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CHAPTER SEVEN
❝ hair ruffles ❞
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THE TANGERINE SUNSET in the sky looked like fresh colours painted on an artist's canvas. As the sun sets across the horizon, it dyed the sky orange, then red, then dark blue. And eventually darkness took over, with only sequin-like stars and old fashioned street lights illuminating the tranquil street where the two high-schoolers were currently walking on.
With Y/n still holding onto Suna's arm, the guy had made sure not to take any major steps in case of worsening the unpleasant feeling in her legs. Maybe it was also an excuse to lengthen the time spent with her, who knows. But one thing for sure was that the atmosphere between the two was definitely awkward.
Y/n made the first move to break the awkward silence between them. She couldn't bear staying quiet for the whole journey, especially since she had been longing to ask Suna a question that kept lingering in her mind. Clearing her throat, she said with a smile as her eyes focused on the night sky, "The sky's... pretty today, isn't it?"
"Yeah," Suna sneaked a glance at the girl before looking up at the dark sky above. He could see millions of stars dotted on the black canvas of night. It looked like a painting. And a faint smile graced his lips at the thought that Y/n actually tried making an effort to converse with him. "It really is."
People would usually be intimidated by Suna. And it was understandable. Because behind the uninterested, deadpan expression that never left his face was a pair of green eyes with an intense gaze that left people in disdain. But if one were to be daring enough to stare a minute longer at the middle blocker's emerald orbs and observe them, they'd be able to see— yellow.
Suna's eyes weren't just intimidating green. They were warm, honey yellow too. And no one noticed those pair of precious ambers because they were like guarded treasure hidden away from the outside world, desperately waiting for the bravest among the bravest to discover and cherish. And once you make it past the green viridescent borders, you'll get to see beams of golden yellow that'll engulf you in a sense of calmness.
And Y/n— saw those heavenly, aureate rays.
As Suna finally reverted his eyes from the sky to the path ahead of him, he realised that Y/n had been staring at him the whole time. And when their eyes locked, it felt as if time stopped and they were in their own world. "Suna," the girl began, her face was only a few inches away from the middle blocker as she continued to keep eye contact with him, "Why did you want to meet me at the gym?"
Suna spent the first few seconds blinking at the girl's question, he forgot about his real intentions of asking Y/n to meet him in the gym. And just when he was about to answer, the girl noticed how close they were and immediately distanced her face away from him. She looked the other way, an uneasy grin playing on her lips as rosy red tint dusted her cheeks. Since when was she so bold?
The middle blocker did the same too and simultaneously looked the opposite way. He could feel his face burning all the way up to his ears as he combed his fingers through his hair. "Uh, yeah. About that..." Suna's deadpan expression helped with covering up his blushing face, but his red ears gave it all away, "I uh...wanted to get your number. But I forgot about it. Forgive me."
"Ah— Haha...R-really?" Y/n stuttered. Her face was still flustered, and she desperately wanted to hide her blushing features that got redder by the second. Unfortunately, thanks to her occupied hands, the best she could do was to face the opposite way of Suna. Slowly unhooking her arm away from the middle blocker, she reached for her phone in her bag and handed it to him.
"I wanted to get your Instagram.
So I guess you can add your number
along the way! A-and please don't feel
sorry! I'm really forgetful too."
The way Suna effortlessly unlocked her phone was just as if he had done it a million times before. Clicking on the follow button, he could feel his phone vibrate in his pocket for a second before he pressed on her contacts to add his number. Here was the problem, Suna didn't know what sort of name he was supposed to set in her phone. Pondering for a few moments, he finally settled for a simple one.
❝ RINTAROU ❞
"By the way, can you give me your captain's number too?" Y/n fully faced the middle blocker, hoping that her face finally recovered from the almost feverish incident a few minutes ago, "I want to apologise for disrupting everyone in the middle of training."
"You don't need to. I'm pretty
sure no one really minds."
"B-but I can't sleep knowing
that I ruined their practice..."
Suna sweatdropped at the dejected expression on Y/n's face. "...Just text me when you get back home then, I'll add you into our group chat so you can apologise to everyone." he sighed, this felt exactly like the moment where Uenoyama had to fix Mafuyu's broken guitar strings. How could a person remain silent and do nothing at such a pitiful sight?
As he handed her phone back, their fingers brushed against each other in the middle of the process. And once again, the two were back in their flustered state from earlier. Y/n never understood why having your fingers touched by another person's was considered such an intimate act, regardless of how long the contact was. It's like attempting holding a person's hand, and when you're close to doing so you end up changing your mind. Kinda like teasing.
"So, care to explain why you were there so late at night?" Suna asked in an attempt to change the topic. He had his gaze focused on the red bow neatly tied around the collar of Y/n's white button-up uniform, a crimson knot— a badge of honour among high schoolers of Hyogo. Only students who attended Tsurrutori could wear them, and only a few handpick could attend the school. It made the middle blocker wonder, how the hell did someone like Y/n get to enter such an elite academy?
"Oh, you mean the art studio?" Y/n waited for Suna to nod in response before she continued, "Well, I had to finish the painting you saw me carry in the halls from the morning. Took me two all-nighters to finish, hehe. I was rushing the whole time since I was procrastinating a few days before, so the outcome wasn't as good as I'd expected it to be."
"What about you, Suna?"
"Working."
"Y-you work? Isn't it a little
late for a high schooler to
work there?"
"Well, working is hard, y' know that?" Suna smiled fondly at the look of concern plastered across Y/n's face. Oh, how much she reminded him of an adorable, worried puppy. He gave her hair a gentle ruffle, causing a few strands to stick out unnaturally, "Sometimes, you just gotta work late to get that extra cash so you can afford to buy jelly sticks."
"...Do you...want me to help?" Y/n offered as she began combing her messy hair down in an attempt to make it look tidy. Only to have them ruffled once again by Suna. She looked at him, waiting for an explanation on his course actions. But the boy simply responded with a teasing grin on his lips, "Nah, it's fine, want me to help you with your hair though? Looks like it needs more assistance than me."
He's— such a tease!
The moment Y/n's thought bubble disappeared, the girl noticed that she was already in front of her house. Followed by the realisation that she didn't have her arm hooked around Suna's ever since she handed him her phone. A faint smile crossed her lips, maybe talking with Suna got rid of her unpleasantries, "Well, I guess I'll head inside! Thanks for walking me home, Suna. It was nice talking to you!"
Before Y/n turned towards her house, Suna leaned in to whisper something in her ear. She felt his hot breath that sent chills down her spine. And when he spoke, his voice was deep, more than any meanings of impeccable paintings done by Van Gogh and Picasso and Edvard Munch. Yet at the same time it was soft and smooth, like refined brush strokes carefully painted onto a canvas. What Suna said was something that'd make even someone as forgetful as Y/n to remember. It was carved into her ivory-like brain, and she could never forget it.
"Y/n, text me."
I AM IN LOVE,, WITH SUNA
RINTAROU. THATS IT. THAT
IS THE AUTHORS NOTE 🤩