Tangerine (Osana x Taro.... x Ayano)

Tangerine

"At this point, I'm used to it.." Osana mumbled as she looked down at her phone, anticipating Taro after having already waited around 10 minutes for him.

When Taro finally arrives at the school gates, Osana begins to tear up

She mustered up the courage, finally at her breaking point. "D-do.. Do you even think abou-about anyone e-else but yourself?!"

"...Where did this come from?" 

He said, taken aback by such a sudden statement

"I-I mean... SERIOUSLY. a-all throughout middle school and-and now high school! I d-don't even know WHY I put up with this-"

She sniffled, her words shaking, as it all comes pouring out

"T-This STUPID SHIT you do every day! And yet when I-I try to show you something that you don't like, like my s-stupid music taste or those stupid hot-dog octopi I cook for you.."

"O-OR t-that freaky girl in the ponytail who's probably behind me right now! W-what if she was the nicest person you'll ever meet"

Taro's face shifted into a guiltful expression

"B-BUT YOU'LL NEVER KNOW!-"

"Please.. stop.." 

He muttered 

"N-NO.. YOU WANNA KNOW WHY YOU'LL NEVER KNOW?!" her face turning red, a waterfall essentially spawning from inside her eyelids

"BECAUSE YOU DON'T TAKE THE TIME OF DAY FOR-FOR ANYONE!.... N-not even for me."

Taro stumbled to construct a sentence "I-I'm.. I'm trying to-" 

"IF YOU DID YOU'D KNOW THAT I-I"

"YOU'D KNOW THAT I."

"That you..?" He questioned

"T-THAT I...like you..

She paused, as if regretting

"But..you would've never guessed because you're always up in your own world."

"T-this is a complete surprise considering how you smack me around everyday.."

She rustled through her school bag to bring him a homemade bento once again, this time held a note, one that looks similar to the ones Taro finds inside his lockers

"O-oh, um, let me.. take that.." Osana hastily stuffed the letter back into her bag

He snatched the letter from her hands to open it, written inside was;

"Hey, you know how I've been writing you.. like, poems and stuff?

Yeah, well, can you meet me under the cherry tree after school today?

I.. have something to tell you.

Signed - Tangerine"

He stared at the note blankly for a while, then stifled a snicker as he gazed back at Osana, who was clearly embarrassed

"..."

"I must be stupid" he laughed

"Of course it was you, Tangerine.. Orange hair.."

Osana let out a slight sigh "I-I.. um.."

"Listen. Y-you weren't supposed to find out right now a-and it's honestly s-super embarrassing and I-"

"Do you.. really think I'm all that cold?"

He looked into her eyes, then away to hide a slight blush

Taro silenced Osana, peeled an orange that was in his bento, and stuffed it into her mouth

"Shh."

"I know.. I knew all along, maybe you're the dummy..!"

"MMMMMMMFFFFFF!!!!" 

Osana blushed, looking at him with a slightly angered expression

I don't know how to tell you this, Tangerine.

Taro scribbled on the back of the note with a pen

"I love you

-Blackcurrant"

Osana reluctantly pulled Taro closer into a hug, one of complete silence yet with complete understanding

Taro suddenly perked up while remembering something

"Hey, about that.. girl in the ponytail, why did you.. mention her?"

Suddenly there was no time for compassionate hugs, and once Osana heard those giggles her calm smile turned into one of ghastly shock

"SENPAI. RUN."