Sincerely, Me [Kindaichi Yuutarou] | ✔

Glide

"Sayori!" Miho exclaimed, exasperated as she looked down at her quivering daughter. The little girl held two stuffed toys in her arms: one was a bunny and the other was a bear.

"B-but..." Sayori's bottom lip trembled, her eyes welling up with unshed tears. "It's... Its mine."

"Stop being so selfish," Miho reprimanded, snatching the bear toy from Sayori. "Your sister doesn't have her toys here. Do you not want her to recover fast? Honestly, Sayori, dear..."

"... Okay." Sayori sniffed. I have to... Shino-chan is injured and I'm being a bad sister... She rubbed at her eyes to try and chase the tears away. They dribbled down her chubby cheeks instead.

Mournfully, she watched her mother turn her back to her, stuffed bear in hand, and knock on the door of Shino's hospital room. "Honey, it's me~ I've brought something for you."

xXx

The first thing she did that morning was find Oikawa, which proved to be more troublesome than she had expected. She asked a third year girl with red hair for his whereabouts, but she had simply scowled at her.

"You're not part of the club!" the red-haired girl hissed. "Get out of my face, freak. Like hell I'm telling you where Oikawa is."

"Anzu!" someone called to her.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm coming..." Anzu stormed away, leaving Shino to stand in the middle of the hallway, staring after her.

"Troublesome," Shino murmured as she looked around, wondering which third year she should ask next. She tapped the shoulder of a purple-haired girl with twin drills. "Excuse me, senpai, do you know where I can find Oikawa Tooru-san?"

The girl smiled. "Sure! He's in class 3-4. If you need any other help from me, just ask for Ayame!" Ayame winked at her. "Good luck~"

"Eh?" Shino tilted her head to one side as Ayame pranced off, joining up with another third year girl with green hair. "Why did she wink at me like that...?"

Dismissing Ayame's strange behavior, Shino made her way down to Oikawa's classroom, intent on apologizing. She had been out of line today, and had noticed that there'd been an awkward atmosphere the entire practice.

Her day made a turn for the better when she ran into him near his classroom. "Oikawa-san."

"Eh? Iwasaki-chan...?" Oikawa blinked at her.

"I wanted to apologize for yesterday's outburst." Closing her eyes, Shino bowed to him at the waist. "It was out of line. Whatever happened in the past was not your fault." It's mine.

"Iwasaki-chan... I..." Oikawa trailed off, a small, troubled frown on his face. "I'm sorry about her."

"I know. You couldn't have known." She straightened.

Awkwardly, Oikawa rubbed the back of his head. "Are we cool then? Can we put this behind us?"

Shino nodded. "That would be best."

"Well, then..." Oikawa perked up and slung an arm around her shoulders, though his eyes were still a little sad. "Welcome to the team, Iwasaki-chan~! I'm Oikawa Tooru, captain of the boy's volleyball team!" If she's anything like Sayori-chan was, she'll be fun to have around. A new dynamic. Guilt pricked at his heart but he chased it away. "Are you ready to take on your manager duties?"

"Yes."

"Good! I'll see you at practice, then. Don't be shy, Iwasaki-chan." Oikawa paused. "Can I call you Shino-chan?"