Stay With Me ✿

Summary: Losing can be almost unbearable. Like a weight that's crushing you with every passing second. But it's so much easier when you have someone there just to stay with you. Shunsuke Imaizumi x OC.

Losing is such a hard thing to deal with.

All of the time, sweat, tears and effort that was accounted for suddenly is lost with the realization that you weren't the best. That there was someone better than you. Sometimes it's so unbearable that even the most experienced athletes break down under the reality of their loss.

That was especially true for Shunsuke Imaizumi.

The first year's head hung low, a cool, damp towel draped around his head, hiding his face from the outside world. He needed to be alone to think, process and accept the loss that he would've sworn would never occur. He didn't have the desire to socialize with anyone right now, friend or foe.

His entire body was tense as he sat in the empty locker room, the feelings of failure and disappointment surging through his lean figure. He brought his two hands together and clasped them tightly, squeezing his fingers within each other as hard as he could.

He was numb, and needed just a small indication that he was still there - that he wasn't in the hell that he believed he was in.

A single tear rolled down the left side of his nose before dangling shortly on the tip and falling onto his sweat drenched Sohoku bike suit. The pattern was repeated as he sat there, almost motionless, his hands flexing and flexing as he silently let out his anger.

He bit his lower lip as he leaned back onto the cool, concrete wall that stood behind him.

All of that time. All of the instances that he pushed himself harder and harder, to a point the's never been before, just gone.

He let out a pained sigh as his fist came down hard on the wooden bench he sat on top of. The last few, adrenaline filled seconds of the race flooded back into his mind.

He was neck and neck with Midousuji, pushing himself to the point where his legs screamed in pain, where his heart felt as if it were about to jump out his throat. But that was what he trained for, to finally beat him, the only person who seemed to beat Shunsuke in everything. His fist came down hard on the bench again, as the tears began to flow more freely from his dark, thin eyes.

He sat there, motionless as the tears continued to fall, his eyes trained on the lockers that lined the wall before him. He remained as still as a rock as the locker room door creaked open before clanging shut just seconds later. The footsteps echoed quietly as they approached him before stopping just a few feet to his right.

Without moving his head, he shifted his eyes to the right of him before they locked onto the gaze of the blue eyes that were so keenly trained on him. He didn't move a muscle as he continued to look into the face of the girl that stood before him.

Her long, blond hair was pulled back into a ponytail that was now loose and slightly messy thanks to the movement it endured. Her dancing, azure eyes matched the blue fabric of her racing suit, the uniform of the school that placed just a spot below them. Her skin was lightly tanned thanks to the constant exposure to the sun. Her rosy pink lips were open slightly, as she took silent deep breaths, showing her exhaustion from the race. She held her white, cycling shoes in her left hand with her helmet in the other.

The link in their gaze remained for just a few silent moments, but it was just enough to convey all the feelings that the other was experiencing.

Shunsuke tore his eyes away, training his gaze back to the lockers before him.