daddy issues ; ushijima wakatoshi

twenty-two

staring at her conversation with kuroo, sumiye's phone started to buzz violently in her hand. the contact name surprised her– she wasn't expecting him to contact her so soon.

hitting the green button, the redhead greeted with a "hey."

"hey," a soft voice responded. koshiro reaching out first was rare, and a sign that lena's talk actually worked. sumiye mentally noted to thank lena for stepping in later.

an awkward silence fell between the two teenagers. they both hated saying sorry, which worked out because their friend group rarely argued. when arguments happen to break out, lena usually mediates like the mom friend she is, and it all gets resolved in a few minutes.

"so are you going to talk or should i just hang up?" sumiye questioned after a few beats. if he wasn't going to talk, she'd rather just go back to her homework (being a third-year really wasn't a joke).

"wait!" koshiro exclaimed, panic evident in his tone. some shuffling could be heard from the other side before he continued. "i'm really sorry, sumi. i should've listened to you vent instead of shoving my opinions down your throat. you were upset, and didn't ask for my thoughts– so i shouldn't have given them. i was just being an asshole, sorry."

a sigh escaped past sumiye's lips. hearing koshiro say that familiar nickname brought a smile to her face. at this point, her anger had faded into regret, and the girl was ready for this fight to be over; sumiye missed her friend."it's okay shiro, i know you were just trying to look out for me."

"i'll try to hold back when talking about shima next time."

the boy's empty promise evoked a chuckle out of sumiye. "you and i both know that's a lie."

✿

soon afterwards, koshiro hung up because he hated talking on the phone. sumiye felt better after listening to his apology, as if some of her stress had been relieved.

she then sat staring at her laptop screen bit, all of the redhead's previous motivation escaped her body. "whatever, i can always continue to work on it tomorrow."

before sumiye could shut down her laptop, a notification popped into the corner of her screen. clicking on it, the girl realized it was an email from the front desk of her dorm.

kambedorms@shiratorizawa.edu
dear hashimoto sumiye,

you have a package waiting for you at the front desk. please pick it up when you're available.

sincerely,

kambe dorm staff

sumiye's body visibly slumped at the thought of having to leave her dorm room. today had been draining, in between worrying about koshiro, reflecting on her relationship with kentarō, and dealing with school in general.

swiping her patched jean jacket off a hook near the front door and slipping on her combat boots, the girl decided to just get this over with.

the first floor of the dorms was a student hangout area/longer area. it had a modern but playful design, filled with weirdly shaped furniture and fun colors. in the corner was a small school store that sold late night snacks, school supplies, and shiratorizawa spirit wear. the front desk was what stood between the front door and the elevator.

"hello, i'm hashimoto sumiye." the redhead politely greeted, her resting bitch face settled on her features. although she didn't have the energy to force a small smile, sumiye still kept a polite tone. "i'm supposed to pick up a package."

"can i see your student id please?" the woman on duty asked. her customer service smile was dazzling, making sumiye internally cringe– with all the money shiratorizawa parents paid, the best customer service was expected. the student slid her card across the counter, and the woman stared at it before nodding. reaching from under the desk, the woman produced a brown package. "here you go! all the way from the states; someone must really love you."

"yeah," the redhead mumbled. snatching the package and her id, sumiye sped-walked towards the elevator. the box was small, giving her an idea of what it was.

the girl sat down on the bed, staring at the package. with a frown, sumiye tore through the tape and moved around the protective paper. then, she pulled the tiny object out of the box.

it was a small snow globe. inside was a polar bear surrounded by glaciers, water filled with miniature snowflakes drowning the animal. the outside read "central park zoo". sumiye also pulled out a small postcard that read "new york city, new york".

"so that's where dad is right now." she thought, turning the card over to read the message. her gray eyes recognized that this wasn't her father's handwriting– it was probably his secretary's.

"dear sumiye,

hello from new york. i'm currently away for a business trip, although that doesn't effect you. i hope you enjoy this new snow globe i got from the central park zoo. continue to study hard and make me proud.

sincerely,

your father."

the postcard was almost as formal as the email sumiye received from a complete stranger earlier. staring at the snow globe, the girl shook it gently. with pursed lips, sumiye placed it on the bookshelf with the rest of her collection.

~ ✿~