[oneshot] Kimi ni Todoke (part two of three)
Part One is here.
The next day at lunch Kamiki and Yamada bring with them the boy who Suzuka had termed Crazy Boy #2, and introduce him as Chinen Yuri, Yuto’s roommate.
They begin to hold study sessions for their Psychology courses over lunch, Umika watching in curiosity as the other six of them despair over homework and lecture notes.
“Suddenly, I begin to feel very thankful for my English course,” she says one day, staring at a thick stack of lecture notes with a rather horrified face.
“I begin to wish I had taken the English course,” Mirai and Yamada and Suzuka groan in sync.
They end up berating Chinen for getting seaweed bits all over Suzuka’s homework and textbook.
~
But finally the exams finish, and everybody shoves their notes away in their cupboards to gather dust over the summer holiday.
“We should totally go on vacation to the beach together,” Yuto suggests over lunch on the last day of term. “You know, rent a chalet or two and stuff?”
Umika’s eyes light up.
“I love the beach!” she says cheerily. “Let’s go!”
Everyone else agrees one by one, and it is decided that Yuto will book the chalets for two nights.
~
“Yamada-kun,” Kamiki asks curiously as they pack up to head home for vacation. “Do you have a crush on Shida or something?”
“What?”
Kamiki shrugs.
“I can see you throwing side glances at her when she’s busy or whatever and won’t notice you. Is that why you’ve suddenly developed such an enthusiasm for going for club activities?”
“No,” Yamada denies. “It’s because I can actually see improvement in my cooking skills. Unlike somebody who just leaves all the work to Kawashima.”
Kamiki ignores the jab.
“You’re in denial,” he grins. “Besides, isn’t it due to Shida that you’re getting better, hm?”
Yamada groans, and sits down on his bed, covering his face with a pillow.
“Fine,” he mutters into the pillow after a long pause. “Fine. I do like her, okay? But I don’t dare to confess to her or anything.”
“How cute!” Kamiki laughs, but Yamada staunchly ignores him.
~
They meet up at Shibuya station to head for their beach holiday, all carrying sleeping bags and huge duffel bags.
The moment they reach the beach, Umika runs ahead, whooping as she runs in circles on the sand.
“Cute,” Chinen says, grinning.
He bends to pick up Umika’s bags where she has dropped them by the roadside.
“The chalet’s just up there,” Mirai calls to Umika. “When you’re done reveling in the sand Chinen-kun’s brought your stuff up there for you.”
A while later they have all changed into swimming gear, and Suzuka runs to join Umika near the water, playing in the waves and giggling.
Yuto runs out with a surfboard, Kamiki hot on his heels.
“I totally look cooler than you on a surfboard!” Kamiki yells at Yuto, who just laughs and plunges into the waters.
Kamiki follows suit, attempts to get onto his surfboard, and only succeeds in toppling over, earning himself a mouthful of salty water.
Mirai watches all of this from under her beach umbrella.
“You’re not going to join them?”
Mirai jumps, and turns to see Yamada.
“No…I don’t exactly like swimming.”
Yamada pauses for a while, then grins at her.
“Come on! Let’s build a sandcastle, then!”
Mirai blinks at him.
“A sandcastle?”
“Yeah, why not? Come on!”
By lunch time they have created a decent-looking sandcastle, and they whoop in joy, only to groan when it collapses in on itself ten seconds later.
~
“What,” Yuto laughs. “Were you and Shida-chan having some kind of impromptu date while we were all swimming?”
Yamada turns red.
“…No,” he says, throwing a sidelong glance at Kamiki, attempting to send a sublimal message along the lines of Keep your mouth shut.
It works, and Yuto ends up talking to Chinen about something else instead.
Yamada sags in relief.
Date, huh?
~
In the blink of an eye their summer holiday ends, and it is with heavy feet that they trudge back to university.
For this new term, the school offers students a conversational English extra course that lasts two terms, and Mirai decides to sign up for it.
She steps into the English classroom to see Yamada sitting alone, looking out the window.
“Why are you here?” she asks, sitting down on the chair next to him.
Yamada looks up at her.
“Ah, Shida-chan,” he smiles. “I’ve been interested in learning English for a while, that’s why I’m here. Besides, it’s free of charge, and there’s no homework! How awesome is that?”
Mirai rolls her eyes.
“You loser,” she says dryly. “You sound like those old ladies looking for offers at the supermarket.”
“Hey!”
His indignant noise of protest is ignored as at that moment, their lecturer walks in. He is an American with a mop of balding blond-grey hair, and he is taller than even Yuto.
