The question takes Asahi by surprise.
Noya had never asked anything like that before.
"What?"
Noya turns his head away from the water droplets streaking the glass window to fully look at Asahi. "If I said "Hey, Asahi-san, let's run away,"
"What would you say if I asked you to run away with me?"
Asahi stills, the tip of his pencil hovering over his notebook, and looks up at Nishinoya seated across the table from him.
Nishinoya is staring out the window, chin propped in his right palm as he idly stirs the soda in
The question takes Asahi by surprise.
Noya had never asked anything like that before.
"What?"
Noya turns his head away from the water droplets streaking the glass window to fully look at Asahi. "If I said "Hey, Asahi-san, let's run away,"
He's joking.
He's got to be.
After all, they're here right now helping Yuu study for his entrance exams in three months. They'll be in different courses, but Yuu is aiming for the same college as Asahi. Asahi's already been cleaning out
Plans for the future have already been made, so Noya /must/ be joking.
But with the way Noya's watching him, waiting patiently for an answer, it doesn't feel like a joke.
"...I would say... that you
Noya watches him for another minute, and Asahi swallows, anxiety tying his
"Right??" he laughs. Asahi feels some of the tension in his shoulders release. "Will you show me how to do this one again, Asahi-san??" Nishoya
"Sure!"
He's glad Yuu is back to normal. He wasn't sure what to do with Yuu looking so serious.
-
Nishinoya doesn't show up for his graduation.
"I mean he isn't here," Ryuu sniffs, eyes red-rimmed from crying. "I went to pick him up this morning, but his mom said he left early."
"I don't understand," Daichi shakes his head, bewildered.
No one seems to have an answer, and Nishinoya's cell phone is turned off. With no other alternative, they're forced to head home and wait until Noya contacts one of them.
But Asahi can't just /do/ that.
The conversation they had
He finds himself standing outside the Nishinoya residence at half past six, staring up at Nishinoya's bedroom window. The curtains are drawn,
"Hey, Big One!" Asahi jolts, looking around wide eyed to find the source of the voice and finds Noya's grandfather on peering around the corner of the house.
"Ah, good evening Sir!" Asahi bows
"I can't say that he is," the older man replies, standing up from his place on the side porch and making his way around to the front yard. "And I don't think he'll be back here for a while."
"He had a pretty big bag with him," the older man nods to himself, hands tucked into the pockets of his pants. "And that determined look of his. I asked him where he was going, but you know that boy."
"He gave me this, though," the man pulls out a small white envelope. "He said you'd be coming by sometime today and asked me to give it to you."
"Me??" Asahi takes the plain, unassuming envelope and runs his finger over
"I wouldn't know," the old man chuckles. "It's not my letter!"
"Right," Asahi huffs a small, awkward laugh. He turns the envelope over in his hands and untucks the edge. When he pulls out the letter inside, a small slip of paper tries to fall out
It's a train ticket, dated for today and set to leave in less than an hour.
There's only one sentence on the small sheet of paper.
If I asked you to run away with me... what would you say?"
"Well?" Asahi doesn't realize how long he's been staring at the letter in silence until the man in front of him speaks up. He looks up at Nishinoya-san with wide eyes, but the older man just smiles. "Are you
-
Asahi sprints as fast as he can, but he knows he won't make it. There's just not enough time!!
He tries calling Noya- hoping to get the younger man to /wait/- but the call won't go through- his phone is still off.
The streets are crowded, full of people getting off
By the time he gets there, the train is gone.
Nishinoya is gone.
-
According to Ryuu, Noya doesn't call anyone, but he
He works odd jobs, and sometimes camps out. He's been rock climbing and parasailing and zip-lining- Nishinoya is having the time of his life, it seems.
He's been bird
Asahi still remains in his small Tokyo apartment.
He goes to school, and he interns for designers, and he keeps himself busy, and this is what he wanted.
He wanted to make clothes and work alongside designers like Luna Le'blanc and
But he hadn't wanted to do it alone.
The spare bedroom becomes an office, and Asahi keeps himself busy. Two years pass by, and he's only ever heard what Nishinoya is up to through Ryuu- who heard it from Nishinoya's parents, of
He tries not to let it bother him, but on nights when the rain pelts against his windows and the moonlight doesn't shine, his thoughts drift back to that night they sat in the family restaurant and studied together... and he wishes he would have said something else.
Every day is fun and different, and his senpai had always been eccentric. Asahi stays
...But every time Ryuu calls to tell him about the new post card or letter from Nishinoya, it feels like something is missing.
It's early in the work day when Asahi's phone rings, and he's in the middle of putting pins in a
There's a familiar huff of laughter, and Asahi drops the fabric in his hands.
