Juu-roku

💮third💮

Hikaru didn't want to give her master the wrong idea and so she decided to just act as if nothing happened earlier, as if she didn't feel anything towards the blonde. After all, pretending is something that she's good at. She had grown to be quite the actress, you see. Having a sister who desired attention, at one point she turned a blind eye to the fact that her sister sent her away to get rid of her.

Hikaru envied her master's family. An affectionate mother, a cheerful and supportive older brother, and a house where they share meals together. It was indeed everything she ever wanted for a long time now. How lucky. Hikaru thought to herself, shaking away the memories with her parents that she envisioned.

"Izayoi-san, please make yourself at home. I'll go make some cookies for you two" Sachiko gave her a wide smile and motioned her arm in a pumping motion. "But still, it's rare for Kei-chan to bring a girl. Are you sure you're not his girlfriend?" the older woman questioned, giving her a teasing gaze, brows moving in an up and down manner.

Hikaru's eyes widened slightly, her cheeks slightly tinted pink. That question reminded her of how Kei held her close. Triggering the butterflies rampant inside her stomach again. Which,she knew she had to fight off. "..a-ah, it's not like-"

Kei walked in interrupting her. He just came out from his room after he got out of his wet clothes. "You know I can hear you from my room, right Kaa-san?" the boy sighed, throwing a dry towel to Hikaru's face. "Dry yourself busu" he said—ordered rather, and walked to the fridge to store the strawberry shortcake.

The ravenette accepted the towel and took off her hair band. She violently dried her short ebony locks, all the while Sachiko chuckled lightly at her son's behavior towards the girl. "That's not the right way to treat your girlfriend Kei-chan!" she points out, hands anchored on her hips.

Kei groaned under his breath ,shaking his slightly in embarrassment that his servant bore witness to her mother's childish demeanor. "When did I ever say that she's my girlfriend?"

"You really remind me of your Tou-san, right Aki-chan?" she says, placing a hand below her chin, looking at the figure of her second son.

Kei's older brother, Akiteru, who was busy watching a movie on the TV, nodded furiously in agreement to their mother's statement. "He's so stingy. I remember Tou-san used to say mean things to you Kaa-san, and I realized that was his way of showing his love to you. Kei got Tou-san's tsun tsun side." he explained, sighing in the process.

The older woman squealed in delight, remembering her late husband, "Tou-san is such a sweetheart!" Sachiko beamed, her hands on her cheeks as she daydreamed of how her husband used to romanced her.

Hikaru chuckled at the sight of their mother goofing around like a teenager in love. She remembered that her mother used to be like that over their father, and it pained her knowing that she will never see that again. "They're so noisy. Let's go to my room busu" she got surprised when Kei spoke and grabbed her hand, pulling her towards his room.

The blonde was being a lot more nicer since he bothered to open the door for her, "Hurry up and get in" he pushed her lightly from behind, seeing that she stopped.

The corner of her lips pulled up into a small smile as she walked inside, "Wow..." Hikaru stared in awe, seeing the neat room of her master. The whole place wasn't crowded with lots of things, it was rather empty yet complete of the necessary things. The wallpaper is white starting from the ceiling and it slowly turned yellow as it reached the floor.

Kei walked past her, "What's with that face? First time seeing a room? Tsk" he commented, a bit annoyed on how she stared at every part of his place. The blonde pulled a small table under his bed and started taking his textbooks out of his bag.

The girl walked over and sat down across him, putting down her large bag beside her. "...goshujin, are you really a guy..?" she subconsciously asked, still checking out the whole space, all the while, her other hand started grabbing her notes blindly from her luggage.

Kei had his brow raised with a displeased frown etched on his face, "The hell is with that question?" growled the blonde, eyes squinted towards his servant.

Her eyes widened slightly realizing that she just said that out loud, but instead of apologizing she just went with the flow and answered. "...your room is so organized. I thought boys are messy and their room's smell bad. Goshujin's room smells a bit lemon..." she answered giving a gleeful smile at her master. Hikaru found it easy to open up to the blonde, ever since he came over at her house last week. She always found herself constantly grinning and giggling like an idiot whenever she's with him.

"Whatever" hissed the blonde and started opening his notes, "If you want to change clothes, the bathroom's just on the left outside my room. Let's start"says the blonde, as his servant nodded and also opened hers.

The pair begun their study session going through japanese history then contemporary literature and finally english, which is one of Tsukishima's worse subjects. He frowned seeing an unfamiliar word written in english letters.

Kei cursed under his breath and tried to figure it out. Only to fail miserably.

As much as he hated asking help from Hikaru, he still did for the sake of getting high scores. "Oi busu (ugly), what does this word mean?" asked the tall blonde to his quiet servant beside him, writing notes on her notebook while chewing on bubblegum.

Hikaru's gaze left her notes and turned her head sideways to take a look at the word her master is talking about. She stayed silent for a moment before replying, "...stupid person" Though it sounded like an insult to Tsukishima's ears, it was actually the real meaning of the words dolty.

Tsukishima's eyes squinted from hearing the female's reply. "Are you mocking me?" he spoke in a deep scary voice, and glared at Hikaru who just began scribbling notes again.