“Good afternoon,” he greets the class of about ten in badly-pronounced Japanese. “From today on, you will only speak English in this class.”
Faces of dread appear among the students, but the lecturer ignores them.
“You will all call me Professor Brown,” he continues, switching to English.
Mirai groans, burying her face in her hands.
“This is going to be terrible,” she whispers to Yamada morosely.
“It’s the best way to practice,” he hisses back, and she makes a face at him.
“Whatever.”
~
“How’s English?” Suzuka asks the two of them curiously over lunch a couple of days later.
“Torturous,” Mirai and Yamada chime in unison.
“But I’m learning a lot,” Yamada adds as an afterthought, and Umika laughs.
“English is fun~” she says cheerily. “You just need to practice it more. Once you get the hang of it you’ll come to love it.”
~
“Let’s discuss our recipe entirely in English today,” Mirai tells him at the next club session, stumbling over the English words.
Yamada blinks.
“Are you crazy?”
“Umika’s right. We need to practice to get the hang of it,” Mirai says, shrugging, and Yamada gives in.
“Shida-chan,” Yamada says a while later. “Pass me the…um. The…”
“The…?” Mirai asks amusedly, watching as Yamada gesticulates helplessly at the block of butter.
“Butt,” Yamada says at last, and Mirai collapses in a fit of giggles.
“Butter,” she tells him sternly. “Not butt.”
Yamada sighs as he accepts the butter, scraping off some to grease the pan.
“Butter,” he mutters to himself. “Butter, butter, butter.”
Mirai overhears him and beams in satisfaction.
~
One day Mirai goes to Umika’s house for an all-girls sleepover party with Suzuka.
They sit around and eat snacks in their pajamas and watch movies, but after a while they switch it off and start talking about random things instead.
“Ne, Mirai-chan,” Umika says curiously. “Do you have a crush on anyone?”
Suzuka leans forward eagerly, and Mirai groans.
“Why do you ask?”
“I’m curious~” Umika laughs. “Besides, if you do we can both help you confess and stuff, you know? Girl friends do that a lot.”
Mirai buries her face in her pillow, and rolls over to avoid Suzuka prodding her.
“I think you do!” she sing-songs, and Umika giggles and joins in.
“Fine,” groans Mirai reluctantly, fed up with the poking. “I do.”
Umika’s eyes light up.
“I’m not saying who it is though,” Mirai adds quickly, and Umika makes a face.
“Meanie!”
~
Two months later, they have learned the basics of conversation. English lessons thus become conversation sessions, rather than lessons. Professor Brown allows them to pair up and talk about anything under the sun, as long as it is in English.
“I have absolutely nothing to talk about,” whines Mirai one lesson, stretching out on her desk and turning her head to stare at Yamada.
“Then ask me anything,” Yamada suggests. “I’m the guru.”
He attempts to look wise, and Mirai rolls her eyes.
“You probably couldn’t solve love problems,” Mirai mutters under her breath.
Yamada overhears, and his eyes sparkle.
“Does the great Shida have a love problem?”
Mirai groans and buries her face in her palms. Quickly, she changes topic expertly, and Yamada does not notice. They end up arguing over the health benefits of miso soup instead.
It is only much later that Yamada realizes she had avoided his question.
“Seriously though, Shida-chan,” he says as they walk out of the classroom. “You have a love problem?”
Mirai feels her face burn red, and she looks away.
“You do realize that guys don’t generally talk about girls’ love problems.”
Yamada stops in the corridor, and takes out his keitai.
“I’m different,” he laughs. “Living with two sisters means I’m pretty much used to girl talk.”
Mirai raises an eyebrow.
“Right.”
“Here,” Yamada continues, holding out his keitai. “Send yourself a text with this so we have each others’ number. Text or call me if you change your mind, okay?”
Eyeing the keitai doubtfully, Mirai hesitates a while, before finally taking it.
“I’ll keep that in mind,” she says, quickly typing a random smiley face and pressing send.
Yamada grins.
“I’ll always be available for consultation,” he tells her cheerily. “See ya!”
He disappears into the crowd before she can say another word.
~
“He did what?” Suzuka asks, laughing.
Mirai’s beetroot cheeks do not diminish in color.
“He told me to consult him about my love problem,” she mutters, burying her face in her hands.
Calming down, Suzuka pats Mirai’s head.
“Then consult him!” she laughs. “You’ll get a guy’s perspective that way. Just don’t tell him the identity of your crush, boys tend to suck at keeping secrets~”
Mirai makes a face.
