WildFire

34

 You had asked your fellow volleyball teammates for advice.

The coach was absent that day due to some relatives being ill, but you all, except for Ryouka because she had an appointment, had decided to practice anyway—and you had decided that it wouldn't hurt to ask your teammates for some tips.

Well, it wasn't like they needed much convincing. They had been one of the first ones to hear of your actions the other day, and while some were a bit surprised since they didn't see you as that type of person, all were excited to give you advice to pursue your feelings.

"Are you planning on confessing?" Pika asked curiously, her eyes more excited than ever. "Or are you going to wait for him to confess?"

You shook your head, feeling shy.

You weren't going to wait for Kunimi this time. Even if you both shared the same feelings, who knows if he would actually confess? You weren't going to admit it, but you knew if you didn't do something, both of you would just move onto your own path eventually—one day you were going to leave the other, along with too much regret.

"I'll do it," your voice cracked a little, and you cleared your throat with embarrassment. "I feel like it has to be me who does it, you know?"

Himari nodded sympathetically, "Kunimi doesn't seem like one to act on these types of things."

"It's not that," you protested.

While she was probably right about Kunimi and him not acting, that was not the reason you felt so compelled. It felt right for you to do it this time. You need to overcome this challenge yourself, not let Kunimi do it for you.

"I just..."

"It's okay, you don't have to tell us exactly why if you find it difficult," Kairi said, smiling sweetly as you trailed off. "How do you plan on confessing though?"

"I...I don't know."

"Try saying something as practice," Tsumugi suggested, the tips of her green hair being rather distracting. It wasn't that helpful, since you had already run through about a million possibilities in your head already—not that you had the courage to say any of them. It was also different with the volleyball team, since they were all like sisters to you.

"It's different though," you insisted. "I feel like my voice just doesn't work sometimes around him."

Sumiko grinned, "Totally smitten."

"Yeah," Etsuko agreed delightedly.

"Seriously though," Sumiko gave a small shrug when Kairi shot her a small frown, turning to you with a grin. "If your voice doesn't work—you don't necessarily have to use it, you know?"

You gave her a very skeptical look, using sarcasm you wouldn't have dared use a few weeks ago. "Oh, yeah, definitely. Because I just happened to know sign language."

"You do?" Ai asked curiously, failing to comprehend your tone.

"No," Akari answered for you, exasperated. She hadn't bothered to join the conversation earlier, but when it came to teasing her fellow members, she didn't miss a second. "She's being sarcastic, dimwit. Which, by the way, [Name], good job."

Sumiko rolled her eyes dramatically, letting out a sigh that you were sure could be heard throughout the whole campus. She crossed her arms in a grumpy movement and interrupted, "I didn't mean sign language. Convey your feelings through something besides your voice. Like through a gift or something."

"Oh. That's actually smart," Alyssa admitted, "Very rare of Sumiko."

Kairi smirked as Sumiko bristled in indignation. She pretended to ignore their outrageous captain, plastering on a completely sweet smile, "Yep. Good job, Sumiko–you were intelligent for once."

"What do you mean, for once?"

All of the members burst into laughter, some cackling so hard they looked like they were having trouble breathing. You were fortunately not one of those wheezing people, but your face split into an uncontrollable grin.

The light conversation quickly transferred to a tiring practice–though you enjoyed every moment of it.

You didn't need to think about how to confess to Kunimi about your feelings. The idea had popped into your head in an instant, and you felt like smiling just thinking about it.

Your hands itched to get started on your project–to get it over with already. How funny that despite being scared of even a word of affection to Kunimi, you now were impatient to get your confession over with. You couldn't resist the temptation–what would his face look like?

Of course, you felt scared. But you had decided you wouldn't laugh it off as a joke no matter how upset his face looked, because you were determined not to run away. You just hoped that you could still remain best friends, and that you wouldn't break something precious.

A little part of you whispered confidently, if it's precious to both of you, it won't break.

And probably you'd get rejected–perhaps even laughed at due to the way you planned to confess. But then you could move on without regrets. You'd have known that you had let out your true feelings, and he had turned them down the best he could.

You knew you couldn't continue the way you were now: cowering in the shadows, too terrified to even reach out a hand to the light Kunimi stepped in.

You hoped that even if your feelings were unrequited, you could still laugh with him and be the same. You hoped that even if he didn't like you back, you would still stay close.

You hoped that he would still stay your unchanging best and first friend even if it would be a forever one-sided love, because you, Nakamura [Name], loved Kunimi Akira.