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KOUSHI JUST LET OUT ONE of his sweet laughs, his eyes crinkling with a smile as he pushed himself back a little, pizza-wedging his toe's so he didn't roll out of control again. "Sorry!"
"I-It's fine," Y/N replied, blinking her still-wide eyes. "Don't worry about it!"
Goddamnit, Y/N.
"I kinda understand why you're so obsessed with rollerblading now," Koushi admitted as she pushed herself off the wall, moving with less elegance than she did, but somehow a natural grace she greatly envied. "It's really fun."
Y/N grinned softly, enjoying hearing someone else talk about her greatest passion with such pleasure and happiness. It was something to love an activity, but watching someone else become completely enamoured with a simple series of actions was on a whole other level of deep, innate satisfaction. She could not help but stop and watch him, gradually learning how to move his feet to whiz faster and faster.
She chuckled as he almost flew straight into the wall they'd earlier been pressed up against, his hands taking the brunt of the impact as he groaned. "Want me to teach you how to turn?"
"That'd probably be helpful," he joked, reaching out one of his hands with an ease like they had known each other for years instead of less than a day.
Y/N led them in circles around the netball court, demonstrating how to gentle angle her feet so that the blades turned themselves around. Again, Koushi learned almost stupidly quickly, leaving her to feel out of breath just watching him, watching this sweet boy who danced in the action of walking with an infectious joy.
It was one of those moments where Y/N almost felt like a stranger in her own body, spectating her own memories with the strong desire to take a photo and save this ethereal, beautiful snapshot in time, forever.
"Come here!" he cried, and she didn't think he'd stopped smiling since he stood on the skates.
She pushed towards him with an eager lilt of her lips, taking his hands and laughing as they spun around and around, hovering just a few centimetres off the ground thanks to the wheels, but they may as well have been flying.
Y/N was still smiling when Koushi stared down at his phone with a pout, reluctantly admitting that he needed to go home for some school project he was doing with a friend. She was still smiling when she told him to keep the spare rollerblades "for next time", her heart fluttering in her chest as he fixed his perfect eyes on her, and promised "next time".
She didn't think she'd ever displayed this much emotion towards a person, nor felt so ecstatic she was practically floating.
And yet, she still couldn't figure out the depth or verity of her feelings towards him.
One more chance, Y/N swore to herself. You get one more chance.
❯──────「✿」──────❮
A week later, Y/N skated with abandon, eyes darting to her phone as she weaved between appreciatively spectating pedestrians on the grey footpaths, fully aware that she was late.
She skidded to a stop outside a sign reading 'Masaki's', announcing a quaint, hole-in-the-wall cafe, outside of which Koushi sat, sipping from a mug of steaming liquid and smiling.
"A bit tardy there, aren't we?" he teased as she collapsed into a white-painted wooden chair opposite him, their rollerblade-clad feet bumping under the table.
"Sorry," she grinned, still a little short of breath. "Traffic was murder."
This earned her a snort of laughter and she found herself instinctively leaning across the table to ruffle his silvery hair, which gifted her another smile.
"What do you want?" he asked, sliding the small menu over to her. "I'll pay."
Y/N looked up at him, flustered. "Oh, Kou, you don't have to! I really can ju-"
One of his larger hands grabbed hers, his hazel eyes focusing on her e/c ones unwaveringly. "Y/N/N. It's fine - I'm in a habit of looking after my friends."
The last word stung more than Y/N would want to admit, but his nickname for her soothed that momentary flash of unease, sending waves of heat to her cheeks. "O-Okay. Thank you."
He waved a hand in a wordless gesture of 'of course'. Minutes later, they called a waitress over, and only a short while after that, they were both contently eating their favourite treats.
Y/N leaned back in her chair with a contented smile, closing her eyes and soaking up the sunshine with a kitten-like expression that made Koushi laugh from across the table. "It's so nice in the mornings. I forget that, sometimes?"
"Why would you forget what mornings feel like?"
She snorted. "Bold of you to assume that I wake up before noon."
He laughed loudly enough to draw attention to them, leading to both teenagers apologising to nearby customers of Masaki's. Koushi paid the bill as he had said he would, and soon they were rollerblading through some random park together, admiring the suburban scenery as they took the long route to their street.
"Thanks for inviting me out," Y/N said, the comment filling the previous silence, though she hadn't minded the wordless comfort, either. "It's nice to hang out with you."
Koushi gave her a warm smile, bumping her shoulder and impressively not wobbling.
Someone had evidently been practicing over the past few days.
"Anytime, Y/N/N."
There it was again - just a few letters of a nickname, and he could figuratively bring her to her knees. She had no time to linger on how fast her heart was beating, as the familiar sight of her house greeted her.
"Well," she cleared her throat, feeling a sudden obstruction there - unresolved emotion rising up within her, she supposed. "See you later, Kou!"
He laughed and waved, skating away, and, as Y/N entered her empty house, she had barely closed the door behind her before an abrupt, sick feeling burst within her. She only just made it to the bathroom and collapsed to the floor when something almost snapped inside her body, and she vomited into the toilet.
To her shock, and revulsion, the sudden tears running down her face didn't mix with the remnants of her breakfast, but instead with ...
Blood.
Horrifying, startlingly red blood, dripping down her chin, polluting the white of the inner lavatory bowl.
And ... there was something else. Y/N attempted to check it, but she had to bring her hand to her mouth to cough, and something revoltingly wet splattered into her fingers.
A single flower, its beautiful, grey petals, ruined by thick clots of blood.
Y/N stared down at her cupped palm in horror, only lasting for a second of silence before bursting into ugly, choking sobs.
"What is happening to me?!"
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thank you for reading this
book and i hope you enjoy it!
~ jazzi