Link)

Me • 9:01
It's this new restaurant on Keisei Street. It'll be my treat, don't worry. ദ്ദി(˵ •̀ ᴗ - ˵ ) ✧

She hopes he won't see right through her plans.

"Who are you texting?", Seiryu asks, suddenly standing in front of her desk. She startles, quickly locking her phone. "Ooh, wait, is it Suzuri?"

He's been making less-than-subtle jokes about her and Suzuri ever since New Year's Eve, Tsubaki turning into a blushing mess every time.

"And what if it is?", she asks, glaring at him.

The twin raises his hands defensively. "Just wondering!" But he's grinning from ear to ear. "How is he?"

"Uh, I'm sure he's doing well," she says, fidgeting with her phone. "It's his birthday next week."

"What are you getting for him?" Seiryu is pulling up a chair and sitting down across from her.

She'll never hear the end of this. "I'm throwing him a surprise party."

Seiryu pouts. "Wow, you've never thrown us a birthday party, let alone a surprise party." Next to her, she can see Uryu nod from where he's sitting at his own desk. Of course he would be listening in on their conversation.

"Well, that's because I don't have a cru-" She interrupts herself, but Seiryu's already heard enough. He starts laughing out loud as her face heats up.

"Finally got you to admit it!", he snorts obnoxiously, and Tsubaki wants to throw him across the room.

"Wow, good for you," she grumbles sarcastically, feeling terribly embarrassed. "It's not like he likes me back anyway, so it doesn't matter."

Her vice captain sobers up when he sees her frown. "Hey, you don't know that."

"Who in their right mind would want me?"

Now Seiryu looks like he wants to throw her across the room. "Shut up, you're a fucking catch, Tsubaki. Also, have you seen the way that guy looks at you? Dude." His twin nods in agreement again.

Tsubaki sighs. "Shizuka-chan said the same thing. But he knows I also like Ume, so I don't think he would even consider being with me."

"Well, I think you guys could make it work."

"That makes one of us, at least …"

"Two," Seiryu says, pointing at his brother. "Uryu believes in you, too." Uryu gives her one of his rare smiles.

This is starting to feel a little too earnest. "Thanks," she says quietly.

Seemingly also having noticed the weird atmosphere, Seiryu gives her an exaggerated thumbs up and gets up from his chair. "If he's stupid enough not to want you, you know Uryu and I are always here!" He winks.

Tsubaki isn't even going to reply to that. Instead, she checks her phone.

Suzuri Shuhei • 9:03
That looks nice! Okay, if you're sure. When do you want to meet up there?

Me • 9:10
How about 6 PM?

Suzuri Shuhei • 9:12
Okay, I'm looking forward to seeing you.

Tsubaki looks at her own reflection in the mirror. Her makeup is done, and so is her hair, but she's not sure if she's happy with it. Today is a big day, so she wants to look beautiful. Wants him to think she looks beautiful.

She sighs. Well, this is the best she can do; he has to either take it or leave it.

Her phone tells her it's almost 5 PM, so she needs to leave soon. She told the others to be at the restaurant at 5:30 so they can be prepared for Suzuri to arrive at 6. Hopefully, everyone will be on time and things will go smoothly. This is the first time she's every organised a surprise party — and probably the last, considering how stressful it was to get everyone together.

She gets to the restaurant a few minutes before 5:30 PM, and quite a few Gravel members are already there, other people arriving over the next couple minutes. The staff have prepared everything in the way she asked them to, and she's relieved to see that Shizuka has baked the cake Tsubaki requested from her.

The half-hour passes in no time, so even though not everything is perfect, she has to get outside at 5:50 PM and wait for Suzuri. He tends to be a little early to everything, and she can't have him see her come out of the restaurant.

When Suzuri arrives at 5:55 PM, she greets him with a smile.

