☆☆☆

Y/n stood on the grass with her saxophone in one hand and her phone in the other. There were twenty minutes until the march started and she was getting worried.

Y/n glanced around at her bandmates. They were all distracted by their friends and family who had shown up to watch them march. Y/n was left alone to the side while she wanted for her own, who had promised to show up.

As the time ticked away, Y/n decided to call her moms, hoping they'd tell her that they were almost there.

The line rang as Y/n fiddled with her saxophone's buttons. It was a habit she had picked up whenever she happened to be anxious.

After a few moments, someone on the other side picked up. "Hello?" Her mom asked loudly, hoping to be heard over the bowls in the background.

"Hey mom, are you here?" Y/n asked, glancing around the field at the other parents as if one would suddenly be her mother.

A sigh came from the other line and talking that Y/n couldn't decipher. She was left there silently listening until her mother responded.

"Sorry honey but we got a new kid at the shop and I'm the only one who can teach him," Her mother said, shifting the phone higher on her shoulder.

"What about ma? Is she able to come?" Y/n asked, shifting in her spot. It was alright if one mom couldn't come. The march wasn't that big of a deal anyways. Y/n could live with only one coming.

Y/n felt her mom let out another sigh. "Satsuki was called in for another shift. The ICU was understaffed this morning and she knew we needed the extra money for the adoption."

Y/n stood silently. She was trying to process what her mother said and it was all ending up as a mess.

After her mother said her goodbyes, Y/n hung up. Everything was still okay. She understood that they needed the money and was okay with them working. Instead of focusing on the sad news of her moms not coming to the march, she turned to the thought of her friends.

She had made sure a couple weeks in advance that they weren't going to be busy. They had no practices and no family commitments and had been hyped to see her play.

The thought of her boys made Y/n happier and she dialed Ennoshita's number with a smile on her face.

The phone continued to ring until Ennoshita's voice came on the line. Y/n opened her mouth to greet him but closed it when she realized it was his voicemail. She listened to the whole thing before leaving a message at the end.

"Hey, the march is about to start in like ten minutes and I wanted to know if you guys were here," She said, holding her saxophone closer to her body. Her voice got quieter with each word until she ended her sentence.

Y/n hung up and was about to turn off her phone when she got a text from Sugawara.

°°°

Mommy 😏
》Enno's phone died but he told me to
      tell you that Daichi scheduled a
      practice for td :(

read 10:45 am

°°°

First it was her moms, now her friends. Y/n wasn't even going to try to text her brother after getting left on read for every message.

'The march isn't even a big event so they really don't have to come,' Y/n thought, trying to convince herself that she was right. It wasn't like the march was the only event she was sure her family and friends could come to with their busy schedules. Out of the 5 performances last year, her mothers only went to one and her friends 2.

Y/n didn't want to seem selfish or needy in any way so she pushed the thoughts away. Despite no one being there for her, she still had to do a good job for her bandmates and their families.

Y/n adjusted her skirt and put her phone in her saxophone case, which she locked up afterwards. She had learned from last year that marching with a phone in the skirt's tiny pockets was a big mistake.

Yūko came running up to Y/n, snapping her out of her sad thoughts. The march was about to start and the two girls had to get into position or else they'd get yelled at.

"I'll be cheering for you," Yūko whispered to Y/n, noticing the deep frown on her face. Y/n nodded, forcing her lips into a smile. Her thought was if she pretended to be happy then her brain would be tricked into it. She had heard it somewhere before and she was willing to test it out. 

"Let's do our best!" 

☆☆☆

Karasuno's band had just finished their march and almost all of the members were exhausted. Y/n, being one of the few that weren't, was busy running around giving water to everyone. She was constantly cracking and rubbing at her neck after the march. Though the alto saxophone was a fairly light instrument, the strain on her neck from the neck strap made it worse. Even her right thumb was red and had no feeling afterwards. The pain, however, was worth it. Karasuno had made a name for themselves with the performance they had shown.

Once everyone had been taken cared of, especially the tiny first years, Y/n sat down on the ground. Her legs almost giving out because of all the movement she had done so far. At these times, Y/n felt very out of shape. She had to quiet her heavy breathing in fear of letting the others know about it too.

People moved around her but Y/n let them be. The students were allowed to leave whenever they wanted to after the march but Y/n was too tired to walk back home.

Before she could completely pass out on the cold grass, someone's foot made contact with her exposed thigh. It didn't particularly hurt Y/n but it did annoy her.

Opening her eyes, she was hoping to yell some very nice, and not mean at all, words at the person standing beside her. Before any words could come out, they died as soon as she saw who it was above her.

Leaning over her was the one and only baldie that had a special place in her heart. Tanaka was smiling down at Y/n, raising his eyebrows slightly when he gazed at her skirt that was rising ever so slightly.

