CHAPTER FOURTEEN

      Maybe things would turn out okay.

      Within a day of her talk (or rather, crying fest) with Iwaizumi, Misaki was back at school. She did not have a fever or a headache anymore, though her heart still hurt at the fact that her friendship with Oikawa was suddenly non-existent. It was heartbreaking, but once time passed, she'd get over it. Hopefully.

      Misaki wouldn't lie though. There was a part of her that really wanted things to work out between them; but since they hadn't, even when it had been more than a week since the incident, that hope had dwindled. She hated to admit it, but it was also her pride that was preventing her from making a feasible decision about this. She thought back to the mental list she had made in her mind back at the start of her third and final year.

      Finish her third year of high school; that goal was incomplete since high school hadn't ended yet.

      Find a new manager; that had been completed the earliest and Misaki was very thankful she had managed to find someone as hardworking as Yuki.

      And number three; Not to let stupid Oikawa get on her nerves anymore. This one...this one, she was failing spectacularly. She wasn't mad at him; not anymore. All she wanted was an apology and that was it. She did not expect their friendship to be magically restored; no matter how much Misaki wanted that to happen, with Oikawa, it would never.

      No friendship lasts forever, no matter how much you want it to. Eventually, it all fades away and becomes a memory, almost like snow melting as spring arrives. Maybe it was a sign; a sign that it was time to move on. Because while Oikawa (and Iwaizumi) have been constants in her life, Mikaki just knew it wouldn't last.

      'Or am I being too dramatic about it?'

       That was the question she posed to Hanamaki and Matsukawa as she sat with them at lunch.

       "Am I dramatic?"

       Both Hanamaki and Matsukawa exchanged wary looks as they opened their bentos, before Makki spoke up. "...Is that a rhetorical question?"

     "No," Misaki shook her head and repeated her statement as seriously as she could. "I was being completely serious. Do you both think I'm dramatic?"

      "Well," Mattsun started to say but trailed off. Misaki looked at him pointedly.

      "What? Mattsun, say it. I promise I won't be mad."

      "You suuure?" Hanamaki asked, in a rather sing-song voice.

       Misaki rolled her eyes and motioned for Matsukawa to continue. Lucky for them, they were in a less crowded part of the school where not many people came, even though it was a pretty good lunch eating spot. It was fairly isolated, surrounded by a mini-grove of tall trees. The wind here fluttered a little loud.

      "Well, you're normal, but," Matsukawa said. "...I mean, growing up with our captain must have caused you and Iwaizumi to lose a lot of brain cells. Both of you can be as dramatic as Oikawa sometimes."

      Misaki snorted. She slapped Hanamaki's hand away as he tried to swipe the potato cutlet in her bento. "Maybe we are."

      "What's this about anyway?" Hanamaki asked. This time, he succeeded in stealing the cutlet, but he cut it in half with his chopsticks, giving one half to her and splitting the other between him and Matsukawa.

      "I don't know," Misaki answered. "Just weird thoughts I've been thinking a lot."

       "Don't you turn soft on us," Matsukawa's voice was muffled, mouth full of rice.

        "I'm not going soft," Misaki said as she took a bite of her own rice. Once she had chewed and swallowed, she spoke. "And don't speak with your mouth full."

        "Anyways, what was I saying?" She continued. "Yeah. It's just all random thoughts. Something about things not lasting forever, moving on. And growing up and shit."

       (And of course, her parents' divorce.)

       "Sounds like you're going through an existential crisis," Hanamaki said.

       "And if I'm right, which I always am, it's probably because of the fight you had with Oikawa," Matsukawa added.

      "Yeah, I guess so," Misaki said. It was partly that fight, but majorly her parents' divorce. She hadn't told anyone from the team about it. Yuki and Iwaizumi were the only ones who knew. And the things was; she wanted to tell them. She could do it so easily. But the problem was finding the words for it, even if it wasn't that complicated. Because something like divorce came with a lot of complications. "But there's one more thing."

      (Makki and Mattsun were good friends...they deserved to know.)

      "Which is...?" Hanamaki and Matsukawa spoke in unison.

       Misaki took in a deep breath and said the next sentence in a completely casual tone. "My parents got a divorce and told me two days after we lost to Shiratorizawa. Everything just built up from there and exploded the day Oikawa and I had that fight."

      "Oh damn," Hanamaki said. He put down his chopsticks on his bento and patted her shoulder.

      "That sucks, Misa," Matsukawa added, with a rather sympathetic tone. "I'm really sorry. Need us to do something?"

      "No, not really," Misaki said, shrugging her shoulders. "I've already accepted it all. If things are going to be this way, so be it. It's not like I can't deal with it."

      "Even then, if you need us to do anything, you know what to do," Hanamaki said with a wink. Matsukawa nodded in agreement. He took out the muffin(which looked out of place in his bento) and handed it over to Misaki.

      "I'll be a good person and offer you my muffin today," He said, a rather proud look on his face.

       "Wait, are you actually willingly sharing food?" Misaki asked, slightly shocked. "Mattsun, are you okay?"

      "What's that supposed to mean? I can be nice," Matsukawa looked mildly outraged. But she finds his statement a little hard to believe. Matsukawa was a nice person in general, but when it came to his food, he was not the one to share it. He was a lot like Joey from F.R.I.E.N.D.S. that ways.

