12: Of Tears and Attempted Cheer-ups
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Oh, how the image burned at the back of my head.
I couldn't scrape it off no matter how much I tried. It seemed as though the image was haunting me alive. And currently, I was sitting alone, at the side of the fountain, tears continuing to fall just like the fountain behind me.
No, it wasn't the unwanted near-first-time experience that haunted me. It really wasn't.
It was what I saw when I got back.
After I had ran from Aomine, I calmed myself down and then went to the reception office, signing off Aomine's and my name on the book. I made up some excuse that Aomine couldn't sign it off and I was doing it on his behalf. The whole time, my hand was trembling slightly, but I still managed to keep my cool. The only thing I was worrying about was if Ms Iwasaki noticed it.
But she didn't, thankfully. Or if she did; she spoke nothing about it. I had also requested her for a key to the sickbay room, and she gave it to me without a comment. Just a look. It was strange, indeed, but it was better for me to brush it off, not wanting to handle anything more than should tonight. I thanked her, intending to spend the night there. My mind was utterly tired, my body completely drained, and I just couldn't take anything anymore.
There was a small toilet consisting a sink, a toilet bowl and a shower in the bathroom of the sickbay, so I decided that I just had to take my toothbrush from my room and probably make an excuse to Aomine.
A part of me was hopeful that he won't be there.
Hastily climbing up the steps because I just wanted to be out of there and not be caught, I walked to my room.
And it was when I opened the door was when I froze.
There was a part of me that was trembling, scared about facing the truth. Ever since he moved in, I've been feeling this swell inside my chest that I could not point a finger to it. It made me so confused. Everytime I see him, I would have to refrain myself from acting unusually, and everytime he wasn't there, I would long for his return. But yet, there is this part of me that wanted to know what was going on.
And seeing him heavily making out with another girl was more than enough to make me slam the door and run back, ignoring the calls of the tanned male, running as fast as my legs could carry me. It wasn't until I reached the sickbay was when I collapsed onto the bed from over-fatigue, completely drained both physically and emotionally and heck, even spitirually and tears to even move. Finally, I felt my eyes closing as I drifted off into a tearful sleep.
But the dirty blonde hair of the girl was stuck to my mind.
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"Kaede," a familiar voice whispered. "Kaede, my daughter, wake up."
"Huh..?" I slowly opened my eyes, feeling it burning from last night's access tears. Even when I had slept on the bed, my body was still sore. When I came too, I found the same pair of grey eyes staring into mine. It was steely, yet it had a gentle edge. And instantly, I knew who it was. I quickly woke up, trying to use my hands as support, but they were to wobbly, causing me to fall back. "Father..?"
"Hey... Are you okay?" My father asked, stroking my hair gently. "You look horrible."
I gave him a pained smile, chuckling without emotion. "Thank you for the compliment, Father. I'm not feeling too well. Can I rest?"
He cracked a smile, gave me a nod and then stood up. "I'll give you a day off for today. Give me an explanation at the end of the day, okay?" And with that, he turned and left the room, closing the door behind me.
I heaved a sigh of despair as a new, fresh batch of tears welling in my eyes, dropping onto the comforter below me. I could still feel its coldness alright, but I just couldn't bring myself to move. No matter how much I want to.
The voices were just circling around my ears, while the images plastered on everywhere my eyes landed onto. I shut my eyes to stop it, and pressed my hand over my ears painfully. Why wouldn't it stop? I need it to stop before I go hysterics!
I lay there, curling myself into a ball and cried my eyes out again. I didn't know how much time passed until Kise actually bolted into the room, panting slightly. Seeing me in a ball, he briskly walked over. "Kaecchi! Are you alright?"
I knew that I shouldn't talk about this so casually, but after being friends with Kise for almost three and a half years, it's almost impossible not to open up to him immediately. He'll just worm his way into persuading you, no matter how much he hates the creature. That's just his natural personality. And so, I couldn't help but sputter it all out when he pulled me to his lap and rested my head onto his chest.
"A-A-Aomine..." I choked out, biting my lower lip harshly in order for me to not cry again. I cannot cry over him. That bastard.
"Aominecchi? What's wrong with him?" Kise asked, wiping the tears on my face away using his thumb. He hushed and rocked me back and forth slowly.
