✧

You were doing your daily walk around the school ground. It was cleaning time, meaning every student from different classrooms should do their part in cleaning the school, it is the policy after all. You decided to check up on Mizuki then after that, you're going to check up on how Shigeo is doing. 

"Hey, Tsubomi-chan, you're childhood friends with (Y/n)-san, right?" 

You stopped dead in your tracks when you overheard one girl say your name. You suddenly felt dread as your heart started to beat so fast inside your chest. You decided to stay hidden from where you can actually eavesdrop. You know that it's a bad thing, but what if they're going to badmouth you in front of your childhood best friend?

You took a deep breath as you calm your rapidly beating heart.

"Yeah, why?" Tsubomi replied.

"Is it true that she's actually dating Kagaya-san?" One of the girls asked. You guess that two of Tsubomi's friends were there with her.

"Eh? She's dating her best friend? That's weird. I don't think that rumor is true," Your childhood best friend replied.

"Is that so? Why don't you ask her?" One replied as the other agreed with that statement.

"Oh, I will," Tsubomi replied, seemingly with a smile as she said those words.

"But it's really obvious that two of them are dating, right? I mean, they're always together," 

"I agree. By the way, wanna go karaoke with us later?" 

You heard Tsubomi sniff as she laughed nervously, "Ah, I'll pass, I'm a bit under the weather," She said.

The girls groaned but all was silent when Tsubomi sneezed. Sounded like a snot has come out. 

Those girlfriends of hers seemingly kept teasing her about her face being covered by her hand, you wanted to come out of your hiding spot to help. But stopped that thought when you heard the familiar voice of Shigeo.

He told the two girls that they are being called by their teacher. The girls groaned but complied nonetheless. 

You sigh as you decided to take a peek at Shigeo and your best friend. Your eyes fluttered when you saw Shigeo hand her a napkin Tsubomi gladly accept. You almost chuckled at the thought that she indeed have a snot that came out when she sneezed. 

Though, your smile faded when you realized something. 

"It's been a while since we last talked to each other, Mob. See you around," Tsubomi said as she threw the napkin in the incinerator and walked away.

"S-See you..." Shigeo quietly said as you watch him slowly wave at Tsubomi who kept walking away.

Shigeo felt his cheeks warm up as he gripped his uniform by the chest, "T-That was the longest conversation I had with her..." He quietly said to himself. Shigeo smiled as his eyes were filled with hope, "I will definitely do my best to confess to her!" He said.

Your eyes widened at his words. You felt a lump in your throat as you unconsciously swallow it.

You suddenly felt heavy as your chest tightened. 

Tears were threatening to come out of your eyes.

So, the person that Shigeo likes...

Is your childhood best friend.

You don't have the right to be angry and selfish. You did promise yourself that you should be happy for him even if the source of his happiness is not you.

But it broke your heart when you've come to realize that...

That the person that Shigeo liked was close to you...

You felt awful and weak. You couldn't bring yourself to cry at a time like this, you're still at school.

You need to find Mizuki first.

"(Y/n)-san?" 

Your breath hitched when you heard Shigeo call out for you. You were just about to leave, this is a bad time to face him. You might not handle the tears and break down in front of him.

Your chest tightened, but you took a deep breath to compose yourself for the last time, "Hi, Shigeo. Sorry, I gotta go," You said as fast as possible as you immediately run away from his sight.

As you run, your tears started to flow out. The heaviness that your heart was handling right now was enough for you to sob quietly as you kept running towards the photography club. At this time of the day, Mizuki was the only one there, eating some leftover snacks he has at lunch. It's his hiding place when it's cleaning time.

You cursed when you accidentally bumped into someone. 

"(Y-Y/n)-senpai?!" It was Ritsu.

His eyes widened at the sight.

Tears were brimming down your face, and it was his first time seeing you like this. And it breaks his heart.

Before he could even ask any question, you continued to run towards the photography club.

"Wait-!" What happened? Ritsu asked himself as his eyebrows furrowed. He felt worried. Ritsu decided to follow you wherever you were going.

"Ah! Kageyama! Where are you going?" The student council president suddenly appeared.

"Go without me," He said as he started to run after you.

