[Yankee-kun to Megane-chan] fic: Give Me Your Hand
I think I might make a rec post for this series. It's such a hilarious series. :)
Title: Give Me Your Hand
Fandom: Yankee-kun to Megane-chan
Word Count: 5116
Notes: Adachi/Shinagawa. Rated for Shinagawa's swearing. Written for Alianora for yuletide 2009. This is set roughly during Shinagawa's second year when he's part of the student council. The Japanese word, yubi, which means finger, is used a few times throughout the fic.
Summary: It starts with Adachi's crazy idea of drawing faces on their thumbs.
Archive: here
-----
"Hey, Shinagawa, give me your hand," exclaimed Adachi.
Before he even understood what she had said, she grabbed his hand and scribbled all over his thumb with a permanent marker. He immediately snapped out of his haze--the drama club sofa was really comfortable despite being way too short--and snatched his hand back from Adachi. Why had she even bothered to ask him to give her his hand when she was just going to take it anyway?
"What the hell did you do to my hand?" he spluttered. He turned his hand over to look at the damage she did. His eyes threatened to bulge out when he saw the ugly eyes and spiky hair she had doodled on his thumb.
"It's your fault for moving," said Adachi. "You ruined my masterpiece!"
"What part of this is a masterpiece!?" questioned Shinagawa incredulously. When he looked up from his thumb, he was greeted by a thumb that had glasses and braids drawn on it. It was none other than Adachi's thumb, and she was rudely shoving it in his face.
He then glanced down at his own thumb again. Wait, was she trying to draw him on his thumb!? The face on her thumb was clearly her. No one else had braids or oval glasses like that. When that thought finally went through his head, he exploded.
"I don't look so fucking stupid!" he shouted as he brandished his thumb at her, waving the little guy with the ugly eyes and spiky hair.
"Hmph, you're just delusional," said Izumi calmly from his spot at the table. He waggled his thumb at Shinagawa. Izumi also had glasses drawn on his thumb, except only one lens showed because the other was covered by his long hair, or what was supposed to be long hair. Shinagawa really couldn't tell with all the black ink on the other guys thumb. With the way Izumi was waving his thumb, it almost looked like his thumb was doing the talking.
Shinagawa closed his eyes and wished he were dreaming. When he opened his eyes, the thumbs with shaky drawings hadn't gone away.
They had multiplied.
One of them had pineapple-like hair and square glasses--that had to be Chiba. The other thumb had messy bangs that weren't filled in. It didn't really look like anyone, but the last remaining thumb could only belong to Himeji, Adachi's self-proclaimed right hand man.
Shinagawa scowled and swatted away the thumbs. At least, he tried. One moment, Chiba was trying to retract his hand quickly before Shinagawa could hit him, the next moment, their hands were clasped together thanks to Adachi.
He so did not join the student council to hold hands with a guy. Chiba was already sweating buckets because of the situation.
Adachi grinned and pushed her glasses up.
"I declare it, the first thumb war of the student council!"
He should have known she had something planned. He tried tugging his hand out of Chiba's. It was no use. The other boy was still shocked over Adachi's declaration.
-----
Adachi had wanted a tournament chart drawn up for their first thumb war, but like usual, she had no clue how to draw one. Izumi brandished the permanent marker, claiming that anyone with half a brain could draw up a tournament chart, and as the vice president, it was his job to do it. Who knew where that left Adachi, who clearly didn't know how to draw a tournament chart. Izumi drew up the chart in no time at all.
Shinagawa gritted his teeth. He was the vice president too! Damn Izumi for being so quick.
"Do we write the names here?" asked Adachi as she pointed at the bottom of the chart. Izumi nodded and explained to her how it worked. Adachi listened intently, or as intently as she ever listened. Her mind worked in weird ways.
Shinagawa peered at the chart she held, noting that one person was going to be seeded and sit out all the matches except the last one since they had an odd number of people.
"Hey, I want this spot-" began Shinagawa, but before he could finish, Adachi spun around and began writing furiously. She then stuck the tournament chart on the wall with a large smack, the sound resounding through the room. Chiba took a step back while Himeji covered her ears.
"And that's how the matches will go!" she exclaimed excitedly, stepping back to admire her work.
Shinagawa's jaw dropped. In the seeded spot was none other than Adachi Hana's name. And why was she still spelling his name wrong??
He then paused to think, his eyes roaming over the match ups. Clearly, he was easily going to win over Chiba. Even though Chiba's hands were larger than his, the other boy must have a weak grip to go along with his weak personality. The other match up was Izumi versus Himeji. Even though Himeji was a yankee, she was still a girl and had less strength than Izumi. Clearly, Izumi was going to win that one, and then it'd be him against Izumi. There was no chance in hell that he'd let Izumi win, so that meant that he'd come out as the winner of their bracket and face Adachi in the finals.
Shinagawa grinned. That had to be it. Adachi just wanted to battle with him! She liked him too much for her own good!
He cracked his knuckles, already looking forward to his match with Izumi and then Adachi. He'd have to hold Adachi's hand for the battle, but sacrifices had to be made. On the far side of the room, Himeji and Izumi's battle had already begun. The fast and furious pace of their battling thumbs was too much for the naked eye to capture.
"Let's do this, Chiba," exclaimed Shinagawa loudly.
Chiba gulped, and so began their thumb battle. Chiba's hands were really large. Shinagawa stared at those square glasses and that shock of unruly black hair on the enemy thumb. There was no way he was going to let such a nerdy thumb win! Shinagawa flexed his thumb and headed in for the kill, but Chiba jerked back. Before Shinagawa could retreat, he watched in horror as those square glasses and unruly black hair advanced on him and pinned his thumb down.
It was his turn to gulp, but hey, he didn't need to sweat here. Chiba only had him pinned down, but the guy had a weak grip. All he had to do was tug his thumb out...come on, he needed to save those ugly eyes and spiky hair on his thumb from an ugly death!
Easier said than done. Chiba began the count down. No matter how much Shinagawa tugged, he couldn't get his thumb out from underneath Chiba's.
"...two, one."
"And Chiba wins!" announced Adachi, her hand pointing towards Chiba.
"How the hell did that happen?" shouted Shinagawa as he shook his thumb furiously at Chiba. "Where have you been hiding this strength?"
The tall boy grinned sheepishly and rubbed the back of his head. "It's just my grip. I've been playing video games with Kumagaya-san. I do a lot of button mashing."
Shinagawa rolled his eyes.
When Chiba won against Izumi too, Shinagawa had to hand it to him. Shit, he was going to go with those computer nerds the next time they went to Akihabara and buy some new video games to train his grip!
