[ third person ]
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A few days after Nagi had arrived, Yumiko returned to school like usual. Everything was normal. After the bell rang to signal lunch, she stood up and wandered the halls with the vending machine as her destination. Along the way, she was caught by Yamaguchi who had something to tell her.
"Huh?"
Yamaguchi nodded, smiling sheepishly, "Uh, yeah, he's been stressing about this for a while now. Do you..think you could help him out?" The boy asked politely, making her heart squeeze.
"Ack, you're so cute, Tada-chan." She reached up, standing on her tippy toes, ruffling his hair softly. When she was satisfied, she patted his head and grinned, "Leave it to me."
Following the green haired male down the hall, they arrived in front of Class 1-4 in no time. Yumiko didn't hesitate to knock, stepping inside while Yamaguchi hung around outside the class to give them a bit of space. He's lowkey the best wingman to exist.
"Tsukishima, Kurosaki-senpai is here for you." A classmate of his called out, pointing at Yumiko who stood by the door.
The blond's head snapped upwards, making eye contact with Yumiko who waved at him. His heart began to race, his palms growing sweaty. Why is she here?
"Sooo," She sat down in the seat in front of him, flattening her skirt with her hand. Her elbow rested on his desk, supporting her chin that sat in the palm of her hand. "I heard it's your mom's birthday soon."
Tsukishima's eyebrows knitted together, "And how do you know this? Stalker much?"
"Shut up." She slapped his arm lightly. "A little birdie told me."
"Yamaguchi." Tsukishima deadpanned, earning a small nod from Yumiko who laughed. He sighed, "Alright, what of it?"
"Do you want me to help you with your gift?" Yumiko grinned, flashing him a picture of the cake that Yamaguchi had mentioned earlier. Baking is my speciality, after all.
"Tsukki said his mom really likes strawberry flavored things. Maybe that's where he got his like for strawberry flavored things from hehe."
Tsukishima rose an eyebrow, "What? Why?"
"Can you make it yourself?" The girl retorted flatly, earning silence in return. Shrugging, she stood up. "Fine, I guess you don't need any help. I don't know why I even offered to help such an uncute kouhai who can't put aside his pride for once to make something nice for his mom. I see."
"Okay, now you're just being petty."
"No. You're just dumb."
"This is childish."
"Then grow up."
"You first."
"Already did."
"Totally."
"Yep."
"Mhmm."
Yumiko turned on her heels to leave, huffing extra loud to seem dramatic. "Fine."
Throwing his pride out the window, his hand shot out, wrapping around her wrist to hold her in place. He lightly tugged her back, catching her by surprise.
She turned around with a small pout, "What?"
He mumbled something, too quiet for Yumiko to hear.
"Huh?"
He rolled his eyes, yanking her towards him. Her face was inches away from his chest as he bent down, bringing his mouth beside her ear. "Teach me."
A shiver ran down her spine when his hot breath fanned over her skin. She quickly stepped back, pressing her palm flush against her ear that tickled. "Jeez, you could've just said it aloud instead of whispering it into my ear."
"Whatever."
With a stern tone, she said, "My house at 5. Don't be late or I'll beat you."
"Yes, Ms. Uptight." Tsukishima shot back, using his snarky remarks as a way to hide his true feelings.
Yumiko didn't even comment back, simply turning on her heels and exiting the classroom.
Once she stepped outside and shut the classroom door, the female sunk down into a crouching position. She held her face in her hands. Oh my god. Why am I so embarrassed?
[ t i m e s k i p ]
"Alrighty, let's go!" Yumiko grinned as she grabbed her house keys, putting on her shoes at the door. Tsukishima, who hadn't even taken off his shoes yet, stood there with a raised eyebrow. She shot him a flat look. "We have to buy ingredients, fuckhead."
"Vulgar." He muttered, following her out the door. The blond shoved his hands into his pockets, glancing at Yumiko out of the corner of his eyes. What the hell am I doing? Seriously.
"You don't swear much now, huh?" Tsukishima pointed out, surprisingly breaking the silence between the two.
Yumiko was surprised. "Ah, yeah. I usually only act like a dumbass with Ryuu and Yuu. They bring out the stupid side of me." Finishing her sentence, she grinned.
"You act like that's a good thing."
"I mean, it's always good to let loose." She pinched his arm. "You should let loose too."
His eyes rolled in annoyance, "That's not my kind of thing."
"Yeah, we been knew."
"Oi," He reached for her face, missing when she swatted his hand roughly. "You're insufferable."
"Don't lie." She giggled smugly, wiggling her pointer finger at me. "You love me, right?"
The boy froze, feeling his heart pound against his ribcage. Did she find out already?
"I mean, I am quite amazing, aren't I-" She came to stop when she realized he stopped walking and talking. Turning around, she rose an eyebrow with a sheepish smile. "I was just joking. Don't freeze up like that or I'll think you actually like me."
Tsukishima didn't answer. He seriously contemplated saying it all right here right now. A million different possibilities filled his mind. The pessimistic side of him stopped all the positive thoughts from reigning through.
"Tch. You think I'd like a midget senpai like you?" He snickered, leaning in to hover over her with less than a foot between their faces. "You wish, sweetheart."
She gasped, slowly beginning to pout while reaching out to pinch his arm. "You damn fuck-stick."
"Fuck-stick. How creative."
"Shut up!"
Once the two arrived at the store, she sent him on a small errand to retrieve flour and a nine by nine baking pan since her cake pan was thrown away awhile ago.
He disappeared into the aisles while she went off to get some eggs, butter, and whatever else they needed.
"Oh my god, the string cheese is on sale." She beamed, snatching it off the shelf and stuffing it into her basket. Despite only going to the store for ingredients for the cake, she ended up with a basket full of random stuff that was on sale.
"What the hell is all this for?" Tsukishima questioned, motioning to her basket that was full to the brim.
Yumiko shot him a incredulous look, "Uhh, dinner? I also bought some snacks for my house since you bitches always come and eat them all."
"Don't blame me." He held his hands up in defense.
"Yeah, yeah. Let's just pay and go home. I'm ready to make this cake with you!" She grinned, giving Tsukishima a thumbs-up.
"You look like Guy-sensei from Naruto when you do that. Stop." The blond walked away from her, chuckling to himself when he heard her quiet grumbling.
After they paid (tsukishima wanted to pay for it since it was his mother's cake but yumiko bumped his ass out of the way and paid for it), the two headed home to begin baking.
─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───
[ a/n : hi, this took a bit longer than usual bc i made two chapters just cuz i luv u guys 💗 ]