Setting for Love | Kozume Kenma

Level 13: Rivals

At one point or another, there will be another player that becomes your rival and your goal to surpass.

Whether or not this rivalry is one-sided and only in your own mind, that's up to you to find out.

~~~

"Kenma, focus!" Kuroo sighed as he caught the ball Kenma had set to him. It was way too low to even think about spiking over the net.

"Sorry," Kenma lowered his arms as he apologized, but his tone didn't match his words. The boy was distracted again, lost in his mind as he had been this entire weekend.

"Oi, Lover Boy, even if I was the one to bug you about it, get your mind out of the clouds for now. We have Spring Highs coming up." Kuroo grinned as he spoke quietly so Chiyuri wouldn't hear. Their manager was off on the side, trying her best to encourage Lev to use more thinking than pure instinct when he hit the ball. The tall half-Russian boy had been whining when Kuroo had ordered Kenma not to set to him until he got his basics down. Of course, it was more of a relief for the setter if anything. "Besides, don't you want to show off on the court for her?"

"Shut up."

Kenma glared at the third year, but was unable to hide the slight blush that came upon his face. Kuroo was being more annoying than before, directly teasing Kenma about his feelings. It made the setter almost restless and the fact that he kept getting reminded of his feelings made him self-conscious and shy around the girl all day. She had clearly noticed that something was off, but he wasn't willing to explain it to her at all.

As Kenma slowly began to pull himself out of his thoughts, he noticed that the black-haired girl he had just been thinking about was making her way over after Lev had been dragged away reluctantly by Yaku to practice receives. Immediately, he felt self-conscious and awkward, so he simply ran away, hugging the volleyball to his chest and allowing his hair to act as a curtain around his face.

"Is Kenma okay?" Chiyuri asked as she slowed her steps and stared after the setter in concern. Kuroo sighed from beside her, shaking his head.

"Yeah, he just needs to get his thoughts together." Kuroo grinned, ruffling Chiyuri's hair as she yelped and quickly backed off from the third-year. "Since Kenma ran away, do you mind tossing some balls for me?"

Chiyuri nodded, albeit slowly. With a pat on the shoulder by the older boy, she dragged over a platform and a spare cart of balls, but her gaze still wandered to where Kenma had run off to. Despite looking somewhat annoyed at Yamamoto as the loud second-year was rambling about Karasuno's manager, he didn't return to Kuroo and Chiyuri, leaving an odd feeling in the latter's chest.

~~~

After the morning practice, the school day passed slowly, with Kenma still unintentionally avoiding Chiyuri. He didn't want to, but he also couldn't control how red his face turned. Kuroo's provocations about his feelings kept echoing in his mind, and the only thing he could do to stop thinking about it was hide away in a small corner and play his games.

When Chiyuri attempted to approach the boy after school, he dodged her and slipped to the club room to change before she could follow. Throughout practice, he hardly could glance at her and would only reply with a small acknowledgement when she handed him his water bottle. After practice ended, Kenma simply vanished before she could finish washing out the bottles.

Glumly, the girl dragged her feet home, confusion taking over her mind as she spiraled into misunderstandings. Had she said something that upset Kenma? Did she do something? Did she forget to do something? Did they have a scheduled gaming session over the weekend she missed?