June has been the worst month this year so far. I can't write ANYTHING worth crap and I'm still terribly behind on English and Science. My only consolation is that I had a fabulous youth retreat last weekend.
Chapter 3 of Heartburn is on its way, and I've planned several KnB OC's. On the other hand, I've also been busy with Haikyuu (I've already rewatched it twice), and so yeah. Not sure if this is a Tsukishima/OC or not, it's kind of a brother/sister relationship. Anyway, long story short, I was listening to Ayano's Theory of Happiness, and this happened.
Also, I've only started the manga, so I don't know much, but I do know that Kei has an older brother called Akiteru. I didn't put him in here because I don't know anything about him, and it would make the story a bit different.
BLEH. Let me tell you, this monster was a pain to write. It's 31 pages in all and I am EXHAUSTED. But it's been worth it, and Kei's been fun to write ;) Hope you enjoy it!
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if it doesn't succeed the first time, try, try again
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The boy her family had adopted is not at all what she expected.
He's her age, for one, and about two centimeter taller than her. He's not the cuddly, sweet brother she'd always wanted. He's scowling, looking down at her, and and his expression is the exact opposite of happy.
Haruno Sayako has always wanted a little brother. An affectionate, cheerful little brother.
Not a cold-hearted, sullen boy.
"Sayako is three months older than you, but you two were born in the same year," explains Mother. "She'll be your big sister from now on, okay?"
A slight inclination of his head. A nod, maybe?
"I-I-I'll do my best!" Sayako says, determined. "I promise to be a good big sister!"
"Che," says Kei, looking away. "I hate hot-blooded people."
The way he's looking dismissively down at her makes her flinch but she clenches her teeth and ignores it.
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"It's okay if you don't want to call me onee-chan," Sayako tells Kei as she helps him unpack. "Sayako or Saya is good. Or Saya-nee, if you want. Sayaka-nee-chan is a bit long, but that's fine as well."
"Please put that on the table, Haruno-san," Kei replies.
Sayako frowns, almost disheartened, but she perks up soon.
"Ah, you like music?"
She holds up a pair of headphones.
"I do, too! What artist do you listen t - "
"Don't touch that!" Kei barks, making her falter.
With trembling hands, Sayako puts the headphones down.
"Sorry," she murmurs.
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Sayako tries her best.
She really does.
"Kei!" she calls. "Are you ready? We're going to school now!"
Kei appears at the top of the stairs, pulling on his school blazer.
"It's our first day at middle school!" Sayako says. She can't help but keep the spring out of her step. Her hand goes to the ribbon on her chest - it's the first time she's ever worn a sailor uniform.
She's so excited she could explode.
Kei is the complete opposite.
"Why are you so noisy today?" he snaps, narrowing his eyes.
"I can't help it," she retorts. "And besides, you're excited, too, aren't you?"
As a reply, Kei pulls the headphones over his ears.
Pressing her lips together, Sayako turns forward.
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"Kei!" she calls at the door of the classroom. "Class is over! Let's go home!"
"Wow, a cute girl!" one of the boys say in admiration. "Tsukishima, is that your girlfriend? I didn't know you had a girlfriend! How nice ~ I wish I had a girlfriend as pretty as yours…"
"She's not my girlfriend," Kei says shortly.
"Then who is she?" the boy persists.
Kei pulls the strap of his bag over his shoulder.
"No one, really."
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She takes him home everyday, even waiting when it's his turn to clean the blackboard.
"Why do you even bother?" a classmate mutters to her. "Tsukishima's so mean! Why do you like him so much?"
"He's my little brother," Sayako replies. "And besides, I think he's actually really sweet."
"I'm done," Kei says, walking out of the classroom.
"Hey, wait for me!" Sayako protests, sprinting after him.
"Honestly," the classmate huffs. "It's a lost cause, Haruno-san!"
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"Happy birthday, Kei!"
Sayako bursts into his bedroom, to see a rolled-up Kei, with only the top of his head visible. She ruffles his fluffy bedhead, grinning.
"I got everything ready! Come on!"
Fumbling with his glasses, Kei's not even given a moment of time before Sayako pulls him out of bed and down the stairs. Still in his striped pajamas, he's rushed to the dining table, where a pile of presents sit waiting for him.
"Sit down! Sit down!"
Sayako forces him into a chair, thrusting an elaborately wrapped box in his face.
"Open it, Kei!"
Her smile is so big she looks like the sun.
Reluctantly, Kei opens it, to see a large stegosaurus stuffy stare back at him.
"What is with your obsession with dinosaurs?" he says, roughly shoving it back into its box.