      "Hey! Give me some too!" Hanamaki made a swipe for Mattsun's bento, but the other boy promptly pulled it out of the way and stuck out his tongue.

      "It's for Misaki, not for you," Matsukawa said, lightly shoving him.

      "Don't you two start fighting now," Misaki said. She took the muffin, and somehow, divided it into three relatively equal pieces. Taking one for herself, she handed the other pieces to the two boys. "If you do, there's triple the amount of laps for you at afternoon practice."

      "You wouldn't," The two gasped together, though she knew it was in a joking way.

       Misaki grinned. "Oh, I would."

      (Maybe now, it would okay to think about moving on)

      (Or was she being dramatic, again?) (She definitely was.)

      Misaki liked to think that she wasn't that curious of a person.

       For sure, if certain things felt strange, she was going to look into them, but that's all her curiosity extended to. So suffice to say, as she returned back to class, five minutes before class ended, the whispers of Oikawa's name that were echoing across the lips of many many Seijoh students (mainly the girls) made her rather curious.

      Sometimes, she forgot that Oikawa wasn't just the stupid volleyball loving idiot she had grown up with; he was also insanely pretty and popular with an unofficial fanclub of his own. And if she remembered correctly, his interview with Volleyball Monthly had come out yesterday. It was probably because of that.

      As she walked down the corridor to the class, she realised for some reason, the whispers seemed to grow. She ignored them, humming a random tune under her breath. But she wouldn't lie; she was definitely curious.

      Misaki entered her class, which was partially full except a lot of the girls were crowded around the desk right behind hers.

      "What's going on?" Misaki asked as she joined the gaggle of girls. "Why are you guys all crowded up here?"

      "Ahh! Misaki-san!" Three of the girls, who if she was recalling correctly, were part of the unofficial Oikawa fanclub of Seijoh. "You already knew, right?"

      "Knew what?" Misaki asked curiously, staring at the girl sitting at the desk. Her name was Himeko and for the past year, she'd been sitting right behind Misaki. She was pretty loud, bold and confident, but also very nice; it was a strange sight to see her sit at her desk, blushing rather furiously.

      "Hime-chan confessed!" Sakura said, excitedly. "She confessed!"

      "Yes! Himeko has a boyfriend now," One of Himeko's other friends, Satomi said, grinning widely.

      "Oh, that's nice," Misaki said with a smile. "So, who is it?"

      All the girls giggled (and were they swooning?) together, an act that made Misaki rather curious.

     "Oikawa-san hasn't told you, Misaki-san?" Sakura asked. "But that's not relevant. Apparently, when Hime-chan confessed, Oikawa-san told her that he'd started noticing her coming to your games and that made him like her."

      Misaki felt like someone had just slapped her in the face. And kicked her in the gut. And spiked a ton of volleyballs into her face. It suddenly felt like someone was stomping on her heart, which was utterly confusing.

      She managed to keep a steady face and shot a grin towards Himeko. "Well, that's nice, Himeko. If you ever need any dirt on him, feel free to ask me or Iwaizumi from the team."

      There. That was a normal reaction. Misaki silently prayed that she wouldn't snap as the other girls (mainly the Oikawa fangirls) begged for all the dirt on Tooru Oikawa too. She smiled and grinned and somehow, managed to switch the conversation to Himeko and Oikawa's first date (which made her feel utterly shitty, but still...) and what outfit would she be wearing.

      Unlucky for her, by the time of practice, Misaki's mood had considerably worsened. She wasn't sad or anything. Oh no no no. For some reason, she just felt incredibly incredibly angry and hurt. She really wanted to spike a ball into someone's head (mainly Oikawa) and make them twenty laps of the school.

      And yes, the whole school.

      Even Yuki had noticed her bad mood.

      As they walked to the gym, dressed up in their Seijoh VBC tracksuits, Yuki voiced her question. "Misaki-senpai, you look like you are in a bad mood. Did something happen? Was it your parents?"

      "Oh, it's nothing," Misaki hissed quietly, glaring at the floor. Even she could hear the anger in the voice.

      "Okay, but if you do wanna hit something," Yuki said, partially understanding what was going through her senior's mind. "Why don't you join the boys for practice today? I've heard from Yahaba-senpai that you can receive pretty well and your spikes are also pretty good."

      "Huh?" Misaki suddenly had a very evil grin on her face, one that sent shivers down Yuki's spine. "You know that's not actually a bad idea. Yeah, I'll probably do that. Thanks for the suggestion."

      "You're welcome," Yuki answered, suddenly feeling a little wary. 'I think I've woken up a monster. Someone's definitely going to be in tears by the end of today's practice.'

      And why was everything in her mind pointing towards their setter-captain, Tooru Oikawa. Yuki had the slightest feeling that the reason Misaki was so pissed off was partially related to him.

      'Well, I'm just gonna pray for Oikawa-senpai's survival.'

sav this is for you hehe. please go check out Sav's account (JustSav) because she has some amazing haikyuu fics. Her Daichi fic is a special favorite. (#Maichi✨✨) 

essentially, this is a filler because the real, juicy stuff comes the next chapter. Teeny tiny hint; there's going to be some Oikawa POV. Till then, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. 

Let me know your thoughts in the comments!