BRILLIANT Y/N. HAIKYUU

chapter fourteen

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chapter fourteen
just keep swimming
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That day at the train station, you only stared at your Mother in goodbye. She did the same, and maybe, to others, this action seemed incredibly cold, and it was, but still, in some strange way, this interaction was warmer than anything else you could have done. If you looked someone in the eye, whether you admitted it or not, you were acknowledging them. She asked you to come back safe, only when you already had your back turned to her. You nodded stiffly, but you couldn't bring yourself to look back at her. Instead, you picked up your suitcase and entered the train and took a deep breath. After you had found your seat, however, you watched your Mother through the window.

You were grateful that she waited for the train to depart before she left.

Days before your departure from the Miyagi prefecture and your graduation from Kitagawa Daichii Junior High, your Mother had became nervous when around you. In truth, it was because she noticed only shortly before you were to leave that you had really changed. She noticed then how your looks had changed, your voice, and your way of talking. She noticed how you were growing up. You would be fifteen soon, and that age, for reasons she couldn't quite comprehend, scared her. She wanted you to stay fourteen forever.

She found that as it was, she could now only recognize you by your sharp eyes and turbulent words, and feared that as soon as you got another year older, you would change even more drastically. No matter how she treated you, it was a fact that you were your Mother's life, her only reason for existing. And if she didn't know you, she would know nothing in this world.

You let out a sigh against the soft seat, leaning backward and resting your head. It would be a somewhat long train ride, and even though you wanted to, you knew full well that you weren't going to get any sleep. There were just too many thoughts swirling around in your head.

Thoughts about your childhood friends, Tooru and Hajime, who you had said goodbye to, but who you would see again. The goodbye to them hadn't said that you wouldn't see each other again, no, in fact, it had spelled out that you would, but when you did, things would be different. You wouldn't be seeing them again as part of a trio, you would be seeing them as someone who was friends with a duo.

Your goodbye to your friend in school, Tobio, on the other hand, had been more final. You weren't sure if you would ever see him again, despite the words spoken. If you did, you would be happy, but if you didn't, it wouldn't destroy you, either.

Nevertheless, you remembered yesterday, the last day of school, somewhat fondly. You told yourself to remember that Kageyama Tobio above anything else.

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Tobio was awkwardly leaning against a lamppost, drinking from his little milk carton. In his left hand, he was holding another one, which he somewhat reluctantly handed to you as he fell into step next to you. You looked up at him with a smile.

"You're walking me home?" you asked quietly.

He nodded once.

And you appreciated it, because you knew he had waited for at least an hour after his volleyball practice, just so that he could walk you home. You knew he wasn't the most patient of people, so this little gesture meant a lot.