Effervescent (Tsukishima Kei x Female Reader)

010

Tsukishima felt sick.

How come he hasn't noticed anything? Why didn't he notice anything?

As he looked at the frail girl lying in the hospital bed, he almost burst out crying. His sense of remorse grew over time. He examined the bandages neatly wrapped around her now-thin arms.

(Y/N) was self-harming all this time.

Cuts and bruises were littered all over her tiny arms. Some were old, while others were brand new. She had obviously been doing this for quite some time.

Kei understood now. Why she usually wore long-sleeved garments and why she was always covered in bandages. How come? How come she didn't tell him? He could've helped. He could've done something. He should’ve done something.

"You're so silly, Hotaru-chan! When have I ever been happy?"

"I punched my floor last night! Doesn't it look cool?"

"...Are you okay?" he finally asked.

(Y/N) gave him a serene smile before answering.

"No."

"I'm exhausted, Kei."

Her words played over and over in his mind like a broken record. All of the hints were there. All of the telltale symptoms that she wasn't fine were present.

He felt stupid. He'd like to believe he's fairly intelligent, but when it came to (Y/N), he felt like the stupidest guy on the planet.

He cried silently, his face hidden beneath his huge palms. He looked up in an instant as he felt someone caress his hair.

"Kei, it's not your fault..."
She always knew what to say, which made him sob even more.

"Idiot."

"I'm sorry."

(Y/N) tenderly laid his head on her shoulder for a loving embrace. With feather-light kisses, her delicate lips touched his scalp. Kei was sobbing uncontrollably at the time, and he clung to her for dear life, terrified of losing the girl who had given him hope and shown him how to love.

"You almost died."

"I'm sorry."

"I almost lost you."

"I'm sorry."

"Please...," he desperately cried, "don't leave me, (Y/N)..."

It was the first time he had called her by her name.

"...I'm sorry."