Promise Rings Chapter 5
(Definitely not edited)
Previous: Promise Rings Chapter 4
And I'm back at it with another chapter of Promise Rings! Sorry that this one is coming out later than normal; you know how life is. Either way, I hope you enjoy reading this chapter!
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Age: 12
We were sitting in my backyard after school when he asked me a strange question. “Have you decided where you wanted to go for high school?” Tobio asked suddenly as we were enjoying nature from the porch. For a moment, I forgot how to answer. Where did I want to go?
“I… I haven’t decided yet,” I answered nervously. Why was I so nervous to answer him? “How about you?” I questioned him. I looked over at his figure, laying on the wood floor. Why was my heart beating so quickly from just looking at his figure?
“Hm,” I heard him hum for a moment, “I want to go to Shiratorizawa, but I still haven’t decided on a back-up school.” I slightly bit my lip as I looked away from his figure on the ground. I felt my heart sink a little when I heard that from him. I wanted to be able to go to the same school since I knew he could not handle his grades without someone to push him; his parents were always pretty busy with work which is why I stepped in to force him to work.
“How are your grades though?” I jokingly questioned him, looking back at him. I watched his cheeks turn red, chuckling nervously as he sat up. I giggled at his antics as I looked back at the greenery around us. “You’re hopeless,” I quietly laughed to myself, barely loud enough to be heard, but Tobio heard me.
“Oi!” he exclaimed angrily, turning to glare at me. Surprised from his yell, I stood up and began to run away from him. Tobio was always freaking scary whenever he got angry. As I was running away, I heard him scramble from his position on the floor before his feet pounded against the wooden panels.
“Crap. I need to get away faster,” I muttered to myself as I was trying to figure out how to get away from Tobio before he could try to kill me. Before I could figure it out, Tobio and his long legs caught up to me, and he reached out to grab my wrist. Latching onto it, he spun me around before going for my legs. “Oi, Tobio-kun!” I exclaimed as I dangled over his shoulder. “Put me down!” I kicked my legs, trying to escape from his grasp, but he held onto my legs tightly.
“Not until you freaking apologize for earlier!” Tobio ignored my request. As I refused to apologize, he began poking my sides, tickling me.
“P-Please put me down T-Tobio-kun,” I managed to get out between laughs. My hands were trying to get him to stop tickling me, but his hand kept poking me. “Okay, okay!” I finally yelled out, making his hand freeze mid-air. “I’m sorry for making fun of your grades,” I apologized. I could feel him hesitate putting me down, but he eventually just carried me back to the porch in the end. When we got back to our spots, he gently set me down on the wooden floor before sitting beside me.
Why was my heart pounding so fast at that time? Why could I kind of feel his heartbeat when I was dangling. Maybe I was falling for him. Wait, no. I’m not falling for him. That was from running around too much; there is no other possible explanation for our hearts to be pounding so fast. Denial.
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When I walked by her classroom, I noticed her head buried into a book, the bright cover catching my eye. I decided to check in to see what she was doing.
“Hey, you guys go on ahead,” I told them, waving my hand at them.
“E-Eh?” Kindaichi-san started. “How come?”
“You’re really going to ask that?” Kunimi-san asked him back as he slapped his arm and pointed at Karin-chan. His eyes followed Kunimi-san’s finger before staring at her and nodding, finally understanding my actions.
“Okay, okay. We’ll catch you later then,” Kindaichi-san stated before turning away and walking with Kunimi-san down the stairs. I watched their figures begin to disappear, and I eventually turned back towards her when they finally disappeared. I walked into the classroom, noticing the few students in the room before I stared at her figure. She was hunched over her book, focusing on its contents as she didn’t seem to notice me there. I tried to read the cover, but the foreign characters couldn’t make any sense in my mind.
“Karin-chan?” I finally decided to call out, and she lifted her head from the book. Her glasses sat on her nose as she turned to look at me, and I thought I could hear my heart pumping in my ears.
“What is it, Tobio-kun?” she questioned as she started pushing the frames a little higher up her nose bridge. The knuckle on her right pointer finger pressed against the purple rim of her glasses while her other hand closed the book.
“N-Nothing,” I answered, trying to hide how nervous I was. Who knew that a girl reading could be so pretty? “I was just wondering what book you were reading,” I tried to cover up myself. I knew that I wasn’t actually there to actually know what book she was reading.
“Oh,” she muttered as she turned back towards the book to try and read the title. “It’s called Holes,” she answered, reading the title in English. I stared at her in confusion as I tried to figure out how that would be pronounced normally. “Holes by Louis Sachar,” she restated in a Japanese accent. I nodded when I finally understood her.
