Unrequited (Blue Flag Fanfic)

The First Bud

A/N: Well, hi, everyone! I just finished this lovely series, and I wanted to write a quick fanfiction on it. I'm attempting to keep this one under 25,000 words, while still making it meaningful. I hope you guys enjoy!

P.S: And although the ending is quite controversial, I actually loved it a ton.

~+~+~

It was spring. The cherry blossoms were blooming.

Taichi had a girlfriend—Futaba Kuze. He'd gotten into the university he'd dreamed of attending for years. He'd be studying science and tech.

Taichi had his life set on the right track.

Today was the beginning of March. Final exams were commencing in under a week. Futaba had offered to study with him at a nearby coffee shop, the one Taichi had confessed to her about Touma not too long ago.

Taichi remembered the night he didn't want to talk about Touma—that night with Futaba on the phone. He'd told her he loved her, then, almost entirely on an impulse. He didn't know why he'd said it. He just did. It rolled right off his tongue, like the words were water. It was strange, really.

Did he mean it? Yes. He did. It was just peculiar timing, is all.

Taichi focused back in on the present moment. Futaba was sipping her drink, sucking on the straw a little too hard, as the milkshake she'd ordered was thick, heavily so. Coffee was a bit too strong for Futaba—Taichi had learned that over the course of many outings with her. The first time they'd bought it together, hers was nearly white with how much cream she'd put in it.

Taichi shook his head. "Futaba," he said. "What'd you get for number 16 on page 30?"

"Oh," Futaba began. She flipped her notebook open to the thirtieth page. She'd had it bookmarked. She gave him some long, complicated answer (something different from what he'd gotten), and then smiled at him, and her smile was precious, pure, and it made Taichi's heart pound. He quickly scribbled down the numbers and letters she had spouted out to him, and then, all of a sudden, he grabbed her hand. He did it quickly, slyly, and once their hands were clasped, fingers intertwined, both of their cheeks grew flush, red as tomatoes. Taichi couldn't help but smile.

He glanced up at Futaba. His eyes stayed, and that was the first time he'd ever truly taken her in, her hair short but still growing out at the ends, soft bangs cascading over her eyebrows, eyes staring into his. Taichi was happy, now, and he was in love. These feelings gave him the type of butterflies you'd read about. He took a moment to ponder how much it would hurt doing long distance.

Then, Taichi's mind wandered.

And he realized.

This was also the first time he'd wondered what it'd feel like holding Touma's hand instead.