I sit on the corner of my bed, propping my elbows on my knees with my phone in both hands. Staring intensely at the black screen, I tap on it to wake the device. No messages, as expected. My heart pounds strongly in my chest, and I feel like I can faint at any moment.

"What the hell is wrong with me?" I say to myself, fighting back the urge to scream. My hands start to tremble and I drop my phone to the floor before I fall back on my bed with my arms spread out. "I'm such an idiot," I shake my head at the ceiling. Closing my eyes provides no comfort, and keeping them open with nothing to look at feels just as dreadful. I go back to a sitting position and pick up my phone from the floor, taking a deep breath before unlocking it.

My last messages to him appear right away. Viewing them over and over, my eyes scanning each and every word, I feel a burning sensation as tears start to fall. I have to make things right again. I know this for certain, but how can I do it? My thumbs hover over the keyboard, wondering if sending a message is the best first step.

I can't focus on what to say while his messages stare me in the face. All I can think about is how much things have changed in such a short matter of time. In my mind, thoughts of happier days together clash with tonight's monumental fight, and the more that these memories scuffle with each other, the more it becomes too much to handle.

I stand quickly from my bed, throwing my phone onto the mattress. Within a few steps, I'm at the door and I whip it open before running out.

"Hey, I'm just about to have dinner rea— where are you going?" Mom asks as I reach the front door. I take care not to show my face as I grip the doorknob, fearing that she might see my tear-streaked face.

"Um, I need to take a walk, I'll be back," I mutter, and while I may regret this later, I shut the door behind me without waiting for her response.

I don't know where I'm going, except that I need to go anywhere that'll distract me. Using my sleeve to wipe away at my face, I get down the stairs hastily and speedwalk down the driveway, but I only make it to the sidewalk before I almost collide with another person.

"Oh, I'm sorry! I wasn't looking—" I start to say as I lean on the concrete fencing for balance, stopping my explanation when I realize who I have just bumped into.

"(Y/N)! I, um, wasn't expecting to see you." Daichi says, huffing quietly, and each of his exhales produces a small cloud. His slightly ragged breathing and the redness on his cheeks lead me to assume that I've interrupted him on a jog, unexpectedly happening in my area.

Noticing his cheeks first, my eyes navigate to his own that carry a serious expression. "Are you okay?" He asks before I can respond.

I tried to get away from Mom before she could see my face full of tears, but this time, in front of him, I'm unable to hide it.

"D-Daichi, I'm s-sorry," I begin to say through short gasps of air, and he takes a step forward. Though I'm looking down in hopes of trying to conceal my face no matter what, I can tell that he's shifting his arms up and down in front of me, unsure of whether to place a comforting hand or not.

"(Y/N), it's okay! I'm not upset about anything... did something happen? This doesn't seem like it's about me." He says, and I shake my head.

"I, um... don't think I wanna talk more about it right now," I respond, finally looking up at him. He's no longer breathing as hard and rather, stands strong in front of me, with his face showing only worry. It's a face that I've missed seeing, and it's almost like seeing him in front of me helps.

"We don't have to talk about it. We could walk around, or get something to eat." He suggests, and I feel tentative at responding. How can he be so casual around me when I haven't seen him for so long, and the first time that I do, I start to bawl in front of him?

"I don't know..." I trail off, not meeting his gaze.

"Of course, you don't have to. But, (Y/N)... I hope you don't feel that I'm upset at you over what happened before. I would like it if we could just... put that behind us." He says, and although I still have to get used to his statement, it's a relief that I may have just regained a friend. At this moment, I try to compose myself and provide a real answer for him.

"I would like that too," I reply, and he shoots me a quick smile in response. "Um, I think getting something to eat would be good. I haven't eaten dinner yet."

"Haven't eaten yet?! Okay, let's go somewhere." Daichi says, waving me over as he turns away. I follow him, the cold wind feeling especially harsh on the paths that the tears left on my cheeks.