“Isn’t that an English book though?” I questioned, confused as to why she was so deep into the storyline of a book that she probably didn’t understand too well. She chuckled slightly as she removed her glasses from her face. She looked up at me with a bright smile on her face.
“I’ve been studying,” she explained, making my heart slightly race. I don’t like her. I don’t like her! I reminded myself as she stood up. “Who knew that English was actually kind of fun to learn?” she joked a little with a small laugh. “Anyways, is there anything else you needed from me? I know that you wanted to play some volleyball with your friends,” she questioned as we started walking out of the classroom.
“Yeah, but I told them to go on ahead without me,” I explained, trying to match my footsteps with her.
“Oh, alright then,” she responded while we started walking down the hall, descending down the stairs. “If you’re going to go play, you probably should just go. We’ll see each other later today anyways,” she reminded me, making me nervously chuckle.
“No, it’s fine,” I answered. “To be honest, I feel like they’re only really friends with me because of the fact that we play volleyball together,” I added a little quieter. I trained my eyes onto the volleyball in between my hands while we reached the outside area of our campus.
“I’m sure they all still care for you somewhat. I don’t think they’re that heartless,” she answered, trying to stay on the optimistic side of the situation. “Plus, you could be wrong for all you know.” I sighed, knowing that she was right. For all I knew, I might’ve just misinterpreted their words and actions, making a slight weight on my chest release.
“Even so, I still want to walk with you,” I admitted in a small voice, earning a small laugh from her.
“This is why a lot of people think that we’re dating, boke,” she muttered as she lightly smacked my arm. I felt the cheek rising in my cheeks while I let my thoughts run through my head. “A lot of people are so weird,” she muttered as we arrived at the vending machine. From her pocket, she pulled out her small coin bag and started counting the coins. “By the way, do you want some milk or yogurt?” she asked as she looked at me.
“Sure, why not,” I answered as she started feeding coins into the machine. She pressed a few buttons that my eyes couldn’t really catch, but eventually, I noticed the item being pulled out of the machine. The machine dropped two cartons of milk, and Karin-chan slightly squatted as she pulled out the two cartons. After she stood up, she handed me the second carton before letting her hands retrieve the straw from the side and poke it through the top of the container.
“Can you hold this for me really quick?” I questioned. She nodded quickly before retrieving the ball from my hands as she started sucking on the straw. I copied her movements and started drinking, taking the ball back from her hands. “Anyways, you’re coming over during the weekend to help get ready for the Lunar New Year, right?” I questioned, trying to get my facts straight. She nodded as she pulled the straw away from her lips.
“Yeah. I noticed that your mom had a pretty long to-do list, so I thought I could help out,” she explained with a smile, making me smile back at her. “How come you’re asking?”
For a moment, I thought about my answer before stating, “Just wondering. Do you think you’ll need a hand?” She nodded as she sighed at the thought of the preparations.
“Definitely. Your mom had plans to make mochi and a full feast for dinner,” she sighed as she contemplated her life. “I’m going to be so tired after that,” I heard her mutter as she took another sip of her milk carton. I laughed at her, making her glare up at me.
“Alright, I’ll try to help out then,” I offered as I finished the last few drops of the milk. “Also, how much was this?” I questioned, knowing that I would want to pay her back eventually.
“It would be extremely helpful, and this was only about 100 yen,” she answered as she finished her carton. We walked over to the trash can to throw away the cartons before she pushed me to go practice. “We’ll talk more later, so go play some volleyball, you knucklehead!” I sighed at her words before glaring at her.
“Yeah, and go read some more books, boke,” I responded back, sticking my tongue at her. She returned it back before giving me a bright smile. With a wave, she turned on her heel and began to run back into the classroom. I waved my hand back at her before turning back towards the courtyard.
As I walked into the small gym, I heard a voice yell, “Kageyama-san!” I turned towards the voice, seeing Kindaichi-san waving his hand. I ran over to him before we started talking. “So how’s your girlfriend?” he questioned, placing an arm over my shoulders. My heart began to race at his words, and I immediately pushed him off.
“She isn’t my girlfriend!” I explained a little too loud. “She’s good though.” When I answered, I looked up to see Kindaichi-san’s cheeks slightly pink. What happened to him? “By the way, are you okay, Kindaichi-san?” I questioned as I squinted my eyes at him.
“He’s fine, but he just gets shy whenever Yamaji-san is involved,” Kunimi-san teased him, earning a small punch to the side of his body from Kindaichi-san. I sat up straight as I watched the two of them argue. Does Kindaichi-san like Karin-chan? Why does he like her? Wait, why am I getting so worked up over this? I pushed my thoughts aside as I finally held up the volleyball that I brought over.
