𝑼𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑪𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒓𝒚 𝑩𝒍𝒐𝒔𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒔 - 𝒓. 𝒔𝒖𝒏𝒂

twenty

"I think I may have upset Rin," It has been a while since you've been to the pool. Despite the sudden and harsh ending to your swimming, the warm, humid air that caused a slight sheen of sweat over your skin and chemical chlorine smell brought you comfort. Gently swinging your legs in the warm water, you watched the ripples spread across the surface of the pool. 

"What did you do?" Aiko drifts past, on her back, peering at you from behind her goggles. You feel a twinge of melancholy, seeing the black and maroon swimsuit; You had tucked yours far away in your closet. 

"I told him he's hard to read sometimes." You sigh out, pulling your wet feet out of the water to draw your legs into your chest. 

Izumi, who had just finished her cool down, rests her arms on the wall besides you. Dramatically wincing at what you said while pulling off her swim cap and goggles, she looks up at you. "Well, shoulda seen that coming." 

There's a sudden yelp, Aiko pinching Izumi's side as you roll your eyes. "I was just being honest," Bringing your legs out of the water, you pull them close to your chest. 

There's a silence that falls over you three, Aiko and Izumi racking their brains for the right thing to say to comfort you or some piece of advice. 

"Well, what makes you think he's mad at you?" Aiko pulls her goggles off, massaging the red rings that have formed around her eyes. 

Aiko takes your delayed response as an answer. She's wearing a comforting smile as she pulls herself out of the pool besides you. "Then you're just overthinking." 

"Yeah, yeah." You hope you're just overthinking. 

-♡-

You had lots of expectations, entering a relationship with Suna. Some were met, others were completely uncalled for. One thing you never saw coming was your new, tightly knit friendship with Natsumi. Being the younger sister of two of the biggest idiots meant you've never felt what it was like to be looked up to, to be there for someone. Or just the calm peace that came with a normal sibling. 

Nights like these had become more and more frequent. Music playing, just loud enough to mute out Atsumu's and Osamu's arguing over video games, but still soft enough to exchange drama and gossip between you and Natsumi or quietly do homework to. Natsumi had made such a routine of this, she simply shows up, unannounced at your door - your mother simply letting her in without a question. 

Natsumi hugged a pillow close to her chest, as she watched you highlight pages of work. 

"Do you know if Rin is mad at me?" You bring up, the topic still nagging at the back of your brain. Barely able to focus during school, the idea of Rin silently raging and judging you riddled you with anxiety. 

Meeting Natsumi's gaze, you marvel at how similar, yet different she was from her older brother. Her emerald-esque color eyes set behind the same slanted lids as his, long lashes batting slowly as she considered your question. The only difference in their seemingly similar eyes, was that upfront, Natsumi's eyes were much more caring and soft, not as...dead as Rin's. 

How did Rin end up so...emo, for lack of a better term, from such a optimistic family?

"Well," Natsumi fidgets with the corner of your pillowcase, thoroughly thinking of the following words to leave her mouth. "He has seemed more distant and stressed lately." 

"Oh," 

"But I think it's because the third years are graduating soon!" Natsumi quickly follows up, waving her hands desperately. 

Pursing your lips, you continue to annotate your work, not sure if you were satisfied with the answer. 

The quiet and laid-back nature that initially enticed you towards Suna had never posed an issue in both friendship and relationship. Simple and blunt in both his words and actions, Suna Rintarou was an easy person to get along with. 

On the surface. 

The more hours you spent with him, conversations trailing deep into the night, it became more and more apparent that, despite his straightforward facade, Suna struggled to put his feelings into coherent words and sentences. His short, blunt answers had surprisingly, lots of thought put into them. But more often than not, his thoughts stayed to himself. It was never something you considered an issue, until it was. 

The comfortable silence that has become a trademark in your relationship had grown...uncomfortable. You never knew what was going on in his head, his deadpan expression never wavering making it hard to know if he was happy, sad, upset. You picked up on his small habits and movements, having to analyze, decipher and work out his daily moods; It had fallen into routine, but you were growing increasingly irritated and tired. 

"I told him he's hard to understand sometimes, which is honestly true, but I still don't want him to be upset at me." Mind overrun with Suna, you give up on schoolwork, swiping it off the table. 

Natsumi scoffs, rolling her eyes. "You've got guts telling him that." However, her face falls flat and eyes grow distant. "But you're right.  He's an ass that can't ever say the right thing...usually. But I highly doubt he's mad at you. Rethinking his entire life and stressing about every moment he's had with you in fear he's ruined it by 'being hard to read'? Yeah, 100%." Natsumi scoffs again, shaking her head with a small smile. "He's so dramatic." 

"What should I do?" You ask meekly, quite ashamed you're asking a middle schooler for relationship advice. 

"Time. Give him time. He's a stubborn shit who wants to fix everything himself." 

-♡-

"Ahhh, we're gonna be second years soon!" Izumi breathes out, the cold air turning her breath into small, puffy clouds. 

Aiko hums in response, tucking her already red nose deeper into her scarf. Despite wearing tights under skirt, she runs her gloved hands over her thighs in an effort to warm them up more. 

"You think we're gonna be in the same class again?" Izumi kicks chunks of ice on the pavement, before stomping on them with a satisfying crunch. 

"We better," You scoff, having been in the same class with the others for the past four years. 

"Where's the cafe again? I've never been." Izumi brings her gaze up from her feet, eyes trailing from storefront to storefront. 

Atsumu had casually brought up that the volleyball team was getting together to celebrate the graduation of the third years at the dinner table a couple days ago. Of course, you passed this information onto Aiko and Izumi, the latter thinking it would be the greatest idea to crash their get-together. 

The entire city was dusted in white powder. Snow rested in every crack and crevice of the pavement, it clung to store signs and reflected the sunlight into your eyes. Bringing your hands up to shield your eyes from the blinding light, you notice the small cafe that only locals know about; tucked away between two clothing stores, almost hidden from the street, most tourists wouldn't give it a second glance.