In the end, however, Adachi won the tournament. Poor Chiba was still wincing from her ridiculous grip. Even though he'd been playing video games, Adachi was no slouch with video games either. Shinagawa remembered the time Adachi visited him when he was sick. She tore into all his video games and broke all the records.
"The loser treats us to dinner!" declared Adachi. Everyone swiveled to look at Shinagawa.
"Shit, you should have stated the terms before the matches," muttered Shinagawa before he saw that everyone was looking straight at him. "Hey, why are you all looking at me? Didn't she lose too?" exclaimed Shinagawa as he pointed at Himeji.
They continued to look at him.
He threw up his hands. "All right, jeez!"
Amidst the student council members' hurrays, Shinagawa glanced over at Adachi and smiled when he saw how utterly delighted she was.
-----
"I've never had okonomiyaki with my friends before!" said Adachi excitedly.
Shinagawa only grimaced in response. Okonomiyaki wasn't going to be easy on his wallet, but it was hard to refuse when Adachi was so excited. Besides, it was his first time having okonomiyaki with his friends too. He didn't bother to go to restaurants with Nerima. They usually just grabbed something simple to eat.
The five of them sat around the table with the hotplates and quickly ordered. Shinagawa ordered the three meats special while Izumi went for the most nutritious one. Chiba ordered a simple one. Himeji ordered the seafood special. Adachi, of course, had to order the mysterious special.
Their food soon came. Adachi stared at her bowl in confusion.
"What do I do with this?" asked Adachi, pointing at her raw ingredients.
Shinagawa sighed. "Here, hand it over-"
"I'll show you how," said Izumi. He took Adachi's bowl of ingredients and spread the ingredients on the hotplate in front of him. The ingredients sizzled the moment they touched the grill.
"Wow, you're like a pro!" exclaimed Adachi. She watched Izumi brandish the spatulas, one in each hand. She pushed her glasses up to get a better look, but her glasses merely fogged up the closer she got.
"Of course, I'm the vice president after all," said Izumi in reply. He tossed his hair, but his foggy glasses ruined the effect.
"I can do it better!" claimed Shinagawa, unwilling to admit defeat to Izumi. Why was Izumi helping Adachi so much anyway? He took his own ingredients and quickly spread them out on the hotplate before either Chiba or Himeji could claim a spot on it. He licked his lips in anticipation, waiting for his to be done enough so he could flip it.
Adachi lit up when Izumi moved to grab the sauce. "Are you adding sauce?" she asked.
When Izumi nodded, Adachi quickly snatched the sauce from him. "Let me!"
She hastily drew a self portrait in her famous style, braids and all. She grinned as she added faces to everyone else's without a care at how cooked theirs were yet.
"Thank you for the beautiful drawing, Hana-san!" exclaimed Himeji tearfully. "It's almost too beautiful to eat."
"Don't worry, I can help you eat it," said Adachi while patting Himeji's back.
Shinagawa bet that Adachi would help her eat it even if she didn't need any help.
When his finally finished cooking, he heaped his okonomiyaki on his plate. He was about to dig in when he glanced over at Adachi, wondering how hers had turned out with Izumi's help. He fully expected to see Adachi gobbling her food down and stealing from Chiba and Himeji's plates--Shinagawa was planning on guarding his own carefully--but instead of the scene he imagined, Adachi was looking down at her hands dejectedly.
A million thoughts ran through his head. Was Adachi not feeling well? Was she thinking of her granny, all alone at home without anyone enjoying dinner with her? Or maybe Adachi didn't want him to know that she didn't know how to eat okonomiyaki. That was it! She was embarrassed because she didn't want to look bad in front of him!
He was about to assure her when Adachi looked up, her clear eyes locking on with his.
"It's all righ-" he began.
"What should I do? I'm going to smear Hana-yubi and end up killing her if I pick up my chopsticks!" fretted Adachi.
Shinagawa blinked. Hana-yubi? What was that?
Adachi held her right thumb in front of Shinagawa. She fixed her glasses with her left hand. The mini glasses drawn on her hand looked like they were mocking Shinagawa.
He crashed into the table.
"You dumb-ass. You used permanent marker! It's not going to smear that easily. I wish it did so I could get rid of mine! Besides, aren't you left-handed??" exclaimed Shinagawa. He pointed at her accusingly.
"I am, but Granny says I have to eat with my right hand!"
Shinagawa sighed.
"Give me your hand."
Adachi raised an eyebrow.
"What?" he said defensively when everyone looked accusingly at him. "Why are you all looking at me like that? I'm just going to show her how to hold her chopsticks without using the top part of her thumb!"
It was really unfair. He didn't get a say when Adachi grabbed his hand to draw that stupid face on his thumb, but when he wanted her hand, they all looked accusingly at him like he had some ulterior motive! What kind of double standard was that?
Adachi, however, smiled happily and stuck her hand out. Shinagawa grudgingly placed the chopsticks in her hands and showed her how to position them. Adachi's hands were surprisingly small and dainty. He hadn't ever thought of her hands that way given how strong she was, but after battling it out with Chiba's huge hands, Adachi's were so small in comparison. Shinagawa found that he kind of wished he was the one in that final match with Adachi.
Himeji whacked his hand.
"Ow, what was that for?" grumbled Shinagawa.
"Haven't you held on to Hana-san's hand long enough?" protested Himeji.
This time, it was Shinagawa's eyebrows that shot up. He hadn't even known he was doing that.
Adachi ate her okonomiyaki happily, glancing up at Shinagawa every so often.
-----
On the way home, Shinagawa sent a text to Nerima.
shit, 1st she takes my hand n drws some ugly face, n then I lose like sum loser n hafta pay 4 every1. i'm broke now.
Nerima's text came back very quickly.
whoa man, WHO took ur hand? she pretty?
Shinagawa rolled his eyes. That was all Nerima ever thought about. He should have known Nerima wasn't the best candidate to vent at. He didn't know why he was so frustrated in the first place.
chill. only adachi.
His phone went off again.
ONLY adachi? she the braid gurl? u kno sumth1ng good? u talk bout her all the time.
Shinagawa frowned. So what if he talked about Adachi all the time? She was the one who kept pulling him into everything. Of course he was going to talk about her. He practically spent all his time with her.
so wat? she's a pest. can't do without me. n that bastard izumi always butts in.
He bristled just thinking about it.
yo man, u jealous.
He's WHAT? His jaws dropped. He almost fumbled the phone. He glared at the passengers around him, daring them to make fun of him. The old lady in front of him glared back. He quickly stood up and let her have his seat, opting to hang on to the rings of the train instead.
The thought of Izumi helping Adachi made him angry only because he saw Izumi as his rival, nothing else!
admit it, u like her.
