Chapter Text
A cacophony of sounds enveloped the city, chirping birds barely heard above the loud car hunks of angry drivers and the thousand of hurried footsteps crossing the street.
You propped your chin on the palm of your hand, with lethargic eyes you stared at the large dusty windows that decorated the large studio-office of Ukai. Even after 1 year and a half of meeting him, the place looked the same as the first time you laid eyes on it. A desk the color of mahogany greatly contrasted against chipped white walls, mold beginning to form along with the corners and a couple of framed movie posters miraculously hung with a little tape. Turning your gaze away from the grimy walls, you found yourself staring at the unmoving face of your agent and manager.
You gave them a look, unblinking. "...What?"
Ukai let out a sigh, repressing the urge to yank at his own hair. "Did you not hear anything of what I just said?"
Leaning back, you nonchalantly crossed your arms and lazily pointed upwards. "Did you know there's mold on your walls?"
Ukai turned around and squinted his eyes, cursing at the old cheap walls under his breath. "I've been meaning to change that."
You snorted. "Right."
Takeda raised his hand and cleared his throat. "Can we please stop talking about molding walls and discuss the matter at hand?"
"Oh yeah, what was it again?"
Ukai let out another sigh. "Have you read the reviews?"
You refrained from biting your lip. "The…uh..”
The reviews. It was always the reviews and the critics and every time someone brought it up it made your heart want to leap out of your chest. You hadn’t expected much, really, seeing as it was an indie by a first time director, but despite the small budget and the risk that came in working with an industry rookie and a small production company, you were excited to join in. The first time you read the script felt like magic to you, the inked words slowly luring you into their world, your heart clenched for the characters and their experiences, some of them mirroring your own. It was beautiful and sorrowful commentary about the struggles and reality of youth, the loss of innocence, and the loss of life.
Maybe the gods had pitied you because somehow you had managed to get the lead. You couldn’t believe it at first, sure, given the nature of the production there was less competition, but still. After filming and participating in a series of local film festivals, the reviews began rolling in, one after another. You... understood the job of a critic, to sit and watch and critic the hard work of a group of people that came together to create something that they believed in, to create something everlasting. And a critic’s job was to tear it apart from the very root, and to you, it was terrifying. You supposed it’s natural to be mildly afraid of being judged, but you, you were scrutinized by the eyes of the public, by your peers, and by anyone that was someone. Yeah, it was terrifying. No, of course, you didn’t read the reviews.
“So you didn’t.”
“Yeah, I didn’t.”
Takeda handed you his phone, you peered at the brightly lit screen, the characters written at the top of the page staring back at you.
You shook your head. “I’m not reading that.”
There was no way you would read anything written by Funai Seiichi, also known as Tokyo’s best and most ruthless critic. He wasn’t just a critic, no, he was a murderer of dreams, proven by the number of careers he had ended with just mere words and letters. His word was law and gold, and to be approved by him meant a ticket into the big leagues and an open path to new opportunities.
You simply weren’t brave enough to read the fate he had set before you.
“Fine, if you won't read it then I’ll read it myself. Out loud.”
You gritted your teeth and mentally prepared yourself to have your self-esteem obliterated.
“To no one’s surprise, the path envisioned by first-time director Miura Haruki progressively turned into more of an uncomfortable, bumpy road that made my stomach churn and my insides want to convulse.”
You cringed.
“Aided by the fervent and powerful performances of their leading actors, particularly the palpable, almost unhinged-like quality of what will surely be this year’s breakout star.”
The words echoed in your head, over and over. He couldn’t be talking about you, could he? You thought back to all those scenes where you had to cry your eyes out, snot all over and a dry throat to top it off. …Could he?
Either way, you considered it a win as long as he didn’t directly talk major shit about you.
“Whether it was on purpose or not, the evident lack of Miura’s expertise became the film’s driving force, complementing and enhancing its own narrative, like putting together a shitty picture puzzle with pieces that weren’t made for each other, but happen to work just right. Going by the unusual approach taken by both Miura and his leading cast when it comes to such a theme, they unified and combined each other’s artistry to build a contemporary picture puzzle--while seemingly blindfolded--. Far from your technically perfect movie yet easily one of the most whimsical, innovative, and genuine pieces of media I’ve had the pleasure of witnessing this year.”
