Promise Rings Chapter 4
(Definitely not edited)
Previous: Promise Rings Chapter 3
Alright, I'm back with another chapter of Promise Rings! Sorry for posting this a bit later than expected, but I really hope you enjoy this chapter!
(Note: I think this chapter does have spoilers regarding Kageyama's family? I'm pretty sure there are no spoilers regarding the actual plot, so hopefully that's okay.)
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Age: 10
Tobio gave me the signal after his practice match, but I had a feeling that this post-game meeting would be a little different. I quickly notified our parents about our meeting, and they waved me off as I grabbed my jacket. I approached the entrance and waited by the door. From the other side of the door, I heard the voices from Tobio’s teammates.
“Really?” one of the boys exclaimed in shock.
“What do you mean she isn’t your girlfriend, Kageyama-san?” another boy asked between chews. I felt my cheeks heat up as I realized the topic of their conversation. My cheeks are just red from the cold. Yeah, just the cold. I heard Tobio stutter a little bit as he attempted to explain everything.
“W-We’ve been friends since preschool. She’s just my f-friend,” Tobio explained. That’s right; we have been friends ever since I talked to him back in preschool four years ago, but why do I feel like there is something else he is hiding? Before the team could continue the conversation, Tobio cut it off, “I need to go meet up with Karin. See you guys.” A broken chorus of farewells echoed for a second before Tobio emerged from the gym. “Hey, did I keep you waiting long?” he asked, worry laced into his voice.
“Nope, I just got here like a minute ago,” I replied happily. He gave me a small smile as I noticed his red cheeks. It’s probably just from all the running. The coach did decide that Tobio would play the entire time. “So what’s up?” I questioned.
“We both know that I could have been better,” he answered sadly with a sigh. Rolling my eyes, I huffed at him before I expressed myself.
“Oi,” I called him from his sadness. “You did amazing. It was just the endurance that caused you to have a sloppy game today. That improves over time,” I scolded him. “Now, stop sulking. We need to go refuel,” I quickly changed the topic, turning to walk out the door. Before I could even take a step, Tobio grabbed my wrist, catching my attention. I felt my heart beating fast against my ribcage. My heart must be pumping blood in order to circulate the nutrients of that energy bar I had halfway through the game.
“I have something to give you,” Tobio bluntly stated. Confused, I turned towards him again as his hand rummaged through his pocket. I watched his hand stop before he took a deep breath. From his pocket, he pulled out a small box that fit in his palm. Tilting my head to the side, I switch my vision between him and the box. “Do you remember those rings you wanted a few years ago?” he questioned, trying to spark my memory.
Nodding, I answered, “Yeah, I do. So what?” He hands me the box and tells me to open it. Inside, two rings sit in the velvet. One ring was a simple coil with nothing special on it while the other was an open-ended ring with a moon and star at the ends. With more confusion, I looked at him to see him nervously biting his lip. “What are these?” I asked him; I have never seen something like this before.
“I saved a lot of money from birthdays and stuff, and I was able to buy both of them,” he answered, not really answering my question. “They’re supposed to be promise rings,” he stated as I looked at him for the answer to my question.
“How come they look kind of different than normal rings?” I questioned as I stared at the rings.
“Because they’re meant to be adjustable,” Tobio stated again. Shifting my attention to him again, I noticed him scratching the back of his head. Understanding, I stared at the rings again. They seemed pretty basic: just some silver shaped to look nice. “Yours is the moon one by the way,” Tobio quickly added right before I was going to ask, “I know how much you like astrology.” We have known each other long enough to the point where he could practically read my thoughts. For a moment, we sat there in silence before Tobio broke it, “Do you like them?”
“Do I like them?” I questioned. “I love them!” I emphasized each syllable as I threw my arms around Tobio’s neck, giving him a big hug. He stumbled for a second before he caught his balance and hugged me back. His arm wrapped tightly against my body as he squeezed me. We hugged for a few moments longer before I released the hug.
