bad influence [ushijima wakatoshi]

chapter 4

"it's the weekend tomorrow."

"so it is. are you doing anything, ushijima-san? you usually stay with your mother during the weekend, right?"

"i do. but, i was hoping to spend some time with you this time."

"me? why?"

"semi said that you usually never leave the dorm. does your family not want to see you?"

kotone lets out an awkward laugh. "ah, it's not that. my parents live abroad so there's really nobody waiting for me back home."

"what's this? that means you've got the house all to yourself. lucky." tendou adds as he slides into the seat next to her, swiping a piece of chicken from her lunch.

"senpai, you live alone? that's so cool." goshiki takes a seat on her left, his eyes sparkling as he looks at her.

"no, it's just depressing." semi snickers as he sits down next to ushijima.

the rest of the team follows after, until the entire table was finally packed.

"wait, i've an idea!" tendou grabs onto the girl next to him and turns her around to face him. "how about we have a sleepover at your place?"

kotone blinks, considering his idea. "i'll have to ask for permission to use the house first."

"that's fine. why don't you call your mom now?"

"sure. hold on." kotone takes her phone out, contemplating on whether she should call her mother. ultimately she decides on sending her a text. her reply comes only within a matter of seconds. "alright. she said it's okay. as long as there's no drugs or alcohol." she adds in jokingly.

"we're having a sleepover?"

"hell yeah!"

"it'll be a team bonding experience."

"i'll bring the snacks."

"w-wait, i'll need someone to tidy up the house with me first. i don't even know what state it's in right now." kotone stutters out, trying to calm her teammates down.

before anyone else could say anything else, ushijima stands up abruptly. "i'll help."

"uh, sure. will it be enough with just the two of us-"

"it'll be more than enough. i can handle it." he adds in quickly before anyone else could volunteer.

tendou snickers to himself at how eager ushijima sounded at the thought of being alone with her in her own home, although it seemed kotone was once again too oblivious to notice.

•

"pardon my intrusion." ushijima calls out as he walks into kotone's home, looking around as soon as he walks through the front door.

"hehe, there's no one here, ushijima-san. it's just us." kotone sets their shoes aside before she steps into her living room.

the place was entirely clean, not a speck of dust in sight. "huh. mother must've hired someone to look after the house while she was away." she mumbles to herself. "guess we don't need to do anything."

"then how about we do something together?" ushijima suggests softly, his fingers twitching around the strap of his bag. for once, he felt nervous in her presence.

"sure. what do you want to do?"

"how about we watch a movie before they arrive. there's still at least three hours left."

"alright then. we can watch something. let me just look for the remote."

"hmm. i want to watch serendipity square."

kotone pauses as she searches for the remote. "please tell me you're not still watching that cheesy sitcom."

ushijima straightens himself up again, suddenly remembering how much she hated that show. a small grin appears on his face. "that's exactly what i plan on watching."

"hell. no."

"well, i'm not watching that baking show with you."

"you're going to have to suffer through it. because i found the remote!" kotone cackles like a witch as she takes off with the remote, quickly sliding over the couch before she leaves the living room.

ushijima could feel his eyes widen at her reaction before he lets out a soft chuckle, darting off after her. "you're a fool if you think you can outrun me, sakurai." he calls out, slowing his pace down on purpose so he could enjoy this small moment with her.

he could hear kotone continuously laughing heartily as she slips through each room with ease, as if she was already used to running around the house.

as she finally reenters the living room, ushijima quickly grabs onto her waist, both of them toppling over onto the couch.

ushijima's legs were hanging off the back of the couch and kotone was full-on belly laughing as she rested on top of him, still holding onto the remote like a lifeline.

he couldn't help but let out a soft chuckle along with her, even if he was getting lightheaded since his head was also hanging off the couch, upside down.

kotone finally calms down and sits up properly, looking down at her friend with a sweet smile. "i didn't know you knew how to have fun like that, ushijima-san."

"me neither. you seem to have a talent for making me discover sides of myself i didn't even know existed." he whispers softly, his hands still holding her waist.

kotone hums softly, her upper body resting on his chest as she straddles his waist. "well, it seems like i won, ushijima-san. you're going to have to watch 'whisked away: baking up love' with me for the next three hours."

ushijima lets out a soft laugh and shifts his position so that he was sitting on top of the couch properly, kotone sliding off his body as he moves.

he hated that show with a passion, but if she asked, he'd watch that show with her as many times as she wants. he looks down at the remote she held, his brows furrowing before he sighs tiredly. "sakurai."

"hmm?"

"that's not a remote."

"what?"

"that's a calculator."

"..."

"..."

"shit."