You stared off into space as Takeda finished reading. You didn’t know where to begin. You couldn’t even form a coherent thought if someone paid you to.
“Now, that wasn’t that bad, was it?”
“I’m just,” You nodded absentmindedly. “Trying to...like, let it simmer for a bit.”
You blinked once, then twice.
“Give me that,” Snatching Takeda’s phone out of his hand you quickly began scrolling through the article. “Is this like, legit? There’s no way he’s for real—“
Right below the headline, four stars and half sat under the film’s title, indicating its score.
Your head instantly whipped towards your agent and manager who looked at you with a smile, the latter being more obvious than the other.
“This is good, really good.”
“Good?! I expected 1 star and future unemployment."
Takeda let out a laugh and retrieved his phone from your shaking hands. “Hopefully this means more visibility and opportunities. Congratulations! You deserve it.”
“You're just happy you can pay rent now.”
Ukai hummed. “That too.” His eyes lingered on the wall lining with mold. Yeah, at least now he could get around to fix that.
Three weeks had passed, and the film had now made its premiere. It had performed surprisingly well --given the small promotion-- and it was praised by both critics and local cinephile circles. Many thought it was a success, you thought it was a miracle. You had never experienced something like this, the sweet taste of being visible, of really being seen. When it came to your work, you were almost like a second thought, the supporting role, good but not quite. So many times did you struggle to get a good part, to get enough lines, enough screen time. To you, success felt like secondhand smoke, you’ve been near it, you’ve smelled it; at times it felt palpable enough, almost as if it were your own. It was nothing more than an illusion, your fingers barely ever brushed the stars, it didn’t matter how many times you tried, you just weren’t able to reach. But now, now, you were so close that you could feel the stain of stardust on the pad of your digits.
You looked at your phone’s clock and cursed under your breath. You had promised Sugawara you’d be on time. Seeing as you had the nasty habit of usually being late to any meetings, your friends started making bets, not only on you, but with you.
“If you're the last one, dinner’s on you.”
You absolutely refused at first, but they insisted and managed to rile you up enough to give in. You couldn’t allow yourself to be late, ever again.
You still remember the eight times they made your pockets hurt.
Spotting a head of gray hair from afar, you quickened your pace.
“Hey!” You said, taking a sit in front of him. “Sorry I’m… late.”
Crescent moon eyes smiled at you. “No worries, I just got here myself.”
You gave him a small smile in return. “So what should we order then?”
“Whatever you want,” he said. “You are paying, anyway.”
You pursed your lips in defeat. “O-kay, Coffee it is!”
Walking to the front of the café, you tried recalling Sugawara’s go-to coffee order. Was it a mocha or a mochaccino? God, what even was the difference? You frowned. Ordering coffee shouldn’t be this difficult. You ended up getting him the one that had extra whipped cream and a simple frappuccino for yourself.
“So,” he started once you settled back, “What does it feel like?”
“Well,” You swirled your drink. “I don’t know. It’s just like, weird. But in a good way.”
“I think you deserve it.” He said, taking a careful sip.
You looked up to find his gaze, a sudden wave of warmth spreading over your cheeks. “Ah, thank you. Though, I don’t think I, uh… could’ve made it without you.”
His surprise was muffled by the cup on his lips. “Oh? How so?” He knew what you meant, but he wanted to hear it coming from you.
“Uh, I mean—” you took a sip, and then another. And then two more. “Thinking back, if we hadn’t run into each other, and if you hadn’t introduced me to Ukai—” Another sip. “I probably wouldn’t be here.”
You immediately avoided his eyes. God, that was embarrassing. You can’t believe you admitted it out loud. But it was fine, you thought. He’s nice, and he won’t make fun of you, he’ll just brush it off. Because he’s nice.
You were wrong.
Sugawara broke into giggles. “Aw, you’re right! That means I get half of your payment?”