Taking my ring out of the box, I handed the box back to Tobio before declaring, “If they’re promise rings, we should use them for a promise!” Tobio took out the other ring before closing the box and tucking it into his pocket. We both thought for a moment before I had an idea. “Let’s promise to be best friends forever!” I proposed. “We can always change it later if we want,” I added in case he was hesitant to take me up on the promise. Tobio slowly nods before looking at me. With a smile on my face, we slide the rings onto our right ring finger. For the first time, I saw Tobio genuinely smile with his teeth, and I smiled back.
“Okay, but we need to eat now,” Tobio stated, killing the moment. “My stomach is going to kill me, and I could honestly eat a horse,” he exaggerated. Scoffing, we begin walking towards the door.
“Where did you even get the idea to get rings?” I suddenly wondered as we were walking towards the car.
“Miwa,” Tobio simply answered. “She told me that you would like it,” he elaborated as we continued our way through the parking lot. Of course he couldn’t think of this idea by himself. Clueless.
Age: 11
I was sitting by the window when the girl’s volleyball team approached me during break. I could hear them giggling and talking from a mile away, and when I turned around towards them, I noticed that they were pretty happy.
“So Care Bear,” Megumi started, “Who gave you the ring?” After all this time, I never bothered to tell them who gave me the ring since they would always bother me about my relationship with Tobio.
Sighing, I answered my typical answer, “I’m not going to tell you.” I watched all of their faces fall from smiles into a flat line. Every day for the past year, they have been asking the same question, but they have received no answers from me.
“Try all you want, Karin,” Rei started in her serious voice, “but we know that Kageyama-san gave you the ring.” Looking at them shocked, I scanned their faces as they stared back at me. “So it really was him,” Rei muttered as her face turned shocked.
“W-What?” the tone of my voice suddenly raised up. “What are you walking about?”
Megumi glared at me before answering, “We know that Kageyama-san gave you the ring. We confirmed it with him a couple days ago.” With the heat rising in my face, my cheeks reddened as I contemplated how to respond. How did Tobio say anything before I did? “Oh my god I was right,” Megumi gasped as she watched my expression and reaction. “You owe me Pocky, Rei-chan.” I heard Rei sigh before slapping an unopened box into Megumi’s palm.
“W-Wait, you guys DIDN’T know before?” I panicked, my cheeks probably red from smiling too much earlier. The ace and other wing spikers snickered a little bit before bursting out into laughter. I looked at each of them, feeling panic rising in my chest.
“We kind of knew ever since you got it, and we would’ve knew even if you didn’t tell us, Karin-san,” Usagi-chan, one of our younger wing spikers, giggled out. I covered my face away to look out the window. From the window, I spotted Tobio buying some milk from the vending machine, and the voices of the girls slowly faded away until Megumi slapped my back.
“Ow! What was that for?” I snapped at them, rubbing my back from where Megumi slapped my back. I always forgot that Megumi was so strong.
“You have to stop daydreaming, Karin,” Megumi stated, annoyed. I could tell she was serious; she never called anyone by their real names unless she needed to get her point across. “You might as well confess to him,” Megumi continued as she rested her chin on the palm of her hand.
“Seriously,” Rei added, “I don’t know how much longer I can deal with you two acting like a couple and then denying it.” Usagi-chan nodded in agreement. “By the way, we’re doing this for the sake of our captain,” Rei stated, winking at me.
“But I don’t like him?” I questioned them confused, denying their assumptions. The instant I finished my statement, our ace, Sakura, hit her head against the table. “Sakura!” I yelled out of concern. Her head rested on the desk for a moment before she suddenly looked up to glare at me.
“I swear to God,” Sakura growled, “if you two don’t end up together, I will lose it.” All the other members shared small glances with each other, afraid of the threat that she just presented. “We have seen the way that you and him interact, look at each other, and talk, captain,” Sakura muttered as she laid her head back against the desk. “There’s already so much tension. Just date already.”
“And while you’re at it, get married and have kids,” Rei quickly added as she started cleaning her nails a bit. I felt my heart suddenly skip a beat as I processed her words. I controlled my facial expressions and my heart before I responded.
