𝐏𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐋. hq

〔3rd set〕: senbei

黒尾 鉄朗
t e t s u r o    k u r o o
— year 3 class 5 —

               The first time I met Koizumi Miki, she was glaring daggers at me, as she shielded Kenma from in front.

"I don't care if you're a fourth grader or whatever. But leave Kozume-kun alone!" She shouted, pride in her eyes as she tried to defend Kenma from me. To think that a third grader would try to stand up to a fourth grader for the sake of her friend. It was definitely something to praise her about.

"Oi, Kenma" I call him, "Who is she and what does she want?".

"Uh. I don't know" he shrugs before turning to her, "Koizumi-san, what are you doing?"

"I'm defending you from this bad guy!" She declares to which I couldn't help but throw a fit of laughter.

"Koizumi-san, was it? Kenma and I are friends" I explain to her to which she blushes crimson out of embarrassment.

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry, senpai. I thought you were a bully" she immediately exclaims, once she realizes, as she bows in remorse.

"It's fine, it's fine" I laugh her off, "You can call me Kuroo".

               She had always been a girl who was strong willed and philanthropic, I couldn't help but admit that she would make a good pair with our dear Kenma.

That's why when I found out that Koizumi Miki was in love with Kozume Kenma, I couldn't help but grin in delight.

▬ ▬ ▬ ▬ ▬ ▬ ▬ ▬

               "You are crazy" Yaku tells me, the moment I tell him my plan.

This was an entire week before I told the pair I had a girlfriend, a week before the white lie I made for the sake of my dear friend.

Watching those two was like watching an idiot couple. I've known them both long enough to know how their feelings were definitely mutual, but neither of them ever spoke up about it after knowing what it could possibly do to our friendship.

Well, friendship my ass. It was about time something finally happened between them.

               "Me? Crazy? For all I know I'm just trying to be a good friend here, Yaku" I tell the petite boy in front of me as he talks about how out of my mind I was.

"How does pretending to have a girlfriend have anything to do with that?" he asks and so I explained.

"First of all, with me out of the picture, the two can hang out alone more often. Second, I could play matchmaker and they wouldn't even suspect a thing. Lastly, our dear Kenma would finally earn himself a girlfriend".

"But are you sure this is what they want?" Kai intrudes into our conversation.

"Now, c'mon" I whine, "You guys are making me sound like the bad guy!".

"I'm just saying, pretending to go out with someone is one thing, having to pretend so realistically is another" Yaku says, "Besides, who would so willingly date you?".

"I know someone who could return the favor" I tell him with a smirk, "And she's exactly my type. Kenma and Miki would definitely buy it".
            

▬ ▬ ▬ ▬ ▬ ▬ ▬ ▬

               And so, here I was, explaining myself to the girl as soon as she asked one day during practice.

"Can I meet your girlfriend?" she turns to me to which I return the question defensively.

"Why is that?".

"Because I need to learn some tips. Like how to confess to someone you like. Girl stuff—y'know those sort of things" she shruggs, averting eye contact as she asks me.

"Miki, if it's you, you can just say it out loud" I tell her bluntly, but the girl doesn't buy it.

"Uh, no. I'm pretty sure it doesn't work that way" she claims, crossing her arms as she shakes her head in disagreement, before countering what I said with a number of questions, "How did she even gather the guts to confess to you? How was she so sure you'd answer like you did—?"

"She wasn't sure. What's important is that she gave it her all. You either get closure or you go out"

"Or I mess it up big time and get neither" she inserts the possible scenario before complaining, "It's not that easy"

"Of course it isn't. Dating is the hard part" I tell her, despite ultimately knowing that I was only in a pretend relationship.

"And confessing isn't?" the girl retorts.

"It equally is but for you, all you have to do is to speak out loud" I assure her only to have her return another question once again.

"How can you be so sure?"

"Because the one you're confessing to is Kenma, isn't it?" I query, causing the girl to turn crimson the next moment.

"Wha—How?" she stammers in surprise, with the heat still up in her head.

"You aren't the hardest book to read. It's pretty obvious. The only one who doesn't know in the team is none other than the guy himself" I tell her, only to have Kenma intrude on our conversation.

               "Miki" he calls out to her and the girl is even redder than before. I could almost compare her face to the color of our jersey.

"K-Kenma!" she trips on her words as she notices the pudding haired boy's presence.

"What's up?—" He was about to ask, only to have the girl run away from him the next minute.

"Nothing... I'll just—I'll head home first" she says before leaving us alone together.

Well this was a disaster, I conclude as I watched her storm off.

               The next thing I knew, Kenma was already telling me off, "Kuroo. There's a limit to being dense. You should stop leading her on"

Uh. No.

I was a hundred percent confident that it was definitely otherwise but still, it wasn't like I could openly admit Miki's feelings. I had no right to.

"Kenma. Are you sure about what you're saying? Maybe you're just overthinking stuff" I ask him, trying to clear up his misunderstanding.

"Am not" he answers stubbornly.

"Are too" I insist desperately.

"She's like a little sister to me" I tell him.

"That doesn't mean she feels the same. Who turns red like that from someone who's just a friend?" He accuses.

Because we were talking about you, I had the urge to say, only to hold back because I wasn't supposed to be the one telling him all this.

I knew it more than he did because from an outsider's perspective: Koizumi Miki is in love with Kozume Kenma and I can attest to that.