Ch 23

POV Haruto Nishikawa

Aaah, this is so embarrassing, I actually tripped and injured myself. Falling down was not the bad part though, the embarrassing bit was that the reason I fell was only because I wanted to act cool after my run. I guess being an ikemen sports character is not for me. I should just stick to what I have been doing until now.

Honestly, I feel like I am not the same person I was two months ago. I am even able to talk to my classmates properly. The people who bullied be back then don\'t pick on me during breaks even when I am alone. Most of the credit for this change goes to Makoto kun for bringing me out of the shell I was in. If not for him, I don\'t think I could ever be on such friendly terms with Hiwari san.

Thinking of Hiwari san brought another topic to my mind. Recently, I feel like I am spending less and less time with her. I mean after Kei chan transferred here, I had to help her with the stuff going on in the class, she is pretty bad at making friends afterall.

With these thoughts in my mind, I entered the infirmary, but I was definitely not prepared for the scene inside.

What I saw was a beautiful girl in her gym uniform sitting on a chair and looking out of the window with her hair fluttering with the slight breeze. As if a princess gazing at the scenery from her palace. My heart rate increased and breathing became rushed.

It seemed that the sound of the door opening shook her out of her reverie. She turned towards me and her face showed an expression of surprise.

"Ah!"

"…" I couldn\'t say anything.

"Good afternoon Nishikawa kun." She said breaking the silence.

"Ah, good morning Hiwari san." It was only then I noticed the ice pack on her ankle. "What happened to your leg?" I said finally regaining my mental faculties.

"Oh, it\'s just a light sprain. No need to worry about it." she replied.

"You should worry about it, if you don\'t treat it properly you might have problem in walking properly in the future. Where is the nurse?" I asked her.

"The nurse just left. Also, you don\'t need to fret over it. I told you it\'s just a light sprain, didn\'t I? The nurse alreafy looked at it. Moreover, it is you who needs help. Look, your leg is bleeding." she said pointing to my knee.

"Ah, umm right, sorry for overreacting." I did go a little over the top.

"It\'s alright, I will get you the band-aid wait" She got up.

Nonono. Does she not realize she is injured? I tried to stop her but was not in time. She took a step and fell forward. Thankfully I managed to catch her and stop her from falling.

"Why are you so reckless? You could have easily exacerbated the injury just now. Even though I just told you to be careful." I said in a half-panicked voice.

"Umm…" She didn\'t reply and turned her head away blushing.

In my anxiousness I didn\'t realize the position we were in. I was hugging her body and our faces were just a few inches apart.

We hurriedly separated ourselves.

"S-sorry for scolding you just now."

She shook her head and replied, "There\'s no need to be sorry, you were only concerned for my well-being. In fact, I should be the on who should thank you for saving me from falling." She said waving her hands.

Remembering the position we were in just now both of our faces turned red. After a few minutes sitting in an awkward silence,

"S-say Nishikawa kun, do you like Shimab-" Her sentence was cut off as just then the door opened again and the nurse returned. She saw my leg and hurriedly gave me a band-aid and some antiseptic. After treating my injury I turned back to Hiwari san,

"By the what were you saying to me before the nurse returned? Was it something about Kei chan?"

"Th-that , I was just saying that it was Shimabukuro san who helped me get to the infirmary, so can you thank her on my behalf?" She said very politely.

"Ah, okay" I replied. For some reason I felt the mood was completely different from before. Could it be I did something to upset her? Could it be that she is angry because I hugged her?

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POV Akari Nakano

"haah… haah… gulp gulp gulp" I was greedily downing a bottle of water after doing my side jumps. "There\'s no way I can beat you in this Hinata. Your score is probably the top in our grade at this point."

"You say that Akari, but have you seen your grip strength?" She quipped back.

Every time we had a physical examination in middle-school we would compete against each other to see who gets the higher score between the both of us. The person who won would get the other to do something that she wanted to. Obviously, the order could not go overboard. In first year, we weren\'t able to do this because we were in different classes, however, we got the chance again this year. Hinata was better than me in speed, but my strength was just slightly higher.