"Yo, Asahi-san! You sound like you're in the middle of something. Did I call at a bad time?"
He probably looks crazy to Suzue and Takahiro as he scrambles to his feet, quickly
"I'm still here!" Asahi can hear the smile in Noya's voice and it makes his stomach flip-flop.
"Yuu!" Asahi slumps against the wall outside the building, "where
"Where haven't I been is the real question!" Noya laughs. "I've been all over the place, Asahi, and it's been great!"
Asahi opens and closes his mouth, words caught in his throat.
He wants to ask
Nishinoya is having the time of his life right now, and he's not going to ruin it for him.
"That's great!" he says instead, forcing himself to smile. "I'm- I'm really happy for you!"
And he is.
Asahi is happy that
That's all he'd ever wanted for the younger man.
"Wherever you are, it sure sounds busy," Asahi says, listening to the sounds of the city on the other end of the line.
"Oh yeah! The city never sleeps, you know!"
Asahi nods in understanding. He's been in
"Hey Asahi," Noya says, voice suddenly taking on a serious note, and Asahi straightens up immediately. "When I left a few years ago... I left something behind."
Asahi's heart is in his throat.
"I hoped... that you'd bring it to the train station that day."
"...I'm sorry," Asahi says quietly. He swallows hard. "...I was late. By the time I got there..."
"Ah," Nishinoya laughs softly,
"You've always been the "spur of the moment" kind of guy," Asahi teases. Nishinoya's bright laughter has him smiling, even as he wraps his left arm around his stomach.
"That I have. Actually... I'm back in Japan right now. I
Asahi's heart is pounding in his chest now, and he's more than a little confused.
He'd thought the ticket was the thing Nishinoya had left behind. Had there been something else??
"My heart," Nishinoya replies, pulling
And Nishinoya looks just the same as when he left, but infinitely different, and Asahi still has the phone pressed to his ear, eyes wide and mouth agape like a dummy but-
"Yes," Asahi replies immediately.
"Yes!" Asahi nods, the loose ponytail keeping his hair back bobbing wildly with every movement. "Absolutely! Anywhere you want to go, I'll go with you!"
Nishinoya's smile could light up the entire city, and Asahi doesn't know how he
"Where do you want to go?" Asahi asks quietly.
"Well first, we should probably go
"And then..." Noya shrugs, still smiling, "wherever the wind takes us."
More from Culture
Best books I read in 2020
1. Atomic Habits by @JamesClear
“If you show up at the gym 5 days in a row—even for 2 minutes—you're casting votes for your new identity. You’re not worried about getting in shape. Youre focused on becoming the type of person who doesn’t miss workouts”
Good Reasons for Bad Feelings
https://t.co/KZDqte19nG
2. “social anxiety is overwhelmingly common. Natural selection shaped us to care enormously what other people think..We constantly monitor how much others value us..Low self-esteem is a signal to try harder to please others”
The True Believer by Eric Hoffer
https://t.co/uZT4kdhzvZ
“Hatred is the most accessible and comprehensive of all unifying agents...Mass movements can rise and spread without belief in a God, but never without a believe in a devil.”
Grandstanding
https://t.co/4Of58AZUj8
"if politics becomes a morality pageant, then the contestants have an incentive to keep problems intact...politics becomes a forum to show off moral qualities...people will be dedicated to activism for its own sake, as a vehicle to preen"
Warriors and Worriers by Joyce Benenson
https://t.co/yLC4eGHEd4
“Across diverse cultures, a man who lives in the house with another man’s children is about 60 times more likely than the biological father to kill those children.”
1. Atomic Habits by @JamesClear
“If you show up at the gym 5 days in a row—even for 2 minutes—you're casting votes for your new identity. You’re not worried about getting in shape. Youre focused on becoming the type of person who doesn’t miss workouts”
Good Reasons for Bad Feelings
https://t.co/KZDqte19nG
2. “social anxiety is overwhelmingly common. Natural selection shaped us to care enormously what other people think..We constantly monitor how much others value us..Low self-esteem is a signal to try harder to please others”
The True Believer by Eric Hoffer
https://t.co/uZT4kdhzvZ
“Hatred is the most accessible and comprehensive of all unifying agents...Mass movements can rise and spread without belief in a God, but never without a believe in a devil.”
Grandstanding
https://t.co/4Of58AZUj8
"if politics becomes a morality pageant, then the contestants have an incentive to keep problems intact...politics becomes a forum to show off moral qualities...people will be dedicated to activism for its own sake, as a vehicle to preen"
Warriors and Worriers by Joyce Benenson
https://t.co/yLC4eGHEd4
“Across diverse cultures, a man who lives in the house with another man’s children is about 60 times more likely than the biological father to kill those children.”
