ROADSIDE FLOWERS ( t. kageyama )

xxiii. lucky acorns, 1

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roadside flowers.
chapter 23: lucky acorns, 1
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the karasuno vs shiratorizawa match begins. it spans for an entirety of five games. alternating between both of the school's wins. every play is spectacular. every player even more so. it's rough, tense, and almost intimidating. i'm reminded of my love for soft things, but... things like these... passion, once in a while, i realize, isn't so bad afterall.

passion for the things that you have worked hard for, passion for the things that you treasure, passion for the people that you love.

my heart pounds in my chest. the thrill of it all wrapping the tiny muscle in so much exhilaration.

i watch as tobio-kun sets the ball for what they probably hope is their final play for this match. it goes up ever so slowly as all the karasuno members jump in the air. it's as if i can see a murder of crows taking down the giant eagle as number 10, hinata shouyo (that's right, that's his name), slams the ball into the groundd.

the karasuno boys' volleyball team win their match and the gymnasium erupts with cheers. even then, the pounding of my heart refuses to be silenced.

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the evening approaches, hours after the karasuno versus shiratorizawa game. i still feel the thrill running down my spine, my fingers emit small trembles that i cannot calm down no matter how hard i try. i spend the next morning lounged on the living room watching television with a bowl of caramel popcorn on my hand; my mind floats into other places, still clinging unto my memories of the match. aichi finalizes his papers for the scholarship he's planning to apply to in the coffee table.

i take a handful of the popcorn, relishing in the sweetness. the usual nights in our home would usually be spent in our individual rooms, studying or doing or best to get out of our parents' way. i suppose that being able to watch the television is one of the minuscule bits of freedom us kirishima siblings are currently trying.

it's not like the show is anything that would spark unadulterated interest. it's the mundane evening news and the newscaster is currently discussing the weather that's about to dawn on the prefecture tomorrow.

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the next day arrives and i spend the rest of the day with the basketball club. i have decided to do it before we go home.

to; kageyama tobio
sent 04:10 p.m.
-》 hey. congratulations on your win yesterday! i wanted to congratulate you personally, but you seemed so out of it. again, congratulations, tobio-kun :)

i will gather what ever courage i have and hold it close to my chest and i will be brave. i will move forward, i will be strong enough to tell him what i feel. how the way he walks without a care in the world is cool, how he has the most beautiful blue eyes, how i have seen his silliest moments and loved them, how he grins that boyish grin and my heart melts.

i am a lovesick fool and what awaits me is destruction or creation.

i wish it was the latter. i wish it was creating memories with tobio, the two of us, like pieces of a heart fitting perfectly together. i wish it was creating an even deeper bond. i wish it was creating our own versions of love for each other and treasuring it all the same.

i wish it was.

but if it is not, then i am okay too. because i will be brave, i will be strong enough to endure the painful blows of heartache in my chest. i will endure. i will not forget him easily, because i see him in every single thing i do, but but i will try to and eventually, he will just be a tale i will remember during nights when loneliness is creeping on my skin and i will shut my eyelids and there was once a boy i fell in love with during high school and i really did love him so much but he did not feel the same. and it hurt. but i got over it. my fists clench at the prospect and i hope, i wish. to all the falling stars, 11:11, fountain pennies, rainbows, papers hung on bamboos during tanabata, lanters set adrift in lakes, wish plaques, fallen eyelashes, chain mails, please please please please.