Dazy Nights - A Bartender!Hawks Series

Part 5: Starry Nights

A new semester of her third year at university ushered in the hope of prosperity. It was a blessing to have been able to go back home after her last semester and just pretend that she was actually normal. The smell of home cooked food, the feeling of sleeping in her own bed, and the sounds of her family moving around her house once the sun rose made her realize how much she missed not having any problems. Especially having none of them follow her.

Within the months of being on her own at university, and then coming home made her learn that what had happened was her mistake. She had known better than to mess around with the boys' feelings, she really had. It was wrong of her to have led on Keigo (because that really was what was going on between them) for as long as she did. It was even worse to have cheated on Dabi, to have lied about the feelings she had for Keigo when they came up. All of her reflection made her look at herself in the mirror to feel disappointed and disgusted by what she saw. Some mistakes really shouldn't be forgiven.

So in her eyes, it was nothing short of a miracle that Dabi picked up the phone to call her during the summer break. After what she did to him, all she could think about was him passing her on campus as if she was a ghost. Her hour long apology that she presented was accepted with a lot of tears from the both of them; she promised him that she would never do it to anyone ever again and he willingly believed her. Miraculously, they were on good terms. He wasn't ready to do a relationship with her again, or anyone for that matter and that was perfectly fine. There was a mutual understanding that they valued their education right now before anyone else. Being study buddies with Dabi was a lot more than she deserved in her opinion. But it settled a lot of anxiety into her heart and soul to know that he didn't hate her, and even wanted to be a friend.

Keigo on the other hand...she hadn't seen him since the night she told him that she wanted nothing from him. She made it evident that her head would stay in her books and if she wanted a drink, she would buy cheap liquor from the corner store and have it in her dorm room. The last place she had left him had been when he watched her walk into her building. It was the last she saw of him for eight months. There were rumours floating around after the fiasco though, ones she tried not to listen to, but held her ear open despite her better judgement.

He hadn't quit Dazy Nights surprisingly, but apparently it was bad for him after the stunt that he pulled. People murmured that he had been suspended for a few weeks. Some had said he looked like he didn't even care about possibly losing his job in the first place. Others wondered why he would even dare show up for work the next day after all that he did. If Keigo wasn't such a well liked employee, she knew he would have been fired the moment the manager saw him.

She tried to convince herself that it didn't matter much. She didn't go back to Dazy Nights after what had happened. Eventually even her friends knew that if they wanted to go out, it would have to be a different bar. There was not a single reason that she would step into a place that she knew Keigo was going to be at. Was she running away from her problems? Yes, she totally was. It plagued her mind some nights until she screamed into her pillows and took a melatonin tablet to lull her to sleep. All of that time and energy that she would have put into Keigo, she rammed onto her second semester. The pride of pulling the highest GPA that she ever had in her university career was enough to convince her that she had made the right choice.

When she got to campus in September for the beginning of her third year, it was like being exiled and finally being allowed to come home. She said hello to her roommate, packed away her belongings as she did every term and laid on a freshly made bed to just think. It was a new year. Whatever happened in the past needed to stay there. There was no time for tears over men or women or anyone in particular. Those would be saved for assignments. This was time for school and to make better memories with her wonderful friends who she couldn't wait to see.