RUN AWAY
by Ekana Akimse
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PROLOGUE
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The two fell over as the girl pushed herself towards him, making them both fall on the grassy land. You sniffled at the scene, the words of the characters getting heavier and more dramatic at each second. You couldn't hold your tears back anymore when the girl started crying, and the background music rolled in as the boy hugged her.
Despite having headphones on, the louder sound of gaming and effects penetrated your ears, ruining the moment that was build up by the romance anime you were watching. Annoyed, you pressed the space bar of your laptop, pausing the episode before you turned to the other side of the room.
"Hey! Lower down your volume!" You yelled, throwing your Totoro plushie towards his direction, and successfully hitting the back of your cousin's head.
The stuffed toy fell on the floor as the blonde-haired male looked back at you for a second, then back to his game. He didn't say anything, but the volume went down and that was enough for you to leave him alone.
That's the usual routine of your life. Ever since you transferred schools and moved to the city, you've been only staying inside your shared bedroom, and spent the day watching anime or reading manga and only pausing to eat, bathe, or sleep. Going to school was not on the list, and your sleeping schedule was unhealthy and inconsistent, as you only slept whenever you really felt sleepy on any time of the day.
You moved in with the Kozumes a little over a month ago, just a couple of weeks after the school year began, but the month was enough to be accustomed to your new life, and recognize the daily events in the household such as that your cousin only comes home in the evening after club practices, and he'd start playing games as soon as he gets home. You two didn't grow up together, so you don't know much about him and you rarely even talk despite sharing one bedroom. You'd see him during family gatherings before, but didn't talk to him since he didn't seem like he wanted to talk. He was obviously shy and reserved, and his quiet personality made him awkward to talk to. Now that you lived with his family, you played games with him from time to time, but you were more invested in watching anime and your digital arts.
Kenma then stood up, and you watched him as he grabbed something from the upper bunk bed, before turning towards the door. He stopped to toss your plushie back to your bed, and just before he left the room, he paused and glanced back at you. "Oh, I'll be having visitors so it might be a little noisy."
Your room wasn't that big, and his bed was replaced with a double-decker when you moved in. There's a computer set at one corner, a TV complete with his gaming consoles, and a shelf of his games along with a music speaker. Almost everything in the room belonged to your cousin, and the only possession you had in the room was your clothes and everything on your bed.
Shrugging, you turned back to your laptop, pressing the space bar for the episode to resume. You yawned, starting to feel a little sleepy.
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Kenma went downstairs holding his phone as he read the texts of his teammates. At the same time, the doorbell rang and he lazily went to open the door, greeting his unwanted guests.
It was one of his club's "hangout meeting", as thought of by their captain. It was usually held at the captain's place which was the house next door, but his father suddenly had visitors from work and so they moved to Kenma's house instead, much to the latter's annoyance.
"It's been so long since we've last been here!" Yamamoto, a tall boy with a noticeably blonde mohawk hairstyle, exclaimed as he looked around with an excited grin, noticing the quiet and empty place. "Your parents aren't home?"
"At work." The Nekoma setter monotonously answered, turning around as he led his team to the living room.
A few minutes later and the rest have arrived with snacks and movie CDs, Kuroo, the captain, being the last to arrive. Kenma busied himself with a game shortly after greeting his neighbor who had just entered as everyone settled down around the living room.
"Everyone's here? Good. What do you wanna do first?" Kuroo placed a hand on his hip as he questioned, choosing to remain standing instead.
"How about we play some music?" A first year with spiky brown hair suggested.
"Oh, good idea, Inuoka!" Yamamoto enthusiastically agreed, then glancing around as he looked for something before turning to the house owner. "Huh? Didn't you have a music speaker here, Kenma?"
"I think it's in my bedroom." The shorter blonde answered nonchalantly, eyes still focused on the game on his phone.
"Alright, I'll go get it." The noisy second year stood up, heading towards the stairs without waiting for a response. They were pretty familiar with the layout of the house since they've been there a few times already.
Before Kenma realized where he was going, Yamamoto's scream echoed in the house, followed by a thinner and more high-pitched scream, surprising the boys that made them stand up abruptly.
It certainly alerted the whole Nekoma volleyball team, and they could only think of a worst case. Of all people, their delinquent-wannabe screamed. He screamed and it sounded like he just found a dead body. Apart from that, they heard another unfamiliar voice which likely belonged to a woman, unless Yamamoto was capable of such a high-pitched scream.
"What was that?"
"Taketora-san?!"
"Oh no..." Kenma muttered in horror as he watched the rest of the team worriedly rush towards the source of the sound. Scratching his head, he lazily stood up and followed them as well.
"What's wrong?!" Yaku asked, his face showing confusion and concern as he arrived to see his underclassman standing by the doorway, his hand stretched out and shakily pointing at something that he could only assume was a dead body.
"A... Gi... Gi... Grr... A girl!" The taller man exclaimed, eyes wide in shock as he stared at the (H/C)-haired girl sitting on the bed, headphones around her neck, and staring back at him with equal surprise.
"A girl?! In Kenma's room?!" Out of everyone, Kuroo was the most surprised as he peeked on the site of the 'crime'. He was Kenma's neighbor, childhood friend, and bestfriend, but he never heard anything about a girl from him. He then remembered Kenma telling him a month ago that a relative is staying over, so he shouldn't barge in his room anymore. He didn't really think much about it, and they were so busy with practices during that time too.
"W-What the hell...?" You muttered, forehead creased as the group of tall teen boys gawked at you. You even accidentally shut your laptop close when you heard a man suddenly scream earlier, startling you and making you scream as well. Your sleepiness had no choice but to vanish, and you would probably be unable to sleep after another 12 hours.
"Ah... That's my cousin." You heard Kenma's quiet voice behind the group, which didn't seem to be heard by the men. He repeated it again, and was finally heard by the first years.
"Cousin?"
"Not your girlfriend?"
Kenma scoffed at the word, an expression that you saw for the first time from him. His team made way for him to enter the room while still gathered at the doorway. Sighing, your cousin pointed to your direction as he faced them. "This is (Y/N), my cousin."
He then turned to you apologetically, "They're my club mates. Sorry."
Embarrassment crept up your cheeks as you eyed each of them, noticing most of their heights to be taller than average. Two of them stood out the most, one had silver hair who was the tallest, and the other had an incredibly messy black hair.
Frowning, you instinctively grabbed your blanket to cover yourself wholly. It was the first time in a week that you saw people aside from your cousin and his parents, since you haven't been to school since then.
"GET OUT!" You yelled from underneath the blanket.
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To Be Continued
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Hey there, everyone! So, if you've ready this story before, that's cause I am reviving it from my old account. I decided to continue despite it being inactive for 3 years already, and decided it would be great to start on a new account. First of all, I'd like to apologize to those that have been left hanging with the story. A lot has happened, life basically, and I never really expected to get back to this platform but here I am!
The story is already stopped at Chapter 35 in its previous publishing, but I already drafted all the remaining chapters for it so it's mostly completed now, and I'll just be doing edits, slight revisions and updates. Rest assured that this time, you'll get to see the ending! Thank you for all your support ( ◜‿◝ )♡