berries | (platonic! takagi x reader)

apricots

As Y/n walked home that day, she drank the beverage Takagi bought her at the gas station. Well, Takagi had some leftover money after buying the Pringles for himself, so she insisted he buy something for her.

She popped the cap of the glass bottle open and felt the cool, pink, liquid touch her lips. She wanted to take the longest way home, but Mashiro and Takagi were at Shuisha this afternoon, so she couldn't waste her time in Mashiro's office with them.

She took little sips as she crossed a skybridge, spent fifteen minutes at a bakery, meandered through the mall, and tried to start a conversation with two boys with green and white hair. But the lingering thought of returning home eventually was made a reality as she neared her neighborhood.

She looked at one of the houses. In their yard sat two scrawny bushes. The sight of them was utterly pathetic. Their wiry little branches reached up as tall as they could, hanging on to the few leaves that adorned them. But every time Y/n returned home from school, she was surprised to find that the shrubs still bore fruit. Small red berries. One day, she had stolen a berry from the bush and it gave her a stomach ache for a week, so she wasn't even sure if the owners used them. But they still took care of the bushes.

Y/n quickly gulped down the rest of her drink and threw it in the neighbor's trash can. In her tennis shoes, her sweaty toes clenched. Her fingers twirled the backpack strap. Every inch of her body wanted to stop walking, to turn away and run. But something in her mind ignored this as she now stood at the front door.

She blinked hard and swallowed down the nervousness that was bubbling inside. She pulled her keys out of her backpack and stepped inside.

"I'm home." Y/n announced.

"Welcome back," Her mother gave her a plastered smile. "What took you so long to return home, dear?"

When Y/n didn't answer immediately, her older sister spoke up from the living room. "Probably hanging out with those stupid boys, huh, imouto?"

"No," Y/n looked down.

Her mother grabbed her chin and jerked her face up. "Don't take that tone with your older sister. And wipe that sneer off your face." She let go of her daughter's face and Y/n averted her eyes.

There probably was a sneer, but none that Y/n knew of.

"I got a phone call from your history teacher," Her mother started, moving out of the way to let Y/n enter the house. She put her backpack down. "You apparently got terrible marks on your most recent test. How come I haven't heard about this until now?" Her mother spoke as if a hand extended from her mouth with a gun pointed at Y/n's head. Her eyes unrelentlessly scanned her face for any detections of potential lying.

"I just got my results today," She lied. She sifted through her folders and found the test. "I didn't know about it until recently."

Her mother snatched it out of her hands, and a similar look of disappointment and anger flitted through her eyes as she shoved the paper back at her. "This is unacceptable! Your father went through all of the curriculum this entire week with you! I hope you understand that if you continue this way, you'll get a terrible grade in your history class. Good universities won't accept you and all the high-paying jobs most certainly won't hire you."

Y/n was stuck. Her mother kept yammering on about some senseless future Y/n supposedly had. It was like thunder that never took a break. Everything was grey. She needed to calm down. Think of Takagi. Think of Takagi and the white birds that flew over the coastline, the humid nights stuck at the bus stop, the small waterfall in the forest . . .

It only made the tears flow. "I don't care," Y/n said, voice small. "I don't want . . "

Her mother's fit of rage only seemed to be fueled at the sight of her daughter's tears. "You don't want to what? You don't want to have a successful life? You don't want a safe amount of money? You don't want to provide for your family? Tell me exactly what you don't want to do."

"You're always doing this!" Y/n cried. "Shoving words in my mouth! I didn't say that. I don't want to be smothered by you guys anymore! I don't care if you want me to do this or that, because I don't want to do those anyway."

Her mother stared at her, mouth slightly agape as she tried to grasp the concept of her child talking back. They stayed that way for a second, cheeks warming up, fingers clenching, glaring so hard her eyes started to hurt, until Y/n did what she didn't expect to do.

She swung her backpack on and left.

Y/n sprinted as hard as her legs could take her. She glided across the road and down the street. Her mother had also broken out in a run and shouted after her.

"I'm not going to take this sitting down! When I catch you, you're going to face such severe punishments you'll wish you were dead!" She screeched like a harpie lady hunting its food. Her mother was stronger and much more athletic than Y/n. She could hear her footsteps rapidly approaching from behind.

This mad dash toward breaking free was completely pointless. Within seconds she'd be restrained and that would be the end of her. What was the point of running, anyway? She knew she wouldn't be able to get anywhere without a home. Maybe she ran because she couldn't stand living on her knees anymore. She would much rather die on her feet.

But there was something in her gut that didn't want to give up. How could she escape this situation? Her lungs were starting to burn. Spit thickened in her throat. Her legs were going to give out soon. Maybe she could stop and fight her mother. No, that would be impossible. Y/n didn't know much combat and her mother would beat her within two seconds. Maybe she could turn around and throw something? But her mother was too close, even slowing down a bit to grab something out of her backpack would be fatal.

Strangely, Y/n could hear the faint rattling sounds of a bike. She wondered if she was imagining it until the sound was getting louder and realized that it was a real bike. It seemed to be approaching from behind. Then, a bell started to ring, and someone shouted, "Woahhhhh! Watch out!"

But Y/n didn't bother to look behind. She kept sprinting. Her mother stopped, however, and turned to face the biker. The biker didn't try to change her course and ended up driving over her bare feet. She screamed and the bike teetered, in which case, the biker leaned toward Y/n's mother, causing the bike to fall on top of her.

Upon hearing the loud crash, Y/n stopped and turned around. She saw the bike sandwiched between her mother, who was on the ground, and Kaya Miyoshi! Miyoshi was a hard-headed girl who liked to hang out with her and Takagi on a daily basis.

But why would Miyoshi be riding in her neighborhood? What business did she have here? Miyoshi grunted and rubbed her head, not moving, keeping the older woman pinned down. Miyoshi's large, bright eyes then landed on the bewildered Y/n, and her full lips mouthed RUN!