"amane, amane!"

amane had no choice but to meet up with kokoro and tsukasa, well, he would've refused the offer but then his blackmailing brother would go off and tell [name] that he likes her.

"so when are you going to court [name]?" tsukasa asked.

"ha? this is what it's for?"

"tsukasa said that you planned to court onee-chan." kokoro pointed out while drinking a can of green tea. "and we would like to help you out!" she said.

amane stared at them for a good minute until he raised his hand. "no thanks." he said.

"he refused!" kokoro panicked along with tsukasa. amane did not hesitate to turn down the help from his younger brother and his potential sister in law in the future. "b-but! please consider it first!"

"nanamine-senpai will be tutoring us later after school, which is a perfect opportunity since you and onee-chan will be walking together after school." kokoro explained, putting a hand on amane's shoulder as if she was making a shady deal with him. "this is your chance to have a bonding moment with my big sister."

"walk with [name]-neechan." tsukasa winked while putting a thumbs up. "kokoro wouldn't be able to walk with her sister because she has tutor lessons, so do i, and in conclusion my brother, you're going to have to walk [name] home."

amane swatted his hands with a blush on his face. this isn't the first time they walked home together but it felt like they were a couple while doing that. "what if she doesn't like the idea?"

"she won't. onee-chan mentioned once that she loves walking with you, think about how delighted she would be if you walk her home everyday. i don't trust any guy walking home with her other than you." kokoro convinced, she excused herself to go to the bathroom and beckoned tsukasa to tell amane the rest of the plan.

"and i won't have to walk with you when we go home." tsukasa says with fake sniffles and tear wiping. amane thought his twin was being extra as always, though he wouldn't have to endure his teasings and annoy the hell out if him. sometimes amane appreciates his presence...except when tsukasa is not teasing him about [name]. "also you have to walk with [name] for a month for that matter, don't do it for kokoro, it's for you too."

the older twin caught the "walk with [name] for a month" so he blinked slowly to process on what tsukasa just said. "what?! a month?"

"i said walk home with [name] for a month, did i stutter?" tsukasa swayed his head side by side while his hand formed an a-okay sign.

amane smacked the back of tsukasa's head. "what the hell? why?"

"look amane, i'm helping you land your girl on your feet and you're being defensive." tsukasa says with a monotonous voice. "this is your chance to court [name]."

amane realized that he always wanted to court [name], her feelings towards him has always been so vague, it feels like she only sees him as a close friend. this is his chance, to change her perspective of him. "fine, i'll walk with [name], later no?"

"amane, you gotta court her, you're gonna look back when you become an old man and regret it." tsukasa says with a warning tone. speaking of [name], she walked in with kokoro clinging on to her arm. "ah! it's nee-san!"

[name] decided to eat lunch with them by the rooftop as like they arranged. one thing for sure, amane noticed that [name] was bothered by something, he noticed that [name] was scratching her head trying to get the formulas on the board in her head while their teacher was discussing about chemistry. "kokoron, you owe me a cinnamon roll and boba."

"aw man, i'm broke."

"that's for spilling the tea on tsukasa."

"what tea?" amane asked which made [name] startle a bit since he was silent at the moment she came to the rooftop. "what did she tell you tsukasa?" he turned to his younger brother.

"by the way amane, where's your guitar?" tsukasa smoothly changes the subject. now, amane was curious about tsukasa and kokoro's schemes. knowing kokoro knew about amane's crush, he felt anxious when you told someone your crush and the next milliseconds later they engage a conversation to them.

"i left it inside the classroom." amane replied as he sat on the ground next to [name]. "by the way did you get today's lesson?"

"i swear i was totally listening to the teacher and i can't comprehend what he just said." [name] sighed as she looked at amane. "can you teach me though?"

amane was shocked, surely [name] is the one who's been teaching him about the lessons he slept in during class, but for the first time it was her who asked him to teach her about the subject. "i mean i did get the lesson for once, so i'll help you." he scooted closer till their shoulders were touching against each other.

