KAEDE | HAYASHI

IF I WAS being honest, I wasn't keeping up with whatever Neo was saying.

I'd almost immediately lost interest in his fast-paced retelling of some story as we scaled the stairs. My mind had wandered to this morning and my departure for St Everfields.

Nana was the only one who'd seen me off in-person, although she didn't live in Dublin. She'd travelled down from County Louth just so she'd be there for the moment I was boarding my flight. I still didn't know whether to feel flattered or tell her to never do something so over the top again. Regardless, I appreciated the gesture and the tight hug she'd given me before letting me board.

Neither of my parents were currently in the country; Da was in America in preparation for the start of the NBA season while Mam was in France on government business as one of the PM's Business Ambassadors. I'd had to settle with a Facetime call from the both of them.

Still, I wasn't alone at home for the big day since my older brother had a flight the same day as mine. Already an alumni of St Everfields, Benjiro's plane was headed to Norway for the start of the tennis championships he was competing in. It was scheduled a few hours before mine so he wasn't able to see me off at the airport, but he was able to surprise me with a breakfast of all my favourites.

I smiled at the thought of his thoughtfulness. Even though it had been a few weeks since his breakup with his longtime girlfriend, I'd wanted to support him. I wasn't surprised that his big brother tendencies were too interweaved with his personality to dissapear.

I shook my head in an attempt to clear it and turned my attention to the notes in my hands. They were team lineups from last year and I wanted to analyse them. Going over them wouldn't be too difficult, in fact I liked looking at starting fives and figuring out how they could be improved and how teammates could be switched to increase how well we played. It was a mix of chess and maths— and I'd always had a knack for both.

Sang-hun Yamada, our captain from last year and a great friend of mine, had been the one to spot and nurture the talent in me. Maybe it all clicked because I was enrolled in maths, further maths, business and accounting. Besides, this was more important than whatever would be said in assembly; half the team were in the year above, so their places were empty this year and I had to look for replacements.

And one for Ro.

I only left my head when I noticed the stream of words coming from Neo had stopped— and his steps. I leaned forward to follow his eye-line to two girls on the other end of the bleacher we were hiking up. They were sat at the very top and I had no right to judge them because I was tailing Neo to do the same.

I couldn't help but notice that Neo's gaze remained on one of the girls in particular. She was decked in fur and pearls that shined in the bright space. They contrasted the claw clip that held back some of her braids and let her face be visible.

A manicured finger tapped against her made-up bottom lip and I knew, then, reason for Neo's distractedness; she was the type of person you'd see on billboards. Her face was oval-shaped and her round eyes sat symmetrically on it. Her dark skin was clear and told me she had a great skincare routine. Neo's reaction was understandable— they even had similar shades on.

I was probably glancing between the two for too long because the girl beside her caught my eye. It wasn't the only thing that caught, my breath did too.

I couldn't even lie to myself; I was stunned for a moment by her looks.

What struck me first was her smile. It was the type of lift of the lips that made you feel like you were being given the sun. For a reason unbeknownst to me, I wanted to earn one from her.

Her hands were dug in her pockets of her pants, but her square-necked shirt only highlighted her toned arms. I couldn't stop my eyes from grazing the muscled area before I made myself look away.

My eyes were back on her in the next second, scanning over her high cheekbones to her narrowed chin. Her brown eyes sat deep on her face but it only highlighted how well-done her thick brows were. Those doe eyes of hers met mine and I had to remind the thudding muscle in my chest that I wasn't doing anything wrong.

Right?

She was familiar to me somehow, in the way I didn't have to think about the steps required to shoot a hoop. I had seen her before, air-brushed and edited in a way that suppressed her best features— but where?

My brain finally jumped into gear and put a name to her face: something Moetti, the swimmer the school loved to use to represent sports excellence.

She looked away first and I wasn't smart enough to follow her lead. I couldn't resist staring for a bit longer but I noticed how she curled away from me and tugged at her beanie.

Did I do that?

I ran a hand through my hair and forced myself to actually look away.

Well staring never made someone feel comfortable Kaede.

