Eh? Ah, Sou. [Kise R.] ✓

「 三 」

「 三 」 Painting Flowers

Kasamatsu found his kohai cowering in a corner of the locker room in some sort of self-made depression corner. With some degree of concern for the ace's wellbeing, he silently noted that he hadn't seen his underclassman so desolate since Kurokocchi refused to transfer from Seirin Private High  School to Kaijou.

" What, exactly, are you doing? " Kasamatsu asked hesitantly, not sure if he was fully prepared for what Kise's answer would be.

" Mourning myself! " The younger boy cried. Suddenly launching himself at the confused third year, he clutched Kasamatsu like a lifeline as his senior balked. " I don't want to die so early, Kasamatsucchi! Nijimura-san is my partner for my English Literature project and I have to meet her at the library or she'll kill me! " His senpai's face soured at the mention of the female.

" Ah, yes, I know. I had to deliver the news of the coach's ok... I felt like wiping the conniving smirk of her face. " Kasamatsu muttered the last part lowly, not that Kise would have heard him if he didn't. Kise was simply too distraught. " When are you supposed to meet her at the library anyways? "

The blond released his captain and scratched the back of his neck sheepishly.

" Erm... Five minutes ago? "

A pause.
Two.

Then—

" Why are you still here?! " Kasamatsu yelled, kicking Kise all the way out of the locker room.

He was not about to let the loss of his pride as a man and the embarrassment he had suffered in the face of that conniving first year go to waste because Kise was scared of her. Kise would simply have to suck it up because he needed to stay on the basketball team and Kasamatsu's pride would have been crushed in vain if Kise couldn't.

—

Yohime greeted him with a deadpan but very, very sharp " You're late. " as he crept up to the girl in trepidation.

Surrounded by stacks of books and papers, she didn't bother to look up as the unusually quite boy pulled out a seat and sat down, pushing a print out of one of the poems they had to analyze to him wordlessly. He quickly got to work so as to not anger her, mildly shocked at how studious she actually was.

Ten minutes into the session he grew incredibly bored with his task. He turned his attention to his classmate and— in a curious mix of awe and disbelief— noticed how quickly she scribbled words down into her notebook; going through books and articles rapidly. Peeking at the books she surrounded herself with, he suddenly scowled— she wasn't even doing English Literature! She was studying maths!

" Nijimura-san...! " Kise whined. " You're not even doing English Literature-ssu! You're doing maths, aren't you?! " The blonde cried loudly enough for the librarian to shoot him a particularly poisonous look.

(Then again, it wasn't as if the librarian liked him very much, seeing that his fans were pretty noisy. A cardinal sin to commit in a library.)

Rolling her eyes in exasperation, she picked out a file and shoved it into his face; resuming her work without a hitch or a word spared.

Kise looked down at the black file in mild annoyance, flipping it open a tad rougher than normal (his way of throwing a tantrum), only to find a four paged essay analysis on Sonnet: Composed Upon Westminster Bridge.

His jaw nearly hit the table as he read the essay. Sestet? Shakespearean Iambic Pentameter? ('What is that? Can you eat that???') And when did she even have time to type everything out in a neat and scholarly 12p Times New Roman? Weren't they assigned the project two days ago? Wasn't it due in two weeks? The questions bubbled within Kise, practically begging him to find out. The curiosity was tearing him apart.

" Nijimura-san is an honest woman, right? " Kise inquired hesitantly. Not exactly the question that was burning in him, but a question all the same. The raven haired girl didn't look up as she answered.

" Cruelly so. " Her response was just as sunny as her outlook on life and did nothing for Kise's confidence.

" Then can Nijimura-san tell me why you dislike me? " Finally, she paused, looking up at Kise for the first time that afternoon. Pursing her lips, it took awhile before she could articulate her thoughts as words.

" You're not genuine. From your fake smiles to your mannerisms, nothing about you seems real at all. You seem so... dispassionate, about things, " she responded simply, a scowl making its way onto her face.

" To top it off, you're probably really smart but can't find the will to apply yourself, or just won't— and I don't like people like that. " Boring her silver gaze into Kise's golden eyes with a exasperated, irate look, she finished coldly: " It's a waste of God-given potential. "

She severely hoped that that would be enough to douse whatever was prompting Kise into conversation with her.

Frowning, the blond couldn't concentrate on anything as he dumbly watched Yohime return to whatever she was doing. He wasn't dispassionate or fake, was he?

He didn't understand how one very sardonic girl could have conjured up that conclusion about him and, even if he didn't like her anymore than the next person, he never liked it when someone didn't like him. He resolved to prove her wrong.

No matter what.

" If Nijimura-san truly believes that, then you should come to the gym tomorrow and watch practice, " he said, mustering up his courage. " I'll prove you wrong, Nijimura-san. "

Yohime didn't understand why, but she felt a tiny chill descend upon her at the determined look he had.

The thought of attending haunted her that evening.