His Warrior Queen: A Haikyuu!! Novel (Tsukishima x OC)

Chapter 63: The Rose

Kei smiled at Nakano, the girl sitting pretty on his bed, legs tucked up underneath her as she rested her back against the pillows.  He'd told her to make herself comfortable, and she had done so, settling herself down and smiling eagerly at him as he joined her on the bed, his guitar in his hands.  Her eyes sparkled, and her face was a study in joy.  "I learned a song, just for your birthday, Roses," he said as he slipped the guitar strap covered in skeletal dinosaurs that Kageyama had given him for his birthday over his shoulder and head.  She watched, completely enraptured, as his nimble fingers tuned his guitar.  "Now, this is a pretty old song, actually...sorry, a classic song...or maybe I should say old school?"  She was giving him a wry smirk now, as he gently mocked her for her fondness for classic American rock.  "But seriously, I wouldn't be surprised if you knew it.  If you do, I hope you'll join me in it."  He steadied himself, slightly repositioning on the bed as he prepared to sing for the girl.  "I like singing for you, Roses, but I like singing with you an awful lot more."  His fingers fiddled about for a few more moments, then settled into the opening of the song.

"Some say love, it is a river"

She was already in tears; she knew the song, of course - "The Rose" by Bette Midler - and his warm, vibrant tenor voice sang it beautifully.  He did not falter when he saw the bright shimmering crystal tears appear on her lashes, as he could also see her smile, which was equally bright.  She breathed deep, letting his music wash over her, gathering herself for what was coming.

"That drowns the tender reed
Some say love, it is a razor
That leaves your soul to bleed
Some say love, it is a hunger
An endless aching need
I say love, it is a flower
And you, its only seed"

As he'd hoped, she watched him carefully as he bridged between the verses, her breathing falling in synch with his as she harmonized with him as the second verse began.  Their voices melded, each feeling the cadence and rhythm of the other, creating a sound they both marveled at even as they made it.

"It's the heart, afraid of breaking
That never learns to dance
It's the dream, afraid of waking
That never takes the chance
It's the one who won't be taken
Who cannot seem to give
And the soul, afraid of dying
That never learns to live

When the night has been too lonely
And the road has been too long
And you think that love is only
For the lucky and the strong"

Tears slipped down Nakano's cheek as she fell silent, letting Kei finish the song alone, his voice clear and clean and yet full of emotion.

"Just remember in the winter
Far beneath the bitter snows
Lies the seed that with the Sun's love
In the spring becomes the rose."

He broke the final chord, playing it as an arpeggio and looking directly into the eyes of the girl next to him, who was smiling and crying and seemed to be in the middle of an emotional breakdown.  "That song..." he paused, clearing his throat; suddenly his voice was rough and his own emotions were at the surface of it, despite how composed he'd been just a moment ago, "that song is all about you, Roses.  And me.  You were right, I was so afraid, when you confessed.  When you told me that first kiss wasn't just a tease, just a joke between teammates, but actually meant something to you.  My gods, how love terrified me.  Loving someone meant exposing yourself, meant showing them what was inside you, meant letting them see you weak and vulnerable.  If I loved someone, it would mean giving them, willingly, the best possible weapons with which to hurt me.  And yes, that fear was why I took so long to answer you.  I...liked what we were.  I was afraid, if I took the chance...if I accepted your feelings and shared my own with you, that we'd...well..."  He trailed off, tears coming to his eyes for the second time that day.  He set his guitar aside, trying to compose himself and failing.  He looked up resolutely, hands clenching, voice trembling.  "That you'd break my heart.  That you'd leave me, and I'd be so...I'd never..."  He shook his head, tears flying from him with the force of it.  "But I'm not afraid of that anymore.  Even if someday, you - "