courage dear heart | Yuki Ishikawa

18

I opened my eyes.

How strange it was to wake up without that shitty alarm.

Even though yesterday's practice ended badly, today I felt really happy.

I looked at my phone to check the time. 
8:30 AM.

I would have gladly slept more, but three and a half extra hours compared to other days wasn't bad at all.

Since there was no one in the room next door, I took the opportunity to put on some music while I changed the sheets and cleaned my room.

I tried to keep it tidy every day, so it didn't take me long to clean everything up.

I went down to the laundry room to put the things in the washing machine and then went to have breakfast.

The cafeteria was almost empty, but I managed to find a few familiar faces. 
I approached the table with my tray.

"Hi Mayu, can I sit here with you?" 
She had already indicated the spot next to her for me to sit when she saw me coming.

"Good morning, Chō. How are you? Finally, no training today... The coaches have really been working us hard, haven't they?"

I sat down. "Yeah, you're absolutely right." Then I noticed that I had never seen the other person with Mayu in the dormitory.

I smiled at her and gave her a small bow. "Hi, nice to meet you, I'm Chō."

"Hi, so you're the famous Chō! I'm Sarina Koga, the ex captain of the women's volleyball team," she introduced herself, smiling.

Wow! She's really pretty... wait..What does she mean by 'famous'?

She started laughing, probably because my question was written all over my face.

"Because I finally get to meet the girl who's caught Yuki's eye, aside from his usual obsession—volleyball."

Caught off guard, I looked at her for a few seconds with my mouth slightly open. "No, that's no—"

"It was his sister who told me," she said proudly, gesturing to Mayu. My cheeks began to warm.

I felt a hand on my back, and Yuki sat down next to me. "Good morning."

Noticing my blush, Yuki leaned in closer, his eyes narrowing slightly in curiosity.

"Why are you all red?" He reached out and gently tucked a strand of hair behind my ear, his fingers lingering slightly as they brushed against my skin.

The simple gesture in front of everyone made my heart race, and I could feel my face flush even more.

I realized they were watching us, amusement and curiosity clear on their faces, sharing a knowing grin.

Yuki, seemingly unfazed by the attention, kept his gaze on me, waiting for an answer. But the way he looked at me, with a soft smile tugging at the corner of his lips, made it hard to think straight, let alone explain why I had turned red in the first place.

Nishida Yuji sat down next to Koga. "So the rumors were true. Our Yuki managed to win over the crush of half the dorm," he said, laughing.

Yuki paused for a moment, then looked at him. "Huh? And what's this story about half the dorm?"

Yuji laughed even louder. "How could you not notice? Even some of your teammates are part of Chō's fan club."

I kept eating, trying to be invisible.

Meanwhile, Koga and Mayu were quietly laughing as they watched the two of them.

Then Mayu turned to me. "What are you doing today, Chō?"