Don't Say Goodbye
By: Iceyicecream
Chapter 23: Jealousy
You headed to the courts after school to find Tezuka practicing like always. "Hey." You called out.
He stopped rallying and turned and nodded his head. You tossed him his jacket. "Thanks…I appreciate it."
"No problem." He says and puts on the bench.
You look around and then sighed. "Then I'll see you tomorrow or something." You said and walked away.
"Sempai?"
You turned back to see Momoshiro jogging towards you after finishing his game. "I haven't seen you here in a while."
You smile. "Yeah I know, I was just giving something back to Tezuka."
"Oh, I see." He said and looked at his watch, "Woah, it's pretty late, do you want me to walk you home?"
You contemplating and you noticed Tezuka's gaze on you and smiled and nodded your head. "That would be nice."
"Captain, are you ready?" Tezuka's opponent asked.
Tezuka turned. "Hai."
The opponent served and in a flash the ball was back into their court. He blinked and turned to see the ball stuck in the fence. "Uh…captain…you mind going a little easier on me?" He squeaked.
"No." Tezuka said.
The kohai sighed and mercilessly was beaten. "Great! Let me just change and I'll meet you here."
"Mm, alright." You said.
Momoshiro smiled and hurried to change. You sat on one of the unoccupied benches and watched the guys play. You turned to find a few boys red in the face. "What is it?" You asked them.
They fidgeted and nudged each other. "Uhh…we heard that you use to play tennis." One of the three boys said.
You nodded your head. "What about it?"
The boy rubbed his neck. "We were wondering…if you could give us a few tips…or something."
You looked at them to see them all embarrassed and nervous. You smiled and stood up. "Where are you guys' practicing at?"
Their faces brightened and they took you to one of the empty courts. "Show me what you guys can do." You said.
You observed them intently and after their first round you stopped them. You pointed to one of the boys. "You need to follow through with your hits all the way over your shoulder."
He nodded his head and practiced swinging. "You!" You said pointing to the other boy, "Your racket is straight! You need to tilt it slightly into an angle!"
"Hai!"
You pointed to the last boy who seemed pretty nervous. "You got potential kid, but if you keep hitting the ball like a wuss it isn't going to get very far."
His face brightened. "Hai."
Momoshiro finally came out and you gathered your stuff. "Thank you very much sempai!" The three boys said and bowed.
You smiled and nodded your head. "I'll see you guys later then."
Momoshiro followed behind you with a big grin on his face. Tezuka's brows knitted together and he slammed the ball into the opponent's court. Inui pushed up his glasses. "99.99% chance that Tezuka is jealous of the relationship between Momoshiro and (Y/N)."
(Mc.D's)
"You know you didn't have to buy me this." You said unwrapping the hamburger.
He shook his head and took a bite of his hamburger. "It's fine, besides it's not like you eat a lot like Echizen."
You chuckled and looked at his high stack of burgers on his tray. "I'd say."
"So how are things going with you and the captain?" He asked.
You stopped and then continued chewing. You swallowed your food and took a sip of your cola. "We're not dating anymore."
Momoshiro's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. "What did you say?" He asked shocked.
"We broke up." You repeated.
"When was this?" He asked his voice raising.
"Calm down will you? Someone will think that I did something to you." You said taking another sip of your drink, "When you saw me last time near that convenient store."
"Ehhhh? Why didn't you tell me Sempai?" He asked confused.
You shrugged. "You never asked until now."
He sat back down. "Who broke up with who?" He asked in a whisper.
You looked out the window at the people walking. You opened your mouth then closed it. "He broke up with me."
"Are you okay with it?" He asked in a low voice.
You turned to see him looking at you. You shrugged and clenched your cup tightly. "It was bound to happen. His future and my future are on parallel planes that will never cross no matter what the circumstances are."
"But you were so good at tennis! I remember seeing you play before! Why don't you try playing again?"
You shook your head. "I'm done playing."
"Why?" Momoshiro asked, "What made you stop."
You shook your head. "Maybe another time…when the time comes and you need to know, I'll tell you." You whispered.
You grabbed your back. "Thank you for the meal, I'll be going now."
"Wait, Sempai!" Momoshiro said chasing after you.
You started running. "You'll never be any good." Their voices whispered in your ears, "You're nothing but a wanna be player."
Your eyes stung and you shook your head. You sprinted away and managed to lose Momoshiro but also putting you in an unfamiliar area. You stopped running to catch your breath and sighed. "Great." You sighed.
