Chapter Text
Taira’s summer break had been somehow both busy and entirely uneventful so far. His days were dreadfully boring at work, besides the few times Suzuki and Yamada had decided to bother him, but he had also worked almost every day of break due to having free time and being unsure what to do with it.
Taira had asked for the increase in shifts, and it was nice to have something to do outside of just playing games or preparing for college, but it gave him way too much time to think.
Mostly, about how to reach out to Azuma. He had no idea what to say to her, not even the beginning of a sentence that would make sense to send. That unsureness combined with his olympic levels of overthinking had made his shifts thoroughly unproductive.
He was right in the middle of one of these spiraling, doubt-riddled thoughts when it was interrupted by the loud sound of-
“So which flavor of ice cream is best for a Thursday, Taira?”
Taira stared blankly at Yamada, who had walked in and was looking very seriously at the ice cream choices in the two small chest freezers at the aisle ends, pacing between them like his life depended on it.
“For… Thursdays?” Asked Taira, barely able to process what he had been asked.
“Yeah, for Thursdays.”
“Yamada, it’s Wednesday.”
“It’s not for today,” Yamada said as he turned toward Taira with a smile and continued, “It’s supposed to be crazy hot tomorrow, and I’m preparing. This is what it means to be a mature high school graduate: preparation!”
Yamada stood, hand in the air like his declaration wasn’t the strangest thing Taira had heard that day.
“Häagen-Dazs.” Taira finally said flatly.
Yamada deflated.
“That’s the most expensive one, man, that’s not fair,” he complained, grabbing one anyway and approaching the counter.
“Oh yeah,” Yamada continued, “Gapacho and I are gonna be playing Rocket League tonight since Gapacho has been having the itch to play. If you wanna join later after work, we could have a full party.”
When was the last time I even played Rocket League, thought Taira as he scanned the ice cream and thought of an excuse. He looked at Yamada, as happy as ever, waiting for his response.
Why am I still thinking of excuses?
“If the timing works out I can play, though it-”
“YAHOO!” Yamada interrupted his attempt to downplay his skill level.
“I will hear from you later then, gamer,” he said as he turned towards the door with his ice cream.
“Yeah,” said Taira, watching him go. The store was empty yet again.
Taira’s eyes lazily scanned the room and stopped on Yamada’s figure beyond the glass doors, opening his ice cream and producing a plastic spoon from seemingly nowhere to take a large bite. Taira watched through the glass as Yamada began to walk home, happily eating his ‘Thursday’ ice cream.
Unfortunately, the bafflement could only last so long, and his mind settled back into its usual worry: what message was he going to send to Azuma.
---
The warm winds blew in the window of Azuma’s room as she laid on her bed just kind of staring at her phone. The summer had seemed to have already stretched on forever and she was trying to think of any reason to send Taira a message.
But why am I the one worried about sending the message? HE was the one who said we should hang out after graduation…
She rolled onto her back and stared at the ceiling, trying in vain to think of anything to say but her mind continually wandering to his shy laugh, with his hand slightly covering his mouth.
“AHH” she let out a dramatic burst of emotion as she flailed her limbs in an effort to sit up and rid herself of her reservations.
Enough of this, she thought. I’m sending a message tonight. I will not let this summer go to waste.
She turned on her phone, opened her messages, and started to type.
In reality, it was the fifth day of summer break.
---
Taira was slowly remembering why he hadn’t played Rocket League in a while. It wasn’t that it was a bad game, it was just soccer with cars, it was just that there was far too much thinking involved. He couldn’t quite think fast enough and have his hands do all the things he wanted to and keep up with the banter between Yamada and Gapacho. He could barely do one of those things at a time, definitely not all three at once.
Every time they passed him the ball he wanted to apologize for the dumpster fire they were about to witness, and yet despite this, they kept passing him the ball. Even more shockingly, they were winning every quick play match.
Just how good are these two at the game, Taira thought to himself as he glanced at the score of the current game. It was 4-1 with 40 seconds left. He glanced back down, tabbing between the two cameras because driving in ball-cam alone was asking a bit too much of his brainpower.
Oh no, he thought, seeing Yamada’s car flipping to the side, catapulting the ball toward him.
“Taira, it’s all you!” Yamada yelled over the mic, peaking it slightly.
Taira turned his car to the right, regretted it instantly, jumped, hit his boost, regretted that too, and collided with the ball. Once again, he felt like every part of that second-long sequence should have been done differently.
The ball soared through the sky and Yamada’s car came careening out of nowhere to knock an opponent's car out of the ball’s path. It hit above the goal, a bit higher than where you could realistically say it was a ‘close shot,’ but before Taira could feel ashamed of his shot's result, his other teammate’s shout commanded his attention.
“Aaaaaaaaaand,” Gapacho shouted as he came boosting down from above, smashing the ball from the bounce off the wall into the goal.
“SHE’S IN!” He shouted as the ball went in and his goal animation played.
