Chapter 15

They headed out of school with Izumi still hiding her face.

"Hey, are you embarrassed to be seen with us or something?" Yanagi asked.

Wouldn't it be the other way around? "No, I'm embarrassed I faceplanted into the ground and injured myself during your baseball game." Maybe I'm better off not going.

"But it's not like it happened randomly from the sound of it, though I struggle to believe someone would hurt you on purpose."

Doesn't surprise me one bit.

"That's because you expect the best of people, even when they disappoint you. I don't know where you got that optimism," Kuruma said as they crossed the street. "Certainly wasn't from your parents," he mumbled to himself.

Yanagi adjusted his hold, shifting her slightly.

This must be so hard to do... "If I'm too heavy, you can put me down," Izumi whispered.

"Nope, not at all. You're way lighter than the last person I carried."

"Hey! Are you calling me heavy?" Kuruma complained.

"You're definitely a lot heavier than Izumi."

"What do you expect? I'm bigger." He pouted.

Izumi giggled. "You can tell how close you two are. It must be nice having a best friend." Oh no... did I say that out loud? So lame.

"Yes, it is." Yanagi chuckled. "We're luckier than most. Does that mean you don't have a best friend? I mean, back where you moved from."

"No... I've never had one." Nor any kind of real friend... Izumi sighed.

"You might now," Kuruma said. "I've never seen Shiori take to someone so well."

"That's true!" Yanagi agreed. "She usually scares people away because she doesn't want to deal with them."

"Should've seen how scared she was after you fell; she really cares about you."

"What were you two working on during the game? Well, I saw you watching, but Shiori was writing something."

"Drawing, actually..." Should I tell them?

"Oh, cool. What was she drawing? She always tries to hide it from me. I don't know why; I always admire her work."

"We were..." Izumi swallowed hard. "Working on ideas for the game."

Kuruma's head shot up, his wide eyes trained on her. "Seriously? You two were brainstorming?"

"Why not?" Yanagi asked. "They're a part of the club."

"Yeah, but I thought they just joined for..." Kuruma glanced at Yanagi. "I mean, I didn't think you two were super interested in it, so I wasn't expecting anyone else to work on it outside of club hours."

"I guess there was no need to be so cynical. You've got a real club started, and we're bound to make a great game. So, can we see what you guys were brainstorming?"

"Sure, the notebook should be in my bag." Unless Shiori took it with her.

Kuruma took that as permission and glanced into her backpack. Her other notebooks and textbooks were there for class, along with a volume from a new shoujo manga she had started to read, but no notebook for the game dev club. "I don't see it."

"Shiori must still have it then." Wait, I wonder what she ended up doing. She wouldn't hurt someone, would she?

"Oh well, I guess we'll check it out another day," Yanagi said as they came to a stop in front of her house. "And you're home."

The door opened right away, and her mom rushed out. "Izumi!" She reached up and cupped Izumi's face. "My poor baby."

"How about I get her inside?"

"Oh, right, of course. I'm sorry." She was about to rush back inside when she noticed Kuruma. "And who is this young man?"

"Hiroto Kuruma. Nice to meet you." He bowed to her.

Her smile spread as she recognized the name and remembered seeing him with Yanagi before. "It's nice to meet you too. Please, both of you come in. I'll get you some tea and snacks to thank you for bringing her home."

"You don't need to—"

Grumble.

Yanagi's stomach growled.

"You must've worked up an appetite. Come in." She gestured to the door.

Mom! Don't force them... Ugh... The first time I have friends over, and it's under these circumstances. Wait, it's not just friends, they're guys! Geez. Her grip on Yanagi tightened.

Inside, her mom pulled her shoes off at the door, and Yanagi carried her over to the couch and knelt down to let her off.

"Thank you." Izumi leaned forward in a small bow, hoping to hide her reddened cheeks.

Her mother came over with an ice pack for her ankle right away. "I know the drill." She wrapped Izumi's ankle. "And we'll do it another time, a bit later." She stood. "Now, for you boys." She rushed into the kitchen and came out with a tray of green tea and mochi. "If you guys prefer, we also have soda."

"This is fine, thank you, Miss. Hashito." Yanagi bowed to her and sat next to Izumi on the couch. "How are you holding up?" He delicately touched her nose.

