concealed - tooru oikawa

eight.

the sky had fallen dark and you were just heading back to your apartment, alone.

you spent the rest of your afternoon walking around and sitting on public benches in thought. you got mad easily, yes. but you would never lash out on your father like that. you tried to suppress a feeling of sadness inside of you but you couldn't.

a sudden roar from your stomach echoed, "maybe a bite won't hurt," you remarked, changing your route to a food store instead.

you travelled further downhill, stopping at a store named sakanoshita market.

you walked through the automatic doors with your hands tucked away in your blazer's pockets. the night here in miyagi was surprisingly cold. back in the underworld, the nights were still slightly warm. upon entering, a few pairs of eyes stared at you.

you blinked in confusion before deciding to enjoy the spotlight. you looked through some aisles, picking up and examining certain snacks you had never seen before.

"hey, isn't that the girl that collapsed on kuroo?" a joyful voice called aloud. you looked in the direction of the voice. there sat four first years on a table. the one who mentioned you had orange messy hair.

"don't speak so loudly idiot, she heard you," the black haired male advised in a grouchy tone. they all stared at you, bewildered.

"yeah. i did," your eyes narrowed. you didn't mean to come off as in a bad mood but let's be honest, you were in a horrible one. your search for some food continued, stopping at the hot foods section.

"she's kuroo's cousin i was told. that's funny, they kind of look alike," another snickered. your eyebrows twitched as you ordered one hot corndog. i look nothing like that idiot! the man who served you had bleached blonde hair and wore a black headband. he sorta looked like a gangster than an convenience store worker.

after giving twice the amount of money for the corndog, you overheard their conversation more.

"but where did she even come from. she scares me," the one boy with glasses referred to you. you stomped towards the table, hitting the blonde behind the head. you took a bite out of your dinner for the night aggressively.

"if you got something to say, say it to my face," you grumbled through gritted teeth. the boy slowly crooked his head to face you but with a smirk.

"if only you could see the look on your face right now," he began to laugh along with his dark green haired friend. you glared at him next. what the hell is this avocado skin haired guy laughing at?!

"hey, is it true your cousins with kuroo?" the young boy with ginger hair asked.

"yeah, it's true," you lied while chomping down on your corndog again.

the glasses guy leaned his head back to look at you, "wow, i almost feel sorry for kuroo."

you flared at that, pulling the corndog out of its paper bag fully and shoving it in the male's face.

the rest of the table covered their mouths to hold in their laughs. the blonde coughed, opening his eyes to see nothing but ketchup dripping on the outside of his glasses.

"do you never shut up? holy shit, you're annoying," you growled with downturned eyebrows. then, you stormed outside of the market. you felt like there were rainclouds circling around your head.

great! my dinner's gone to waste!

you sighed while sitting on the concrete curb outside of the store. your feet rested on the road below while your elbows sat on top of your knees, holding your head up.

you felt lonely.

like a piece of you was missing.

unable to keep your hands and feelings to yourself, you felt stressed. you wish you weren't so short tempered all the time. all that does is just push people away from you.

suddenly, you heard the automatic doors open and footsteps quickly come towards you. expecting the shit-talking glasses wearing freak, your eyes met with the freckled boy.

"hey," he breathed in shortly, "uh. i wanted to say um... sorry for tsukishima's behaviour," he looked down at the curb, holding his hands together. you looked back to the road, nodding as you gestured to the empty spot beside you.

the boy got the message and gently sat beside you, keeping a little distance. "that's sad how you have to apologise for him. what's your name?" you wondered, turning back to gaze into his worry filled eyes. the glimmer of the streetlights reflected in his dark brown orbs. the boy looked so innocent in that moment.

"it's uh, tadashi yamaguchi. i just wanted to say he didn't mean what he said. he can be sort of sour sometimes but he's a good guy when you get to know him," he averted his eyes to the road, watching cars whizz by, "also, i've seen you with kiyoko and yachi before so no need to introduce yourself. i have a... question for you, if that's okay."

— "go on."

"why are you out at this time? don't you think its a little late for a girl like you-ah! not because your a girl but y-ya know, it's late i..." he sighed looking down, "sorry."

a small generous smile grew on your face, "it's okay i understand," you giggled reassuringly. yamaguchi was kinda cute with a sweet intentioned heart, "i just went for a stroll then ended up here, that's all," you stood up with a small groan. then you held out a hand to ruffle the younger's hair softly, "tell your big friend i told him to stop ordering you around, otherwise i'll murder him. you're... nice."

yamaguchi looked up at you with thoughtful eyes, opening his mouth to say something but you whisked away. it was too cold outside and you wanted to take a steaming shower back in your apartment.

%%

upon entering your apartments building, you saw iwaizumi standing beside the landlord, talking to her.

"goodnight hajime!" you teasingly yelled on your way up the stairs to your room. you knew he hated whenever you called him that. and just hated when you talked to him in general.

the male threw his hands up in defence as his grandmother gave him a suspicious look.

%%
eight. fin