"K-Kei?"
Tsukishima was standing with his back to the net giving instruction to one of the first years who was on the court with them when he heard that voice.
He hadn't heard that voice since middle school.
He hadn't wanted to hear that voice ever again, and he had managed to avoid it throughout all of high school.
And most of the match, it was the second set and they were about to win the match.
He had hoped that it was just his mind playing tricks on him, but of course, it wasn't.
When he turned around he was met with the sight of the one person he never wanted to see again.
Hiromi still looked like the exact same person he had in middle school. His dark black hair was still styled in something that resembled something of a bowl cut. His face was a little less round, and his eyes a little less angry, but he was pretty much the same.
He felt his heart drop to his stomach as he looked at Hiromi.
"Hiromi," was all Tsukishima said. It was all he had time to say, because the referee blew the whistle moments later and the volley started with Yamaguchi slamming a serve over to the other side.
For the rest of the match, which they were completely obliterating the other team in, Tsukishima was forced to look at Hiromi's face every time he glanced over.
Whenever he went to block a spike, it felt like it was always him he was face to face with.
It was starting to really bother him, Hiromi being there.
Thankfully the match was over before it could really start affecting him.
He needed to clear his head, badly. He wasn't even sure of what he was feeling yet.
Tsukishima hadn't seen Hiromi in three years. He hadn't thought about him for just as long.
He dismissed himself to the bathroom as they walked out of the gym, and before he knew it he was breaking into a run down the hall to find the goddamn bathroom.
He just needed to be alone for a few minutes, sort out his thoughts.
Minutes later Tsukishima finally came across one, and since they hallways around it were empty, he figured the bathroom too would be.
Thankfully, he was right, and the bathroom was deserted.
He took a shaky deep breath as he turned to face one of the mirrors, planting his palms firmly on the edge of the sink.
Sort out the facts.
That was one of many coping mechanisms he had picked up over the years. Whenever anything got overwhelming, he could always rely on the facts.
First off, Hiromi was there. Tsukishima hadn't seen him in three years. It made him angry that Hiromi was there. He was scared too, because not only had Hiromi been a complete dick to him Tsukishima was also way in the wrong (not that Hiromi wasn't either) and now if Hiromi confronted him, which was highly likely he was going to have to admit he was wrong probably in front of Yamaguchi and Yamaguchi was gonna realize that he was terrible and—
Tsukishima quickly stopped himself, when he let the anxious 'what-ifs' crowd his head it only made things worse.
His hands ached as he clung to the edge of the sink, his knuckles turning white.
Tsukishima's breath shook as he attempted to get his emotions under control.
If Hiromi confronted him, he'd deal with it calmly. It would go bad if he didn't.
With a solid plan in place, and his emotions locked in, Tsukishima was ready to go back out. He just had to keep them that way.
This proved to be harder than he expected as he made his way back through the hall and back into the lobby, when he saw Yamaguchi standing with Hiromi.
They were talking, and it took a lot of control on Tsukishima's part to stay calm like he had planned, "Hiromi, I'd appreciate it if you stayed the fuck away from my boyfriend."
Nobody said that he had to keep his filter on to be considered calm.
Surprisingly respectfully, Hiromi stepped away, and Yamaguchi gave Tsukishima a puzzled look, "Kei, what?"
Tsukishima shook his head, "I'll explain it to you later Tadashi, promise. I'll catch up in a minute, go on and sit in the stands with everyone else."
Reluctantly, Yamaguchi nodded and walked away, leaving Tsukishima alone with Hiromi.
"H-hey, Kei," Hiromi stuttered as he spoke, and he twisted a rainbow colored bracelet around his wrist as he spoke.
Tsukishima hadn't noticed it during the match earlier, he had probably put it back on after.
"Hiromi."
It took all of his effort to keep his tone level.
"I-I wasn't going to p-purposefully s-seek you out t-to talk ever," he continued to speak with the stutter, "B-but I saw you t-today and I wanted to apologize. I f-feel really guilty still. I-I was terrible."
So was I, Tsukishima thought to himself. There were scars on Hiromi's wrists. They were old enough to very easily have been because of Tsukishima. There was also a huge jagged scar across his throat. Almost identical to Yamaguchi's.