“Anyways, are you guys ready to get destroyed within the few matches we’re about to do?” I questioned, making the two of them looking over at me. Their angry facial expressions changed into an annoyed one, making them slightly cocky.
“We’ll see how you eat your words in just a second,” Kindaichi-san answered as we started to walk onto the open court space.
Age: 13
“You need to go faster! Higher!” I heard him scold his teammates as he noticed the team lagging behind on his sets. I sighed from the cheering section as his loud voice echoed slightly. His perfection was starting to become an issue. He has been trying to get his teammates to try and keep up, but I can tell that the team started getting annoyed. I bit the inside of my lip as I watched Tobio try to keep his anger in control. I watched his eyes glance over at me as I sighed and gave him a solemn glance. I watched him sigh for a moment as his anger dissipated.
This has been going on for almost a year. He was becoming obsessive about the plays that had to be done, how the team was supposed to play. My thumb runs over my ring nervously, trying to calm myself down.
After the game finished, I watched Tobio give me the signal, and I rushed down to the entrance. I knew exactly what I needed to do. I heard my parents calling out to me despite the fact that our routine always needed to be done.
When I arrived, I shivered from the open door of the gym. Oh, that’s why they were calling out to me. My hands began to rub the exposed skin of my arms as I felt goosebumps forming on my skin. I blew air into my hands as I tried to keep myself warm. I never noticed Tobio walking out from the gym. I heard his footsteps quickly approaching me.
“Oi, boke,” he muttered quietly as he grabbed his jacket to wrap around me, “you forgot your jacket again.”
Glaring at him, I huffed out as I placed my arms inside the sleeves, “Well, I’m the only one that can make sure you stay mentally sane.” He chuckled at my answer as he zipped up the jacket. My cheeks blushed a bright red at his actions, and I hid my face in the jacket. The jacket smelled like him, but my cheeks were red from the cold, not him. “What about you though?” I questioned as my body finally warmed up.
“I need to cool off a little bit before I can put on my jacket,” Tobio responded as he placed the hood onto my head.
“Yeah,” I responded, sympathizing with him. “Both physically and mentally. What’s up?” He knew he had to respond to his little outburst on the court earlier. I stared at him as he nervously fidgeted with the edge of his shirt.
“I want to be able to get the points,” he muttered quietly. Sighing, the most I could do was look at him in frustration. “Like the only way they are going to be able to get anything done is if they follow what I say,” Tobio continued, trying to reason with me, “I control the game for a reason.”
“I get it, Tobio-kun,” I began, sympathizing with his statement, “but you need to be able to cooperate with your team members. Do you think Shiratorizawa wants someone that controls the court too much? You’re supposed to play as a team!” I watched Kageyama play with his ring a little as he heard my lecture towards him. “Besides, a setter can only do so much to control the game. You have to remember that people are still people, and they’ll do what they want,” I continued.
“But I want to win…” Tobio’s voice trailed off. I giggled at his childness before I approached him and hugged him.
“I know, I know,” I muttered, tapping rhythmically his back. His hands just wrapped around me as he held me closer to him. “But you still have to keep it cool, you know,” I muttered quietly, barely loud enough for him to hear. I felt him nod before we heard snickering from behind the door.
“Yeah, you’re TOTALLY not dating her, Kageyama-san!” Oikawa-san called out from behind. I felt him tense up for a second before releasing his grip a little to turn around to the voice. I peeked at the people behind him to find the entire team including the coaches chuckling at the two of us. I hid myself behind Tobio again as I heard them cause a ruckus behind him again.
“We aren’t!” Tobio called back at them.
“You can deny it all you want. Watch you date her anyways in high school!” another teammate yelled. Looking at his face, I watched his cheeks turn a slight tint of pink.
Before he could even get his next words out, one of his coaches walked towards us and tapped my shoulder. Looking over to him, he flashed a small smile before patting my head. “Take care of Kageyama-kun for us, okay?” he asked softly. Giving a small smile, I nodded my head before he walked away. Looking back to Tobio, our eyes met, and I felt my heart thump against my chest. Hopefully, my heart is not beating as loud as I think it is.
“Anyways,” Tobio spoke as he released the hug before awkwardly placing his hands into his pocket, “ready for some food?” Nodding and giving him a small smile, we walked out of the gym with the snickers behind us. Shy.
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And that's the chapter! There's more to them being age 13, so let's return back to that next time. I hope you liked this chapter, and I'll see you in the next one!
Next: Promise Rings Chapter 6