"you have a word problem." he looked at [name] to see if she's listening. "you determine the given in the word problem, see what it's asked...like the problem says it needs the mole fraction."

"so in order find the mole fraction you have to find the mole of solute and the total mole of the solution."

"i see." amane proceeds to teach her about their lesson in chemistry. once [name] finally figured it out, they both took their lunches--not even noticing that kokoro and tsukasa had left the rooftop. "let's go eat."

"...oh come on mom, why the little rice?" [name] lifted up the lid of her lunch box and it seemed that her mom gave her a small amount of rice. "but hey at least she gave me a decent amount of karaage (fried chicken)"

"do you want some of my rice?" amane asked, gesturing her to get some lunch from him. [name] eagerly took some few scoops of rice from his lunch box. "also, do you want teriyaki?"

"sure sure~" the two traded each other's lunch. amane's mood lightened whenever [name] is around but when reality hits him, they're only up to friends. "did kokoro and tsukasa left us here...?"

"seems like it." amane shrugged in reply. 'ugh these two.' they're literally the only ones in the rooftop, then after they had their lunch, amane stood up and held out his hand to [name]. "come on, we should head back to class."

amane and [name] went back to the classroom together, as they were walking, the choppy haired boy couldn't help but to stare at her features. [name] isn't that popular like aoi, and it's easier to approach her, that's the advantage.

[name] is insanely pretty, he was glad that she's not that well-known or else he'd end up having a competition with hundreds of students in school. he wasn't sure when he started liking her, during elementary? middle school? because there's some point that she transferred during elementary and came back in middle school.

he remembered when [name] was temporarily transferred to another school back in elementary, he even tried to find her, roaming around the school to see if he can spot her but [name] wasn't there.

amane started to accept that it was indeed infatuation, until [name] came back in middle school as feeling of old crushes came back to him. in the middle of his reminiscing, [name] stopped into a halt. "is there something wrong?" he asked.

[name] turned her head to his direction and smiled. "ah, it's nothing, i was just thinking about things." she assured while she tugged on his sleeve.

"okay then." amane smiled back, his heart was doing flips of joy the way she clinged on to him--it makes him happy when she relies on him. 'maybe this crush thing could be fluffy after all...'

when they arrived at the classroom, amane opened the door for [name] and gestured her to go ahead. "thank you." she said before entering the classroom. amane closed the door after and was about to reply, then she was taken away by yashiro and aoi.

yamabuki stood close to amane with phone on his hand, not even breaking eye contact with the screen. "so when are you courting [surname]?"

"yah!" amane jolted backwards in surprise. he sighed as he was about to melt in the spot. "yamabuki don't scare me like that and stop asking stupid questions, that's the second--no, third time that someone asked me that."

"you liked [name] since middle school."

"correction. since elementary."

"whatever, but don't you think it's time for you to court her?" yamabuki asked. amane was bothered by everyone asking when he's going to court name, he was planning to but he doesn't know when and how to start. "if she sees you as a friend, change her mind, court her into liking you, that's the whole point."

'that's the point of courting, you pursue someone to like you back.' amane had an epiphany, sure [name] may see him as a friend but once he confesses and asks her to be courted, that's where it starts and you'll only stop when she says yes. "i serenaded her yesterday during our call."

"that's boring." yamabuki says with no hesitation with an expression blank as a paper. amane's eye twitched in annoyance with a murderous gaze towards the lemon haired boy but the latter seemed unbothered. "you two literally live close with one another. why can't you two just talk by opening your windows to see each other?"

"do you think i can court her?" amane stared at [name] from afar, she's talking to yashiro and aoi. there was a demeanor that lull him into liking her. she was kind, pretty and soft--who wouldn't like her?

"you can if you don't give up." yamabuki answered. "just don't end up like him." he pointed at akane who interrupted the girls by confessing to aoi again and got rejected again.

"i've made my decision." amane said, his lovestruck gaze towards [name], feeling confident for the first time. "i'm going to court [name]."

♡♡♡

rewritten in: april 22 2022