Itsuki didn't know what goaded her to agree to this, but now here she was, waiting outside the school for Fuutarou to take her to the bookstore. But where was the black haired boy? Itsuki looked up as she heard loud vrooming nearing her.
"U-uesugi-kun?" She whispered in surprise as Fuutarou stopped his bike near the sidewalk, holding out a black helmet to her while raising the visor of his helmet, revealing his piercing gold eyes.
"Let's go, Itsuki." Well, she can't back down now. Gently grabbing the helmet, Itsuki slowly wore it and nervously got in the back seat of the motorbike. She'd never got on a motorcycle before. This was definitely a new, and awkward experience for her.
She genuinely hoped Fuutarou was a responsible driver. Fuutarou glanced back a little, noticing that she was done. He placed his hands on the handlebars while grinning under his helmet.
"Hold on tight, Itsuki!"
"Huh—KYAAAA!!!!" Itsuki screamed as Fuutarou took off without warning her. Of course, he didn't go as fast as one might think, he wasn't an irresponsible driver despite appearances. Just the sudden movement of the bike shocked Itsuki, who immediately wrapped her arms around his stomach.
"Idiot! You scared me! What if I fell off?!" She shouted and punched Fuutarou's back lightly as he was manoeuvering through traffic, the vroom of the bike's engine loud as ever. Fuutarou laughed as he made a turn.
"Sorry, Itsuki. But hey, it was fun right? It's like a rocket taking off."
"No it was not! Hmph!" He can imagine Itsuki pouting at him, to which she actually was under her helmet. She held onto him a little tighter as Fuutarou sped up at a straight road.
"W-would it kill you to slow down a little..." She mumbled, voice shaking a little. The man sensed that she was scared and decided to give her a break.
"Hehe, sorry Itsuki. But this is how I usually drive. But just for you, I'll slow down a little."
"Thank you..." She whispered, though she did not loosen her wrap around his waist. Fuutarou patted her arm in reassurance as he made another turn. As they stopped near the traffic light, Fuutarou looked back at Itsuki.
"You good?" He asked her. Itsuki nodded silently. He smiled at her as the lights turned green, and slowly took off. Eventually, they arrived at the bookstore. After parking the bike, Fuutarou and Itsuki got off. Itsuki ruffled her hair a little as she handed him the helmet. They entered the bookstore, as Fuutarou listed off the workbooks she needed for school.
"Wow, all of this and it's not even up to 6000 yen yet. Fuutarou was right... This place is a steal..." Itsuki muttered as they were at the checkout. She wondered where Fuutarou was as her friend suddenly disappeared halfway through the shopping. She snapped out of her thoughts as it was now her turn.l to checkout. After paying, she exited the store, workbooks in hand.
"Oh Itsuki, you're done already?" She jumped a little, noticing that the person approaching her was Fuutarou. Her eyes brightened as she noticed two ice cream in his hands. "Here, one for you. Eat it up before it melts." She blinked at his offer.
"Thank you... Though you really didn't have too...." She whispered, grateful for his kind gesture. Fuutarou shrugged before gently taking the bag of workbooks from her hands, letting her enjoy the ice cream.
"Just apologizing for scaring you earlier..." He mumbled, leaning against the wall with Itsuki doing the same. Itsuki giggled as she took a small bite out of the ice cream. Well he certainly did know how to ask her for forgiveness. Anything food related would immediately put the ahoge girl in a good mood after all.
Fuutarou silently finished his ice cream faster than Itsuki. Now he found himself staring down at the pink haired girl savoring the ice cream. He was honest with himself, he was totally attracted to her sweet smile, especially when she was eating. Though the smile reminded him of Rena's smile.
He shook his head. 'If Itsuki was Rena, then she would've remembered my name as soon as I introduced myself. Maybe Rena is one of her sisters...' He theorized, still staring at the girl. He felt tugging on his sleeve and snapped out of it, only to realize that it was Itsuki calling for him. The girl had already finished her ice cream and was now pouting at him.
"Mou, Uesugi-kun. You can stop staring at me now. I'm already done with my ice cream." She mumbled. Fuutarou cleared his throat as he walked towards his motorbike.
"Sorry Itsuki, it's just you're so cute when you eat I can't help but stare."
"C-cute w-when I e-eat?..." Itsuki stuttered, her face red as a tomato. There it was again! The casualness in his tone as he complimented her! How was he so good at this?!
Fuutarou chuckled at her expression, liking the flustered side of her. "C'mon, let's get you home..." He gently put the helmet on for her, causing her to stutter more before he got on his bike and started its engine.
