Chapter 18 ~ Confessions
Once the whistle was blown, she took off.
Faster.
Faster.
Faster.
Her figure was blurry as she ran half the track, her long green hair whipping her back. Reaching the finish line, she sped up.
She skid to a stop and fell over. She rolled a few meters before stopping. Her knees were tucked into her chest and her hands were wrapped around them. She brushed her green hair away before standing up.
"56 seconds, Shinako!" Her coach, Tsukino Tomone, shouted.
"63 seconds! Ichiro! What the hell! You're a second slower than yesterday!" She shouted at the orange haired boy named Ichiro.
Takao Kazunari, who was watching her practice, ran over to her to ask if she was OK.
"I'm fine. Just a scratch." She said, showing her bleeding elbow to Kazunari
Takao frowned at her. "That's not fine." He turned to Coach Tsukino. "Coach! I need to bring her to the infirmary! She has a bleeding elbow!" He shouted.
The Coach looked at Shinako who was shaking her head and hands behind Kazunari. She was going to say "no" because she thought Takao was overeacting but she saw blood drip down from Shinako's elbow. This Shinako...
"OK! Take good care of your girlfriend, Kazunari!" Coach had a habit of calling her students by their first name.
Kazunari started to blush beet red but once again, Shinako froze.
Kazunari held her by the wrist and started to walk towards the infirmary.
Shinako sat down quietly and he took the first aid-kit. He wiped away the blood gently, looking up every few seconds to see if she would flinch. Putting ointment on the wound, he started to wrap her elbow.
"Midori-chan," he said quietly, working on her elbow. "Why do you freeze up whenever someone mentions 'boyfriend' or 'girlfriend'?"
She frowned and looked out the window, staring at a black crow resting on the branch of a tree.
"Have you been in a relationship before?" He asked when she didn't answer.
"Yes." She answered quietly, looking at Kazunari's slate blue eyes. "No, I don't know either."
Kazunari tried to hide his disappointment. He's liked her since he met her. He was trapped in those beautiful light green eyes and her blinding smile. But, it seems someone already has her.
"Did you break up?" But quickly regretted his question. "I-I mean it's fine if you don't want to tell... me." He mumbled, averting his eyes.
She smiled at him. "I trust you Takao. You're like my second brother." He cringed. It hurt to be called a brother by someone you've liked for a few months. It hurts. Really. "I've only told Shintaro this, but I think you deserve to know the truth."
She paused for a while, waiting to see if he would stop her.
He didn't.
"I'm guessing you know all the 'Generation of Miracles' right?" She asked and Kazunari nodded. "That means you know their Captain. Akashi Seijuro." He nodded again. She closed her eyes tightly before opening them again. "Well, I liked him. I liked him a lot. Maybe even love. But I was stupid back then... I still am. And," she paused again, taking another deep breath. She was hesitating, as Kazunari could see. Maybe because she didn't trust him enough? He pushed away all his thoughts when she continued.
"We dated. But it wasn't date date. I told him, I couldn't have a boyfriend at that age. So he waited. We weren't boyfriend or girlfriend. But we weren't just friends either." Kazunari froze. How could he compete with the captain of the Generation Of Miracles? "It was going well. But... he changed. All of them did. I didn't even know if we were together anymore. He stopped calling me Shinako. He stopped talking to me outside English class. He never looked into my eyes anymore. He wasn't Akashi."
Kazunari's eyes softened.
"We didn't break up. We weren't even together. We... I don't know what happened honestly." She sighed shakily, trying to keep the tears in.
Kazunari stood in front of her and hugged her tightly, resting his head on her shoulder.
"Midori-chan. This might not be the best time but... I like you. I like you a lot."
She froze. Takao likes me? But... how did I not notice? Am I that oblivious?
"I'm not going to ask you to be my girlfriend cause I know you will say no. But... I'm not going to let Akashi Seijuro leave you with a broken heart. I'm going to fix it. And make you like me back." He stated, unwrapping his arms from her back.
He held out his hand.
"Come on Shina-chan. Coach will get mad at you." He said when she didn't move.
Shina-chan?
She smiled and took Kazunari's hand, standing up.
"Shina-chan? Really Takao?" She teased.
Takao scratched his neck. "Sorry, I already call Shintaro 'Shin-chan'."
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