Attached- Tsukishima Kei

20

"That's like your 5th cup of coffee today." Koshiya chuckles awkwardly as he comes into the break room.

"Is that illegal? They're my own coffee pods." I say a bit rudely as I stir the creamer into my mug.

"N-No! It's just- you've been kind of off these past few days. You're totally acting like a robot, I don't think I've seen any emotion on your face. I'm concerned." Koshiya walks over to me and I throw away the two packets of sugar I used.

"There's nothing to be concerned about, I'm doing my job." I grab the mug, looking up at him. "So do yours."

I begin to walk out, heading back to my office. I know he's following me and I can't help but feel irritated.

Why can't he just leave me alone?

I don't bother closing the door to my office since he'll be coming in, and I take a long sip of my coffee even though it's still hot.

"If you want to go on vacation again, you can. It won't count against you." Koshiya says softly as he sits down in the chair in front of my desk.

"I don't need it. I'm working just fine aren't I?" I look at him and he slightly shifts in his seat.

"Yes. But you're hostile and clearly going through something. We care about all of our employees and mental health is something that we should be taking care of-"

"Geez, okay I get it. Just stop lecturing me already."

~

"I'm home." I call out as I slip my shoes off at the front door.

I hear shuffling in another room and a few seconds later, my mom appears in front of me.

"Hi sweetie, come in." She grabs my hand and leads me to the kitchen. "Don't get mad, but we invited-"

I stop in my tracks, already hearing his voice from where I'm standing.

"I'm leaving." I say immediately, turning on my feet and making my way back to the door to slip on my shoes.

"No! You can't!" She runs after me, grabbing my hand. "Please stay- you guys need to work things out."

"I don't want to." I turn to the door but she quickly stands in front of it.

"Well then what are you going to do? You haven't been to your home, and you're walking out on us now..." My mother trails off and I look away from her, sighing.

It doesn't even matter what I do. It's none of their business anyway.

"You...don't want to work things out?" I hear and turn around to see Kei.

There's dark circles under his eyes and he looks like a mess. His hair is disheveled and his hands are stuffed in the pockets of his hoodie.

I keep my face blank, looking away from him as my father appears behind him.

"What you guys need is couples therapy."

My father scoops me up into his arms, taking me to the living room and plopping me down on one edge of the couch.

Kei sits on the other edge and my parents sit together on the couch opposite of us.

This is...so dumb. So incredibly dumb.

"So, Athena. Would you like to tell your side of the story first?" My mother asks in a professional voice.

"Do we really have to do th-"

"Now." My mother says sweetly, but I don't miss the underlying aggression in her tone.

I gulp, sitting up in my seat as I nod.

"Okay. So our friends threw a pool party to celebrate the end of the season. Kei and I got changed and he voiced to me that he didn't like that people were staring at me- so obviously I reassured him that nothing would happen and that I only have eyes for him." I purse my lips, crossing my arms as I remember the events of that day. "So we go back outside to swim but Yamaguchi called him for something and I went to sit with another friend of ours. He introduced me to his girlfriend which happened to be my ex, Rintarō's, sister. Then he himself shows up and comes over because me and his sister were with each other. She eventually left with her boyfriend and so Suna asked if I wanted to swim. I was like yeah, because that's what I came there to do and Kei wasn't there yet so why not just swim in the meantime?"

"Mhm..." Both of my parents nod as if they're actually interested in the story.

"And I thought we were just going to go walk to the pool together but he picks me up and jumps in. I didn't know he was going to do that but it was kind of fun so I was laughing when we came back up for water. And it's not like we're not friends so I didn't think it was that big of a deal. Anyways, as I waited for Kei to come back, Rin and I just talked and drank in the pool. I started to get a bit worried so I asked Hinata where he was and he said I should find him. So I go inside and see him in the living room. I sat next to him but he tells me I'm not allowed to sit there because he's saving the seat for someone so I move and sit on his lap and he literally shoves me away-"

"Ouch. Cold." My father shakes his head and I deadpan. "Sorry, sorry." He holds up his hands in surrender

"Anyways, he was being very accusing and said I was acting like a couple with Rin or something and was embarrassing me in front of his friends. And then, some bitch shows up and Kei has her sit down next to him because she's the one he was waiting for. Turns out- it's the girl who was flirting with him and liked him while she was the Frog's manager. She's also the girl who was blatantly racist to me and some other little girl when we went to a restaurant where she made a scene." I cross my arms, not allowing myself to show any emotions although my anger slightly slips out through my voice.

Both of my parents looked shocked, and they glare at Kei for a few seconds before turning professional again.

"And how did that make you feel?" My mother asks and I almost scoff at how stupid this is.

"Disrespected, disappointed, angry, betrayed, upset- all that and more. He intentionally wanted to hurt me for simply having friends." I blink, seeing Kei shift in his seat of of the corner of my eye.

"Okay, and now you?" They turn to Kei. "Tell us your side."

Kei stays quiet for a second before he takes a shaky breath, fiddling with his fingers.

"I...just fucked up." He says quietly, then clears his throat and sits up straight. "So Yamaguchi called me to help him inside with a few things. When I came back out I saw Suna running with Athena over his shoulder and jump into the pool. I guess I got jealous? They looked like they were having fun together and it sounds lame and stupid- but I've already lost to him once."

"Can you expand on that?" My father asks and he purses his lips.

"In high school. I liked Athena but she liked him. Seeing them together made me think of that and I just thought that maybe there's a chance that they still have feelings for each other. I got upset and I thought that if she was going to be flirting with him and hurt me, I'm going to do the same thing. So that's how I ended up calling Watabe-San and inviting her over." He turns to me, causing me to finally meet his eyes. "But after you left I swear I had her leave and I left too so I can meet you at home and apologize but you weren't there and you also weren't answering your phone so I freaked out and-"

"I don't care." I cut him off, and he stares at me for a few seconds before slowly turning back to face my parents. "I was never flirting with Rin. Do you even know what we fucking talked about? We talked about you and our marriage. And we talked about volleyball. That's it." I spit, angrily looking away from him.

"I'm sorry." He says quietly, putting his face in his hands. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I don't want Watabe and it was so wrong of me to embarrass you like that and call the person who hurt you. I'm so sorry."

"Um...so how about we-"

"You know..." I stand up, grabbing my purse. Kei looks up at me and I stare down at him, a small smile coming over my face.

He takes a small breath, sitting up once again to listen to whatever I have to say.

"Maybe we just got married too young."