I threw my eyes onto my mate who'd caused us to stop in the first place.

There was no other word to describe Neo's expression but captivated. The girl was only talking to Moetti beside her, yet he was ogling her like she was responsible for creating poetry.

The dope definitely had a crush on her— or was on his way to having one.

It was definitely refreshing to see: I hadn't seen him look at a girl that way since year eight. He was a known serial flirter, but the fact his heart had caught some sort of feelings for her made me smile.

I clapped him on the shoulder with my empty hand and got a jolt out of him. "Let's go say hi."

It was the most obvious lie I've ever told ( me? wanting to socialise? ) but he spun around on the step above me like we weren't ten meters up from the ground. If that wasn't a clear enough tell for how flustered he was, the tightness he grabbed my hands with and the whites in his eyes were proof enough.

"Like fuck we will! Are you barmy?"

I stood no chance keeping my laugh from escaping at his hiss, even though my fingers were loosing circulation. The sound dwindled off when we both caught the pair look over. But the way Neo further stiffened sent me into orbit again and I had to force myself to breathe.

It wasn't like me to make a scene — totally unlike me with my anxiety — but I couldn't resist the opportunity. It was a rare chance to rib the infamous heartbreaker over a crush.

I would die before I let the chance fly by.

"You're a bleedin' bastard, you are." I could only just catch his irritated mutters as he stomped off to the seats that mirrored where his crush sat.

I rubbed at my smile and I went after him until I was sat in the seat beside him. He didn't acknowledge my existence, and instead folded his arms and turned his body away from me.

The display wouldn't last and we both knew it.

Before he cracked, Deputy Gareth Prescott appeared and he spoke into the microphone on the temporary stage. "Firstly, welcome back Upper Sixth."

Even though Neo often joked about being best friends with the Scouse, he was actually a chill bloke. He joked with us and didn't take things to heart. Plus, unlike some teachers, he didn't hold our money against us or treat us with any less respect since we had a lot of it.

Garreth rubbed at his jaw in an attempt to do something with his hands. "It's your last year with us, and we all understand how scary it'll be. There's your exams— and for youse who do sports, you have competitions to train for and compete in. Overall, there's a lot going on, and we understand, so we decided to make some changes to your timetables and dorms."

From where we were sat, we could literally see the shock roll into our year-group. Even Neo let out a "bleedin' hell" from beside me.

I stopped splitting my attention between Garreth and the lineup sheets in my hands.

That was unexpected.

He didn't speak again until everyone had settled down. "This year, those of you who participate on a school sport team will have a separate timetable to those who do not. Partly, this is to avoid any difficulty in locating you all in the rare chance of a fire. In addition to this, both groups will be separated in their dorming."

The chatter and overall indignation of our year group almost made me snort. They certainly hadn't thought this through. A questionare during the six weeks would have been useful to warn us ahead of time and let us choose who we'd room with.

I didn't even want to think about not being roomed with Neo and Cai— who ever was responsible for organising dorms should have had enough common sense to room fellow basketballers together.

Still, I couldn't help the curl to the corner of my lips at the thought of having a timetable similar to Neo's. Even last year, when we shared only Physical Education, his amount of mischief doubled in my presence.

I couldn't even finish the mental apology I was sending our teachers when Neo whispered into my ear. "Can we skip the end of assembly?"

I shivered at the uncomfortable sensation of his breath on the side of my face before shooting him a hard look.

A few seconds under my unwavering stare, he coughed out, "I'm hungry. Let's check out the kitchens before unpack our stuff."

"Dinner's soon." I punctuated the two words because this conversation should have ended there.

Did he not remember the scran he wolfed on the way here?

He only pulled a face and slipped out the newest iPhone to check the time. "It's in three hours K."

"Why didn't you eat breakfast?"

He shrugged. "I did— but I'm a growing boy y'know."

A snort escaped my lips; if he was talking about his height, his argument held no weight. "And so am I? What's your point?"

I was taller than the lad, so by his own logic, I should be the one who was more hungry.

