there for me | tsukishima kei

･:*+.chapter 21

"EHH?!" aoi and yachi said together. this was their reaction after telling them kei and i were now dating.

we sat together for lunchtime at school. i told kei i would be eating with aoi and yachi so we could catch up about what happened at the party.

"y/n! i'm so happy for you!" yachi said, coming up to me and holding my hands.

"thanks." i giggled. i looked over to aoi, who hadn't said anything. my eyes widened in surprise to see her crying.

"what!!? aoi-"

"shush." she cut me off, wiping her tears. "i'm just so happy for you."

"aoi..." tears began to fill my eyes also.

"come here!" aoi spread her arms open.

i sprang into her arms, our tears flowing out.
yachi, watching the whole thing was laughing at us.

"aoi..." i started.

"hm?" she pulled back from our embrace.

i smirked mischievously. "how was that kiss?"

her eyes widened, and her face grew red. "WHAT?! you- you saw that!?" she covered her mouth.

"yup." i snickered. "both of your reactions were so cute!"

"en- enough!!" she facepalmed my face. "i hate you."

i held onto yachi, dying of laughter.

"also..." aoi looked down, fiddling with her fingers.

yachi and i looked back up at her.

"i kind of asked him out...on a date." she covered her face with her hands.

there was no response so she moved a finger, peeking through the small gap.

"aoi!!" i ran up to to her, grabbing her shoulders, and moving her back and forth. "what did he say!?"

"he said...yes!!" she grabbed my shoulders, shaking me back and forth too.

"aoi!!" i wrapped my arms around her neck, hugging her tightly. yachi also came from behind, squealing and joining the hug.

"girls...i can't bre...athe..."

we fell on the ground together from the hug.

"ow!..."

yachi burst into laughter, making us all join her in laughing our asses off.

~

"whew." i laid on my bed, arriving home from school.

these past few days, i had been able to avoid mom.

i want to get out of this house as soon as possible. maybe i'll work a second job when summer starts...

and so, as school came to an end, i applied for a second job, making money to buy an apartment.

time skip to the middle of summer because i'm lazy dkenwjemofmek

"after working my ass off all these days...i won't give up. i can do it." i closed the drawer full of my money, took a seat on my bed, and picked up my phone.

1 message from "kei<3"

kei<3: can i see you? at the park?

me: yeah. i'll be there in a few minutes.

i turned off my phone and changed out of my work uniform. i haven't seen kei in a while.
we've seen each other occasionally, but work kept me busy.

i went out after changing.

"kei!" i yelled, waving as i approached him.

he embraced me in a hug. "hey. i missed you."

"me too." i hugged him back. "let's sit."

we took a seat on a bench.

"how's work?" he turned to me.

"well...i've made money but i'm not quite there." i smiled.

he sighed once, before handing me an envelope.

"what's this?" i asked.

"well...you've been working so hard all of summer so far...and it's not fair...so here."

i took the envelope from his hand, opening it.
there was a stash of money in it.

"kei..." i turned back to him. "where did you get all this?"

"well..it's from chores and stuff. i was gonna save it for buying stuff for myself..but i figured you need it more." he scratched the back of his head.

"kei..." tears streamed down my face. "with this...i'll finally be able to buy it." i quickly wrapped my arms around him.

he hugged back in response.

"how can i repay you?"

"there's no need."

i pulled away from the hug, looking directly at him.

"thank you..." my voice broke. "...so much." i wiped my tears.

he placed a kiss on my forehead, giving me a warm smile.

-to be continued