— — — — — —
As midterms approached, Kawasaki had clearly started pushing herself even harder.
The dark circles under her eyes had gotten noticeably worse.
Inside the café, Kawasaki was furiously working through practice questions.
Taishi sat nearby with his brows tightly knitted, agonizing over a math problem.
Meanwhile, Oikawa and Keika-chan were happily snacking together.
The two of them looked ridiculously happy compared to the suffering expressions on Kawasaki and Taishi's faces.
Their loud laughter quickly earned them a glare from Kawasaki. But Keika wasn't scared of her at all. She lifted her chin defiantly and stared right back.
A few seconds later, Kawasaki was the first to lose.
Some people were just natural counters to others.
Watching this happen, Oikawa suddenly wanted to mock Kawasaki.
Where'd all that attitude you had against me before go?
Seriously.
Picking on the weak and fearing the strong.
...
Oikawa spent the entire afternoon playing with Keika.
A little after four, Kawasaki packed up her books and got ready to leave.
Oikawa yawned while considering dinner options.
Ramen? Sushi? Maybe grilled chicken?
Japan really knew what it was doing when it came to chicken dishes. A few days ago, he'd found a tiny restaurant near his house. It looked completely ordinary, but their chicken dishes were unbelievably good.
Maybe he should just go there again. Close to home too.
Having made his decision, Oikawa said goodbye to Keika and prepared to leave.
Right then, Kawasaki suddenly tugged lightly on the corner of his shirt, "Do you want to come have dinner at my place tonight?"
"My parents aren't home tonight. You can come eat with us." This time, Kawasaki repeated herself in a firm tone. It no longer sounded like a question.
"Oikawa-nii, come eat with us!"
"Yeah, come on! Sister's cooking is amazing. Once you try it, you'll definitely want more next time!"
Both Taishi and Keika invited him enthusiastically.
"Alright. Then I'll gladly take you up on that."
Oikawa smiled and nodded.
Who cared about some random chicken restaurant? Compared to Kawasaki's cooking, it wasn't even close.
"Hold my hand, Oikawa-nii."
Keika stretched out her hand, and Oikawa laughed as he took it.
Beside them, Kawasaki puffed her cheeks slightly at the sight, feeling a little dissatisfied.
But that tiny bit of jealousy quickly turned into happiness... Because Keika's other hand had grabbed onto Kawasaki too.
The three of them walking together like that looked strangely harmonious.
Almost like a father, mother, and their daughter.
At least, that was what Kawasaki thought in that moment.
The tips of her ears grew hot. Lightly biting her lip, she secretly glanced at Oikawa.
...
After leaving the café, the group didn't head straight back home. Instead, they stopped by the seafood market nearby.
The place was called "Eight in the Morning."
Why that name? Probably because it opened at eight.
The first thing Oikawa noticed after entering was how unbelievably clean it was.
Not just "pretty tidy" clean either. Even the tiny corners had been scrubbed spotless. The entire market barely smelled fishy at all.
It was Oikawa's first time there. Usually, when he bought seafood, he went directly to the harbor where local fishermen ran small family shops.
Oikawa held Keika's hand while Kawasaki went off to haggle with the vendors.
Keika leaned in and whispered conspiratorially, "Oikawa-nii, my sister's super famous in this market. A lot of the aunties here hate her."
Oikawa grinned immediately.
By "hate," Keika probably meant Kawasaki's terrifying bargaining skills.
"Kid, this price is already dirt cheap." The fish-selling auntie sounded completely exhausted from all the negotiating. "That guy over there's your boyfriend, right? If he is, I'll make an exception and knock off another hundred yen."
The moment the word "boyfriend" came out, Kawasaki's face turned bright red.
The calm composure she'd maintained instantly vanished.
The fish seller smirked and pressed on mercilessly, "Saki-chan, don't tell me this is one-sided love? If you find a good guy, you've gotta move fast. Just looking at him, I can already tell he's a scumbag. Better keep an eye on him."
Kawasaki secretly glanced back.
Fortunately, Oikawa was crouched nearby with Keika, staring at an octopus tank and clearly not listening.
Only then did she relax a little.
"It's not like that," Kawasaki muttered quietly. "We... we're just friends."
"Yeah right."
The auntie clicked her tongue with the confidence of someone who'd seen it all before.
"I'm warning you, Saki-chan. If you don't make your move soon and some other girl snatches him away, don't come crying later."
"I won't regret it." A faint smile appeared on Kawasaki's face as she stole another glance at Oikawa. "Just having someone like him appear in my life already makes me grateful enough."