"Hey, Tsubakino, nice to see you," he says, and she thinks she sees a bit of disappointment on his face. He probably assumes she didn't know it's his birthday. "Let's go inside, yeah?"

"You go first," Tsubaki says, holding her breath as she watches him push the door handle.

"Happy birthday!!", Suzuri's friends yell as soon as he opens the door. Suzuri stands in the entrance, frozen in place. It's obvious that he had not seen this coming.

"What …?"

Tsubaki smiles at him. "Did you really think I didn't know?"

"I … why?" His eyes are as big as saucers, his cheeks pink.

Don't you know why?, she wants to ask. Can't you see it? Instead, she says, just as truthfully, "Because you deserve it. Happy birthday, Suzuri."

His face is beet red, but he takes a few steps inside, getting embraced by several of his Gravel members, everyone trying to get in on the group hug. Tsubaki's heart does somersaults in her chest as she watches him laugh with them.

"Hey, Tsubaki," she hears to her right, and when she turns, Kanji is standing in front of her, Shizuka by his side. "Good job, putting all of this together."

Shizuka pulls her into a hug and stands on her tiptoes to whisper into Tsubaki's ear. "Good luck later."

Tsubaki blushes. "Thank you."

When she returns to Suzuri, he's sitting on a bench at one of the large tables, surrounded by his friends. She sits in the last available chair across from him.

"Tsubakino …", he says, looking at her with an unreadable expression. "Did you … did you really organise all of this?"

"I just talked to your friends and asked them to come here," she replies, playing with a loose strand of her hair. "It wasn't that much work."

Several of the Gravel guys look at her with raised eyebrows. They know exactly how much work it was to get everyone's numbers and how long it took them all to decide on a restaurant.

"Suzuri-san, you're so lucky to have such an awesome girlfriend," one of them says.

Suzuri turns bright red, sputtering, "She's not — we're not —"

She clears her throat, trying to ignore the heat spreading over her body. "I'm not his girlfriend."

"Yet," the same boy says, but the guy next to him pokes him in the ribs.

"Shut up, man," he hisses.

Thankfully, they get released from this awkward situation by the waiter arriving at the table with a big sushi platter.

The food is delicious, just like Tsubaki expected. She looks up from her plate, and her eyes meet Suzuri's across the table. His gaze is so soft and gentle that it takes her breath away, and she's having a hard time focusing on her food even after she breaks their eye contact.

There's not a lot of space for sushi when your stomach is filled with butterflies.

When everyone's finished their food and the tables are cleared, people start getting up and mingling. Tsubaki even sees Shizuka talking to some of the Gravel boys (Kanji still keeps a close eye on them, though). Suzuri stays seated at his table, looking at the present his friends got him: A new kart racing game. Apparently, so they told Tsubaki, they wanted to buy a gaming console for him so he wouldn't have to keep borrowing Hidaka's all the time, but they hadn't been able to afford it. Suzuri almost cried when he unwrapped the game, so she can't even imagine what his reaction would've been to something as pricey as a console. She doesn't know if he's ever even got a birthday present before.

She slides next to him on the bench. "Did you like the sushi?"

Suzuri jumps slightly and looks up from his gift. "Ah, it was really good …", he says quietly. "It's been my dream to come to a place like this with my friends for a long time."

"I know," she smiles. "That's why we chose it."

A beautiful blush spreads across his face. "I don't even know how you knew it was my birthday."

"I have my sources." Specifically one source with dyed blond hair, two boyfriends, and several notebooks full of information on anyone he's ever met.

"You really didn't have to do all of this … But I'm very happy. Thank you."

He's still looking at her, and his face is so close to hers right now — it would be incredibly easy for her to lean in and close the gap between them.

"I'm glad," she says, smiling softly. "You deserve to be celebrated." Her breath hitches when she watches his gaze drop down to her mouth. But no, this won't happen right now; she wants to do this properly. She bites her lip. "Can you come outside with me for a moment? I want to give you my present."

