Miyuki isn't really sure why he had asked Norifumi for Kaoru's phone number, but it started with Eijun's obnoxious voice.
Eijun had walked into his dorm shining brightly, a grin on his face as though he had conquered the world. Miyuki had been going over plays with Nori and Kuramochi when the first year burst through the door.
"Kaoru-Hime is now my nee-san!" he announced before anyone could question his good mood. Kuramochi immediately kicked Eijun before holding him in a headlock.
"Hyaha what did you do to make her agree with that?" asked Kuramochi as he gripped Eijun tightly. "I asked her about her injury and then we sat and talked for a long time!" he replied.
The second years all froze before Kawakami spoke up, "and she talked about it with you?" he asked in amazement.
Eijun nodded before looking away with cat eyes. "Sawamura, what did you do?" asked Miyuki, his brows furrowed in disapproval.
"Well, first she yelled at me and cried," Eijun said when the arms around his neck tightened, "but then I apologized!" he choked out.
Miyuki huffed at that, only Kaoru would so easily forgive someone, 'she's too kind for her own good,' he thought.
Kuramochi released Eijun reluctantly, "if Kaoru forgave you, I guess it can't be helped," he sighed. 'Only Sawamura is persistent enough to force her to talk about it,' he thought.
Eijun began describing Kaoru's benevolent behavior in painful detail as the second years rolled their eyes at him. Even Kawakami lost his patience with the loud first year.
Something about Eijun effortlessly making friends with Kaoru annoyed Miyuki. How did he get a response like that from her when all he gets is an attitude mixed with a little bit of genuine kindness.
Leaning over to Kawakami, Miyuki quietly asked the side-arm pitcher for a favor, "Nori, do you have Kaoru's phone number?" he whispered.
Kawakami's eyes widened as he nodded, Kaoru was a friend of his and he didn't want to cause her any inconveniences. Looking at Miyuki he decided to trust his catcher, grabbing his phone to display her contact.
"Please don't cause her any trouble Kazuya," he said softly, a sincere look on his face. Miyuki just nodded his head in agreement as he entered her number into his phone.
Taking one more glance at Eijun and Kuramochi, he reaffirmed his decision, 'I'm just going to tease her as a friend, nothing more than that,' he thought as he contemplated what his first text to her should be.
A smirk came across his face as he thought up a good opening remark, typing quickly, he hit send before placing his phone back in his pocket.
The next morning, Kaoru was walking arm in arm with Chiyo towards the school building. She told Chiyo about her talk with Sawamura, her new little brother and how helpful it was to admit her feelings of loneliness.
Chiyo had hugged her friend closer when she heard that, "I am glad you found someone that got you to open up!" she said, "it has been so difficult for me to see you sad while I'm unable to help!" Chiyo pouted.
"You're too good to me," Kaoru said to her friend as she smiled. "Your brother said he worries a lot about you, please text him more often," Chiyo slyly said, an expectant look on her face.
Kaoru couldn't stop her physical reaction as she sputtered out a loud response, "YOU'RE TALKING TO MY BROTHER!"
Mouth wide open in shock, Kaoru couldn't be bothered to be embarrassed by all of the stares she had garnered through her outburst.
Chiyo blushed with faux bashfulness, "we started messaging yesterday on instagram and then he asked for my phone number." Kaoru didn't know how to react, her brother had never shown interest in girls before, that she was aware of at least.
Truthfully, he was only a grade level ahead of them, so it shouldn't be weird. But she couldn't help but wonder what it was about Chiyo that got him so interested.
Sure, her friend was a beautiful blonde with long hair, big brown eyes and long lashes. Not to mention her great personality and amazing prowess as an athlete... Actually now that she thought about it, why wouldn't he be interested.
Kaoru smiled as hugged her friend with a squeal, "maybe you will be Mrs. Bokuto afterall!" She was happy for her friend. Chiyo deserved the world, and she was certain her brother would provide her the universe.
"What's got you two in such a frenzy?" asked a teasing voice from behind, interrupting the friend's celebration. Turning to see Miyuki with Kuramochi, Kaoru felt an awkward pull in her stomach.
She hadn't responded to Miyuki's text this morning, and the fact that they were even texting weirded her out. Choosing to ignore him, she focused attention on Kuramochi.
