CHEATER
Resume: It had always been them altogether. Kenma, Kuroo, and her. Now, it was Kenma and Kuroo, and she was left out. She has to build a brand new life at Aoba Johsai.
"Did you really love me?" she asked. The boy looked down on her and nodded. Yes. He used to. It's hard to explain, but they had always been three. Where one went, the others followed. When she had confessed her feelings, not expecting anything from him, he had been startled but not in a bad way. He had felt wanted, loved, and amazing. He had felt like it was meant to be. She was there for him, he was there for her and they were there for Kenma too. It had been almost normal to slowly slip from friendship to love. It was like their relationship had blossomed into something else, and that they had their feelings and their best friend in common.
"Yeah. I did," he said. But now it felt wrong. When he looked at her, he felt nothing more than affection. There weren't those strange sparkles that he had felt at the beginning. His world had turned upside down, he felt total when he was with Kenma, and slowly, those feelings he had with her became the feelings he had with him. He couldn't explain that change. It was just here, and he couldn't do anything about it. "At the beginning, I really did. Just not anymore."
She sighed. Then she nodded. She opened her mouth. Then she closed it. Her eyes shut for a few seconds and his heart broke when he saw how she held back her tears. He could totally see her fists closed, her trembling wrists, and her paleness. He had broken her. He had betrayed her. He regretted. Not his feelings, of course, he couldn't govern them, but he regretted the way he had done it because he had hurt not only her but Kenma too.
"You know," she finally spoke, "feelings come and go. It's human. It hurts, but it's human, and I can live with that." Her voice suddenly filled with anger. "What is utterly wrong is that you cheated on me with our best friend. I cannot accept that, and I won't. If you had told me that you didn't love me anymore and that you had fallen in love with him, I would have been hurt but I would have retreated because it would have been the only thing to do. Instead, you choose to lie to me, to force Kenma into your fucking mistakes, and you have both betrayed me. I don't hate you because I can't, but I can't forgive you either. I'm mad. And I am sad too. I don't want to see you anymore, as a friend or as more. You've made the wrong choice."
Kuroo Tetsuro felt his heart break once again. He knew that he had made a mistake. He knew that secretly seeing Kenma was wrong considering that she was his girlfriend. It was bad. He just hadn't realized how wrong it was until now until he lost her. A tear fell down his cheek. Her eyes remained dry. She bit back her anger to avoid punching him, and formally bowed in front of him. She ended their friendship here, and yes, she did it that way to provoke him.
"I wish you a good continuation, Kuroo-san." Her emotionless voice said, as she straightened up and turned her back to him, taking her leave.
"You know, I was surprised when your mother called me." Her father said softly. "You used to hate Miyagi a few years ago, and you said that nothing on earth could make you leave your friends and your school."
She pinched her lips and shut her eyes for two seconds, her hands going still on her books. It took her almost three breaths to be back to her usual self and achieve tidying her desk. Despite the pain in her chest, she couldn't bring herself to hate the change in her life that made her move to her father's house, where her older brother already lived since a few years ago. She whirled, turning to face her father. "You know what they say: « only idiots don't change their minds »."
He nodded, a worried furrow spreading on his forehead. He knew that something had happened in Tokyo for her to ask her mother to move into Miyagi. She hated the countryside, loved the capital, being able to go wherever she wanted to by herself, and her independence.
"I'm sorry you can't go to the same academy your brother attends." He mumbled. She shook her head. She was actually relieved to not go to Shiratorizawa as her older brother did. She definitely didn't want to be categorized as her sister or to be seen just that way. She was her very own person, thank you, and she deserved to be seen like it. "I don't mind. Aoba Johsai is even cooler. I like their uniform best." That was a lie. That didn't matter to her, the way her school's uniform looked.
Her father slowly raised his hand et let it fall on the door's handle, nodding once again. "Your brother will come back home this weekend, he can't wait to see you again, but you know, he has a training camp these days and he lives at Shiratorizawa's dorms." The redhead pushed her desk chair under in front of her computer and hummed in comprehension. "Yeah, I can understand. He really likes volleyball. He told me that his team actually valued his competencies. It's a good thing." This conversation definitely was awkward and the girl grabbed her towel. She didn't need a shower, but she felt like it would end this discussion and help her to relax.
