Peppermint [Asahi Azumane]

~ bus drive ~

"Ive had that same notebook since I was a first year. When I moved for high school, The first few pages were obviously about what school was like for me because most people already knew each other from elementary. I, of course, also wrote down who I found attractive in my classes. One of those people was Yuki." I say, keeping as quiet as possible.

"Are you fucking serious?" Hitoka whisper yelled.

"Okay, y/n, how sure are you that she has the book?" Shimizu glares at Hitoka to be quiet after asking me.

"100%, no doubt."

"So... what are you gonna do? You know her better than I do, so tell me, would she really go so far as to out you to other people?"

"I don't know. She's been nothing but cruel to me after seeing me as 'competition' when we got a few of our scores back. With my luck, she's gonna show up to the training camp and taunt me with it; I don't know where she draws the line." I say, surprising even myself with how meek I was acting.

"Well, don't get so gloomy over it." Yachi tries uplifting me.

"I guess I'll just try forgetting about it because I might go crazy if I don't, but I've been holding back every insult and jab that I wanted to shoot back at her for the past year. If she actually tries pulling that shit, I don't know if I'd break down and start crying, or finally yell back at her." I sigh, urging the others to start talking about something else.

- - - - - - - - - -

I finish packing up everyones bags into the compartment beneath the bus that Friday after school, ready to head into a seat and take a nap. I told the other managers to go sit down as I rested for a minute, the snow had melted down a little bit, and a thick jacket wasn't necessary. But seriously, why'd they have to pack so heavily for a weekend trip?

"Tanaka, what the hell did you put in your bag?" I asked as I walked down the centre of the bus, stopping by his seat.

"Some weights, obviously. You don't get a bod like mine without rigorous training." He lifted up a sleeve and flexed in my face, whimpering when I shoved him back down in his seat. "God, youre so stupid." I say, stifling a laugh and a smile at his childish 'hmph!'.

Looking around the seats, I see the only empty one is beside Asahi. Sitting down as casually as possible, he looks a bit confused. I wasn't surprised, I had been more quiet than I had been before cutting things off with Asahi a few weeks ago.

"Hey." I say to him.

"Oh, uh hi."

"How are you feeling about tomorrow?" I ask, knowing the actual practice matches won't start until the day after; it was already 6 pm.

"Nervous."

"Thats kinda a given, especially with you." I gently nudge his shoulder.

"Um, y/n? Are you okay?" he asks, catching me off guard.

"I know Ive been kinda distant since... you know. But I just have to get over myself. As for my personal life, my parents are back for a bit, and my dad didn't even remember I transferred." I scoff. " But, its okay. Im okay." I'm almost trying to convince myself.

"I hope you're not lying to me y/n" he playfully replies. I can see the tiredness in his eyes as he smiles at me before looking out the window, the bus starting to rumble it's engines.

Ten minutes down the road, I feel his head slowly lean onto my unexpecting shoulders, accompanied by a light snoring coming from Asahi himself. I gently brush the hair that blew out of his bun away from his face, tucking it in behind his ear while I lovingly look at his slightly parted mouth and droopy eyelids. I let my hands linger in that position for a second until I hear a click. I look up and see Noya pushed a confused Narita out of the seat in front of me to take a photo of us two.

I wanted to scold Noya for almost waking Asahi up, but I instead mouthed an exaggerated "send it to me" as he responded with a huge smile and a thumbs up before almost falling over while the bus turned harshly.

I haven't been able to sleep well recently because of the anxiety that comes with possibly seeing some bully after only a few months apart. The nerves are still tingling in my veins, that includes now on the fairly short bus ride as well.

Asahis hand slowly started reaching out towards mine in his sleep, looking for something to hold. I put his right hand into mine as he subconsciously linked his fingers with mine that were tiny in comparison. My vision got a bit blurry and I got a bit emotional before getting a hold of myself. I missed this.