Game Changer | Petalz 🌸🍃

Chapter XIII

Fuck. What am I even doing? She looks away, biting the inside of her cheek and  leaves the room, quietly closing the door behind her. 

When she enters the kitchen, she flinches, startled by the sight of Hana-chan sitting idly on the kitchen island.

“Geez, you scared me,” she says as if the cat can understand her. 

It must have rubbed off on her after listening to Kazuha and her multiple one-sided conversations with the cat. 

“Hungry?” she asks, but Hana-chan just stares at her in that judgy cat way like she knows exactly what has just transpired behind the closed doors of her room.

“Don’t look at me like that.” She marches past the cat and grabs her food from the cupboard then a glass of water for herself. “I didn’t ask her to… sleep with me. And for the record, we were just sleeping, and she had her clothes on. So no fuzzy thoughts, understood?”

She puts the bowl with food in front of Hana-chan, but the cat ignores it.

“Fuzzy?” She brings palm to her forehead and groans, “why am I talking like Yunjin all of a sudden? Am I still drunk?”

Hana-chan sums up her struggles with a loud meow and starts eating her food.

“Great. That was a really helpful conversation,” she says sarcastically, petting the cat and shaking her head. “I’m going insane.” 

After she drinks her water and fixes herself something to eat, she considers waking up Kazuha because it’s already 11 am and she would love to take a shower and charge her dead phone. 

But just as she’s about to knock on the door to her room, Kazuha opens them.

“Hi,” the girl says meekly while brushing a strand of hair behind her ear.

“Hey,” Sakura replies, avoiding her gaze.

“Sorry I slept so long.”

Sakura shrugs. “It’s fine. You must have been tired and sore from...” she trails off, still embarrassed that the girl had to carry her on her back.

“It wasn’t so bad,” Kazuha says, her cheeks adopting a slight pink color. “Anyway, how are you feeling?”

“I have a bit of a hangover. But nothing a hot shower and some running won’t cure.”

“Yeah, that’s a good plan. I should do the same.” Kazuha points to her room and Sakura steps aside to let her pass, but then the girl moves to the side as well, and they end up blocking each other’s way. 

They smile awkwardly and try again, but the result is the same. 

Sakura sighs, pinching the bridge of her nose. “Okay, you to your right and--” she pauses when Kazuha puts her hands on her sides and turns them around so that they finally switch places.

“See you at the jog.” Kazuha’s eyes turn into soft crescents.

Sakura is still processing what just happened, and it’s only when the girl starts walking away that she remembers what else she wanted to say.

“There’s omurice in the fridge for you,” she calls out to the girl. 

She was supposed to mention that it’s her thank you gift for carrying her, because there’s no way in hell she’s paying her back with a massage, but in the end, she doesn’t say it.

“Thanks,” Kazuha throws over her shoulder.

And Sakura cannot comprehend how the girl can look so good before the shower and in her yesterday’s clothes.