Chapter 7: How Unpleasant

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She couldn't possibly forget. .

That smile. That damn smile.

The ruffle on her hair was left in slight disarray just like her little pumping heart. His eyes glowed with confidence when he and the girl had parted ways, it was as if this time Tetsurou would ask her on a date and Mitsuru was sure to accept. Where did that confidence come from? Mitsuru didn't know. But upon realizing how much time she had spent with him had begun to distort her supposed solitude, the white-haired girl thought that it was time to halt. 

The girl let out a loud sigh.

A soft purr snatched her attention, bringing down Mitsuru's gaze. Love was in the form of jet black fur, eyes as blue as the sky in the summer. Long whiskers stuck out from its snout, complimenting his fuzzy mane. The little one peered at its mama with wide eyes while its tail waved patiently on his behind.

Any love demand from Kuro brought a smile on Mitsuru's face, and she'd be happy to oblige. The girl bent down and picked her cat up, letting him snuggle in her arms before setting him down on the counter. A little kiss on his forehead marked Mitsuru's start on her breakfast: coffee and instant noodles. Not the best for her health, but Mitsuru couldn't bear the pain of making pancakes or eggs. Besides, she was going to be late for class if she won't leave her apartment in the next thirty minutes. She'll still have to ride the train then take the bus--usually she would walk, but not today.

I wonder what he's doing. Mitsuru thought and took out her notebook. Flipping through the pages and landing on the latest one, her cool eyes fell on her sketches of Tetsurou. She initially drew one, but on her way home, she drew a few more--remembering his smile and the way he carried his shoulders. The last drawing was of his face, barely capturing the real-time expression the boy had.

The notebook had notes for him as well. Mitsuru had scrounged on the information she'd use for this possible new character based on a real one. She shuts it simultaneously with her eyes, letting out another loud sigh. It was funny because Kuroh reacted with a loud meow as if telling her to stop thinking about this other Kuroo. Stop thinking about this bastard! Kuro's eyes were saying angrily.

"Yes, yes! I know. . I know. I wish you'd actually talk. He's so annoying, Kuro! Every time we see each other, he'd come and invade my personal space! But I was an idiot. I asked him out on a date yesterday. Stupid me," mused Mitsuru, and fondly scratched her companion's chin. But the clocked ticked, and it did not wait for her. With an irritated tone, she chastised herself saying, "I better hurry." She hurried with her coffee and instant noodles, practically gulping down both at the same time. They didn't match at all, leaving a slightly unpleasant taste on Mitsuru's palate.

But now wasn't the time to complain.

Already in her outside attire, the girl grabbed her overly large jacket and leather bag, placed on her face mask, which had oni teeth, and hurried out to the front where she slipped into some sneakers. In a hurry, she cried, "see you later, Kuro!" before shutting the door.

The ride to school was unpleasant. 

As usual, the train was packed with passengers, students mostly. Mitsuru kept mostly to herself and stayed by the entrance and held on to the pole for balance. The only thing good about being in the train rides was the silence everyone respected. People know not to make calls. But the part Mitsuru hated was the few bumps she'd get from some passengers. They'd apologize and bow their head, and with a flat tone, Mitsuru would say, "It's okay" and wave it off. 

For the most part, the girl kept her eyes on her phone. It was better than making eye contact with strangers. She would have listened to music if she could, but Mitsuru had forgotten her headphones in her hurry earlier at home. A human mistake--the girl reminded herself. Now the trains in Japan are famous for their punctuality, and the citizens are expected to be punctual as well. If the girl could say something for herself, she was nearly late--a rare phenomenon. At this point, she could only pray, no?

Mitsuru could only fiddle with her phone since arriving at her stop would take a while. She looked at news and trends--being a mangaka required a lot of research especially that Mitsuru didn't have the social life normal people have. 

But after mindlessly scrolling through videos and pictures, Mitsuru felt an uncomfortable gaze on her. Human beings are capable of detecting such things as long as they were on guard. It wasn't a superhuman ability, as much as Mitsuru had emphasized in one of her mangas. Hairs stood up in alert as the girl's entire body recognized the indirect disturbance. A nagging sensation reverberated throughout her skin.

Eyes lifted for a moment, realizing a tall figure standing close to her. Was he--

Kuroo? 

