Generic Love Story

Generic Love Story!! 6!

Near the end of September, the Cultural Festival was looming, some were a little too excited about it, others couldn't care less, others deeply dreaded it After Friday classes, a short guy with messy hair was walking around

Ryota didn't know why he was walking this way.

It wasn't his usual route, but somehow, his feet had just... wandered. And now he was cutting across the school grounds like an idiot with nowhere better to be. The sun hung low, turning the sky shades of orange and gold, and the air was cool, a sign of fall creeping in.

He was lost in his own head, trying to shove away thoughts of that stupid tutoring session. He'd already thrown the jacket incident in the back of his mind—he swore he had. So why was he still annoyed? Probably because the top student—Miss Perfect, Rei Tsuki—had somehow wormed her way into his head.

—"Forget it," Ryota muttered under his breath. He stuffed his hands in his pockets and kicked at a stray pebble on the ground. He didn't need to be-

Then he spotted her.

 Standing at the school entrance, a clipboard tucked under her arm, was none other than Rei herself. She hadn't noticed him yet, her focus entirely on some decorations she was putting up around the main door, probably for some upcoming event he couldn't care less about.

Ryota hesitated. He could just walk away, keep going, pretend he hadn't seen her. But the thought was gone almost as quickly as it came. Before he knew it, he was heading straight toward her. Rei didn't look up until his shadow loomed over her work.

—"Saito-san?" she blinked in slight surprise, looking behind at him

—"What are you doing, nerd?" he asked, shoving his hands in his pockets

—"Decorating." Rei replied simply, as if it were obvious, "For the Cultural Festival."

He gave a half-hearted nod. —"Don't they have a whole committee for this?"

—"They do," she said with a faint frown, "but everyone else left early."

Ryota glanced at the half-finished decorations, the thought of just walking away creeping back into his mind. But there was something about seeing her standing there, working alone, that made him feel... annoyed. Why was she doing all this by herself? Didn't she ever get tired of being the one who did everything?

—"Move," he said, gruffly as ever.

Rei blinked again, startled, but she stepped aside as Ryota grabbed one of the banners she'd been struggling to hang and tightly tied the rope. He didn't say anything more, just started helping her out, wordlessly.

For a moment, neither of them spoke. The only sound was the quiet rustling of paper and the soft evening breeze.

After a while, Ryota broke the silence. —"You owe me one for this."

Rei stared at him, her calm eyes narrowing slightly. —"What do you want?"

He hadn't really thought that far ahead. —"...Another tutoring session."

—"You seemed eager to leave the last one."

Ryota shrugged, stuffing his hands in his pockets. —"I didn't say I liked it, but I didn't hate it either. Besides... you're not as boring as I thought. It actually worked at least."

It was subtle, but Ryota saw it—the faintest flicker of a smile that touched her lips. She turned back to her work quickly, almost as if she hadn't smiled at all, but Ryota had seen it, and somehow, that small, fleeting moment stuck with him more than anything else.

He finished another knot of the banner, trying to shake the weird feeling in his chest. —"Just let me know when you have time."

Rei finished fastening the last knot of rope, then straightened up and nodded once, her voice quiet but firm. —"I will."

They didn't say anything more, and Ryota left before the feeling of... whatever that was could get any stronger.

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Yo! Writer here! Kageyama! Megumi! Rukawa! Miyata! Straight faced boys with black hair my beloveds!