𝐍𝐞𝐰 𝐅𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐊𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 {𝐔𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐣𝐢𝐦𝐚 𝐱 𝐅𝐞𝐦 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫}

Chapter 59: Drunk Decisions

*Your POV*

After hanging out at the beach for a few hours, everyone returned to the house to clean up and start dinner. I left my room and skipped downstairs to check how the food was coming along. As soon as I appeared, Kawanishi began giving me orders.

"Y/n, perfect! I need you to stir this for me. Keep it fast-paced to avoid burning, and tell me when it starts to boil."

"Yes, sir!" I saluted.

I took hold of the spoon, and he immediately began tending to a bowl on the counter. The repeated circular motions I was making caused my wrist to rapidly become sore, but the heavenly scent of whatever was in my pot gave me the strength to carry on.

"Ohira, can you follow the instructions here for a few minutes? I'll be right back." The head chef stated before jogging away.

The summoned dark-haired male approached to take over in his friend's place, and the room's volume promptly decreased. Through the corners of my eyes, I peered at the back turned to me and remembered what I'd decided earlier. I contemplated quickly before taking in a short breath.

"Hey, can I ask you something?"

He faced me halfway with a nervous expression. His disposition toward me furthered the importance of my question. I took his lack of response as permission.

"Is there something weird between us that I don't know about? You seem to be rather introverted, but from my perspective, you're particularly uneasy around me. If that's true, I want to know why."

He averted his gaze, but I held mine. His mouth parted slightly like he wanted to speak, and I stayed quiet so as to let him.

"It's nothing you've done. Actually, it's the opposite."

He physically hesitated before continuing.

"That day you dropped off Coach's bag, as you were leaving, I said something about you. Do you recall?"

I thought back to recollect the memory.

"If I'm not mistaken, you commented on my body." I answered.

He brought his hand to the nape of his neck to rub it shamefully with his head down.

"Yeah... I regret doing that. I assumed you'd written me off as a gross guy, so I've tried to keep my distance since then."

"Why didn't you apologize shortly after instead of waiting until now?"

"I don't know... I was embarrassed by my actions, and I wasn't sure how to go about doing such a thing. Eventually, it seemed like you'd become good friends with everyone but me, and I just accepted that as my punishment."

I chuckled at his honesty, and he gave me a look of confusion.

"I wish you'd said something sooner. I don't think you're a gross guy. Given the little amount I've learned about you, you come across as a nice person."

"I swear that I am! I wish I didn't say such a stupid thing, but now that I know you don't hold it against me, I think I'll feel more comfortable around you. I really am sorry."

"I completely forgive you. There is something you should know though."

He knit his eyebrows.

"The pan behind you is on fire."

He whipped around and gasped, turning the heat off in order to stifle the flame. I laughed at the relief from the tense conversation.

After dinner, Tendou emerged from the kitchen with three bottles of sake.