He nods, following her to the door. She sees Shizuka shooting her a thumbs up and a wink from where she's standing with Kanji and the other guys, and gives her a nervous smile.

It's pretty quiet outside of the restaurant. At barely 8 PM, there's still a couple of people around, but overall the area doesn't seem to be very busy. Maybe it's because it started snowing in the past hour; most people are probably inside now, trying to stay warm and dry.

Tsubaki can see her own breath when she speaks. "Um, I could only get you something small because I paid for half of the restaurant, so …" She reaches inside her handbag and pulls out a small wrapped gift, holding it out towards him.

"All of this is already more than I ever could've asked for," he says quietly as he takes it from her. "So whatever it is, I'll love it."

She watches intently as he carefully removes the wrapping paper.

"Oh," he breathes, looking down at the keychain in his hand. It's a little black cat with a cute cartoon face, holding a fish. Also attached to the keychain is one half of a little metal ball.

"It reminded me of Kuro," she says.

"It's so cute," he smiles.

"Um," she says, her face feeling so hot she's worried she's gonna explode, "and I have …" She reaches into her bag again, looking for her keys. When she finds them, she holds them up to the keychain in Suzuri's hand.

On her keys is a little calico cat, matching Suzuri's black one in design and shape, including the metal ball. Once they get close enough to each other, they snap together magnetically, the halves forming one small heart. There's a beat of silence between them.

"Tsubakino …" Suzuri's voice comes out strained as he abruptly tears the keychain away from hers and stuffs it in his pocket. "You need to stop this."

Tsubaki suddenly feels like there's ice inside her veins. "Oh."

"You can't keep getting my hopes up. Please."

"Suzuri, I —" He's got it all wrong. She needs to fix this immediately. "I'm —"

"I'm sorry, I know you only think of us as friends, but I don't know if I can keep this up if … if you're like this," he whispers.

Her keys fall to the ground when she grabs his face with her hands to make him look up at her. "Suzuri, I —"

She had such a great plan for all of this. She'd thought of every word she wanted to say to him. Now, she sees the unshed tears in his eyes and her mind goes blank.

"It's okay. I'm sorry," he says, "I know you love Umemiya, and would never think of me like this, but —"

"Suzuri, please listen." He finally goes quiet, so she continues, "You're right, I love Ume, but …", she takes a deep breath, "I also love you."

His eyes are wide as he looks up at her. "What …?"

"What I'm saying is, I do love him. I don't think I'll stop loving him any time soon. But I love you just as much. I want to be with you. If you don't want me, or if you're not okay with me also loving Ume, that's fine, I understand. But I need you to know I —"

He cuts her off by pulling her down and crashing their lips together. She lets out a surprised sound against his mouth, but he's already pulled back before she can kiss back or even really understand what just happened.

"You …", he laughs, and his tears have started falling down his cheeks, "You idiot. Of course I want you." His eyes are bright when he looks up at her. A couple of snowflakes have got caught in his hair. He is the most beautiful person she's ever seen.

"I — Are you sure?", she asks, "Even if …"

"Even if you love Umemiya, too," he confirms, placing his hands over hers that are still holding his cheeks. "I can share your love with him, as long as I get any part of your heart at all."

"Is it really that easy?", she asks shakily.

"Honestly? Maybe not," he admits. "I think we might need to talk more about this. But I want to be with you. Please." He gently caresses her hands with his own, red from the cold.

"That makes sense," she says softly.

"For now, can I just kiss you again, Tsubaki?", he asks with a smile. Her heart skips a beat when she hears him call her by her nickname.

Instead of a reply, she just leans down and gently presses her lips to his again. She doesn't have a lot of experience — the last time she kissed someone was when she was 8 years old and still thought she had to kiss girls to be normal — so she's not really sure of know what to do, but Suzuri doesn't seem to mind. Though when he opens his mouth against hers, she pulls back, feeling awkward.

