fate, destiny, & love

50 | sin al fine

50

sin al fine [it.] — up until the end

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quqi and nakajima left after finishing their lunch to make haste back to campus for their next class, leaving kageyama and erika alone at the table.

kageyama fiddled his thumbs together under the table, unsure of what to say. with quqi's revelation a few days ago, he was unsure of what would be the appropriate conversation starter.

however, he did not need to worry, for erika was the one who broke the silence, "so how does it feel like to date someone?"

kageyama blinked. erika was looking at him with such excitement and anticipation, it was difficult for him to believe that she had a crush on him, because which person would look so excited talking about their crush's dating life?

"it's nice," his gaze softened and his lips turned upwards into a smile, "it's nice to share a part of yourself with the person you like."

erika froze. in all her nineteen years of life, she had never seen such a gentle look on her friend's face before. she took a breath and grinned, "well, care to go on a walk with me and tell me all about it?"

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the january air was chilly. it was not skin-bitingly cold, but it was cold enough to give goosebumps to the people on the streets who were not covered enough. erika rubbed her gloved hands together and blew warm air on them, hoping to ease the chill that was slowly seeping into her fingers when kageyama took his scarf off and wrapped it around her neck.

"where's your scarf?" he asked as he tied a loose knot on his scarf that was now snugly wrapped around her neck.

"i left my dorm in a rush, so i left it behind," she replied with a sheepish smile.

"you should start taking better care of yourself, dumbass," he mumbled, "this stupid habit of yours is gonna get you a frostbite someday."

"well, you'll always be there to give me your scarf, anyway," she said breezily as she skipped on a few steps ahead.

she was met with silence, so she turned around to observe his face. a frown was already in place on his face, and his hands were already jammed deep in his coat pockets. it was as though he was against this idea of him having to take care of her for the rest of their lives.

or, does he hate the fact that i like him?

she let out a bark of laughter, "geez, i was only kidding, kage-kun!" there was an awkward pause before she added, "you won't be here all the time to take care of me, but you'll definitely be there sometimes... right?"

"i'll be there to support you as a friend," he said as he took two large strides to catch up to her.

"that's comforting enough," she tilted her head upwards to lock gazes with him, then gave him a small smile, "thank you, kage-kun."

silence hung in the air as the pair travelled back to campus, with the only sounds being heard were the taps of their footsteps against the hard gravel, the whirs of passing vehicles, and the gentle chatter of distant people walking by. the two soon approached the main gate and erika halted in her footsteps, and kageyama stopped right beside her.

"we're still... good, right?" he asked awkwardly, staring at her head, which was facing the path ahead of them.

there was a brief moment of contemplative silence, and he could pretty much see the ellipsis in the thought bubble hanging above her head.

she looked up and over her shoulder to make eye contact with him as she nodded, "of course."

his eyes zeroed in on the slightly upset ghost of a smile on her lips, but chose not to comment on it, opting to say something else entirely.

"i have to leave for practice now," he said, "but i'll see you around."

"see ya, kage-kun! don't strain yourself!" she said in a bright and cheery voice as he jogged on ahead, leaving her standing at the gate.

while he had assumed that they were alright, it was an entirely different picture in her eyes: he had left their friendship bleeding on the pure-white january snow.

she frowned and turned away, biting her lower lip. if they could not take their relationship further, then there was no use for one in the first place.

or... a small smirk appeared on her lips as she made her way towards the music block, maybe there's another way to make that happen.