"They're cute!" Sayako says defensively. "And they're really cool! I like stegosauruses the best. This one's called Hotaru. You know, firefly? Like you?"
"Well, you can keep it." Kei stands up abruptly. "I don't want it."
Sayako grabs his wrist.
"W-Wait! You haven't opened the other presents yet!"
With one quick flick, he shakes her off.
"I'm going back to bed."
He doesn't see the tears that well up in Sayako's eyes.
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"Kei?"
It's evening. Kei takes off his headphones, turning around as Sayako enters the room.
"Knock next time, please," he says.
She shrugs it off.
"You don't have to like your presents," she says, "but at least eat your cake."
"Cake?"
Now Kei really looks suspicious, and Sayako feels an urge to say that she has no desire to poison him.
"Your favourite is strawberry shortcake, right? I made some for you."
She put the plate on his desk, a slice of cake surrounded by fluffy whip cream layered between slices of strawberry sitting next to a fork.
"I hope you like it!" she says quickly, and runs out of the room.
Even though she rushes out, Kei can clearly see the bandages wrapped around her fingers.
Rolling his eyes, he scoops up a forkful of cake and takes a bite.
He promptly spits it out.
It tastes like salt.
Screwing up his face in disgust, he starts pushing it away, but for some reason, he hesitates. With a grunt, Kei eats every last crumb of the cake, cursing Sayako's cooking skills.
"Happy birthday, huh," he says to himself.
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"I'm joining the volleyball club!" she says to Kei one day.
Looking very disinterested, he sticks his hands into his pockets.
"So?"
"I won't be able to walk you home on practice days," she says apologetically. "I know you know the way home well already, but I'll miss doing that."
No response.
"Kei?"
He gives her a sour stare.
"What?"
"Come watch my practice one day, okay?"
"Huh? Why?"
Sayako flexes her arm confidently.
"I'll show you what your onee-chan is capable of, that's why!"
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She finally convinces him to come one day. And it makes her ridiculously happy.
"My little brother is coming to watch practice today!" she beams to her captain. "I can't wait! It took me so long to convince him, and he finally said he would!"
"He is, huh?" the captain spins a volleyball in her hands. "Well, don't get too distracted, Sayako. We have a big game next week, and we need to concentrate."
"Will do!"
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He doesn't show up.
"Eh? I thought you said your brother was going to come watch practice," one of the girls says.
"He did, but…"
"Oh, is your brother Tsukishima Kei?"
Another girl looks at Sayako.
"Yes," Sayako says.
"I saw him going home after class," she says. "Are you sure he said he was going to come?"
"Yes."
Sayako's bottom lip trembles.
"Maybe it was just a misunderstanding," she says. "It's all right."
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"You didn't come to my practice today," she says to Kei at dinner.
"What?" he says.
"Well, it's okay if you forgot! I have a game next week, if you want to come watch. We're up against Kitagawa Daichi! I heard their volleyball team's really good! I'm so excited…"
An uncommittable 'mm'.
"Promise you'll come!" Sayako grabs Kei's hand vehemently and he blinks.
She stares at him until he shifts uncomfortably.
"Fine, I will," he finally mumbles, and Sayako cheers.
"You have no idea how happy that makes your onee-chan, Kei!" she says.
"Cut the onee-chan crap," Kei says, but his face is pink. With a cough, he shoves his headphones on and eats as fast as he can, looking chagrined.
I knew he had a sweet side! Sayako can't help but grin.
She cannot wait for the game!
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"Kei! Kei!" Sayako waves him over, her blue hair tied into a ponytail.
Kei gives her a blank look, and she launches herself at him, squeezing him tightly.
"O-Oi! Let go of me!" he says, and Sayako giggles, dragging him by his cheek toward the captain.
"Captain!" she calls. "Look! My brother came to watch our match! Isn't that great?"
"Of course," is the reply. "Go join your teammates, Sayako. They've started their warm-up already."
"You can sit on the bench," Sayako tells Kei. "I got special permission from Coach."
"You're a starter?" Kei says.
"Yes!" Sayako is so happy she could've sprouted wings and flown. This is the closest Kei has ever gotten to starting a conversation. "I had no talent at all, and hit myself on the head tons of times, but I practiced really hard, so they put me on the starting lineup!"
He rolls his eyes.
"Che."
Frowning, she swats him.
"You just watch, Tsukishima Kei," she says, and he dodges the swat.
"Just trying isn't going to cut it," he says sharply, and she grits her teeth, frustrated. Spinning around, she starts marching away.
"Do your best," comes a breath of nearly inaudible words.
Sayako turns around, shocked.
It was quieter than a whisper, so she can't be too sure. But was it Kei who said it just now?