Like the man-handler he was, Neo elbowed me in the ribs with enough force to make me wince. I was used to it but if we weren't in assembly, I would have shoved him in retaliation.

The eejit was lucky, very lucky.

"AJ still has her speech y'know."

He went to open his mouth but Prescott's voice rang through the hall. "With that, I'll leave you with a few words from your Head Girl."

I gave Neo a warning look before turning my focus to the stage. We'd missed whatever the Deputy had said but my priority right now was supporting her during her speech. Plus, she and her brother had always been there for me and I wanted to return the favour.

It wasn't that she was a particularly shy person, but I knew last minute decisions threw her off. But to be fair, anyone would be unsettled at being told they had to give their year group a speech the day before.

AJ made her way to the microphone. "Thank you Deputy Prescott. As some of you may be aware, I'm Akira Jae Yamada, your Head Girl for this year."

"You took her to get her nose pierced?" I couldn't stop the whispered question from escaping my throat.

The first thing I noticed was the pair of studs decorating her nose. I knew the guy beside me had something to do with it— and her parents of course.

Neo analysed his plain nails as if it made him look more modest. "It looks good right? I told her so."

That wasn't my point.

My gaze swung between the silver and Neo's side profile. "Why didn't either of you tell me?"

He only placed a finger on his lips and raised an eyebrow towards the stage.

I felt bugged off and my heart thudded awkwardly in my chest: AJ and I were supposed to get our next piercings together, that's what we'd told each other. It was fine if she wanted to get some done alone but why hadn't she told me?

I shoved the thoughts away to process later so I could pay attention to her speech.

"I just wanted to say thank you for having the faith in me to fill this role and vote for me. I promise I'll strive to make sure everyone feels safe and comfortable within these walls. The door to my office will always be open, no matter how small you feel your enquiry is. I want to make sure everyone's voice is heard." Her voice only shook slightly but she made sure to pace herself and breathe.

The eyes that had been raking the crowd met mine and I nodded at her. She'd reached the halfway point, she was nearly there.

"A few notices from Principal Osmond: leaving the school grounds without notice is still forbidden; having hallucinogenic substances on your person or being caught taking them remains punishable by exclusion; the old dance studio has been converted into an extension for the kitchen. For the time being, whilst renovations are in their last stages, the area is closed off. With that, I wish you all a good day and hope you'll all be able to settle in before classes begin on Monday."

She didn't stumble over any of her words, showing all her practice over FaceTime with the group last night had really paid off. I was proud of her.

Despite how daft our seating was, once she'd finished and chatted to Prescott, she headed our way to sit with us. I scooted over so she could sit between Neo and I and she let out a thanks before wincing.

"How was it? I feel like I spoke too fast because I underestimated how many people would be in the audience." She rubbed at her pink cheeks with a knuckle as her ginger brows furrowed.

"Well, at least it's over. . .until you have to do it again. And again, and again—" Neo barely missed her punch and I stifled a laugh.

"Remind me why Cai's blocked you again?" The way her green contacts glinted reminded me of why AJ wasn't someone to mess with.

"Fuck you." He pouted as the words left him without venom.

"I would never dream of it." She rolled her eyes before turning to me. "Was it really okay?"

I knew she wanted feedback and the only reason she was extra prickly was because she hated feeling vulnerable. It's why she and Neo didn't mix: she wanted straight answers when in that state, whilst Neo liked to ignore the feeling with jokes.

"You did good AJ." I bonked her forehead gently. "Your voice carried, it barely shook and your pace was fine, I think you're trying to pick yourself apart again."

"Cap's right, you did great there Jae." Neo added nudging her side. "Making us proud."

"Oh." She was quiet for a moment as she absorbed what we said. "Thanks guys."

"No problem." I opened an arm to her. "Now am I gonna get a greeting from you? A hello even?"

She blinked before smiling sheepishly once she'd realised. "I forgot, sorry. Hi Kae-Kun."

"I know you did." She accepted my hug and I held her till the rigidness to her frame melted away. "Hi AJ."

