"If I just wanted to avoid loneliness,
anybody would have been enough"
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"You're sure? I can come to watch you practice?" She asked, fiddling with her thumbs as they both walked the same path they did everyday after school.
He shocked her, with saying she could visit his practice match with a rivalry school. Usually, he hated when she came to practices. So the fact he was asking her to go watch him play shocked her, nonetheless.
"If you don't want to, then just say it." He replied, slightly annoyed by her constant questioning.
"N—no! I wanna go! It's just weird 'cuz you usually you don't want me to come." She said, her voice getting quieter as she reached the end of her sentence.
"Well, now I do." Tsukishima said, his voice passive, but his words thinly coated with aggression, "Is there something wrong with that?"
"I never said anything was wrong with it!" Kohari defended, her lips dropping into a frown. "It's at Karasuno, right?"
"No, it's in Tokyo." He stated, the girl deadpanned.
"Are you for real?"
"Yeah. I already asked Coach, you can come with us on the bus. But you'll need to help Yachi out with manager duties and other things like that." He spoke dryly, pushing up his glasses.
The girl blinked. It was nice that he found a way to take her with him to Tokyo, but couldn't he have settled the game plan after Kohari was okay to go? Sighing, she took her hair off her shoulders and nodded.
"Sounds good. What time do I have to be at school?" She did her best to hide the annoyance in her voice, not wanting to add onto to her boyfriend's already sour mood.
"Be there at six."
"Okay."
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Standing in the gym, her eyes were filled with awe as she looked around. The loud 'pang' of the volleyballs echoed through her ears as she watched both teams warm up.
"Kohari-chan?" Yachi called, running up to the awestruck female. "Can you help me prepare their water bottles?"
"Of course!" The female replied, nodding. As she was about to follow Yachi, a volleyball hit her foot. She turned around, squatting down to pick it up.
As she stood up, her eyes met with someone's chest. He wore the opposing team's uniform. Looking up, she was taken aback by how tall he was.
She tossed the ball to him. "Here you go."
"A—ah, thanks!" He replied, a pink hue dusting his cheeks as he caught the ball and held it with one arm, while the other nervously raked through his hair.
The ravenette gave him a tight-lipped smile, turning on her heels.
"I—I'm Haiba Lev! Y—you have v—very pretty eyes!" He blurted out.
The girl stopped, the compliment making her crack a small smile. "Thank you, Haiba-kun. I'm Taira Kohari."
And then she went to where Yachi was, leaving the boy in a dazed state, an elated grin swiped across his face. From afar, a certain blond male wasn't feeling too elated.
He clicked his tongue, allowing a small scowl to curl onto his thin lips.
.✫*ﾟ･ﾟ｡.☆.*｡･ﾟ✫*.
"Kei, your water." The female said, handing the water bottle to him. The male took it, taking a quick swig before placing it back on the bench, jogging back to the court.
"Are you and Tsukishima-kun okay?" Yachi asked. Kohari blinked, pursing her lips.
"Yeah. Why?"
"Ah, maybe I was seeing thing wrong, but he looked a little aggravated." The blonde female replied, gazing up at Kohari's uneasy expression.
"Kohari-chan? Are you alright?"
"Y—yeah." The ravenette assured, nodding and taking a drink from her boyfriend's water bottle, tapping her fingers nervously on the bottle, watching as his spikes were more powerful than the first two hours.
And then her eyes drifted to Lev, who she happened to catch staring at her. She gave him a nod to say hello and the boy ecstatically waved her way, which didn't go unnoticed by Tsukishima.
And when lunchtime came around, the girl was taken aback by his extreme friendliness toward her. However, she warmed up to it slowly, finding out the male was actually really funny... and he didn't even mean to.
"Kohari," As Tsukishima was taking a seat, he looked up at her. "Can you stop being so friendly with that moron? I don't like how friendly his is with you, especially since you guys just met."
She nodded stiffly. "Yeah."
After practice had finally come to an end, the female was washing her hands in the outdoor sinks.
"E—eh, um Taira-chan? Can I talk to you for a moment?"
Looking up, she met Lev's jade orbs.
"Actually, can I say something first?" She questioned, shaking most of the water off her hands, then wiping the rest on her joggers.
"Y—yeah!" Lev said, nodding.
"You're a nice guy, Haiba-kun. But I have a boyfriend and he's not very comfortable with how friendly we've been; especially since we only met like... a couple hours ago. I—I know you don't like me like that, but—"
"About that, Taira-chan." He interrupted, his blushing face almost speaking for him. "I do like you, like—like t—that or whatever."
Her eyes widened.
"In case you forgot," Tsukishima said, appearing out of nowhere and slinging a lazy arm around the female's shoulders, as his eyes narrowed. "She has a boyfriend."
"No offence, but you kind of seem like a crappy boyfriend." Lev stated bluntly, pressing his lips into a thin line. Slightly shocked by the sudden appearance, but wanted Tsukishima to know where he stood.
"A—ah, Haiba-kun, don't say that. He's treats me well." Kohari said, about to pass out from all the tension that was suffocating her.
"I can bet I'd treat you better than he can." He uttered lowly, not knowing the blond had heard him. He took his arm off Kohari, stepping in front of her.
"Want to repeat that?" Tsukishima scowled, stepping closer to Lev. The female felt her lungs constrict—they were gonna fight, she knew, she could feel it.
"K—Kei." Kohari said, grabbing the back of his shirt. "Come on."
"Are you not going to say anything?!" He said, his voice raised and fabricated with bit of venom.
"What's going on—Oi, Tsukishima! What are you doing?"
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Sitting on a bench deep into the local park, the female fiddled with her fingers. Second semester had already begun and she hadn't seen Tsukishima since their awkward encounter.
As much as she wanted to have a talk with him, what would she say? Her heart clenched, bring her feet up onto the bench, sitting cross-legged as she began to think.
She didn't tell Lev... she didn't know how. In fact, they haven't really had the chance to talk for long, anyway.
Suddenly, her mind decided to take a deep dive. Kohari began to wonder why. Why did he make her feel so anxious when she saw him again after all that time had passed? Why did it have to be Tsukishima? What she was feeling then, felt so familiar.
In class, she couldn't focus for shit. It was like she was fifteen again.
"For god sake, why?" She muttered, slapping the back of her head. It was that sensation of being attracted to him; that one encounter bringing all the locked up memories to the front of her mind.
Was she just feeling lonely? The female didn't talk to people much these days, as Lev was her only friend, and he was now busy with being on a national team. However, her the beating organ in her chest was screaming. It craved to feel the addicting sensations she felt back then.
The giddiness; the pure bliss; even the heart-wrenching emotions that gobbled her up, making her feel so small.
She was feeling needy—suddenly desperate to experience all those emotions all over again.
Because those sentiments made her feel like a person.
Was she getting greedy? No. She was human. In particular, a heartbroken human who was indeed, still hung up on her ex... whether she realized it or not.
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Song:
One More Time, One More Chance — Masayoshi Yamazaki (5 Centimetres Per Second Ost)
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