The timing couldn't be any worse.
As soon as your fear started to build, as soon as the doubts settled into your mind, and as soon as you turned your calendar to the month that said, "Last Day in Japan!"-- Tendou was gone.
He was off on important games right as his words to you had become less common. Your painting classes became quieter, weirder. He didn't sing as much, he didn't say a word as you cleaned your brushes side by side, and he didn't wrap his arm around your shoulder.
Maybe it was because you cowered a bit when he tried to make an advancement the Monday after the events of the party. It was subconsciously, and you apologized profusely, but his eyes seemed to keep to the ground much more than before.
It felt like the beginning of the semester again as you sat there painting alone. Thinking about how he hadn't even tried to wrap you in his arms, hold your hand, or called you "M'lady" since you had cowered that one time.
He allowed you to reach out and make advancements, but it felt like you were reaching out to a wall. His smile felt weird. It left you feeling disoriented.
And now he was off on his big games. He was doing the thing that made him the most happy and that made you happy, but not being able to see him was so much different than you thought it would be.
It gave you too much time to think about every moment before. You were forced to think about how much changed the night of that stupid party. Semi's words still echoed throughout your head.
Those words made the end of your semester in Japan seem so much more like a curse than anything else. Suddenly "Last Day in Japan!" looked so much more like "Last Day with Tendou!"
It made sense. Almost too much sense.
Why would he want to continue things when there would be an ocean between both of you? You already felt bad taking his attention away from his volleyball at all when he was such a major athlete.
It was more than that, though. As you sat in your painting class– this one without Tendou as he needed the day off for a game– you found yourself thinking about how you didn't have many of these left. You looked up at Yamamoto Sensei as she sat at her desk. She doodled happily as she hummed. It looked so much more peaceful than the basically destructive amount of paint on the canvas in front of you.
That's when it hit you.
"Yamamoto Sensei," you called softly, setting down your brush.
She looked up, her kind eyes looking at you as she said, "Yes, dear?"
"I don't know if I'm going to have enough time to finish my last project with just class time," you started.
She instantly smiled. "Come in whenever you like, (l/n)."
You brought the canvas with its angry smacks of colors down from your easel as you smiled, too. "Thank you," you said before you got out of your seat to go to the back of the room where you grabbed another canvas– your final canvas from the back.
✦ ✦ ✦
After classes ended each day, you came back to the art room. Most of the time, you would be left alone. Yamamoto Sensei trusted you enough to leave you to your own devices. So, you painted and you painted and you painted.
You put it all out there. You put so much detail into it that you had to sit only an inch away from the canvas.
So engrossed in it all, you didn't notice when someone else joined you.
You didn't realize until you heard soft humming. You jumped as you were shaken from your zone to another sound. Looking up, you said, "Dear God, Tendou!"
He smiled sheepishly. "Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you."
He wrung his hands together in front of him. His fingers were still taped, his forehead still had some sweat dotting it, and his hair was a little droopy. He was fresh from the court.
Reaching forward, you tried to casually take your canvas off of the easel before he saw it. Even though it was just a rough base so far, knowing him, he would likely ask something about it. Weirdly enough, he didn't seem to notice. He was only looking at the desk where your teacher sat during school. "Where's Yamamoto Sensei?"
"She left about an hour ago," you answered, looking at him as he continued to look away.
"Ah," he nodded slowly before he started to stand. As he moved, you noticed something different. You stood, too. "I guess I'll just talk to her tomorrow. When I saw the light on I thought maybe–"
"Tendou," you walked forward. As you did, the lighting reflected off of his cheeks again. They were wet with tears. "Tendou, what's wrong?"
He shook his head, looking straight forward. When he did that, you weren't able to look him in the eye. He was too tall. "It's– It's nothing. Just, ah, I need to change up my plans a little bit."
You felt tears sting your own eyes. You had never seen him act like this before.
He still wouldn't look at you, but you walked forward and pulled him into a hug. For a moment, he froze, but the next his arms came to wrap around you, too.
You waited. You just waited until he was ready to speak again. Eventually, he said, "We lost the game. We– We weren't supposed to lose, but–"
You hugged him tighter, he melted into it more for just a moment. The words wouldn't come to you so easily on how to console him. After all, he was more of the words one— You, well, that canvas sitting on the easel some feet away was what you were good at.
His heartbeat pounded as much as yours. You could hear it so directly because of where your head rested on his chest. For a moment, you just heard the pounding, then you heard him holding back small sobs. That's when you realized that you had to say something, anything.
As soon as you backed up, Tendou brought a hand up to his face and wiped away the tears. A smile was slapped on his face. Lopsided like usual, but no emotion met his eyes. He spoke before you gave it a shot. "I– I need to head out. I need to talk to someone."
You just watched as he walked away, your mouth opened with the words you never got a chance to speak. You watched as he walked away to the door, wiping his tears one more time. As soon as he put his hand on the door knob, he looked back at you. "(y/n)?"
"Y-Yeah?"
"You're doing okay with everything, right?"
With leaving in just some days? With hearing that you want nothing to do with me as soon as I leave?
Your words caught in your throat for a different reason, but despite the tears and your screaming thoughts, you said. "Yeah, I'm good."
He nodded once. "I promise I'll talk to you soon, okay? I have more to say, I just don't have it figured out— I can tell you about it all later."
There it was. He was finally going to admit to those things that he had apparently said to everyone but you. He was going to confess that this was your semester-long romance. The chapter would finally be over.
Tears struck your eyes. They felt so hot, they almost hurt.. Yet, you nodded back. "Okay."
so funny story
I accidentally pressed the completed button! whoops!