Scoffing, I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms, stating, “We’re just friends with a deeper connection. There’s no way that he likes me or that I like him. I think I know how I feel after being close to him for like seven years now.” I watched all of their reactions shift from annoyed to the edge of insanity as they tried to comprehend my words.
“I give up, you guys,” Usagi-chan stated sadly, her hand pinching her nose bridge. The other members shared glances with each other before we heard the warning bell ring. “We should get going now though. See you at practice, captain,” she stated, giving me a slight bow. The rest of the group trudged to the door before walking back to their classes. Chuckling at them, I began grabbing my materials for next period: math. Placing my workbook into the table, I looked up to see one of my classmates placing a carton of milk onto my desk.
Before I could ask anything, she stated, “It’s from Kageyama-san, and he told you to meet up with him at your usual spot to eat.” Nodding, I thanked her before opening the carton of milk and taking a sip. He couldn’t even be bothered to come by the classroom and hand it to me himself? I found myself smiling as I took the sip. Maybe the team was right. Maybe I did like him more than a best friend. Idiot.
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My eyes widened when I heard the news from my mom. I could only stare and blink for a few seconds before I returned back to reality.
“Tobio-kun’s grandpa?” I questioned in shock as I tilted my head. My mom could only sigh and nod as she made me understand the situation.
“Yesterday night, he passed away,” she repeated herself for what seemed like the hundredth time today. I looked down at the floor, feeling the tug of sadness in my heart from the news. While he was never my grandpa, he always took care of me like one, and he was the one that taught me, Miwa-san, and Tobio to play volleyball. Without noticing, I felt the tears about to drip down my cheeks.
“Can I go stop by Tobio-kun’s house?” I asked quietly, fully knowing the answer without her response. She nodded as her hand patted my head. I immediately dashed to my room to go grab my jacket. As soon as I got my shoes onto my feet, I was already sprinting to his house, not letting myself catch a breath. When I arrived a couple minutes later, I knocked on the door. On the other side of the door, I heard small footsteps behind the door before the door carefully opened.
“Karin-chan? What are you doing here?” Tobio questioned as one eye peeked at me from behind the door. I noticed the redness in his eyes from crying. He opened the door as he rubbed his swollen eyes. When I noticed how upset he was, I could feel myself starting to sympathize with him.
“I heard,” I simply answered as he let me into the house. He closed the door with a sniffle before he turned towards me, clearly wanting to cry again. “Tobio-kun, do you want a hug?” I questioned when I watched the tears well up in his eyes.
“No, I’m fine,” he answered with a shaky breath as he wiped away his tears. I stared at him, knowing well enough that he just needed some comfort. I held out my arms, and he took a step before wrapping his arms around me. We sat on the floor as we started crying together.
“Everything will be fine,” I whispered as I tried to calm the both of us down, knowing that we would not get over it for a long time.
“He didn’t deserve to die, Karin-chan,” he sniffled, refusing the truth. He choked back another sob as his tone of voice raised, “He doesn’t deserve to die because of a stupid cold.” I nodded on his shoulder, agreeing with him. I sniffled as I began controlling my emotions.
“I know, but we can’t do anything now,” I muttered as I tightened my hug. I bit the inside of my lip as I started to feel myself wanting to cry again. I didn’t notice, but Mrs. Kageyama scooped the two of us into her arms and sat on the couch, cradling the two of us.
“It’s going to be okay, you two,” she muttered as she stroked our backs, comforting us. “You know that he is never going to leave your hearts, right?” I nodded slowly as I sniffled again. For the rest of the afternoon, Mrs. Kageyama comforted Tobio and I until we fell asleep. At some point, my mom came by to pick me up, but I had apparently clung onto Tobio tightly which made it difficult to separate us, ending up with me spending the night at the house with a heavy heart.
⭐⭐⭐ Let's stop here for this chapter. I really hope that you really liked this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it! I'll see you in the next one!
Next: Promise Rings Chapter 5