"What's wrong?" Oikawa called out from the side.
Kawasaki smiled and shook her head.
The fish-selling auntie rolled her eyes and muttered, "Idiot," under her breath.
"Here. Just give me eight hundred yen."
At some point, she'd already packed everything up and handed the bag over.
Kawasaki blinked in surprise, "Wasn't it supposed to be one thousand?"
"Well, I can't exactly let you get cheated out of both your feelings and your money. Now hurry up and leave. I'm never selling fish to you again."
Even while shooing her away impatiently, the auntie still accepted Kawasaki's sincere "Thank you" with a snort.
"Sis, I'm hungry."
"Alright, alright. I'll go make dinner as soon as we get home."
Keika immediately started acting spoiled, and Kawasaki gently patted her head soothingly.
...
..
After dinner at Kawasaki's house and another trip to the park to play with Keika, Oikawa finally returned home.
For some reason, the apartment suddenly felt unbearably empty.
Compared to the lively warmth of Kawasaki's home, his own place felt like a completely different world.
"Maybe I should get a pet... Cats are nice, but maybe a dog would be better?"
Oikawa grabbed a bottle of cola from the fridge and sat down at his computer.
"November's getting colder too..."
The moonlight outside was bright, but somehow it didn't seem to reach him.
...
..
With midterms approaching, the atmosphere in class had noticeably changed.
The usual joking and messing around had mostly disappeared. Everyone was busy cramming.
As for Tobe's situation, Oikawa didn't know how things were progressing, though Yui had mentioned it several times over the past few days.
Apparently, the Service Club had accepted Tobe's request and was now brainstorming ways to create opportunities for him and Ebina to spend time alone together.
Honestly? Oikawa thought the whole thing was idiotic.
Over the past few days, he'd lost count of how many times Yui had deliberately brought up Tobe's name in front of Ebina.
But Ebina clearly didn't care much at all.
At this rate, Oikawa felt they'd probably just end up making things even more awkward.
Still... What did any of that have to do with him?
Adjusting into a more comfortable position, Oikawa promptly fell asleep in math class again, right in front of the teacher.
In the blink of an eye, the final bell rang.
Today's homeroom wasn't just for handing out exam room assignments and candidate numbers. They also had to decide the groups for the upcoming school trip.
Yukino and the others had already planned the groupings in advance.
That way, they could create more opportunities for "certain people" to spend time together during the free group activities later on.
Class 2-F had always been noisy to begin with.
With Hayama Hayato, Miura Yumiko, and their friend group around, the classroom constantly buzzed with energy. Their laughter filled almost every break between classes.
Sometimes Oikawa found it annoying since it interrupted his naps.
But thinking about it carefully... Maybe they were what normal high school life was supposed to look like. Compared to them, someone like him, who spent every day either sleeping or slacking off, was probably the unusual one.
Today, though, Class 2-F was even louder than usual.
Once homeroom ended, the class spent nearly an entire hour sorting themselves into groups.
The extra time was probably meant for the loners in class. After all, not everyone in high school naturally formed little social circles.
As for the actual grouping... Even though Yukino technically belonged to Group J, she had already finished arranging the people from Class F.
Oikawa ended up assigned to Hayama's group.
Before deciding, Yukino had even gone out of her way to ask for his opinion.
Honestly, Oikawa had struggled with the choice.
Being in Hayama's group meant inevitably getting dragged into this whole "confession incident." But if he didn't join them, he'd probably get stuck with a bunch of strangers instead.
And if he ended up with difficult people or stubborn personalities, the school trip would become exhausting real fast.
Worse yet, what if he got paired with some restless sleeper like Ōka or Yamato, those two sports idiots? That would be actual torture.
So really... Why couldn't they just allow one-person groups?
Oikawa had practically despaired. Even after repeatedly trying to negotiate with Shizuka-sensei, he ultimately had no choice but to accept reality.
As for the girls' group... It consisted of Yui Yuigahama, Miura Yumiko, Ebina Hina, and Kawasaki Saki.
Once the groups were finalized, Yui excitedly turned to Ebina. "Hina, we'll be sightseeing together with the boys' group later, so make sure you dress cute~!"
Hearing that, Oikawa immediately got a black line across his forehead.
Why did Yui sound exactly like a matchmaking auntie?
Like she was saying: 'You're meeting a man tomorrow, so make yourself pretty!'
What the hell?
The scary part was how natural it sounded.
"Oh? Is that so?"
Ebina's sharp eyes swept across the room, carefully observing everyone's expressions without missing a single detail.
