Hundred of books, some about love others about adventures or mysteries, all do one thing. Transport us to a new world where we can be anyone and do anything. When I was younger I wasn't the biggest supporter of books. At the age of 15 I had never even read a complete book, but after High School things changed. I had to change to adapt to the situation to survive and I did. So I stopped playing around and became an adult. It has been nine years since then and things have seemed to be in a constant state. Things are normal and the same everyday. I wake up at seven and attempt to wake up the sleeping beauty that sleeps in a dead like state of dreaming. It takes at least several yells and a couple of threats to wake up my sister, Natsu. And once she is finally up it is a struggle to keep her awake long enough to get ready, but some how, everyday I get her to school on time. And I get to my bookstore ready to greet the handful of people who stroll around wasting time. However, thanks to the couple of people who do buy a book I am able to stay open, with much struggle that is. On this day though someone very unusual appears in his bookstore. The first thing I notice is his suit. It's a very unusual color for a suit, it's not a navy blue like most suits it's more like a royal blue and it stands out so very much that the almost blind old man who is usually there at his store arguing that he shouldn't be selling certain kind if books because they are "obscene" and "wrong" stares at the man oddly. The second thing I notice about the guy is that he is very handsome. Like movie star good looking. I wonder what type of guy like him would be looking for. Maybe he is looking for a good mystery or maybe horror I could see someone like him reading books like that. I shake my head and puts my attention back to the old gueezer yelling at me. When he finally leaves he leaves a smell of pee and ointment in his place. And behind him waits the man in the blue suit looking impatient and in a hurry. When I notices him standing there I give him the smile I give to everyone I meet and greet him the way I greet every other customer.
"Hello. I hope you found everything to your liking." I say. The man who looks more like a teenager just stares at me for a few seconds before handing me the book while giving me a strange look before something clicks and he turns his face away as if he is trying to hide.
"It was fine." He mutters.
"That's good!" I say as I scan his book which is very surprising that it is a book about volleyball. I didn't peg him as a sporty guy because of the way he dressed. But I guess looks can be deceiving.
"You know I use to play volleyball when I was younger, I don't mean to brag, but I was quite good. My team even won nationals for two years in a row." I smile remembering the past. I look back at him and find him staring at me again and that is when I notice it his eyes. They matched his suit. And had the same fleck of brown in them in the left eye that I remember someone else having. "Kageyama?" I question feeling something I haven't felt in years. "It can't be." I get out of behind the counter and get right in his face not believing that it really can be. He makes one of his scary faces meaning he is thinking again and that's when I know its him. "But you died." He rushes out forgetting his book and I am left alone confused and heart broken once again.
It takes me several days to get past what happened with who I know was Kageyama and during those days there is no sign of him anywhere besides the volleyball book that I keep in the back. Which I keep somewhere hidden so I'm not reminded of him every time I go to the back, but hiding it was really no use because I think of him no matter what I do or where I am. At first it affected my work and Natsu of course took notice that day once she came back from school to help with the shop like always. I told her it was nothing, but being her she knew I was lying and made a face, but kept quiet. But after a few days it got better. I made myself believe that it wasn't possible for that to be Kageyama. He died years ago. I saw them bury him for goodness sake. I took relief in the fact that I was probably going crazy and was just hallucinating or that it was just someone who looked a lot like him. So when I saw the same blue suit come in again I wasn't going freaking out because I knew there was a chance that I was hallucinating and tried not to watch the blue figure wonder around from the used book section to the kids section. Before he finally came marching to the register where I was. I didn't say anything or neither did he. He didn't even look at me for a bit before saying my name "Hinata." He looks back at me and I look over at him. He looks exactly the same as nine years ago. No difference at all, besides the ridiculous blue suit. "It's me, Kageyama." After a few seconds of no response by me he mutters. "Sorry" And this is when I blow up, I don't know what really made me do it, but it happened.
"Sorry for what? Leaving with no hello after I haven't seen you in years or letting me believe you were dead for all these years?" I yell out getting the attention of the two other customers in the store. I reach out to grab his hand, but stop midway thinking through it before saying "Follow me." And go into the back with Kageyama following. I shut the door after him and start talking again this time at normal volume. "You left me, everyone did." I pause and I could see sympathy in his eyes and a question too, but I talk before he is able to say anything. "How are you here?" Kageyama looks around and leans closer to me and I can feel me heart beat speed up.
