PROJECT CRUSH ( kunigami )

일

노트: this is dedicated to a wonderful friend of mine. to you, thank you for making my 2020 better. also, thank you for reading blue lock because now we can talk about it lol. this is my gift to you. enjoy, and happy new year !! <3 (yes, this was the reason behind all the questions.)

[y/n] blinked. Did she hear her teacher right? Her teacher said she and Rensuke Kunigami were partners for the new project. Rensuke Kunigami. Her teacher did say Rensuke Kunigami, right?

Her teacher cleared her throat. "You have the rest of the class time to discuss the project with your partner. You have 30 minutes; use your time wisely."

[y/n]'s classmates broke the thick atmosphere with their chatters, the advice deafened indefinitely. Nobody seemed to bother with actually beginning the project; interacting with their friends was at the top of their priorities list.

But [y/n] stayed frozen at her seat, still shocked from her teacher's words. [l/n] [f/n] and Kunigami Rensuke, she heard her teacher's voice ring inside her head. Then she mouthed it. The words were so foreign to her tongue, yet the taste elated her. It made her heart pump a little faster.

Out of the corner of her eyes, [y/n] saw Kunigami rise from his seat and approach her. Slow, careful steps around a group of girls gossiping, over someone's backpack on the floor, and the two rows of desks that separated her from him. She had probably burned a hole in the back of her classmate's shirt when he placed a hand on her desk.

"Hey."

Woah, his voice sounds even nicer up close, a part of her brain noted, while the other urged her to not sweat or turn into a tomato at an important time like this.

[y/n] fisted the soft fabric of her blue skirt and smiled at Kunigami. "Hey."

She internally cursed herself for her awful greeting. Her voice sounded like a dying whale's, and [y/n] was horrified that Kunigami was the one who had heard it.

Kunigami lowered his eyesight, effectively ending eye contact. She would have done the same if she was met with the revolting sight of herself.

"Do you want to get started?" he asked.

"Sure!" Now she sounded too excited. This wasn't going well. She had to calm herself down and behave. Who knew when another blessed chance like this would come?

To [y/n]'s great surprise, Kunigami smiled at her response. It was a genuine smile that made her stop breathing for a second.

Kunigami politely asked the classmate who [y/n] had burned a hole into the back of to move so he could sit down and talk to her. Upon agreement, he plopped down, facing [y/n]. He scooched his chair forward so he could rest both of his hands just at the edge of her desk. Their hands were not even a foot apart from each other. If she reached out, their hands would touch.

"So," Kunigami paused, "How do you want to do this?"

The project required a poster to be made with descriptions and pictures of the independence of countries they had learned so far. It was merely another busy work due in three days.

"Um, to be honest, I'm not sure,"[y/n] replied. Though a moment later she suggested, "We could go by continents."

"Sure," Kunigami agreed. "What continent do you want to start with?"

[y/n] shrugged. "Any of them is fine by me."

Kunigami smiled, again. This one was small, teasing-like. It made the butterflies in her stomach flutter their wings. Don't turn red, don't turn red.

"I feel the same, so that's why I asked you to choose."

"I chose to do it by continent. Why don't you choose which one we start with?" [y/n] leaned back in her chair, containing her grin by chewing her bottom lip. She thought if she smiled it would reveal her true feelings about Kunigami, and she couldn't let that happen.

"Well, okay." Kunigami shifted in his seat. "Let's do France."

The two went back and forth like this, asking each other questions, encouraging the other to answer since they've answered the previous one. It was quite fun, listing all the countries by continents and deciding who did what (Kunigami was very strict on making it 50-50, though that was the logical decision). [y/n]'s rigid body relaxed as the minutes went by, her nervousness freeing itself. This felt normal, even though Kunigami was so distant and far away from her reach just last week. Now here they were talking to each other so comfortably. It was like they were dancing to the same tune.

Eventually, [y/n] flipped to a new page in her history notebook and scribbled down their plan. They had to cover 30 countries after all.

"Is that all the countries?" Kunigami asked. He folded his arms in front of him and rested his chin on his hand. He traced circles on the open notebook with his other hand.

"Yeah," [y/n] replied. Kunigami looked cute like this. He looked really cute. Kunigami with his fluffy hair, Kunigami with his mesmerizing eyes, Kunigami with his cheeks, his nose, his lips... It was like he stepped out of a dream.

"Wow," [y/n] blurted out. It was almost a whisper, but Kunigami caught it.

"What is it?"

"Uh, nothing," [y/n] faked a short laugh. Kunigami kept staring at her. Yikes, this is not good. "Um, actually, Kunigami, what made you choose France?" Not only had Kunigami first chosen France but had also volunteered to take responsibility for it. [y/n] mentally patted herself on the back for thinking of an excuse to lengthen the conversation so quick.

"My favorite football player is from there." Kunigami stared at the glossy floor. "Oliver Giroud," he specified.

[y/n] knew Kunigami was very involved in football. He was one of the eleven in the first line up in her school boy's football team. She had seen him sprinting on the green grass every day after school. She learned from one of the club members that his specialty was his left foot's shooting power. After gaining this knowledge, she thought of it every time she saw him pull it off.

"Ah, that's right. You play football." Kunigami nodded. "Do you--" [y/n] racked her brain for a question, "What position do you play?"

Kunigami's auburn eyes met hers again. "I'm a striker." His tone was solid with a hint of pride in it.

"A striker is on the offense, right?"

There was a certain glint in Kunigami's eyes when [y/n] said that. "Yeah, they are. Do you play football, [y/n]?"

"What--? No," [y/n] laughed nervously. "I only know the basics of it, like the bare minimum."

"So you know about strikers and the other positions?"

"Yeah. But I want to know more er--" Kunigami was staring at her, his face blank. "I want to know about," [y/n] waved her hand, "Strikers and all."

You are so embarrassing, [y/n] thought to herself. The most awkward, the most repulsive human being walking on this planet.

"Well, you already know I'm one," Kunigami answered. [y/n] swore she could see tiny flames blazing deep in his eyes. "Giroud is one as well, a really good one at that. The strikers are the ones who score the goals. They're the ones who lead their team to victory. For me, strikers are--"

The bell sounded, cutting Kunigami off. [y/n] almost missed the tinge of pink brushing his cheeks.

"We can do our research tomorrow," [y/n] said, closing her notebook. Kunigami only nodded.

"Rensuke!" It was one of Kunigami's friends from the class next door, motioning him to come.

Kunigami muttered a quick "sorry" and dashed out the door before [y/n] could reassure him that she didn't mind hearing him talk about football and would like to hear more from him.

[y/n] didn't know whether to smile because of the progress in their relationship or beat herself up for all the embarrassing things she did in front of her crush. Good thing they still had tomorrow to talk.