the tide [ikuya kirishima]

《1》infatuation

Ikuya sat across from Hiyori at a coffee shop not far from their campus, each enjoying their respective drinks and chatting amongst themselves. Ikuya was appreciating the bustling ambiance, the constant shuffling of people in and out of the shop only adding to the comfortable solace. Yet, with everything to occupy himself with, Ikuya couldn't take his eyes off of a certain (hair color) haired barista.

"Ikuya, are you listening to me?" his brown haired friend asked when the male in question began to visibly doze off from their conversation. Ikuya watched as she took a customer's order, tucking a free strand of hair behind her ear as she began inputting the order onto the register computer. My God, she was cute.

"No," Ikuya replied honestly, eyes still glued to the girl taking someone's order. Hiyori's eyebrows furrowed when he noticed something about his friend seemed off.

"What's on your mind?" Hiyori questioned, lifting his cup of coffee to his lips.

"That girl over there. Doesn't she go to our school?" Ikuya asked, finally removing his gaze from the girl.

"You mean the one that took our orders? Don't you have a class with her?"

A light blush spread across Ikuya's cheeks when he realized he wasn't being as oblivious as he thought. He knew exactly who the girl was. (Y/N) (L/N), a pre-med student in his Sports Medicine class that he was required to take. He actually had been assigned in a group project with her before, and he fondly remembered how she had kept the group in check, being the only one brave enough to stand up to the student who refused to contribute work. There was just something.. so alluring to her. Something Ikuya couldn't quite place his finger on, but sparked his curiosity enough to capture his attention.

At first glance, Ikuya had felt slightly attracted to the girl once learning of her ambitious qualities, but brushed it off as they never had a reason to speak again after they finished the paper. That was until Hiyori suggested that he and Ikuya come to this 'cool new place' Hiyori discovered last week when he desperately searched for a cup of coffee after his agonizing Organic Chemistry lecture

Ikuya ignored his friend's question, bringing his drink to his lips, taking in the sweet aroma of the beverage. He always did love pistachio.

Deciding to squash the subject as well, Hiyori began talking about an upcoming tournament they were both going to participate in. In spite of that, Ikuya was still hooked on the presence of the (eye color) eyed girl, who was now focusing on eagerly preparing an order. Her eyebrows knotted and her forehead creased, he could tell she tended to put 100% of her focus on whatever she was doing at a given notice. He found a smile of his own tugging at his lips at the sight of the jovial girl, who radiated kindness and softness even when she was not speaking.

'She's just someone you worked with once, Ikuya. Why are you so interested?'

Ikuya found himself recalling the time he had worked with (Y/N)- three students assigned to a research paper, each agreeing to divide up the work. The three briefly met to discuss the assignment at the campus cafeteria.

"I'll write the page on muscle strain," a pompous boy in their group had declared. With just one look, Ikuya could already tell the boy was someone he wasn't going to like.

'Of course he's going to pick the one with the least amount of work,' Ikuya had mused to himself.

(Y/N)'s lips had spread into a thin line. "Hmm," she murmured, clearly not amused. "Really, Kirishima-san should be the one to write that paragraph, since it's the easiest one to do, and he's already doing the bibliography. He would probably also be the most educated on the matter here. Aren't you a swimmer?" (Y/N) spoke up, turning to Ikuya. Feeling overwhelmed at the pairs of eyes that had now landed on him, he just simply nodded. Ikuya found himself internally thanking the girl.

"I'm already passing this class. I'll only do it if it's that topic. If we don't pass this, my GPA won't be hurt. We can do this the easy way, or do it your way." the boy from earlier stated, shrugging.

"There's no way I'm going to let you bring everyone's grade down just because you want it easy. Just take another topic. It's only fair." (Y/N) argued. The boy looked irritated, probably not used to being told off like that. "Fine," he agreed. "Hopefully next time I'm not paired with someone as bossy as you. Freaking med students." he spat before stomping off. The pre-med major only scoffed in response.

Ikuya watched (Y/N) let out a sigh of frustration. Attempting to comfort her, he spoke up. "Thank you for settling that. I didn't have the energy to argue with him."

"Yeah, no problem, Kirishima-san." the girl smiled back at him. Ikuya couldn't help but notice she looked really devoid of energy. With the bags under her eyes and multiple cups of coffee he spotted her with throughout the day he assumed she was just overworked with school. The girl excused herself before making her way to her next class.

That was the extent of Ikuya's interaction with (Y/N)- so why was he so compelled to her? Perhaps he just felt indebted to her since she stood up for him. No matter the reason, the feeling was eating at him.

Hiyori stood up, stretching his arms out. When Ikuya remained still, he spoke up. "I'm going to head to practice. Are you coming?"

"Not yet. I'll catch up." the teal haired male responded. Hiyori frowned, but knew better than to question Ikuya's unusual behavior.

Once Hiyori had exited the coffee shop, Ikuya sat alone at the table for two, not quite sure why he hadn't chosen to walk with his friend. Before he knew it, his legs had a mind of their own and were leading him to (Y/N).

Not being occupied by any customers, (Y/N) greeted Ikuya with a grin. "Kirishima-san! Need anything else?"

"Ah, no. I just wanted to say..." Ikuya started, trailing off when he realized that the girl's full attention was really on him.

'Woah,' Ikuya found himself thinking. 'She's really pretty.'

"Yeah?" she called, amused at the boy's shyness.

"Thanks again for the thing with the project. That guy was a douche," was what Ikuya ended up saying, which he later scrutinized himself for bringing that up for a second time.

"Oh, that? No biggie. I've dealt with others like him before." she assured, waving it off.

"Wow. You must be really..." Ikuya started, only to be interrupted by (Y/N).

"Bossy?" she interjected, the sardonic look on her face leading Ikuya to believe that 'bossy' was something she heard a lot of. Figures. Unintelligent men trying to bring down a pioneering woman.

"No, I was going to say driven." Ikuya corrected.

"Thanks, Kirishima-san."

"Ikuya is fine."

"Okay, then. Ikuya." she repeated. Ikuya couldn't help but admire the way she said his name. He wanted to hear her talk more often.

"I'll see you around, (Y/N). I've got to get to practice." Ikuya said, walking to take his leave. Just as his hand was on the door, (Y/N) called his name.

"I really do hope to see you again, Ikuya."

Ikuya didn't know if she said that because she wanted him to come to the coffee shop more, or as classmates, or even as friends. But just the sheer fact that (Y/N) had said she wants to see him again was enough to keep him in a good mood for the rest of the day.