star of the show ; yachi hitoka

OLD FRIENDS

TIME SKIP - OLD FRIENDS

now that i was an adult, i was a different person. this was the natural process of growing up.

in the past, i made the mistake of staying stagnant, and it fed my selfishness and insecurity. since then, i've grown. my bad habits are something of the past, left in my former memories.

"kagawa!" a high pitched voice called out.

turning my head, i was met with a familiar head of blonde hair. slowly, my lips curled upwards into a soft smile. "hey, mori!" i waved as she approached me.

the blonde moved next to me, linking our arms together. "ready for today's game?" she asked, leading me towards the stadium.

"always!" i responded, matching mori's walking speed.

five years ago, i graduated from karasuno. ever since i rejected yachi, i've made an effort to be a better friend to mori. we started regularly hanging out, even when we went to different colleges. even when we got grown-up jobs.

currently, we were heading toward a v league game. i still keep in contact with some of the volleyball players (mostly sawamura, sugawara, and azumane), and sawamura invited me to come watch the game with a group of karasuno volleyball alumni. apparently, hinata and kageyama (the freak duo that was friends with yachi) play professionally and they're playing against each other today.

as mori and i approached the stadium, i saw sawamura, sugawara, and azumane standing outside. sawamura and sugawara were laughing as azumane looked miserable. they've all grown so much, yet they somehow looked the same. they're still the same boys i met in the gymnasium when i was seventeen.

"hey guys!" i yelled, waving wildly at the group of men.

their smiles grew wider as they waved at mori and i. "how's it going, kagawa-san? it's been a while." sugawara greeted.

"i've been good. it's nice to see you all." i said. mori waved, her other arm still linked with mine. "this is mori naoko, she graduated from karasuno with us. i invited her to watch as well, if that's okay with you all."

"the more, the marrier." sawamura responded.

tanaka and shimizu joined our group, and we headed inside.

-

the game was amazing. hinata and kageyama have improved so much since i saw them last. i could feel the tension between them all the way in the stands.

mori was amazed during the entire match. the first time hinata hit a ball she cried out, "he's so short! how does he do that?" and the rest of the group chuckled knowingly.

after the game, we went down to the court so the former volleyball players could reunite with the current players. mori and i didn't know any of the players, so we stood off to the side. while we were chatting with each other about the game, the blond setter from hinata's team approached mori and started chatting her up. she instantly became entranced at the tall sweaty man, so i walked away from the two. i hoped mori would give the man her number.

as i strolled across the hardwood floor, i spotted familiar blonde locks. i froze in place as i saw yachi hitoka talking to an animated hinata and kageyama. two other volleyball boys from her year were standing next to her, the blond looking annoyed and the freckled man looking distressed.

without realizing it, i was staring. she was beautiful. i hadn't seen yachi since graduation, and my heart hurt at the sight of her. then, brown eyes met my gray ones. my body tensed as we gazed at each other from across the room; it felt like forever.

yachi said something to the group of boys, and they all turn their heads to stare at me too. she then walked away from the group, approaching me slowly.

"hey," yachi greeted, a small smile on her face.

i felt my cheeks get warm (roles reversed from five years ago). "hey," i responded, unsure on what to say. standing in front of yachi, i felt like the same stupid third-year who rejected her.

"i didn't expect to see you here."

"sawamura invited me."

she chuckled. her hair was in a ponytail, but i could tell it was longer. her style was still cute, but more mature; she didn't have a hairclip anymore. "of course he did. he's too friendly."

i nodded, laughing along at her backhanded compliment. "that's true"

an awkward silence fell between us. a normal silence for two people who haven't seen each other in five years.

"how are you doing?" i finally asked. i wanted to say so many things, but that was all i could get out.

"i'm good," yachi shrugged. "i'm about to graduate college, and i'll work at an ad agency in tokyo when i'm done."

"really?"

"yeah, the company said i was one of the best interviews they had in a while."

it was my turn to chuckle. "well, you learned from the best."

"some would argue otherwise..." the blonde teased.

"hey!" i protested, barely masking a smile. slowly, we were falling back into our old, playful rhythm. my grin faded into a small smile. "i also live in tokyo."

yachi nodded, not saying anything. i averted my gaze and watched the old friends around us reconnect. so much history in one room; so much history i'll never know.

i turned back to the woman in front of me. "i think about what happened five years ago all the time."

her face shifted into a frown. yachi glanced over her shoulder at the group of boys still talking about the game. what she didn't realize was that they were glancing at us every few minutes. "i should get back to my friends."

a forced smile was plastered on my face. i rarely cared about masking my emotions anymore, but yachi didn't deserve the brunt of my disappointment. i was the one who hurt her years ago. "me too." i pivoted, praying that mori was done talking to that blond player.

"kagawa-san," yachi called out, making me stop in my tracks. glancing back at the woman, she said, "i'll let you know when i move to tokyo."

my face broke into a grin. "i'd like that."