solid | tsukishima kei

twelve.

Days passed and it seemed like with each passing day, Takahashi found herself becoming irritable at everything. Sensitive to even the smallest problems and breaking down over the silliest things. The fluctuation in her mood didn't go unnoticed by her classmates and so they steered clear of her when they expected her to lash out.

The only good thing about this was that Takahashi no longer had to worry about Akita's senseless bullying. The other girl, rather than outrightly expressing her hatred for Takahashi through bullying, stuck to hateful glares and scornful scoffs. Something that Takahashi couldn't care less about and was happy to ignore.

As the week passed, Takahashi found herself pausing in front of Tsukishima's house as she made her way back home. She frowned at it and continued walking, trying to tell herself to stop thinking about him.

He doesn't matter anymore. She thought to herself, I'll just myself another headache if I get involved with him. He doesn't want to talk to me, so why should I even bother?

She stopped in front of her house and stood there for a moment before opening the door and being hit with the loud sound of arguing. Takahashi shook her head as she took off her shoes and found Kiko and her older sister, Ami, yelling at each other. More so, Ami tried to get Kiko to stop throwing her toys around the house.

"Don't do that!" Ami exclaimed as Kiko screamed and threw a doll at the wall. Ami frowned and picked up the doll as Kiko let out another scream.

Takahashi sighed and made her way toward Kiko. When the little girl saw her walk over, she stopped her tantrum and rushed over to Takahashi, ducking behind Takahashi's legs and hiding behind her. Ami frowned and gave Takahashi a look that asked her for help.

Takahashi sighed again and turned toward Kiko, "Did you give her a hard time?" she asked.

Kiko pouted, "Mama was being mean,"

Takahashi smiled a bit, "Ah, Ami can be mean sometimes," she said jokingly before kneeling down, "Did she ask you to clean up?" Takahashi asked Kiko. Kiko pouted again and nodded and Takahashi shook her head with a smile, "Well, you need to clean up and listen to her. She is your mom after all," she stood up and ruffled up Kiko's hair, "I'm going to go change so help clean up okay?"

Heading to her room, Takahashi pulled off her school clothes and threw on a pair of loose-fitting jeans and a button-up blouse. A moment later, Ami opened the door and leaned against the door frame with a half-smile.

"She's my daughter yet she listens to you more than me," Ami shook her head in dismay, "I really haven't been around much and this just goes to show that I need to be here more," she sighed and took a seat at Takahashi's desk. "Dad's being discharged this week," she said casually.

Takahashi gave her a wide-eyed stare, "When?"

"I think tomorrow," Ami said.

Takahashi fell silent. He's been in the hospital for almost three weeks now and no one's gone to visit him. She looked at Ami and just by looking at how relaxed her sister's posture was, she already knew that Ami wasn't planning to visit their dad.

Shifting on her feet, Takahashi made her way to her closet and pulled out her small mini backpack. Grabbing her wallet and her phone, Takahashi smiled at her sister before saying, "I'm going to go out to meet some friends today, I'll probably be coming home late,"

Ami followed Takahashi out of her room and watched as Takahashi grabbed a bottle of water and went to go put her shoes on. "Okay," Ami said, "It's nice to see you spending time with your friends now," she smiled at her younger sister.

Takahashi smiled back, "It's really nice," she agreed before opening the door. "I'll see you later," she waved and promptly left the house making her way to the bus. Once on, she took the bus all the way to the train station and pulled out her phone.