chapter twenty-four!
GAUCHE
"THANKS FOR YOUR HARD WORK!"
Students bid their farewells, waving hands towards different people before taking off home before they could miss the four o' clock train ride. Mina on the other hand was in no rush since she had cleaning duty today, repeatedly tapping the chalkboard eraser on the ledge as its dust showered down. She was still thinking about how she could properly approach Kageyama but anything that she did didn't seem like it had any promising effects.
At times she had passed by their gymnasium, caught his eyes and would enthusiastically wave her hand like a puppy wagging its tail. Or when she would sneak beside him during lunch hours by the benches and slip a carton of milk in between them, sheepishly smiling.
And many more attempts that ended being futile.
Her desperate measures probably creeped him out even more enough to push him further away from her. Mina stomped her foot like a little child before groaning away her frustrations.
"Lee-san..?"
She immediately turned around to see a fellow classmate of hers warily calling out for her with a look of concern and confusion. How odd must've Mina looked in front of the guy, throwing a mini tantrum. It was almost immediate for her cheeks to flare up from the embarrassment that she felt soon enough.
"Y-Yes!" Standing straight and tall like a rigid soldier in a bootcamp, she answered right away.
"U-Uh, just wanted you to throw out the trash by the incinerator," The person had the bin in his hand. "But if you're a little busy, then I think I'll justㅡ"
"No!" She protested.
It came off too strong, in fact, that he looked a taken aback by it. Mina immediately plastered a sheepish smile, gently reaching for the bin.
"I do it, okay?" She spoke and immediately rushed to leave the classroom in order to avoid the awkwardness she knew that was going to bloom if she stayed there any longer.
"So embarrassing," Mina touched her warm cheeks, a squeal out of humiliation coming from her as well. "I'm such a mess..!"
Thankfully enough, he didn't say anything regarding how odd she was even though words spoke through his eyes with the way he looked at her. Quite the comedic scenario but it sure didn't feel anything amusing. Mina went on a tirade in her mind about how she promised herself that she wouldn't do anything embarrassing anymore— but the probability of that succeeding is unlikely.
Large crowds of people were nowhere to be seen along the hallways, only remnants of a few who were in the midst of finishing up their tasks for the day. The first time Mina had done after school cleaning; well, it didn't go so well. Like a lost duckling who strayed from her mother and siblings, she waddled around the school grounds trying to find the incinerator. When a classmate asked her to take the trash out, she nodded fervently and left almost immediately without waiting for them to tell her where it was.
Well, she found it in the end— only an hour later when she finally decided to ask someone with much struggle.
An dry scoff of a laugh escaped her lips. As if she wasn't embarrassed enough, now that memory resurfaced into her mind again.
She shook the thoughts away and crossed halfway through the open hallway and to the back end of the school where the incinerator stood. A storage shed was also in the same area which only stood a few meters away from it. Mina had been in there once just to take orange cones out during their gym class. The day they had to do relay races, separated into two teams of blue and red—
Mina paused for a good moment.
Then she fished out the blue paper she had in her pockets.
A dawn of realization soon came like a broken dam when she immediately remembered the contents of this note.
"Ah!" She nearly dropped the trash bin, panicking until she looked around the area— she was behind school; where she was asked to go to. Once more, she unfurled the folded piece of paper to read its contents. All it ever asked for was to meet after school hours behind the building, nothing else.
Truth be told, she didn't want to think too much about it but Mina surely has read enough of those shoujo manga tropes to know what this could all be about. All those bored hours of studying in the public library made her stumble upon a rare gem of Japanese comics. Calling someone out after school to meet? It was either a group of girls waiting to jump her for interacting with their beloved or an act of confession— there was no in-between.
And now cautious and alert of her surroundings, she scoped the area for any suspiciousness but couldn't find anything.
So it's not the girls jumping her.
A small sigh of relief escaped her lips. Ending the day getting battered and nail scratches wasn't something she desired.
"...Lee-san?"
A jolt spiralled down her spine at the sound of her name, immediately turning around at the familiar voice and only to be met by him— Kageyama. He stood there, unsure of his actions with a confused frown on his visage.
She didn't even notice his approach!
"Kageyama-kun!" Confusion was reciprocated from her expression. "What are you doing hereㅡ"
A pause. Both parties were confused but had different speculations.
Was Mina here because she's a Volleyball enthusiast?
Was Kageyama here to confess?
The two immediately stared each other in the eyes but the raven haired male broke it off quick when his cheeks blossomed brightly.
His reaction made Mina feel weird inside, like a tangled knot in her stomach.