"Didn't you have practice?" Y/n asked, sitting up, causing Tanaka's eyes to wander back up to hers.

His smile turned into a smirk as he crouched down beside her. "Let me tell you a little secret," He whispered into her ear. "I lied to Daichi."

Y/n took a second to process the information that Tanaka had just spilled. His warm breath against her neck wasn't helping either as it was making her mind wander. When she finally understood, she let out a tiny gasp.

"What did you tell him?" Y/n asked, trying to figure out what excuse Tanaka could've came up with that would set him free.

"I used the 'mom and dad are coming back home' line. Worked like a charm!" Tanaka said, leaning forward into Y/n's body.

Tanaka's parents were always a rough subject to bring up. He always tried to make jokes about his absent parents but they always seemed to make him sadder than he already was.

"Thank you for coming," Y/n whispered back to him, changing the subject so Tanaka could feel somewhat better.

He backed away from her and stood up, pulling Y/n with him. "Isn't anyone else here?" He asked, looking around for one of your family members.

Y/n shook her head and looked down at her shoes, not wanting to make eye contact with him. Tanaka would certainly pick up her mood and she didn't want him to be angry all because of her.

Tanaka looked down at her, his eyes softening when he noticed her behavior. Instead of making Y/n tell him what was wrong and making her uncomfortable, Tanaka held the flower that he had gotten in front of him.

"I got this for you on the way here!" He exclaimed, hoping to replace whatever thoughts were running through her head, even if just for a minute.

Y/n lifted her bowed head to see a red gardenia outstretched in front of her. It was a lovely flower and she couldn't help but to reach towards it.

Tanaka watched as she stroked ther petals with both her hands. She looked in awe of the flower despite it being one of the few growing in her own garden.

"It's so pretty," Y/n mutters to herself. She took it gently from Tanaka's hand, not wanting to hurt it in any way. She hugged it close to her chest and finally looked up at Tanaka.

The smile on Y/n's face made Tanaka want to grab his sunglasses. It was too bright for his eyes but he didn't look away. It had been a while since he saw Y/n that happy and he had missed it. He was over the moon though, glad that he was the one that made her that happy.

Tanaka suddenly gained enough confidence to ask Y/n what he had wanted to all day. He had been too nervous to ask her when he called her earlier that morning and too nervous to do it in text. So instead, Tanaka picked the most nerve-wracking way but he felt more confident in person.

"Do you want to come over?" He asked, looking away from Y/n. Now he was the one avoided her eyes. Tanaka was ready to get rejected like he usually was. Chasing after Kiyoko was fun but it lowered Tanaka's confidence whenever she rejected him. It only added on to his fear of rejection that was put there because of his parents.

"Really?" Y/n asked, her hands gripping on to the stem of the gardenia. She was planning to go home and sulk in her room but spending the rest of the night with Tanaka sounded better.

Y/n grabbed Tanaka's arm and pulled him closer to her so she could hug him. The hug was so sudden that Tanaka didn't respond until she began to pull back. Though he was unsatisfied because he didn't have the time to hug her back, Tanaka smiled down at her.

"Let's get your saxophone and then we can go. Its Saeko's night for dinner so expect takeout."

☆☆☆

The two second years had just finished eating and were now settling down for the night.

Y/n was still in her marching uniform but she was way too tired to change. She didn't care if she wrinkled it, it was hers now so she could do whatever. Tanaka, however, was begging her to change out of it. He knew she was going to be uncomfortable with the tight shirt and short skirt on all night.

Y/n tried to use the fact that she didn't have any other clothes but was shot down by Tanaka throwing a shirt at her. Her angry words towards the boy was muffled by his pillow but she begrudgingly got out of the blanket cocoon she made.

Tanak respectfully left his room, giving Y/n space and time to change. She was thankful of his actions and quickly changed out of her outfit, not wanting to make him wait long.

The outfit came off quick, making Y/n let out a breath of relief. The shirt part of the outfit felt restricting so to finally have it off as well as her bra felt so nice. She folded her things up before diving into Tanaka's bed.

After their first sleepover, Tanaka had made sure to have an extra pillow on his bed for Y/n. He usually slept with one but with the amount of times she had slept over, he just left it on his bed. There was also two separate blankets as Y/n was known for wrapping herself tightly into whatever blanket she found.

When Tanaka entered his room some time later, he was met with the light snores coming from his bed. He sighed to himself, glad that Y/n had finally fell asleep. He wasn't even mad that she passed out without saying goodnight. She had had a rough day and what she needed was a good sleep.

Tanaka moved her body over slightly before laying down beside her. He pulled his seperate blanket over him and found himself staring at Y/n's face.

Her face was relaxed and her mouth was open slightly, each breath reaching Tanaka from where he laid. He reached over and used her blanket to clean up some of the drool that had leaked out.

"You're so beautiful."

☆☆☆