after you were done with dinner, you and inumaki both parted ways. you went to the left training grounds like megumi instructed you and inumaki went to the right.

as you were walking through the few trees standing in the open field, you saw megumi leaning against a tree in the shade. he was still far from the place where you guys would train.

you walked up towards him and he did the same, both of you approaching each other at the same rate. you wanted to greet him but he beat you to it.

"he was using your first name? were you not uncomfortable with that?" he asked you with worry in his voice. the two of you stopped in your tracks and had a vast distance between you.

still fully facing him, you spoke up, "we are quite close actually, it really is no problem." you reassured megumi and he raised his hand to hold the back of his neck.

he sighed, "well then. what are you guys then?" he breathed out as he avoided your gaze by looking at the ground.

you didnt know what you and inumaki were, you both called each other by their first names so you were definitely close. but he had never specifically told you he had feelings for you, let alone ask you to be his girlfriend.

you shifted your gaze from megumi towards the open field and saw nobara and yuuji waiting in the distance, looking at them, you spoke up to megumi, "just close friends... for now." you told him quietly.

he snapped his head back at you after he heard that comment come from your mouth. it was obvious that to him that you had feelings for your senpai.

noticing megumis changed attitude around inumaki, you tried to put the pieces together. you remembered that time when you were in a coma and heard someone confess their love for you.

certain that it was a male student that knew you well, it would have been either, panda, yuuji or megumi. panda was the very first to leave that list for obvious reasons.

which came to megumi and yuuji. it was clear to you who it was after your comrades had visited you for the first time after your coma in the infirmary. yuuji was occupied with arguing with nobara and megumi had his full attention to you.

you cursed yourself that it took you so long to find that out. and you spoke up, "say, megumi." you said as the boy remained silent. he only lifted his head to look at you.

tilting your head to face him, you wanted to ask him the obvious. you saw the innocent stare he gave you and felt your heart break. if he did have feelings for you, you would have to turn him down on the spot.

"... lets go and train." you said in a whisper, not meeting his piercing gaze. you decided you would turn him down tomorrow or such, but not now. he had to be in a good condition to train and revise the new strategies.

megumi and you both walked to the group in silence, when you approached yuuji and nobara, they knew something was up.

you waved it off and told them it was just because you havent trained in a while, and they bought it.

"finally we can fully train now with everyone!" yuuji spoke up in his loud voice as he beamed at you, his eyes glinstering with determination.

smiling at him, you were happy that youre back. "im glad to be back too." you retorted and stretched a little, nobara following your example and stretching too.

she stood besides you and spoke up, "ready to get defeated today, y/n?" she said and laughed a little when she neared her sentence.

"actually, i feel like i have alot to catch up too so yes, yes i am ready." you spoke up while sighing. your female comrade let out a genuine laugh and reassured you, "dont worry, when you were out we only played some baseball." she told you.

you stood up straight and waited for her to continue, "besides that, we only trained about 4 to 5 more times." she said and looked at you.

"most of us had to recover from the event anyways, me too actually." nobara added on. you perked up at her comment and shifted to stand in front of her.

you looked her in the eye and asked her, "do you still have to be careful?" you spoke up with concern in your tone. and she smiled at you.

she appreciated the worry but told you otherwise, "relax, im okay-ish now. basic combat will be fine as long as i dont overdo it." nobara concluded.

you opened your mouth, speaking up, "oh, i have that too actually." you said and held the back of your neck. smiling sheepishly at her.

looking at the other two boys, you saw they were already getting ready to practice their combat among each other, you spoke up, "want to start too?" you said as you looked back at nobara.

"anytime." she said and smirked. you stood in a defensive position and were ready for the fight. the two of you fought already so you knew her fighting style.

after fighting for what seemed like 70 full minutes, you both decided to take a well deserved break. you fought with nobara and eventually tried to revise a new strategy with everyone.

realizing the strategy wasnt as easy as expected, you all decided to take a break for now and you sat on the ground, panting, with nobara next to you.

nobara won about 3 times and you did 1 time. after the combat, you both had decided to perfect other moves such as a roundhouse kick.

you looked at the distance and saw yuuji and megumi sitting on the stone stairs, appreciating the sky.

looking at the same blue sky, you figured it must have been mid day, maybe 2PM. you spoke up, "hey, nobara." as you had to organize your thoughts a bit.

she let out a soft, "hmm?" without looking at you, having her eyes fixated on the light blue sky above her. you sighed and asked her what was on your mind, "how do i... reject someone." you breathed out.

she got the palms of her hands behind her on the ground, supporting her while still looking at the sky, "depends if you care about them." she spoke out.

"i do. so now what?" you answered back. tilting your head to look at her, she was still facing the sky. she closed her eyes for a moment and opened them again, speaking her mind, "its about him, isnt it? she said and looked into the direction of yuuji and megumi.

you avoided her gaze and looked down at the ground, you let your fingers run through the grass of the open field, "i dont want to hurt him." you said and nobara knew who you were talking about.

a refreshing breeze hit the two of you, and nobara spoke up, "its better to tell him now than lead him on." she told the harsh truth.

you knew she was right but never wanted to face it yourself. you were glad you came to nobara to advice, she was more responsible than she seemed to be.

you made up your mind, you would tell him as soon as you guys would be alone. you opened your mouth once more, "thank you, nobara." you said as you smiled at her.