One Night- Tsukishima Kei

22

"You're crying?" He asks in the lowest whisper when I lift my head to breathe.

I take a few deep breaths, finally deciding to calm myself since this is embarrassing- even if nobody knows. I wipe at my face, not allowing myself to sniffle.

I feel how damp my pillow is and flip it over, laying down again, facing the wall.

"Mariko." Kei taps my shoulder. "Hey."

I don't respond, giving him the same treatment he gave me. I hear him quietly sigh, then both his hands are on me, dragging me to him.

I clamp my hand over my mouth so I don't make noise, and he sets me right on top of him, pulling the blanket over us afterwards.

"I'm sorry." He whispers in my ear. "I'm really sorry. I was just mad because Lev kept talking to you all night. And when I tried talking to you, he would pull you back into a conversation with him."

I don't say anything, I don't care. He's mean.

"Hey, come on. Please don't ignore me, it's embarrassing enough that I have to talk about how I feel."

He wraps his arms around my body, holding me tightly as if I'd run away.

"You're mean." I put my lips next to his ear. "I didn't do anything and you made me feel bad about myself. I told him goodnight because his teammates were being mean to him and I didn't want him to be sad or feel like nobody likes him."

Kei lets out a small breath and sighs.

"I'm sorry. I was being childish. I really do love you, okay? I'm sorry for not saying it back." He whispers and I move down his body a little so I can rest my head on his chest.

I don't get much sleep tonight, nor do I respond to Kei.

All I want is to make him happy. Why do I keep doing things he doesn't like?

~

"Good morning Mariko-Chan!" Lev comes into the dining area where half of us are eating, the other half in the living room since there's no space.

"Good morning." I greet quietly, bowing my head towards him.

"Did you sleep okay?" He asks and I glance worryingly up at Kei.

He doesn't look at me, he just continues to slowly chew his food.

"Sorry, I'm not feeling too well right now." I tell Lev so that he can stop talking to me and he frowns.

"Aw, hope you feel better." He gives a warm smile before turning and making conversation with someone else.

"Are you sick?" The boy across from me asks. What's his name again? Chi...Chigaya I think?

I simply shake my head, not trying to make conversation with anyone.

"Are you sure?" Kei puts the back of his hand against my forehead. "Oh, you're not warm."

"I'm fine." I push his hand off me.

He stares for a moment before lacing our fingers together and resting them on his lap under the table.

"Guys, we're going to the beach!" Hinata runs into the dining room, his face beaming.

"What? It's kind of cold though." Someone frowns.

"We originally were going to go to hot springs but we wanted to be considerate of Mariko-Senpai since she's the only girl we have. And the beach is still super cool!" Hinata throws his hands into the air in celebration.

"I can go home." I speak up and Kei immediately looks over at me as well as the other boys in the room. "I'm not really supposed to be here anyways, and I don't want to ruin your guys's plans."

Hinata laughs, waving me off.

"Nonsense! Everyone here loves you and we're glad you're here."

"Yeah! The beach is fun too!" Lev smiles.

The other boys murmur in agreement but I can't help but feel bad.

Since mostly no one brought bathing suits, we decide to take a very large group shopping trip on our way to the beach.

It was quite funny.

I stood back and watched as the boys excitedly held up different pairs of swimming trunks to each other, asking if it'd look good on them.

At one point I get separated from Kei and I decide to wait outside, thinking he must be having a lot of fun with his friends. I sit down on the small bench in front of the shop and sigh.

The door opens a few minutes later and Kei sits down next to me.

"Oh, you've already changed." I put my hand on his thigh, feeling the material of the swimming shorts.

"Yeah. Your turn." He hands me a small bag and I raise an eyebrow. "I bought you a swimsuit since you came outside with nothing."

"I didn't plan to swim." I state and he puts his finger under my chin, guiding me to look up at him right before he crashes his lips onto mine.

Slightly taken aback, it takes a few seconds before I respond to the kiss.

"I'm sorry for acting like an ass." He apologizes once he pulls away. "You were having a lot of fun. I'm sorry for ruining that. I don't like how it is between us now, so let's have a good time together at the beach. Okay? Do you want to do that with me?" He lifts his head up and and looks down at me.

I let out a heavy breath before collapsing against his chest.

"I want that." I mumble into his shirt and he chuckles softly, stroking the back of my head.

"Me too. Put your bathing suit on under your clothes real quick, there's a bathroom inside the store." He says and I nod, thanking him before quickly going back into the store.

Maybe today won't be so bad after all.