There are souls which fall from heaven like flowers, but ere they bloom are crushed under the foul tread of some brutal hoof.
— Jean Paul
Sumire watched with horror as her violin hit the ground, smashing into pieces. In her brain, the image kept replaying in a never ending loop. With her mind's eye, she could observe every single bit of her violin fly into different directions, scattering on the concrete below.
There was a pull and Sumire found herself being hauled away from the railing, eyes still wide. The twins, who had been supporting her arms, loosened their grip, letting her fall to the tiling on her butt.
She planted her palms beside her, panting heavily.
The brown-haired girl's eyes—Taiga, was it? Her psyche was running too fast and wild to remember—were swimming with guilt. She opened her mouth to speak, "Makoshima—"
Her headspace still a white, buzzing thing, she staggered upright and ran to the rooftop, tripping and scratching her knees on the hard surface. Her kneecaps and shins stung but she pushed herself back up again and raced downstairs, pushing past students.
"Hey, watch it!"
"We're walking, if you don't mind!"
"Eep! Thanks for catching my bento, Sakura-chan!"
The voices went in one ear and out the other for Sumire as her short hair flapped behind her.
No, no, please no, don't let this actually be happening—
She collided into someone, sending them both flying. But Sumire could hardly care less about the angry boy that she had pinned beneath her. Without even apologizing, she got up again and sprinted down the corridor, her legs shaking with the effort. Sumire was hardly the fittest person around and her energy had already been spent looking for the twins. The girl was solely relying on adrenaline at this point.
Behind her, Taiga and Jun'ichi gave chase.
"Outta the way!" Taiga snapped, her voice a few octaves higher than normal. "Move, move, move!" A few of the girls Taiga had bullied before cringed and pressed themselves against the walls, not wanting to be targeted again.
Sumire nearly fell again as she rounded a corner, her shoes screeching against the floor. She lurched forward before regaining her balance, pumping her legs even harder as she caught sight of an exit.
"Makoshima, wait!" Taiga called. She glared at Jun. "This is all your fault!" Without waiting for a response, she left her brother in the dust, years of being in the track team back in elementary coming into play.
Sumire practically took the door off its hinges as she slammed her entire body into it, flinging herself outside. Her landing was wobbly but she quickly corrected herself, running to where her violin had landed with that sickening crack.
She nearly ran into a tree. All she could see right now was her violin falling over and over again.
Where is it?! she screamed to herself. Where the fuck is it—
Sumire screeched to a halt, the abrupt halt nearly knocking her off her feet. In horror and disbelief, she stared down at the broken pieces of her violin, the one thing that she had had since young.
This couldn't be happening.
It really couldn't be.
It was all just a bad dream.
The patter of footsteps sounded behind her but Sumire didn't even turn, her gaze fixed on the shattered instrument that lay pathetically before her. She sunk to her knees just as Jun caught up with Taiga, who was now loitering behind a hunched over Sumire.
With trembling arms, she reached for scroll and neck, which had separated from the main body from the impact. The strings—those fine, beautiful strings—had detached from the fingerboard and were curled up like the perfectly groomed whiskers of a pedigree cat. Still shaking, she dropped the broken piece, her eyes hollow as she watched it fall a short distance to the ground.
This couldn't be happening.
This wasn't real.
Behind her, Taiga looked like she wanted to say something but was too scared and ashamed to do so. Jun put a hand on her shoulder and she flinched away from him, glaring harshly. She hissed at him, making him recoil. She knew that he was as remorseful as she was. So what?
After abandoning the scroll and neck, Sumire was now holding the violin's main body. Or, well, part of it anyway. Aside from the scroll and neck, this was the biggest piece—the lower bout; complete with one scratched up chinrest, a tailpiece that was hardly attached, and a skewed bridge.
Numbly, she held the lower bout close to her heart, picking up the neck and scroll again and doing the same. Still on her knees, her entire body began to quiver as the back of her eyeballs stung with oncoming tears, reality finally catching up to her.