“Should I? It feels…well, awkward.”
“Whatever you think best,” Suzuka smiles. “In the end, it’s your love life, not mine.”
Mirai stares at the keypad of her keitai, hesitating. Dimly, she can hear Suzuka leaving the room - apparently to meet Yuto or something - and the door clicks shut gently.
Taking a deep breath, she begins to type out a sentence.
~
Yamada starts when his keitai suddenly vibrates, creating a sudden loud noise as it spasms on his wooden desk.
I have a crush on someone.
But I’m too shy to confess to him.
P.S. You have no idea how embarrassed I feel right now.
Smiling dryly, he reads the message.
A crush, huh? he thinks, feeling a wave of cold wash over his heart.
Sighing, he begins to type out a reply. He got himself into this, the least he can do is see it through and make her happy.
Perhaps, even at the expense of his own happiness.
“I have a crush on someone.”
That line haunts him for a while.
~
Be brave and go for it! You never know, he might just like you back. Guys are scared of confessing as well, you know.
~
The next day at lunch, Yamada and Mirai both act like that text message exchange never happened.
There is, however, a new development. Yuto and Suzuka arrive at the lunch table looking nervous, fingers barely interlinked. Umika catches sight of this, and squeals.
“You’re together?”
Suzuka nods slowly, and Umika squeals even louder.
“That’s so cute!”
“You know what’s cuter?” Kamiki pipes up with an evil grin on his face. “Yamada-kun having this secret massive crush on-”
Yamada lunges at Kamiki, covering his mouth, and the girls blink dumbly as he wrestles Kamiki to the floor.
“Yama-chan has a crush?” Chinen asks, grinning mockingly. “Awww, how cute~”
“Don’t you have one too?” Yuto blurts out, and Chinen instantly colors red.
Yuto blinks.
“…Should I have not said that…?
Suzuka laughs, observing the chaotic tumble of Yamada and Kamiki wrestling, and Umika and Mirai preventing Chinen from leaping up to murder Yuto.
“No,” she says. “You shouldn’t have.”
~
Yamada gets back to the dorm after dinner to see a new message.
I thought of confessing today. But as expected, I can’t do it.
He likes someone else…
“If only you could see that someone else likes you instead,” he mumbles, too low for Kamiki to accidentally-on-purpose eavesdrop.
~
Part Three is this way.
The next day at lunch Kamiki and Yamada bring with them the boy who Suzuka had termed Crazy Boy #2, and introduce him as Chinen Yuri, Yuto’s roommate.
They begin to hold study sessions for their Psychology courses over lunch, Umika watching in curiosity as the other six of them despair over homework and lecture notes.
“Suddenly, I begin to feel very thankful for my English course,” she says one day, staring at a thick stack of lecture notes with a rather horrified face.
“I begin to wish I had taken the English course,” Mirai and Yamada and Suzuka groan in sync.
They end up berating Chinen for getting seaweed bits all over Suzuka’s homework and textbook.
~
But finally the exams finish, and everybody shoves their notes away in their cupboards to gather dust over the summer holiday.
“We should totally go on vacation to the beach together,” Yuto suggests over lunch on the last day of term. “You know, rent a chalet or two and stuff?”
Umika’s eyes light up.
“I love the beach!” she says cheerily. “Let’s go!”
Everyone else agrees one by one, and it is decided that Yuto will book the chalets for two nights.
~
“Yamada-kun,” Kamiki asks curiously as they pack up to head home for vacation. “Do you have a crush on Shida or something?”
“What?”
Kamiki shrugs.
“I can see you throwing side glances at her when she’s busy or whatever and won’t notice you. Is that why you’ve suddenly developed such an enthusiasm for going for club activities?”
“No,” Yamada denies. “It’s because I can actually see improvement in my cooking skills. Unlike somebody who just leaves all the work to Kawashima.”
Kamiki ignores the jab.
“You’re in denial,” he grins. “Besides, isn’t it due to Shida that you’re getting better, hm?”
Yamada groans, and sits down on his bed, covering his face with a pillow.
“Fine,” he mutters into the pillow after a long pause. “Fine. I do like her, okay? But I don’t dare to confess to her or anything.”
“How cute!” Kamiki laughs, but Yamada staunchly ignores him.
~
They meet up at Shibuya station to head for their beach holiday, all carrying sleeping bags and huge duffel bags.
The moment they reach the beach, Umika runs ahead, whooping as she runs in circles on the sand.
“Cute,” Chinen says, grinning.
He bends to pick up Umika’s bags where she has dropped them by the roadside.