You took out your phone and groaned. Your battery was dead. You looked at your watch to find that it was already getting late. "I need to get home." You whispered to yourself trying to retrace your steps.
You stopped and sighed. You were completely lost. "(Y/N)?"
You turned around and sighed. Could your day get any worst? "Yo, Tezuka." You said with a smile, "I didn't know you come around here."
"Sometimes, I have to go pick something up." He said, "What are you doing here?"
You shrugged. "I'm going exploring." You said.
He looked at you and you looked back. He pushed up his glasses. "Then I'll be going." He said and walked pasted you.
"Mm." You said and continued walking forward as if you knew where you were going.
Half an Hour Later
"Where the hell am I?" You screamed.
The people around you looked at you curiously and whispered to one another. You sighed and set out in search for a pay phone. It had gotten dark and the streetlights where slowly flickering to life. There were even less people outside. You sighed and picked up your pace looking for the pay phone. You smiled when you finally found it and sprinted to it. You dug in your bag for loose change and placed it in the machine. The phone rang but went straight to voice message. You sighed and hit your head against the clear glass of the pay phone. "You've got to be kidding me." You groaned.
You hung up the phone and set out once again to find your way home. The sound of a can opening could be heard in front of you and you looked up. And there, under the harsh light of the street lamp was Tezuka opening a can of coffee. "Still doing errands at this time?" You asked him playing it cool.
He took a sip of his coffee and tossed you something. "No." He said.
You caught it and felt the warmth. You opened your hand to see a can of coffee in your hand. You opened the can. "Thanks." You said before drinking some of it.
"Mn." He answered.
After a few minutes of silence and he hand finished his coffee he walked over to you. "Still exploring?" He asked.
You shook your head, "I was about to start heading home."
He put his hands in his coat pocket. "I'll take you home."
"No, it's fine."
"It's rude if I left you at this time of day without taking you home."
Your face brightened. "I can take care of myself." You said coldly.
He looked down at you and in a swift movement he grabbed your wrists and had you pinned against the street lamp. Your eyes widened and you looked up to see a cold expression on his face. You coffee had fallen and was all over the sidewalk. "Do you want to take that back?" He whispered coldly.
You kept your lips shut. He backed away and released your wrists and started walking. You cursed and you followed silently behind him. The two of you caught the bus and the scenery became familiar. You positioned yourself in the back of the bus in the corner and kept your eyes on the street and away from Tezuka who was beside you.
The two of you headed down your block towards your house. You stopped and he stopped behind you waiting. You turned and bowed. "Thank you for taking me home, but you don't have to take me any further, I know the way." You said.
"And if there is some molester around that corner you're supposed to turn on? What then?" He asked.
You shook your head. "There are no molesters around here."
"You never know." Tezuka said bluntly.
"It's fine, you're not my boyfriend anymore, so you don't have to walk me home." You said.
He looked down at you. "Only Momoshiro can?" He asked in a hushed voice trying to retain his anger.
You looked up startled. "Excuse me?" You said not quite believing what you just heard.
"Nothing." He said.
You walked up to him. "Are you perhaps jealous?" You asked with a smirk on your face, "Are you jealous of me hanging out with Momoshiro-Kun?"
"No." He said bluntly.
"Well your actions and questions say otherwise." You said.
He stayed quiet. You shrugged. "I don't understand why you're acting like this, you're the one who broke up with me, not the other way around."
"I-"
You spun around quickly. "You what?" You spat, "You breaking up with me? Or wait, you would never say that! You regret ever being with me in the first place!"
You laughed hysterically you noticed tears were running down your cheeks. You brushed them away quickly and glared at him. "Don't give me that look!" You snapped.
"I never said I regretted going out with you." Tezuka said in a calm voice, "And I never said that I didn't regret breaking up with you."
"Then tell me why did you break up with me?" You said coldly.
He turned his gaze elsewhere away from you. "I'm going to study abroad." He said.
"I found that out." You said coldly, "Anything else you forgot to tell me?"
He looked at you. "I had thought that if we had separated before then, it would be easier for you to hate me, and not care when I left."
You smacked him across the face with the palm of your hand. "Don't decide what I want!" You screamed the tears began to fall again, "You're horrible! You always do things like this! Why don't you ever ask me for what I want?"
He stepped closer to you only inches away. He held you steady by the shoulders and gazed into your eyes. "Then tell me…what do you want?" He whispered.