"There's no cameras or any recording devices here, are there?" he says almost too close. I look up at him noticing the still pretty big height difference between us and stifle a laugh when I smell his breath. It smells just like his milk he always use to drink. I shake my head and say "
No." He gives me a look questioning that stifle. I ignore it and he runs a hand through his hair. And I look away. Not wanting to gape at him. Because really he is very handsome. Not more handsome then he remembers though because if it were possible he looks almost exactly the same. He leans in closer and I stare wide eyed not knowing what he was doing thoughts of him leaning in like this hundreds of time before rush through my mind, but instead of him leaning any further he licks his lips and looks to the side. Under his breath and barely audible he says
"I'm a demon." I make a face at that and he looks back at me and it reminds me of the face he made when he confessed. So vulnerable and ready for rejection. And because of that no matter how ludicrous it may sound I believe him. "
Okay" I say after a pause.
"Okay?" He has a look of surprise on his face not expecting this to go as easily as it did.
"Don't you want me to prove it to you or something."
"If you'd like, but I believe you."
"Hmm." He stares again and ruffles my hair like he use to. "You've let it grow quite long. I think it's time for a haircut."
"You don't like it?" I think back to when my hair was short enough that it couldn't fit in a small pony tail it has now and don't have much like for how I looked back then.
"I do. You just look different."
I scoff "Well we can't all look as we did in high school. Does that have to do with the demon thing."
He nods. "Yeah I've looked like this for as long as I can remember."
"Wait so how old are you?"
"I'm not telling you, but compared to the others I'm actually pretty young."
"So you'll like never get old like me?'"
He shakes his head "You're not old."
I chuckle at this "I'm twenty-seven, and I actually look like it unlike some people. I'm very old, three years till I reach thirty."
"You're not old." He puts a hand on my shoulder and rubs circles with his thumb. He stares at me with affection and I stare back, but I eventually lose this staring contest and look away not strong enough to keep eye contact.
"That still doesn't explain why you didn't die. Do demons not die?" His eyes looks away and I feel like I can breath again.
"No we don't. At least not that easily. I did get burned by that fire. Pretty badly too. And I couldn't just show up all healed after being burned that bad. So we had to fake my death." He looks back at me.
"And I couldn't tell you, I wanted to, but I couldn't."
"I get it." I look any where but at him not wanting to start another contest.
"No you don't. "Hinata, I wanted to tell you, I really did, but we left town before I was able to tell you."
"We?" I ask confused.
"The others, they are demons too and I guess they are a bit like my family."
"Okay." I take a big breath trying to take this all in. My best friend slash ex boyfriend is a demon. And there are also other demons that he considers his family. A lot to take in, in one day. A lot to take in, in a lifetime. "So why'd you come back?"
"Well this is our town we can't leave it alone forever. But I didn't think I'd see you again. I thought you'd go off to play volleyball somewhere get married and have a few kids."
"Well I couldn't do that."
"How come?" Kageyama asks.
"My parents died, so I had to take care of Natsu." I answers honestly.
"Oh" he pauses. "I'm sorry, I didn't know."
I wave it off. "Its fine, I'm over it."
"Are you over me too?" He says under his breath.
"What?" I look at him not believing what I heard.
"Forget it."
"No, what did you say?"
He glares at the wall as if it has killed one of his own and says under his breath but a little louder than last time "Are you over me?" I just stare at him and say nothing. This must anger him because he curses and says " I told you to forget it."
"Kageyama-" I gets cut off by Natsu opening the door.
"Shouyou" Nastu says.
"Hey, how was school?" I ask feeling Kageyama's gaze.
"Good!." She looks over at Kageyama who walks toward the door.
"I'm leaving." He says.
"Wait" I grab his hand and he stares at our hands together and looks back at me. I squeeze his hand.
"Come back tomorrow?" He thinks about it and nods. And I watch him leave and watches as he mistakenly takes a look back not knowing I am still watching and quickly looks away embarrassed.
~ Tomorrow takes forever to come, but eventually it comes. And it doesn't take that long for a angry looking Kageyama to come through the door wearing another one of his ridiculous blue suits. How many of those awful suits can someone own.
"Seriously Kageyama what's with the suits?" I ask
"What do you not like them?" He answers that question with another question. Usual Kageyama.
