ACT II - Mission: Friendship Collaboration I

The next day, Reo took another day off from school and I helped him with his homework; plus with him feeling better, we got to chat about many more topics. I guess it was safe to say that we were 'certified friends' now!

The day he was back to school, as much as I wanted to enjoy lunch break with him, I had a promise to another person: Micchan!

We had decided to meet up at a corner of the school garden (one where no one could hear us!) and hold a strategic meeting. It was time to decide how she and Seiten-senpai would meet!

Hastily gulping down our meals (to my surprise, her meal was much larger in quantity than mine), we started discussing possible scenarios. She remarked that scenarios never really went the way they were planned to go, but it was much better than just jumping straight into conversation.

As much as she tried to hide it, I could see that whenever Seiten-senpai was around, she turned a little nervous. Having a conversation guideline would definitely help soothe her nerves also.

Somehow, seeing how even such a sociable and bubbly person like her was struggling made me feel a bit relieved about myself. Turns out I wasn't the only one who had their brain overflow with a million thoughts as soon as they faced someone they wanted to get closer with!

Honestly? I had my faith on maximum levels about my cute childhood friend. With our plan fully discussed, now all we had to do was to wait for after school activities.

I waved goodbye to Reo after classes ended and rushed to change into my training clothes. He was in a rush as well, but for a completely different reason: I had found out why he didn't attend any school clubs, it was that he worked part-time most of the week days! And the days he was free he'd just hang out in the classroom before heading back home. During our chats, he had reassured me that this wasn't too tiring for him, but… Don't get me wrong Reo-kun, I'll do a double take before I believe anything you say about your feelings…!

Tying my shoelaces tight, adjusting my glasses on my face—I was good to go! It was time to put 'Mission: Friendship Collaboration' into action!!

After greeting my fellow clubmates scattered around the track field, doing their stretches, I found Seiten-senpai to be surrounded with other senpai! Not wanting to look suspicious, I settled into a place that was not too near, nor too far to start my own stretching session. Crap, they were talking about some mock quizzes their teachers were planning to hold! If they didn’t finish in five minutes, our plan would fail and we wouldn't get a chance to initiate it again!

Praying that their conversation would end already, I kept on doing my set of warm-ups. I spied with the corner of my eye that Michiru was also watching the scene, peeking behind the gym. If my heart was pounding fast, I couldn’t imagine how her little heart was handling the situation!

Thankfully, soon enough the other senpai left for their respective activities, giving me a chance to grab our club captain's attention before he officially started our training for the evening. Trying to approach him coolly, I opened with, "Seiten-senpai, sorry to bother you. May I have a minute?"

He answered with a simple "Sure," and looked at me, ready to listen. He really was an intent captain, always ready to listen—whether he was just out from another conversation!

"Uhh, the thing is, I have a friend from the volleyball club, and she was wondering if our club would like to collaborate with them, before their official match season started…?"

He tilted his neck curiously. "Oh? What kind of collaboration?"

I glanced towards Michiru, who was watching us from afar. She got my message and slowly approached us.

"I'm actually not so sure, she didn't really say anything in detail. She just asked if I could mention the topic to you, so… Oh! There she is, heading towards the gym! Should I call her over?"

Seiten-senpai turned to his back to see who I was talking about. There were a bunch of people from all kinds of clubs walking around, and since she was so short, he didn't seem to assume that the small, energetic blonde creature skipping towards us was the friend in question.

Only when she waved back and called my name, he understood the deal. He wasn't a person of big reactions, but he seemed quite surprised.

With Micchan's arrival, I held my breath, anticipating how things were going to go!

"Hellooo, Yuujin-chan and Seiten-senpai! Were you two talking about my little collab idea~?"

Seiten-senpai did a small, polite bow towards my childhood friend. "Hello. Right off the bat, I have two things I'm surprised about… The fact that you know my name, and the fact that you're in the volleyball club…?"

She giggled. I could sense all her happiness—and nervousness!—talking with her long-term idol.

"Hehe, is there anyone who doesn't know your name in this school, Mister All-Popular Akito Seiten-senpai? And, no worries about my height! I'm a very great libero, thank you very much!"

She raised her hands before her and pretended to receive an imaginary ball, just like the day she had approached me during my morning run. Though most likely to be missed by the unknowing eye, I had noticed that her hands were shaking a little!

Seiten-senpai scratched his neck, and his shiny blue hair danced with the gentle evening wind. He looked absolutely breathtaking under the sun rays, was Micchan coping well…?!

"Oops, my bad for forgetting about the libero position, it's been a while since I've interacted with the volleyball clubs of our school. Well then, I'd love to hear your idea."

Michiru explained that she had already talked with her club's captain, and if they could have the permission of the track and field club as well, they thought it could be beneficial for the two clubs to arrange a few days of training together. Both clubs could learn a lot from each other about all kinds of running and jumping techniques and set new perspectives!

Seiten-senpai listened carefully, subtly nodding along. He thought about it for a few moments and then declared that he'd be most happy to accept this collaboration offer.

"Not that I think the teachers will refuse, but just to be sure, let's grab your club captain as well and inform them, umm…"

My friend seemed to be completely immersed in staring at our club captain, so she didn't understand that he was waiting for her to tell her name. When she realized, she jumped on both of her feet and said, "Oh, my name! I totally forgot to introduce myself, oopsie~ I'm Michiru Sayonaka, a second year! Everyone calls me Micchan, though!!"

Seiten-senpai gently smiled at her energetic mannerisms and replied with "Mi… Micchan, okay, I got it. Sorry about using your nickname right away. Let’s go find your captain, then. Seira." He turned towards me. "I'll be back right away, until then gather everyone and tell them about the situation. Let's go, Mi-Micchan."

It was so cute how he hesitated to use her nickname, goddamnit.

As they walked towards the gym, Michiru looked back at me and grinned widely. I raised my hand with a thumbs up. It was all perfect: their first conversation had gone completely smooth and natural-sounding! Now that they had officially met, it was up to my cute friend how things would develop.