"Chiyo-chan and my brother are talking! Someday she may become Mrs. Bokuto," she said with a grin. Kuramochi and Miyuki were not expecting that response, "your brother the volleyball star?" Kuramochi asked.
Both girls nodded in sync, identical smiles on their faces. "Mochi-san, don't be jealous, there is someone out there for you!" Kaoru said jokingly, it wasn't much of a secret that he had a one sided crush on Chiyo for two weeks their first year.
"Damn you Kaoru!" he yelled, as the two girls giggled at his outburst. The group began walking down the hallway towards their respective classrooms and Miyuki took this moment to try teasing Kaoru.
Moving to match her stride, he leaned over a little to ask, "I didn't know you were the type to get all silly over boys," he said with a smirk.
Kaoru sent him a questioning gaze, "I'm still a woman Miyuki, I'm not so obsessed with other things as to not take notice of guys," she said, fighting a blush from rising to her cheeks.
"Someday a guy is going to capture all of my attention," she said, "and then who knows what will happen!" Kaoru let out a small laugh at that, her attention once again drifting away from Miyuki as she began talking with Chiyo.
Miyuki wasn't sure why that idea annoyed him. He also wasn't sure why he felt the need to try and garner her attention so often. Maybe it was because Kaoru so clearly ignored him more than the others.
Waving goodbye to Chiyo, the three second years took their seats in class. Kuramochi turned around in his seat, "Kaoru, have you thought about dating? If Chiyo starts won't you be jealous?" he asked softly.
Giving him a teasing grin, Kaoru responded, "are you asking me out Mochi-san." Before either could even laugh at the obvious joke, Miyuki caught their attention by choking on his tea.
"Are you okay?" Kaoru asked him with concern as he slowed his coughing. "Never better," Miyuki responded. He wanted to say something else while he had her attention, but his mind went blank.
What came out of his mouth definitely did not have permission from his brain, "your hair is messy." He internally cringed, 'what am I? An elementary school boy with a crush?'
Kaoru's eyebrows creased in confusion, "yeah, it's called a messy ponytail," she responded as she turned her attention to her desk in preparation for the teacher.
Miyuki wanted to groan, that was painful. Kuramochi caught his eye as the shortstop was staring at Miyuki with a terrifying smile, "hyahah" Kuramochi laughed when he received a glare from the catcher.
Kuramochi was dangerously observant and Miyuki once again found himself wanting to groan. Whatever the shortstop thinks he figured out, he's wrong. Maybe Miyuki was just tired and that's why he isn't thinking clearly.
Playing with the end of her ponytail, Kaoru was contemplating taking it out and allowing her hair to be down. 'Does it look bad messy? I thought it was cute,' she thought absentmindedly.
Huffing, she decided to focus on class instead of annoying Miyuki Kazuya. She had talked to Chiyo this morning about the catcher texting her as the two were catching up.
Her friend had suggested that before she goes wondering about his motivations, she should think about her own. Why was she so eagerly responding to him if he annoyed her so much?
Throughout the day Kaoru spent her free time contemplating her complicated feelings. If, hypothetically, Miyuki was interested in her romantically, how would she feel?
She had been so engrossed in her thoughts, that before she knew it, the school day was over and Chiyo was calling her name outside the classroom.
"Coming!" she called out to her friend, 'I'll have plenty of time to think later today,' she thought to herself.
Waving goodbye to Miyuki and Kuramochi, the latter called out a "see you tonight," dismissively.
The rest of the evening flowed quickly and easily for Kaoru. She hadn't thought about the catcher at all as she prepared for the tutoring class.
"Perfect!" she said with pride as she had organized all of the material on the desks. Moving to stretch, she halted her movements as a painful pop resounded throughout the room.
Wincing, she grabbed her shoulder, rubbing soothing circled around the joint. Biting her lip, she shut her eyes tightly, 'it's been so sore lately.'
She had grown used to the incessant shaking of her hand and the unflattering pops of her shoulder, but the pain flashes never ceased to take her breath away.
Gritting her teeth, she heard the sound of second year baseball idiots entering the room loudly. 'Can't let them know, it's so embarrassing that it still bothers me,' she thought as she plastered on a fake smile.
After greeting everyone, Kaoru didn't waste any time getting started. "Please look at your packets and if you have any questions just let me know!" she said with a smile.