Shinagawa almost fumbled his phone again.
Just what kind of crack was Nerima on? Adachi was the one who liked him, not the other way around!
-----
At home that night, Shinagawa sprawled over his bed and covered his face with his arm. He threw his cellphone to the corner of his room. He didn't feel like answering Nerima's texts. That guy had finally gone crazy after not being able to find a girlfriend for such a long time. There was no way Shinagawa liked Adachi in that way. Who would like such an abnormal girl? Besides, she was older than him! She always got lower grades than he did, and she had no qualms with entering the men's bathroom, or with yelling at him when he wouldn't comply with her, or with dragging him into ridiculous schemes all the time, or with flashing her underwear with her strong kicks...
Shinagawa's mind halted. He was so not thinking of Adachi's white underwear.
Okay, he had to admit that he wasn't entirely against Adachi's ridiculous schemes every single time. Sometimes she had good ideas, and without her, school would have been boring. He wouldn't have gotten to known Chiba, Izumi, Himeji , those computer nerds, and even those gal guys who now looked up to him. His classmates really opened up to him, and he wasn't all that feared anymore. He had never felt like such a normal student before Adachi had come along. He had a lot to thank her for.
When Adachi smiled, her smiles were quite sweet...
His mind flipped. Since when did Adachi and "sweetness" go together? It was time to focus on something else. It was all Nerima's damn fault that his mind was so messed up.
Shinagawa knew just what could firmly take his mind off Adachi. He turned on his VCR and put in his favorite risqué show, Big-titted Bounty Hunter Momoko. He never managed to get his copy back from Chiba, but he had found another copy at the video rental store. He immediately picked it up.
When the show started, Shinagawa leaned back, ready to let Momoko take his mind off of Adachi. There was no larger contrast than the one between Momoko and Adachi. Momoko had one hell of a figure with her amazing curves and large breasts that were almost spilling from her triangular bras. Those bras really didn't conceal much. Her face was also amazingly pretty. She had silky black hair just like Adachi, and clear eyes that stared straight at him...
Shinagawa fell off his bed. He hadn't overlapped Momoko with Adachi just now, had he? He was so doomed.
-----
It didn't make sense to Shinagawa. He didn't like Adachi in that way. He liked the ice princess who had taken Monshiro's entrance exam with him and lent him a pencil. She didn't even have a mechanical pencil and was so nervous during the test that she didn't even remember him, but her smile when she had passed was one that made his heart pound. He didn't understand why she hadn't come to Monshiro with how happy she'd been to pass the entrance exam. He liked her even though she had stood him up at the field trip.
That was why there was no way Shinagawa liked Adachi in that way. He knew himself. He wasn't a player, and Adachi wasn't his type anyway. He tried to convince himself of this, but when Adachi walked in through the door, Shinagawa couldn't help but glance over. Adachi had that kind of presence, and shit, she was coming his way.
She grabbed his hand without batting an eye. "Is Daichi-yubi still alive?" she questioned while peering at his hand.
Shinagawa felt his face heat up. Adachi had just used his first name. He knew she wasn't addressing him but rather his thumb, but hearing his name from her lips still startled him, and why the hell was she so open with touching a guy's hand anyway?
He roughly shook her hand off.
Adachi blinked and looked up at him. "Something wrong?"
"N-Nothing," he bit out before hastily leaving the room.
Gods, he was going to go crazy. How was he going to survive the day?
-----
During Math, Adachi threw a note at his desk, asking him the solution to a problem. Shinagawa resolutely ignored the note, but Adachi didn't relent. By the end of the period, Shinagawa's desk was completely covered with notes. Some even fell onto the floor. He didn't know how the teacher could be so blind and not see what was going on. He was tempted to turn around and tell her that her behavior wasn't very much like how a class representative should behave. That would have stopped her, but no, he was resolved to ignore her.
When she couldn't get a response out of him, Adachi turned to Izumi instead. That ticked Shinagawa off. He almost got up and headed over, but he stopped himself just in time. He was going to ignore Adachi for the entire day. He firmly believed that ignoring her was going to make these nonsensical feelings go away. That was why he rushed out of the room after the period ended. He quickly made his way over to the computer room.
"Shinagawa, what are you doing here again?" asked one of the computer nerds with buck teeth.
"Shut up, and let me play my game in peace," said Shinagawa. He loaded Battle Legend Online. In the game, all he needed to think about was how to sell his apples and bananas. There was no Adachi in the game to distract him. The life of a merchant was simple. It was all cold money.
Of course, he just had to run into Kumagaya in the game.
"What are you doing playing the game right now?" asked the towering Kumagaya. "Aren't you supposed to be with the student council? Are you making Adachi-san do all the work?"
Shit, he just wanted to be left alone. Why did he have to be with the student council all the time? Besides, it was just plain wrong hearing such a buff guy like in-game Kumagaya be such a worrywart. He hastily logged off without answering Kumagaya. Who knew where she was playing the game from anyway? She was supposed to be at school too.
He left the computer room, wondering where else he could hide.
-----
He passed by Chiba in the hallway. The tall boy was carrying a huge stack of papers.
"Have you seen Kumagaya-san today?" asked Chiba when he saw Shinagawa, which was quite a feat considering all the papers he had in front of him.
Shinagawa didn't even pause to think before answering, "I saw her online, playing Battle Legend."
"What?" exclaimed Chiba. His huge stack of papers threatened to fall over. Shinagawa quickly helped him straighten the stack.
"Thanks Shinagawa-kun," replied Chiba. He frowned. "I thought we helped her get over ditching school..."
Shinagawa, on the other hand, thought he had gotten away as the topic was far from him, but Chiba was sharper and more annoying than necessary.
"By the way, have you been avoiding Adachi-san today?"
Shinagawa groaned but denied it vehemently. He managed to escape Chiba's inquiries when they rounded the corner and Chiba's towering stack of papers flew from his grip. This time, Shinagawa didn't help him before he made his retreat.
-----
He escaped to the first year side of the school, praising himself for being so smart. Adachi and the others wouldn't think to search for him here, and he was sure he was not as well known to the first years as he was to the second years. He was completely wrong.
"Hey, Shinagawa-senpai, what brings you here?" exclaimed Nagano, the black-haired gal guy that had helped with the trash committee during the Monshiro festival. Both Nagano and his blond friend Matsumoto looked at him eagerly.
"Uh, to visit you two, of course!" lied Shinagawa. They looked so eager. They practically sparkled at his words.
"Let me introduce you to my friends!" exclaimed Matsumoto. "There's a bunch of girls in my class who want to get to know the vice president of our famous student council!"
