Chapter 8: Goodbye
Sora POV
A few weeks have gone by and it was almost time for me to leave to America. It is quite strange leaving almost through the middle of the school year and quite sad to leave my parents behind as well as my friends and teammates.
I zipped up my suitcase and placed some last belongings in my carry on bag. I rolled my suitcase and placed my bag in the corner of my room. "Finally done!" I say as crash onto my bed. I look around my room to see most of the stuff on my desk and items were a little empty around my room. I sigh out.
"Ahh....Let's go get some fresh air." I said to myself as I picked up my phone and went down to the front door. As I did so my mom and dad who were on the coach looked away from the TV. "Where you going Sora?" my dad asked.
I gave him a small smile. "I'm gonna go outside and get some fresh air. Probably go for a walk and sit down at a park to look at the stars." I told them. They smiled back at me and nodded. "Well honey be back soon. Tomorrow is your last day of school." my mom reminded me.
I nodded my head and slipped on my shoes, leaving the house and making my way down to the area secluded with trees and some benches which I found earlier weeks before. I had wanted to come back to that area but never got the chance. Always coming back home late after practice and extra practice after closing the gym, being the last one there. Also studying and doing homework once I get back home.
After a while, being alone and getting air is the best thing to relieve yourself. I walked for a while and finally came to the desired spot of comfort. I found a bench and sat down on it.
I sat there for a good while relaxing while staring up at the stars. I close my eyes and think to myself. But in the distance I hear voices yelling and talking to each other. The voices and foot steps get closer. I ignore it and continue to sit there peacefully admiring the sky and stars.
A cold breeze picks up and blows causing me to shiver and sneeze. "Achoo!" The voices and footsteps that I heard stop and I hear whispers and a smack? I didn't feel like turning around so I ignored it and continued to look up and see the moon.
I heard my phone bing and reached in my pocket to look at it. I saw that I got a message from Shoyo that says "So-chan be careful and I'll miss you!! So take care and keep in contact with us okay? When you come back you'll see me become the little giant! And when you come make sure you come to Karasuno!". I smile at the text and reply back with "Thanks Sho-kun, I will. You take care as well and practice hard! I'll be waiting!" I wrote back.
I put my phone down and hear footsteps again, assuming that they are walking away and I could return to my silence. The cold wind blows again and I sneeze yet again. "Achoo!" I go and wrap my arms around me and rub them to make myself warmer. "Maybe I should've brought a jacket...." I say to myself and look back up at the sky.
I flinched when I felt something wrap around my shoulders and I quickly turned around to see who or what was happening. Getting ready to fight someone I stood up and came to face a teen boy. He flinched back and held his hands in front of him. "Sorry for scaring you. You seemed cold so I thought I could give you that to keep you warm." he said.
His voice sounded awfully familiar and another figure came up behind them. "Aww~ Iwa-chan being a gentleman are we~~" the voice cooed. My eyes widened when I heard that and took a step closer to look at the male who gave me his jacket.
He stepped back a bit at our closeness with a hint of red on his cheeks. Which was too dark for me to see or notice. I blinked a couple times. A familiar voice spoke up causing me to look away from him and back away. "W-wait! Akiyama-chan!!?" he says and points a finger at me.
I look slightly up and nod my head. Looking at the figure in front of me now. "Ah! Oikawa-san! Nice to meet you again." I say and give him a small smile. I glance over at Iwaizumi and ask a question so I don't sound creepy for already knowing his name. "So Oikawa-san, this your friend? But I know that he is your teammate right?" I say and look back at Iwaizumi.
I see the said man gulp and nervously sratch the back of his head. Oikawa beams "Yep~ This here is my best friend and team mate, Iwa-chan! The ace too! But how did you know?" he asked and I chuckled a bit.
"I saw your game a while ago and I remember him. Though I never was able to get names. I just knew that he was the wing spiker for the team." I said and he nodded and smiled brightly.
Iwaizumi spoke up with an irk mark. "Oi don't tell her my name is Iwa-chan!" he said and hit him on the head. "Sorry about that my name is Iwaizumi Hajime." he bowed earning a bow from me as well. "Nice to meet you Iwaizumi-san! I'm Akiyama Sora." I say and give him a smile.
His face turns a darker shade of red at the smile however I couldn't really see or tell. "I saw that you were up in the stands when we were playing. Thank you for your support." Iwaizumi said remembering that moment and my words.
My eyes widened a bit and I shook my head. "No, it was no problem! I enjoyed watching you guys play! You guys did an amazing job and you guys were really cool." I said and looked at both of them.