The guy had a similar lanky build as that annoying stalker, though one arm was raised and the other hand was in his jacket pocket. Mitsuru could look up and see if it was her stalker indeed or not, but that might mean initiating a conversation. But she could always just ignore him and pretend he didn't exist.

Amber eyes met her blue ones, disaffirming her prior speculation. The guy's face had a slightly narrower jawline and a taller nose. Similar to Tetsurou's, his hair was in a frenzy, except brown in color instead. Instantly, Mitsuru broke away her awkward stare. She didn't recognize who it was, but she didn't care to know either. Deep breaths came off as sighs, and Mitsuru's smartphone would come in handy for distractions.

"Shirai-chan!" The stranger whispered.

The audacity immediately creased Mitsuru's forehead. Not only did this stranger know her, worse he assumed a familiar role with her. He even called her with the chan honorific. It was ridiculous. But the girl turned a deaf ear and took a step backward, her gaze away from this stranger.

"You really are as quiet as the rumors say they are."

Mitsuru rolled her eyes at that.

"They say only a few had heard your voice."

"It's pretty cool though. . you being all mysterious."

"Why do you not like showing your face? Do you have a scar somewhere, Shirai-chan?"

More and more questions slipped from his mouth. He just wouldn't stop. The soft whispers seemed to be coming from the devil. And then came the question--

"How was your date yesterday?" Now that got the girl's attention.

Her hand gripped the pole as the thoughts in her head flew into a frenzy. The operator's voice echoed through the coms, announcing that her destination was at the next stop. Mitsuru didn't need to respond, she just pretended not to have heard even when the guy in front of her noticed her twitch.

"I'm Reo Kikuchi, a friend of Kuroo's." His voice was pretty amicable, a little rough. Pretty similar to Kuroo Tetsurou, but the other boy had a warmer aura around him. This one seemed more arrogant, telling by the tone and intonation of his voice and how the guy carried himself. Unfortunately, this Reo Kikuchi didn't seem to know what silence meant, and he kept yammering until his voice became noise to her. Even when Mitsuru ignored him the whole time, he didn't stop yammering about what Tetsurou was like.

"He's quite the devious one, you know."

"He was 'the scheming captain,' they said."

"We're actually part of the volleyball varsity team," said the amber-eyed boy. "You should watch one of our games!"

Mitsuru didn't know what the matter was with Reo, or why he's trying to hype her about Tetsurou. She hasn't even said a word about her relationship status with him. But this guy, Reo something, knew about the date. A myriad of questions flooded into her mind and as her curiosity began to overwhelm her, she was saved by the train's arrival at the next station. Patience eluded her for Reo--a second Tetsurou Kuroo wasn't good for her.

The nonchalant gaze in her eyes hardened with each passing step the girl took. Memories of her past streamed uninvited through her mind. Her heart began to pound inside her chest, the pain growing intensely. It felt like someone else's hand had it in their palm--squeezing her blood-beating organ. Stomach acid rose up to her throat.

She needed to see him.

* * * * * * * *

Fresh like the morning dew, the early morning rain had left a rich scent none other could compete with. Light had pierced through the clouds, allowing the wet surfaces to sparkle like tiny misplaced gemstones. Little mirrors on the ground, distorting with each passing footstep that scraped against the asphalt sidewalk. Even after the rain Ikebukuro flourished with life: businessmen, tourists, and students--particularly of Rikkyo University. 

White earphones connected his ears to his phone, booming with the trends of J-pop. His head ebbed to the beat of the music, even tapping his foot ever so slightly. On his other hand, Tetsurou held a cup of coffee to wake him up. Every few steps of so he'd bring the paper cup to his lips, letting the bitter liquid flow down his throat. The boy may not know it, but he stood out like a giraffe. Most of his passing neighbors barely passed his shoulders, not to mention his bed hair. If cows loved him, his hair was proof. 

A smartphone with the perfect size fit for his hand hogged his attention, the chat log with his volleyball teammates on the screen. He had told them about his date yesterday, which most of the members congratulated him for. "Definite progress," one of them had commented. And Tetsurou had replied with, "Ofc I got this." This was not the official group chat though, a lot of the other members were excluded, especially those who didn't know about the dare.

But Tetsurou couldn't forget about the incident with Mitsuru when his pink-haired senior showed up. He hadn't asked Shigeru about it, but it was pretty tempting. Few times the previous evening, the boy had thought of messaging him about it, inquire about Mitsuru. He could have asked the girl, but he didn't. The troubled face she bore was enough to stop him--he thought of this as being considerate about her feelings.