Sometimes we get tired, we reach the limits of our strengths, and we just let go, someone had told her once.
Because life demands too much, and the people around you aren't always aware of everything that you give for nothing.
Taiga tried to summon words but none came. She stood stone still, as if she could hardly believe what was unfolding before her herself.
As the first sob wracked Sumire's shoulders—she cradled the pieces of her broken violin to her chest—Taiga's knees nearly buckled before her. She grabbed her brother's shoulder and squeezed tightly.
Sumire screamed into the bits and pieces of her broken instrument, gripping the smashed wood so hard with her arms that the sharp ends threatened to puncture the skin of her abdomen and chest.
The sunny afternoon didn't let up as Sumire continued to wail, her eyes squeezed shut even as hot tears poured down her face in fat, wobbly drops, pooling at her chin and trailing down her neck and beneath her uniform shirt. Certain spots on the white collar of her formerly pristine blouse grew darker as it became stained with tears.
Taiga bit her lip, shifting her weight from one foot to the other uncomfortably. She didn't think she could watch this any longer. She turned away, pulling Jun with her. "Come on. Let's go."
He looked at her confusedly. "But Taiga—"
"Haven't we done enough?" she spat at him, fury in her eyes. "What the hell makes you think she'll want us here?" Taiga tried not to raise her voice in fear that Sumire might overhear their talk.
Silently, Jun let Taiga lead him back to the school.
Sumire's heartbroken cries grew softer and softer as they distanced themselves from her.
LINE: IWAIZUMI AND MAKOSHIMA
[Makoshima]: Iwaizumi, you there?
[Makoshima]: I need to talk to you about something
[Makoshima]: I was going to tell you last night but I lost the courage
[Makoshima]: sorry
[Iwaizumi]: wait what
[Iwaizumi]: hey sorry, I was helping my mom cook
[Makoshima]: oh kk
[Iwaizumi]: what did you need to tell me?
[Makoshima]: it's about Oikawa
In the Iwaizumi household, Iwaizumi Hajime nearly dropped the egg he was about to crack. He glanced over at his mother, who was humming as she trimmed the fat off some pork belly.
"Okaa-chan, I need to call my friend," Iwaizumi announced, careful not to startle her since she was holding a knife. "Can I go to the living room? I'll help you after."
"Go ahead," his mother said, not even looking up from the meat she was preparing. "But could you send your brother down here? He can finish up what you've already done."
After calling down his irritable gamer kid brother from his League of Legends game, Iwaizumi collapsed onto the couch in front of the television.
"Hajime," his brother complained. "Why can't you call your friend later?"
"Why can't you pause your stupid game?" Iwaizumi retorted, cocking an eyebrow.
"You can't pause League of Legends!" his brother shouted back, shaking a fist at Iwaizumi as he sullenly made his way to the kitchen. "Don't you know anything?!"
"The day I'll even consider bothering with your games is when you can properly receive one of my serves."
His brother continued to grumble under his breath, muttering curses. "Hey, okaa-chan, I'm here! What do you need me to do?"
Once his nuisance of a brother was busied with the task of cracking eggs for tonight's dinner, Iwaizumi called Tadashi, patiently waiting for him to pick up.
He wants to talk about Shittykawa, huh? Iwaizumi mused. Well, this was going to be interesting. And it certainly couldn't be done over text, hence why Iwaizumi was currently calling his former childhood nemesis.
"Hello? Iwaizumi, is that you?" Tadashi's voice buzzed on the other end. It sounded like he was doing a lot of moving around.
"Yeah. You said you wanted to talk about Oikawa, right?"
"A-ah, y-yeah..."
"Go ahead then," Iwaizumi coaxed, trying to sound as nonthreatening as possible. Tadashi was easily spooked, as he demonstrated multiple times. It was a bloody miracle that the guy didn't run off the court every time a ball came to him.
