𝐋𝐎𝐖𝐊𝐄𝐘 - 𝐑. 𝐒𝐔𝐍𝐀

𝐒𝐈𝐗𝐓𝐄𝐄𝐍

SIXTEEN
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Zumi Hoga once again sat quietly in the place where Suna and her usually sat down at lunch, though the only difference this time is that her friend was not there to accompany her. Her eyes stared up at the tree that looked quite like a candy treat that a handful of people liked, which is cotton candy.

    The Sun did not shine as brightly today compared to the other days and the weather was starting to get fairly colder despite the winds blowing the same strength like it did every day. But the temperature of the breeze was definitely a few degrees lower. A large portion of Cherry Blossoms fell down on the cement ground that its tree stood up on, but after each period of time, it is replaced by a new flower.

    Her teeth chewed the rice in inside her mouth as she watched for a few more seconds before she tilted her head down and her gaze travelled to the two people that were starting to approach her from a distance. They were rarely seen together because of the fact that their personalities clashed a bit even though they were playing on the same team, which is the reason why Zumi wondered why they were walking together.

    Suna had his hand tucked inside the pocket of his pants while his eyes looked like they were about to close at any moment because of how squinty it was. On the other hand, Kita walked firmly and more confidently with his posture straight and his hands lightly swung on his sides.

    Kita nodded his head towards her in greeting while Suna merely sat quietly by her right, his palms pressing down on the bumpy stone bench and clearly not minding the fact that the small stones marked his skin.

    "Hello, Hoga-san. I apologize for disturbing you, but I have to assign you a task for the upcoming school festival." Kita stated, stopping to stand in front of her while she was about to take a bite of the octopus-shaped hotdog.

    She slowly moved the hotdog away from her mouth and placed it back in her bento before saying, "Oh, sure. Please sit." She inched closer to Suna to make space for the light-haired boy to sit on the other side of the bench beside her.

    "Thank you."

    She closed her bento then turned her head to look at Kita who was already looking at her patiently. She clasped her hands together awkwardly then turned her gaze to the ground because of how intense his eyes looked. She was sure that there wasn't anything wrong with making eye-contact, but it was just something that made her feel a bit tense.

    He cleared his throat then began to speak, "I have been informed of your artistic skills and I was planning for you to help with painting the backgrounds for our costume photo booth." His gaze never wavered while she snuck a peek at his face, then looked at the ground almost instantly.

    "Uh, how did you know of my 'artistic skills'?" She grimaced at her words, wondering if she really had the skills in the first place. No one seemed to like the pieces that she made except for Suna.

    "Suna told me." Kita answered blankly and almost instantly.

    She turned her head to the other side to look at the tall brown-haired boy beside her, only to see that he was already looking away innocently, clearly trying to avoid being part of the conversation. She reached out towards his arm and pinched it lightly, making him jolt up in his seat in surprise. Suna looks at her while rubbing his arm but then sees that she was already looking at his captain again.

    "Are you sure you want me to do it? Aren't there any other students in our class that are good at painting or something" She asked unsurely, unintentionally trailing her left hand to scratch the skin between the fingers of her other hand in anxiousness. She tensed when someone took her right hand to stop her from making any further damage.

    Kita tilted his head to look at the second-year's actions in peculiarity before looking back at Zumi who didn't seem to mind.

He blinked then stated firmly, "I wouldn't be asking you if I know that you couldn't do it. I also trust my teammate's opinion so I'm going to base my expectations on what he believes. After all, I rarely ever hear Suna voice out compliments about anyone." He pauses while Suna shifts awkwardly on the bench.

Kita then adds, "The question is, are you up for it?"

    The way her fellow classmate's face remained stoic and how his words were straight-forward didn't help the growing feeling of nervousness that appeared from the moment he approached her for something important. But the comforting motions that traced and played with her right hand and in between her fingers that were covered with little rough splotches of dried wounds eased her erratic thoughts slightly.

She racked her brain over and over for a few seconds – maybe it's time for me to come out of my shell, even just for a little bit?

After a minute, she gives him a short and reluctant nod, "Okay, I'll do it. How many backgrounds am I supposed to make?"

"I'm still unsure so I'll have to discuss it with the other members. I'll inform you later in the afternoon or at night once I am done with practice, so is it alright if I have your number?" Kita asks, reaching out of his pocket to pull out a pen and paper which surprised her because of how prepared he always seemed.

"Sure." She reaches over for both objects and Suna released her hand from his hold to let her move freely.

Feeling the gaze of both of the boys that sat beside her and watching her write, she uncomfortably leaned down in an attempt to hide it. But alas, her hair was quite short so it didn't cover her writing up, making her contemplate on growing her hair longer.

In the middle of writing, she heard Suna mutter quietlyallong the lines about how she wrote so nicely. Though it was probably because of how she always drew so she had good control over her pen, but it was also probably because she didn't want them to see how she usually would write notes in class – she was sure that her notes looked close to squiggles and chicken scratches.

Once she was done, she hands Kita the piece of paper, "Here."

Kita gives her a grateful nod, "Thank you, Hoga-san. I look forward to working on this school project with you." With that, he stood up and left to go to wherever he was expected to be since he was the class president.

When Kita was already away from their field of vision, Zumi released a deep breath that she didn't even knew that she held then mumbled to the person who was left sitting beside her, "Is Kita-san always like that? No offence, but I felt a little pressured just talking to him."

Suna nods his head absentmindedly because of the sleepiness that was starting to take over him. He had already wanted to sleep from the moment he opened his eyes at the start of this day, and he greatly anticipated the moment when lunch would finally arrive. But he just had to run into his captain on his way to this place where he and Zumi shared.

"He's subconsciously like that, especially in the middle of our volleyball games..." He muttered, feeling his eyes close the longer he stared ahead. His arms that were leaned down on the bench for support wobbled when his head fell down abruptly. He woke up instantly right after he brought his head up once again, groaning in annoyance and embarrassment.

Zumi tilted her head as she glanced at the sleepy boy then asked, "Hey, are you alright?"

He nods his head shortly then lets out a small yawn, "Yeah, I'm just sleepy." He was surprised when he suddenly felt a hand hold the side of his head gently, pulling him down so his head laid comfortably on her lap.

She looked down at him then said with a minuscule smile, "Consider this payback for letting me sleep on your lap when I stayed over at your house."

He felt heat spread across his cheeks and the tips of his ears, making him bring his hand up to lay it over his eyes, muttering quietly, "Thanks." He kicked his feet lightly off the ground and laid his back flat on the bench while his feet pressed on the ground because of his height.

She only shrugs then picks up the book in the ground beside her while trying to not make too much movements then answers, "Sure. That's what friends are for, right? You can sleep for the remaining forty minutes of lunch, I'll just read and wake you up later."

A frown formed on his lips without realizing it then muttered, "Okay."

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