Throughout the course of the class, a few members had spoken up about their questions, and each time Kaoru would stand by them and walk them through the problem.
Kaoru didn't think much of this behavior until there was a group of three boys she recognized from the reserve team in the back that called her over a ridiculous number of times.
Maezono was asking Kaoru a question when yet another round of "Bokuto-san, I don't understand this question," followed by barely stifled laughter came once again from the back of the room.
Furrowing her eyebrows, Kaoru sighed. She didn't appreciate being toyed with, and these boys were certainly doing just that.
The mood in the room had shifted as Kaoru clearly displayed discomfort at their incessant calls for her attention. One of the other second years, Kenjiro Shirasu, turned around in his seat.
Usually he was quiet, but that didn't mean he wouldn't speak up. Especially when members of his team were acting up. Turning in his chair to face the back of the class he said, "if you all are struggling, how about I come help while Bokuto-san continues to help Maezono-kun"
He figured his offer would be rejected, but he wanted to offer some reassurance to Kaoru that they weren't all pigs. "We want Kaoru-chan to teach us, she's really good at it," one of them said.
Kaoru smiled, a menacing aura surrounding her as she walked towards the trio. Kuramochi had been getting up from his chair to yell at them but paused when he saw the look on her face.
Smacking her palms on the table, she leaned towards the three boys. "If you want my attention, try a different tactic." Being stupid, pretending or otherwise, is not only unattractive, but if I gave even a second thought to any of you that would make me just as ridiculous as you three."
"Now," she said sweetly, "either actually try and learn something, or get the hell out of here." Kaoru stood to her full height, which was shorter than every male in the room, but with her chin held high, she clearly had control.
The three boys shifted uncomfortably before grabbing their stuff and walking out. One gave a last ditch glare over his shoulder at Kaoru that had her raising a brow at him.
Once the troublemakers were gone, Kaoru clapped her hands together happily, "so, now that that is taken care of, we're actually out of time."
Walking back to the front of the classroom she smiled at the group, "since we had so many distractions though, if anyone needs any extra help I am happy to stay later!" she said.
"Kaoru-san, you're quite scary when you want to be," said Kawakami in awe of his friend. The dark blonde girl just laughed, in response as she began cleaning up her stuff.
"If no one needs extra help I'm going to gather my stuff and leave," she said one last time. All of the boys looked around to see if anyone was brave enough to take her up on her offer.
Humming to herself she said "okay, well then have a goodnight everyone!" bowing slightly. As the room emptied out, Kuramochi, Miyuki and Kawakami approached the girl.
"Hyaha you sure put those idiots in their place!" Kuramochi laughed, "thank you Mochi-san!" She said and high-fived her friend.
Kawakami was looking at his friend with concern, "are you sure you're okay though? They harassed you a lot," he said softly. Crossing her arms, Kaoru donned a thoughtful look on her face.
"Mm, I think I'm fine provided they don't attack me for rejecting them," she replied honestly. The boys froze at that, none of them even thought that was a possibility.
Kuramochi threw an arm over Kaoru's shoulders with a cheeky grin, "well lucky for you, I volunteer to walk you back to the dorms."
"Don't try to lie to me, Eijun told me you promised to help him with bunting!" Kaoru said with a laugh as she shoved the green haired boy off of her.
Kawakami offered his services and was met with a deadpan look, "Kawakami, you also promised to help Eijun by pitching to him!" she said with a shake of her head, "all of you are so quick to bail on him."
Miyuki felt a smirk grow on his face, "well, looks like that leaves me to walk our precious tutor home," he said. Kaoru gave him a disgusted look before sighing.
"I told you all it would probably be fine!" she said in defeat, the three boys gave her disbelieving looks as she eventually agreed to being escorted.
Waving to Kuramochi and Kawakami, Kaoru sent them both a 'help me' look as a snickering Miyuki called for her to hurry up.
"Will she be okay with Kazuya?" asked Kawakami, Kuramochi laughed in response, "she's probably in better hands than with either of us," he answered with a grin.
"Besides, Miyuki doesn't know it yet, but I think he has a crush," Kuramochi said with glee. A whole new world of teasing had opened up with Kaoru's presence.