"Iwaizumi..." Iwaizumi could almost imagine Tadashi's throat bobbing up and down in fear.
Fear of what? he wondered. His heart nearly stopped when he considered a possibility. Is he finally going to talk about what happened back in grade school? That would be strange. Tadashi always gave off the impression that he couldn't remember a single thing from his childhood. So why would he suddenly talk about it now?
"Iwaizumi..." Tadashi's breath hitched. "I... like Oikawa."
Everything went so quiet that Iwaizumi could almost hear a pin drop. There were a few voices coming from the kitchen where his mother was exasperatedly trying to teach her younger son the correct way to crack and egg without getting all the shell mixed in with the rest.
"You can't be serious," Iwaizumi deadpanned. What the fuck? What the actual fuck? That was probably the last thing he had been expecting to hear come out of Tadashi's mouth. Is there a name for situations like this? Like Stockholm Syndrome? No wait, that's when a victim feels trust or affection toward their captor. The point was, this was ridiculous enough to be considered a syndrome like Stockholm.
A bully falling for their victim... this sounded like something that just jumped right out of an anime or manga. Iwaizumi's lips quirked upward. Or—heck, even a fanfiction!
"I am serious," Tadashi affirmed, a small waver in his voice.
What the hell does he even see in Asskawa?
While Oikawa could be a bastard at times, he was a genuinely good person. However, he didn't exactly have the best track record when it came to relationships. And as far as Iwaizumi knew—and he knew a lot since he was Oikawa's main confidant—Oikawa had never shown any interest in males. There would be some offhand comments about how cute Hinata looked when he was mad or how Kageyama's scowl was definitely inherited from Iwaizumi (how that worked he had no idea) or how Tsukishima would gain more female attention if he stopped looking like such a sourpuss all the time.
"Okay," Iwaizumi said slowly. "What do you plan to do about your... crush?" God, that word seriously rolled off the tongue in the most awkward manner possible, be it Japanese or otherwise.
He could hear Tadashi swallow again. "Um... er... I'm going to confess."
Bam, there it was. Iwaizumi sunk into the couch just as his mother began to scold his brother for breaking yet another egg.
"That's... I don't know what to say," Iwaizumi said apologetically. He never was one to be well versed in relationships. Heck, he had only ever had one girlfriend back in junior high. She had confessed to him on graduation day and he, being the awkward guy he was, reluctantly accepted. They only lasted for two months before breaking up after she tried to pull Iwaizumi away from volleyball and Oikawa.
"That's okay. I just needed someone to confide... and, well, that person was you..."
"You haven't talked to Naoko-chan about, er, confessing?"
"No," Tadashi admitted, "I already know how she feels about my affections toward Oikawa. Iwaizumi... I've only ever liked one other person before and... and they..."
"You don't have to tell me anything if you don't want to," Iwaizumi reminded him.
"Th-thank you..." Tadashi sighed. "Thanks for listening to me talk, Iwaizumi. I know I'm not the easiest person to be around."
Iwaizumi sat up a bit straighter. What was he trying to imply...? "What do you mean by that?"
There came a self-loathing chuckle. "Don't... don't do that. I know that you remember what I did to Oikawa back in elementary school. And I'm sorry for that. I really am."
"Look." Iwaizumi's voice grew sharper. "If you're really serious about... about pursuing a relationship with that shitty guy, then apologize to him first."
"... I will. I really am sorry you know. There were things happening... happening at home when, uh, I started to," he cleared his throat, "Never mind. I-It doesn't excuse my behavior—"
"Damn right it doesn't."
"—The point is that I'm really sorry. I'm sorry for what I did to you as well. You don't know how sorry I am."
You're right, I don't, Iwaizumi silently agreed. "Just apologize to him. That's the first step." Though I can't guarantee any other steps even existing after that one.
"Okay. Thank you again, Iwaizumi."
"... It's fine. Also, I forgive you. You might have been a bastard, but we were all idiots back then. No use carrying the burden of hatred around."