Oh! Her eyes widened slightly. "S-still hurts, and there's pressure, but I'm okay." Definitely going to want to hide in my room until it heals... but I'm not allowed to do that.

"These are good," Kuruma said, picking up another mochi.

"I'm glad you like them," her mom said. "You can take some home with you if you want."

"Cool." He nodded and downed his tea. "May I use your bathroom?"

"Sure thing. You can use the one upstairs, first door on the right."

"Thank you." Kuruma headed upstairs and froze. "Wait... which way did she say?" He looked at the door on each side and turned left. His eyes widened.

The room had several bookshelves full of manga, video games, robot model kits, and stuffed animals, along with anime posters, and a pink bed with a wolf plush on it. "Cute... Wait, what am I doing?" He shook his head and closed the door, quickly rushing into the bathroom across from her bedroom.

"Wow, these do taste great. Where did you get these?" Yanagi asked as he filled his grumbling stomach.

"I made them," her mom said, smiling.

"Really? You're amazing." He gave her a thumbs-up and grabbed another. "My mom can't even cook toast. Oops... Please pretend you didn't hear that. She'd hate for others to know the truth."

Can't even cook toast? Does she put it down twice because once isn't enough, and then it burns? Or maybe using a toaster oven or flattop? I'm so lucky to have my mom's cooking. She resisted the urge to reach for a mochi, worried it would hurt to chew.

"Want one?" Yanagi asked, holding one out to her.

"N-no, thank you. You should enjoy them."

"Yes, Izumi here eats them all the time, and eating right now might not go the greatest. Actually, I should get you an ice pack for your nose as well—"

"We can do that later." It was bad enough doing that with them around earlier... though it would hide what I assume is a horrible red swelling on the bridge of my nose right now. No-win situation.

Kuruma came back down and sat beside Yanagi. He glanced past him at Izumi in wonder. "Say, do you have any siblings?"

"No, it's just me." Though I wouldn't have minded one.

"We were blessed just to have her." Her mom kissed the top of her head. "More kids weren't in the cards for us."

"Oh, I see. I'm sorry." Kuruma bowed.

"No, no, we're okay with it. We're happy with our precious baby girl." She hugged Izumi from the side, over the couch armrest.

"Mom..." She averted her gaze, unsure of how to act with the boys around.

"I'm sorry, honey." She took a deep breath and backed away. "Anyone need anything?"

"No, we're good," Kuruma said.

Yanagi glanced at his watch. "We should actually be on our way soon."

"Are you sure you don't want to..." What do friends do? Can't let them see my game collection... "Watch TV or something?" Izumi offered.

"We'd love to, but we really do have to get home. Sorry, Izu. Maybe another time?" Yanagi suggested.

She nodded. "Another time..." If that time ever comes, is another question.

"And I hope the accident hasn't ruined the chances of you cheering us on at another game." He winked at her. "I think we did especially well because you and Shiori were there."

"Are we even going to play more games?" Kuruma asked. "We're first-years, after all."

"Considering we beat the veterans, I'd say we have a shot."

"Great..."

Yanagi frowned. "I know you prefer your new club, but I thought you at least still enjoyed playing baseball."

"I do, but I'd rather they not have high expectations of me. Anyway." Kuruma stood. "I hope you heal fast." He patted her shoulder.

"And call me if you need another ride." Yanagi smiled and flexed, patting his bicep.

"Thanks." Izumi laughed. "But I think I'll be okay to walk soon." Just not run.

"Bye." Yanagi and Kuruma waved. "Bye, Mrs. Hashito."

"Goodbye, boys, and thank you for taking care of my Izumi."

They headed outside.

I should work on my homework. Izumi grabbed her backpack from beside the couch and froze, staring at a volume of the latest shoujo manga. I didn't even remember putting this in there! She dropped her backpack. Kuruma went into my bag for the notebook... so he must've seen it. Do I need to worry? He loves manga, too... but so did the boys in middle school, and they only looked down on it. Kept calling it cringe and even ripped one up. She shuddered.

"Something wrong?" her mom asked, coming back to take the ice pack off her ankle.

"Uh, well, I hope not." At least it was only this one.