⋆⋆⋆

"Is it good?" Daichi says as I bite into one of the buns he had bought from a small store that is apparently run by their coach. It was a bit of a walk away, but he took all of that time to talk with me about nonsensical things if only to make me feel a bit better. I had begun to forget why I had left the house in the first place, just enjoying our time together.

"Yeah, it really is," I say with a mouthful. I laugh slightly at how garbled my speech sounds, covering my mouth with one hand while I chew.

"Sorry," I mutter before swallowing.

"It's okay," He laughs, taking a bite out of his own. We start to walk and eat at the same time, the only sound being the plastic bag in his hand brushing against his body every so often.

"So," I say, between bites, "How have you been? How's practice and everyone else?"

"Things are going well. Everyone is somewhat nervous about the finals still, but that's a given. Suga's been wondering where you've been."

"Yeah, I haven't seen all of you that much lately. I miss you all." I respond, finishing up with my bun. I may have been more hungry than I thought.

"Well, it's nice to see you now," Daichi says with a smile, having already finished up with his. He has his hands at his sides, looking down when I notice him. "How's, uh, how are you and Asahi doing?"

My mind freezes for a moment, but my legs keep moving in sync with him. I had managed to forget about what had happened with Asahi for a moment, but one simple sentence from Daichi seems to make everything flow back into my mind. Remembering Asahi's comment from earlier, about where they stand, I'm not quite sure how to respond.

Luckily, Daichi doesn't seem to expect a response. "Ah, it's okay, I just thought I'd ask. Are you feeling a bit better now?"

"Um, a little bit," I start to say, but my stomach starts to rumble loudly. Embarrassed, I touch a hand to my stomach and wince. "I'm hoping you didn't just hear that."

"Hear what?" Daichi responds, but the smile on his face says differently.

"Oh my god," I laugh, scrunching my face up to cringe and walking away from him quickly.

"No, (Y/N), wait!" He says, and I can hear him jog to catch up to me. I turn around, and he stops right in front of me. "We can go back and I'll buy some more of these." He says, referring to the buns.

"No, it's okay! Plus," I say with arms stretched out, "I'm sort of craving something else, I think."

"What is it?"

"... Ice cream, maybe. Isn't that usually a good pick-me-up?" I suggest, and he nods.

"I'll come with you, but it's pretty cold out. Are you sure?" He confirms, and I already start walking with a place in mind.

"Where is it?" He asks.

"It's kind of close to a small park in my neighbourhood. It's more of a small stand." I describe it to him. As much as this place reminds me of Asahi, this is the only place that I know that's on the way home.

"Oh, if it's the right one I'm remembering, I think I've been there," Daichi says.

I turn to look at him, who walks next to me. "Really?"

"Yeah, actually, Asahi introduced the team one time. Only a few of us went with him because it was this cold out too the last time." He says, a slight laugh releasing from his mouth.

"... Oh. I see," I say blankly, and the conversation ends there for a moment. I wanted to try and visit the ice cream stand with an objective point of view, simply to eat ice cream, but hearing Daichi's story only ties Asahi deeper to the place and I start to feel uneasy.

"... You aren't arguing with Asahi, are you?" Daichi says unexpectedly.

I stop walking, and he follows. I can almost feel tears coming, but I try to hold back. I've already cried in front of him once tonight, and I don't want to do it again. "Um... ah, I'm not good at hiding this kind of stuff, am I?"

"(Y/N), you can talk to me, we're friends. And I've known him for a while, so if I can help out, I will." He suggests, and I give him a confused look.

"... He said that you guys haven't talked," I say.

"Oh, yeah. I've tried a few times, but he doesn't seem too up for it. I've seen him try to run away from me before, but this is different."

"Well, same sort of deal with me." I start to say, walking on the path again. "We had an argument, and I said... well, really, we both said some hurtful things. I didn't mean what I said, and I don't think he did either, but I don't know. He really seemed upset. Since then, I haven't tried to talk to him. I don't know what to do."

We walk a few paces in silence before Daichi speaks again. "As I said, I've known him for a while... I think he comes off as timid to other people, although he somehow still manages to scare some."

I laugh at his statement, and his laughter follows.

"Yeah, I've noticed that," I say, folding my hands together as we continue to walk.