"... Wah! That sounded so cool!"
Iwaizumi almost expected Oikawa to pop out of nowhere and whine about how he, Iwaizumi, had shown up the captain.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever," he muttered. "I gotta go now. Dinner."
"Okay, bye. Thanks again!"
There was a click and a beep before Tadashi hung up.
"Hajime!" his mother called as a delicious smell wafted from the kitchen. "Can you get your father from his study room, please?"
"Ouch, hot!" his brother complained as he carried in some oyakodon to the dining room.
"Oh, stop that, it's lukewarm at best."
Suddenly, Iwaizumi's phone rang again.
I swear, this better not be Makoshima calling again to thank me for the billionth time—
He raised his eyebrows at the caller ID. Makoshima Naoko. He swiped to pick up. "Naoko-chan? I can't really talk right now—"
Her voice was calm as she said the words, but Iwaizumi could detect just how frantic she was. "Sumire's gone missing."
When Sumire hadn't come home past six, Naoko began to worry. Sure, she might have been hanging out at the arcade or something but...
She never not called when she was out. It was sheer luck that Naoko had a earlier shift today, and was able to be home before seven.
"What do you mean, you didn't know?!" she shouted at Tadashi, passing one hand through her hair in panic. "Her room is right next to yours! How could you have not known!"
"I got back from practice, did my homework and called Iwaizumi right after," Tadashi explained, his voice watery with guilt. "I thought she was inside her room since it's always quiet in there—"
But Naoko was already making a phone call to Iwaizumi. Maybe the ace had seen her?!
He picked up almost immediately. "Naoko-chan? I can't really talk right now—"
Then she'd have to make it quick, wouldn't she? As calmly as she could, she said, "Sumire's gone missing."
"What?!" Iwaizumi sounded shocked. From the background, she could hear some irritable voices calling him to the dinner table.
"She's got her phone turned off!" Naoko cried. "You haven't heard anything from her, have you?"
"No, I haven't—yes, otou-san, I'm coming! I'm sorry, but I can't help you! I'll go out after dinner to find her—try calling Oikawa and Kageyama! Yes, I'm coming, hang on! I'm sorry, Naoko-chan, I'll eat as fast as I can." With that, he hung up, no doubt making good of his promise by devouring his dinner quickly. Even then, she wasn't sure how strict his family was about dinner etiquette. They might not even let him off the table before their father finished.
Taking his advice, she called Kageyama next, pacing about the living room as she waited for him to pick up. To her frustration, her call went straight to voicemail. Oh, how fucking convenient. Kageyama didn't have his phone on either. The volleyball addict was probably living up to that name by doing some late night practice or something.
She knew the most logical option was to call the police to report her missing but—
No. No buts. "Tadashi, call the police and inform them of the situation using the house phone," she ordered him. He nodded and went away just to do so. Meanwhile, Naoko searched through her contacts to try and form a search party.
Kageyama was out of the question... Iwaizumi she wasn't sure of. The only other contacts in her phone she could think of was Umeko and Oikawa. Umeko was busy managing the cafe—there was no way she could help.
The drama club!
Forcing her fingers not to shake, she called up her acquaintances in the Aobajosai drama club. Katsumi and Leiko agreed to search together, as they were best friends and lived close to each other. Ayame and Midori agreed to pretty much the same thing, the former offering to call up Shinji and Toshio for help.
"I've called the police," Tadashi said, his face pale.
"Good, good," Naoko muttered, more to herself. "Now..." She stared at Oikawa's contact for a brief moment before tapping it and calling. Her phone buzzed for a few moments before the man himself picked up.
"Oya? Mako-chan? What, miss me?"
"Sumire's gone missing," Naoko said, the worry evident in her voice. "Oikawa, please. Help me look for her."
"... Meet me at Kitagawa Daiichi. We can start from there. I know the neighborhood like the back of my hand."
