- T R E E H O U S E - | Suna Rintaro

Meeting the new team

It was 1:30 pm by the time I started getting ready to leave. The practice started at 4:30 pm but I wanted to get there early, maybe run a little.

I changed out of my sweaty sports bra and disgusting shorts and put on new clothes. On top of my tank top I put on the team Japan hoodie that I got for the world athletic championships. They really did outdo themselves this year, the hoodie was absolutely amazing. Anyways by the time I was ready, the time difference I was exhausted but I couldn't just take a nap in the middle of the day.

Suddenly Samu bursted into my room with some onigiri, his specialty. I thanked him and he left. Although he really liked volleyball, I jnew he didn't like it as much as Atsumu. He would probably become a cook of some sort, at least I would hope.

When I finished eating it was nearing 2:30pm so I decided I would go there early and maybe get a workout done before meeting the rest of the people. I wasn't sure why I felt the need to go there so early, but what can I say, I am an overthinker after all.

I called the taxi to come and pick me up, grabbed the cash the mom had left on the kitchen counter, yelled goodbye two the two idiots who were in the living room watching some random American TV show. They always would tell me how they wanted to learn more about the culture so they would watch reality shows. Most of the time it didn't make any sense to me, and I would usually tell them that the "culture" they see on tv is not what it actually looks like when you're there. Neither of them would ever believe me.

I exited the house, shutting the door quietly behind me. I saw the taxi waiting for me. I didn't even check if it was my taxi or not, I simply stepped inside, said a brief hello, gave her my address and off we went. I plugged in my headphones, but I didn't put them in, it felt disrespectful for some reason. It's not like we were talking or anything, I was probably overthinking the whole situation but I didn't want to seem disrespectful so I unplugged my headphones from my phone and put them back in my bag. This thirty minute trip felt like it went on forever, maybe because it was dead silent except for the indistinct chattering of the radio. Finally we arrived at the track, it was decently big, it wasn't huge like the ones in the US, but for Japan I guess it was pretty big.

It was now 2:30pm two hours before the rest of the team would meet up. I decided to call my coach to ask her for a workout I could do, obviously I kinda forgot she was still in the US and there was the time difference. The conversation went something along these lines.

"Hi Michelle, I'm at the track right now. What should I do?"

"How about let me sleep, how does that sound?!" I could hear her frustration through the phone.

"Sorry coach" I heard her some shuffling sounds from the other side of the phone so enough she started talking again, this time in a more pleasant tone.

"Try to do 400 meter repeats at a moderate pace. Don't push yourself too hard though because these are supposed to be your rest days"

Soon enough she hung up and probably went back to sleep. I started my workout by reminding myself not to go too hard since I probably would have a second workout with my new team. I finished my workout after approximately an hour and the more I thought about it the more I was stressing out about meeting the new team. I had been with the same people for the past four years. What if they didn't like me, what if they're way better than me, what if I am way better than them... My thoughts were brutally interrupted by the sound of chattering. I slowly turned around not knowing what to expect, I locked eyes with a boy. He looked around my age, he was pretty tall. He was carrying a duffle bag and was on call with someone he almost immediately hung up when he saw me. His hair was a blackish color so were his eyes.

"Hey, what's up, you must be Miki Miya, coach said you would come meet us today" he walked up to me as he said the sentence, his stance was really weird, he was slightly leaning back and one of his hands was gripping onto his phone, the other was buried in his pocket.

"Yes it's me, and you are?" I asked suspiciously.

"I'm Christian Tanaka, call me Christian though"

"Nice to meet you Christian, as you already know i'm Miki Miya, you can call me whatever is easier for you" I answered awkwardly.

Suddenly a really pretty blonde haired girl came into view and started yelling something I couldn't quite make out. The Christian dude slowly turned and gave her a wide grin.

"Heyo Yuna, what's up? This is Miki Miya, coach told us she would be here to help us practice"

"WAIT WHAT, I WASN'T AWARE THAT I HAD TO HELP YOU GUYS PRACTICE. I'M HERE TO PRACTICE TOO" I half shouted, I was now officially panicking. Did their coach expect me to help out? I was only told that this was my new team and that I would have practice with them. Now that I think about it, it sounds like something Michelle would forget to tell me.

"Geez calm down, you should be happy about this, you won't have to run." The girl said as if it were obvious. How was I ever going to go to the Olympics if I wasn't going to train?

Suddenly my phone lit up, I ignored it at first but it lit up again, new messages were appearing. I checked the sender, it was an unknown number. I looked at the messages and it turns out it was Suna. I felt a smile reach my lips he was wishing me good luck for practice. I definitely needed it right now.