The Half-assed Prince

Being the class president is a hardwork

When I got up, I had these dark shades around my eyes. My eyes felt so heavy since I didn't sleep at all. I was just rolling in my bed the whole night, recalling and replaying my bold action yesterday. No matter how I tried to get rid of it, it still stayed in my mind. Closing my eyes didn’t help either; the image of me hugging Kei was clearer than when my eyes were open. So I kept my eyes wide open to avoid feeling embarrassed over and over again.

I wondered if Kei was also bothered by it. We were both swayed by the moment. His voice was still ringing in my head: "Let's stay like this a little while." Who would've thought that I would hear those words from him. He completely caught me off guard. And I didn't have the slightest clue why my heart couldn't stop racing every time I remembered that moment. It was so embarrassing that I didn't know how to face him without blushing.

I took a deep breath before entering the classroom, hoping that Kei hadn't arrived yet, but it seemed like bad luck was my friend today. As soon as I opened the door, I bumped into someone, sending all my things scattered on the floor. I looked up to see who it was. My heart quickly tightened when I saw it was Kei. I immediately picked up my things, to cover my embarrassment, but apparently Kei had the exact same idea so we both bumped our heads. I groaned as I massaged my forehead as Kei picked up my things.

"You're too clumsy for a president." He said as he handed me my belongings.

I was frozen in place, unable to say anything, until he walked past me and left. That was when I came back to my senses.

I hit my head on my desk for the hundredth time. I should've thanked him somehow but I was tongue-tied, all because I was overthinking things. The day had just started and I was already exhausted.

At lunch, I went to the library to finish all the paperwork I had neglected during the competition. Being the class president and assisting the volleyball team at the same time was really hard. I really made the right decision to decline their offer to be their manager.

After painstakingly going through half of my piled-up work, I trudged back to class. On my way there, I passed by the gym. Yesterday, Ukai-san had said that they wouldn't be practicing today, seeing how wrecked they were after they lost. But all of a sudden, I heard the sound of a ball bouncing on the floor. It sounded like there were people playing inside. Maybe they decided to practice after all, to distract themselves from their loss.

When I got back to class, my eyebrows furrowed when I saw Kei and Tadashi in their seats. I thought they were out practicing, but here they were, slacking their asses off.

"Aren't you guys supposed to be in the gym?" I asked.

"Ukai-san told us that we don't have practice today," said Tadashi.

"Yeah, I know, but I heard someone playing in the gym so I assumed you were practicing."

Both of them looked at me like what-are-you-saying, but then Tadashi looked at Kei, and he immediately understood him.

"Wakatta," Kei said as he let a sigh. They picked up their bags and exited from the class.

After class, I had to stay in school, not for the volleyball team, but to finish my paperwork. I wouldn't be able to be in the gym for a while, since I had heaps of things to do, and exams were just around the corner too. It was quite disappointing because I wouldn't be able to see Kei play for a while. For someone who wanted to be the first in school, studies would always come first. I told Ukai-san about it, and thankfully he understood my situation.

Ever since I became Kei's crying shoulder, he wouldn't ignore me anymore: he would always greet me in the morning, and wouldn't glare at me that much. I felt relieved that even though I wasn't able to see him play, I could still talk to him in class. He also didn't look annoyed whenever I teased him and sometimes he would laugh at my jokes.

The weird thing was that every time I saw him laughing, my heart always tightened and wouldn't stop racing. There were times when I just stared into his golden eyes and I started breathing hard. I didn't know what it all meant. My heartbeat was irregular whenever I was near him.

I tried asking my friends about these bizarre feelings, and they said that I was in love... Me?! In love?! With Kei?! No way! I only laughed at them and hurriedly went back to the library to study.

In the end, I couldn't concentrate at all. My friends were being ridiculous. How could I fall in love with someone like Kei? I mean, he was the opposite of myself. He didn't like studying. He did things half-assed. He always yelled at me. He always glared at me. He always ignored me. They were mistaken. There was absolutely no way I would fall in love with Kei.

Then why was I bothered by it? Everything that I just said was true, but Kei also had good points. He hated studying, but he was smart. He always yelled at me, but his embarrassed face was cute, especially when he apologized. He always glared at me, but his sincere eyes were enough to take my breath away. Wah!! I didn't know what to feel anymore. I was pretty good at solving problems, but this kind of problem was difficult. Kei was the only one who could confuse me like this, to the point that my mind stopped functioning altogether.

And just like that, I lost track of time. I didn't even realize how late it had gotten. It was already dark outside. I scrambled to fix my things and headed home. On my way to the gate, I ran into the members of the volleyball team. They had probably just finished practicing.

They immediately saw me as I waved my hands at them. Tanaka and Nishinoya quickly ran towards me.

"Akira, why don't you visit us anymore?" Nishinoya asked.

"It's boring without you." Tanaka said.

"I'm sorry for not coming these past few days. I've been busy with my duties as the class president, and exams are coming too." I said.

Their face quickly contorted as soon as they heard the word "exam". Like a big rock suddenly fell from heaven. Then the rest of the members started greeting me. We'd only been together for a short time and yet I realized that I missed them so much. Their sense of humor; their determined faces when they were practicing.

Then we had to separate ways. They waved me goodbye in the most cheerful way. But Kei stayed at my side as he waved goodbye to his teammates. I looked at him in confusion.

"What are you doing here?" I asked.

"To walk you to the station, stupid." He said.

"You don't need to. I mean, I didn't go home late because of the volleyball team so you don't need to walk me." I said.

Then he took a step towards me and slightly bent his knees to match my height. I thought he was about to do something but he just flicked his fingers on my forehead. I groaned in pain as I massaged it.

"Are you stupid? How could I let a girl walk alone in the dark?" He said. Then he started walking to the station.

I could feel my face burning; my heart couldn't stop racing. I'd always wanted to hear from him that he was walking me home because he wanted to and not because he had to. Honestly, Kei was the only one who could surprise me like this. Suddenly saying those kinds of things...

Then my friends' words started echoing in my head: "You're in love." Maybe they were right. Maybe I really liked Kei. Yes. It was Kei. The one who always ignored me, but always offered to walk me home.