Both guys grew flustered at my words and shook their heads with a small blush hinted on their cheeks. Oikawa spoke up. "No it wasn't much, we still lost though." he said a little sadly and Iwaizumi looked over at him and hit him in the head.
"You idiot! You need to get over that! We still have high school to beat his ass! Don't mop around!" Iwaizumi said and huffed at his setter. Causing the said male to widen his eyes and show a face of determination. "Yeah! I'll beat that damn Ushiwaka!" he said with confidence.
I giggled a bit at this scene and they both stopped to look at me. I stopped and looked at them giving them a warm and fond smile. "I like your team work and bond that you have together. It's nice." I say and they both nod slightly.
I start to feel warmer and realize that I have Iwaizumi's jacket and tighten it around me some more. "Ah, Iwaizumi-san, thank you for the jacket! I appreciate it!" I say and he nods his head. "I-it's no problem!" he says and scratches the back of his head.
I look at both of them and tilt my head to the side. "So what are you guys doing out here, late out on a school night?" I ask both of them and they look at each other and blink a couple times. Oikawa looked down at his hands and saw nothing in them looked back at Iwaizumi. "Oh crap! I left the bag at the market!!" he yelled and ran away yelling back at us before Iwaizumi could say anything. "I'll get it and be right back!"
I chuckled a bit and looked at Iwaizumi seeing him have an irk mark and clenched fists. "That idiot!" he mumbled. "So what happened? You guys went shopping together?" I asked and he turned towards me, his face softening.
"Yeah, we went out to buy some snacks so we could have some when we have a study session for tomorrow. We finished our homework and stuff not to long ago so we decided to go buy stuff. But that idiot forgot his bag at the store." he ramble on to me as he placed his bag in the other hand.
I laughed at the given statement and wiped my eyes a bit while snuggling into the jacket some more. "My that's funny! Well I hope your study session goes well." I say to him as he watches me wear his jacket. "I blink a couple times at him and he snaps out of it "Me too, I hope I won't be too frustrated with tomorrow." he sighs out and I smile.
I look back at him to see that he's moving in one spot. My eyes widen and grab onto his arm startling him. 'Ah he feels a little cold!' I think to myself
"Sorry! I'm sorry, I'm wearing your jacket! You must be cold!" I say while taking off the jacket. He hurridly shakes his head and puts it back on me. "No it's fine!" he tells me while wrapping it tighter around me. "But-" I got cut off by him. "I'm fine, trust me." he tells me giving a small smile.
I smile warmly at him. "Thanks but I can't have you go freezing out here!" I say and walk to a vending machine that was in the far corner of the area. I take out some money from my phone and pick a warm drink. I pick it out of the machine and hand it to him. "Here!" I say holding it in front of him.
He shakes his head and declines the drink. "No I'm good! You drink it!" he tells me and I huff at this stubborn male. I grab his hands and I feel his get stiff. I hold both of him hands and wrap his hands around the warm drink while my hands are holding his around on the outside keeping his whole hand warm. "There, if your not gonna drink it than do this." I tell him and look up at him.
I see that his eyes are wide and staring at our hands and looks up at me, making eye contact. "U-uh, you don't have to do this.." he says and I realize that I was being too touchy.
"Sorry, for being all touchy! Just keep yourself warm and drink it when your done." I say and sit back down on the bench. I pat the spot next to me signaling for him to sit next to me.
He gets it and sits down next to me placing his snacks beside him. "So what year are you?" he asks starting a conversation. I look up at the sky seeing the stars. "I'm a second year. You?" I ask him back.
"Third year." I nod my head. "So have you decided where you are gonna go for high school?" I ask. He thinks for a bit and nods his head. "Yeah, I think I'll go to Aoba Johsai. Most students from Kitagawa go there after. I think I might just do that." he tells me and continues "Though Oikawa will probably do the same, considering he wouldn't go to Shiratorizawa and our highest chance of beating him in Seijoh."
I nod my head. "I see. Well I wish you good luck when you enter high school. I hope you'll be able to beat him some day." I said and gave him a small smile. He smiles back at me "Thanks."
'Cute~' I thought when I saw him smile. "I'm back!" a certain brunette yelled as he made his way over. "Do you have to be so loud!?" Iwaizumi shoot at him. Oikawa ignored that and showed him the bag of goods in it. "I got it~" I chuckled and stood up from my seat.
