COMFORT CROWD ᵏ·ᵏᵒᶻᵘᵐᵉ

13 | dramatics

12:30 / FRIDAY.
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Once Youko made it outside for lunch, she glanced down at her phone. Students were already crowding the fields and the hallways, the soft chatter and bustle of any socialites being heard at the moment. Youko pushed back her hair, quietly brushing past groups of her classmates.

It was during the breaks when she found herself alone more often, her form shrinking down when Youko noticed some girls staring at her. It didn't bother her as much as they thought it would; She was unfortunately used to this sort of judgement and steeled herself to not cower from the unneeded attention.

After she finally got Kozume's text of his whereabouts, Youko did a quick take on her surroundings to make sure Kuroo wasn't looking for her either. The last thing she wanted was to expose Kozume and ruin whatever trust she built up with him.

The location he described in the text was just on the other side of the school located near the gardening club. Apparently, there weren't supposed to be a lot of people nearby so he chose that spot for now.

As her steps carried her across the school grounds, it suddenly dawned on her that she was going to be alone with Kozume. No one would be there to interrupt them. The thought of the setting made her walk slower, the grip on her bag tightening as well. Youko had to keep telling herself that this was like hanging out with a good friend; She'll talk about stupid things and hopefully, get a laugh out.

There will be no overanalyzing the situation and making up stupid scenarios in her head either, just normal friend things.

"What are you doing?" She hears being said in front of her. She blinked at the boy cluelessly.

"N-Nothing!" she laughs with a quick dismissive wave of the hand. "I was just thinking about. . . boys?"

Kozume raises his eyebrow perplexed; Youko mentally slapped herself in the face for the stupid comment. Even in the most desperate situations, she couldn't lie to save her life.

"Don't ask," she grumbled. Kozume nodded before focusing back on his PSP.

Youko takes advantage of his silence and sits next to him on the bench, staring back at the small garden of vegetables across from them. It was actually really nice here, pretty quiet for it to be at a school.

"Where did you find this place?" she asked while opening her lunch.

Kozume refused to look up. "I don't know, just kind of stumbled on it one day."

He lied. Kozume actually knew for a fact that no one ever came this way. The gardening club only meets in the morning and after school, and even if they do come by, they keep to themselves and don't really pay attention to anyone else. So he came here whenever he wanted to get away from it all, and when he means all, he means Kuroo and occasionally class.

Before Youko starts to eat her home-cooked meal, she cranes her neck to the side and looks back at Kozume. She almost forgot about their deal, or perhaps the blackmail she had over him.

"Hey, let's eat together," she suggests. "Did you bring lunch?"

Her tone was friendly and cheerful, not as demanding as she was from last night. Kozume almost laughed at the duality but was able to hold himself back.