He nodded, and decided to not voice his thoughts, "You really were. Probably should have apologized three years ago."
"I-I did," Hiromi continued, "At least I t-tried to."
Tsukishima had hoped to get through this without having to admit his wrongs as well, but he supposed that was an unrealistic expectation.
"Yea, I guess I fucked up too," he shrugged and glanced towards the ground.
"I-it was r-really only because of m-me," Hiromi admitted, angling his gaze to the floor, and then changed the subject, "Y-your boyfriend is n-nice, he seems l-like he's good for y-you. B-better than I'd b-be."
Tsukishima nodded. Yamaguchi was way better than Hiromi would ever be, "Yea, he doesn't really make me wanna kill myself like you did, so anything really would be better than that."
Hiromi glared at him, which Tsukishima supposed was an appropriate reaction, "W-well I w-was scared a-and confused. I-I needed s-someone to b-blame, a-and you were c-convenient."
"Well I'm sure you know so much about your best friend betraying you," Tsukishima returned the glare, "And what's with the stutter? Seriously, you can't be that nervous."
"P-psychog-genic stutter," Hiromi stated simply, "It h-happens w-when—"
"Yea, traumatic event, I've taken a psych class before," Tsukishima interrupted him, he didn't need the explanation.
"Y-Yea," Hiromi nodded, "M-my dad nearly k-killed me w-when I c-came out. L-lot's of jail t-time and a r-restraining order for him, a s-stutter and y-years of th-therapy for m-me."
"And you're telling me your entire life story because...?" Tsukishima trailed off at the end of the question, leaving it open for Hiromi to respond. He really didn't need to feel guilty for hating the kid with an abusive dad.
"B-because you asked, th-that's why," Hiromi responded simply, "But l-like I said e-earlier, I just w-wanted t-to apologize f-for m-middle school."
"Well now that your conscience is clear are you gonna leave?" Tsukishima glared at him, "I'd rather not be around you for much longer."
Hiromi returned the glare quickly, "You're n-not the only o-one to have e-ever w-wanted to die K-Kei."
Tsukishima sighed, "Well the difference from me to you in this situation is that the person who made me want to die is standing right in front of me, and yours I'm guessing is not."
Hiromi scowled in his direction, and Tsukishima continued, "Look, there's no hard feelings from middle school, alright? I'm fine now. We can just go on and live our lives from here."
Hiromi nodded, "Y-Yea. I'm g-good w-with that."
Tsukishima was about to say something, but he was interrupted when an inhumanly tall guy in a similar uniform to Hiromi's walked up, "Hey Hiromi, the buses are outside."
He recognized him from the match, he almost reminded him of the two meter tall guy from his first year. He was probably about as tall, if not taller. Hiromi turned to him, and nodded, "Alright, thanks Kaoru."
He turned back to Tsukishima momentarily, "Good luck for the future I guess."
Tsukishima nodded, and returned the sentiment, "Yea. You too."
Hiromi turned around without responding, and as he walked away, falling into step with the taller boy despite the fact that his strides were much longer, and reached for his hand, Tsukishima found himself running through more what-ifs in his head.
What if he had let Hiromi back into his life when he had first apologized, what if they had begun dating, what if, what if what, if.
But all those what-if's were quickly squashed when Yamaguchi came up from behind him and gently put a hand on his shoulder. Tsukishima jumped slightly, and turned around to face Yamaguchi, "What's up Tadashi?"
Yamaguchi responded by stepping forward and resting his hands on Tsukishima's hips, "I just wanted to make sure you were alright, you were taking a while."
Tsukshima smiled and rested his hands gently on either side of Yamaguchi's face, "Yea. I'm fine."
A/N: I felt the urge to write a second meeting/goodbye between Hiromi and Tsukishima a while back, and I only just finished it. It's a little all over the place and not that great, but I haven't uploaded anything in a while oof. I also accidentally made Hiromi into someone completely human and gave him a backstory/perfectly reasonable reasons for why he did what he did and made him likable. Which is kinda sad in its own way, because even though Hiromi's the villain of Tsukishima's story he's not a terrible person. But yea, I've been rambling on for a while. Hope you guy like this one, though it's rushed.
~Niki
