milk pudding « kozume kenma

chapter twenty || caramel apple

chapter twenty: CARAMEL APPLE

Orange light spilled from the cracks of green leaves on the trees as a group of boys in black jackets and white shirts walked home from school. The idle small talk they made cut through the silence as the smell of convenience store pork buns surrounded them. It was warm and peaceful, the kind of day you could laze around in. A bicycle squeaked against pavement, a crow settled on a branch.

The next generation of the Karasuno Volleyball club was finally at its peak.

Two setters exchanged words of advice and a short middle blocker laughed with a libero next to a wing spiker with a shaved head. The ace and captain simply watched. From now on, they needed to put in all their effort before training camp and the tournaments. But this peace was essential, they all knew it.

A girl with long black hair watched them from a distance at a counter, the silk of her work kimono fell against her skin as a paper fan waved against it. Shizuo Natarii sat at the bathhouse counter calmly, relishing the heat. Her mind drifted away as she gazed upon the boys, memories passing through her.

Three children giggled as ice cream dripped against their fingertips carelessly, the same summer sun above them. A brunette passed her cone to a girl with midnight hair, scrambling up a concrete divider, taking her dessert back. Another girl with strawberry blonde hair — people always said it was peach — followed, passing her ice cream and jumping up with a bit of difficulty. The last one gave back the ice creams, hoisting herself up with them.

It was so stress free back then. So calm. So happy.

Years shot past and they were walking home from school with each other. They could get up easily. They still didn't care about the ice cream on their hands. It was okay. The peach girl looked a little down. The others didn't notice.

This was the first mistake.

Another went by, this time only two came in her line of view. The brunette and black haired girl had worried looks on their faces. Their ice cream was melting. It went in the bin after they opened it. It reminded them of her. They spoke in hushed tones, nervous and scared. Where was the peach girl? They didn't know.

That was a lie.

Some months passed. The peach girl was there this time. Although she was alone. Her face wasn't milky smooth anymore. It was red, purple, black and blue. It didn't suit her. A smile did — happiness did. Where were the other two? She didn't know.

They both did.

A week later, the three were there. It looked okay from afar. But it took just the right pair of eyes to notice what was wrong. They weren't talking. They hugged against each other closely. The brunette was crying. The peach haired girl was sobbing. The black haired girl was heaving in deep breaths. What happened?

Everyone knew this time. Everyone knew.

Not just them.

The next day it was the opposite. Nobody was hugging. The only contact they were making was a small angry comment against another and a lashing tongue back. The brunette was the former. The peach girl was the latter. It came in that order, too. The black haired girl said nothing. They went separate ways.

This was the second mistake.

For the next days, none of them could be seen on the road. One day, they all were. It was a wet early autumn, with rain pouring down. Each girl stood a metre away from each other, waiting for the rain to pass. The black haired girl spoke first. The brunette went second. The peach girl didn't speak. She just fell to the ground and sobbed, while they looked at her.