Akira Jae to everyone else, but to me she was AJ. When were younger, I didn't want to make her chose between her mixed heritage like she'd been doing since birth. Her first name was Japanese whilst her middle was Korean; but whenever she visited her extended family, they referred to her in whichever was native. Even when I was little, I'd called her Akira Jae so she didn't have to feel like she had to be more of one identity than the other. Overtime it had shortened to AJ and it worked best for the both of us.

Once I let her go Neo opened his arms and I barely kept in my laugh. "Where's my hug at AJ?"

She only gave me the pass to use the nickname though.

Her soft features sharpened into a scowl as she pushed away the arm closest to her. "It's up your arse."

Neo rolled his eyes but the small smiles on both their faces told how interactions like these were their normal. Still, before they could find something else to argue about, I spoke up.

"So the the double nostril piercings?"

"Yeah." She turned to me so I could see the silver balls closer up. "I think this is one of Moseki's only good ideas."

"Hey! I paid for that you know."

AJ swung her gaze onto him while her eyes formed slits. "Because you were afraid it would turn out bad, you goon."

He was silent for a beat before saying, "That's still money out of my pocket."

"Because twenty quid is a lot to you." Her sarcasm wasn't lost on us but Neo shouldn't have laughed with me because her fiery gaze found him again.

I'd ask her more about it later when he wasn't around.

Before they could carry on, I stood up and gestured for them to follow. "I distinctly remember you being hungry Neo."

He jumped up from the bench as if his backside had caught alight and began to trek down the stairs. "Thanks for reminding me. Ciao Jae, K come on!"

I don't know where he thought he was going; there was a large jam from people going down the stairs in the same fashion. Somewhere between common sense and critical thinking he'd ended up coming to the conclusion that walking down the benches on as if they were steps would be the solution.

I shut my eyes and covered my face. Father God give me the strength to deal with this boy.

As I took a step towards the staircase a hand grabbed my wrist. "You're not thinking of following him are you?"

"Someone has to watch over him."

She snorted as she dropped my arm. "You decided to be friends with him."

Yeah I did— I wouldn't trade him for anything though.

"I'll call you later?"

I wanted to talk properly about the piercing thing without Neo's presence and a pressure for time; I didn't want to give him the idea that I was mad when I actually felt left out for being out of the loop. I didn't want him to regret the happy memory either.

She nodded. "I'll see you Kae-kun."

With that, I turned away and tried to locate my mate. My narrowed eyes only just caught him leaving the hall and I groaned at the sight of the big crowds still gathered on the stairs.

Neo you owe me so bad.

Despite the urge in my chest to wait it out, I headed down the stairs and straight into the midst of students. I had no choice but to push in line and slip through the gaps— if slipping through anything was possible when you were as big as I was.

I'd only willingly put myself in a sea of people for a few people— and unluckily Neo was one of them. I didn't want to know the thoughts of those I passed by nor what their eyes were saying. A stream of apologies left my lips while I kept my burning face directed at the ground.

I busied my mind with how I'd get the tool back as my body focused on putting one step in front of the other.

If I hid his drum set would that be over the top? Cai would definitely help out me regardless.

I resisted looking back once my feet had hit the court ground and stormed out of there in the direction of the kitchens. Though I didn't get far when a figure jumped infront of me.

"Boo!"

I was too pissed to be scared and immediately shoved Neo in the shoulder. "Are you actually tapped?"

He harshly rubbed at the spot and shot me a glare I rolled my eyes at. "Now what was that for?"

Did he really want me to answer?

I kept my stare until he dropped his hands and I tried to get his other shoulder to iron in the message. Astutely, he was expecting it and grabbed my wrist with a grin.

"You're a grumpy bastard aren't you? You'll change your mind when you have some Jaffa-cakes down you."

I doubted it— especially when I wasn't going to put any junk food into my system, especially now.

He kept hold of one of my wrists and tugged me after him. I didn't bother fighting it, he would hold my arm tighter and start talking about crap I didn't want to hear.

No one ever talked about how the most annoying thing about having best friends was that they knew exactly how to get under your skin.

