"Why is it so hard for you
To properly
See me trying"
.✫*ﾟ･ﾟ｡.☆.*｡･ﾟ✫*.
As Lev caught his breath, he used his jersey to wipe the sweat off of his face, revealing his perfectly toned stomach.
One of his teammates elbowed him, Lev turned to look at him, confused by his teammates' smug smirk.
"Who are you trying to show off to?" He said, his eyes pointing at Lev's now-covered stomach.
It took him a moment to realize what his teammate was saying, he laughed nervously, turning a shade of pink. His teammate gave him a slap on the back, before jogging away.
"Break! Be back in fifteen!" His coach yelled.
The boy headed for the locker room, going to his locker and fishing out his phone from his sweater pocket. He looked at the time.
1:09PM
He counted on his fingers what time it would be in Tokyo, he frowned.
"Screw this time difference." He grumbled, throwing his phone into the locker, slamming his locker shut and pressing his forehead against the cool metal.
The male sighed, hearing footsteps enter into the locker room. He straightened his posture and saw his teammate.
"Hey, man. Break is over. Coach wants us." His teammate said, as his hand gestured toward the door.
"O--okay." Lev replied, giving a thumbs up and following after his teammate. English was slowly becoming easier for him to understand, as it was now the language he'd been hearing for the past month or so, however whenever he had to speak, the words never seemed to come to mind.
.✫*ﾟ･ﾟ｡.☆.*｡･ﾟ✫*.
As her first semester was going by smoothly, the girl was wrapping up her homework. She looked at her laptop, then back down at her notebook. Her hand was starting to cramp and Kohari sighed. C'mon, hold out for a couple more minutes.
Finishing the last of what needed to be done, she pumped her hands into the air happily. As she leaned back in her chair, she stood up and stretched before making her way to her 'kitchen.' Her apartment in Tokyo was tiny, as rent wasn't cheap, but she managed to score a one-room apartment close to her school and work.
Her kitchen as living room were one, no wall separating the two different areas. However, the distinct line of what was kitchen and what was living room was enough to tell the two apart.
Kohari opened her small fridge, taking out a glass container containing strawberries.
Plopping down on her couch, she opened the container and placed it on the small and wobbly coffee table in front of her. She took one out and bit into it, feeling the sweet flavor dance on her taste buds and immediately soothe her needy stomach.
The female hummed. "I wonder how Lev's doing..."
.✫*ﾟ･ﾟ｡.☆.*｡･ﾟ✫*.
FIVE MONTHS PRIOR
"This wall is so pretty, Lev, photo shoot time!" Kohari exclaimed, shoving her unlocked phone into Lev's hands. He groaned.
"Last time you made it take like a hundred pictures... and you only uploaded two!" He said, before facing the camera toward her.
"That's the whole point. I have to post the best of the best!"
After an hour filled with Lev's complaints, the the camera's constant 'click' and getting told off by the workers' to be quiet, the little photo shoot ended. As they sat side by side, Kohari swiped through the pictures, deleting ones she didn't like.
"Why does my face look like that?" She said, laughing as she was about to delete it.
"Don't delete that! I like that one!" Lev said, reaching over and scrolling to the next picture of her... that happened to be of her blinking.
Lev burst into laughter, zooming up on her face. "You look possessed!"
Kohari flushed, quickly deleting the picture, but giggled a little bit, too. In all honesty, Lev thought she looked pretty in all of the photos, but refrained from saying it out loud because he knew it would make her uncomfortable.
As much as wanted to stare at her, he knew it was for the best that he didn't. Kohari voiced how she felt for him and her actions did, too.
He was strictly her best friend.
However, despite having that title, she never opened up to him too much about her and Tsukishima's relationship. Maybe it was because it still kind of stung, but he had a feeling it was due to the fact she was respecting his feelings for her. After all, it would be bittersweet to hear her talk about her first love.
Yet, he still wanted her to open up. Both had discussed their family issues, so he didn't see why she couldn't open up about her romance issues. He wanted nothing more but to listen to her stories, let out her hidden pain, without feeling jealous or overly angry. Lev was trying, he'd been trying, but she always found a way to steer away from the subject.
"Thank you, Lev." Kohari said randomly, snapping him out of his daze.
"Taking pictures isn't hard, Koh-chan." He replied, wondering why her tone was so serious.
"Okay, obviously." The ravenette replied, rolling her eyes. "But like for everything. I've never had someone in my life where I felt like I could really be me."
"It's no big deal, Koh-chan, you know that. But," He said, looking at her. "What about Tsukishima, did you not feel like you could be yourself or something?"
He saw her purse her lips. "Yeah. Sometimes. He was the first boy who caught my eye, I guess. Obviously, I didn't want him to see the sides of me that... weren't as common. Like with you, I laugh until my lungs collapse, but with him, he wasn't that funny." He listened quietly, feeling his ego swell. "I felt that if I ever really laughed around him, he'd be like freaked out or something... you know, since I laugh really damn loud and I usually can't stop."
"But that's a part of you that's so... pleasant." Lev said. "You shouldn't have to act a certain way because you want him to only see the good. I'm not saying this 'cause I like you, but when people are dating, I feel like it's important to be transparent with each other."
He knows the word 'transparent'? She thought, immediately snapping out of her daze as he kept talking.
"If he made you feel like he wouldn't accept your extremely goofy side, then he's an asshole. I mean, he is one. Even when he were first-years, his mouth was so snarky." Lev spoke, shrugging. He kept his opinions on her ex at a minimum, knowing he shouldn't say anything that would upset her.
"I like to think he might've, but I don't think he would've. He would tell me to be quiet a lot and it kind of made my social anxiety bad back then. Even now, sometimes, since I'm so comfortable with you, I wonder if I'm too much of a chatterbox. Like I never shut up."
"You actually don't talk a lot, just so you know." The male stated, standing up and gazing down into her lavender pools. "I like you for you, I like seeing new sides of you. And I say that as your best friend. And come on, your train back to Sapporo isn't gonna wait for you."
.✫*ﾟ･ﾟ｡.☆.*｡･ﾟ✫*.
Song:
If It Is You — Jung Seung Hwan
Lev bby I'm so sorry.
And thanku for reading! This story is a disaster but...٩(◕‿◕｡)۶