Strange of him to think that when he's bothering her for twenty-thousand yen.

"I wonder if she'll come to class today." 

His hand swiped through his contacts and looked for Mitsuru's name. Eventually, the boy realized that he never got to ask. 

"Shit." If Mitsuru might happen to show up in class, Tetsurou wouldn't hesitate to ask for her number. And maybe this time he'd be the one to ask her on a date. Too bad that he didn't know what to expect or how to predict. She's still sort of a mystery to him.

Furthermore, what kind of girl approaches the guy they rejected with a bouquet of flowers? Albeit her tomboyish street punk fashion, the white-haired chic wore a skirt for him. It seemed too grand a gesture to be a meager one. Was that the highlight of yesterday? Yes. But that part wasn't that kept bugging his mind.

The image of his senior coming into the cafe and Mitsuru trying to leave at the same moment. Coincidence? He thought not. Curiosity is a dangerous thing. It's a dark abyss with no telling what's down below. A single step could mean a mishap but even ignorance causes as much trouble as the truth. Tetsurou knew he had to ask about this mysterious ordeal. So the boy swiped to his phone and messaged his senior about it.

Now he'll just have to wait.

As he walked through the schoolyard, Tetsurou felt some raindrops plopping against his head. Not wanting to come into class with wet hair, he quickly brushed them off and ventured into Rikkyo University.

Red bricks defined the structure, but vines crawled along the walls and crammed themselves into the smallest of cracks. White-framed windows were arranged into grids, they faced the school yard Tetsurou walked across. Summer is coming soon, the green leaves said so. It meant a break from the academics, and that delighted most of the students. Even the tall boy had a skip in his step. He'll be training for volleyball with the others, and, boy, was he excited. But a sharp tug stopped his daydream.

From excitement to surprise, Tetsurou almost gaped. Voices became background noise as the only pair of eyes he could see belonged to a certain Mitsuru Shirai. Her expression seemed upset, and Tetsurou had no idea why. Albeit her usual aloof composure with him, the girl clung to Tetsurou like a little girl. Her finger pointed to his volleyball teammate, Reo, who waved at him.

"Unpleasant!" The girl rasped just loud enough for Tetsurou to hear. 

Chuckling, Tetsurou greeted his friend back. But he made sure that he kept some distance for the girl's sake. "You seemed to have annoyed Shirai-chan, Kikuchi-kun! The chic just called you unpleasant." He felt a hard kick on his leg right after saying that.

"Aha, I was trying to make a conversation," Reo mused. "But it seems like she only likes you. Lucky for you, Kuroo-kun."

"It's because I'm nice! And she acknowledges that!" Tetsurou beamed proudly.

Reo scoffed at that. "I'll head inside. Your girlfriend doesn't seem to like me very much. See ya! See ya, Shirai-chan!"

Tetsurou watched his friend disappear into the building, while he still felt Mitsuru cling to his arm. This was a bit unexpected, he didn't expect Reo to approach Mitsuru. It was like a parent taking care of his daughter from the annoying uncle--hilarious. However, Tetsurou didn't think much of it; the girl trusted him enough to be her savior once again. Is it just him or is she getting cuter by the meeting? It made the boy smile.

This was a whole different scenario for the girl though. Considering that the annoying Reo Kikuchi had finally left, Mitsuru no longer found a reason to keep clinging to the tall male. A faint sigh of relief slipped from her lips as she patted her chest.

"Am I your guardian now?" Tetsurou snickered.

Mitsuru glared and huffed. "I could tolerate one. . ! One of you." She groaned in between the lines. "He kept bugging me. . asking too many questions!"

"Is that so? Well, I didn't expect you to grab me like that."

"Shut up! It-It. . It happened in the heat of the moment!"

With that, Tetsurou walked into the building with Mitsuru by his side. His subtle glances saw her apathetic reaction to his presence, very different from before. Though the girl didn't give him as much as a single glance, having her by his side was enough. Everyone else was busy hurrying to their own classes. Some others were chitchatting their way to their designated lecture rooms. But fortunately for both the white and black couple, theirs wasn't that far into the building. It'll just be for a little while until they arrive at the lecture hall.