Eventually, her gaze landed squarely on Oikawa.
A faint smile curved at the corner of her lips.
For some reason, Oikawa felt that smile was... evil.
Like the female mastermind villains in movies who secretly manipulated everything from the shadows.
Seriously.
Black-bellied fujoshi girls were terrifying.
A chill ran down Oikawa's spine.
"This is great! Now I'll get to witness Hayama × Oikawa in person!"
"Don't you guys think they totally match? The prince and the lazy genius! I can already picture Hayama getting hit on by some handsome guy, only for Oikawa to get jealous, drop the lazy act, and pin Hayama against the wall... Kyaaa~ It's basically Pampered by the Overbearing CEO, but set in high school!"
Oikawa froze for a second.
Then his fists clenched tight.
If only he had a knife right now...
"Hayama and Oikawa..."
Kawasaki glanced at Oikawa as though Columbus had just discovered the New World. Covering her mouth, she looked weirdly excited.
Damn it. This woman had definitely awakened some dangerous new personality trait.
To stop her imagination from running any further, Oikawa decisively punched her lightly in the thigh.
The moment his fist landed, a soft ripple spread beneath his hand.
Oikawa froze.
Suddenly, he remembered that wildly popular TikTok cosplay video from his previous life: the "thicc nun" cosplay.
Honestly... Kawasaki would probably be perfect for something like that. If she posted videos on TikTok, she'd probably pull in over a million likes without effort.
Kawasaki clearly hadn't expected the sudden attack. She let out a small "Mm~" sound.
But when Yui and Ebina immediately looked over with questioning expressions, she quickly waved her hands.
"I-I'm fine! Nothing happened!"
The two girls withdrew their gazes and resumed the previous conversation.
Kawasaki, meanwhile, shot Oikawa a vicious glare.
Judging by her expression, she'd already decided where to bury his body.
Oikawa silently resolved to avoid provoking Kawasaki for the next few days. O
...
After the grouping discussion ended, Oikawa and Kawasaki headed to the Service Club room.
By the time they arrived, Yukino had already brewed jasmine tea.
The entire room was filled with its elegant floral scent.
Tea-making expert, fully certified.
As for the snacks placed beside the tea, they were mochi. Soft, chewy, and irresistibly appetizing.
Today's discussion topic: How to help Tobe show off his charms (as if he has any) in front of Ebina (as if that's even possible).
Oikawa poured himself a cup of jasmine tea, grabbed a piece of mochi, and sat down beside Kawasaki.
The two of them had technically been invited here as "observers," mainly to familiarize themselves with the upcoming sightseeing locations.
Though honestly, Yukino probably wanted Oikawa to offer suggestions.
Unfortunately for her, he had zero intention of getting involved. He simply didn't care about this whole situation.
"Alright then, everyone, let's brainstorm together!" Yui spread a mountain of Kyoto sightseeing guides and travel magazines across the table. "I borrowed these from Shizuka-sensei. I have to return them tonight."
A faint smile tugged at Oikawa's lips.
Looks like Shizuka Hiratsuka was pretty excited about the school trip too.
Oikawa picked up one of the magazines and casually flipped through Kyoto's travel introduction, nodding every now and then.
Beside him, Kawasaki quietly memorized vocabulary words.
After skimming through the guide, Oikawa finally gained a rough understanding of Kyoto.
At the very least, he could now distinguish it from Tokyo.
Kyoto sat in central Japan near Osaka and Kobe, making it a fairly important region geographically. It also had an ancient capital called Heian-kyo.
"...What kind of tourist spots are best for accidental encounters?" Yui muttered to herself while rapidly flipping through the magazines.
Though honestly, at the speed she was turning pages, was she even properly reading any of the sightseeing information?
Then again, maybe as long as a place looked pretty, that was enough for her.
Oikawa suspected that was exactly the case.
It fit Yui perfectly.
Complete opposite of Yukino, who carefully read every line as if she were studying some literary masterpiece.
"Since it's peak maple season right now, Arashiyama and Tofukuji would both be good choices. If you visit Tofukuji, you could also stop by Fushimi Inari Shrine. It's one of Kyoto's oldest shrines. Although Inari is technically the god of agriculture and commerce, plenty of people still go there to pray for romance." Yukino explained with a small smile.
Oikawa silently complained in his head.
So basically, they were asking the god of money to double as a matchmaker?
Could he even handle that?
Yui looked up curiously, "Does it actually work?"
Oikawa was speechless, but he had to say something. "Ahem... Kyoto has the highest divorce rate in Japan."
The entire Service Club instantly fell silent.
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