Her father seemed to get her point, since he gave her a small nod and let go of the door to go back to the first floor. She sighed, relieved, and took her shower gel before heading to the bathroom. She didn't want things to be this awkward with her father, but things were that they hadn't talked for a few years. Of course, he had called her, he had called for every birthday, Christmas, and achievement she had made, but hadn't really talked. He had given her news about her brother, about him and their life together and she had done the same thing. They had never said more than futilities. They didn't know each other anymore.
When she came back from her shower, her hair reunited into a bun, she sat on her bed and looked at her phone. Three missed calls from Tets- from Kuroo, and one text from Kenma.
[KENMA: Why weren't you at school today? You sick?]
She bit her lips doing her best to repress her pain and hold back her tears. She felt like she had lost both her lover and her brother at a time. She hated that feeling! She felt left in the dust, forgotten and betrayed. She took a few minutes, looked at her screen, and made her decision. She was sixteen, almost seventeen. She didn't need them to live, she only needed herself. She wasn't a girl to let a betrayal destroy her. She was a warrior, just like her mother, just like her brother. She was mad, full of rage and she would make a force of it.
[MEI: No, I'm just tired of your shit.]
She would probably regret that message one day, but for now, her anger spoke on itself. She selected her best friend's contact file and pressed a little red button. Block that user. Yes? Of course. She could never stand in love's way, but love didn't necessarily stand on honesty's either. They did that by themselves.
Nobody breaks my heart, she thought to herself. Then, she plugged in her phone and took a book from her bookshelf. She passed on a pajama and laid down on her bed. Well… Since her ex-boyfriend thought her heart wasn't worth any honesty, maybe she could try on to be heartless? That way other parts of her could inspire respected affection to others? She grinned. What a silly thought. She wasn't heartless and she knew that even if she tried, she could never be that way. She corrected her previous thought: they can break my heart, but they'll never break my kindness, nor they'll break me.
She emptied her mind and dived herself into her book's story.
The next morning, she woke up more tired than she had been when she had gone to bed. She sighed, her stomach turned in a knot, and got rid of her blanket. She took a shower, put on her new uniform, and unplugged her phone. She ignored the missed calls and Kuroo's texts and blocked him just the way she did with Kenma the day before. They didn't deserve her time nor her attention. She verified that she had everything she needed in her bag and pulled it on her shoulder before exiting her bedroom.
"I'm going, bye!" she told her father. The poor man didn't even have time to say anything before the door closed loudly. The worried furrow came back on his forehead.
She sighed while exiting the house. She didn't want her father to be worried, even though the whole situation seemed to cause that reaction in everyone in the family. Her mother had been surprised and worried too when she had asked her to be transferred to Miyagi. Her brother himself had sent her a text to ask her what was going on. She just felt bad for that, but how could she even tell them that her heart was broken? that she had lost her two soulmates? that she felt betrayed and like shit?
She shook her head, trying to let go of her thoughts. It was poisoning her. The sun was brightening high in the sky, the temperature wasn't too cold nor too warm. It was a perfect September day. She had to feel happy now. She was starting a new life here.
Walking down the road, the girl looked around her. She could still feel the summer's influence. The balconies were decorated with colored flowers, many people sat outside the cafés and even the market was full. With a smile, she impregnated herself with the general mood. It was smooth, calming, and honestly way calmer than back in Tokyo. Maybe she could like it eventually.
After a twenty minutes walk, she entered her new school, gathering around her, trying to get as much information as she could. It was crowded, as it was a big school, and she could already see many infrastructures, would it be for sports or associations. A little bit lost, she followed the flow of students inside the class buildings and tried to find her way to the administration. With the signage, she arrived at the secretariat, where she was introduced to her new professors and then to her new class. She served them the usual speech, not even trying to be original or to give more information than needed about her.
