LET ME DOWN SLOWLY ⸻ sakusa kiyoomi.

𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞 | bicycle path

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BICYCLE PATH !!

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KINA'S MUSCLES SCREAMED IN PROTEST as she moved her legs, which felt like a deadweight. The sound of her track shoes hitting the gravel of the bicycle path was absorbed by the floor, and her heavy breaths was all she could hear as she pushed herself to run the last 500 metres.

After taking off a week of her usual conditioning in order to study for exams, pulling all-or-late-nighters for a whole week, it was needless to say that the volleyball player's stamina had decreased.

For the past twenty-five minutes, Kina had been on her normal 20-km run from her school to the 10-km bicycle path along a stream, now running back to her school dormitory.

At first the scenery had been enjoyable, and her hair was tied up, dry and glossy, the mild morning light and breeze creating a soothing atmosphere for her to run in. Then the stupid sun just had to come out, the breeze blowing hot air at her. Now Kina was wet to the core, sweat dripping off her chin and glittering at her collarbone.

Despite how humid the weather was, though, the female's mouth was dry, and she immensely regretted not having brought her water bottle along with her.

It was also a stupid idea to spend all night the previous day loading her brain with Marvel shit, retiring to bed at an unholy 4am after a post-exam self-celebration night. She had definitely not realised that going on a run at 11.30 am in the morning would eat up into almost half an hour of her day. Normally, her runs took only fifteen minutes, or twenty at the most.

Thankfully, today was a Sunday, so Kina was free to do whatever she wanted for the day as long as she was back in her dorm by 8 pm. She planned to take a shower and sleep until it was Monday.

Kina usually didn't talk to herself, finding that it was a rather uncultured thing to do and would attract weird looks from people around her. If she ever did have to, she would do it all in her head, a neutral expression on her face.

Now, though, she was feeling completely drained and her self-control had fallen a few feet below.

"Only two more minutes, Kina!" She groaned, craning her neck up at the bright sky, squinting her eyes. She made no effort to poise her figure upright, swaying a little to the sides as she jogged toward the bicycle path exit. "Then you can go and sleep in your bed, and take a nice long shower and - "

Kina's lips parted; pupils dilated into catlike slits as her hip hit another person. Said person was a tall, muscular young man whose wavy black hair fell over his face, and a look of surprise and - annoyance? Amusement? A mix of it? Crossed his flawless features when his obsidian eyes synonymous to quicksand met Kina's.

He had definitely heard her talking to herself. Worse, saw her swaying, staggering posture as she jogged. Even worse, she had quite literally rammed (albeit lightly) her hip onto his thigh.

From Kina's suddenly even drier mouth emerged a scratchy and hoarse "sorry" in a tone of pure horror and shame, voice unlike the one she had used when trying to hype herself up earlier. No, it was a voice of pure and utter embarrassment, and despite her screaming muscles, despite her laboured breaths, despite her weird attachment to Sakusa Kiyoomi's obsidian gaze, she sprinted out of the bicycle path faster than she had ever run.

Sakusa momentarily paused, coming to a stop at the path where Tsukishima's hip had bumped onto his right thigh. He looked back at the retreating figure of the girl, an unreadable expression etched on his face.