What—
Did she blush too?
They stood there quietly, the warm touch of summer breeze kissing their skins. It was awkward; a Korean girl standing on one side with a trash bin in hand and a Japanese boy frowning at the ground for no reason. It was an odd pair of sight to see, even more with the drama between them. An act of avoidance for some reason caused turmoil with their relationship— both barely knowing the true reason for it.
"W-Why you here..?" Mina spoke up first, wanting to break the ice despite how timid and shy she sounded.
"... You were looking for me?" Kageyama rubbed the nape of his neck and glanced at her awkwardly.
Her brows furrowed. She was?
"B-But it isn'tㅡ"
Scratching noises from a distance. Mina paused for a good second, confusing the raven haired male until they both finally heard said scratching noises again.
"What-?" Kageyama eyed the vicinity for the source of the noise until both of their attention fell onto the storage room.
A faint mewling sound soon came after the scratching noise and Mina was convinced there was a cat in the room. She immediately approached the build, the latter following behind as well.
It was surprising to even know that when she twisted the knob, it creaked open. It seemed a little too careless of the custodian to just leave this place open.
"How'd a cat get in there?" Kageyama grumbled despite having the curiosity to actually look.
She shrugged and pushed the door open, expecting to see a cat that would immediately flee when the light strikes it but there was nothing. No sounds of the cat mewling anymore nor were the scratching noises on the metallic door.
"Eh..? No cat in here." Mina stepped into the room, putting the doorstopper to the end of it to hold as Kageyama followed in pursuit.
"Were we imagining it—argh!"
The raven haired male who was searching around was suddenly pushed to the ground— hard. Kageyama fell onto Mina who had shrieked quite unlady-like before the two of them fell onto the cold, hard cemented floor.
"O-Ow..!" A puff of air escaped her lips, pain searing through her bosom and her arms that tried to soften the impact but to no avail. "W-What are you doing, Kageyama-kunㅡ"
Light slowly started to evaporate from the room leaving behind a dust of darkness until it was only through the small interstice of the door did a slip of light peek through— the doors slammed to an immediate shut. Its sound echoed loudly in the now dark room but the two were too absorbed in their own states.
Incoherent curses were mumbled under Kageyama's breath as he pushed himself up, opening his eyes only to find himself hovering over Mina. His breath hitches at the sight, more so losing his strength when their eyes locked.
Uh-oh.
"YOU SURE THIS IS FINE?"
The chauffeur warily eyed the storage room, a doorstopper in hand. Minji on the other hand, who had been dressed in a Karasuno uniform from God knows where she got it from, grinned quite satisfactorily with the custodian keys in hand. They had been hiding behind a great pair of bushes for an hour, her chauffeur's antsy affairs annoying the girl who was busily painting her nails.
"No crime was done here," She hummed, stealing the doorstopper from his hand before tossing it far over the fences. "Mission accomplished. Aren't you proud of me?"
Pure confusion and a hint of fear was painted on the chauffeur's visage. The way Minji expresses her concern to help her own blood sister was abnormal. How could someone lock up her sister in a gym storage with some guy?
"...You're not scared she's going to get attacked or by worse.. you know, get taken advantage of?"
A confident smile grew from her lips before she nonchalantly shrugged, pulling out a sheet of notes from her hand. It was a profile on Kageyama, his personal information down to his habits were listed down from A to Z. Now, the chauffeur was even more concerned— terrified.
"How..?" He trailed off.
"You don't need to know that," Minji folded the item and into her pockets, patting it like it was a precious thing. "But what you do need to know is that he doesn't have the balls to do it. If anything, I think my sister has more of the initiative between them."
Oh, this was a bad dream. All the management told him was to care and drive around a young Korean model but this was more than the baggage he was given. The chauffeur followed behind the girl who was sashaying away from the crime scene, humming as she twirled the keys in hand. He felt reduced into a criminal's accomplice, vile and shameful.
"How did you even make those cat noises in the storage room?" He couldn't help but ask despite the heavy sigh he heaved.
"Bluetooth speaker," She nonchalantly states. "A mini one. I hid it and connected my phone beforehand and played some random noises off of the internet. You should really try new gadgets— it helps you look more youthful. After all, you're really not getting any younger, Mister."
"I'm only twenty-five!" He cries.
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
im tripping
y'all tripping
everybody tripping
ignore me i'm deep in stress hole
anyways if this keeps going
kags and mina are legit
going to go down in business
in that room
i mean verbally and nO
DIRTY STUFF
wink wonk