Naoko nearly fell over at his willingness to help. "Thank you." She choked. "Th-thank you... I'm heading over right now." Without even changing into something more suited to the cold evening—she was only wearing a gray shirt and a pair of black tights—she put on her shoes. "Tadashi."
Her brother snapped to attention.
"Stay here in case she comes back. Do not leave the house," she ordered sternly.
"G-got it."
It was during this moment that those Saturday jogs really came in handy. Her stamina was at its peak, even as she sprinted all the way to the nearest bus stop (which was quite far away) and waited five minutes for the bus to arrive.
It was another five minute ride to Kitagawa Daiichi (the bus driver looked at her suspiciously when she told him her destination). She quickly paid him and ran out of the vehicle as soon as they arrived, ignoring the strange looks she was getting from other passengers.
Nervously, she bounced on the balls of her feet as she waited for Oikawa to arrive at the front of the gates.
I swear, if he doesn't get here soon, I'll have to look for her myself—
A figure emerged from the shadows. Oikawa Tooru.
"Mako-chan—"
"Let's hurry," she interrupted him. It was only the sheer anguish in her eyes that kept him from snarking her.
"Right," he said, solemn.
They scoured the entire neighborhood, with Oikawa leading the way. They ran into Iwaizumi as well, who decided that it would be better if he searched alone to cover more ground.
Sumire, where are you? Naoko asked in her mind, her shoulders tensed as she searched every nook and cranny for her sister. They knocked on houses too, but none contained the missing girl.
The arcade was devoid of all people, never mind Sumire.
The Kagoshima Ramen Restaurant was as well, with only a few staff and customers milling about. None of them were Sumire.
"We'll find her," Oikawa promised, putting a hand on her shoulder as they walked out of the restaurant together. "Even if it takes us all night." Naoko looked up at his serious, unwavering gaze. He wasn't kidding.
"That brat," Naoko muttered, trying her best to downplay her worry. "I-I... where the hell could she have gone?!" She took in a deep breath, calming herself down. "Sorry."
"Mako-chan." He pulled her close to him to comfort her. "Don't worry."
His body was warm against hers. She didn't even realize how close she was to freezing until Oikawa embraced her from behind. It had to be brief, however, as the search needed to go on.
"Is there anywhere that we haven't searched?" she asked desperately an hour and a half later.
Oikawa scrunched up his nose as he contemplated. They had searched pretty much the entire town. There had been no word from Iwaizumi or the drama club kids either. Nor the police or Tadashi. With all of the, they should have found her by now. So where—
"There is one place," Oikawa suddenly recalled. "It's not too far from here." He pulled her arm and they broke into a run.
Naoko prayed to all the gods in the world that Sumire was there. It could the dirtiest, foulest, dankest place on earth and Naoko wouldn't have cared. As long as she was there. That was all she needed at this moment.
She sniffled from the cold. Fuck, she seriously should have brought a jacket.
Finally, they arrived at Oikawa's destination. It was a decorative bridge—a cold-looking, still river was below it. It was beautiful, actually, with all the fireflies that were out and about. One even landed in Oikawa's fluffy brown hair (though they were too busy searching to see it).
"She's not here," Oikawa concluded, his voice as heavy as their hearts.
Naoko sighed, her breath turning white in the cold. "No. No, of course she isn't." She ran her hands through her hair to try and push down her rising stress levels. Her head pounded from running in the chilly weather and her lungs felt like they had been iced over. Stifling a moan, she leaned against one of the posts on the bridge.
Damn, she didn't realize how tired she was. She checked her watch. It was almost nine o'clock now. Tears pricked her eyes but she forced them down. Breaking down and crying wouldn't solve anything. They had to keep searching.
"Have you tried Tobio-chan?" Oikawa asked suddenly, breaking her out of her thoughts. "From what I saw at the Standoff, they looked pretty cozy," he mused.
"I already did and he didn't pick up." I never did try calling again though. She pulled out her phone and began to call Kageyama, praying that he would pick up this time. "Come on... come on... fucking pick it up already..."
