Pressed Flowers (a Haikyuu!! Fanfiction)

Page 014. Ipomoeas⭕️

*EDITED 13/8/2017*

Haruka's stomach was knotted in anxiety for the entirety of the Dateko match. The point gap wasn't very large and neither team seemed willing to give anything but their best effort.

She hated to admit it, but she was glad she wasn't on that court. Playing against a team of giants did not sound pleasurable. Karasuno had thankfully taken the first set 25-19 and were almost done the second set. If they defeated the Iron Wall then they'd play against Seijoh on the third day which would be very eventful.

Himura seemed to be very much enjoying herself, cheering on Karasuno and making commentary with her newfound friends, Shimada Makoto and Takinoue Yusuke. It was strange however, to see that she'd stopped at coffee cup #5 either because she ran out of money or was too lazy to walk across the street again. How she survived with all the caffeine intake, Haruka would never know.

The freckled girl watched, almost silently, with the occasional comment or hum of approval. It wasn't as though she wasn't excited or enjoying the match. It was the large crowd that unnerved her. It reminded her too much of the last time she'd played an official match.

"I'm gonna go get some air." She suddenly spoke, walking away briskly, although knowing that nobody would even notice her absence.

Haruka stood against a wall outside of the Sendai Gym and sighed softly to herself, the quiet noise laced with despair. She hated all the feelings inside her. The sadness, the regret and the mauerbauertraurigkeit (google it, it's real), all welled up and threatening to spill at any given moment.

Why did she insist on changing the starting lineup that day?

Idiot.

Why didn't she stand up for herself when she needed to most?

Coward.

"God," she whispered, closing her eyes and biting back tears. "I hate myself."

"That's no way to think." A sudden voice came, startling the blonde.

Haruka's eyes flew open faster than a bullet. "Suga-senpai? What are you doing here?"

"I came to check on you." He came up beside her and ruffled her already messy blonde hair, making it even more unkempt than it already was

"Thanks," she murmured emptily in reply, trying to no avail fix her hair.

"Do you need to talk about anything?" He asked, eyes overflowing with concern. He really was like her third mother.

Haruka clenched her fists and shook her head. "I'm fine really, I just remembered that I forgot to buy more cat food for Levi and just blurted it out. I didn't mean it. Honest."

The lies easily rolled off her tongue with experience and Sugawara seemed satisfied, giving her a quick one-armed hug and running back inside.

Once she was certain he was gone, Haruka sighed wearily again and lightly slapped her cheeks.

"Snap out of it." She murmured quietly to herself and pushed back some stray hairs.  "You're here for a reason, stop being a depressing little shit for once in your life and be nice and supportive."

"Haruka." Himura appeared, seemingly out of nowhere and placed a hand on her shoulder. "It's time to go. You wanna stay in a motel or something?"

"Whatever's fine." Haruka sighed for about the twentieth time that day, picking at her nails.
~~

She lay silently on the hard motel bed with crisp yellow sheets and a slightly stained pillow which she rested her head on. Himura had decided to be a cheapskate and booked them into the least expensive room she could find.