“No. But you’ll get a shoutout once I win a super famous award!”
He hummed in agreement. “Okay, fair enough.”
He knew you weren’t joking. You had dreams, crazy unrealistic dreams, ever since the two of you were children. When he first met you, you had said that your greatest dream was to be abducted by aliens, he had called you silly, saying that aliens would steal your organs if that were to happen. The next time he saw you, you wanted to be a ghost hunter, he called you silly again. Then you surprised him by claiming to have found your true calling; a scientist. He had asked you what kind of scientist, and you merely shrugged your shoulders, “The Jurassic Park ones,” you said. A couple of days later he came to realize exactly what you meant.
“Guess!”
He let out a sigh. “Astronaut?”
“Wrong! I would tell you but you won’t understand.”
“How—”
“I’ll show you.”
You both watched as two men in suits and sunglasses fought off aliens with intergalactic guns. He knew then, that perhaps you weren’t as weird as he thought you were, he felt like he understood you a little better now. That night he went to bed dreaming about you and him clad in suits and sunglasses.
Soon enough, your enthusiasm for all of those weird worlds and characters that only existed on a screen had rubbed off on him.
“Wouldn’t it be cool… to be them in real life?” You asked in a daze, the tv blinking back at you.
Sugawara’s eyes remained fixed on the television, watching as Ash captured yet another Pokémon. “Like them?” He pointed at the tv. “I don’t think pokémons exist in real life…”
You let out a sigh full of disappointment, too much disappointment for a five-year-old. “I know, but that’s why movies are fun! It becomes real.”
Sugawara glanced at your movie collection near the tv screen. “Is that why you have so many?”
You grimaced at his question. “Well, they’re not mine… They’re my dad’s. But he said once I grow up I can have them!”
The boy nodded in understanding. “Do you watch them with your dad too?”
He immediately regretted his question at seeing your small face fall. He had never seen you with an expression like that, to him, you were all snicker and smiles, fists and shouts. Him being in the receiving end of all of those. It was weird seeing you so, small. In his eyes, you were usually a giant, so much bigger than him, going around destroying everything in your path with a menacing grin. And as much as it scared and annoyed him, that day, he decided he preferred you like that.
“No,” you said. “Not recently.”
It became a habit to have a movie night every Friday. Well, until you left.
Unfortunately, he had no way to contact you, so he carried on the tradition as a form of gratitude and acknowledgment of the time you spend together, and of the things you taught him. Unbeknownst to Sugawara, you had done the same.
He still remembered it like it was yesterday. The sky was rapidly getting dark and cloudy, he had a feeling it would start raining soon, so he had carried an umbrella with him just in case. He was on the way to the convenience store after a meeting with Ukai, when he came across a girl sitting on the steps of the outside of the store, her hair obscured her face and she held a folder in her hands. He merely glanced at her. Once inside the store, a thunder resounded up above, rain following soon after. He let out a sigh and thought about the lone girl outside. He didn’t see her with an umbrella or anything that could cover her from the heavy rain. He groaned, why did he have to be such a nice person? With a plastic bag in hand and an umbrella in the other, he stepped outside into the pouring rain. He turned towards the girl, her arms above her head holding a now drenched folder that did little to nothing for her against the downpour.
He stared at the girl’s downturned lips and furrowed brows, at her intense eyes glaring at the sky like they had wronged her and her future children. He looked at the small crystal droplets trailing down her face. The face that appeared in his dreams so many years ago.
Everything after that was a blur, and he found himself dreaming of you again.
“You better not forget me when you’re famous,” he threatened, his mouth curving into a smile.
You barked a laugh. “I’m sorry, what’s your name again?” You tilted your head feigning confusion.
He found himself rolling his eyes, a chuckle escaping his lips. Despite the number of years of being apart and unable to communicate, to him, it felt like you had never really left. You were in the small Pokémon keychain he had dangling from his school bag, in the Men In Black cosplays he’d see in Halloween, in the old DVD rental store at the end of the street, in his memories whenever he would rewatch one of the movies you told him about as kids.
"I should get you to sign something, and then I'll sell it for an amount that is criminally overpriced!"