Shinagawa let them lead him to their classroom, hoping the girls this time would be less of Nerima's type and more of his type. They might be able to help him stop thinking about Adachi.
He ran away immediately after the girls rushed to grab him. They were all Nerima's type.
-----
Shinagawa panted near the school gates, wondering if he should just ditch the rest of his classes and go home. That wouldn't count as running away, would it?
"Yo, Shinagawa, ditching school?" yelled Sagami, who wasn't even a student at Monshiro. He was clearly the one who was ditching school. "Could you pass on a message to Kasukabe?"
"How am I supposed to pass on a message to her when I'm supposedly ditching school?" asked Shinagawa. "You want me to go back in there?" He jerked his hand at the school behind him.
"Come on, it's just a small favor!"
Shinagawa sighed. He wasn't going to do this for free, but he felt like an idiot asking Sagami for advice. There were plenty of other better candidates, but Sagami was the only one available at the moment.
"Hey Sagami," started Shinagawa, "How'd you know you like Kasukabe?"
Sagami rubbed his nose. "Well, she smiled at me at the convenience store, and her smile's really cute. I can't stop thinking of her and I really want to hold her hand."
Well shit. Shinagawa didn't think of Adachi's smile as "cute," but he really liked her smile. He liked it when she was happy. And he was super conscious of whenever she held his hand. She was also on his mind all the fucking time.
"How do you know when you love someone..." muttered Shinagawa under his breath.
"You know when you love someone when you like them," said Sagami solemnly, as if he had all the answers.
Shinagawa was nodding in agreement before Sagami's words actually registered.
"Hey, don't parrot my words back at me!" exclaimed Shinagawa. "Adachi told you that, and I was the one who told Adachi that!"
-----
Shinagawa ended up going back into the building. He passed on Sagami's message to a delighted Kasukabe. The two looked like they were doing just fine with each other. He made his retreat to the men's restroom.
"Shit, I'm out of paper."
A roll of paper appeared underneath the stall.
"Hey, thanks man," said Shinagawa as he took the offered toilet paper.
"No need to thank me. Just tell me why you've been avoiding Adachi all day today. She's in a bad mood," came Izumi's voice from the next stall.
"IZUMI?" screamed Shinagawa. Fuck, did he have to scare him like that?
"Hey man, do you need to scream like a girl?"
Shinagawa almost thought Akita was going to appear out of nowhere, furious at being called a girl. He was glad it didn't happen. He glanced up, paranoid that Adachi might even appear at the top of his stall. He breathed a sigh of relief, but his relief was short-lived when he saw a pair of hands grab the top of his stall. Shit, someone was climbing his stall door, and that someone was most likely Adachi!
A blond head peeked over the stall. Himeji had her eyes almost completely shut. She opened her eyes in slits to examine the stall below her.
"Is Shinagawa in this one?" she yelled. "I can't see!"
"Then don't climb stalls in the men's restroom in the first place!" screamed Shinagawa. He threw the roll of toilet paper Izumi had handed him at her, knocking her from the top of his stall. It was only afterwards that he realized he was still out of paper.
-----
By the end of the day, Shinagawa was dead tired. No matter where he went, his classmates knew him. Since when had he become so popular that everyone was butting into his private life and inquiring after him? Why was it so hard to avoid people he knew?
He sighed.
Of course, it all came back to Adachi. Because of her, he actually had a school life. It was touching when he stopped to think about it.
He made his way back to his classroom, having left his bag there in his haste to escape. When he slid open the classroom door, he came face-to-face with none other than Adachi herself.
He gulped and slammed the door close.
He then turned and started running like hell.
"SHINAGAWA! WHY ARE YOU RUNNING AWAY FROM ME?" yelled Adachi at the top of her lungs. She followed close behind him.
"I don't know!" he screamed back. There was no way he was telling her how confused he was feeling! "Maybe because you're chasing me????"
"Stop running and I'll stop chasing!" she yelled.
"Fuck that, I'm not going to stop and get caught!" he yelled.
"Then don't blame me!"
Wait, what?
Shinagawa glanced back, wondering what Adachi meant. He wished he hadn't wasted that second in glancing back because that second was all Adachi needed to get close enough to kick at him.
Adachi's leg flew at him, her skirt fluttering, letting him catch a glimpse of her white underwear before her knee smacked right into his face and his forgotten book bag that she had grabbed for him knocked into his stomach, stealing all his air. Shinagawa was immediately down.
"Finally, what's gotten into you?" asked Adachi while straddling Shinagawa.
Shit, all of his blood was rushing to parts he didn't want to think about. This was bad, really bad. He shoved Adachi off--that was the quickest solution he could think of--and grabbed her shoulders.
Adachi stared at him from behind her glasses.
"I really like it when you smile," he said even as he was cringing inside at his own cheesy words and an angel version of him was telling himself he was betraying his ice queen, the girl of his dreams. What in the world was he doing? He was clearly out of his mind. Adachi was the one who liked him! Not the other way around. She was totally going to misunderstand. He bet she was ecstatic at his words.
"Oh, okay," smiled Adachi. "I'll smile more then."
Damn, her smile was really cute. And now he was thinking of Adachi and cute in the same sentence. There was something wrong with him. She wasn't even reacting in the right way.
"I want to hold your hands," he continued, hoping she'd get what he was saying.
"Easily done!" said Adachi. She placed her hand over his and brought them away from her shoulders.
His eyebrows shot into his hairline. Was it really that simple? He glanced at their connected right hands wondrously.
Adachi wasn't looking up though. That was worrying.
"Adachi, you-" he began.
"...three, two..."
Adachi was murmuring under her breath. Wait a minute...
"One!" exclaimed Adachi. "I win!"
She raised their connected hands up, and he realized that her thumb had his pinned down all this time.
She let go of his hand and waved her thumb in front of his face. Those stupid oval glasses and braids drawn with permanent marker were mocking him for sure. "Hana-yubi wins!"
He smacked his face. Adachi merely smiled at him with her head tilted to the side. She had no clue what kind of turmoil he had gone through today. Adachi was so stupid and oblivious. She frustrated him so much, yet he couldn't imagine not having her around.
"Shinagawa?" prompted Adachi. She poked at his slumped form.
"...give me your hand," he muttered under his breath.
"Huh?"
Shinagawa grabbed her hand without further explanation and tugged her along, his heart thumping at having her hand in his.
"Wait, Shinagawa..."
He grinned. Adachi was stupid. He was even more stupid for liking her.
"I'm not going to let Hana-yubi win all the time! It's Daichi-yubi's time to shine now!" he declared.
"What!" sputtered Adachi. "I'm not going to let that happen!"
Before he knew it, she had him sailing over her shoulders.