"Well it was nice meeting you two here. But I must get back now." I say while giving them a small bow and smile. While I made sure I had my phone I took off the jacket and handed it back to Iwaizumi. "Thanks for the jacket, it was very warm." I tell him and he stood up to taking his jacket.
Oikwa spoke up and grabbed my hand. "Aki-chan, why don't we walk you home!" he offers and gives me a huge smile. I shake my head. "No it's okay. You guys also have school and it'll trouble you. Plus my place it around here so it;s good." I say.
The two boys look at each other than back at me. Oikawa shook his head. "Even so it's dangerous to let a young lady walk out by herself this late at night. We'll walk you." he tells me while dragging me out of the small area. Iwaizumi follows. "Oi don't drag her! She can walk on her own." he scolds and places his jacket back on me.
I look up and see Hajime look forward and we start walking. I chuckle. "Thanks it's very nice of you two." I say and start walking to my house with them following me.
We finally arrive at my house and I take off the jacket and hand it back to Iwaizumi once again. "Thank you again for the jacket and thanks for walking me back. Have a nice rest of your night." I say and open the gate to my house. Before I could walk to the front door Oikawa spoke up.
"Aki-chan, do you wanna hang out some time? I'll give you some tosses." he says and Iwaizumi looks over at his friend with a mix of emotions. I looked back at them and gave him a small smile. "I would like that." I say. He continues. "How about this weekend?" he asks while smiling happily at my answer.
I smile at him "Sure, we could do something this weekend." I say. Oikawa fist bumps the sky and continues on his sentence. "Than we could meet back there and go from there." he said motioning back where we were at that small resting area. I nod my head. "Sure."
"Awesome! Maybe we could hang out every weekends to practice! I really want to see you play Aki-chan!" Oikawa says enthusiastically. Iwaizumi nodded and shoved his elbow into Oikawa. "Stop pestering her with your plans! It's okay, Akiyama-san you don't have to agree to his plans."
I stop and think for a bit. I give them a smile and shake my head as I sigh and walk back to them. "No it's fine. I would like to hang out with you two and play some volleyball. Except I won't be here after this weekend." I say and Oikawa's smile dropped and Iwaizumi raised his brow.
I continue on "I will be leaving Japan later on after that weekend. So, I will probably be gone for a couple years or so till I come back here. But when I come back I would love to hang out with you guys and play some volleyball again." I tell them sadly.
They look at me shocked at the information. I was slightly confused being that we barely knew each other yet they make the saddest and hurt expressions. Iwaizumi nodded his head in understanding, while Oikawa looked at me with a blank expression now.
"I know we just met each other and all. But I really had a nice time speaking with you. I really want to play volleyball with you Aki-chan." Oikawa said and gave me a small smile. "I wanted to also thank you for talking to me a while ago. It really helped me out and I was able to see things a little more clearer. I appreciate it." he tells me and bows. My eyes widen at his words and actions.
I shake my head and gesture for him to get up. "Please don't do that! It was nothing really! I feel that I talked your ear off about that stuff.....But I'm glad that it helped. I know that you will turn out to be an even more amazing setter along with your Ace here. You two will back each other up in tough times and grow to be amazing players." I encourage them and compliment the two.
Oikawa lifts his head up and both of them look at me with wide eyes. "I know you'll do great. But when I come back, I would love to play with you two and hit some tosses Mr.Setter. Plus I bet you are one of the best setters in Japan. And Iwaizumi the best head strong Ace who brings out the best in the setter as Oikawa brings out the best in his own teammates." I tell them as I give them a warm smile.
"Thank you!" they thank me for my words and I see them clench their hands in determination. I smile at that and start walking to my door. "Wait Aki-chan!" Oikawa calls out to me again and I turn around. "Since you are leaving soon, why don't we spend our time this whole week and the weekend doing something or meet up like we did earlier in the same spot where we could just hang out and talk. Maybe you could enjoy some time relaxing before heading away." Oikawa offered.
I chuckled and smiled at his offer. "Oi! Don't push stuff onto her!! I bet she has other things planned as well!" Iwaizumi shouts. I stop Iwaizumi "No, it's fine, I don't mind. Same time then. I look forward to spending some time with you guys." I say and Oikawa beams "Yes, we'll see you!"
"Well you two...Have a great night. I enjoyed talking to you guys. Let's do this again next time and when I come back I'll be a better player as well. So I look forward to seeing you guys play again." I say to them before I open my door and enter.
I glance back to see them still standing there. "Good night." I say and close the door. As I take off my shoes I see that my mom sitting at the dining table and my dad probably is their room. My mom raises an eye brow as she put down her cup while giving me a smirk. "So you left the house to meet up with some guys?" she said.