“That’s why they call me the ace,” Gapacho said with overwhelming confidence, the same as he had said every other time he had scored a goal, somehow getting a laugh out of Yamada every time. Cutting through Yamada’s laugh, he continued, “and nice pass Taira. Big brain play.”
Taira couldn’t really think of a reply, but he could feel himself finally starting to let himself relax a little. Online competitive games had never been his forte, but with these two, it was starting to feel like it could be fun.
“Yeah,” he said. “Exactly as I planned it.”
The three of them chuckled as they continued to play, and Taira slowly let his body and mind relax.
They’re my friends, he thought as the game wrapped up. I could get used to nights like this. He smiled. Before any negative thought could inevitably replace it, Taira’s thinking was interrupted by Yamada.
“One! More! Game!” Yamada said dramatically as they re-entered the queue. Within seconds, they had connected to another match.
“They don’t know that they’re up against the ace,” Gapacho monologued, “or why to fear him.”
Yamada lost it, laughing so hard you could hear him struggling to breathe on the other side of the mic, his car motionless as the game began. Taira laughed too, not nearly as hard, but enjoying the moment together.
---
Azuma stared at the message she had written. She had already reread it about fourteen times, but she still hated how it sounded.
It sounded so clingy. Am I clingy? No, surely not. Suzuki is clingy. I’m just, uh, I’m…
Azuma’s thoughts trailed off. There was no point in arguing with herself. She knew the truth.
She looked at the message one last time. It could not be misinterpreted by Mr. Overthinker in any way. It was as blunt as it could be. She hit send.
Azuma: So when do you want to hang out?
She looked at her phone eagerly, hoping for a quick response, a conversation to bloom in the early summer so that they could enjoy the rest of it together. As she dreamed of this ideal scenario, she kept periodically looking at the phone on her bed, hoping for it to buzz.
Nothing.
She opened it, checking to see if he had read it, at least.
Nothing.
She tried not to worry. Maybe he’s still at work, she rationalized quickly, though she was still getting a little nervous.
“Whatever,” she mumbled to herself, standing up to pace around her room, before catching a glance of herself in the mirror. The summer heat and her lack of anything to do that day were showing, her hair frizzed and messy, and still in her pjs from the previous night.
Bath time, she thought as she rummaged through her other pjs to find ones suitable to the weather.
Days off are scary.
---
Taira was relaxed in his chair, leaned back slightly, still gaming, when his phone lit up his dark room with a soft buzz buzz. He glanced down and saw the name on the screen.
Azuma.
He stared at it, frozen, as the game continued on the screen. He didn’t want to open it, scared at what it might be, knowing how they left off before the summer, awkward at karaoke after their moment together behind the school, and somehow even more awkward at the trampoline park afterward, not knowing what to say, and the silent train ride home.
Not that he had minded the silence. It had felt warm, despite the awkwardness. Comfortable.
He slowly reached for the phone and raised it so he could read the message.
Azuma: So when do you want to hang out?
He blinked. Am I reading it wrong? It seems too simple for Azuma. Why is it so straightforward? Was there another text to follow this one? His mind was churning with thousands of questions.
“Earth to Taira! Earth to Taira!” Yelled Yamada in his ears.
Taira looked back at the screen, the game that they were in the middle of still on the screen, still very much being played without him.
“Taira we need you! We’re getting killed out here!” Yamada continued dramatically as he called out to the stationary car on his screen that represented his friend, watching it get boosted through and destroyed for the third time in a row.
“Code red, code red! We need support out here!” Gapacho joined in.
Taira put his phone back down on his desk and picked up his controller. He glanced at the score and clock as he began to move. It was 1-1 with three minutes remaining.
Why are they so dramatic? He thought as he joined back into their conversation.
“Sorry,” he tried to sound calm. “I got distracted by a text.”
There was no use in lying, probably.
“Oh, do you need to hop off?” Yamada asked as his car rocketed through Taira’s field of view.
“No, I’m good,” Taira said quickly, before he could second guess it.
Too late, he thought. How am I going to respond while playing?
Now he had four things on his mind: the game happening around him, trying to play the game himself, the banter, and Azuma. His face scrunched inward as he tried to figure out which one to focus on while succeeding at none of them.
“So, like,” Yamada began, clearly trying to ooze casualness, “From anyone exciting?”
Taira blinked. Who the fuck talks likes this? Despite this, Taira couldn't quite figure out an answer to his question. Was this message from someone exciting? Is this an exciting text? Was a text from Azuma exciting?
“I will answer that when this game is over,” Taira said, exasperated.
“So it was from someone exciting, nice.” The excitement in Yamada’s voice was clear as his casual persona slipped off immediately.
“Please just play the game Yamada,” Taira said desperately, trying not to blush. No one could see him, but he still felt embarrassed.
“Yamada you’re gonna kill him,” said Gapacho, trying to save Taira from Yamada’s prying.
Thank you Gapacho.