So here we are at the final chapter. I'm actually going to write an epilogue because I think it can't end on this note just yet but still, it had gone by so fast omg.
Thank you to those who have liked and read the story. It's an absolute honor for you to actually take the time to read this story.
I don't own the characters except for Rin.
The words that washed over me still didn't help me get over the fact that this would be the last time I be part of this school.
At long last, we're graduating high school and going to university.
After much debate, I finally settled to do a physiotherapy degree since I had always been afraid of how the guys could get injured and with this, I might just be able to make sure a certain person would remain in one piece.
Speaking of said person, he was rather silent as usual today.
Ever since the fainting incident after Interhigh, Oikawa had been avoiding me like the plague, always running off whenever I tried to ask him something or to just ask him why he was avoiding me in the first place.
The worse thing was that nagging feeling at the back of my mind that he had something to do with me collapsing and getting embarrassed from fainting in front of a huge crowd.
Matsun and Maki were trying their best not to cry from their row as both of them would be going to separate universities in different prefectures. I know those two were as thick as thieves and couldn't imagine life without the two of them. Iwaizumi was going to a university in Tokyo while Oikawa had got so many recommendations to go to top universities in Tokyo.
Which was why I was surprised he chose the same university as I was going to, a small university in Osaka which I managed to get into after putting so many hours of studying until I thought I was going mad.
"Shit, we're really done," Maki sobbed as Matsun held his shoulders.
"It's not the end of the world. We can still call and…" he hiccupped as Iwaizumi smacked them on the head.
"Ora! Don't go crying like that! We're adult men now!" he said as I giggled at the sight. These guys had made my high school life, a part of my life I dreaded so much about one of the best things that ever happened to my life and given me sights I had never experienced before.
"Speaking of which, where's Oikawa?" Matsun murmured as I heard a sound from my pocket. I open my phone to see a single text message from Oikawa.
"Meet me under the cherry blossom tree outside of the gym."
"Strange, what the hell does he want now?" I murmured as Iwaizumi put his hands on my shoulder.
"Well you wouldn't want to miss it for the world," he smiled as he gave me a gentle push forward. He had been so supportive of me after Interhigh ended and had even made sure I didn't flunk any exams as he was in the college preparatory class and was much better at studying despite him looking like he had more muscles than brains.
When I saw Oikawa waiting under the tree, his certificate in his hand, I thought he looked almost angelic under it all.
Until he opened his mouth.
"Hey, whats up, Rin-chan?' he grinned as I knocked him with my certificate.
"Well says the person who's been avoiding me like a plague since Interhigh. Sheesh, just tell me what the heck is going on with you?!"
He sighed as he leaned against the tree, the cherry blossoms starting to bloom as he asked, "Do you remember the sakura flowers?"
"Huh? What are you talking about?"
"Last year, do you not remember loving someone so much that it hurt to even speak and that you were coughing up flowers."
"Now I think you've gone loony."
A gust of wind blew, shaking some of the flowers free from the branches, their petals scattering into the sky as he put his hand over mine. My heart skipped a beat as I wondered why it even reacted in that way when he whispered, "I do."
He kissed me hard, the flowers still falling around us and at that moment, I felt something in my heart break free. As we kissed, images of me watching him from afar, the beating of my heart whenever I wished that I could just be with him or even get him to notice me, the yearning for him to kiss me like this.
"Why? Why after all this time, after all the shit you put me through, only now you acknowledge my feelings?" I whispered as I pulled back but he still held his grip on me.
"I didn't think you would forgive me after what I did to Tobio. I know that he's your cousin and that you saw what happened between us on that day when we were in middle school. I thought that if I ever got together with you, I might accidently hurt you."
His grip slackened as he breathed in and out, his heart racing in his chest as he tried to control his feelings. He wasn't going to be like his father. He wasn't going to be like him at all.
"Oikawa, everyone one of us has a bad moment in our lives. Whether we regret it and choose to become better, that's what matters."
I placed a hand on his cheek, his body going stiff under my touch as I said, "I had forgiven you about it ages ago. And I believe Tobio has forgiven you too."
Silent tears ran down Oikawa's face as he cried into her, wondering if it was all true when he felt a sting across his face.
"But… I still can't forgive you 100% for what you did to my heart by making me have hanahaki and going to the hospital and everything!"
"I know that! I know how much I hurt you! I know how much pain this caused Iwai-chan because he truly loved you more than anything but you were in love with me. I tried to kill the love, try to go out with Hana-chan to see if it would go away but no. It just got more and more."
He cupped my face in his hands, bringing his forehead to press against mine, letting the wind do the talking for him just for a moment.
"Please, if you would forgive me and if it's not too late for me to say this but, I love you, Tachibana Rin. Would you go out with me?"
Tears fell from my face as I kissed him, soft as he leaned in, growling as he turned and pushed me against the tree trunk to give me support as he kissed me deeper and deeper. Ah, we're high school students for the last time and here I was making out with Oikawa under the cherry blossoms.
"Yes. Yes, Shittykawa, I accept."
He smiled, the first time I've seen him smile a smile so pure it reminded me of the smile Tobio gave whenever he was around Hinata, whom he had been dating and was still madly in love with for the past three months. They had even gone all the way to win nationals and were now top players of the country and have truly ruled and stayed on the court.
How happy I was to be surrounded by such amazing people in an amazing sport.
"Come on, let's go for the volleyball club farewell."
"You want to go with your face like this?"
"Ha! I can just wipe it away later or splash water on my face."
"Nah, I don't think it would work that well, Shittykawa."
"Gah, don't use that nickname like Iwaizumi does."
From the distance, I could make out Iwaizumi watching us, a sad but satisfied smile on his face that his best friend had found love in the girl he loved himself. Even though I had stolen his heart, he still loved me and he had told me he never regretted ever being with me and that he was now ready to let me go.
Hanahaki.
A disease that ravages the body when one falls into a one sided love relationship, making the person cough up flower petals as it spreads through the lungs.
The only way a person can be cured is either by making sure the other person falls in love with them as well or they can opt for a surgery to remove the infection but at the price of losing the love they have felt for the person they loved but never had any feelings returned to them.
As we stood under the cherry blossoms, I could feel the flowers swirling in me, disappearing into the sky as I finally found and confessed to the love of my life.
Even though he is a piece of shit, I would always love him to the end of the line.