You Exist Inside The Colors

01.

Tracks I listened to when I wrote this:

01. We Can Never Go Back (Acoustic) - Joy Williams
02. I do - Susie Suh
03. Vanilla Twilight - Owl City
04. Blue - Troye Sivan Ft. Alex Hope

"I want you, I'll colour me blue. Anything it takes to make you stay."  

EPISODE ONE

Rain on the first day of school, huh?  Hajime thinks. The sky is a darker tinge of grey, and the atmosphere seems too gloomy.

Hajime shuffles on his feet as the puddle of water starts to soak his shoes. He curses under his breath, both because of the rain and how much time has passed since he missed the first bus. Now he has to wait for another good twenty minutes for the next bus to take him to school. He dreads the idea of meeting new people and socializing, but for the sole reason of joining the volleyball club this year, he pushes the unnecessary thoughts aside. He wonders if the captain will warmly welcome him into the club, or proceeds to beating him up for practice. He barely knows the captain. Oikawa Tooru is all that he knows; a name that goes around the campus without flopping, especially with the freshmen girls last year.

He wonders if the world around him remains monochrome this year. The colors are a myth for most of them. They say if you meet someone who's destined for you and hold their hands, the world will burst into color. That's what the romantics have made them believe, and Hajime continues to wonder if the whole absurd concept is actually real. He doesn't care for the most part, but if fate decides to show him the world in color, he will gladly embrace it.

The next bus finally looms into view around the corner. He heaves out a sigh. He glances at his watch. 7:45, the clock indicates. He has about fifteen minutes before the gates close and he'll be marked late on the first day of school. He clambers up the bus when it halts before him, finding his seat in the middle and next to the window. Rain trickles down the glass, racing to the windowsill. He watches the world of black and white in a blur as the bus lulls forward.

The bus arrives at the school at exactly 7:55. Hajime is thankful that the road wasn't clogged with traffic. He nods to the driver as he hops down the exit, hearing the doors behind him make a hissing sound as they close. He walks hurriedly inside the school campus and stumbles upon classmates from his class before. He greets them and waves them off.

He bumps into someone, and he staggers back, almost losing his balance.

"Pardon," the guy says before he can even say a word, "please watch where you're going."

Hajime looks up to see a mop of tousled hair and piercing yet gentle eyes. He must be Tooru. He fights against the urge to recoil before him. He's intimidating, Hajime thinks, unable to utter a word. The volleyball captain seems to sense his uneasiness and waves him off with a smile too bright for a monochrome world. His eyes sparkle even though Hajime doesn't see the colors; he seems to have seen them in the captain's eyes. The bell finally rings and already Tooru is gone. Hajime walks up the stairs shaking off his irritating thoughts.

The day goes by in a blur. Hajime blends in and out of the crowd, paying no attention to the posters of the clubs hung on the walls. He has made up his mind since summer. He's joining the all-glory men's volleyball club of Aoba Johsai High whether or not his parents agree, and whether or not he makes friends inside the club. His mind wanders to the team captain, and thinks about his public façade moments ago. Well, maybe he really has a pleasing personality, and it wasn't a façade, Hajime shakes his head.

Did his eyes really sparkle? Has the team captain met the one destined for him? Is he seeing the colors?

The questions in his mind are restless, and he is unable to tamper them down. His usually quiet conscious mind seems to have gone overdrive. He sighs, focusing on his pace. Just get to the damn bus stop. As he walks up closer to the bus stop, he notices a shadow by the road. He looks up. Tooru is leaning on the pole, seemingly waiting for a bus, too. Hajime pauses in his tracks and pushes his anxiety back down his throat.

"Oh," Tooru straightens up and waves his hand. "It's you."

Hajime jumps nimbly. Me?

"I wasn't really watching when we bumped into each other, too. Guess no one's at fault," Tooru chuckles, an echo of laughter that rivals the sweetest melody he's heard in years.

How does the team captain remember someone from the crowd? How does he remember me?

"Oh," is all Hajime says, too caught up in the moment. "I was in a hurry. I'm sorry."

A brief moment of silence encompasses them.

"You know, the bus doesn't stop where you're standing. It stops here," Tooru points to a space beside him. Hajime is unsure whether to go near him. He fears the team captain will develop a sense of despise towards him, even when he's not doing anything. Why? Why does he intimidate me so much? Why is my heart pounding like this? Hajiime looks into Tooru's eyes again. They dazzle and sparkle like the first time they made eye-contact, as if Tooru exists inside the colors. Hajime breaks eye-contact and walks up beside him. There he stands, and for a moment they fall in silence. He dreads the undeniable fact that he'll be taking the same bus as Tooru.

"I've seen you play volleyball before," the team captain says. Hajime tightens his grip on his shoulder bag, anticipating a following comment from the school's highly respected volleyball captain. "I thought you might want to join the club, Hajime."

Did I hear it right? Does he know my name?

Hajime is silent, deciding against striking a conversation with Tooru. He thinks of it as pointless, and what if the team captain – with very high standards of playing volleyball – is lying? He doesn't want to think about it, but his mind has settled. He swallows hard. "I think I...might join the club this year."

"That's great!" Tooru grins, and suddenly Hajime doesn't want this moment to slip away. You exist inside the colors, Tooru.

The bus finally arrives. Tooru is first to walk inside, then Hajime follows nimbly. Hajime doesn't expect that Tooru will sit beside him, but he does. He pushes himself against the window, avoiding getting close to him as much as possible. Along the journey home, the team captain falls into a deep slumber. His snores aren't loud, and his breathing is deep and calm. He lets himself fall vulnerable beside Hajime.

Hajime risks a quick glance. Even with his eyes closed, he seems to radiate of colors and a light that the world has never seen. Everything he is exists inside the haven of colors. The colors are warm, breathtaking and can never be unseen. The colors shine with a light that not everyone has been graced to see. Hajime wonders if everyone sees Tooru the way that he does.