WILDFLOWER [Ryunosuke Tanaka x OC]

Chapter 6 - The Switch

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That Tuesday after the scrimmage, where the boys won two of three sets...

Tanaka surprised Kano.

Not with flowers, or her favorite chocolates, or anything one might expect of a teenage boy who just realized and embraced his feelings for his girl best friend...

But he surprised her by transferring into her college prep class.

He spent all of Sunday talking with his sister, Saeko, about the longevity of his volleyball career and actually thinking about his future for the first time ever, rationalizing that transferring into the college prep class would only help him if he wanted to do anything other than volleyball with his life after high school.

The mind-blowing news of his feelings for Kano turned his entire world on its head, skewing his narrowly focused vision of the future--of just focusing on finishing out the end of the year and trying to be the best teammate for the volleyball club--and changing all of his plans. After two years with her on top of the revelation of his feelings, he couldn't envision any new plans without her.

Now he just had to see if she felt the same.

After hearing her brother out, Saeko mentioned the possibility of a sports medicine major or a volleyball scholarship, and agreed to sign the necessary paperwork once he compiled it. She worried about his ability to focus or maintain his sudden uncharacteristic academic motivation, but she believed in him regardless. And she knew Ryunosuke was tenacious when he put his mind to it, so if he said he'd be okay in a college prep class, then she'd support him.

The rest of the weekend, he'd been thinking about how obviously something happened between Kano and Reika, because they hardly spoke on the court or otherwise; in their years previous, he couldn't get Reika to ever leave Kano's side, but now they wouldn't stand beside each other if you paid them. So, in Tanaka's infinite wisdom, he saw a gap in Kano's best friend lineup. And he intended to fill that position immediately.

From there, he reasoned, romance couldn't be far behind.

On Monday, Tanaka spoke to his homeroom teacher and made the transfer official. Between classes, he raced around campus, getting signatures and speaking with various teachers about makeup work, and happily found that most teachers were just surprised and relieved that he was finally taking his studies seriously. Plus, it was only the second week of school, so he hadn't missed much.

Tuesday, he sprinted the entire trip to school, the impending look of surprise on Kano Abe's face buoying him over the winding roads, across the schoolyard, and into his new classroom. She was worth every burning breath and searing muscle.

Once in his new homeroom, he collapsed into a desk at the far back corner of the class--the one he'd been assigned by the college prep teacher after class the day before--and caught his breath while he waited for the rest of his peers to show up. Leaning his head back against the wall, Tanaka found himself smiling. For two years, Kano Abe pushed him to do better, to try harder, to be better, and now he'd prove to her that he was doing just that. He was going to show her that she made him a better person, that she made him think about the hard stuff, like life after high school and his future and careers, of all things...

And that he wanted her at his side for all of it.

Every person that entered the room drew Tanaka's eye, his heart racing for a brief but infinite second as his brain deciphered his new classmates' faces to decide if they were the one he was waiting for, only to be disappointed every time. Until, suddenly, there she stood.