It went straight to voicemail.
Naoko swore loudly and viciously enough to make a sailor blush. She raised her arm as if to fling her poor phone into the icy river below. Hurriedly, Oikawa grabbed her arm and took the phone from her.
"That's enough," he said sharply. "I know you're worried—hell, I am too—but you need to keep your head together, okay?"
Naoko nodded stiffly, her heart rate slowly calming. "You're right. But..." Snarling, she punched the post of the wooden bridge, causing the entire construction to quiver. She released a breath. "Sorry." No one's seen her since school, Naoko thought in despair. Kageyama's not picking up... he's my best chance but he's not fucking picking up and I don't know where he lives and—
In Oikawa's hands, her phone began to ring, indicating that there was an incoming call. Oikawa blinked twice before answering it. Naoko strained her ears to listen to their conversation. Oikawa was being kind of hush-hush about this...
Eventually, Oikawa hung up, relief evident in his chocolate brown eyes.
"Well?" Naoko prompted hopefully, her heart pounding in her chest.
"Kageyama just called. She's with him at his house."
And that was Naoko needed to hear. She collapsed backward onto the wooden bridge, facing the ceiling. There were no words she could really use to express herself to she settled on making this relieved huffing noise. A noise that gradually morphed into a laugh.
Oikawa stared at her as if she were a weirdo before a smile crept up on his face.
And as Naoko honked her 'deranged hyena' laugh, Oikawa sat himself down next to her fallen form, blinking curiously at her laughing face. Her cheeks were a rosy pink—whether it was from laughing or from the biting chill, he didn't know.
"Hah—" she huffed with much effort. "I-I-I can't believe it—she was with him the whole time—fuck, this whole thing was so—hah, so stupid..."
Rolling his eyes, Oikawa picked her up and sat her on his lap with little effort. "I told you that you shouldn't worry," he said, a hint of smugness in his voice. He curled his arms around her waist, hugging her close to him. "... You're like a giant teddy bear."
"Too bad for you; you're still the same dumb chihuahua..." She closed her eyes, leaning her head back onto his chest. "... Thank you, though. You didn't have to do this."
"I wanted to. It was the right thing to do. Besides, screw homework. It was funner to drag you around town."
She clicked her tongue. "For once, I'm glad you decided to 'screw homework' as you have put it." Naoko frowned. "But... what the hell is she doing at Kageyama's house?!" She straightened, nearly knocking the top of her head against the soft underside of Oikawa's chin. As her worry faded, it was replaced by anger and disbelief. "She knows better than to not come home without calling ahead! Not to mention—"
"Ah, Mako-chan." Oikawa shook his head, smiling. "Can't we just have a peaceful moment?"
Naoko glared, even though she knew he couldn't see it. "Do you have any idea what that girl made me do—"
"I know perfectly well what she made you do," Oikawa cut her off, mildly exasperated. "You're going into your mother bear mode again."
She huffed and crossed her arms. "If that girl knows what's good for her, she won't do it again."
"Are you going to ground her?"
"I would if I were her parent. But as a sister... somehow, it doesn't seem right." She moved her gaze upward, observing the stars. Noticing her movement, Oikawa did the same.
"Fascinating, isn't it?" he asked loftily, his voice low and soothing. "There are so many endless possibilities up there..." He undid his grasp on her to lift his right arm in the air as if he were high-fiving the sky.
"Like what? Aliens?" Naoko said skeptically.
"Why not?" Oikawa retorted, noticing her dry tone. "You know, out there on another planet, we'd be the aliens to whatever civilization is currently inhabiting said planet."
Naoko nodded distractedly. "I guess we would be, wouldn't we?"
"Oh? What's this? Is Mako-chan actually agreeing with me for once? No snarky remarks?" he teased. "By the way, how many friendship points do I have now?"
"Why are you suddenly asking?"
"Mako-chan, have you even paid attention to what position we're currently in?"
