A/N: cross-posted from AO3. This ship has pretty much zero chance of happening lol. But I really like the idea of it so here we are. Hope someone enjoys it! Might not be very anime-only friendly as of now considering Maki hasn't truly appeared in the anime yet.

Ishigami wanted to die. Or at the very least, go home.

Today he'd already earned himself sympathetic looks and words of encouragement from nearly the whole student council, the outlier being Iino, who remained silent. Somehow, the pitiful silence was worse than her usual antics.

It wasn't even as if him and Tsubame-senpai had a huge falling out or anything. They had gone on a few dates, but ultimately Tsubame had decided to move forward and focus on university. He had a feeling she didn't want to do the whole long distance thing anyway, even if the distance wasn't that long.

He stopped his thoughts before they could become bitter. He wasn't angry at her, really, he wasn't. Maybe he was a little bummed, who wouldn't be? But he wasn't going to force a girl into dating him. It was enough to know that he gave it his best shot, and that she didn't reject him by virtue of being him.

In any case, he couldn't stand the pity any longer. Instead of attending his fifth period class, he spent his time out on the field, his back against a massive tree trunk and his Switch in hand.

A shadow suddenly loomed over him, and he looked up to find none other than Tsundere-senpai clad in a gym uniform. She looked down at him with crossed arms.

Ishigami slid his headphones off his ears and let them hang around his neck.

"Skipping, huh?"

He shrugged. "Shouldn't you be running or something?"

Maki ignored his question and dropped down beside him, leaning back onto the tree trunk. She looked up through the tree's leaves and released a sigh.

Ishigami waited for a moment before returning to his game. Promptly, the girl beside him emitted another long sigh. Picking up on the hint, he cast his gaming device aside on the grass.

"Let me guess, something something Kashiwagi and Tsubasa?"

She looked over at him with eyes devoid of life. "You should really be more delicate about these things, Yu."

"But I'm right, right?"

"You're right," she conceded, hugging her knees up to her chest. "How much longer will my heart be able to endure such torment? I mean, is it necessary to act all lovey dovey in gym class?"

"Sorry to hear that," Ishigami said in a tone that didn't suggest much genuine sorrow.

"It is what it is," she sighed again.

A silence descended over the pair, and Ishigami had to address the elephant.

"So, you're not going to say anything?"

"About what?"

"C'mon. Even Kashiwagi-senpai told me she was sorry about what happened between Tsubame-senpai and I."

"Ah, that," Maki nodded with a slight smile. "You really had me worried, you know. Without you in my lonely heart's club I was totally on my own for a minute there."

Ishigami simply stared at her, trying to come up with a response to that. He settled on using her own words against her.

"You should really be more delicate about these things, Tsundere-senpai."

"Maki-senpai," she corrected.

"Shijo-senpai," he relented.

She chuckled before assuming a more serious tone.

"Isn't it better to not say anything? So it didn't work out. Oh well, right?"

He mulled over her words, mystified that she could be so cavalier when it came to other people's relationships and so distraught when it came to her own lack thereof.

"I guess so," he agreed. "Thanks."

A silence arose once again, but Ishigami didn't find it to be awkward. In fact, he felt at ease. He spent a moment internally debating whether or not he should say what was on his mind, eventually deciding to just go for it.

"You know, Shijo-senpai, Tsubasa isn't the be-all and end-all."

He prepared himself for the onslaught of rebuttals Maki would surely rattle off in Tsubasa's defense. The silence, however, left him stunned.

Maki hugged her knees in tighter and hid the lower half of her face behind her legs.

"I think you might be right," she admitted in a small voice.

He couldn't believe it. Was this the real Shijo Maki? Were his eyes and ears deceiving him?

She glanced over at him from the corner of her eyes. "Shocking, I know. But honestly… I'm just… tired," she shrugged. "I can hardly find it in me to even care anymore."

"Didn't you come over here to escape their PDA, though?"

She lifted her head up and rested her chin on top of her knees. "Maybe I just wanted to see how you were doing after all."

Oddly, he didn't find himself annoyed by Maki's concern. It actually made him strangely happy.

"Thanks," he said honestly.

"Maki-chan!" a voice undoubtedly belonging to Kashiwagi called out.

"Well," Maki stood up in one smooth motion. "Looks like they've realized I snuck away."

"Looks like it."

"I'll see you then, Yu."

Another debate commenced in his mind. He'd been bold once already today, why shouldn't he try his luck?

"It's nice talking to you, Maki-senpai." The words came out before he fully thought out what he was going to say. Lamely, he finished it off with, "you can come talk to me anytime. If you want."

Her eyes widened a bit. Once the surprise wore off, a wide smile spread across her face. "Does that invitation extend to Line?"

It was his turn to feel surprised. He simply nodded.

"Maki-chaaan!"

"Guess I really gotta run. I'll talk to you later!" she shouted back at him as she ran off toward her class.

Ishigami relaxed against the tree and looked up at the verdant leaves swaying along with the breeze. A bird's song provided a soundtrack to his jumbled thoughts. What just happened? Had anything just happened? Was he reading too much into it? He'd spoken to Maki on numerous occasions, but this time around felt different. He couldn't quite predict what would come next, but he realized that he was eager to find out.

He allowed such thoughts to run wild through his mind for some time before sliding his headphones back on, picking up his Switch, and resuming his game.