A Thousand Cranes for a Wish (USHIJIMA X OC)

Invited Enemy

A familiar voice spoke first "Hi, I'm assuming you just woke up?"

"You're finally awake!" another familiar but more energetic voice interjected,

Umeko yawned, then winced when she heard the unexpected loudness. "Yeah, I was up really late last night. I was painting a room, showed a friend then he walked me back home."

"Oh same!" The voice chirped. "Well, not the painting part. We ended up losing so we just ended up crying till we fell asleep" There was laughter on the other end of the phone. "Next time, we won't lose."

"Whatever you say." Umeko hummed as she rubbed the rest of the sleepy dust out of her eyes.

"I do say so. Now, let's go to a much more uplifting topic. Who is this 'he' friend of yours?"

Umeko couldn't see it but she was certain that the owner of the voice was making an infuriatingly smug expression. "We are just friends." She pouted. A little part of Umeko really wanted to believe otherwise. That they were just a smidge more than 'just friends' but the more sensible side of her wrote the idea off as impossible...ish.

"I don't believe you~" The voice on the other side of the phone used a singsong voice and seemed to be having the time of their life. "You really should have come to our school. I still have no idea why you didn't. Now that I think about it, what school do you go to? You never told us. I bet it su-Ouch! What was that for?"

"You already know the reason."

Judging by the voices and the sudden exclamation there was some light violence involved. Umeko smiled to herself. "He is right, you know. I already told you both what my plans were. "They have a surprisingly good art program here and it looks really nice on your resume. I had to study so hard to get in; I felt like I was dying." Umeko looked at the artwork around her room. "I want to be an artist so I have to reach for the best starting point I can."

"That's admirable."

There was a longer than usual pause. "So um, why'd you call?" Umeko tried to get back on topic.

"Oh yeah. We are going rafting; you should join us. It's been a while since the three of us got together." The more sensible voice seemed to be in charge of the phone this time.

"Rafting? We haven't gone rafting since we became second years. Are you sure that's a good idea?"

"It's a great idea!" The other voice chirped from the background.

Umeko weighed the pros and cons. Did she want to go out and go rafting the day before class? The answer was yes. "I'll go, when and where?"

"Meet us at the train station and we can all take the train there. How does eleven sound? We can have lunch on the train."

A sudden clambering sound came from the phone as the phone was taken from the 'sensible friend'. "Bring your 'he' friend!"

Umeko winced as the voice shouted into the microphone. "I don't know if he'd be willing to go."

"Oh, come on! It'll be a double date! You always play third wheel."

"It's not a double date if we aren't dating." Umeko responded, trying not to get swept up in the enthusiasm.

"Just ask him anyway! Say that we are all going rafting and we need a plus one! The worst he could say is no."

"I don't know if my glass heart can take that kind of rejection. What if it becomes awkward? I don't want that." She whimpered. There was a long silence.

"Oho is this the start of a crush?"

Heat rose to Umeko's cheeks. "N-no? Well I don't think so maybe. It just..." Umeko whimpered as she tried to organize her words. "I-I mean I get all warm and fluffy inside whenever I'm around him." Umeko laughed awkwardly. At this point she knew both her friends were listening intently and it was too late to back out. "That doesn't mean it's a crush though! I-I could be like sick or something." Umeko let her mouth ramble on as she tried to glaze over the subject. "Could totally be the crab cream croquette we ate! My stomach growled and he got food for us. Since I was painting still, he fed me. But I mean it might have gotten weird with the one toothpick we shared and all. But I mean like it was good food and stuff, so yeah um... Can we move on?"