"My name is Tendou Mei, I'm gonna be in this class for the rest of the year. Please, take care of me," she said, before bowing in front of the class.
Then, her professor gave her the last desk, on the other side of the room, and she went for it, taking out her stuff to begin her new life.
During the first week, Mei took her time to adjust. Everything was new to her, and she had to build new habits and relationships. Therefore, she went twice to the café next to her house, where she befriended the owner, a mid-thirties man, and his wife. She offered to babysit their young daughter sometimes, and soon enough, she had new acquaintances in town. She also befriended the florist next to Aoba Johsai when she bought a bouquet for her grandmother whom she visited at the cemetery.
She talked to a few people at school, mostly the class representative and the boy who had his desk next to her. Their class representative, Kukai Saito, was in the photography club and the boy next to her, Fuji Kenji, was from the boxing club. Since then, she spend her time at school with both of them, joining their duo for lunch and class activities. They had asked her which club she wanted to attend, but to be honest, she had no fucking idea.
"And what about your previous school?" had asked Kukai. "Which club were you in?"
She had sighed. She didn't want to have anything to do with a volley club now that her best friends weren't part of it anymore. "I was our volley club's manager, but I don't want to do that again," she had admitted. "Moreover I want to study medicine after high school. Do you think that the infirmary could take me in? It would help me to have some experience and a better idea of the reality of this type of job."
Her friends exchanged a glance before shrugging. They didn't know. "I don't think that someone has ever asked to work for the infirmary, so I don't know. You should ask," had replied Fuji.
Maybe that conversation had been the very beginning of her troubles. That would explain why now she was looking at the whole volley team, wondering why one of them had their captain on his shoulder like a fucking ragdoll. She threw a glance at each player sweating and stinking into her infirmary, slightly disgusted. She never let her own brother approach her when he was in a similar state, so she would never let any of them come to touch her now.
"May I know why your friend is knocked out as if he has been hit by a fucking truck?"
The one that was holding the captain —recognizable at the yellow armband that he wore— scratched his neck, embarrassed.
"One of our players served a ball on him and… well it didn't land as it was supposed to," He said, looking at a blonde scary teammate of his.
Mei sighed again and opened her mouth, trying to talk. She shut it and looked at them, eyes wide in disbelief. A fucking serving did that? She pinched her lips and pointed out an empty bed. She would take care of him, unfortunately.
"Leave him to me, I'm gonna do what I can. Do you know if he hit his head when he fell? It's important for me to know, that he could have a concussion," she explained.
The boy's teammate shook his head negatively. "No, he hasn't, but it hit hard."
"Yeah, I can tell," she mocked.
She nodded, taking from the mini-fridge a pack of ice, and quickly waved them off. She didn't want their sweaty smell all around her, thank you. She approached the bed and looked at her knocked-out patient, trying to know what to do. She just began, after all. First, she looked out for any wound on his face and at the back of his head but except for a small scratch on his eyebrow, she found nothing. Then, she searched for any hematoma which he didn't have at all. Well, the guy was lucky, he would have nothing but a small headache when he would wake up. Considering that, she gave him a standard painkiller with a glass of water, and left him with the pack of ice on his forehead.
When she'd been done with him, she came back to her desk and reread her lessons, trying to learn them. The advantage of the infirmary was that she was often alone so she could study, having nothing better to do. When someone was sick or felt bad, they generally slept, so it was almost always calmer than any other room.
An hour and a half after his team brought him, the player woke up. She turned her head to him, hearing the sound of his bedsheets moving on her left. She rose an eyebrow and leaned back against her chairback.
"How's your head?" she asked him. "You've been hit pretty hard according to your teammates. I left a painkiller on the bedside table. Take it and keep your ice pocket for now," she ordered then.
The boy turned his head toward her and seemed to take a few seconds to evaluate her. He detailed her face, her hair, and her uniform, as she was apparently a third-year student by the pin on her shirt collar. He saw her frowning and she turned her chair to face him.
"Hey. Are you listening? Is your view blurred?"
