Machida Yuki has spent her whole life being the reliable one—the flawless manager who records every stat, the eldest daughter who runs the household while her parents work late. Giving up before hoping, staying quiet before confessing: that's how she's kept herself from getting hurt. But when the third-years retire and a cocky first-year named Naruse Sho looks her dead in the eye and says, "I like you, Yuki-san"—not once, but as many times as it takes—her carefully knotted defenses begin to fray
Cheeky Brat: The Knot of the Shoelace - Ambush and Shopping Bags — The Pain of Being Watched
The gymnasium clock had just passed six in the evening when Machida Yuki closed the last page of her manager's notebook. Faint mop streaks still lingered on the wooden floor. The smell of disinfectant mingled with the sweat of the team members, settling quietly into the dusk-filled gym.
Yuki lowered herself onto a folding chair beside the stage and traced the edge of the notebook with her fingertip. The black leather cover had rounded at the corners over two and a half years of use, the color worn away in patches. On the open page, today's practice menu and each member's physical condition were laid out in neat, meticulous handwriting.
"Naruse: mild strain in right ankle. Watch for accumulated fatigue."
When she'd written those words, Yuki's pen had paused for just a moment. The image of Naruse's face from last night—riding alongside her on his bicycle—drifted through the corner of her mind. *"I'm not gonna wait, you know."* That low voice still lingered deep in her ears.
Yuki set down her pen and let out a small breath.
(It's not like it has anything to do with me.)
She decided to think so. Whatever Naruse said, whatever he did, she would simply do her job as manager. She would focus on the club. Nothing else.
Yuki closed the notebook and stood. The setting sun pouring through the gym windows cast long shadows across the floor. Though it was late September, the heat still lingered during the day. But by evening, the wind brushed cool against her skin. The season was steadily turning toward autumn.
"Good work today."
Without directing it at anyone in particular, Yuki murmured the words and left the gym behind.
Past the main gate of Ryuhoku High School, she walked the narrow streets of the residential district. Old houses lined both sides, and the fragrant olive hedges gave off a sweet scent. Yuki breathed it in deeply. The smell of fragrant olive always calmed her heart, just a little.
The walk home took about fifteen minutes on foot. Yuki pulled out her phone and checked tomorrow's weather. Sunny. The forecast said temperatures would climb to twenty-seven degrees.
(Better prepare extra water tomorrow too.)
She assembled tomorrow's practice menu in her head. The members' conditions, the gym temperature, the intensity of practice. A manager's job wasn't just preparing towels and water. Recording in the scorebook, managing the timer, assisting with practice menus, negotiating for external matches, monitoring the members' health, anticipating strategy. Yuki handled all of it alone, and taught the junior managers as well.
It was work no one praised her for. But that was fine with Yuki. Being needed. Being relied upon. That was what supported her heart.
When she reached home, before she could unlock the front door, she heard her younger siblings' screams from inside.
"Big sis! Big bro threw the game controller!"
"No I didn't! I had it first!"
"Gyaaah! Don't pull my hair!"
Yuki heaved a deep sigh and turned the key.
"I'm home."
When she opened the door, her triplet little brothers were wrestling in the hallway. One of the twin little sisters was sobbing on the sofa, and the other was shrieking after stepping on blocks scattered across the floor. The TV blared an anime at full volume, and half-eaten bags of snacks lay strewn across the living room table.
It was a battlefield.
Yuki silently removed her shoes and set the shopping bags down in the kitchen. She quickly tied on an apron and gathered her hair into a single bundle.
"All right, that's enough. Games are confiscated today. Clean up the toys, then wash your hands."
Her voice was low and quiet. But it carried absolute authority. The triplet brothers froze mid-motion, and the twin sisters stopped crying and looked up at Yuki.
"Big sis, I'm hungry."
"I'm making dinner now, so wait a bit. Do your homework until then."
Yuki opened the refrigerator and checked the contents. Not enough vegetables. No meat either. In the freezer were three pre-made hamburger patties. Not enough for five people.
(I need to go shopping.)
Yuki took off her apron and grabbed her wallet.
"I'm going to the store for a bit. Stay here. Absolutely no fighting. Got it?"
"Okaaay."
"Buy us snacks!"
"No. After dinner."
Yuki slipped on her sneakers at the entrance and stepped outside. The sky had gone completely dark, and the streetlights were dropping scattered pools of light. The night wind was lukewarm and heavy with moisture.
Five minutes' walk to the shopping street. Yuki entered the familiar supermarket, "Fujiya." The evening supermarket was crowded with housewives and people on their way home from work. Yuki picked up a basket and selected the sale vegetables. Cabbage, onions, carrots, green peppers. Then a pack of chicken thighs, eggs, milk, and sliced bread. She didn't forget to add yogurt—her siblings' favorite—to the basket.
After paying at the register, she left the store with a shopping bag in each hand. The bags were heavy, the handles digging into her fingers. Yuki let out a small breath and started down the road home.
She passed through the shopping street and turned onto the quiet roads of the residential district. On a street with few streetlights, Yuki walked alone, the sound of her own footsteps the only thing breaking the silence. The scent of fragrant olive dissolved into the night air.
That was when it happened.
"Yuki-san."
A voice came from behind her. Yuki stopped and turned around.
Naruse was riding his bicycle, pedaling slowly toward her. His light brown short hair caught the streetlight. His large amber eyes fixed on her directly through the darkness.
"...What are you doing?"
Her own voice surprised her with how cold it sounded.
"Running into you here is quite a coincidence, huh."
Naruse wore an innocent smile as he stopped his bicycle.
"It's not a coincidence. You looked up my route home, didn't you."
