HEADPHONES ‧ k.tsukishima

𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐧;

Tsukishima stood outside Miyagi General Hospital, trembling slightly. He held a single rose in his right hand, and with little confidence, he walked inside the building.

Everything was painted ghastly white, an ominous colour considering the circumstances of its usage. Tsukki talked briefly with a disapproving nurse at the front desk who showed him to his desired location.

The frowning nurse bustled off and Tsukki sighed heavily. Hospital Room #87. Atsuko Daichi. He mustered up all his courage. He hadn't seen Atsuko in almost 6 months now apart from occasional awkward passing-byes at school, which, if they lasted more than a minute, would end in a pointless argument that broke his heart a little more every time.

He knocked on the door and slowly opened it. The hospital room was bare and painted, like all the other rooms, an ominous white. The window was open, curtain blowing gently in the Miyagi summer breeze. Studying the sunset carefully was a girl. She was sitting on the hospital bed, and despite her bruises and bandages and dark eyebags that cut into her skin, Tsukishima thought that she had never looked so ethereal. So beautiful.

Atsuko turned around and noticed her visitor. She scrunched her eyebrows with confusion.

'Who are you?'

Tsukki's eyes widened. Shit. Atsuko didn't know who he was. She must have a concussion from the beating. His chest tightened, and Tsukki resisted letting out a sob. He dropped the rose before turning around and walking off. Goddammit goddammit goddammit. She didn't know who he was. After everything that had happened, she didn't know who the hell he was.

Tsukishima ran to a eerily quiet hospital bathroom and sank to the floor. The tiles, he assumed, were meant to be white but were coated in so many layers of dirt and grit that they had turned a mouldy yellowy-grey. The only sound to accompany Tsukishima's silent tears was the faint obnoxious dripping of the leaky tap. Drip. Drip. Drip

 Tsukishima buried his head between his knees. She... she didn't know who he was. He yelled angrily and punched the wall. White plaster rained down from the wall and settled in his hair like snow. Tsukki cradled his sore knuckles and sobbed. After everything she had made him go through. After everything she had done. He kept on going back to her. He still loved her.

Atsuko raised an eyebrow. The man had sprinted off, leaving his rose on the ground. She shuffled over and picked it up, letting out a little sigh as she accidentally stabbed her finger with a thorn. Atsuko watched the crimson blood trickle down her finger painstakingly slowly, teasing her. It fell silently to the ground, mingling with her tears. She wiped them away, confused. Why was she crying? But now she started, she couldn't stop. Her tears came in huge heaving sobs that wracked her body with shudders. His name was Tsukishima. Kei. And he had loved her.

And she had loved him.