Pulling Your Heartstrings

Bestie

"You're back." Tomu greeted with a smile as I walked into our dorm.

I nodded, smiling back. I turned back to the door. "Night, Semi."

"Night. Actually get some rest." He waved before walking away, leaving me to close the door.

Tomu tilted his head to the side. "Semi-san walked you back?"

"Oh, yeah. We spent a bit too much time trying to write some songs for our duet performances."

"Ok. What's it like, working with Semi-san?"

I flopped down on my bed. "I'm not even sure. It gets awkward at times, then it's like we're best friends, other times he acts kinda like B/n. And then sometimes... there's this kinda tension in the room, but it's not a bad kind of tension... ya know?"

"Not really. But Semi-san's been talking about how excited he was to start working with you more. He's also kinda nervous about it."

I turned my head towards Tomu. "Why's he nervous?"

"Well... cuz you're really nice, pretty, and talented. He's nervous cuz he doesn't think he's good enough to be able to get close to you, let alone perform with you."

"I think he's perfect. I really like to hear him sing. His voice is nice, kinda relaxing."

Tomu walked over to whisper in my ear. "Do you like Semi-san?"

Based on how much heat built up in my face, I assumed I looked bright red. "W-w-why would you ask that?!"

He moved back over to his bed, still lookin at me. "Just the way you looked while talking about the things you like about him. It kinda seemed like you like him. Do you?"

I took a deep breath. "Yeah. I think I really like him. But please don't say anything!"

Tomu nodded. "I promise to never say a word to anyone else!"

I smiled, relieved. "Thanks."

"No problem. But uh, if you don't mind me asking... what made you start liking him?"

I sighed, laying comfortably on my back. "When I first heard him sing, my heart just skipped a beat. It was beating so irregularly that I thought I was having health issues. And I just couldn't take my eyes off of him, it made me realize he's actually really attractive. He's smart, and he has a great personality. I really can't think of any reason to not like him."

Tomu nodded. "That sounds nice. Do you plan on ever telling him?"

I stared at the ceiling. "I don't know. Last time I didn't confess, the guy ended up liking someone else. But... if I do confess, he might not like me back and will reject me. It'll make our friendship awkward, and he might not talk to me much. I'm worried my feelings will cause Semi to ignore me."

"Semi-san wouldn't do any of that. Even if you love him, he'd make sure you remain good friends. And it definitely wouldn't affect you guys working together." He smiled at me.

I felt reassured by Tomu's words. "Thanks. Let's go to sleep, ok?"

"Yeah! I'm exhausted from practice. You must be pretty tired from work, right?"

"Yeah. I think I could sleep for 24 hours straight."

"Hey, Y/n."

I turned and smiled at Tomu. "Hey, Tomu. What's up?"

"Do you wanna eat lunch with the team today?"

I blushed slightly at the thought of eating with Semi. "Uh... yeah, sure."

"Yay! Let's go!" He grabbed my wrist and pulled me to the cafeteria.

We quickly got our lunches and Tomu guided me to the table the volleyball team was sitting at.

Tendou was the first to notice. "Why, hello Tsutomu! Oh! And you've brought Y/n with you!"

At the mention of my name, all the guys at the table whipped their heads to see me. "Um... hi." I smiled, somewhat regretting my choices.

Semi quickly turned his head away when we started making eye contact. "H-hey, Y/n. Nice to see ya sit with us."

"Y-yeah." I looked away, smiling and blushing.

Tomu grabbed my wrist. "I'm so glad you agreed to sit with all of us today! Now I don't have to sit next to Shirabu-san!"

I ended up sitting on Shirabu's left. "Hi." I gave the boy a smile.

He smiled slightly in return. "Hey. And Goshiki, what's so bad about sitting next to me?!"

"You're mean!" Tomu commented back.

I sighed. "Why do I feel like it's bad to sit in between them?"

Tendou laughed. "You'll get used to it."

I realized what the seating was like.
Kawanishi was on Shirabu's right, I sat on Shirabu's left, and Tomu was to my right. Across from Tomu sat Yamagata, Tendou sat across from Kawanishi, Ushijima was across from Shirabu, and across from me was Semi.

He and I made eye contact when we both figured out the seating arrangement. We both blushed lightly, quickly looking at our food. First B/n sits us across from each other privately in the cafe, and now Tomu and the rest of the volleyball team are sitting us across from each other at lunch?! What kind of setups are these?!

I heard the second years, along with a few third years snickering. I quickly whipped my head to see that Tomu, Ushijima, Semi, and I were the only ones unaware of this setup, the only ones not snickering. I see. They planned this.

"Tendou, what's funny?" Ushijima looks at the red haired boy.

Tendou responded by whispering into Ushijima's ear. "Now do ya get why we're laughing?"

Ushijima nodded, a slight smile spreading on his face. At the same time, Tomu had gotten a message and began snickering. The fact that all his teammates were either smiling or snickering caused Semi to look at me, very obviously confused and flustered.

I sighed. "They set us up like B/n did last night."

Semi's eyes widened before he glared at his teammates. "Traitors."

Everyone, besides me and Semi only, burst out laughing. Even Ushijima was chuckling.

I looked at the guys with nothing but confusion. "Wait. I don't get it...."

Shirabu started stifling his laughter, ready to talk to me. "It's cuz Semi-"

"Not another word, Shirabu!" Semi cut him off, his face bright red.

Apparently, that reaction was found hilarious by the rest of the team. They all (again, Semi and I being the only exceptions) began laughing uncontrollably.

"I'm so confused."

"Good."