Your eyes scanned over the text one of your friends sent in the agency’s group chat. It was kind of a tradition to celebrate whenever one of them got a big gig or achieved some sort of unthinkable feat for their standards. Or maybe they actually just used the occasion to eat and get drunk. Either way, you always had fun whenever everyone got together. This would be the second time they celebrated in your name, the first one being when you managed to land a gig in a somewhat big, albeit shitty action film as one of the many supporting characters, only to get killed off in the first half of the movie. Truth to be told, you hated the movie and you had only taken the part because you needed to eat. That’s was simply the life of a struggling artist. Former struggling artist. You hoped.
The ringing of voices and glasses reached your ears before you stepped into the room. You were welcomed by an array of half-eaten foods and almost empty drinks. You spotted the body of one of your friends sprawled over a table. You rolled your eyes at the sight, he always got ahead of himself and it certainly didn’t help that he was a lightweight. Next to him, sat Nishinoya who seemed to be engaged in a competition with Hinata to see who could fill their cheeks the most without choking and passing out. No one seemed to pay attention, happily chatting and drinking away.
“Hope you guys left enough for me.” You said, eyeing the sad little piece of meat left in the grill.
Several startled eyes turned to look at you. “Ren!”
Tanaka suddenly jerked up, his arms waving in the air like one of those inflatable tube guys. His eyes remained closed as he vigorously echoed your name.
“Well, look at you not being late.”
Your gaze landed on the gray-haired boy sitting not too far away.
“Oh please, I almost slept through my alarm.” You tried to suppress a snicker.
Sugawara scooted over and made a space for you to sit. Giving him a quick thanks, you made your way around the single V-shaped table and greeted everyone. You plopped yourself down on the chair and noticed a very quiet Tsukkishima to your right, who was apparently too busy on his phone to acknowledge your presence. You leaned over his shoulders, taking a quick peek at this phone screen.
“Who are you texting?”
His fingers abruptly stopped moving across the keyboard the second he registered your voice, he jerked his phone away from your sight with a quickness that shouldn't be possible. “Can’t you mind your business for once?” He sneered. “Unlike you, I actually have friends outside of this agency.”
You bit out a laugh at his reaction. You always found him amusing, in the way someone would find an asshole, grumpy cat. Sometimes you'd go out of your way to poke the bear, in retaliation, he would try and embarrass you every chance he could. Unfortunately for him, you had embraced the feeling of shame long ago, and embarrassing you became a feat only few could achieve.
“You sure you ain’t paying them to text you back?”
He rolled his eyes at you while you snickered. “Like you pay to get cast?”
Yachi, who sat not too far away, quickly came to your defense. “Hey, you know she can’t afford it!”
Blinking, you thought over Yachi’s words. She wasn’t wrong, so you supposed there was no use in trying to defend your case, instead, you looked at the empty chair beside Tsukkishima. “Where’s Yamaguchi?
“In the bathroom.”
You turned towards the grill and went for the remaining piece of meat, carefully picking it up, you were about to finally place it on your plate, saliva almost forming in your mouth, when the sudden loud voice of your manager emerged out of thin air. You flinched at the sudden noise assault and dropped the piece of meat on the floor. You closed your eyes. It was okay. You clenched your jaw in annoyance. I can order another one, you thought to yourself.
“Sorry, we’re late!”
Behind Takeda trailed Ukai, wearing a sheepish look on his face. “We just came straight from the office, had some stuff to do.”
Your eyes fell on his face and you frowned. He had this... weird glow to him. It was unnerving, and it reminded you of the face he had when Kageyama went crazy viral, resulting on him landing a bunch of gigs. Ukai was able to get his hands on that super luxury massage chair, which he never stopped bragging about (the same one everyone used behind his back) and a brand new phone. You sniffed the air. It smelled of something akin to excitement, and you had the slight suspiscion that it came from him. Curiosity burned inside you. What even could make him so giddy? You didn’t know, but you were going to make him tell you tonight.
The company duo found themselves a seat while Ukai complained about how little food there was left.