Oh yes. He was definitely stupid for liking a girl like Adachi.
-----
the end
Title: Give Me Your Hand
Fandom: Yankee-kun to Megane-chan
Word Count: 5116
Notes: Adachi/Shinagawa. Rated for Shinagawa's swearing. Written for Alianora for yuletide 2009. This is set roughly during Shinagawa's second year when he's part of the student council. The Japanese word, yubi, which means finger, is used a few times throughout the fic.
Summary: It starts with Adachi's crazy idea of drawing faces on their thumbs.
Archive: here
-----
"Hey, Shinagawa, give me your hand," exclaimed Adachi.
Before he even understood what she had said, she grabbed his hand and scribbled all over his thumb with a permanent marker. He immediately snapped out of his haze--the drama club sofa was really comfortable despite being way too short--and snatched his hand back from Adachi. Why had she even bothered to ask him to give her his hand when she was just going to take it anyway?
"What the hell did you do to my hand?" he spluttered. He turned his hand over to look at the damage she did. His eyes threatened to bulge out when he saw the ugly eyes and spiky hair she had doodled on his thumb.
"It's your fault for moving," said Adachi. "You ruined my masterpiece!"
"What part of this is a masterpiece!?" questioned Shinagawa incredulously. When he looked up from his thumb, he was greeted by a thumb that had glasses and braids drawn on it. It was none other than Adachi's thumb, and she was rudely shoving it in his face.
He then glanced down at his own thumb again. Wait, was she trying to draw him on his thumb!? The face on her thumb was clearly her. No one else had braids or oval glasses like that. When that thought finally went through his head, he exploded.
"I don't look so fucking stupid!" he shouted as he brandished his thumb at her, waving the little guy with the ugly eyes and spiky hair.
"Hmph, you're just delusional," said Izumi calmly from his spot at the table. He waggled his thumb at Shinagawa. Izumi also had glasses drawn on his thumb, except only one lens showed because the other was covered by his long hair, or what was supposed to be long hair. Shinagawa really couldn't tell with all the black ink on the other guys thumb. With the way Izumi was waving his thumb, it almost looked like his thumb was doing the talking.
Shinagawa closed his eyes and wished he were dreaming. When he opened his eyes, the thumbs with shaky drawings hadn't gone away.
They had multiplied.
One of them had pineapple-like hair and square glasses--that had to be Chiba. The other thumb had messy bangs that weren't filled in. It didn't really look like anyone, but the last remaining thumb could only belong to Himeji, Adachi's self-proclaimed right hand man.
Shinagawa scowled and swatted away the thumbs. At least, he tried. One moment, Chiba was trying to retract his hand quickly before Shinagawa could hit him, the next moment, their hands were clasped together thanks to Adachi.
He so did not join the student council to hold hands with a guy. Chiba was already sweating buckets because of the situation.
Adachi grinned and pushed her glasses up.
"I declare it, the first thumb war of the student council!"
He should have known she had something planned. He tried tugging his hand out of Chiba's. It was no use. The other boy was still shocked over Adachi's declaration.
-----
Adachi had wanted a tournament chart drawn up for their first thumb war, but like usual, she had no clue how to draw one. Izumi brandished the permanent marker, claiming that anyone with half a brain could draw up a tournament chart, and as the vice president, it was his job to do it. Who knew where that left Adachi, who clearly didn't know how to draw a tournament chart. Izumi drew up the chart in no time at all.
Shinagawa gritted his teeth. He was the vice president too! Damn Izumi for being so quick.
"Do we write the names here?" asked Adachi as she pointed at the bottom of the chart. Izumi nodded and explained to her how it worked. Adachi listened intently, or as intently as she ever listened. Her mind worked in weird ways.
Shinagawa peered at the chart she held, noting that one person was going to be seeded and sit out all the matches except the last one since they had an odd number of people.
"Hey, I want this spot-" began Shinagawa, but before he could finish, Adachi spun around and began writing furiously. She then stuck the tournament chart on the wall with a large smack, the sound resounding through the room. Chiba took a step back while Himeji covered her ears.
"And that's how the matches will go!" she exclaimed excitedly, stepping back to admire her work.
Shinagawa's jaw dropped. In the seeded spot was none other than Adachi Hana's name. And why was she still spelling his name wrong??
He then paused to think, his eyes roaming over the match ups. Clearly, he was easily going to win over Chiba. Even though Chiba's hands were larger than his, the other boy must have a weak grip to go along with his weak personality. The other match up was Izumi versus Himeji. Even though Himeji was a yankee, she was still a girl and had less strength than Izumi. Clearly, Izumi was going to win that one, and then it'd be him against Izumi. There was no chance in hell that he'd let Izumi win, so that meant that he'd come out as the winner of their bracket and face Adachi in the finals.
Shinagawa grinned. That had to be it. Adachi just wanted to battle with him! She liked him too much for her own good!
He cracked his knuckles, already looking forward to his match with Izumi and then Adachi. He'd have to hold Adachi's hand for the battle, but sacrifices had to be made. On the far side of the room, Himeji and Izumi's battle had already begun. The fast and furious pace of their battling thumbs was too much for the naked eye to capture.
"Let's do this, Chiba," exclaimed Shinagawa loudly.
Chiba gulped, and so began their thumb battle. Chiba's hands were really large. Shinagawa stared at those square glasses and that shock of unruly black hair on the enemy thumb. There was no way he was going to let such a nerdy thumb win! Shinagawa flexed his thumb and headed in for the kill, but Chiba jerked back. Before Shinagawa could retreat, he watched in horror as those square glasses and unruly black hair advanced on him and pinned his thumb down.
It was his turn to gulp, but hey, he didn't need to sweat here. Chiba only had him pinned down, but the guy had a weak grip. All he had to do was tug his thumb out...come on, he needed to save those ugly eyes and spiky hair on his thumb from an ugly death!
Easier said than done. Chiba began the count down. No matter how much Shinagawa tugged, he couldn't get his thumb out from underneath Chiba's.
"...two, one."
"And Chiba wins!" announced Adachi, her hand pointing towards Chiba.
"How the hell did that happen?" shouted Shinagawa as he shook his thumb furiously at Chiba. "Where have you been hiding this strength?"
The tall boy grinned sheepishly and rubbed the back of his head. "It's just my grip. I've been playing video games with Kumagaya-san. I do a lot of button mashing."
Shinagawa rolled his eyes.
When Chiba won against Izumi too, Shinagawa had to hand it to him. Shit, he was going to go with those computer nerds the next time they went to Akihabara and buy some new video games to train his grip!