. ˚◞♡ ⃗ *ೃ༄

Mizuki jumped out of his seat when the door slid open roughly. 

"What the fuck?!" He cursed as he accidentally crushed the bag of chips in his hand. He glared at the person who was at the door, but quickly his face softened in worry when he saw (Y/n) crying horribly.

This cry was different from before.

She's actually sobbing.

"(Y/n)! What happened?!" He asked in disbelief as he walked towards (Y/n) who was still wiping her tears with her hands.

She couldn't speak properly, she wanted to say something, but her sobs blocked it off. It hurts, It definitely hurts.

Mizuki felt his heartache at the sight of his best friend crying. He didn't say anything but he did pull her into an embrace, patting her head in the process.

"Calm down, tell me what happened," He said with a soft tone. He looked up front to the door to see Ritsu panting, he guessed that Ritsu ran to catch up to her.

.

.

.

Mizuki handed her the water bottle he has before finishing his chips. Drinking it did help her calm down.

"So, what happened?" Ritsu asked as he furrowed his eyebrows in worry at his senpai.

But all they receive as a response is her silence.

"(Y/n), we won't be able to give you any help if you don't tell us what's happening," Mizuki said with a soft tone and with a worried look. 

It was a sight for Ritsu to see. It's odd to see Mizuki acting this way. Maybe he misjudge him too much because this is the first time that he has seen Mizuki like this.

『 𝐍𝐨𝐰 𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 : 𝐑𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐜 𝐇𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐝𝐞 』

↻ ◁ II ▷ ↺ 1:35 ───ㅇ───── 2:12

"I-It hurts..." She trailed off with a quiet tone, "I know I should be happy for him, but finding out the person he actually liked made me break down, I don't know why..." Lowering her head, she gripped the hem of her skirt as tears started to flow out once again.

It's so heavy...

The girl continued, "I'm not angry... i just— I don't know why it breaks my heart," She said as her voice toned down.

Mizuki looked over to Ritsu in worry. Ritsu shrugged not knowing what to do, or even say in this type of situation.

Before Mizuki could even decide if he should say something, the girl continued.

"I'm not sure if this is even a crush anymore. I shouldn't be crying for a boy at this age... I don't think it's just a mere crush, Mizuki... I wouldn't be crying this ugly if I didn't love Shigeo..." She said.

Mizuki wanted to say dumb about the 'Crying this ugly' part, but he hold it back and just pats her back.

"It's okay (Y/n)... Shigeo's not the only guy you're going to meet. Like you said, you're still young to be crying this ugly, so who knows, maybe you'll meet the right one in your future," Mizuki said with a gentle smile.

"He's right, (Y/n)-senpai. You'll find someone in the future who can return your feelings. It's only normal to feel this way since you genuinely have sincere feelings for Nii-san," Ritsu added.

"Yeah, don't beat yourself up over it (Y/n). Who knows, maybe you'll move on from that heartache of yours." Mizuki said as he grinned at her, giving the girl a thumbs up.

"But, I don't want to move on- I love Shigeo, but I don't want to force him to love me. But it hurts to see him— or even imagine that he's with someone else," She explained as tears kept flowing out of her eyes.

"Tsk, Tsk, don't focus on that (Y/n). We're still fourteen! About to turn fifteen!  Don't focus on love at such a young age! You'll get rotten," Mizuki said as he flicked her forehead.

She was about to say something when he cuts her off, "And besides, I bet when your older brother finds this out, he's not going to stop to tease you about it. So, cheer up! Focus on things that'll make you forget about this heartbreak of yours," He said.

The girl looked over to Ritsu.

The youngest Kageyama smiled and nodded, "I'll have to agree with Mizuki on this one for once, (Y/n)-senpai." He said.

"You guys... It's going to be hard. Shigeo's one of my best friend, and it's hard to distract my feelings for him. It's going to be hard to move on..." She said softly.

"(Y/n)-senpai... I'm sorry if I have to say this, but it's needed to be said," Ritsu said as he paused, biting his inner cheeks as (Y/n) looked up to him with teary eyes. Her nose were red, including her eyes. She looks so broken right now.

But Ritsu needs to say it, "Falling for someone you can't have... Is another form of self harm, (Y/n)." He said.

-ˋˏ✄┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈

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