fate, destiny, & love

24 | assez

24

assez [fr.] — to a sufficient/
moderate extent; fairly

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if kageyama thought that their lunch was awkward, he was gravely mistaken. because, somehow, their current journey back home was even worse than what they had experienced back then: it was completely dead silent, the atmosphere with heavy was so much thick tension that one could cut it with a steak knife, and neither party attempted to make any conversation.

throughout their journey back, he noticed that she seemed tired, but he was unsure whether or not he should offer his shoulder for her to rest on. hence, both of them sat straight in their seats on the train.

this can't continue any longer. i have to say something. but what? he racked his brain for conversation starters, but he could not think of any appropriate topic.

upon nearing the apartment complex, he decided, screw it, i'll just ask her once again to come over on saturday, opened his mouth, and was about to speak when someone interrupted him.

"jie*!"

both of them turned around to see a teenage girl rush towards quqi. she was clad in a navy blazer, a matching skirt, a dark red tie, tall black socks that reached below her knees, and matching black shoes. she had slightly darker skin than quqi, and her forehead was dotted with pimples and acne. she had long, dark brown hair that was tied up into a ponytail, black-rimmed spectacles, and small sharp eyes.

"you've just finished school?" quqi was speaking to this unknown girl in english, and he wondered if she knew this girl. he took a quick glance at the school crest embossed on the top left of her chest, and he did not recognise it at all.

the girl nodded, then turned to kageyama, who quickly snapped his eyes upwards as to prevent any misunderstandings (he was staring at an area which could be easily argued as a suspicious area, after all), and met his gaze. her eyes were focused and nowhere as near as warm as quqi's as she scrutinised him by looking at him up and down. now that he actually looked at her, he realised that this girl was rather tall, since quqi's head only reached her shoulder.

"who's this? is he your boyfriend?" the girl asked, and he understood that, as proven by his cheeks flushing bright red.

"no, i'm her friend," he said in english (all with an accent), then continuing, "who are you?"

"me? i'm her younger sister," the girl said in japanese, her gaze unchanging.

ah, realisation settled in, that's right. huan-san did mention that she has a younger sister before. but... he gulped as her sister's stare was still as sharp as before, i've never thought that she'd be this intimidating. now that he seriously compared both of their faces, they were pretty similar in regards to their face shape, nose shape, and eyebrows.

"kageyama, this is my sister, qiyue," quqi spoke up, "and mei**, this is my friend, kageyama. who happens to be my soulmate." she added the last part after a little pause as she was unsure whether or not it was appropriate to bring it up, but then decided to since who cared, right?

qiyue's focus shifted to quqi as she turned her head to face her older sister, "you've never told me you found your soulmate."

"and that's not important, is it?" quqi replied, then sighed, "let's head on inside."