Chapter Text
What a day.
Hoshina Subaru found herself lying on the bed after a long day in the amusement park. She can still feel her legs being sore from all the walking, her eyelids starting to grow heavier and heavier everytime she blinked. The bed sheet didnt help either, it felt much awfully comfortable than before.
She’s tired, thats for sure.
But it was all worth it because she has made so many new memories with the gang. Subaru can still vividly remember when they went to the exciting rides, trying out cute accessories and more.
They really had alot of fun… I’m glad.
Scrolling down her phone, Subaru realized she had her phone gallery filled up with today’s photos. Knowing this, she began admiring every picture she has took. Picture after picture, Subaru couldn’t help but feel her lips form up to a soft smile, a reminder of how fun today was.
Every picture felt so warm, so comforting…
So fun.
So many memories…
Bling!
Oh?
N: Sorry to text you this late. You still up?
Natsusawa-kun..?
This might be about what we’ve discussed today.
H: I’m awake.
N: I figured that you might be asleep.
N: You must be tired, right?
H: I was looking at the photos that I took.
H: They reminded me of how fun today was, so they kept me awake.
N: I see.
N: Today sure was fun.
H: That it was.
N: Anyways, about the study session…
N: When would be a good time for you?
N: Actually, I should just keep my schedule open. Let me know when you’re free.
H: Next Saturday would work for me.
N: OK. It’s getting late now, so let’s talk again in another time.
H: Sure.
N: Goodnight now.
H: Goodnight.
Huh.
"So…"
"Mind giving me another chance to test myself?"
"Let’s meet up sometime to study together."
Test… himself.
I see.
Honestly speaking?
I didn’t expect that from him.
This might be the first time I’ve ever seen him so motivated.
I still remember Natsusawa-kun tried explaining his thought process of a hard question to me and Kaoruko. He might’ve failed miserably, but I do admire him by how he solved it so quickly with ease. And from what we’ve discussed earlier, he did mention that he studied up on teaching others because he was ‘affected’ by how people made fun of him when he tried. He wants to prove to everyone that he can actually teach.
It’s not everyday that you meet someone that tries their hardest to improve on every aspect of themselves.
Or actually, It’s not everyday that you meet someone so… special. Maybe it might just be me, but somehow I think I’d get along with Natsusawa-kun more compared to Tsumugi-kun and the others.
It’s funny, we used to absolutely hate each other when we first met. But as time passes, I realised how great of a person he is.
Of course, that day at the beach… I could never forget it. It’s still a bit goofy, but I was pretty taken aback by how he just splashed water on me without thinking. Kinda told me that I should ‘wake up’ from my bad thoughts instead of dwelling on it too much. He even gave me donuts when I’m starving… I’m just really grateful for what he has done. If it wasnt for him, I probably would’ve stayed back, and never had the time of my life with my new friends.
During his birthday too. I didnt expect the sudden apology from him. that ‘conflict’ of ours was just us being… strangers. I mean, I couldn’t blame him for acting this way towards me because I did treat Tsumugi-kun or Chidori students in general as a ‘threat’, but now that we’re friends, its all basically water under the bridge. But he still apologised for it, which was very kind of him.
I do recall him getting flustered by how I asked him if that ‘I think of you as a friend already!’ was genuine, and wow.
He’s pretty amusing to look at when he was teased. Usami-kun is probably right about teasing him, he always put up a stern face.
Kinda makes you wonder how will he react to some certain scenarios…
Hehe, his face was red all over.
…
Well…
As time passes by, I feel like I have slowly grown comfortable with his presence. It felt like I can somehow be myself around him.
It’s strange, isn’t it? He felt way too good to be around with. It’s almost as if we have met a long time ago. Actually, its more likely for people to believe we might actually be childhood friends.
That… would probably surprise alot of them, especially to people that were close to me. And considering how traumatic my past experience was with the opposite gender, I doubt they would react normally.
I’d rather not think about that…
But in conclusion, There’s just something special about Natsusawa-kun that I couldnt differentiate. His gaze, his smile, his way of thinking… I could go on for days explaining how much he meant for me. I could also go on explaining how great of a friendship we both share, though its not as obvious as others.
Let’s just say…
I want to understand him better, I want to return the favor, and be able to help him out when he needs it the most.
I want to be by his side if anything happens to him.
That’s what friends do, no?