“The chalet’s just up there,” Mirai calls to Umika. “When you’re done reveling in the sand Chinen-kun’s brought your stuff up there for you.”
A while later they have all changed into swimming gear, and Suzuka runs to join Umika near the water, playing in the waves and giggling.
Yuto runs out with a surfboard, Kamiki hot on his heels.
“I totally look cooler than you on a surfboard!” Kamiki yells at Yuto, who just laughs and plunges into the waters.
Kamiki follows suit, attempts to get onto his surfboard, and only succeeds in toppling over, earning himself a mouthful of salty water.
Mirai watches all of this from under her beach umbrella.
“You’re not going to join them?”
Mirai jumps, and turns to see Yamada.
“No…I don’t exactly like swimming.”
Yamada pauses for a while, then grins at her.
“Come on! Let’s build a sandcastle, then!”
Mirai blinks at him.
“A sandcastle?”
“Yeah, why not? Come on!”
By lunch time they have created a decent-looking sandcastle, and they whoop in joy, only to groan when it collapses in on itself ten seconds later.
~
“What,” Yuto laughs. “Were you and Shida-chan having some kind of impromptu date while we were all swimming?”
Yamada turns red.
“…No,” he says, throwing a sidelong glance at Kamiki, attempting to send a sublimal message along the lines of Keep your mouth shut.
It works, and Yuto ends up talking to Chinen about something else instead.
Yamada sags in relief.
Date, huh?
~
In the blink of an eye their summer holiday ends, and it is with heavy feet that they trudge back to university.
For this new term, the school offers students a conversational English extra course that lasts two terms, and Mirai decides to sign up for it.
She steps into the English classroom to see Yamada sitting alone, looking out the window.
“Why are you here?” she asks, sitting down on the chair next to him.
Yamada looks up at her.
“Ah, Shida-chan,” he smiles. “I’ve been interested in learning English for a while, that’s why I’m here. Besides, it’s free of charge, and there’s no homework! How awesome is that?”
Mirai rolls her eyes.
“You loser,” she says dryly. “You sound like those old ladies looking for offers at the supermarket.”
“Hey!”
His indignant noise of protest is ignored as at that moment, their lecturer walks in. He is an American with a mop of balding blond-grey hair, and he is taller than even Yuto.
“Good afternoon,” he greets the class of about ten in badly-pronounced Japanese. “From today on, you will only speak English in this class.”
Faces of dread appear among the students, but the lecturer ignores them.
“You will all call me Professor Brown,” he continues, switching to English.
Mirai groans, burying her face in her hands.
“This is going to be terrible,” she whispers to Yamada morosely.
“It’s the best way to practice,” he hisses back, and she makes a face at him.
“Whatever.”
~
“How’s English?” Suzuka asks the two of them curiously over lunch a couple of days later.
“Torturous,” Mirai and Yamada chime in unison.
“But I’m learning a lot,” Yamada adds as an afterthought, and Umika laughs.
“English is fun~” she says cheerily. “You just need to practice it more. Once you get the hang of it you’ll come to love it.”
~
“Let’s discuss our recipe entirely in English today,” Mirai tells him at the next club session, stumbling over the English words.
Yamada blinks.
“Are you crazy?”
“Umika’s right. We need to practice to get the hang of it,” Mirai says, shrugging, and Yamada gives in.
“Shida-chan,” Yamada says a while later. “Pass me the…um. The…”
“The…?” Mirai asks amusedly, watching as Yamada gesticulates helplessly at the block of butter.
“Butt,” Yamada says at last, and Mirai collapses in a fit of giggles.
“Butter,” she tells him sternly. “Not butt.”
Yamada sighs as he accepts the butter, scraping off some to grease the pan.
“Butter,” he mutters to himself. “Butter, butter, butter.”
Mirai overhears him and beams in satisfaction.
~
One day Mirai goes to Umika’s house for an all-girls sleepover party with Suzuka.
They sit around and eat snacks in their pajamas and watch movies, but after a while they switch it off and start talking about random things instead.
“Ne, Mirai-chan,” Umika says curiously. “Do you have a crush on anyone?”
Suzuka leans forward eagerly, and Mirai groans.
“Why do you ask?”
“I’m curious~” Umika laughs. “Besides, if you do we can both help you confess and stuff, you know? Girl friends do that a lot.”
Mirai buries her face in her pillow, and rolls over to avoid Suzuka prodding her.
“I think you do!” she sing-songs, and Umika giggles and joins in.
“Fine,” groans Mirai reluctantly, fed up with the poking. “I do.”