It didn't take long to reach the Kitchens, but that was because of how well Neo knew the school layout and a shortcut to get there. I just wanted it over and done with so I could complain to Cai about the dope.

"How's Nana?" The question came as he finally let go of my hand to push open the Kitchens door.

My lips curled up at the sincere question. He wasn't asking to humour me, he genuinely cared about my grandma and wanted to know. I knew he saw her as his own and Nana saw him as another grandchild to mother.

"She's good, up to her usual mischief. She's trying to order a greenhouse to put in her back garden without Mam noticing."

He chuckled as I closed the door as far as I could go without it shutting completely. "Good luck with that one, your mum's a hawk she is."

I snorted; he wasn't wrong.

"She was also asking about you, says you should call her more." I opened one of the overhead storage spaces and pulled out a packet of crackers.

If he'd dragged me here, I might as well get something out of it.

The brightness of the smile on his face completely contrasted his sarcastic tone. "Oh? Me calling twice a week wasn't enough?"

I leaned against a stainless steel top in the middle of the space as I opened the packet. I didn't deign him with a response and hid the upturn to my lips. I was glad they made each other happy, even if the trouble they got up to together was going to give me grey hairs.

"How's it at the house?"

It was a careful question; I didn't want to push him considering I already had a general idea of what it was like when he was at his dad's. He'd talk about it when he was ready.

After a moment, his shoulders rolled in a shrug and he jumped onto table I was leaned against. "It could be worse."

I read it for what it was and didn't press.

Neo glanced at me popping a cracker into my mouth and I held out the packet towards him. "Have at it, you starving Victorian child."

The history GCSE we'd both taken clearly hadn't gone to waste. Plus, he was a Londoner so I was only a couple years off.

Neo ignored my outstretched arm and adopted a Tory accent. "No thank you, daddy dearest."

The mush in my mouth immediately went down the wrong pipe and I had to hammer at my chest just to breathe again.

Too far, he always took it too far.

My eyes teared up as I tried — involuntarily — to cough up my lungs. "Don't ever call me that again you bloody eejit."

For a moment, I thought he'd cackle and do the opposite, but he fluttered his barely-there eyelashes. "No promises K."

I didn't give him anything less than a dirty look as I made myself comfortable. I munched at a slower pace as Neo jumped down to move his search to the pantry.

All this for Jaffa-cakes— which he was searching in the oddest places for.

I slipped my phone out my pants pocket to check the time. "Neo we've been here too long already. Let's dip before we get caught."

Twelve minutes was definitely pushing it.

He didn't turn in my direction and continued his rummaging. "Jaffa-cakes are worth the trouble, you know this K."

I had to give it to him, when he was determined, he wouldn't stop until he achieved his goal. And in this case— a belly full of the cake/biscuits.

I just rolled my eyes and focused on ignoring the churning in my stomach. I shoved some more crackers down my throat to give my stomach something to do that wasn't twist in anxiety.

It was my first day as captain, I didn't want to do anything to make it my last.

Neo had moved back to rooting through the cupboards when I reached him and grabbed his arm. "You shouldn't even be eating Jaffa-cakes right now you spanner, we're in season."

He stopped his perusing momentarily to shoot me a wink, "Not until we have our first practice, we're not."  

I was going to nail him with blank look when I caught something move over his shoulder. Well, two somethings through the door I'd left cracked open. I dropped Neo's arm like I was burnt. That caused him to turn to where I was looking.

He definitely caught at least a sliver of them from the curse he let out. "Who are they?"

I swallowed and tried to get my heart to slow down. "Two gals, one of them was the one you were staring at before."

"Fucking hell." He scrambled down from the countertop and I had an urge to trip him up because of how hard my heart was thudding against my ribs.

I knew we should have left earlier.

EL SPEAKS !
↬ kaede's pov 😋 what do you all think??
for old readers be prepared to meet new material 🤭🤭 you'll be giggling unlike ever before
  next update will be the 20th,, a day after my bday on the 19th so if it comes out a lil late you all know why 🙈🙈
i really hope you enjoyed the chapter, please vote and comment lovelies 🫶🏽

( posted; 06/01/24 )