I sweatdropped at the look on her face that literally screamed 'Ooo~ Tell me the tea~ My daughter is talking to guys~' I blinked and walked over to her. "I actually went to sit and watch the stars at the secluded small area with the benches by the big tree, down the block. When I was there some guys that I meet before happened to be walking passed and saw me.....We just talked for a bit and they walked me home....Nothing happened." I told her and she smirked at me.
"Were they cute~" she teased and my eyes widened "Mom! Don't be weird! They were some boys that happened to play volleyball too!" I tell her and her grin grew even more. "That's a plus~ You love volleyball. I wouldn't be surprised if you brought home a man who also loved and played volleyball as well~."
I puffed up my cheeks. "Mhm. I won't be bringing any man home any time soon." I tell her as I walk into my room. Bumping into my dad on the way. "That's my daughter! Your too young to bring home any boys! You hear me!" he tells me while patting my head. I sigh. "Yes, I'm not even interested in anything except volleyball." I say and add a "Goodnight!"
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The whole week leading up to the weekend, the same time at night after practice and homework I would head out to the same bench area under the tree and meet Iwaizumi and Oikawa there. We would talk and joke around like we have known each other for a while.
It was nice and fun. We would also talk about volleyball and different stuff that we knew. Exchange ideas and stuff that could be used in games. Overall is was really fun talking and hanging out with them.
Over the weekend the two of them brought me over to an arcade to play around a bit and walk around in the mall. It was fun and interesting with the two of them. It was really fun with them.
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~Time skip to the day of flight~
"Bye guys!" I say as I pack up my stuff in my gym bag and they all huddled around me and gave me a hug. I could hear sniffs and some girls crying. I felt touched yet somehow sweatdropped. "I'll miss you all very much! Let's try to keep in touch still yeah? I had a great season and years with you guys." I tell them and they all hugged me.
They all said their goodbyes and hugs to me. "We'll miss you! Don't forget me!" They shout at me. We all laugh and hug each other once more. "I won't! Don't forget me either!" I say and grab my bag.
Some girls stayed behind to finish up practice and others walked me out to the front of the school. I waved at them "Bye guys!! I'll see so again!" I say and walk to my house.
I finally arrived at my house and opened the door and took off my shoes. "I'm home!" I say and enter my house seeing Nakamoto-san sitting at the table with my parents chatting away.
I come in and announce my presence, they all look at me and my parents look at me a little sadly. "Welcome back, Sora. You ready to leave soon?" Nakamoto-san asks me. I smile at him and nod my head. "Yeah, I packed my stuff. Are we leaving right away?"
He shakes his head. "No but soon though." he tells me and I go to sit at the table with them having a small conversation before I excuse myself to get changed out of my uniform and into comfy clothes for the trip.
I leave my room and bring my luggage and bags out and put them by the front door. Seeing that my parents and nakamoto-san is still talking I leave looking at my phone seeing that there is about 30 more minutes till we leave. "I'm going to take a quick walk and be back" I tell them and leave.
I walk back to my now favorite spot where I've been going the past few times. The little secluded area that has benches and a big tree with smaller trees around the area. It gives a nice view to watch the stars and a nice view of the sunset as well which I found out.
I sat down on a bench and watched the sun slowly come down little by little. Sitting there for a couple minutes, I admire the sky and the area of Miyagi. I close my eyes and start humming a tune and slowly start singing to myself quietly.
I finish singing and watch as the sun dips down across the horizon. I pick up my phone and check the time, seeing that I should probably head back. I sighed and stood up while stretching my limbs.
I turned around and walked back home.
~Small Time Skip~
I look out the window seeing the flashing lights from the cities of Japan below us. I smile slightly at the goodbyes from my teammates and my family.
My parents came and dropped us off at the airport and said goodbyes to me. I smiled fondly at the memories that I made so far. Seeing us up so high in the sky I smiled brighter, 'Thanks for giving me this chance.' I thanked the person or fate who allowed me to live once again to accomplish my dream and to fly.
'I'll fly even higher. Higher than I did before. I'll become stronger.' I thought to myself as I looked out the window.
"Goodbye. I'll see you all soon again." I say quietly thinking of everyone in Japan.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
miyamusubi7
miyamusubi7 Hoped you liked this chapter! Thanks for your comments and support! If you like feel free to check out my other books:
-Slayer of Time
-String of Fate
-Celestial Knight
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