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“Ryuu I’m not gay.”
They’ve been friends since middle school. Chikara’s parents love him, they invite him over for dinner all the time. They have the same friends and Kinoshita, Narita, Noya, and them are always hanging out. They have lunch together and Ryuu likes to make him laugh because Chikara’s smile is so bright Ryuu is almost positive it's the cause of the melting ice caps. They play volleyball together. Next year they were going to go to nationals again but this time as captain and vice-captain. They would talk about it after practice at Ryuu’s house. Ryuu would give him back rubs because Chikara was always complaining about his sore muscles. They were close.
“If this goes on it won’t be fair to you”
Sometimes Chikara gets in these slumps where he just doesn’t care about anything. During these times he is unfocused and constantly staring into space. Most people just avoid him even Kinoshita and Narita but Ryuu’s there to give him pep talks before practice and make sure he is eating and make sure he turns his homework in. Ryuu feels helpless during these times but he does everything he can to help Chikara because he cares for him so much.
“So I don’t think we should continue like this.”
Chikara showed up at his house at around 1:30am on a Sunday. Ryuu thinks its Noya and Hinata pulling a prank but it’s Chikara with a bedhead and watery eyes. Ryuu asks what happened and Chikara says his sister came home and is fighting with his parents. Ryuu asks how it started and Chikara says because her girlfriend came with her and then they brought him into the fight to take sides. Ryuu asks if he wants to stay over this weekend and Chikara says yes. They promise to come to each other if something happens again.
“It’s not that I don’t like you as a friend”
This time it’s Ryuu at Chikara’s doorstep. Ryuu tells Chikara he’s bisexual. Ryuu’s crying, he has been rejected by his mother. Chikara takes him to his room and sits him down. Ryuu asks Chikara if he thinks it’s weird and Chikara says no. Ryuu asks Chikara if he hates him now and Chikara says no. Ryuu asks if Chikara if he still wants to be his friend and Chikara says he still sees him the same way. Ryuu starts to cry again and Chikara hugs him and says he will always have Ryuu’s back.
“I just don’t want to lead you on”
Ryuu can’t control himself sometimes. Ryuu has explosive anger problems. Ryuu gets in fits when provoked and it takes hours to calm him down. A first year makes a snide comment about Ryuu and called him some slurs and Chikara isn’t there fast enough. Tobio is able to pull him off before any serious hits until Chikara is there to try and calm him down. The first year was sent to the nurse. Later Ryuu is calmer and he asks Chikara if he still wants to be his friends and Chikara scolds him for being a dumbass and says he promised to have Ryuu’s back and he can’t just take it back. Ryuu says he wouldn’t blame Chikara if he didn’t like him anymore and receives a slap to the back of the head and was called a dumbass again.
“So it’s best if we stopped spending so much time together.”
They go to nationals and they win once more. As soon as the whistle blows declaring Chikara’s spike as the winning point the cheers erupt. The third years are screaming as tears fall down there face. It’s a satisfying victory but it is also their last. Ryuu is the first to hug Chikara but Ryuu doesn’t miss that Chikara is tense during their friendly embrace. And then it is the rest of the team gathering around their captain and giving each other pats on the back. When the victory sets in they gather around the couch for some last words about the match, Ryuu puts his arm around Chikara but Chikara shrugs it off. The coach announces he is treating them all to a fancy dinner and a second wave of cheers arise. Chikara adds some words and then it’s time to clean up. Ryuu is quiet during the dinner.
“I’m sorry Ryuu.”