- fight or flight

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— there's no point in thinkingthis over but my mind alwaysliked to blabber and overthink

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— there's no point in thinking
this over but my mind always
liked to blabber and overthink.

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( y / n )

I STRETCHED MY ARMS as i studied the canvas filled with cool tones which painted a picture of the beach. a smile made its way to my lips as i let out a sigh of relief. i was almost done with this project wherein we had to paint a landscape that we found peace in. in my case, i decided to paint the beach.

just something about the ocean waves hitting the rocks and coating the sand with water felt like music to my ears. despite the excited chatter of people of all ages, i still managed to feel at ease at the said place. no matter what anyone says– it's relaxing to me and i hoped my art teacher would give me a passing grade for it.

the sound of the sliding door opened, creating a slight screech which caused my fight or flight senses to activate. i was always jumpy in nature since barely anyone made an effort to talk to me– a minor setback in my plan when i graduated middle school as i had expected to make many friends.

as i whipped my head to find out who the unsuspecting culprit would be, my eyes widened upon seeing a head of navy blue hair and sparkling sapphire eyes that held curiosity; kokomi teruhashi.

i felt a thin sheet of sweat coat my forehead, wondering why the goddess herself would bother with a background character like me. either she would come up to you if she has a favor to ask or to simply bless you with her presence (in most cases, it's both). "the teacher asked if you were going home anytime soon; they wanted me to check up on you, l/n." although there was a slight hesitation when she said my name, as if she was unsure if that was my name, i didn't think much of it.

"has it been that long?" i mumbled to myself, shocked. i glanced at the windows, curtains parted so the sunlight from earlier would be my light source, though, the sky only had a mix of warm colors consisting of orange, yellow, and a bit of pink if you squint enough. teruhashi smiled, "yes, it's been a long time– oh!" the goddess suddenly exclaimed, her eyes observing my painting.

"this is very pretty, l/n!" she complimented, stepping closer to observe it some more. i could see another glint of emotion in her eyes but it was difficult to decipher. feeling my face heat up, i bashfully rubbed the back of my neck, "thank you. that means a lot coming from you." i blurted out, feeling even more embarrassed i had said something that praised her. while praising teruhashi seems like a normal thing, saying it where only she could hear it was embarrassing.

"is this what you're handing off for the art exhibit?" i nodded, the embarrassment from a few seconds ago subsiding. "it took me weeks to do. i almost immediately started working on it as soon as the teacher assigned it." placing my thin paint brush on the murky colored water container in the plastic cup with the rest of the paint brushes, teruhashi hummed at my statement. "well, it's very pretty! i'm surprised someone like you isn't very well known in our class." she frowned, as if pitying me.

"aha, well, i don't really like the attention." i suppose i was– somewhat – well known in the class for being extremely talented in art to the point where they would ask me to be their partner other than teruhashi when it's an art related project. standing up from the stool, i stretched my back and cracked the joints on my elbows as well as my knuckles and fingers, feeling satisfied at the sound it emitted.

i looked back and saw teruhashi still standing there, "oh, um," my eyes darted to the floor, finding it much more interesting than my pretty classmate. "tell the teachers i'll be leaving right now and that i'll just be cleaning up the mess." the 'mess' in question, being my palette and a few paint splatters on the floor and on my hands. the navy haired girl nodded in understanding and bid a farewell, leaving the classroom with the door open.

how considerate.

she saw that my painting materials were too much that i needed to use both my hands and if i did do that, i wouldn't be able to open the sliding door.

a ghost of a smile made its way to my lips as i carried my materials, making my way to the girl's bathroom where i washed the items. i furrowed my eyebrow as the dried up paint from months was too stubborn to be scrubbed off. sighing in annoyance, i left my mind wander off to hours earlier during class– it was around 8:50 and we were all seated in our class, the teacher assigning our seats.

i frowned when i accidentally knocked over my eraser while doodling on my notebook. retrieving the stationary, i was surprised to see a head of pink hair appear in front of me. was he always there? how come such a unique hair color went unnoticed by me? it was very noticeable. as if reading my thoughts, the boy turned around to look at me. i quickly went back to drawing on the edge of my notebook, listening in on the conversation of him and his friends– though it did appear one sided where nendou would be babbling and he would listen (at least, i think he was).

strange. i feel like i've seen that hair color at least once in my life. his name was at the tip of my tongue too– i think it's-

"saiki!"

i snapped out of my trance only to find out that the water had been running this entire time while i flashbacked to the hours earlier. closing the tap and shaking the palette a bit to rid it of some water, i walked back to the art room to place my palette and painting materials in my other bag.

after a few minutes of finishing up and draping a cloth over the canvas carefully, i hummed in satisfaction and walked out of the school building, meeting the same head of pink hair from earlier. i stumbled back a bit, surprised to see him still in school. i thought i was the only one in the building as of now.

"hello?" i questioned, waving my hand slowly. he turned to face me and didn't say anything. instead, nodded and walked away. although he felt familiar, he is still a stranger to me so that interaction gave off an impression that he wasn't one for small talk. while he's odd, he could've just got out of the building just like me. there's no point in thinking this over but my mind always liked to blabber and overthink.

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"fight or flight, i'd rather lie than tell you i'm in love with you."

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