"I, um," she says, "I don't really know how to do this."

"Me neither," he grins happily, leaning back in. "But we can just figure it out together."

They continue to exchange kisses in front of the restaurant until it gets too cold to be outside. Suzuri laughs when she tries to sweep the accumulated snowflakes off his hair. She only notices now that there's traces of smeared lipstick all over his mouth, and lets out an embarrassed sound.

"It's always said on the packaging that it's kiss-proof!"

Suzuri wipes two fingers across his mouth and looks at the red colour, then smiles at her. "I don't mind. It shows everyone I'm yours."

She's suddenly hot despite the weather. "You — you can't just say things like that!", she stammers.

"I do feel bad about ruining your makeup though," he says and reaches up to caress her jaw.

His touch is so gentle, her knees are starting to feel like jelly. What is this boy doing to her heart? "It's okay," she says weakly, "I can just reapply it."

"We should probably head inside, soon," he says.

"Yeah, it's getting cold …", she agrees, even though she wants to stay out here with him forever. "Um, do you … want to tell your friends about us, or …?"

"Tsubaki, even if I wasn't covered in your lipstick, I don't think I could hide it from them; they know me too well," he smiles. "But I'd want to tell them anyway."

"Good, me too," she says, then she cringes slightly. "I fear Shizuka-chan will throw us a whole new party."

He blushes. "So will my friends, probably. I'll never hear the end of it."

"Well, um, let me help with the lipstick situation, at least," she says, rummaging in her bag for a package of makeup wipes. When she finds it, she takes one and gently wipes the traces of lipstick off Suzuri's mouth.

"Thank you."

She uses the same wipe to remove the rest of her own lipstick; she'll reapply it when they're back inside. "You're welcome, Suzuri."

He mumbles something unintelligible.

"Hm?"

"Shuhei's fine," he says quietly, his cheeks still red.

Oh. "Okay," she breathes and takes his hand. "Let's go inside then … Shuhei."

When Shuhei opens the door of the restaurant for her, their friends are waiting right by the entrance, cheering even louder than when he first arrived. Tsubaki feels herself turn bright red, and she almost wants to walk right back outside.

"Finally!", one of the boys yells, his fellow Gravel members making noises of agreement. "We thought you were never gonna come back, man." Shuhei receives several hearty slaps on the back, reluctantly allowing himself to be the centre of attention once more. Meanwhile, Shizuka takes Tsubaki's hand and drags her off to the side.

"I see it all went well?"

"It took us a moment, but we got there," Tsubaki replies, and Shizuka gives her hand a squeeze.

"I'm so happy for you," she smiles brightly at her. "You deserve it."

"Thank you, Shizuka-chan … I'm glad you were right."

Her expression changes into a smirk. "Well, I am usually right ~"

Tsubaki rolls her eyes, but she can't stop smiling, as well. "Okay, girl."

She hears someone clear their throat behind her. "Tsubaki?"

When she turns around, Shuhei is standing there, his cheeks pink. "Um, can I talk to you for a second?"

"I'll leave, don't worry," Shizuka says, giving Tsubaki one last reassuring smile before she walks away, presumably to talk to Kanji.

"What is it?", Tsubaki asks, biting her lip. She suddenly feels nervous. What does he want to talk about?

"Uh, you're … you're my girlfriend now, right?", he asks, avoiding her eyes. "One of the guys called you my girlfriend, but then I thought, we didn't actually say anything specific, so I just wanted to —"

She can't help it — she starts giggling, relieved and happy. That's what he's worried about? "Oh, Shuhei … yes, I'm your girlfriend now. If you want me to be."

"O-of course I want that!", he says, embarrassed blush still on his face.

"Good," she smiles. They will still need to talk more; she knows it might not be that easy. But she's sure they're going to make it work.

She leans down and presses a kiss to his cheek (kissing him on the mouth in front of all of his friends feels like a bit too much). "I want that, too."