"I also think," Daichi continues, "when he gets discouraged, sometimes it can take a while for him to get back. Even when he had left the team for a while, it took getting him to realize what he's capable of for him to come back officially... and some luck, but let's focus on the other thing."

I look at him, waiting to see if he'll continue, and he does.

"But now that he is back, it's like he never left. He's better now, in fact. If it applies to your situation, if he's feeling discouraged, he might be wanting to distance himself. But, knowing him, his feelings probably haven't changed. He just needs to remember how he feels again and act on it. He needs a kickstart."

"... How do you know what to say all the time?" I respond in shock at his words.

"Ah, does it seem that way?" He replies sheepishly. "I don't know."

"Yeah, I understand what you're trying to say. But even so, I don't even know where to begin with trying to make things right again." I say, looking downcast.

There's a silence between us for a moment before he responds. "... I'll help you."

This catches me by surprise, and I can't take my eyes off of him as we walk. "Really? Why?"

"You're my friend," He says, shoving his hands in his jacket pockets as he stares into the dark sky. "And it would be nice to have both of my friends back, really."

"That would be nice," I respond, thinking about how strange it must be for those two not to be talking. "So, um, how can you help?"

"Actually, I'm not sure yet. If I'm being honest, I'm probably going to ask Suga what to do." He replies with a laugh.

"He always knows what to do," I smile before returning a similar laugh.

I stop walking, realizing that we've just reached the intersection where, if we turned, we would meet the ice cream stand. I look in that direction, not nearly feeling as up to it as I initially thought I would be.

"You know," I start, "I'm starting to not feel that hungry anymore."

"Oh, okay," Daichi nods, proceeding to look around. "I can take you home, then."

"Sure," I say, and we continue walking straight.

⋆⋆⋆

"Thanks for walking back with me," I say as we reach my driveway, and he smiles and nods in response. "A-and, I'm really glad that we're back to normal again."

"Me too," Daichi says. "But now, we're on a mission. You know what? I'll give you my phone number, just so that I don't have to rely on random encounters with you on my jogging route to communicate with you." He laughs, and I reach for my phone with a smile. The smile falls from my face quickly as I realize that my phone's still in my room.

"Actually, could I just put my phone number into yours instead? Mine's at home."

He quickly hands his cellphone to me and after inputting a series of numbers, I hand it back to him. "Great," he says as he drops it into his pocket and rests his arm at his side again.

"Thanks," I say, and we're left in silence.

"Um, you know, I don't think it'll be hard to change his mind about things," Daichi says, and I sigh dejectedly. "Especially if I tell Suga because he might just punch it out of him."

This statement causes me to laugh as I imagine Sugawara winding up to prepare a punch. "I hope so. Well, I'm hoping that things get better soon and Asahi doesn't have to get punched. I just want to say sorry and admit why I said what I did, but I don't know how I would even start if you weren't here to help."

"I won't ask about the details, but don't worry about it, (Y/N). I'm sure we'll get him back." Daichi says, giving me a thumbs up.

I return the action before looking back at my house. "I should probably go inside now. Get back safely, okay?" I say, and Daichi nods in response. I give him a small wave before turning back towards my house.

I look back at the base of my driveway, and he continues to stand there, probably waiting until I get inside before he leaves. I give him a small smile to which he responds with a wave, and I get inside.

"Hey," I'm immediately greeted by Mom's stern expression as she leans on the kitchen counter. "You can't just leave like that."

"I know, I'm sorry. I just had to leave." I respond, and her face turns from one of seriousness to one of concern.

"I feel like you're not telling me something."

Although initially, I had thought that talking with Daichi was enough to calm my thoughts about it, the look on Mom's face, one of care and worry, is enough to make me want to start crying again. My face starts to scrunch up as a means to lock the tears inside, but suddenly the overload of emotions comes crashing down again and teardrops start to fall anyway. Mom immediately rushes over to me as my hands cover my eyes, and she pulls me to the sofa to sit. As soon as I can muster the breath to speak, I explain everything to her as she holds me tight.