"A-Aomine... S-Shizuka.." I grabbed onto Kise's yellow shirt, still holding back the tears. But they were brimming, so a few fats drops just had to fall. "T-They were making out.."
I didn't get any replies from Kise, but I could feel his grip tightening around me. When I look up, fury was swimming through his eyes. Gulping nervously, I reached out and touched his tensed bicep.
And I knew, that Kise knew that I liked him. So, so much. So much that it actually hurts.
I have fallen for Aomine Daiki.
"He WHAT?!" His whole body hardened, and he looked down to my eyes. I saw a flash of concern, before it was engulfed in waves of fury.
He sort of pushed me aside, getting off of the bed. I knew he was going to Aomine, and probably start a fight. Demerit Points aren't even the matter right now, they could both risk themselves in getting expelled! Desperately I made a grab for his sleeve, gripping it tightly.
"Please," I cried out. "Don't. Don't hurt anyone. I can't risk getting you expelled." I sobbed, not letting my guard down until I finally felt him relaxing under my grip. His eyes went into his normal look, though it still had a touch of anger. When he saw my look, he sat back on the bed.
"How did it happen..?" Kise asked. No matter what, I had to tell him.
"I-It was my fault too.." I confessed, grabbing the pillow and hugging it tight. "I was the source of his..." A blush came to my face and Kise coughed with a slight awkwardness, partly urging me to go on. "I kind of kneed it when I was about to pull him up, and ended up on top of him. I was going to get off, but he pinned me down and bit my neckー"
"That bastard. He's going toー"
"Kise, it's okay," I interrupted him by placing my hand on top of his. "Scared, I kicked his shin, and took my cue to run. I went back to get a few things; thinking along the way. It was then that I realized that I liked him all along, and I was about to say sorry and thought about confessing too. But then that I found," my voice broke, "them."
He gave me a hug, comfort and warmth oozing out and radiating off to me. I didn't know how I could cope with this if he wasn't here. I would probably shredding my last piece of sanity to bits. Probably turning into those kill-everyone-around-you look.
"Thank you," I strained a smile, hugging him back. "Honestly, Kise, I don't want the both of you getting into trouble."
"You're welcome." I could feel him breathing out on my hair. "But I just couldn't bring myself to not do it. Sorry," he mumbled. "But I knew that bastard is like that. I just knew it."
I chuckled bitterly. My throat was raspy, aching for water. "I guess you're right. But Kise," I softly called out, dragging the vowels. "Don't do that. I know, somewhere deep inside, he's nice, you know?"
"... Yeah." He said after a while. "Probably."
I smiled. "Let's utter no more apologies. You need to go back to the Dorm or my father'll never forgive you."
"Okay okay," he gave an apologetic smile and waved me off. "I'll see you later. I'll take you out to the fansign next Saturday, okay?"
"Mhm." I watched the door close, and slipped myself under the blankets. The peaceful silence sets for a while, before a soft sob suddenly erupted from me, thinking back on how he kissed Shizuka.
Turns out that my hopes were just dreams that can never come true after all.
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A/N: YAYAYAAYYAAAAAY. Wohoo! I'm here! Sorry I had to go, I had some kind of camp and had to off my phone. Those with phones on had to be confiscated, and trust me, there's a lot being done so.
SO I AM FINALLY BACK AND ALIVE, BUT DEAD TIRED. Wohoo.
And I just realized that my book almost reached 5k! ALMOST. FIVE THOUSAND. PEOPLE. READ THIS. OMGOMGOMG EXCUSE ME WHILE MY FANGIRL INTENSIFIES.
I can't even believe that one day my book would reach this much! A dear friend of mine, fallenwhitemusk, told me that she predicted that it would be like this one day, and it did!
And currently, people are looking at me strangely cause, well, you know, I'm sort of screaming in public. Yes, I'm crazy. Haha.
Thank you thank you thank you all, those who just read this book of mine. Those who complimented this book of mine, and those who added this to their reading lists and those who voted. I appreciate every single thing you do, even it's a littlest thing. No matter how little, it's the thoughts that count.
Enough with the rant.
Thank you all. I'll have the next chapter posted soon! Until then, take care, loves!
- Lynn♡
PS: I'm sorry you have to deal with crappy chapters lately! I'm so tired, urgh.