Flutter

Nest of Wasps

You sighed. "Somehow," you began, dropping the towel into your lap, "it's even more embarrassing when you say it like that."

He looked at you for a moment, and when you finally looked at him, he blushed, darting his gaze away from you for only a second before deciding to fixate on you once more.

You opened your mouth to say something, but the clock across the lawn, in the center of campus rang seven times, cutting you off before you could say anything. Ushijima stood and dusted himself off, reaching a hand out to you.

"I have to get ready for a lecture." He pulled you up.

"Ah, okay."

"You were going to say something?" He looked down at you. You only shook your head and stepped up backwards onto the steps.

"I'll see you tonight."

He smiled a little bit at you before responding. "Yes, I will meet you here tonight."

---

The next morning, you woke up to the sound of your phone ringing. Mistaking it for your alarm, you picked up your phone to shut it off without so much as opening your eyes. When a gravelly "hello" came from the speaker of your phone, you nearly had a heart attack. You jolted awake and sat up in bed, checking the time on your phone.

"Ushijima, it's hella early on a Friday morning, what's wrong."

"Wrong?" He paused to think, "Why would something be be wrong, I was calling to ask if you wanted to go on a run with me. I am outside your building." You pulled yourself out of bed and poked your finger in the venetian blinds. Sure enough, Ushijima was standing by the steps outside the front of your dorm, facing the clock in the center of campus.

Did you want to go for a run? No, not really. All you wanted was to fall asleep, alas, after the scare Ushijima had given you, could you really go back to sleep at this point? Not very likely. You balanced the phone on your shoulder as you shimmied out of your pajamas and sighed. "Okay, fine, but we are not running as fast as we did yesterday."

Ushijima grunted into the phone and said goodbye before hanging up.

You pulled your hair from your face as you walked past the mirror. You rubbed the sleep out of your eyes but didn't even bother to wash your face. After you came back all sweaty, you'd only have to shower again. Plus, it was only Ushijima, he'd like you regardless of whether or not you washed your face.  You dug out a tee shirt and some exercise shorts as you took another breath.

You couldn't believe Ushijima was managing to get you to go on a run with him. You bent down to slip on your socks and tie your shoes securely. You exited your dorm quietly, doing your best to not wake up your roommate.

As much as you didn't expect to like this morning jog, it was bearable. Ushijima seemed to have made an executive decision to match your pace instead of racing ahead. It was rather sweet of him, all things considered. He had even brought an extra water bottle for you.

It made you wonder for a moment. If you hadn't agreed to go on this run with him, would Ushijima have gone on the jog alone, carrying two water bottles? The notion made you chuckle, temporarily altering your breathing and causing you to lose your pace.

"Are you alright?" Ushijima asked, slowing to a halt and raising a hand out to you as if he thought you were going to faint.

"Yeah," you wheezed, regretting finding the thought so funny. "I just messed up my breathing a bit, that's all," you said it, too embarrassed to tell the truth because it wasn't as funny as you had originally thought.