SUPERMARKET FLOWERS ( t. oikawa )

02 | the worthless cycle

WHITE HEATHERS SPILL FROM THE PORCELAIN VASE AND MANA CAN'T STOP LOOKING AT IT. It's Monday tomorrow and she just wants to stay in the comforts of her bed, beneath the silk sheets and the fluffy pillows.

She bought the flowers yesterday, they're still alive now. She likes to look at beautiful things, like the way they make everything around them pleasant.

She rolls over, eyes now fixed to the clock next to the lampshade next to her bed. It vaguely reads quarter to five in the morning. She doesn't have an alarm, Mana always wakes up early.

She has no chances of conducting the clumsy heroine who has a piece of toast stuck on her mouth entrance.

Mana hates being late. She's always early and when she arrives at school, the people inside it can be counted. She's specially early today. A visit is planned; the girl's soccer team which Mana is helping out for today is going to Karasuno High School for a practice match.

Their manager, a girl so short you'd mistake her for an elementary school girl has asked Mana to help out. The girl is Mana's classmate and she likes Mana. With Mana being one of the few people who actually identified her as a high school student.

She does her morning rituals: eat breakfast, take a bath, select a book to bring to school and mutter prayers to her deceased family.

She walks all the way to school since it helps her exercise. She doesn't have the perfect physical stature but Mana is healthy and she intends to keep it that way.

The same friendly neighbor watering her lawn greets her, with that same smile, the same bickering couple and their crying children, the same street thugs who greet her with a raucous 'Good Morning' and tell her to be good if she doesn't want her to end up like them.

Even the birds chirping by the dead branches of the gigantic oak tree seemed more of a dull routine now.

Overhead the clouds dance past the sun, sometimes blocking the rays allowing her to feel just a bit of cool; sometimes it's the shade of the trees doing that for her, cherry blossom trees and willows creating archways over the stone pavements.

"Good morning," Mana greets Iwaizumi. The boy is as punctual as he is decent. The school is almost empty, save for a few people and one of those people is Seijoh's ace.

"Good morning," the taller boy says. "You're early as always."

"Same to you too," she replies as they walk side by side. They continue to converse, their topics ranging from the weather to current happenings in their lives. Iwaizumi is as considerate as ever, making sure to avoid mentioning Oikawa.

Mana appreciates it, but she knows. Sooner or later, she's bound to cross paths with him. Aoba Johsai may be a big school, but when you're taking the same paths and the same year, you're bound to meet.

They separate in the hallways, with Iwaizumi's classroom being on the left wing of the building. It's a breathe of fresh air knowing that Oikawa is not here yet.

Mana bites her lower lips, grey eyes looking dumbly at the entryway to the classroom. It's the same as usual, void of people. She's the first to arrive as always. She places her phone on top of her table while she gets the book she brought. It's to remind her of her meeting with the soccer club.

The book smells and feels new, its pages untouched, its stories yet to unfold. Mana bought this one recently, it's an English book, but no matter she manages to read it with only the tiniest of difficulties.

And its overall theme is horror.

She wonders, in a random trail of thought, if her life is a horror story.