"I did. You pass through here at this time every day, Yuki-san."
He said it without a trace of guilt. Yuki clicked her tongue and started walking.
"Creepy. Go home."
"I'm not going home. I'll carry your shopping bags, Yuki-san."
Naruse got off his bicycle and snatched the bags from Yuki's hands. Before she could resist, they had already changed hands.
"Hey, give those back."
"Heavy, huh. You carry these home every day, Yuki-san?"
Naruse lifted the bags lightly, as if testing their weight. The gesture was strangely natural, and Yuki lost the words to argue.
"...Don't do unnecessary things."
She forced the words out.
"It's not unnecessary. I'm doing it because I want to."
Naruse loaded the shopping bags into his bicycle basket and began walking, pushing the handlebars. Yuki had no choice but to walk beside him. The sound of the bicycle chain rang out regularly in the quiet night.
Silence flowed between them for a while. Yuki kept facing forward, trying not to be conscious of Naruse's presence. But the aura coming from beside her was impossible to ignore. Naruse was a hundred and seventy-eight centimeters tall—twenty-three centimeters taller than Yuki. Walking side by side, the difference stood out even more.
"Yuki-san, do you always cook dinner yourself?"
Naruse suddenly asked.
"...None of your business."
"Even if it's none of my business, I want to ask. I want to talk with you, Yuki-san."
Yuki didn't answer. Couldn't answer. Naruse's words were always so direct, slipping into the gaps in her heart.
"You have little brothers and sisters at home, right? Triplets and twins—is that really true?"
"...Who told you that?"
"A senpai from the club. They said you're really dependable at home too, Yuki-san."
Yuki bit her lip. She didn't remember telling anyone in the club about her family. But rumors leak from somewhere. That Yuki's house was like a battlefield, that Yuki took care of her siblings—somehow, the whole club knew.
"...Don't go poking into people's family matters without permission."
Her voice dropped lower.
"It's not poking around. I want to know how you live every day, Yuki-san."
Naruse's voice was surprisingly serious.
Yuki stopped walking. Naruse stopped too. Under the streetlight, the two faced each other.
"...Why do you want to know something like that?"
Her voice trembled slightly. Without realizing it, something deep in her heart was shaking.
"Because I like you, Yuki-san."
Naruse answered without hesitation.
"I don't like the idea of liking someone while knowing nothing about them. What kind of house you live in, what kind of family you have, what you think about every day—I want to know all of it. And after I know, I want to tell you properly that I like you."
Yuki was speechless. Naruse's eyes blazed in the darkness of the night. That light—the light of someone who would never let go of what he wanted. Something Yuki didn't have.
"...You really are cheeky."
That was all she managed to say.
"I get that a lot."
Naruse laughed. The smile was strangely childlike, and Yuki found herself looking away.
They started walking again. Only a few minutes left to Yuki's house. The streetlights thinned out, and only the moonlight illuminated the road. Yuki kept facing forward, repeating the words in her heart over and over.
(It's not like it has anything to do with me.)
(What would you even understand?)
(What do you know about me?)
The more she thought, the more something deep in her chest creaked and strained.
When they reached the front of Yuki's house, the light from the entrance was spilling out. And from inside came the same screams as before.
"Big sis still isn't home!"
"I'm huuungry!"
"Big bro broke the TV!"
"I didn't break it! It just turned off by itself!"
Yuki heaved a deep sigh. Naruse was right beside her. This cheeky kouhai was about to witness her battlefield of a home. The shame of it was unbearable.
"...This is fine. Give me my bags back."
She spoke quickly.
"Yuki-san, is it like this every day?"
Naruse murmured quietly. His voice held surprise, and something else mixed in.
"...It's none of your business."
Yuki said it as if pushing him away.
"It's not none of my business."
Naruse stood in front of Yuki and set the shopping bags on the ground.
"I told you I like you, Yuki-san. I'm not the kind of guy who says 'I like you' without knowing how you live."
His voice shook the night air.
Yuki couldn't argue. Naruse's words mercilessly illuminated the place deep in her heart that she never wanted anyone to see.
From inside the house came the sounds of her siblings fighting. The twin sisters' crying. The triplet brothers' shouting. That was Yuki's everyday. No one praised her, no one thanked her—she just silently did the housework, day after day.
For the first time, someone had seen the wretchedness of her life. The humiliation twisted her face.
"...Don't look."
She forced the words out.
"Don't look at my house. There's nothing here worth showing you."
Her voice was trembling. Her poker face was about to crumble.
Naruse watched her silently. His eyes had lost their usual cheeky glint and held something serious.
"...It's surprisingly normal, actually."
Naruse said it quietly.
"Huh?"
"Your house is surprisingly normal, Yuki-san. I was imagining something way more extreme."
Naruse smiled a little. That smile, somehow, made Yuki's heart feel just a tiny bit lighter.
"...Sorry for being so normal."
Yuki pouted.
"Yuki-san, can I come inside?"
Naruse suddenly said.
"Absolutely not."
"Why not? Your little brothers might want to play with me."
"I'm not letting you play with them. Go home."
Before Yuki could finish, the front door opened. One of the triplet brothers poked his head out.
"Big sis! I'm hungry! ...Huh, who's that?"
The brother stared at Naruse. Naruse smiled brightly and waved.
"I'm your sister's kouhai. Name's Naruse."
"Whoa, big sis's kouhai? You're on the basketball team?"
"Yep. I'm the ace."
Naruse puffed out his chest. Yuki heaved a deep sig
Novelia is an AI-powered platform to read original light novels and fan fiction, create your own in just a few taps, and chat with the characters. New, illustrated episodes arrive daily — free to start.