Naoko lowered her gaze from the night sky. "... I'd say one hundred and twenty." The "position they were currently in", as Oikawa had put it, was warm, comfortable, and there was no one around to judge. She didn't know when this sort of thing had been okay, but... it wasn't totally unwelcome.
"I never fail to impress myself," Oikawa boasted, smirking down at her.
"Shut up, dumb chihuahua." She wriggled momentarily, trying to find the most comfortable position in his lap. "... You know, we're probably going to freeze if we stay here any longer."
"Probably. But this is nice. Don't you think so, Mako-chan?"
Naoko had to agree.
This is nice.
"Okay, my legs are getting numb now," Oikawa said loudly. "Get off Mako-chan."
"What happened to 'this is nice'?" she asked mockingly.
"I'd like to withdraw my statement."
"Too bad, you can't." Even as she said the words, she got off him. "Happy?"
"I feel like a paraplegic. What do you think?" he said wryly.
"I'm just going to ignore the fact that you used the words 'feel' and 'paraplegic' in the same sentence."
Oikawa snorted softly before standing up and grabbing her hand. "Come on. Let's go home." He started to lead her away, Naoko following along.
She glanced down at their intertwined fingers, a feeling of warmth overcoming her body.
"Actually, make that a hundred and fifty," she murmured, her expelled breath becoming white once again in the wintry air.
"Hm?" Oikawa turned his head to her. "Did you say something, Mako-chan?"
Naoko shook her head, her hair falling partway around her face as she smiled to herself. "No, nothing."
As they walked away from the bridge hand-in-hand, the stars above twinkled brightly—a golden-white pattern embroided across a beautiful blue-black blanket.
The ice-cream bucket was scraped empty as Kageyama peered down inside it. Across his bedroom, there was Sumire's violin case, containing the broken parts of her once majestic instrument. In the dark room, a small television was hissing as black and white lines were scrawled across the screen.
In his bed lay a sleeping girl who had borrowed a pair of his pajamas. They were far too big and far too loose but at least they were comfortable.
Kageyama frowned at the violin case. Honestly, it was probably one of the most pitiful sights he had ever seen. The events leading up to them playing video games all night on his television and console were a blur.
He remembered her crying, having been devastated about the loss of such a beloved possession. He remembered himself swearing angrily, which only made her laugh as she blubbered.
Then he was pretty sure he had sworn revenge on the person who had done this to her. She quickly dissuaded him from pursuing that path, however. But that didn't mean that he didn't get royally pissed about it.
They had had an hour-long argument about confronting the troublemakers that had ended up with them playing those video games till late—it was then Sumire decided to stay the night; his mother adored her so it wasn't really a problem.
Kageyama huffed a sigh as he lay down in the spot next to her. It was lucky that he had a queen-sized bed fit for two. He just had to be careful that he didn't up invading her side of the bed. She moaned softly before turning to her side and burying her face into the pillow. Her eyes were still slightly swollen from all the crying she had done.
What do I do now? he asked himself, staring at the black that was his ceiling. He pondered on the question for almost half an hour before the answer struck him like lightning.
Of course, how could he not think of it earlier?
He and his mother were pretty well-off...
With a final yawn, Kageyama dozed off, his mind consumed by dreams of a sleek, shiny electric violin.
Taiga sat up in her bed, panting. On the other side of the room, her twin was sleeping soundly. Slowly, she lay back down in her bed, hoping that the dreams of a broken violin and a broken doll would not haunt her again.
A/N: So, I decided not to be lazy and this was the outcome, so hope you like it (づ｡◕‿‿◕｡)づ
Next time... Iwa-chan talks to Oikawa about Tadashi to see how Oikawa still feels about him. And more stuff will happen with the twins, probably.
I'm actually planning a kind of 'spiritual sequel' to this story. No promises yet, but we'll see how things go. Gotta finish this one first before any other installations start being produced.
And Mizushima Tsubaki from the Sendai Standoff will make a reappearance in the next arc.