"No they are amazing. I wish I had one." I respond sarcastically. Kageyama grabs me by the head and squeezes.
"Are you being sarcastic, dumbass."
"No of course not. I would never do that." I put my hands up and makes a innocent face. "Now let me go."
And Kageyama listens. After I am let go I pout just to make him more annoyed, but it makes him annoyed in a different way. "Stop that." He says harshly.
"Or what?" I say while pouting even more, if that is even possible.
"Or I'll kiss you." As soon as it comes out of his mouth I can see him regret it by the scary face he makes. "I didn't- no. You didn't hear that." He looks away embarrased once again.
"You mentality pretty much stayed the same age as your looks, didn't they." I laugh, not at him just at the way he reacts.
"So did you!" He points at me. I shake my head at that.
"I'm not the one blushing like a young school girl." He turns even redder at that, to the point where even his ears turn red both from anger and embarrassment.
"Shut up. It's your fault I'm like this."
"How is it my fault that you act like a school girl?" I ask. Kageyama gets quiet and I don't expect him to answer so its a surprise when he says "Because I never got over you so I was never able to be with anyone else."
"Wait." He looks at Kaegeyama seriously. "You've never been with anyone romantically or sexually?" He looks down at his feet.
"No, I mean I tried, but the furthest I was able to get with him was kissing and even then- you know never mind." He looks at the door probably tempted to run out.
"No never minds, tell me." He shakes his head and I starts to whine like a little kid. "Kageyamaaaaaa tell meeeee." Hinata whines until Kageyama can't take it.
"Fine!" he says with anger laced in. "Even then I couldn't stop thinking about you." He quickly says almost too fast for me to understand. He refuses to look at me and asks
"What about you?"
"What about me?" He still doesn't look at me.
"Have you been with people- wait don't answer that I don't want to know." He pauses and thinks again and says. "Actually I do so tell me."
"Yeah I have." I say.
He gulps and continues to look at his feet like they are the one having a conversation with him.
"How many people?"
"Romantically or sexually?"
"Sexually." He answers.
"Three." I answer truthfully. Kageyama makes a face that I'm not able to see fully he then asks
"Girls or guys?"
"Both." This is it for Kageyama and he rushed out. I follow calling him out and leave the store with out a single thought other than Kageyama. "Kageyama, stop!" I yell out while running after him. He his fast but we have always been the same speed so I catch up to him and grab him by the arm. "Stop!" I breath out heavily not use to running. When he faces me Kageyama is making a face I have only seen once. And that is when he thought I was breaking up with him when I was actually trying to say I loved him.
"I know" He takes a deep breath trying to get his breath back "I know I'm being ridiculous about this because for all you knew I was dead, and had no knowledge that I was alive and that I am awful for thinking this, but-but I wish you wouldn't have moved on. I just hate you-" He pauses and kicks the mail box to the side of him "No I can't hate you. I'm just mad that things turned out like this." He entwines our hands together. "I loved you. I mean I still do after all these years. I love you, Hinata." he tears his hand away from mine and says "And I know you're probably very happy with someone else, but I have to do this at least one last time." I look at him confused
"Do wh-" I get cut off by Kageyama's chapped lips pressed harshly against my own. It a quick kiss that ends way too soon. I look at him with my head spinning very confused and in need of more kisses from only one person who could satisfy that need. He looks at me guiltily and takes a step to leave but before he is able to I grab him by the arm again and pull him towards me and kiss him harshly . Kageyama is confused now and wants to pull himself away from this kiss he is trapped in, but can't make himself move as the kiss deepens. It ends all to fast for Kageyama, but they both need air so he doesn't complain. With his arms still wrapped around Kageyema's neck heck he pulls him down so their foreheads are touching.
"Listen and listen well, I loved you back then and I love you now. I never stopped and I never will." Kageyama smiles and kisses me again this time gentler and sweeter. I can taste the milk he had drank and something else which is probably the taste of a demon. Maybe that is why he always drinks that sweet milk, to hide the taste of demon. Kageyama kisses him further until he realizes where they are and with great amount of shyness pulls away and glances around to see that people were indeed watching them. Pink tints both of our cheeks and I yell to the watchers. "Shows over people go on with your lives." And I take Kageyama by the hand and lead him to the store where I change the opened sign to closed so we can finish what we started.