In the end, however, Adachi won the tournament. Poor Chiba was still wincing from her ridiculous grip. Even though he'd been playing video games, Adachi was no slouch with video games either. Shinagawa remembered the time Adachi visited him when he was sick. She tore into all his video games and broke all the records.
"The loser treats us to dinner!" declared Adachi. Everyone swiveled to look at Shinagawa.
"Shit, you should have stated the terms before the matches," muttered Shinagawa before he saw that everyone was looking straight at him. "Hey, why are you all looking at me? Didn't she lose too?" exclaimed Shinagawa as he pointed at Himeji.
They continued to look at him.
He threw up his hands. "All right, jeez!"
Amidst the student council members' hurrays, Shinagawa glanced over at Adachi and smiled when he saw how utterly delighted she was.
-----
"I've never had okonomiyaki with my friends before!" said Adachi excitedly.
Shinagawa only grimaced in response. Okonomiyaki wasn't going to be easy on his wallet, but it was hard to refuse when Adachi was so excited. Besides, it was his first time having okonomiyaki with his friends too. He didn't bother to go to restaurants with Nerima. They usually just grabbed something simple to eat.
The five of them sat around the table with the hotplates and quickly ordered. Shinagawa ordered the three meats special while Izumi went for the most nutritious one. Chiba ordered a simple one. Himeji ordered the seafood special. Adachi, of course, had to order the mysterious special.
Their food soon came. Adachi stared at her bowl in confusion.
"What do I do with this?" asked Adachi, pointing at her raw ingredients.
Shinagawa sighed. "Here, hand it over-"
"I'll show you how," said Izumi. He took Adachi's bowl of ingredients and spread the ingredients on the hotplate in front of him. The ingredients sizzled the moment they touched the grill.
"Wow, you're like a pro!" exclaimed Adachi. She watched Izumi brandish the spatulas, one in each hand. She pushed her glasses up to get a better look, but her glasses merely fogged up the closer she got.
"Of course, I'm the vice president after all," said Izumi in reply. He tossed his hair, but his foggy glasses ruined the effect.
"I can do it better!" claimed Shinagawa, unwilling to admit defeat to Izumi. Why was Izumi helping Adachi so much anyway? He took his own ingredients and quickly spread them out on the hotplate before either Chiba or Himeji could claim a spot on it. He licked his lips in anticipation, waiting for his to be done enough so he could flip it.
Adachi lit up when Izumi moved to grab the sauce. "Are you adding sauce?" she asked.
When Izumi nodded, Adachi quickly snatched the sauce from him. "Let me!"
She hastily drew a self portrait in her famous style, braids and all. She grinned as she added faces to everyone else's without a care at how cooked theirs were yet.
"Thank you for the beautiful drawing, Hana-san!" exclaimed Himeji tearfully. "It's almost too beautiful to eat."
"Don't worry, I can help you eat it," said Adachi while patting Himeji's back.
Shinagawa bet that Adachi would help her eat it even if she didn't need any help.
When his finally finished cooking, he heaped his okonomiyaki on his plate. He was about to dig in when he glanced over at Adachi, wondering how hers had turned out with Izumi's help. He fully expected to see Adachi gobbling her food down and stealing from Chiba and Himeji's plates--Shinagawa was planning on guarding his own carefully--but instead of the scene he imagined, Adachi was looking down at her hands dejectedly.
A million thoughts ran through his head. Was Adachi not feeling well? Was she thinking of her granny, all alone at home without anyone enjoying dinner with her? Or maybe Adachi didn't want him to know that she didn't know how to eat okonomiyaki. That was it! She was embarrassed because she didn't want to look bad in front of him!
He was about to assure her when Adachi looked up, her clear eyes locking on with his.
"It's all righ-" he began.
"What should I do? I'm going to smear Hana-yubi and end up killing her if I pick up my chopsticks!" fretted Adachi.
Shinagawa blinked. Hana-yubi? What was that?
Adachi held her right thumb in front of Shinagawa. She fixed her glasses with her left hand. The mini glasses drawn on her hand looked like they were mocking Shinagawa.
He crashed into the table.
"You dumb-ass. You used permanent marker! It's not going to smear that easily. I wish it did so I could get rid of mine! Besides, aren't you left-handed??" exclaimed Shinagawa. He pointed at her accusingly.
"I am, but Granny says I have to eat with my right hand!"
Shinagawa sighed.
"Give me your hand."
Adachi raised an eyebrow.
"What?" he said defensively when everyone looked accusingly at him. "Why are you all looking at me like that? I'm just going to show her how to hold her chopsticks without using the top part of her thumb!"
It was really unfair. He didn't get a say when Adachi grabbed his hand to draw that stupid face on his thumb, but when he wanted her hand, they all looked accusingly at him like he had some ulterior motive! What kind of double standard was that?
Adachi, however, smiled happily and stuck her hand out. Shinagawa grudgingly placed the chopsticks in her hands and showed her how to position them. Adachi's hands were surprisingly small and dainty. He hadn't ever thought of her hands that way given how strong she was, but after battling it out with Chiba's huge hands, Adachi's were so small in comparison. Shinagawa found that he kind of wished he was the one in that final match with Adachi.
Himeji whacked his hand.
"Ow, what was that for?" grumbled Shinagawa.
"Haven't you held on to Hana-san's hand long enough?" protested Himeji.
This time, it was Shinagawa's eyebrows that shot up. He hadn't even known he was doing that.
Adachi ate her okonomiyaki happily, glancing up at Shinagawa every so often.
-----
On the way home, Shinagawa sent a text to Nerima.
shit, 1st she takes my hand n drws some ugly face, n then I lose like sum loser n hafta pay 4 every1. i'm broke now.
Nerima's text came back very quickly.
whoa man, WHO took ur hand? she pretty?
Shinagawa rolled his eyes. That was all Nerima ever thought about. He should have known Nerima wasn't the best candidate to vent at. He didn't know why he was so frustrated in the first place.
chill. only adachi.
His phone went off again.
ONLY adachi? she the braid gurl? u kno sumth1ng good? u talk bout her all the time.
Shinagawa frowned. So what if he talked about Adachi all the time? She was the one who kept pulling him into everything. Of course he was going to talk about her. He practically spent all his time with her.
so wat? she's a pest. can't do without me. n that bastard izumi always butts in.
He bristled just thinking about it.
yo man, u jealous.
He's WHAT? His jaws dropped. He almost fumbled the phone. He glared at the passengers around him, daring them to make fun of him. The old lady in front of him glared back. He quickly stood up and let her have his seat, opting to hang on to the rings of the train instead.
The thought of Izumi helping Adachi made him angry only because he saw Izumi as his rival, nothing else!
admit it, u like her.
Shinagawa almost fumbled his phone again.