Yeah, thats obviously what friends do…
It’s 1 AM already?
I need to sleep.
What a day.
Natsusawa Saku found himself lying on the bed after a long day in the amusement park. after having his sister Mio drain his energy even more than usual, he finally gets some alone time in his room.
He gripped onto his already reddened feet, glaring at them made him wonder how much he had walked or ran today. And from the looks of it, Saku really did alot with his friends today.
Dang… my feet are killing me.
They’re completely red…
He sighed, trying to massage the pain away from both of his feet. It might be painful for Saku, but he really had tons of fun with them today.
It’s all worth it, in the end.
And that’s when his conversation with Hoshina-san sparked up in his mind.
Oh, right…
The study session.
I need to talk to Hoshina-san about this.
He pulled out his phone from his pocket, shooting a private message to Subaru.
…
"Now that I think about it, there are same-day mock exams for T-University next month."
"I was wondering maybe if you could teach me before the mock exams..?"
Honestly speaking?
I didn’t expect that from her.
This might be the first time that I’ve seen her so motivated.
Hoshina-san seemed really excited about this, maybe she does want me to help her. From how she reacted when I said everyone told me to go to T-University half-jokingly, she was happy, if not, ecstatic to know. I wonder why…
Granted, T-University is no easy task, if she really wanted to go there, she needs to prepare alot for their entrance exams…
Not sure if I’m the best person for this, but I guess I can help her with that.
Truth to be told, I’m not a great teacher, yet. I could still remember the time when I tried to explain my thought process to her and Waguri-san…
And I failed, miserably so.
Haha, thinking back, I suck alot when it comes to explaining.
It did sort of annoy me when Ayato and others told me that I suck at explaining. Although they were not wrong, it felt like I wasn’t competent enough to help others with studying. It felt like I wasn’t ready enough to be able to guide others in need.
I want to change that.
Change… is not really my thing.
It feels foreign.
Ever since I moved to Chidori, I didnt think I could be able to get along with the other students there. After all, everyone in my old school never really cared about me. They looked at me with disgust and contempt because being good at studying was what I considered to be normal. They thought of me as ‘special’ instead of a regular guy. No one really cared about me.
And so, I pushed people away from me, even that one person who tried to talk to me.
It’s been like that my whole life, so why don’t I stick to that? Instead of wasting my time and energy trying to fit in, why don’t I just give up? It’s already pointless for me to try, no?
That’s when Shohei and the others gave me a wake-up call.
Well… wow.
I never knew that I could make a difference.
I never knew anyone cared… about me.
I only thought of myself as a burden.
Just a waste of space.
But…
After getting to know Rintaro and the others, I feel like I’m able to slowly put down the way I think of people. I can finally get closer to people without having to worry about if I’m weird or not.
Because I know they’ll accept me as it is.
They understand how I truly feel inside.
They understand what I’m good at and what im bad at.
I guess if I think of it that way…
That might be considered as a change.
A change for the better.
Back on topic.
Hoshina-san...
She has really opened up a lot, recently.
I still wouldn’t consider anything I’ve done to be worth her gratitiude. But somehow, I dont know why, she’s trying to show me that I deserve it. That I actually helped her out.
It’s probably about that time at the beach when she openly expressed her struggles with the opposite sex. I could see bits of me inside of her. Seeing her trying to muster up bravery to change, it felt like I was seeing a mirror. Seeing myself a year ago trying to change.
But the way she worded that felt bad.
And so…
I splashed water on her.
It might’ve been a rude move for me to do so, and I still kind of think about it to this day, but I couldn’t just use words to ‘wake’ her up. I need her to know that she’s already friends with all of us. I need her to know that we’re basically comfortable with her presence.
At least I gave her donuts when she’s hungry.
Anyways…
I’m still considering whether or not I should go to T-University. She did mention that there will be mock exams next month, so I’d probably check them out.
I can’t say for sure if my teaching skills have been improved, but I do hope she is able to catch up with my way of thinking. After all I did say I was going to ‘test myself’, see if I can explain more clearly than before.
I hope I’m able to help Hoshina-san, at least.
I think we’ve hung out countless amount of times already.
But this time, it’ll be our first time together, just without the usual group of people.
What does he think of me?
What does she think of me?
I guess we both don’t know the answer to this, yet.
Next Saturday.
Next Saturday is the study session.