𝐏𝐋𝐔𝐓𝐎 | KUROO TETSUROU

22 : THREE SYLLABLES.

The next day, Yukimi came to school reading her notes. It was dangerous but it is a necessity since she has been so behind the lessons that her head would eventually burst. She wasn't the only one exhibiting this habit early in the morning because almost every student, no matter the year level, does the same thing while walking to the main building. The medium-haired girl wasn't completely aware of her surroundings and she nearly smacked herself on a tree if not for a hand wrapping around her arm. Knocking out of her studying trance, Yukimi looked up to thank the person who prevented her from having a concussion but blinked at the sight of Romio sighing in relief.

Now that she thought about it, she never had a proper conversation with the brown-haired boy except for when it was necessary, like being placed in the same group (which would set Kuroo to a glaring fit) or having the same class duties. Though with the time they spent together during these, Yukimi couldn't help but be overwhelmed by the awkward tension enveloping the room. The medium-haired girl bitterly scrunched her nose, never understanding how could she like this sort of person? Well, part of realizing you don't have feelings for certain people anymore was when you try to comprehend your past self for being such a gullible idiot. And the more Yukimi stared at Romio's features, the more incredulous she feels for having feelings for the boy.

"Kazahana, good morning," Romio greeted her with an easygoing smile. "You look out of it though. Have you been getting enough rest? Knowing you, you probably stayed up late last night."

Yukimi blinked at the boy's remark. "Good morning, Kagami-san," she greeted back, shifting her eyes from his face to the hand gripping on her arm. "I slept well, and, uhm, can you let go of my arm, please?"

Romio, who realized that he had been clutching on the girl's arm for quite a while, flushed red and quickly let his hand fall on his side. He then scratched the back of his neck, a sheepish expression adorning his face. "Sorry," he meekly replied. He stared at her in a daze, taking in her dainty features and marveling at how pretty she looks so early in the morning when he couldn't even make himself presentable at such an early hour. The moment Yukimi blinked in confusion at the stretch of silence, Romio cleared his throat and looked away from the girl with his speech already stuttering. "Did you finish studying for the exams this week?"

The medium-haired girl slightly furrowed her eyebrows at the boy before taking a glance at the notebook on her hand. "As you can see, I haven't," she answered patiently. "How about you, Kagami-san?"

The brown-haired boy gulped while nervously laughing, finding some replies in his head on how to tell the girl that he already finished studying. It would be extremely rude to brandish his skills in memorization and revising when the person in front of him is known to be the school's top student and is in fact still studying hard. "We just had a study session with Nao and the others. We would've invited you but Kanae told us that the volleyball club has been doing the weekend training yesterday."

Studying in groups never actually appealed to Yukimi and she has been traumatized that one time she agreed to study with Romio and his friends back in year one. It was also for their finals in the second semester. Yukimi remembered not being able to talk to the others during their walk to the convenience store right around Nekoma, with the entirety of the friendship group and a number of studious classmates (who invited themselves) walking in front of her. What happened next was absolutely the reason why she refused to go to other study groups. Romio's friends and some of their classmates weren't even studying, in fact, she noticed that they already knew about the lessons they were about to review on, taking their initiative in questioning each other questions. They even intentionally asked her some hard questions, saying things like being the top student in their year should know the answers, or purposely ignoring her. Yukimi felt so small and she made up an excuse that her mother is coming home early just to go home.