It took a little while for Shimizu Ren to realise that her head was thrown back, her shoulders were shaking and she felt the need to breathe in before she would pass out. That's when it dawned on her that the one laughing out loud like a maniac in the room was her.

She wheezed trying to comprehend why she would go hysterical all of a sudden. But then his words came rushing back to her, and she looked back at his dumbfounded face. The maniacal look, previously in his eyes, had dimmed, but still extant.

She sighed, feeling her smile get smaller on her face, and said,"You're not as scary as you may think you are, Atsumu. Maybe when you're playing volleyball, but outside of the court, you're just a big attention-seeking baby."

She shook her head, "And haven't you learnt anything? It's definitely not going to scare me if you shout; I'll either laugh or get irritated. Well, today was the former."

He narrowed his eyes at her. "I wasn't trying to scare you, Renny... I just want an answer," he said, pursing his lips.

She sighed again, looking down at her feet. "You know, it does remind me of the time when we broke up," she said, with a tinge of sadness painting her words, "Our conversations got so much louder towards the end... It became so unbearable..."

Their conversations had gotten louder. Not just louder, but accusations were hurled in all directions, sharp scorns with seemingly no foundations were directed with such precision, it left their relationship (and them) really battered. She didn't know him, but she felt drained just even thinking about the pandemonium that was the time before they decided to break up.

She looked back up to continue, but was surprised to see him look so... forlorn.

Wh-... Why... ?

She watched him, befuddled, plop onto the adjustable sit-up bench right behind him, and she was jolted out of her stance when he pulled her forward towards him, grabbing her by the wrists. He went on to slump a little in his posture and rest his forehead on her stomach.

But what happened next, stunned to the core. In the midst of still adjusting to the fact that she saw a direct reflection of her pain from their past, she also caught his quiet, shaky breaths and sensed his shoulders shake a little.

Is he... is he sobbing?!

"Atsumu! What... why are you crying?" She panicked, trying to wriggle out of his grip on her wrists to take a look at him, but he didn't let her, his grip tightening even more.

"Stay," he quietly croaked, and she felt herself stiffening, knowing no other choice but to stay as he asked. Begged?

Time passed by, till the whirring of the central air conditioning was finally the only thing she heard in the room. His sobs had quietened, but he was still breathing harshly. Somewhere in the back of her mind, the thought of the inappropriateness of their embrace in their workplace trickled into her consciousness, but she pushed that aside. She would be ready to face the consequences of that, and would deal with it as professionally as she could. For now, the curiosity to know what has been going on his mind was stronger than ever before.

Is he... Has he realised anything from back then?

But before her assumptions could grow their roots in her mind permanently, she was pulled back to reality as he started speaking again.

"Ren-chan... You have to know... That I-... I didn't say okay to us breakin' up because I hated you... Far from that, you've to believe me, I didn't hate you, never did... I...," his breath hitched as unconsciously he words slipped into the form of his Kansai dialect. He had been trying to enunciate recently, and she knew it was because of the impending media attention and also to maintain his professional image. So for him to slip back to his dialect speech, indicated only how tumultuous he was.

"I jus' saw how much ya were stressed," he continued. "Every time... every fuckin' time we met, we fought, and fer what? I don't even remember 'em... I only remember thinkin' to myself that it was stupid... it was all stupid, and it didn't make sense fer us to fight... and I hated e'ry time I saw ya that stressed and angry, cos I was the one causin' that... I don't even know why, and still don't know but I knew it was me... and I hated that Ren-chan. I was... no I am your biggest supporter, and I was bringin' ya down. I hated myself... and... and... I walked away... so I wouldn't bring ya down." With that he broke into quiet sobs again.

Her throat constricted, painfully and slowly, her vision blurred and her stinging eyes were overwhelmed with tears that threatened to spill out. She sniffed, and gently pried her right hand out of his grasp to run it through the back of his hair, near the nape of his neck, gently brushing his undercut.

She knew it was his soft spot and as she felt him relax into her touch, his head on her stomach getting heavier, he sighed deeply, nuzzling his face into her stomach, pulling her closer into the space between his open legs. She felt a cold, wet spot through her thin blouse, but didn't care. He snaked his arms around her waist, sighing again into her stomach before resting his left cheek, his eyes still shut from where she could see.

He really is in pain...

"Atsumu..."

"Hmm?"

"I-... I didn't know... You-... Why didn't you say anything?"

He opened his eyes at her question. There was a pregnant pause, but not the uncomfortable kind. She felt butterfly kisses on her stomach and knew that he was thinking about what she asked.

"Honestly," he began, "I didn't know how... I didn't know what to say to make us both less stressed, to make us fight less. All I knew was that I missed you. But when we met on those weekends or holidays, I didn't know how or why our conversations escalated into fights."

His arms tightened around her, pulling her closer than it was possible, "I don't know why, Ren-chan. But I hated every minute of it... I really have no answer to why we fought or why I didn't stop when I realised our quarrels were going nowhere.

"But then... then there you were here at Black Jackals, right there in front me. And I knew... I knew that no matter what, I had to talk to you again, even though you avoided me all these years. Even if my words hurt you again... I just knew I had to get you to talk to me again. I know I am being unreasonable and all... but I don't know what else to tell you, except that... except... don't go anywhere, and just stay," and with that he nuzzled his face again, sending butterflies now in her stomach, into a frenzy.

"Ren-chan?"

"Yea?"

He look up at her with the cutest pout he could muster, his chin poking her abdomen, and said "Please don't date Omi-omi. He smells like Purell."

"..."

"..."

She chuckled at his comment saying, "Come on, your big goof. I feel like getting a cold coffee." She whipped her head around and spotted a water-cooler and a vending machine outside the gym. "There! Let's go and grab something," she pulled him up slightly, and he got up without much tugging on her part.

He slung his arm around, and walked out in companionable silence, before she spoke up. "You're right though. And you smell better too," she said, with amusement laced in her words.

He turned her around, pulling her towards his chest, wrapping both his arms around her shoulders and locking her tight, tucking her head under his chin.

"Good. I'm happy to be of service," he whispered, and she melted into his embrace.

Slowly, with much hesitance, she wrapped her arms around his waist, shut her eyes, savouring the smell of him, and feeling much lighter than she had in a long time. The knots in her thoughts had loosed themselves up after many years of unsuccessful attempts at easing them. The issues were nowhere near being resolved, but the warmth and sincerity she felt in his words today, reminded her of some of her favourite times with her high school sweetheart.

Maybe he's back?

Maybe...

Maybe not...