After the class, he'll ask for her number. Should they have lunch together? Or should they just hang out after classes end for today?

"Are you. . telling your friends??" Mitsuru suddenly whispered angrily at him. "Kikuchi. . he kept bugging me! He. . knew!"

Tetsurou raised an eyebrow. "He knew what?"

"That we went on a date!"

"Oh, I. . I told them," the boy said truthfully, his heart started to pound. "I couldn't help it." Realizing that Reo threw shade at him brought a slight crease on Tetsurou's forehead. The bet was him getting Mitsuru to date him, with how things are escalating it wouldn't be that far anymore. But if she would find out, it would be all for nothing! Tetsurou swore he'll give that bastard a little pep talk at practice later.

Mitsuru cannot find out.

"Oh, God!" The girl cried, smacking her head. "Look, Kuroo. . I told you. . things will go back to normal. Right?"

"Yet you clung to me," Tetsurou shrugged. "I didn't break protocol." He smirked at her for that and ruffled her hair again which Mitsuru swiped his invasive hand away. But his remark silenced her, he was right. Mitsuru was the one who approached, hell, she grabbed him for protection from Reo--as funny as that sounded. To Tetsurou's favor, Mitsuru was very sensible and logic defeats her. This would mark their first tiny debate, lasting a few seconds.

Point to Tetsurou!

Students were still settling in by the time the two arrived. Professor Hajime Korizawa was at the pulpit once again, much to everyone's charging. But something was different today--he had a different spark in his eyes. The forty-year-old man propped himself against the pulpit, puffing his chest with pride. Then pulling out a book, the man began.

"I got the honor of meeting someone from the administration, apparently he is an alumnus of our university. He told me how in his time, his professor gave them a project. If you asked me, it's pretty farfetched from our subject, but it's better than giving you students so much free time--"

Tetsurou chuckled. "You're lucky you skipped out on this class the past few days. It was torture."

". . uh. . huh." Mitsuru's slurred words came out nonchalantly. Clearly, she was disinterested, but Tetsurou continued.

"He'd stand and yammer for the next thirty minutes mixing how disappointing his life is--that we should take our studies seriously and with Greek quotes to back him up. It was hilarious!"

But this time, Mituru shushed him.

"I think he's announcing a project."

"--This is gonna be a series of essays about how humanity should keep appreciating what they have. You need to interview several individuals and get them to testify. But don't just get people from Tokyo. Go to Chiba or Kyoto!"

Mitsuru groaned at the sound of it. Even Tetsurou realized the hassle. But they weren't the only ones. Students wondered how this is even related, or what the importance of the project was. Sure it sounded like an adventure, but did they really have too.

The professor spent a few minutes trying to convince them that this was a good project for them. But what sealed the deal was announcing that this anthology would be equated to their midterm exam for his subject. No one needed to come in, but if anyone had a question he'll just be at his office. Whether or not Professor Korizawa was lazy, no one could confirm. This was the first time he looked excited.

"This won't be a solo project. It will be done by pairs, but whoever you partner with is up to you."

A fire instantly lit up inside the boy. This was a chance to get closer to Mitsuru, an excuse to be by her side. After months of trying to befriend her, a chance came when he saw her amongst the drunkards. Another chance when she was more conscientious than she looked like--resulting in a date. Right at this moment, the girl probably couldn't imagine him partnering up with her. She merely looked at the teacher, not a meager of excitement festered in her eyes. 

If she assumed he didn't have the gall to announce their partnership. .

"Tetsurou Kuroo and Mitsuru Shirai!"

. . she was wrong.

~~~

Number of words: 3366

This chapter is dedicated to my friend Nashoba who's been very supportive ;; and guys! She's also started writing a Kuroo Tetsurou x OC fanfic, Borrowed Passions! Check out her secondary account kazohm!

Also, I'll start adding gifs UuU I'm addicted. And Reo Kikuchi was first introduced back in Chapter 1, though it's just now that he's reappearing, finally. <3 I greatly appreciate you guys because it's because of you I'm still here writing. I want to know what your thoughts are, so I hope you won't mind me asking:

1) How are you guys? I know that the Covid virus has been a pretty horrible phenomenon for all of us. Stay home and stay healthy!

2) What do you think of Kuroo and Mitsuru's relationship?

3) I made a new cover for this book! What do you guys think? 

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