Just what kind of crack was Nerima on? Adachi was the one who liked him, not the other way around!
-----
At home that night, Shinagawa sprawled over his bed and covered his face with his arm. He threw his cellphone to the corner of his room. He didn't feel like answering Nerima's texts. That guy had finally gone crazy after not being able to find a girlfriend for such a long time. There was no way Shinagawa liked Adachi in that way. Who would like such an abnormal girl? Besides, she was older than him! She always got lower grades than he did, and she had no qualms with entering the men's bathroom, or with yelling at him when he wouldn't comply with her, or with dragging him into ridiculous schemes all the time, or with flashing her underwear with her strong kicks...
Shinagawa's mind halted. He was so not thinking of Adachi's white underwear.
Okay, he had to admit that he wasn't entirely against Adachi's ridiculous schemes every single time. Sometimes she had good ideas, and without her, school would have been boring. He wouldn't have gotten to known Chiba, Izumi, Himeji , those computer nerds, and even those gal guys who now looked up to him. His classmates really opened up to him, and he wasn't all that feared anymore. He had never felt like such a normal student before Adachi had come along. He had a lot to thank her for.
When Adachi smiled, her smiles were quite sweet...
His mind flipped. Since when did Adachi and "sweetness" go together? It was time to focus on something else. It was all Nerima's damn fault that his mind was so messed up.
Shinagawa knew just what could firmly take his mind off Adachi. He turned on his VCR and put in his favorite risqué show, Big-titted Bounty Hunter Momoko. He never managed to get his copy back from Chiba, but he had found another copy at the video rental store. He immediately picked it up.
When the show started, Shinagawa leaned back, ready to let Momoko take his mind off of Adachi. There was no larger contrast than the one between Momoko and Adachi. Momoko had one hell of a figure with her amazing curves and large breasts that were almost spilling from her triangular bras. Those bras really didn't conceal much. Her face was also amazingly pretty. She had silky black hair just like Adachi, and clear eyes that stared straight at him...
Shinagawa fell off his bed. He hadn't overlapped Momoko with Adachi just now, had he? He was so doomed.
-----
It didn't make sense to Shinagawa. He didn't like Adachi in that way. He liked the ice princess who had taken Monshiro's entrance exam with him and lent him a pencil. She didn't even have a mechanical pencil and was so nervous during the test that she didn't even remember him, but her smile when she had passed was one that made his heart pound. He didn't understand why she hadn't come to Monshiro with how happy she'd been to pass the entrance exam. He liked her even though she had stood him up at the field trip.
That was why there was no way Shinagawa liked Adachi in that way. He knew himself. He wasn't a player, and Adachi wasn't his type anyway. He tried to convince himself of this, but when Adachi walked in through the door, Shinagawa couldn't help but glance over. Adachi had that kind of presence, and shit, she was coming his way.
She grabbed his hand without batting an eye. "Is Daichi-yubi still alive?" she questioned while peering at his hand.
Shinagawa felt his face heat up. Adachi had just used his first name. He knew she wasn't addressing him but rather his thumb, but hearing his name from her lips still startled him, and why the hell was she so open with touching a guy's hand anyway?
He roughly shook her hand off.
Adachi blinked and looked up at him. "Something wrong?"
"N-Nothing," he bit out before hastily leaving the room.
Gods, he was going to go crazy. How was he going to survive the day?
-----
During Math, Adachi threw a note at his desk, asking him the solution to a problem. Shinagawa resolutely ignored the note, but Adachi didn't relent. By the end of the period, Shinagawa's desk was completely covered with notes. Some even fell onto the floor. He didn't know how the teacher could be so blind and not see what was going on. He was tempted to turn around and tell her that her behavior wasn't very much like how a class representative should behave. That would have stopped her, but no, he was resolved to ignore her.
When she couldn't get a response out of him, Adachi turned to Izumi instead. That ticked Shinagawa off. He almost got up and headed over, but he stopped himself just in time. He was going to ignore Adachi for the entire day. He firmly believed that ignoring her was going to make these nonsensical feelings go away. That was why he rushed out of the room after the period ended. He quickly made his way over to the computer room.
"Shinagawa, what are you doing here again?" asked one of the computer nerds with buck teeth.
"Shut up, and let me play my game in peace," said Shinagawa. He loaded Battle Legend Online. In the game, all he needed to think about was how to sell his apples and bananas. There was no Adachi in the game to distract him. The life of a merchant was simple. It was all cold money.
Of course, he just had to run into Kumagaya in the game.
"What are you doing playing the game right now?" asked the towering Kumagaya. "Aren't you supposed to be with the student council? Are you making Adachi-san do all the work?"
Shit, he just wanted to be left alone. Why did he have to be with the student council all the time? Besides, it was just plain wrong hearing such a buff guy like in-game Kumagaya be such a worrywart. He hastily logged off without answering Kumagaya. Who knew where she was playing the game from anyway? She was supposed to be at school too.
He left the computer room, wondering where else he could hide.
-----
He passed by Chiba in the hallway. The tall boy was carrying a huge stack of papers.
"Have you seen Kumagaya-san today?" asked Chiba when he saw Shinagawa, which was quite a feat considering all the papers he had in front of him.
Shinagawa didn't even pause to think before answering, "I saw her online, playing Battle Legend."
"What?" exclaimed Chiba. His huge stack of papers threatened to fall over. Shinagawa quickly helped him straighten the stack.
"Thanks Shinagawa-kun," replied Chiba. He frowned. "I thought we helped her get over ditching school..."
Shinagawa, on the other hand, thought he had gotten away as the topic was far from him, but Chiba was sharper and more annoying than necessary.
"By the way, have you been avoiding Adachi-san today?"
Shinagawa groaned but denied it vehemently. He managed to escape Chiba's inquiries when they rounded the corner and Chiba's towering stack of papers flew from his grip. This time, Shinagawa didn't help him before he made his retreat.
-----
He escaped to the first year side of the school, praising himself for being so smart. Adachi and the others wouldn't think to search for him here, and he was sure he was not as well known to the first years as he was to the second years. He was completely wrong.
"Hey, Shinagawa-senpai, what brings you here?" exclaimed Nagano, the black-haired gal guy that had helped with the trash committee during the Monshiro festival. Both Nagano and his blond friend Matsumoto looked at him eagerly.
"Uh, to visit you two, of course!" lied Shinagawa. They looked so eager. They practically sparkled at his words.
"Let me introduce you to my friends!" exclaimed Matsumoto. "There's a bunch of girls in my class who want to get to know the vice president of our famous student council!"
Shinagawa let them lead him to their classroom, hoping the girls this time would be less of Nerima's type and more of his type. They might be able to help him stop thinking about Adachi.