"You have improved so much compared to last year."

"I am in a club afterall. And if we talk about figure development you have left me miles behind." She stared at by chest enviously.

"Oh come on, it\'s not like your\'s are extremely small. And don\'t act as if you haven\'t seen Shizuo."

Shizuo was not good at sports but her figure had us both beat.

"Anyway, I won the competition so you have to follow one of my wishes."

Remembering the penalty game instantly soured my mood.

"What do you want?" I asked her.

"I don\'t have anything urgent, but I will tell my command in the future. Okay?"

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POV Shizuo Hiwari

Idiot idiot idiot. Both of us are idiots. Why did I have to act so distant to him? And how the hell did he not understand what I actually wanted to ask him.

"Haaaa…" I sighed in regret.

Actually, after the nurse entered our conversation died. Nishikawa did try to talk about somethings but I was so jealous at his relationship with Shimabukuro san that I was lost in my own thoughts and replied to him only half-heartedly. I don\'t even blame him for leaving after sometime to escape from the awkwardness. Why am I such an idiot?

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POV Shinji Makoto

Ah, finally he is back. I could see Nishikawa with a bandaged leg walking listlessly in the hallway. What happened to him? I called out to him.

"Hey, Nishikawa, what happened to you, it looks as if you got rejected by Hiwari san." I said in a light manner.

He looked at me with tears in his eyes. Eh, wait. Seriously? He actually got rejected? Isn\'t that illegal?

"What happened to you? Did you really get rejected" I asked him in a concerned voice.

He sat down beside me and replied, "I didn\'t get rejected, but Hiwari san definitely hates me now."

"What did you do?"

He turned his face towards me and said, "I hugged her."

Chotto matte <insert meme>. He what? Hugged her?

"Nishikawa you might be in love with Hiwari san, and your relationship might be stagnating, but I think sexual assault is not the answer." I told him in a calm voice.

I can\'t believe that the shy, socially awkward, law abiding guy would do this. First, we need to be calm and understand the situation. Next, would be-.

My thoughts of confessing to the police were cut off by Nishikawa suddenly shouting.

"I didn\'t do that. I just saved her from falling down. That\'s it."

Aah… Well, I knew the innocent Nishikawa would never do anything like that. Anyways, if he saved her from injuring herself then that\'s a good situation right.

After I heard the whole situation, I couldn\'t exactly figure out why Hiwari san acted that way. But it was obviously not because of hugging. If this is all that happened then I feel Nishikawa is unconsciously omitting certain vital parts. One of the reasons I can think of for her anger is his denseness. If it is like that then the anger shouldn\'t be that bad, right? This situation isn\'t even that bad, it might even be a blessing in disguise. If he is able to resolve the situation then they will definitely grow closer.

I put my hand on his shoulder and said, "Nishikawa. All I can say is it is not as bad as you think it is. Just try to talk with her some time later, okay? And as for the reason for her anger, I think it is best you figure it out on your own."

What I didn\'t expect was for Shimabukuro san to become close with Hiwari san. I mean, clearly Shimabukuro san knows that Hiwari san and Nishikawa are close, right? If she became closer to her knowing that it is not that bad. So earlier, Shimabukuro san was returning from the infirmary huh? If she didn\'t lose her way, she might have met Nishikawa on the and the hugging event might not even have happened. It seems that luck isn\'t on her side.

Wait. A perfect chance is coming. I grabbed Nishikawa\'s shoulder and said, "Nishikawa. I have the perfect opportunity for you to fix your relationship with Hiwari."

"How?" He looked at me with slight hope in his eyes.

"Let me tell you. Hiwari san\'s birthday is in a week. You know what to do right?"

"Y-You couldn\'t possibly mean…"

"Yes, you have to pick up a gift for her. And do it on your own.. If you can\'t even give her a gift you can forget about ever confessing to her."