▃▃▃▃▃ "who do you think will get the shôshô role?"

     "I'm betting on kita. surprisingly, he actually did very well practicing with you", suna stated.

     "as much as I'd hate to say it, I actually think that daishō has a very good shot", kozume mumbled, fiddling with a string that was tangled up in his fingers.

etsuko had noticed that kozume had a habit of tinkling with little things. whether it be a brush or a a random flower that he had picked on the side of the road, kozume seemed to like occupying his mind with anything he found intriguing.

"well I'm honestly more interested in who the girl will be", kuroo chimed in, nearly scaring the shit out of etsuko.

     "my lord!! I thought you were trying out to be one of komachi's many suitors", etsuko sighed, patting her chest to calm down her erratic heartbeat.

     "I was. we finished early because komachi had so many suitors that we each got a role", kuroo explained.

"well damn! couldn't be me", etsuko chuckled, to which kuroo had snorted.

"of course it can't be you! too bad you were born a boy, even though you still look very much like a girl".

     "hey! I'm as masculine as they come!", etsuko huffed, crossing her arms.

     suna lightly chuckled as he glanced over at the pouting girl. "sure".

     "rintarō! watch yourself", etsuko playfully scowled, to which the boy momentarily paused as his first name was used.

     "says you, etsuko. you're literally as troublesome as the twins", the dark-haired male scoffed.

     kozume furrowed his brows. "haru".

     "mhm?"

     kozume pointed to himself, making etsuko confused. "y-yes kozume?"

     kozume only frowned even more. kuroo raised a brow in amusement as he leaned in close to etsuko, whispering in the girl's ear and making her flinch.

     "I think kenma's just salty that you're not calling him by his first name. try it", kuroo urged, to which etsuko just nodded.

"kenma...umm...is it okay if I call you that? you can call me etsuko or etsu if you'd like", the girl smiled, to which kozume, for some reason, felt a little flower blossom in his tummy.

     "okay...etsu..."

     etsuko only smiled wider as she patted the pudding-head, slightly messing it up, though combing it back down as she felt a bit bad.

"OI! IT'S THE GIRL!", a boy with a bowl-cut hair shouted, to which everyone's head snapped at the entrance of the stage, where indeed, there was a gorgeous girl standing beside principal nekomata.

etsuko just hummed as she glanced over for a brief moment before looking back down at kozume's stretchy string.

playing with kozume, the girl suddenly jumped out of her skin as she heard kita's name being called.

"pleasant seeing you here, kita-san".

etsuko whipped her head so fast that she thought she might've even cracked a bone. the girl's jaw dropped as she realized who it was.

"no...fucking...way...", etsuko breathed out, to which kozume had given the girl a weird look.

"ah, it's shimizu-san", suna stated, to which etsuko suddenly felt kuroo close her mouth for her by pushing her jaw upwards.

"I know she's hot but relax. if you want to get her to notice you, just try out for the shôshô role", kuroo grinned, to which etsuko had immediately shaken her head in denial.

"no...I mean...I'm happy doing props with kenma", etsuko said, to which the pudding-head boy had unconsciously felt the same tummy sensation from earlier.

"if you say so~", kuroo purred.

"why? are you interested?", etsuko scoffed, seeing as kuroo just shrugged.

     "I mean...she's pretty, but not my type", the boy replied, making the girl lightly chuckle.

     etsuko softly sighed as she pulled her legs towards her chest, wrapping her much too skinny arms around them as she laid her cheek on her knees.

     etsuko's doe brown eyes unintentionally made its way onto kita, who was sitting a few feet away with the miya twins beside him.

     'will he still tryout? pft! of course he will...granny wishes to see him in a main role...'

     "etsu, are you okay?", kozume quietly asked, to which etsuko's attention was snapped back to the concerned boy.

"yeah...I'm okay", etsuko murmured, not knowing why she was feeling a bit uneasy.

     "oh look! bokuto's up", kuroo pointed out, to which etsuko could physically see how excited the golden-eyed boy seemed.

     "bokuto-san!! good luck", etsuko smiled, giving the boy two thumbs-up as she received an affirmative nod from the boy.

the rest—who had sat in the corner of the stage—watched as bokuto suddenly blanked out, forgetting all his lines as he stuttered through his entire audition.

"b-bokuto-san, it's alright!! don't be sad; have a namagashi!!", etsuko offered, pulling out a delicately shaped flower dessert with a red bean paste filling.

     bokuto's big round eyes watered as he sniffled, nodding with a pout as he popped the entire flower sweet into his mouth and ate it.

     it indeed made him feel a bit better, but the boy was still quite distressed from earlier.

     "bokuto-san, think about it like this, since you'll most likely get a role as another one of komachi's suitors, it'll be harder to stand out now right?"

bokuto just nodded, looking like a lost puppy at etsuko.

"but that means that you have to try even harder to act the part because it's your job to make sure that the main suitor looks good! your job it way more important than shôshô!!", etsuko exclaimed, hyping bokuto up.

     "ohhhhhh!! I get it!! THANK YOU HARU!", bokuto widely smiled as he pulled the girl into a tight hug, nearly choking etsuko.

     "bokuto, you're hurting etsu. let him go", kozume calmly stated, to which bokuto had swiftly listened.

     "ahaha!! sorry about that! sometimes I just get too excited", bokuto apologized.

"no worries bokuto-san. I get it. just know that we're all super proud of you", etsuko smiled, making the boy's heart swell with pride.

"I'll make sure to make you all even more proud!!"

"thank you, haru-san", akaashi whispered, to which etsuko just scratched the back of her head, wondering what she had done.

"I LOVE YA!"

etsuko choked as she turned back towards the stage. apparently it was atsumu's turn. however, etsuko didn't even know that the blonde twin was trying out for it.

principal nekomata sighed. "please...just return back to your seat", the old man grumbled, seeming on the verge of giving up.

"next, kita shinsuke!"

atsumu chuckled as he sat beside osamu, who just rolled his eyes at atsumu's silliness.

"I can't believe I'm related to ya".

"oh shut it!", atsumu scoffed.

etsuko cringed at the thought of kita expressing his "love" for shimizu. even though she knew that they were just acting, etsuko couldn't help but feel awkward for the stoic boy.

as kita stood up, he walked over without any nerves as he never understood why people had felt anxious. he knew his own capabilities and with the amount of practice, he was confident in his own abilities.

however, as soon as shimizu had said her line, kita froze.

his mind was telling him to fall into his role; it was trying to deceive him.

'say it. say it. come on, what are you doing?'

but his eyes were not deceived. his eyes could tell very much so, just how different shimizu and etsuko were. though it shouldn't have mattered, kita found himself unable to spit out the lines, especially not to his ex.

kita sighed, closing his eyes momentarily as he turned to principal nekomata, who was utterly confused just like everyone else.

"I'm sorry principal nekomata, but it seems that I'm unable to recite the lines. forgive me for wasting time", kita bowed as he swiftly left to go sit back down beside the miya twins.

etsuko quietly gasped as she watched shimizu's eyes widen at the interaction too.

'what...just happened?'

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セレンディピティ
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