"Mmmmmm!" A red faced Itsuki pouted at him under the helmet as she slowly got on the bike. Why was he spoiling her so much? Her original plan was to end it here and call her driver Ebata to pick her up, but Fuutarou seemed okay with taking her home.
"N-no surprises, Uesugi-kun!" She warned him. Fuutarou laughed as he revved his bike, scaring her as she immediately wrapped her arms around his waist, thinking he was about to take off again.
"Sure, Itsuki. Whatever you say."
...
"Whoa, Itsuki. You live here?" Fuutarou whistled as he laid eyes on the Pentagon, a thirty-story super high-rise apartment.
"Yes, I live here with my sisters." Itsuki smiled as she handed him the helmet.
"Man, I didn't think you were this rich. You're practically royalty. Should I start calling you Princess Itsuki now?"
"U-uesugi-kun!" Itsuki shouted as she looked away, a rosy blush returning on her face. What the heck is up with her today? One tease from a boy she just met and now she can't think straight. Fuutarou chuckled as he handed her the bag of workbooks.
"I see this is where we part ways. I really enjoyed my time with you, Itsuki."
"Me too..." She whispered, still not facing him. "H-hey...." She suddenly called out to him.
"Yeah?"
"I was thinking about what you said earlier during recess. Do you really believe that I can be a straight A student?" She asked, her right hand clutching her left wrist. Fuutarou smiled as he took off his helmet. He then nodded at her.
"Yup, I know you can do it. Keep in mind that everyone started somewhere, me included. Before this, I wasn't the straight A student you know me as today. But with effort, eventually I rose to the top. You can do that too, Itsuki. You just need to believe in yourself."
"Thank you.... Uesugi-kun. I'll do my best!" She smiled widely at him.
"I know you will."
"And thank you for helping me today. You didn't have to, but I'm glad you did. I had fun with you." Fuutarou rubbed his neck.
"It's nothing serious, Itsuki. Just doing my part as a friend." He replied. Itsuki nodded as she waved at him. Just then, a pink haired girl walked out of the entrance of the apartment complex.
" What's taking Itsuki so long? Huh?" The pink haired girl looked at Itsuki who was busy talking with Fuutarou. She smirked slyly to herself.
"Oh... So that's why you didn't want to come home with us. You were going on a date, on the first day of school too." The girl giggled before she looked at the boy. " Oh my~ He's handsome as well~" The girl couldn't help but stare at the boy.
"I guess I'll see you tomorrow then."
"Yeah, same here." Fuutarou grinned at her. The girl watching from afar widened her eyes as past memories suddenly invaded her mind, memories of a certain blonde haired boy.
"Byeee!" Itsuki waved at Fuutarou who waved back before he rode off. Itsuki smiled to herself as she found herself skipping towards the entrance of the apartment complex.
"Huh? Ichika? What are you doing here?" Itsuki asked her sister, Ichika,bwho has short, white-pink hair that has a single long strand on the right side. Ichika smirked back at Itsuki.
"Waiting for you obviously. What took you so long huh? Busy having fun dating with a boy?" Ichika teased. Itsuki's face immediately brightened up to a shade of red as she laughed nervously.
"H-haha, Ichika, v-very funny."
"Oh, don't you dare lie to me, Itsuki. I saw everything~ How cute, my little sister already found a boyfriend on her first day of school~"
"It wasn't like that! He just helped me out with buying my workbooks!" Ichika smirked, placing her hands on her waist.
"He could've just given you directions, but instead he took you around on his bike. Why would he just randomly do that if not for the fact that he's interested in you."
"Sh-shut up Ichika! You're spouting nonsense again!"
"Ufufufu~" Ichika laughed at her sister. Oh how easy she was to tease. "By the way, what's the guy's name?"
"Uesugi Fuutarou." Ichika's eyes widened i disbelief at her sister's answer. She couldn't believe it. 'No way... NO WAY! It's really him! Those eyes... That smile! It's really Fuutarou-kunn!' She shouted in her mind, trying her best to contain her joy as to not weird her sister out.
" What's wrong, Ichika? Why the sudden question?"
" Oh it's nothing Itsuki.... Ufufufu~"
"Okayyyyy...." Itsuki side eyed her sister, not believing her a single bit. She decided not to push for answers for now. "Let's go back, these workbooks are kinda heavy."
" Okay~"
To be continued....
(I know my story is a slow burn, but hey it literally says slice of life at the tags.)
(more 5 star reviews.)