The ravenette simply shook her head as usual, "..... it's the actual meaning of the word, goshujin...." she replied and continued minding her own business, chuckling a bit at her own master's reaction. She found it cute whenever he had his brows meeting at the center.

The blonde rolled his eyes, "Well it better be busu" he grumbled as he wrote it down, mumbling the proper pronounciation of the word.

Their study session lasted until it was 7 pm. Sachiko would constantly check up on them and will give them snacks from time to time. The woman is delighted to see his younger son bringing home girls, and honestly, she liked Hikaru seeing that she was a bit similar to Kei. Around 7:15 and it's finally time for Hikaru to go home.

The female stretched her arms forward, hearing small pops from her joints, "...I hate mathematics..." Hikaru sighed and started keeping all of her things in her bag. She just finished solving a certain problem that required a lot of solutions and a lot of dying braincells.

The blonde on the other hand, is busy munching on the cookies his mother baked for them as he listened to music with his eyes closed. He finished his work rather quickly all because Math is one of his forte. "I'll walk you home, just let me finish these busu" Kei states, hanging his headphones on his neck.

Hikaru shook her head, "...there's no need. I can go home by myself goshujin..." she says, standing up with her bag slung on her shoulders.

Her master's eyes fluttered open, glaring at her, "That wasn't an offer. Servants have no right to refuse their master, busu" Kei said as a matter of fact. "Now sit down and wait for me you idiot. Eat Kaa-san's cookies if you want"

The female chuckled lightly as she sat down again, grabbing a piece of cookie from the plate in front of them. Hikaru couldn't help but stare at her master's face, examining everything from his short blonde hair, small dark yellow eyes, and his thin lips. The girl didn't understand but for some reason, the normal looking guy she usually hangs out with, looks insanely attractive right now.

"Goshujin, can I ask?"

Hikaru called out to her master, who had his lips pursed and a tired look on his face. "You just did, idiot" the blonde sarcastically answered, before adding, "What is it, busu?"

Placing a hand under her chin, "You never answered it back then so you got to tell me why you like Koharu-san" she demanded, pulling off a smug look on her face, one she rarely does.

The blonde grumbled loudly, not wanting to be put on the spot. "Why are you so eager to know?" he questioned the female staring at him. "As if telling you would change the fact that she chose him already" his eyes filled with an emotion she rarely sees.

Hikaru noticed how her master's tone saddened. Usually, she would stop prying into that knowing that the blonde wanted to avoid this subject, but for some reason she found herself really eager to know. "...you sound like a sore loser goshujin. It doesn't suit you at all..." she teased trying to lighten up the mood, and actually succeeded when his brows furrowed like it usually does.

The blonde gave up reasoning with his servant. He sighed knowing he lost every single time when she's insisting on something, and today made no difference. "Senpai always had that chill vibe about her, although she's usually loud and cheerful. Not to mention that her height's unusual for a girl, but she tends to ignore shitty looks and comments from others. She's a free spirit." He began telling every single thing he noticed about her, smiling a bit as he reminisced.

Hikaru started regretting that she asked, as she felt extremely uneasy and uncomfortable. And it didn't help seeing the blonde smile warmly as he spoke of their senior.

"And then and then there's this one time where she spiked a ball to Hinata's face, damn that was hilarious. Up until now I am amazed by how she played, she was equal to everyone on the court." The blonde continued raining praises for the woman he liked, "Girl's volley is different from men's so it was shock seeing how well she managed—Oi busu, why are you staring?"

Kei questioned, raising a brow at the girl who's smiling rather bitterly at him. "...I've never seen that kind of smile on you, goshujin... You must really like her." she commented, and stood up thankful that the plates full of cookie are now empty, meaning she can go home now. Meaning she can drown herself in envy as she walked home.

"You're acting weird. Don't go out there with that kind of face, Kaa-san will think I did something you" her master spoke.

Hikaru shook her head and wore her usual poker face, "I will go home now goshujin. You don't need to walk me home" she began walking towards the door, fixing her bag on her shoulders.

"But—"

His words were interrupted, "I insist, goshujin." Hikaru refused and turned to face her master one last time. "...see you on monday goshujin..." the black haired female closed the door and stood outside for a few seconds. Asking herself why the hell did she have to ask that earlier? Now she feels like shit.

After thanking Sachiko and Akiteru, she walked slowly under the street lights, shifting from time to time given that her luggage is incredibly heavy. "... that was so stupid..." she muttered under her breath, remembering what she asked Kei earlier and what she did to her apartment.

She woke up late and ran around the house to prepare herself. Hikaru didn't usually care to fix herself for the sake of someone, but for once, she spent a good 15 minutes of dressing up. Only to slip on the wet floor, as water continuously gushed out from the bathroom. As much as she hated it, she had to move out of her apartment for a day since it had to be cleansed, courtesy of their kind landlady.

Setting the thought aside, Hikaru heaved a heavy breath. The image of Tsukishima's smile and laughs constantly played inside her mind. "...why am I being such a cliche...?"

Without a doubt, she was slowly developing unwanted feelings for the boy.

And she hated that fact.