orange juice | watanabe haruto

OO5

➶ chapter 005

"63!" yuki poked a leaf with a pointed stick.

good thing her brain's working that she managed to think of a more enjoying way of clearing grounds.

she wiped the sweat trickling down from her forehead before looking at haruto.

he was busy cleaning too.

yuki blushed for the nth time today when she saw the distance between the both of them.

the professor told them to stick with their partner throughout the activity so they can grade them easily.

sure, yuki was beyond ecstatic, but she can't deny how much her heart is beating hastily.

it's been reacting like crazy since morning. this is like a scenario that's too good to be true for yuki. if it was a dream, then she will never ever want to wake up.

yuki went back to stabbing dried leaves with the stick she found lying on the ground.

"yu..."

she stopped from moving before shaking her head.

'imagination?... hmm...' she thought before continuing what she was doing.

she's been thinking alot these days that she's starting to hear things. after this, she thought of resting and sleeping on her bed 'til next day.

"yuki." haruto cleared his throat and approached her.

yuki flinched. she realized it wasn't her imagination at all but him calling her name.

slowly, she turned around and raised her eyebrows, asking for what.

"shouldn't we get a rake or something to clean easier?" haruto looked away and scrathed his nape. he wasn't used to talking with her. now, he's getting embarrassed.

same goes to yuki, nervous as ever. she wasn't sure of the words she's going to say resulting to the usual nod she does.

haru awkwardly nodded back and gestured they go to the janitor's closet by the outdoor sinks.

yuki left the stick beside a tree before she made steps towards haruto.

they were silently walking. everyone else was cleaning, sweeping, and picking up trash and leaves.

everyone was busy, everyone was moving, but why does she feel like everything else is in slow motion?

yuki clasped both of her hands together to calm herself down. she's feeling giddy and she can't scream everything out just 'cause she's walking beside haruto.

only god knows how much this boy can make her heart do a thousand of high jumps.

"you don't have to be too quiet." haruto suddenly broke the silence, causing yuki to flinch again.

she really gets surprised when haru talks to her.

"o-okay." yukinara looked away.

"i actually want to know you better," he didn't look at her, "you and mashiho hyung are already close."

yuki, somehow, had calmed down. she shot a sideward glance at him as he continued speaking.

"asahi hyung and you sometimes talk to each other too." he said and bit his lips.

they already arrived at the janitor's closet and the sun was already shining. any minute now, it's gonna get hot yet yuki wanted to hear more from him.

"so i was wonde–"

"we could be friends if you want." kanemoto freaking yukinara blurted out then later realizing what she had just done.

she didn't stutter (yay!) but she just had herself on the friendzone line. haruto looked at her quite surprised at the volume of her voice and her sentence.

yuki immediately waved both of her hands, "i-i didn't mean like– i mean yes! let's be f-friends, but don't think of me as s-someone weird!"

she panicked and started blushing. her gaze met with haruto's and now she feels like her knees are turning into jelly. she was worried that haru might find her weird because of her sudden actions.

"s-sure." he replied before pursing his lips. he never felt as nervous too.

haruto opened the closet and took a rake and a broom.

"which one would you use?" he asked while looking down.

"broom." yuki heaved a breath before holding the broomstick, taking it from him.

haruto nodded and took the rake for himself. he closed the closet and looked at yuki who was staring at him already.

yukinara blinked for several times before looking away. her heart started jumping again.

haruto also looked away as he started feeling weird. he started becoming nervous.

when he tried glancing at her again, she was looking at him already.

they locked gazes and stared at each other for a while before he broke into laughter, realizing they were acting really weird.

yuki blushed and contained a smile. she looked down and held the broomstick tightly.

haruto was about to speak when they heard steps coming their direction.

"this must be crazy love." a familiar person sang, making both cleaners look at the owner of the voice.

before haruto could even hit mashiho with the rake, yoshi and asahi pulled him and ran away.

both him and yuki now have faces as red as ripe tomatoes. they're both burning already.

"l-let's g-go." haruto tried his best to form coherent words before walking.

yuki silently followed behind him, breathing heavily, trying her very best to relax and not chase mashiho.