“Blame those guys.” You pointed towards the shortest people present in the room (besides you). Two sets of heads shot up in surprise, little grains of rice littered the corners of their mouths.
Kageyama, who had the misfortune of sitting next to Hinata The Culprit, quickly put his hands up declaring his innocence. “I have nothing to do with this.”
You rolled your eyes in amusement. “He’s innocent.” Kageyama nodded his head as if reaffirming your statement.
Ukai squinted his eyes, not at the chipmunk looking duo, but at the man passed out next to them.
“Is he alive?”
Daichi, who had chosen to stay silent until now, piped up. “Tanaka? Yeah, he’s fine.”
“Make sure to keep an eye on him, or Hirano’s gonna give him an earful again.”
Everyone visibly tensed. For a petite woman, Hirano was rather scary. The gods had come together to curse a couple of you and have Hirano work as your publicist. She had been assigned to the ones that, according to Ukai and Takeda, were the most likely to accidentally destroy their own public image and thus career. Most of you found her annoying, uptight and overbearing. Though Tanaka, Noya, Kageyama and you constantly complained about her both to the duo, your efforts were completely futile. Not only was she the only person skilled in Public Relations, but she was a long time friend of Ukai's father, and had been working with him since the beginning of the agency's inception. She was untouchable. And as much as you hated it, she was one of the reasons the company even managed to stay afloat.
“Is it me or…”
“Nope.” You said, “I see it too.”
Sugawara turned to you, mouth twitching in a small smile. “Maybe he got a date?”
“You think someone's insane enough to go out with him?”
The gray-haired boy stifled a laugh.
“Ukai-san!” Hinata loudly called. “What’s up with your face?”
His unexpected comment had caught everyone’s attention. The man could feel the beads of sweat drip down his face, and he swore the yellow lamps above him had never burned that bright. He looked helpless for a second, eyes wide like a deer caught in headlights. He quickly cleared his throat in order to hide the growing uneasiness. “This is my only face.” He glanced at Takeda and his wavering smile. He wasn’t worried about himself, no, he was worried about him. One more second and he was sure Takeda would’ve spilled everything.
“Come on! Just tell us already.” You said, huffing in exasperation. You were sure that at least half the table had noticed at this rate, so why did they even bother hiding it anymore?
Takeda’s eyes gleamed with excitement. “Shall we?”
By now, everyone was sporting different frowns on their faces, ranging from confusion to anticipation. You almost wanted to reach over and shake him like a ragdoll until he spat out whatever it was.
Ukai let out a sigh and nodded. “Okay, kids. Gather up.”
He sounded serious, perhaps a little too serious. You immediately came up with tons of scenarios. Maybe he had a girlfriend you had never met, could he be marrying, then? Or worse, having a baby? A family was bound to keep you busy, especially when you have a newborn to take care of. Could he be leaving the agency?
“We’re gathered, though." Kegayama pointed out.
You squeezed your eyes shut.
“We’re moving.”
“Please, don’t leave us!” You instantly cried out.
Your abrupt outburst caused the rest to widen their eyes in alarm. A copious amount of voices filled the room. Hinata, Yachi, Nishinoya and Tanaka (who you think just woke up) cried alongside you, while others asked question after question, valid concerns about their now uncertain fate and their future empty bank accounts.
“My career is over!”
(“What career?” Tsukkishima mumbled to himself.)
“Does that mean we’re jobless?”
“Are you breaking up with us?” Tanaka sniffled.
“Ukai-san, I’ve got rent to pay!”
“How am I gonna feed my cat?”
“You can’t leave! Who’s gonna hire him?! He’ll just starve and die!” Hinata asked in tears, pointing to the black-haired boy next to him.
Kageyama blinked.
Ukai’s eyes crinkled in amusement. “Now, now. You are all are over-reacting. This is a good thing!”
Oh my god, he hates us, you thought. You were half-expecting him to say “It’s not you, it’s me.”
Cries of broke desperate souls resounded around the room. You thought about your short-lived career, you had finally gotten a taste of praise and success, only for a man to rip it away from you, a man you trusted. And you thought about Hinata’s words, poor Kageyama, how was he supposed to land gigs by himself? The poor boy had the social skills of a--- no, he simply didn’t have any social skills. You sighed in anguish.
