Silver Lining

I'll Be There

Her parents had been fighting again. This time, not even the walls were able to block their loud voices and the constant shattering of objects. An hour after the fight and she felt like she could still hear them screaming. A loud bang from upstairs suddenly made her jolt. Her father was probably going to sleep in the attic again.

She was getting tired of this. So very tired. She clutched the sheets tightly as she tried to calm herself.

She reached into her bag absent-mindedly and thought of calling him just so she could hear something else. She scrolled through her contacts and when she spotted him, she stared at the screen for a very long time. Somehow, seeing his name made her feel comfortable and secure. Out of impulse, she clicked on his number to give him a call. She waited after four short beeps before it went into voice-mail.

‘Midorima here. I’m busy. Leave a message.’

She sighed. It was so typical of him to be so curt and direct. “Hi there,” she said softly but loud enough for him to hear. For a second, she didn’t seem to know what she called him for. “I don’t really know why I called,” she admitted with a weary chuckle. “I mean, we’ll just see each other tomorrow at school. I guess I just wanted to know how you were doing—“

A brief beeping sound interrupted her.

“Yeah?”

She paused and found herself clutching the phone to her ear a little bit more tightly. She didn’t know what it was in his voice that suddenly made her weak. She threw the thought aside and thought that even if it’s just for him, it’s enough to appear strong.

“What is it?” his voice brought her back and she realised from the slight harshness in his tone that he must’ve been in the middle of basketball practice. He was always so grumpy and cold, but somehow, she couldn’t help but smile.

“I’m sorry if I interrupted you,” she said in a low voice.  “I...realized that you might be in the middle of practice...”

Midorima didn’t speak for a few seconds. The silence on the other end made her somewhat uneasy and she closed her eyes to ease her nerves. She didn’t know why, but not hearing his voice somehow made the air so vacant yet...suffocating. Please speak, she thought.

“Are you alright?” he said after a few moments. She felt the warmth in his voice, and she suddenly felt the tears stinging her eyes once again.

“I’m fine,” she said, almost in a whisper. “I just thought that I wanted to see you tonight, and then I realized you were busy so...it’s alright.”

“But we just saw each other this afternoon.”

“Yes, I know. It was stupid of me. I shouldn’t have called.”

She heard a soft sigh on the other of the line along with a ball dribbling. “Is there anything else?”

She knew that there was going to be a big game in the next three days, so she understood why he was being so urgent. “No, no, it’s fine,” she trailed off, her voice slightly quivering. She bit her lip and tightened her grip a bit more. The last thing she wanted was to make him worry.

There was silence on his part once again, only the sound of the dribbling ball filled the air. She knew he wasn’t used to words of endearment or this kind of conversations, so she was used to these awkward pauses and just smiled.

She somehow missed the quickness at which he had answered her call in spite of being busy.

“Sorry again for bothering you. I guess I should hang—“

“You know you just have to tell me if you want to have a talk.”

She tried to mask her emotions with a fake chuckle, but she knew she couldn’t fool him. It sounded phony even to her. “It’s OK, really. Just hearing your voice was enough.”

He chuckled softly, the dribbling of the ball suddenly coming to a halt.

“It isn’t, is it?” he said in a curt manner, but something from his tone made her think that he must’ve been smiling knowingly.

“What?” she asked; a confused expression on her face. She heard what was perhaps a bag being zipped and some slight movement on the other end.

“Wait for me; I’ll be there. Hold your tears while you still can, alright?”