•Book 1 • To Defy Fate • KageHina•

•14•

My head keeps hurting for the rest of the morning. It takes ages for lunch break to come; I feel like a whole year has passed already..

But all things come to an end, no matter how long they have lasted. Relief washes over me when the bell rings, signaling the start of lunch break. The sound of chatter quickly feels the room, making me wonder if I really do prefer this; it makes the pain worse.

And that's not all: I am going to revise math with Hinata. That won't make things better either, I guess. Maybe I should go to the nurse's, get some medicine first..

'Ready?' Hinata's voice shakes me out of my thoughts.

'Hmm.' I don't feel like bringing out any words.

'You don't look much better than you did this morning,' he frowns slightly.

I redirect my mind before it can form any opinions I don't want about how it looks. 'I don't feel any better.'

'Want to go to the library, then? At least it' ll be quiet there,' the small boy proposes.

That may be a good idea. Nobody visits the library during lunch, anyways. And we'll walk past the nurse's office on the way.. 'Sure,' I answer. 'Let me get something for my headache while we do.'

The hallways are more peaceful than I thought. I immediately feel my head thanking me for leaving the loud classroom. With a sigh, I allow myself to relax a little.

That is, until a brown haired boy, with the same fluff as Hinata, walks by us, together with a black haired, angry looking friend. He is loud.

I can see his companion's face turn into a frown, while I go and glare at him. Where do I recognize him from? And why do I feel like I should really, really hate him?

His yells amplify my headache. I start to walk faster, not liking the way my brain reacts to him. I'm not a fan of people in general, but something about him makes me want to punch him in the face.

'Whoa, Kageyama, calm down!' Hinata says, trying to match my pace. His small legs can't keep up with my big, fast steps, so he has to run a little. 'You look really angry again...'

I turn my gaze to him instead, still glaring. The sounds of yelling disappear in the background. 'Just keep up, idiot.'

'But we walked past the office,' he reminds me.

'Don't care. Let's just go.' I walk into the library right as I say that, making Hinata unable to react as loudly as he wants to.

His concern shows on his face, but I ignore it. Instead, I look for a place to sit down, which is easy; the place is as empty as I expected.

'So.. Where do you want to start?' His voice is quiet. It sounds nice, somehow soothing my headache.

I frown at myself. 'First, the shit I haven't had yet, if you're fine with that,' I answer just as softly.

'That's probably the chapter I understand the most,' Hinata smiles. 'Lucky.'

I pull my gaze away from his face. 'Right. Let's get it over with.'

As expected, the hurting of my brain and math don't go very well together. But both the boy next to me and his notes are clear as day, slowly but efficiently explaining every single method. And the fact that his voice is easy to listen to helps a lot.

'You really should look into tutoring others.' The words have left my mouth before they reached my brain. I immediately tense up again. That's not something I should say, as someone who needs to keep his distance. And it's awkward.

But the confused and pure look on Hinata's face almost makes me feel like it's worth it.  I push those thoughts away, though. 'Uh, I mean.. You would do well, I guess,' I continue when he stays silent.

'You think so? I am trying my hardest, so that's nice to hear.' A bright smile appears on his face, as he gets a little louder out of excitement. 'I mean, I would love to be a grade school teacher one day, actually.'

'It suits you.' My heart leaves my brain behind once again. 'You should.'

'Really? You mean it?' Hinata half-yells, his eyes shining.

Before I can react, the librarian's voice sounds from behind us. 'Now I know it's empty, but that doesn't mean you can make all the sound you want.'

'Sorry,' the excited boy replies. 'Well, we took pretty long, so I think we should head back anyways... Do you still want some medicine?'

I shake my head no, which does still cause pain, but way less than before. 'It has subsided. Thanks.'

And so, we head back, in silence. Which surprises me. He is often loud. Is he feeling bad?

Just one look at his face tells me that's not the case. He is basically shining. Happiness is showing on his face. Never before have I seen his expression so soft, yet so thrilled. Did my words really have such a big impact on him?

My stare seems to have shaken Hinata out of his thoughts, because he turns to me and shows me the most content smile I have seen on him yet.

I can't stop my heart speeding up, nor my face gaining colour. It just happens. I can't surpress it anymore. So instead, I try to hide it with my right hand, looking away.

'What? Feeling sick?' I can hear in his voice that the smile has turned into a frown.

Well, I definitely wouldn't call this feeling healthy. 'No, don't worry. I'm fine.'

We end up in our classroom right before the bell rings. The pile of papers on the teacher's desk tells me that it's time. I take a deep breath.

'You'll be fine,' Hinata sounds from behind me. 'We can do this!'

It almost makes me laugh. He knows I am worried? What a stupid motivational message. But it helps. It does make me relax a little.

I thank the orange haired boy in my head as the teacher places two sheets of paper on my table. Here we go.

~I wrote this all in one sitting. Without stopping. I haven't done that since my TsukkiYama writing hype. You might think "Wow, that's great! J is back!" But is it really? Is it a good thing that my hands are literally itching, begging me to write, while I should be learning for my exams instead? Watch me publish another chapter tonight. To anyone who is still here, who still reads this after so many months of absolute silence, I salute you. I love you. And god damn, I need you. Pull me through this with your comments. Thanks. -J~