Takeda clapped his hands in a sad and pathetic attempt to catch everyone’s attention. “You’ve got it wrong! We’re not leaving!” He waved his hands around in distress.
Slowly, the jarring sounds of despair settled down.
“Please, let me explain.” He said, before letting out a big sigh. “These past two years we have grown a lot, some of you have reached levels of success that we thought impossible,” he observed the table, his clients, the very ones that he had grown to cherish and think of as family. “And slowly but surely, we have built a small but good reputation within the industry. Ren’s film was just the final push and now some agencies have shown interest in both us as an agency and you as talent,” he clasped his hands. “One of them being FDA.”
Your jaw dropped.
He’s got to be kidding.
“FDA? Like, the FDA?” Daichi voiced your thoughts.
Ukai nodded. “That’s the one.”
You gaped at him, struggling to form your words. "I-Is this a joke? Cause' if it is, it's terrible and I hate you."
“I think I'm gonna pass out,” Yachi mumbled.
Hinata scratched his head in confusion. “Wait, what’s FDA?”
“Oh, nothing. Just the biggest entertainment agency in the country,” Tsukkishima said. “Which is also happends to be under a very well-known international corporation.”
The orange-haired boy seemed to vibrate with excitement. "That's soo cool!"
“Okay, okay. But what about FDA?” Sugawara asked eagerly.
“Oh, yes,” Takeda adjusted his glasses. “They want us to work with them, or under them, I guess.”
Understanding dawned on you. “Oh, oh. They want to buy Karasuno?”
“Not completely. We’d become a---”
“Subsidiary!” You interrupted, pointing your finger in the air. You didn't know business, at all. But you had managed to pick up a thing or two from hours of listening to your sister's late night study sessions. Sugawara looked at you with a hint of surprise, you returned him with a proud smile.
Hinata discreetly leaned towards Kageyama. “What’s that?” He asked in a hushed tone.
Kageyama huffed. “Dumbass.”
“You don’t know, do you?”
“Shut up.”
After thoroughly explaining the whole situation, (or dumbing it down, as Tsukkishima called it) everyone was left with a sense of relief, moving past their short panic like it had never happened.
“Seems like a pretty nice deal to me.” You raised your eyebrows. “Are you gonna take it?”
“Well, we wanted to tell you first before coming to a decision,” Ukai replied. “You’ve all made Karasuno what it is today, so it’s only fair to take your opinion into consideration.”
Silence fell like a weightened blanked, wheels turned in heads and doubt filled the delicate atmosphere. It was a crucial decision, and it's outcome could lead to a precarious situation. It wasn't just the company being gambled, but everyone's career.
It only took you a minute to come to a conclusion. “Well, I’m down.” You said with a grin, joy beginning to fill your body.
Eyes met across the table, studying facial expressions and looking for signs of disapproval. It seemed to you that everyone was on the same page here.
“So am I.” Daichi nodded.
Ukai took note of the content look on everyone’s faces. “It’s settled then.”
You were so ready to pop champagne bottles and dance on the table. Karasuno was finally getting its glory back and you were beyond excited, this meant new opportunities not only for you, but for your friends as well.
Tanaka conjured a bottle of sake out of nowhere, --you wondered if he was a part-time magician-- and popped it open with a flick of his wrist. “Let’s celebrate!”
After a couple of rounds and some empty bottles, half the table looked like they were seconds from passing out, a rosy tint present on their faces. You pushed your cheek on the table, grimacing as you thought about tomorrow’s hangover, the tune of a familiar song reached your ears, suddenly your foggy thoughts were cleared by the sound of Nicki Minaj’s hit song coming from the restaurant’s speakers. You gasped, mumbling something along the lines of "I love that song", with your mind in a blurry haze, you closed your eyes and began to quietly recite the lyrics by memory as best as you could.
Very few people knew of your liking towards her music, you couldn't help it! They were just fun, badass and insanely catchy. So like all good things that you liked, Hirano prohibited you to indulge on it in public.