Umika’s eyes light up.
“I’m not saying who it is though,” Mirai adds quickly, and Umika makes a face.
“Meanie!”
~
Two months later, they have learned the basics of conversation. English lessons thus become conversation sessions, rather than lessons. Professor Brown allows them to pair up and talk about anything under the sun, as long as it is in English.
“I have absolutely nothing to talk about,” whines Mirai one lesson, stretching out on her desk and turning her head to stare at Yamada.
“Then ask me anything,” Yamada suggests. “I’m the guru.”
He attempts to look wise, and Mirai rolls her eyes.
“You probably couldn’t solve love problems,” Mirai mutters under her breath.
Yamada overhears, and his eyes sparkle.
“Does the great Shida have a love problem?”
Mirai groans and buries her face in her palms. Quickly, she changes topic expertly, and Yamada does not notice. They end up arguing over the health benefits of miso soup instead.
It is only much later that Yamada realizes she had avoided his question.
“Seriously though, Shida-chan,” he says as they walk out of the classroom. “You have a love problem?”
Mirai feels her face burn red, and she looks away.
“You do realize that guys don’t generally talk about girls’ love problems.”
Yamada stops in the corridor, and takes out his keitai.
“I’m different,” he laughs. “Living with two sisters means I’m pretty much used to girl talk.”
Mirai raises an eyebrow.
“Right.”
“Here,” Yamada continues, holding out his keitai. “Send yourself a text with this so we have each others’ number. Text or call me if you change your mind, okay?”
Eyeing the keitai doubtfully, Mirai hesitates a while, before finally taking it.
“I’ll keep that in mind,” she says, quickly typing a random smiley face and pressing send.
Yamada grins.
“I’ll always be available for consultation,” he tells her cheerily. “See ya!”
He disappears into the crowd before she can say another word.
~
“He did what?” Suzuka asks, laughing.
Mirai’s beetroot cheeks do not diminish in color.
“He told me to consult him about my love problem,” she mutters, burying her face in her hands.
Calming down, Suzuka pats Mirai’s head.
“Then consult him!” she laughs. “You’ll get a guy’s perspective that way. Just don’t tell him the identity of your crush, boys tend to suck at keeping secrets~”
Mirai makes a face.
“Should I? It feels…well, awkward.”
“Whatever you think best,” Suzuka smiles. “In the end, it’s your love life, not mine.”
Mirai stares at the keypad of her keitai, hesitating. Dimly, she can hear Suzuka leaving the room - apparently to meet Yuto or something - and the door clicks shut gently.
Taking a deep breath, she begins to type out a sentence.
~
Yamada starts when his keitai suddenly vibrates, creating a sudden loud noise as it spasms on his wooden desk.
I have a crush on someone.
But I’m too shy to confess to him.
P.S. You have no idea how embarrassed I feel right now.
Smiling dryly, he reads the message.
A crush, huh? he thinks, feeling a wave of cold wash over his heart.
Sighing, he begins to type out a reply. He got himself into this, the least he can do is see it through and make her happy.
Perhaps, even at the expense of his own happiness.
“I have a crush on someone.”
That line haunts him for a while.
~
Be brave and go for it! You never know, he might just like you back. Guys are scared of confessing as well, you know.
~
The next day at lunch, Yamada and Mirai both act like that text message exchange never happened.
There is, however, a new development. Yuto and Suzuka arrive at the lunch table looking nervous, fingers barely interlinked. Umika catches sight of this, and squeals.
“You’re together?”
Suzuka nods slowly, and Umika squeals even louder.
“That’s so cute!”
“You know what’s cuter?” Kamiki pipes up with an evil grin on his face. “Yamada-kun having this secret massive crush on-”
Yamada lunges at Kamiki, covering his mouth, and the girls blink dumbly as he wrestles Kamiki to the floor.
“Yama-chan has a crush?” Chinen asks, grinning mockingly. “Awww, how cute~”
“Don’t you have one too?” Yuto blurts out, and Chinen instantly colors red.
Yuto blinks.
“…Should I have not said that…?
Suzuka laughs, observing the chaotic tumble of Yamada and Kamiki wrestling, and Umika and Mirai preventing Chinen from leaping up to murder Yuto.
“No,” she says. “You shouldn’t have.”
~
Yamada gets back to the dorm after dinner to see a new message.
I thought of confessing today. But as expected, I can’t do it.
He likes someone else…
“If only you could see that someone else likes you instead,” he mumbles, too low for Kamiki to accidentally-on-purpose eavesdrop.
~
Part Three is this way.