ROADSIDE FLOWERS ( t. kageyama )

xxiii. lucky acorns, 2

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roadside flowers.
chapter 23: lucky acorns, 2
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mai wasn't pleased when i told her mother's decision to move to hokkaido and up until now she's still sulking.

"do they even play sports there?" she grumbles into her pillow, swiping across her phone for any relevant know hows in hokkaido.

"mai, the prefecture's not that different from miyagi," i tell her.

"i know," she says, "but it's still going to be difficult. i mean it's the middle of the academic year! how am i supposed to leave all my responsibilities in school behind?"

"mai..." i say her name softly. "i know it's going to be difficult, but we'll have each other, okay?"

she shakes her head. "how can you be fine with this? kageyama-san from next door is going to be so far."

i've already settled that in my mind. "it's okay," i tell her, but she still doesn't change the sour expression painting her face.

"no it's not, i can't watch all my favorite teams, i'll have to leave all my friends behind and..." she says and lets the tears in her eyes escape. "and i couldn't even watch the shiratorizawa match! they even lost!"

if eniko were here she would have calmly explained things to mai. she would comfort my sister and make her see things from our perspective. i know that i'm not eniko. that doing the preceding things prove to be difficult for me, but i can do this.

"mai..." she looks up at me. "if you want to watch the match that badly, i'll find recordings. if you still want to be kept up on the volleyball matches, i'll find a way to get all the video recorders. and for shiratorizawa, they may have lost now, but they're a powerhouse school. more and more people will continue to flock to them. they'll continue to get stronger."

"and if you want, we can watch the recordings later, let me just talk to my friend, okay?"

she eyes me for a couple of minutes, still contemplating on my offer. i can see the brilliant gleam in her eyes again, they compliment the gems that serves as centerpiece for her hair embellishments. she begins wiping her tears. my sunshine of a sister.

"i'll buy you that cinnamon bun from that bakery you really like."

the gleam in her eyes become even brighter, i swear it's almost blinding. "the one near the station?"

i nod my head yes. "and i'll buy you vanilla milkshake to go with that."

mai gives me a haughty look. "fine," she says, refusing to meet my eyes, but she slowly turns her head towards me. "but your crush really is going to be far away, you know."

i smile as response.

tobio-kun is going to be far away from me. i know that. hokkaido and miyagi are far apart and even when i spend my summer in akita, there are still kilometers of space between the two of us. i went to karasuno because i wanted to spend my high school days with him, but it seems as if fate has another thing planned out for us.

i have encountered so many losses, built up so much bridges and destroyed so many walls that i cannot afford to cower again. if my love doesn't fade over the passage of time...

i'm never letting go of him again.

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"go shiratorizawa!" mai yells as ushijima wakatoshi scores the first point for the game.

"isn't he awesome?" she asks with glitter eyes.

"i-i suppose," is my unenergtic answer. i was impressed when i watched the match, but knowing what's going to happen really puts a damper on my mood.