Chapter Text
Late to class for the hundredth time, it took Koizumi Risa much longer than normal to realize that her classmates’ whispers were directed at her. Used to all of the attention that being one half of All Hanshin-Kyojin brought, she was oblivious to the fact that today’s teasing would be any different, too busy cursing her luck that last night’s storm had somehow disabled her alarm clock as she ran down the school hallway.
Koizumi finally reached her destination just as the bell was ringing and slumped into her desk chair with a groan, books and clothes eschew from running across campus. At first she ignored the pointed looks of her classmates, and the giggles from a group of girls in the back of the class. The ginger-haired girl assumed they were laughing about her ungraceful entrance, but a few snickers from other desks, mixed with looks of sympathy from a few of the other girls tipped her off that something strange was going on.
Otani’s desk was empty beside her, (the basketball team had been excused from class for the day to prepare for an upcoming tournament), and Nobu-chan sat several seats away, so she didn’t get the chance to ask what was going on until the end of class, when the teacher cleared his throat to get the students’ attention.
“Most of you heard this morning’s announcement,” Maity-sensei said, “But I’m going to write a reminder on the board for those of you who weren’t here.” Koizumi ducked her head sheepishly, knowing that she was the only one that applied to.
‘Students must wear formal attire to next week’s assembly. This includes business-casual slacks and button-downs for boys, and dresses, skirts, and heels for girls. Failure to adhere to dress code will result in detention.’ The board read when Maity had finished writing. Koizumi’s stomach gave a little lurch of horror at the word ‘heels,’ and she frantically skimmed the instructions again with her eyes in the hopes that she had misread.
Oh god, I’m doomed, Koizumi thought, face already flushed with embarrassment. Suddenly, her classmates’ attention made sense, what could be funnier than making the tallest girl in class wear shoes that would make her look even more awkward? Koizumi felt dread filling her at the thought. Impulsively, she thought to stand up and erase the whiteboard in the hopes that maybe everyone would forget about it, but she knew deep down that wouldn’t be enough to make the new rule itself disappear. (Not to mention she’d probably get in trouble for creating a disturbance.)
The tall girl buried her flushed face in her arms with a groan as Nobu-chan approached her desk. “As if being one half of All Hanshin-Kyojin isn’t embarrassing enough on its own, now the teachers are singling me out as a clown. Why else would they change the stupid dress code?” Koizumi said, the words muffled by her arms. From behind her desk chair, her shorter friend patted the ginger-haired girl’s shoulder sympathetically.
“Come on Risa-chan, the situation’s not that bad.”
“Ehh?!” Koizumi said as she looked up at her friend. “That’s easy for you to say when you’re a totally normal height, not to mention your boyfriend won’t call you an ugly giraffe if you wear anything other than flats!” The taller-than-average girl stared glumly at Otani’s empty desk, grateful that he had not been in class today and wouldn’t know to tease her about her impending humiliation.
“You’ll just have to make the best of it Risa-chan,” Nobuko said consolingly as she hiked her bookbag up on her shoulder. She motioned for Koizumi to follow her out of the classroom and the ginger-haired girl rose reluctantly from her chair to join her friend.
By now it was routine for the two girls to walk to the gym together after class, so Koizumi didn’t need to ask where Nobu-chan was headed. (Or what the other girl was thinking for that matter, Koizumi could practically see the other girl’s heart eyes as they headed towards basketball practice where her ‘Darling’ (and Otani) were likely waiting for them or just finishing up practice.)
When they arrived, the gym doors were still closed, so the pair sat outside on one of the concrete benches. Koizumi slumped next to Nobuko with a huff, long legs stretched out in front of her and face set in a pout. They sat in silence for a moment before Nobu-chan turned to her with a thoughtful expression.
“I’m sure you have something in your closet that will work, don’t you Risa-chan?” Nobuko asked.
“That’s part of the problem,” Koizumi responded, “I don’t even own a pair of heels! I’ll have to borrow a pair of my mom’s shoes, and all of those are at least 10 centimeters high. I’m probably going to trip on my face and then the whole assembly will laugh at me, not to mention what that stupid midget Otani will say!” Koizumi seethed at the thought of her short boyfriend’s snickering expression.
Nobuko frowned, clearly feeling sorry for her friend’s predicament. The girl placed a hand on her chin in thought, and Koizumi could clearly see the lightbulb go off in the shorter girl's expression a moment later.
“You have some money saved from that restaurant job you did by Otani’s prep school right?” Nobu-chan asked. Koizumi was confused by the change in subject but she nodded all the same.
“That settles it then,” the shorter girl said. “I’m taking you shoe shopping!”
Koizumi barely had time to absorb the statement, let alone think of a reply before Nobu-chan got up from the bench with a squeal. Koizumi turned to see that the gym doors had opened, and their boyfriends were walking across the courtyard with the rest of the boy’s basketball team. Conversation likely forgotten, Nobu-chan walked swiftly across the empty space to greet her boyfriend Nakao-kun while Koizumi rolled her eyes affectionately at her friend's antics before following behind her.
“Oi Otani, what took you both so long? I thought I was going to grow old and die out here before you finished practice,” Koizumi asked in lieu of a greeting when she reached the rest of the group. The pair might have been dating for a few weeks now, but most outsiders would never guess by the way they acted. Only their friends knew to look for the fondness in their eyes as they continued to tease each other and generally act the way they used to as frenemies.
True to form, Otani flashed her a teasing smile. “It’s a good thing I came out when I did then, otherwise you’d have turned into an ugly old hag. Unless you already did, since you’re nagging me like one.” Koizumi squawked in mock indignation and gave him a playful shove. She was about to ask him how practice had gone when Nobu-chan appeared at her side, linking an arm in Koizumi’s.
“Time to go! Say goodbye to your boyfriend,” Nobu-chan singsonged. It took Koizumi a moment to realize what her friend meant before she remembered.
Oh right, the stupid heels. The ginger-haired girl groaned.
“Hah? Where are you going? I thought we were walking home from school together today?” Otani asked, seeming slightly miffed. Koizumi took a second to enjoy the fact that he seemed disappointed at the thought of not spending time with her, heart giving a little flip of fondness at her boyfriend’s pout, before she flushed darkly at the thought of his reaction to finding out she was heel-shopping. The last thing she needed was his teasing, so she decided to keep it from him at all costs.
Otani’s eyebrow raised at her blush, but he didn’t get the chance to ask again before Nobu-chan was pulling Koizumi away.
“Sorry, no time to talk, we’ve got somewhere to be! I’ll have her call you later Romeo.” Nobu-chan called over her shoulder to the shorter boy with a teasing smile. Koizumi thought she heard him mutter something under his breath as the tips of his ears turned pink, but she didn’t have time to dwell on the unexpectedly cute sight. Nobu-chan blew a kiss to her Darling as they passed him, but otherwise didn’t stop until they’d reached the mall, dragging a weakly-protesting Koizumi behind her.
Little did they both know the mess that simple pair of shoes would land Koizumi in come assembly day.