𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕤𝕥𝕚𝕞𝕦𝕝𝕒𝕥𝕖𝕕 | 𝕜.𝕜𝕠𝕫𝕦𝕞𝕖

awkward small talk

"as long as i'm here, you'll be okay."

having finished before her brother, hanako decided to wait for him by the gym. she was walking with sakurai, listening to her talk about the time she first fell in love with music. she could talk about it for hours.

naturally, hanako was the same, and there were paragraphs upon paragraphs of words that sat on her tongue, yet they fizzed out as soon as she opened her mouth, her throat constricting. she couldn't let herself become immersed in conversation, and she hated it.

sakurai sat on a bench outside the gym, and gestured for hanako to join her. "how long has your brother played basketball?" she asked, changing the subject and swinging her legs off the ground in a child-like manner.

hanako's brows furrowed as she tried to remember. "i think near the end of elementary school. he's really good, so i hope he can be a regular." sakurai nodded energetically.

"yeah, you can go to all his games and stuff! i wish i had a brother. from what i've heard, you two sound so close!" hanako hummed a small sound of agreement, even though she'd hardly spoken about herself or her family today.

they waited for just over ten minutes, hanako messing with her phone while sakurai talked her ear off. she didn't mind though, she liked the company. something about her reminded hanako of one of her friends back in miyagi.

finally, the doors of the gym opened. hanako didn't look up, scared she'd make eye contact with someone she didn't know. eye contact was terrifying.

kenma stepped out, immediately noticing the girls on the bench. well, he might not have looked that way if it wasn't for the blue-eyed girl's loud laughter.

"isn't that the new girl from your class?" kuroo asked, leaning his arm on kenma's head. in annoyance, kenma pushed him off, before glancing back at the brunette. why is she here?

sakurai looked up, before yelling, "hey! tora!" hanako flinched, not expected the girl beside her to begin shouting, gaining the attention of the boys.

"maki? what are you doing here?" the boy she spoke to asked, before his eyes set on hanako. "you gonna introduce me to your friend?"

she blinked, looking away immediately as she fiddled with her thumbs. it was something she did subconsciously when a situation was particularly uncomfortable. kenma noticed this.

sakurai laughed, sticking her tongue out at taketora. "you wish. i thought the basketball team were supposed to be in this gym today."

the boy nodded. "yeah, they were supposed to, but coach altered our schedules. he prefers this gym." sakurai agreed, saying something about the acoustics in gym a.

"so where's the basketball team?" she wondered, eyeing the members of the volleyball team who were still watching the whole scene. don't they have anything better to do? hanako was miserable.

"gym c, i think. that's the one behind the lab." tora said helpfully, and maki beamed at him. engulfing him in a quick hug, sakurai thanked him, before turning back to the nervous brunette behind her.

"come on! i bet he has loads to tell you about practice!" the white haired girl slid her arm through hanako's, and tugged her along.

kenma couldn't help but compare their dynamic to his and kuroo's. hanako's eyes were still trained on her phone as sakurai babbled on and on. they'd walked a few feet away, and the team had began to disperse before kuroo called out.

"hey, wait!" he jogged over to the girls as kenma's eyes widened. "i left my stuff in that gym at lunch when i thought we had practice there. mind if we go over with you?"

now, hanako wouldn't outright protest. if she tried, her guilt would claw away at her. so, she decided to endure the social interaction and make herself feel nauseous because she didn't want to be a burden. who was she to tell him no? besides, she was pretty sure he was asking sakurai anyway. not her. it wasn't her place to deny him.

kenma walked over to the group as maki agreed, glancing over at hanako, who was intensely focused on her hands. she'd put her phone away, probably so that she could pay attention to her friend. he instantly felt terrible for imposing.

the walk was a few minutes long, with sakurai and kuroo talking and laughing as if they'd known each other their whole lives. "hey, saito?" kenma asked quietly, making hanako's head snap up. "are you okay?"

no. that was the honest answer, she hated this. she felt out of place. "i-i'm fine. thank you, kenma." he smiled slightly, and she turned away.

unfortunately, sakurai heard the exchange and looked back at the flustered girl. "woah, first name basis? that's rare." she giggled, and hanako's face blanched considerably.

"i'm so sorry!" she blurted out, unable to help it when she began nervously rambling, not meeting his eyes. "it's just i heard your friend call you kenma - and katsuo called you kenma and you didn't correct him so i just assumed-"

"it's fine." he cut in, feeling kinda pissed that sakurai had made the situation weird for hanako. "i don't like it when people call me by my last name. everyone calls me kenma." his stomach felt kind of weird. that was the first time she'd ever said so much to him with that much energy. it was...cool.

hanako didn't believe him, yet she felt too embarrassed to ask him what his last name actually was. giving him a small nod, she focused on the ground, letting her hair cover her face - and her view of kenma.

he couldn't help but frown slightly when she did that. kenma wanted to see her. apparently, kuroo picked up on this. kenma didn't notice, but a mischievous smile tugged at the older boy's lips as he shook his head softly.

they all walked in silence for the last few metres to get to the gym. basketball practice wasn't over yet. sighing, hanako sat at the bench, and the rest followed suit. "i, uh, what are you doing?" her voice was quiet, and full of surprise as she spoke to sakurai.

"we're waiting with you, stupid." she laughed, making the shorter girl blush slightly. she didn't understand why kuroo and kenma were still there. kenma didn't quite get it either, he was just following kuroo.

"do you girls take the train?" kuroo asked, kicking a pebble. sakurai nodded, and hanako did the same. grinning, kuroo leaned back on the wall. "great. we can walk together."

not gonna happen. hanako didn't want to be forced into having to make conversation with people she didn't want to talk to. she felt slightly guilty knowing that she was prematurely judging them, but she couldn't help being afraid of them. she was only comfortable with...specific people.

what she didn't know yet, was that both boys would become a part of those specific people, with one of them being slightly more special to her than the other.

꧁꧂