If he is a river, I am a canoe wondering where I shall go.

"It's for you," I remember saying, my hands outstretched as I followed his gaze from my opened palms to what was laying inside.

He smiled –I knew he would- "Thank you, (Y/n)-chan!" He was five years younger then, and so was I. I had known him for years when I was younger, yet, I didn't think that something small I had made because I wanted to give him a present for his birthday would go far. However, he apparently still holds onto it.

'Sometimes, rivers dry up, and nothing can be done' was what I thought at the time.

Today, five years later, I found myself leaning towards the window more rather than to my other side, on which Oikawa sat on. Needless to say, on that particular day I was wondering why he wasn't as talkative as he usually was.

And so, I decided to find out what his reaction would be if I did the same. 'I was going to make sure he notices that he would be ignored for a while,' I thought, as I glanced towards Oikawa. He was moving the books on his desk, so they were in complete disarray on his table. Yet, there was one belonging of his that was always proper; a ring.

Since when I started noticing such minor details I couldn't remember.

In no time, school was over and I was getting ready to leave. That was when I saw him walking towards me, and once again I noticed the present I gave him four years ago. With a wooden ring and thread, I had managed to make a wonderful little ring that fit perfectly on his hand then. Now, though, he still kept it with him and wore it occasionally. Over time, the ring had moved to his little finger, since it didn't fit the others. I often wondered why, as a child, I had chosen a ring as a present.

I suddenly became curious. Why did he still have the ring? Why did he try wearing something that was obviously too small; something that I had made years ago.

It took me time to realise that we were like a river that continuously moved forward, even while trickling.

"Oikawa?" He knew I was planning on continuing with a question so he answered with a "Yes, (Y/n)-chan? What is it?"

"How come you can still wear it?" I asked, pointing at the dark blue ring that I had made, being such colour so it wouldn't catch as much attention as a bright one would have. I didn't fancy being noticed by the crowds of girls that followed him.

On hearing my question, his is eyes seemed to be farther away than the few feet between us. I waited, knowing that s reaction like this would only mean that he was thinking how to answer and not whether to answer. If he didn't want to answer me straightforwardly, he'd always just smile and say something to cover up the question.

He soon broke the silence that had unknowingly crept into the conversation.

I knew however that a meaningful silence was worth more than meaningless words.

From the slight twitch of his lips, to the wide grin that followed, I watched as his expressions only grew more confusing.

"(Y/n)-chan, why did you wait so long to ask?" he asked, as if it was a question one would normally pose. I failed to miss the charm that he was known for as he deftly reduced the space between us.

"I kept it as a memento!"

I looked on dumbfounded. "Oikawa, I'm not dead yet. " I said as he started waving his hands wildly squeezing in a few "That's not what I meant!" and occasionally a "Let me explain!"

So I did exactly that. I let him explain.

"Hey, Oikawa, why are you whispering?" I thought it was not very likely that it would be because he didn't want to say what he was saying out loud. So, it made me just more curious to figure out why he had brought his voice to a whisper.

"(Y/n)..." he said, voice still low, and only making me draw closer, "I'm whispering because I know you'll come closer to try to hear me better," he confessed, smiling happily as he took in my face of surprise.

Sometimes a river sweeps you gently and other times it sweeps you with the rapids.

"Well, (Y/n)-chan, you're probably thinking that I kept it as a memento of my birthday," he said throwing in an indignant look. "But! I kept it as a memory of that time because I knew you would forget."

Forget?

Now back to its normal loudness, he continued, "I remember you wanting to say something." And with that sentence came back the memories of the time. I had indeed wanted to convey something across. I was shocked that I had not remembered, but even more so that he knew about me not telling him something I wanted to. 'Why? Why did he know?' was all I could ask myself. And somehow, it had slipped out of my mouth.

The twinkle was back in his eyes as he spoke, "Even then, I was always looking at you." My thoughts now in a mess, I only thought of the beginning of the sentence, 'even then'.

He continued with a gentler smile on his face, and not the usual cocky one, "Even then I loved you."

And it was only later that I realised the reason why the ring was always perfectly worn and never crooked; it was because his hand wandered to the ring every time his thought about the person it was given by, he said.

"Oikawa, even then I loved you back."

Like a river, he swept me away gently, and I finally knew where I was headed.