Kawakami thought about it for a moment before agreeing, "he asked me for her number, so you might be right," he said. The two boys then began laughing as they pictured Miyuki trying to figure out a crush.
Kaoru and Miyuki walked in silence, 'this is so awkward!' she thought. "Miyuki-kun, don't you have something better to do than escort me to my dorm?" she asked.
Miyuki just grinned slyly at her before answering, "nope," he said, his arms resting behind his head casually.
Rolling her eyes in annoyance, Kaoru sped up her steps to at least not walk beside the obnoxious boy. She rounded a corner quickly before coming to a halt.
'What the hell am I a protagonist in an anime?' she thought in confusion. Miyuki rounded the corner completely relaxed as he said to her, "you're starting to hurt my feelings," fake pouting.
Miyuki trailed off his next comment as he looked ahead, 'this is a surprise,' one of the idiots from the reserve team was actually standing in front of Kaoru, and he didn't look happy.
"Are you kidding me," Kaoru said with a sarcastic tone, "you actually DID plan on confronting me?" her eyebrows raised in surprise, "you're dumber than I thought."
The guy in front of them, Yoshida Kenzo, sneered at her. Miyuki was starting to wonder if Yoshida had even noticed him yet.
"I'm not going to let some little bitch talk to me like that," he said as he began marching towards her, clearly trying to intimidate Kaoru with his height.
Miyuki decided to make his presence known as he quickly stepped up to stand beside Kaoru causing Yoshida to halt. Miyuki was full on glaring at the man, his eyes filled with disgust.
"Whatever plans you had tonight, leave, and maybe Kaoru won't tell Coach Kataoka what happened," Miyuki said seriously. Yoshida hesitated, he hadn't planned on Miyuki being there, and with the look of menace in Kaoru's eyes, he was at a disadvantage.
Glaring harshly at Miyuki, Yoshida brushed past him and left. Once she was sure he left, Kaoru let out a heavy breath. "Whoa, that was actually kind of scary," she said, holding her hand to her chest.
Miyuki grinned reassuringly, "were you scared? Even with me here?" he asked with an arrogant lilt in his voice. Kaoru laughed a little, the tension dissipating.
"I mean, I am a girl, of course I was a little scared," she said honestly, "but I had no idea you could be so scary! Thank you for being here," she said with a bright smile.
Miyuki looked away, "how else could I retake my position as your favorite player," he joked. His throat felt dry and his heart was thudding, 'what is happening to me?' he internally questioned.
With a scoff, Kaoru began walking again "you're going to have to work harder than that to take the #1 spot," she said with a laugh. Miyuki laughed a little as he jogged to catch up with her.
"So you're saying there's a chance?" he questioned with a grin. Kaoru almost responded but paused as she just realized something, "Miyuki! Why did you say that I wouldn't tell the coach if he left! I so plan on telling him!"
Grinning devilishly, Miyuki responded, "because I never said I wouldn't tell the coach." Kaoru's surprise morphed into an equally devilish smile as she understood what he meant.
"You're a genius!" she shouted without thinking, she began rambling about the plan and what Coach Kataoka would do to Yoshida for harassing her.
Miyuki wasn't paying attention to anything she was saying, he had zoned out as he admired her hair, still in it's messy ponytail from earlier, her profile, he even admired the excitement in her wild gestures and the sound of her voice.
He didn't know why he hadn't noticed that she was pretty before, but now that he had he couldn't seem to stop noticing.
Miyuki's brain was running a hundred miles an hour, and his breath was getting caught in his lungs. Clearing his throat, he cut Kaoru off, "sorry to interrupt, but I don't have all night and we're back at the dorms," he said.
Kaoru paused looking around before running a hand through her hair in embarrassment, "oh! Sorry I was lost in my tangent," she said awkwardly.
Miyuki just nodded as he turned to leave, 'I need to get away from her,' he thought quickly. "Bye Miyuki, thank you for walking me back and helping me!" he heard Kaoru yell out.
Daring one more glance over his shoulder, he saw her waving towards him, a bright smile on her face. 'I'm screwed,' he thought as he half-heartedly waved back before walking quickly back to his own dorm.
Kaoru stood outside of her dorm, her face bright red as she came to the conclusion she had been dreading, 'I have a crush on Miyuki Kazuya.'