effervescent (nishinoya yū)

CHAPTER FOURTEEN / the true confession

yachi: Hey! Do you want to walk together to classes today? I'm pretty sure you're not that far from my house.

me: oh, really? if that's the case, then sure!

You hummed to yourself as you pulled your bag over your shoulder. Surprisingly, your parents weren't awake yet. When you went to check on them in their room, you swore your heart skipped a beat as you saw them sleeping in the same bed.

You couldn't remember the last time you saw them sleep together, even before they had split. Sure, they weren't touching and looked like they were trying to put as much space between them as possible, but what you were seeing and what you remembered didn't compute in the slightest.

You stared at them for a little longer than you meant to, but when your phone buzzed again and you realized what time it was, you closed the door to their bedroom and headed outside.

Yachi waited outside your house, wearing a different star pin from yesterday. "Yachisoba!"

She whirled around, looking miffed. "What kind of a nickname is that?" Yachi demanded with a little laugh. "Besides, I'm pretty sure I told you to call me Hitoka instead of Yachi."

You gasped. "Oh, I forgot! I guess I'll have to come up with another nickname for you then."

She groaned playfully and tried to hit your shoulder. You dodged out of the way and stuck your tongue out as you and Yachi began to walk down the street. As you passed Nishinoya's house, you involuntarily tensed a little, wondering if he was awake yet.

He hadn't texted you since last night, when he had implied that he was starting to crush on you as well. You weren't sure if you were relieved or upset; on the one hand, it gave you the chance to get your thoughts in line, but on the other, it made you wonder if you accidentally made things weird between you two.

Yachi called your name. "Are you okay?" she asked. "You have a really impressive stress line on your forehead."

You rubbed the spot she indicated and tried to calm yourself down. "Boy problems," you replied simply. She let out a little noise of realization and nodded, and you were thankful that she didn't press the issue any further.

When you and Yachi got to the building and signed in, she turned to you so quickly that you flinched. "I never asked," she said, sounding as though she'd just had an epiphany. "Is there any reason why you're taking this course?"

"It's for the volleyball club," you explained. "The boys' faculty sponsor is trying to convince another school's coach to let us train with them over the summer. Since I want to go, he told me that the only way the other teachers will let me is if I get certified and tag along as an 'athletic trainer.'" You put air quotes around the last part and crossed your arms over your chest.

"Huh," Yachi said. "That's...complicated, but cool!"

You laughed and rubbed the back of your head as you dropped your bag on the floor. "I wouldn't exactly call it 'cool,' but it's definitely complicated. Why are you taking the course?"

"My mother," she said. "Since she's gone so often, she wanted me to know how to take care of myself if something happened at home." She paused and let out a sheepish giggle. "She was also tired of me being too timid to make any friends at school, so she figured sending me here would be a good way to force me out of my comfort zone."

You hummed and looked over as the instructor came into the room. "Well, I guess it worked, huh? You made a friend."

She blinked a few times. A big smile began to spread across her face and she nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah!"