strawberry blonde ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ hanamaki takahiro

06: on the way home

☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ:⠀ *⋆.*:･ﾟ .: ⋆*･ﾟ: .⋆

[thursday 20:25]

she wasn't sure how long she'd been sitting on the sidewalk for. she just remembered leaving the sendai city gymnasium and walking until she found the place she was looking for, which was nowhere in particular. she wasn't even completely comprehensive on why she needed to think so much either.

deep down she was hoping that the team would lose tomorrow.

she was so tired of this godforsaken sport controlling her life. and though the chance was slim to none, she was slightly praying the odds would be in her favor. she knew it was a shitty thing to wish for, the failure of her best friends and her teammates, especially because she knew how hard they'd worked to get this far, but she wanted nothing more than to say goodbye to that court.

at least that way she could have normal relationships.

the sound of leaves crunching in the distance pulls her out of her head, suddenly very aware of her surroundings. she thinks to herself, 'this might be a good way to die.'

when her eyes focus on that familiar head of messy strawberry blonde locks, she swears her life expectancy shrinks by a few years. her body feels frozen in its spot and she doesn't even register that he's seen her, now walking in her direction. her breath hitches when he sits beside her on the concrete.

"go ahead and slap me. i deserve it."

his words cut through the silence after a few moments, catching her off guard. that wasn't what she was anticipating.

"w-wha—?" she starts, but he quickly interrupts.

"you were right. that whole enemy thing was so fucking stupid. i don't even know why i let it bother me in the first place. i guess oikawa's hatred towards your school just kinda transferred to all of us, but you're not them. you're you. you're your own person and i shouldn't have made those two separate things synonymous." he rambles, staring at his hands in his lap.

huh. maybe he wasn't so bad after all.

"no no. in a sense, i was wrong too. i shouldn't have jumped the gun and blown up on you or categorize you with every other volleyball player in existence. i've just had really bad experiences." she attempts to diffuse the situation.

"let's try this again," he smiles, extending a hand out to her to shake. "i'm hanamaki takahiro. i go to aoba johsai high school and i'm on the boys' volleyball team. i'm a wing spiker. i had no idea what the fuck i was gonna do after i graduate, and even less of one now that nationals is out of the picture, but i'm trying my best. i'm an only child with divorced parents. i live with my mom, who's hardly home and when she is, it's like she's not. i spend more time at my friend matsukawa's place than my own. and i'm the biggest idiot on the planet."

y/n chortles at the last statement. the small snort grows into a loud, belly clenching laughter that fills the air around them. hanamaki grins wider, glad that he somewhat got back on her good side.

it was something unexpected.

he never would've thought that the evening would turn out like this. when he decided to split off from the team to clear his head, he imagined it was gonna be a quiet walk. but when he recognized the h/c hunched over her knees on the pavement, he figured that whatever god there was decided to give him a break.