Slowly but surely, she feels the corners of her mouth lift further and further until she's grinning like an idiot. Everything's turned blurry, and she can't stop the surge of joy that spreads from her fingers to her toes.
"Moron!" she sings, dealing her adopted a side chop.
This time, he dodges too slow.
"Tell me that when we win!" she says, and he adjusts his crooked glasses.
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Do your best.
She's just so happy. She's been happy before, but this definitely cuts the cheese - or cake, in Kei's case.
Sayako nearly flies as she spikes the ball, the sound of squeaking shoes and her captain shouting filling her ears. She watches as the ball soars like a bird over the net and -
Into the hands of the blockers.
"Don't mind, Sayako!" calls the captain, as the referee blows his whistle. "We'll definitely score the next one.
Do your best.
Spike. Receive. Block. Spike. Receive. Block. Spike. Receive. Block.
It's a cycle that never ends.
Sayako's heart beats like a sparrow's, fast and quick and unbelievably light.
Do your best.
"One more point!" Sayako screams. "We can do it!"
Do your best.
"Amemaru… fight!" shouts the captain, neatly receiving a rather hard serve.
"Fight!" Sayako shouts with everyone else, jogging into position.
"B!" calls the setter.
She leaps like a deer and spikes the ball for all she's worth.
It smacks the middle blockers' hands and crashes right back into her face.
"Sayako!" the captain says as she lands with a thud on the ground. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," Sayako says, but she's not, especially when the referee says the point counts for Kitagawa Daichi.
Do your best.
24-5. They're desperate, and everyone can feel it.
Sayako can sense the tension as the serve bounces back into the air, and as her feet move forward like they have a mind of their own. She can sense it as she feels the gaze of the coach following her. She can sense it as the setter sets the ball in her direction, even though she knows very well that everyone's wrists are burning from endless spiking.
"Sayako!" yells the setter. "Go!"
"You can do it, Sayako!" screams the entire team.
And for a minute, she believes it. She jumps, higher than ever, almost gliding like an eagle, and spikes the ball so hard her fingers sting.
It's like a dream. The smack of the ball against her palm, the almost unearthly view of the other side of the court, the feeling of air flying through her sweaty bangs.
The ball spins at full speed, past her hand, past the net, past the blockers - and right into the other spiker's hands.
She'd already jumped forward at the setter's words. Now, as Sayako starts to fall back down to the ground, the Kitagawa Daichi spiker slaps the ball back in a high arc, bouncing down to the ground in a deafening crash.
The only thing Sayako can hear is the ball sputtering to a stop, the crowd cheering, and the referee's whistle splitting the air.
And the only thing she can taste is the bitter tang of defeat dulled by the salt of her tears.
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The walk home is silent, as if they'd come back from a funeral.
"All right, girls, time to go home - " starts the captain as they reach their school again.
Sayako sprints in front of her and bows so low the end of her ponytail touches the ground.
"Sayako?"
"I'm sorry," she says loudly. "I could've gotten us so many points, but I got blocked almost every time. I'll do better in the next game."
The captain is silent for a while.
"Don't sweat it," she finally says. "There's always a next game. Don't over-exert yourself on the way home, okay?"
"Yes."
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She laughs quietly.
"I'm sorry, Kei," she says wearily. All the fight seems to have drained out of her already. "I promised you I'd show you my capability, and that I'd win, right? I'm sorry that didn't get to happen."
"Haruno-san," Kei says, sounding a little uncertain.
She's stopped walking. Sayako feels so tired - so tired. She doesn't think her feet can take her any further.
"It hurts, dammit." She closes her eyes, gripping her bag so tight her fingers ache. "I wanted to win so much - I wanted to win with everybody - I wanted to see the look on your face when we won. It hurts a lot."
He doesn't say anything.
The tears she tried to keep away from her teammates start to spill from under her eyelids. She grabs the front of Kei's shirt and hides her face in his blazer, feeling all the fake smiles and congratulatory words crumble around her.
She can't stop crying, sobbing great ugly tears that run down her cheeks and over her jaw and into the blazer. She's never known defeat as this painful, and she hates it.
She hates it.
"It's not fair," she screams. "This isn't what I wanted."
Hacking coughs begin to mix in with her hiccups, and Sayako feels a great urge to punch something, anything. She had been so confident about their victory - so convinced that their team would win -
"It's not fair," she whispers hoarsely into Kei's jacket.
Sayako feels two arms hesitantly wrap around her, and her crying dies down slowly until she's only shivering and hiccupping quietly.
She's just so tired.
So tired that she feels her eyes closing. So tired her grip on Kei's blazer loosens. So tired she doesn't even notice him heave her up into his arms and carry her all the way home.