"two but not two. inseperable."
Kawakami Norifumi and (y/n) have been best friends since they were first year middle school students. they sat next to each other, and while neither of them were loud or extroverts, they both had a desire to make friends. at least one friend would do. so that's what they did.
they did everything together. she went to all his games and he went to as many of her performances as he could. she always told him that his own games took priority, so he reluctantly missed a couple performances for his games.
(y/n) couldn't imagine a world without him. so that's why she was heartbroken when she found out he went to a high school all the way in Tokyo.
"Nori i'm so happy for you!" she said when he told her the news. "you're going to conquer nationals with a strong team, i just know it."
although her heart was breaking, she wouldn't tell him. he deserved to go to Seidou. it's been what he's wanted since he started junior high. who was she to hold him back?
so that spring, in the break between school years, (y/n) spent as much time with Nori as she could. she was going to miss him. badly. she didn't tell him she didn't want him to go. tell him that she truly wanted him to stay here with her. it was selfish of her, and she hated that that was how she felt.
when he had to leave for Seidou, a whole week before school began, it really hit (y/n) just how lonely she would be without Nori.
sure, she had other friends. but she wasn't close with them and certainly wouldn't ask them to eat lunch with her.
she was saying goodbye to him on a windy Sunday afternoon. the cherry blossoms were in full bloom, and they littered her hair and on her shoulders shortly before blowing away in the wind.
(y/n) had to stay strong. don't cry was on a constant loop in her head. she handed Nori a box- it was his parting gift.
in it was a plain pale blue baseball cap. "i believe in you." was written in it, and inside the hat was a bag of his favourite candy and a small pocket sized picture of them together. in the picture she was on Nori's back, both were smiling widely as snow fell around them.
it had been taken on a happy winter day. and now she gave it to him on a windy, sad spring day.
"conquer nationals, Nori. i'll be watching," she told him. (y/n) tried to smile, but it was strained and her eyes finally overflowed with the tears she's been holding in since he was invited to Seidou. "i'm just a phone call away. call me if you have any problems."
her words were too kind for someone who was crying, Nori thought. his face contorted and he frowned deeply. his chin started to wobble and his cheeks puffed out in an attempt to not cry.
"why didn't you tell me you didn't want me to go?" he asked slowly, willing the tears away.
"because i have no right to hold you back. i know you, Nori; for better or for worse. you need to go to Seidou. its your future. not mine. my school's here." still, her words were too kind for a girl with tears streaming down her face.
"the Tokyo bound train is now boarding," came an announcement.
"that's me," Nori said. if he spent one more minute looking at (y/n), he was going to start bawling.
