I Started Dating and Ended Up with a Brooding Ghost of a Man

Blurb:

My name is Haruno Ruka. I have two childhood friends who are always by my side: one is a volleyball idiot, and the other is a dependable top student.

With two amazing supporters behind me, I make it from elementary school to middle school without a hitch. But Oikawa, whose mind is full of nothing but volleyball, starts acting strangely too.

“Why does he blush whenever he sees me?”

Completely baffled, I go ask Iwaizumi, but all I get is a disdainful roll of his eyes.

“Can't be bothered to explain. Just wait and see.”

Sure enough, it only takes a few days for me to figure it out.

“Ruka, want to try dating me?”

I think it over and realize there's no harm in it, so I nod. “Sure.”

And just like that, we date from middle school all the way through our senior year of high school. Everyone around us says we're the perfect couple, but I always feel like something's not quite right.

“Don't you think our relationship is going a little too smoothly? It's so uneventful.”

His voice comes through the phone, sounding perfectly matter-of-fact. “No. We're made for each other. It's only natural.”

An inexplicable irritation makes me act on a whim. “I don't care. Anyway, let's spend some time apart!”

After I say it, I hang up, turn off the lights, and go to sleep. The next day, I open my door to find my ex-boyfriend, who has been dumped without warning.

He isn't crying, but his usually bright, shining eyes are now clouded over, fixed on me without wavering.

“Why did you break up with me?”

His stare makes me uneasy, and I instinctively avert my eyes. “Uh... maybe we're in a rut and need to spice things up?”

My utterly absurd excuse leaves him silent. After a long moment, he steps closer. His tall figure looms over me, and his inscrutable eyes pin me in place, winding around me like cold vines.

“How long do you want us to be apart?”

I shrink back a little and venture, “H-half a month?”

“Sure.” Oikawa answers with startling ease, as though the frightening gloom from a moment ago was just my imagination.

“But before that,” he says softly, his warm fingertips brushing my ear, the end of his sentence tinged with familiar affection, “let me tie your hair up for you.”

[Reading Guide]

# Contains a lot of OOC and original headcanon. Oikawa is a brooding, obsessive ghost of a man.

# This story is a parallel universe to the author's other novel, How to Date Oikawa.

# There are almost no match scenes. It's mostly a day-to-day account of a couple in love.

# The match results will be changed so Oikawa makes it to nationals, but only once.

# Due to the author's personal preference, the male lead will love the female lead more deeply. Don't read if that bothers you.

Theme: True love is when both people reach for each other