lend me your ears | bokuto kotaro

4 ' contagious

Two days later, Hoshino prepared for another school week. She wasn't used to her new routine just yet, though it was simple. She would prepare breakfast for her and Nanaki, walk him to school, then head to hers.

Today, Hoshino came in earlier than usual and 10 minutes before her classes began, she was already walking down the hallways, searching for her classroom. She put the world on mute again and headed straight to her seat.

She spotted Bokuto and Shorifuku talking and she panicked, should she greet and wave at them? Or is that too much? She just talked to them once, are they friends? Or is presumptuous?

"Hello, Hoshi-san!" She read Bokuto's lips and eyed on his hand waving at her.

"G-goodmorning," she greeted back in a soft voice. She nudged her hearing aids on impulse, wanting to hear his voice.

"Good morning, Hoshi-san," Bokuto said.

"Good morning," Shirofuku greeted as well, much to her surprise.

Clumsily, she almost tripped on her seat as she tried to settle down. She unzipped her bag to get her notebook and got a glimpse of her PE uniform, reminding her of the dreadful hour of PE later. Other than her ridiculously low stamina, she hated wearing the uniform. She hated her figure and shorts emphasized her thick thighs.

After an hour of math class followed by another hour for history, it was time for PE. Hoshino had to change clothes like the rest of the class but she rarely joined them, primarily because of her hearing aids.

"Hoshino-san, you're out!" one of her classmates yelled right after a ball hit her shoulder.

"Finally," she mumbled and let out a sigh in relief.

She walked to the corner of the gym, hoping it was the best spot not to get hit by the ball. Just as she was about to turn her hearing aids again, she noticed Bokuto approach her from the crowd.

"Hoshi-san, Hoshi-san," he repeated her name. He loved the nickname he gave her as it literally meant a star.

"Yes, Bokuto-san?" she asked, raising a brow to her inquiry.

"Time for round 2 for the dodgeball, you should join us," he invited her and offered her a hand.

"Ah, I'll just watch," she rejected and looked away from his hand. However, persistently, Bokuto didn't pull away his hand yet. "Come on, it'll be fun," he insisted.

"They might hit my hearing aids," she reasoned.

"Hide behind me if you want, I'm pretty tall," he offered with a big smile. Contrary to Hoshino's quiet and reserved self, Bokuto was beaming with excitement. It was contagious. His smile, his energy, everything.

But Hoshino didn't want to be protected. "We can be the throwers instead," her tone remained shy and bashful.

"Yeah, that could work!" he gladly accepted. He extended his hand quite further towards her and with this, her cold hands his. His hand was warm; Bokuto himself was the definition of warmth.

"Bokuto-san, we're going to start now!" their classmates exclaimed. "Can you be the thrower?"

"Yup, yup. I want Hoshi-san to be the thrower too though!" They walk to the play area and unused to overhearing conversations on the sides, she focused her attention on Bokuto.

"They're going to choose two more players as throwers, I'll be on the opposite side, is that okay?" he asked, which she responded to with an immediate nod.

"G-goodluck!" she told him, exerting an effort to sound cheerful. "You too, Hoshi-san." Bokuto dashed to the other side and stretched his arms in preparation for this round.

The game began after a few moments and Yukimura, her partner for that side, had the ball. "You know the rules and all that, right?" he confirmed before throwing the ball.

"Yes," she said with a nod. How complicated could dodgeball get?

"Hoshi! Hoshi!" Bokuto yelled her name as he threw the ball forcefully.

Fortunately, she caught it before it flew past her and she held the ball, deciding what direction to throw it to.

"Throw it back, Hoshi! Hoshi!" he exclaimed, waving his arms enthusiastically.

Hoshino did as she was told and threw it straight to Bokuto, and the moment he had the ball, he speedily sent it to his left, making it bounce on quite a number of people. "Nice throw, Hoshi!" he complimented from a distance.

"But I didn't do anything," she muttered to herself as she gave him a nervous smile.

2 minutes had passed and only three people remained. It was much harder, of course, as they had more space to flee in. Bokuto, getting quite fired up, tried to end the game by throwing the ball rapidly. As he slammed the ball towards the other side, even Hoshino didn't see it coming.

Fortunately, Yukimura was quick to act on his instincts and caught the ball before it thumped her head. "Don't just stand there."

Expecting to be smacked by the ball, Hoshino already had her eyes closed, and upon hearing the other boy, peeked open an eye. "Huh?"

"Be careful."

"I'm, I'm sorry."

Bokuto's energy went down the drain after witnessing it in front of him. First, he felt his heart race as he almost slammed the ball on her face. Second, now another boy was pampering her, sort of. Well, at least that was what it looked like from his perspective. A lovey dovey scene after the guy saves the girl.

"Hey, throw the ball already!" Ueno, Bokuto's partner, called out.

The ends of Bokuto's hair slightly spiked down, signaling the start of his emo mode. The winner for that round? Definitely the other team.