chikasue ikari,
"heyyy so chikasue-chan??" hattori leaned towards me, averting my attention from my work.
"yeah?" i asked, confused.
"so, you know how you're constantly getting injured and all that because of your soulmate?" she smiled and rolled her eyes.
"mhm..." i creased my eyebrows with a frown.
"have you ever wondered like... who he is?"
"what are you getting at?..."
"hey!" she hissed, taking a moment to stand up straight and comb her hand through her shiny hair. "i just thought that maybe he could be on the volleyball team!"
ah... the volleyball team... one of the most popular clubs in this school apparently, i'm pretty sure i remember hattori going on about the 'hot' boys there... i'm not surprised that she wants to check it out...'
we made our way along the bleachers that afternoon and watched from near the front, hattori's preference. she was busy chatting to some other girls beside us about all the new first years and such while i watched without interest.
soon enough, i flinched with pain in sync with another member there and i felt my heart beat faster when my eyes trailed to the boy who received the blow.
he had short hazel hair that complimented his brown eyes, he looked out of place with the other tall third years but he remained cheerful with his friend.
"ahhhh~" hattori mused and i was snapped back to reality. "so you're soulmate is oikawa-san..." she bore a strange smile and her blue eyes were locked on the boy.
wait- she's been here before, hasn't she?'
it should've been obvious by the way she interacted with the girls beside us, hattori was no stranger to this club nor their first year members. with the additional aid of a shared class together, hattori was already well aware who oikawa was and had developed a sneaking suspicion of our links already.
after the realisation, only one thought stirred in my head.
this isn't good.'
⎯
that day, hattori invited herself over to my house, much to my concern. she kicked her feet as she lay on my bed. my room felt uncomfortably distant from home with her there, a visit was rare.
"so, oikawa-san hmmm?" she hummed without looking up from her phone.
i didn't reply staring at the carpet. my head was still spinning.
i wonder what he's like...'
the fact that it was so easy kind of made me sick. i hadn't been in that gym 30 minutes before i identified my soulmate.
something about that caused my feelings to sink.
maybe it's not as special as everyone says...'
"you mind if i went out with him?" she asked audaciously. i rose my eyes to see her grinning. she would certainly try to anyway despite my answer, she was only asking to humour me so i remained silent.
"you mentioned once that he sprained his knee in middle school?" she looked back to her phone as she began typing.
"something like that..." i shrugged.
⎯
during the weeks that followed, hattori dragged me to the gym in the evenings, having me watch matches and practice with her.
"oi assikawa, are you gonna help pack away!?" iwaizumi called.
oikawa twisted to face him, a volleyball in his arms. he stretched his eye with a free hand and stuck out his tongue.
although the interaction was meaningless and small, it felt like a thorn had just pierced me. i looked from hattori's smiling features to oikawa. they seemed to be so similar.
i barely knew oikawa, hell, i've never even made eye contact with him but with the way he acted during practices and perhaps also because hattori was my only friend who was constantly talking about the boy all of a sudden, i couldn't help but force a connection with their personalities, as much as i didn't want to.
i picked up on these small things everytime i came here and it was getting more difficult to pretend i didn't notice the similarities. annoying, loud and over all else, exhausting.
what kind of nightmare am i living in?'
without realising it, i had dug my nails hard into the palm of my hands and i heard a small yelp followed by a ball hitting the ground. looking back up, oikawa had dropped the ball and was staring at his hand, confused.
"so now you can't even hold a ball?" iwaizumi-san questioned and smiled as oikawa snapped back at him.
"i-i'm going now..." i told hattori quietly but loud enough for her to hear, hanging my head low as i made my way towards the entrance. i felt a pair of eyes nearby trail after me but i kept mine plastered to the ground.
i'm pretty sure that they weren't hattori's.
"chikasue-chan?" hattori eventually approached me after the boys' practice had cleared up. "what's up?" i was back in the school entrance, there to pick up my umbrella. it hadn't rained today but instead, i was misled. the clouds had implied a downpour, painted gray across the entire sky, however, as the day dragged on, so did they.
"i don't k-know... i-i just..." i choked back tears, struggling to grasp my feelings. "it feels weird, seeing oikawa-san know-knowing that he was the one all along a-and he-he's my soulmate..."
i felt stupid.
why was i crying over this? it's been ages since i found out and yet the smallest thing broke me.
maybe if i had looked at hattori's face right then that day, i would've been so discouraged that i wouldn't have spilled all of my new and old feelings. i wouldn't have welcomed hattori's suggestion of venting to her in the future or whenever i felt pain and confusion creep up and she wouldn't have learnt everything only to use it for her own selfish reasons.
i wouldn't be in this position right now.
then, as we were standing right by the school doors, as i let tears run down my cheeks, it finally rained.
oikawa tooru,
i watched as chikasue straightened up and took a deep breath.
"hey," i said softly.
she turned around and let go of her legs, allowing them to relax to the floor. "i've decided," she announced. "i'm not going to waste another moment for hattori."
i gave chi-chan a smile as she lifted herself to her feet and left for the changing rooms with a new rush of determination.
although there was no doubt in her unwavering voice, i felt a sharp pain in both my hands while she walked away with closed fists.
07.06.20
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hey! sorry the chapters a bit short but i hoped you enjoyed some backstory, it felt good to finally write some angst lol.