Tanaka choked out a small laugh, trying not to startle you. He grabbed his phone and opened the camera. He stared at your closed eyes in wonder, and the way your mouth seemed to move in automatic as if it were programmed to recite the words. He couldn't understand a single word you were muttering --partly due to the drool dripping down your mouth-- and barely managed to catch a string of words that seemed to form something like "King Kong".
He suddenly felt like crying.
Hinata frowned in astonishment. “Someone said King Kong?” His gaze landed on Tanaka, who was recording you while tears welled up in his eyes.
You had half a mind to know you were a slurring mess, you only hoped Nicki Minaj could forgive you for mutilating her verse, but man, you were just so tired, you couldn't bother to care about how you skipped some words and or how you mispronounced them. Luckily for Tanaka, he stopped recording right before you had decided to give up on the song. He hiccuped and snickered to himself, the phone’s bright screen illuminating the wicked grin on his face. Hinata watched as the man’s fingers moved across the keyboard.
Hinata gasped. “Tanaka-san, don’t post that!” His loud voice instantly startled everyone, previous half-lidded eyes snapping open.
Tanaka froze. He could feel everyone's eyes on him, watching like a predator ready to pounce. His fingers flew across the keyboard, rivaling the speed of light. Hinata and Daichi instantly lunged at him, trying to pry his hands open, but he refused to back down and only clutched the phone tighter. Inside his camera roll, he had a jewel. A jewel he just had to share with the world. Where others went back to lounging around, not caring about your potentially ruined reputation, Hinata, Daichi, and now Sugawara played tug of war with the man's cellphone.
Entering the room, Yagamuchi took in the sight before him, half of his friends laid on the table, forehead and cheeks pressed against the surface, the other half was currently occupied trying to physically restrain Tanaka, while the remaining ones acted unbothered as if everything around them was white noise.
His face contorted in absolute confusion. “What did I miss…?”
You lazily opened your eyes, a small smile drawn on your face. "Oh, there you are.”
You woke up with a pain that made you want to enter a comatose state. Nursing a headache was probably one of the things you hated the most, along with loud chewing and misogyny, so it was no surprise to find you more snappy than usual. Walking to the kitchen of your small apartment, you tried to remember last night’s events, racking your brain as hard as you could. Memories downed on you like a bucket of cold water, you recalled Ukai's announcement which still felt like a fever dream to you. It seemed to good to be true, and you were afraid you'd wake up any second now, the promise of better days nothing more than fragments of your imagination.
Whatever last night was, it was a shame that the others hadn’t joined in to celebrate, but you supposed there would be another time. No, you knew there would be another time. Another time where you no longer lived paycheck to paycheck, another time where you finally found some sort of steady success. Your body almost vibrated in anticipation. You couldn’t remember the last time you were this excited, this hopeful. Like a light shining at the end of the tunnel, your eyes lit up by your own yearning and ambition. But you weren’t there just yet.
Back then, you thought the world was at your fingertips. Growing up meant realizing you weren’t the only one with big dreams, you weren’t the only one who possessed a grotesque desire to succeed and conquer. Your world had morphed into one of giants, and you bitterly found yourself getting smaller.
The universe had given you a flicker of hope, and it was enough to reignite a flame inside you. You were willing to fight, to open up a path for yourself. If success wouldn’t find you, you would to everything in your capability to find it yourself.
It was addicting. A small drop of it fell on your tongue and you'd begin craving and craving, a poison that could lead to peridition if not careful. As addicting as it was, it was also evanescent, momentary. Some people thought it had something to do with luck, with destiny, with the natural course of things. If it's meant to be it's meant to be. You thought otherwise. You saw it as something to be seized, something to be touched and molded with the roughness of your fingers until they bled. And so you pitied those who found themselves in the momentum, at the top of the world, only to let it slip though the cracks, vanished from their own hands as it had never existed, leaving nothing but whispers of what ifs echoing in their place.
You couldn't let that happen to you, you wouldn't.
You'd come to learn the universe has little regard for its rules.