He lowered his gaze to the nightstand and took the medicine and the glass just as she had ordered, reassuring her. She still took a small lamp and approached, apparently not fazed at all by his presence. Nor the fact that they were alone in a room full of beds.
"Look at the light, please. I'm gonna check your pupils to see if you're lucid or not. You seem a little bit… out."
The boy finished drinking his water and looked at her. But as he tried to look at her face to identify her, the light hit his eyes abruptly and he frowned too. She apparently knew what she was doing, but he couldn't get off of his mind the idea of one of his groupies trying to take advantage of him. Even if he had a girlfriend. Ah. Yeah. She had dumped him.
"You're fine," she concluded after a few seconds. "Your pupils are reacting correctly, and you're not wounded. Take a few minutes for the painkillers to have any effect and you'll be discharged. If you feel any nausea, dizziness, or blurred view, make an appointment with a doctor to check any concussion, but I don't think it's gonna happen."
She took a few steps back, waving him out, clearly dismissing him. Was that girl playing hard to get? Or did she think that if she pretended to not know him he would just jump on her? He had seen a few strategies like those in the past. "Are you pretending that you don't know me?" he asked.
The girl had her eyes half-closed when she looked at him as if he was boring, or annoying. Which he was obviously not. But really, she played well, he could almost trust in her disbelief when she frowned again.
"I'm sorry, I've been transferred last week, I really don't know who you are. I just know that you're apparently the volleyball club's captain and according to the way you seem to assume that everyone knows you in this school, you must be pretty popular," she replied. She turned her head toward him, sitting on her chair and leaning back on the chairback. "Yeah, you're pretty. I can tell. You're not my type, though. I'm more into… smart-looking, black-haired boys."
His eyes widened. Nobody had ever been that blunt with him, except for Iwaizumi Hajime, his childhood friend. But honestly, his friend never had been blunt on this type of subject. "So… I assume that you have a boyfriend, with that precise description of yours?"
She smiled but didn't respond. She wanted to keep her life private, thank you. She didn't need a popular sassy volleyball player to frisk into her history. Not when she was heartbroken. Not when her self-esteem was so low. She couldn't bear any judgment or any criticizes for now. "You don't know my name yet, but you want to know if I have a boyfriend already," she mocked. "Either you're bold, or you're dumb."
The boy hiccuped, startled. He grumbled lowly and looked back at her. "You think I'd want you?"
She winced. That sounded so bad. Her weakened ego crumbled a little bit more, but she didn't let see anything about it and just rose an eyebrow again. "I don't make the rules, Love. You make it sound like you want me already."
"I don't want you," he snarled, gaining a laugh from her. A dull laugh, that took him by surprise, even if he would deny it with all his guts. "Right. So we're on the same page now. I don't want you and you don't want me. Nice to meet you, my name is Tendou Mei."
His eyes widened again, and his laugh resonated in the infirmary. Nobody had ever tricked him like that, nor had made him feel like a pretentious sassy bitch. She sure had guts. He liked her already. He extended his arm, offering her his hand, which she shook with a playful smirk. "Name's Oikawa Tooru."
They had befriended the most annoying person on earth, but it felt like the right thing to do.
1- I have no idea what the hell I'm doing writing a new story. This is nonsense. I have no plot, no plan, and no ship.
2- English's not my first language and I fail to understand how you guys cut your paragraphs.
3- Any advice?
4- This was supposed to stay on my computer, I wasn't planning on publishing it.
5- I don't especially think of Kuroo as a cheater, but I'd like to have him as a friend, and I like KuroKen.
6- In the next chapter, Mei's gonna meet Semi Eita, but I don't think they're gonna be more than friends.
7-It looks like it though, but they're not gonna date or be attracted by each other.
8- I use Grammarly to correct my syntax and Linguee as a synonym dictionary.
9- Any preferences for this story's ship?
10- Tendou Satori's her brother, not a potential love interest.
11- I'm gonna cut the shit here.
12- I love y'all, kisses, take care, good evening -or whatever-, hydrate yourself and all that shit!
13- Iyallis.