He ran away immediately after the girls rushed to grab him. They were all Nerima's type.
-----
Shinagawa panted near the school gates, wondering if he should just ditch the rest of his classes and go home. That wouldn't count as running away, would it?
"Yo, Shinagawa, ditching school?" yelled Sagami, who wasn't even a student at Monshiro. He was clearly the one who was ditching school. "Could you pass on a message to Kasukabe?"
"How am I supposed to pass on a message to her when I'm supposedly ditching school?" asked Shinagawa. "You want me to go back in there?" He jerked his hand at the school behind him.
"Come on, it's just a small favor!"
Shinagawa sighed. He wasn't going to do this for free, but he felt like an idiot asking Sagami for advice. There were plenty of other better candidates, but Sagami was the only one available at the moment.
"Hey Sagami," started Shinagawa, "How'd you know you like Kasukabe?"
Sagami rubbed his nose. "Well, she smiled at me at the convenience store, and her smile's really cute. I can't stop thinking of her and I really want to hold her hand."
Well shit. Shinagawa didn't think of Adachi's smile as "cute," but he really liked her smile. He liked it when she was happy. And he was super conscious of whenever she held his hand. She was also on his mind all the fucking time.
"How do you know when you love someone..." muttered Shinagawa under his breath.
"You know when you love someone when you like them," said Sagami solemnly, as if he had all the answers.
Shinagawa was nodding in agreement before Sagami's words actually registered.
"Hey, don't parrot my words back at me!" exclaimed Shinagawa. "Adachi told you that, and I was the one who told Adachi that!"
-----
Shinagawa ended up going back into the building. He passed on Sagami's message to a delighted Kasukabe. The two looked like they were doing just fine with each other. He made his retreat to the men's restroom.
"Shit, I'm out of paper."
A roll of paper appeared underneath the stall.
"Hey, thanks man," said Shinagawa as he took the offered toilet paper.
"No need to thank me. Just tell me why you've been avoiding Adachi all day today. She's in a bad mood," came Izumi's voice from the next stall.
"IZUMI?" screamed Shinagawa. Fuck, did he have to scare him like that?
"Hey man, do you need to scream like a girl?"
Shinagawa almost thought Akita was going to appear out of nowhere, furious at being called a girl. He was glad it didn't happen. He glanced up, paranoid that Adachi might even appear at the top of his stall. He breathed a sigh of relief, but his relief was short-lived when he saw a pair of hands grab the top of his stall. Shit, someone was climbing his stall door, and that someone was most likely Adachi!
A blond head peeked over the stall. Himeji had her eyes almost completely shut. She opened her eyes in slits to examine the stall below her.
"Is Shinagawa in this one?" she yelled. "I can't see!"
"Then don't climb stalls in the men's restroom in the first place!" screamed Shinagawa. He threw the roll of toilet paper Izumi had handed him at her, knocking her from the top of his stall. It was only afterwards that he realized he was still out of paper.
-----
By the end of the day, Shinagawa was dead tired. No matter where he went, his classmates knew him. Since when had he become so popular that everyone was butting into his private life and inquiring after him? Why was it so hard to avoid people he knew?
He sighed.
Of course, it all came back to Adachi. Because of her, he actually had a school life. It was touching when he stopped to think about it.
He made his way back to his classroom, having left his bag there in his haste to escape. When he slid open the classroom door, he came face-to-face with none other than Adachi herself.
He gulped and slammed the door close.
He then turned and started running like hell.
"SHINAGAWA! WHY ARE YOU RUNNING AWAY FROM ME?" yelled Adachi at the top of her lungs. She followed close behind him.
"I don't know!" he screamed back. There was no way he was telling her how confused he was feeling! "Maybe because you're chasing me????"
"Stop running and I'll stop chasing!" she yelled.
"Fuck that, I'm not going to stop and get caught!" he yelled.
"Then don't blame me!"
Wait, what?
Shinagawa glanced back, wondering what Adachi meant. He wished he hadn't wasted that second in glancing back because that second was all Adachi needed to get close enough to kick at him.
Adachi's leg flew at him, her skirt fluttering, letting him catch a glimpse of her white underwear before her knee smacked right into his face and his forgotten book bag that she had grabbed for him knocked into his stomach, stealing all his air. Shinagawa was immediately down.
"Finally, what's gotten into you?" asked Adachi while straddling Shinagawa.
Shit, all of his blood was rushing to parts he didn't want to think about. This was bad, really bad. He shoved Adachi off--that was the quickest solution he could think of--and grabbed her shoulders.
Adachi stared at him from behind her glasses.
"I really like it when you smile," he said even as he was cringing inside at his own cheesy words and an angel version of him was telling himself he was betraying his ice queen, the girl of his dreams. What in the world was he doing? He was clearly out of his mind. Adachi was the one who liked him! Not the other way around. She was totally going to misunderstand. He bet she was ecstatic at his words.
"Oh, okay," smiled Adachi. "I'll smile more then."
Damn, her smile was really cute. And now he was thinking of Adachi and cute in the same sentence. There was something wrong with him. She wasn't even reacting in the right way.
"I want to hold your hands," he continued, hoping she'd get what he was saying.
"Easily done!" said Adachi. She placed her hand over his and brought them away from her shoulders.
His eyebrows shot into his hairline. Was it really that simple? He glanced at their connected right hands wondrously.
Adachi wasn't looking up though. That was worrying.
"Adachi, you-" he began.
"...three, two..."
Adachi was murmuring under her breath. Wait a minute...
"One!" exclaimed Adachi. "I win!"
She raised their connected hands up, and he realized that her thumb had his pinned down all this time.
She let go of his hand and waved her thumb in front of his face. Those stupid oval glasses and braids drawn with permanent marker were mocking him for sure. "Hana-yubi wins!"
He smacked his face. Adachi merely smiled at him with her head tilted to the side. She had no clue what kind of turmoil he had gone through today. Adachi was so stupid and oblivious. She frustrated him so much, yet he couldn't imagine not having her around.
"Shinagawa?" prompted Adachi. She poked at his slumped form.
"...give me your hand," he muttered under his breath.
"Huh?"
Shinagawa grabbed her hand without further explanation and tugged her along, his heart thumping at having her hand in his.
"Wait, Shinagawa..."
He grinned. Adachi was stupid. He was even more stupid for liking her.
"I'm not going to let Hana-yubi win all the time! It's Daichi-yubi's time to shine now!" he declared.
"What!" sputtered Adachi. "I'm not going to let that happen!"
Before he knew it, she had him sailing over her shoulders.
Oh yes. He was definitely stupid for liking a girl like Adachi.
-----
the end