A Thousand Cranes for a Wish (USHIJIMA X OC)

Festival Clothes

"Wow, How straight forward." Hashimoto leaned back against the building wall. Originally, she was going to enter the room but when she heard Ushijima and Umeko talking, Hashimoto decided to wait outside.

Sakuma shrugged and tapped his chin a few times. "He does seem like the type." Honestly speaking, Sakuma did plan to barge in the room and ruin the moment, but Hashimoto did everything she could to make sure he didn't enter.

"It's not a bad trait for him." She put her ear against the door in an attempt to listen in on the conversation between Umeko and Ushijima. Hashimoto needed to know if they were finished talking so she could enter.

"Is it a good trait for me?" If Sakuma remembered correctly there were three occasions where Hashimoto called him straight forward, albeit she meant it in a more negative way, but it was the same difference.

Hashimoto scoffed. "It's awful on you."

"What, why!?" Sakuma exclaimed in mock horror.

Hashimoto put her fingers to her lips and glared at him. "Shh! They might hear us."

Sakuma sighed but lowered his volume anyway, "Why is it not a good trait for me?"

"It's irritating when is from you." There was no hesitation or sugar coating of Hashimoto's statement. She wholeheartedly believed her words and did not hesitate to tell Sakuma her opinion. Hashimoto was a firm believer of telling someone about their flaws so the person in question could work on fixing them. Although that line of thinking landed her in hot water quite a few times she would not betray her beliefs.

"Oi, are you trying to pick a fight?" Sakuma responded completely unenthused. While he was expecting her to say something or the other among those lines, it was always a shock when Hashimoto actually said it out loud.

Hashimoto rolled her eyes. "The only fight I'd dare pick with you is a battle of wits. I would never participate in something so barbaric as a fist fight."

Sakuma held back a snicker of his own. "If I win against you, do I get a prize?" He moved closer to the door with a roguish grin. "What about if I lose? If I lose, do I get compensation?"

Hashimoto raised an eyebrow. "That's not a fair trade. I'll lose something either way."

"That's the point!" Sakuma chirped.

Before Hashimoto could say anything in return Umeko opened the door. "O-oh, you are both here? How long were you here for? U-Um, you could have come in if you wanted." Umeko fretted internally if her other clubmates had heard her conversation.

"A whi-"

Sakuma spoke over Hashimoto loudly to gain the attention of the other students. "We just got here!" Unlike Hashimoto, Sakuma was a fair bit better at reading people.

"What? N-"

"We saw each other on the way here and we walked together!" He lied through his teeth with a smile and hoped Hashimoto would get the message. "We were just talking about going to the festival together before we arrived." Sakuma gave Hashimoto a meaningful look and hoped that she would get the message he was trying to convey.

"First day of the festival by the entrance. Eight in the evening. If you are late, I'll leave without you." Hashimoto conceded and agreed to play along with Sakuma's plan, whatever it may be.

"Cool!" Sakuma grinned and put his hands together pleased. He wasn't planning on going to the festival, but it was another story if Hashimoto was willing to go with him, for years he tried every method he could think of to convince her to attend, so when she was the one to pick a time and place there was no way he would reject it. "I won't be even a second late."