courage dear heart | Yuki Ishikawa

48

"Hanbin! Remember that time Nabi got herself stuck upside down on a tree with her snowboard?"Sho, sitting across from me in the break room, asked loud

The room erupted into laughter as everyone turned to me wide-eyed.

Ayumu stood up "No way!!"

My cheeks flushed immediately, and I buried my face in my hands, already knowing I wouldn't hear the end of it. "Sho, really?" I groaned, but he was already too deep into the story.

"Yeah! She somehow managed to get her board wedged between the branches, and there she was, dangling like a Christmas ornament!" Sho continued, barely able to contain his own laughter.

Ran was practically doubled over, laughing so hard he had to clutch his stomach. "How did you even manage that, Nabi?" he asked between gasps, tears forming in the corners of his eyes.

Yuki, smirking from his seat, shook his head.

Kaito chimed in, "Was this before or after she tried to teach herself some weird trick without practicing first?"

"Definitely before," Hanbin added, grinning. "But it's so her to end up stuck like that."

Hiro and Tomo were laughing too, their amusement only fueling Sho's storytelling.

Hanbin, who was still laughing, waved his hand in surrender, "You should've seen her! She was just hanging there, shouting for help but also trying to act like it wasn't that bad."

Everyone burst out laughing again, the image too funny not to.

"I mean, how did she even get out?" Reira asked, wiping a tear from her eye.

Hanbin leaned forward, grinning. "We had to pull her down! It took like three of us to untangle her snowboard from the branches."

I groaned again, but despite the teasing, I couldn't help but laugh along with them. "Okay, okay, laugh it up," I said, rolling my eyes but smiling all the same.

Sho leaned closer, still chuckling. "Come on, Nabi, you've got to admit it was pretty hilarious."

I smirked, shaking my head. "Maybe from your perspective, but hanging upside down wasn't exactly fun."

Yuki, who had meanwhile moved closer, settled me on his lap.

I saw Hanbin smiling at me as he looked at me resting in Yuki's arms.

"You think that's funny?" Ayumu said with a grin. "Let me tell you about the time Hiro decided to try and cook us dinner during a break."

Everyone turned to Ayumu. "So, Hiro was really confident he could whip up something amazing, right? But he somehow managed to turn a simple pasta dish into something resembling a science experiment gone wrong."

Hiro shot Ayumu a mock glare. "Hey, I was trying to innovate!"

Ayumu continued, laughing. "The kitchen was a mess, the pasta was burnt, and the sauce looked like it had come straight from I don't think you want to know where. We ended up ordering takeout."

The room erupted into laughter again.

Hiro shrugged off the teasing. "Just don't ask me to cook again!"

"Wow, so there's something you're not good at! I thought you were perfect!" I gasped in mock disbelief.

He turned towards me with a mischievous grin. "Well, I'm really good at other things."

"Prove it," I teased back with a smirk.

I felt Yuki stiffen slightly. "Whatever it is, no thanks," he said, pulling me closer and making everyone laugh.