EXCEPTIONAL ༉ haikyū!! [RV/OG]

23

for the nth time today, kiiro spaced out again as she walked anywhere without any sense of mental presence. whether she's thinking about something, doing a workload, or merely being bored, the tendency to space out is high. it has been a habit of hers since she was young.

unbeknownst to her, a boy with silky black wavy hair was staring at her intently from the corner. his face scrunched when he witnessed how another boy purposely bumped onto the spaced-out girl just to capture her attention but failed to do so.

"hey! what's your name? from which high school did you come?" the boy who bumped kiiro bombarded her with questions.

kiiro only spared him a blank glance. her golden orbs traveling up and down of his figure, but no words were heard from her. instead, she walked past him, but the persistent boy grabbed her wrist.

"i was asking for your name, miss. don't be rude." he snickered at her, trying his best to intimidate the female. yet there was no response from her, so the boy tightened his squeeze on her. "tell me your fucking na-"

"oi, hands off." the curly-haired boy appeared beside them, glaring at the boy harassing kiiro. "take your filthy hands off her," he continued.

meanwhile, the other boy had the guts to raise an eyebrow and laugh. "or else what? get your ass off of our busi- shit!"

kiiro watched the scene unfold before her. even though her mind is somewhere else, a small smile appears on her face as she finds it amusing to see the boy in front of her cursing due to the pain given by the other boy.

well, who wouldn't be in pain when their eyes were sprayed with alcohol?

while the boy was still occupied by his crying, the other one tugged on her jacket's sleeve and pulled her away from the scene. still despite the amount of chaos going around, kiiro is still subconsciously knocked out, her eyes wide open like a meerkat as she internally gushes over the male's curly hair.

"what the fu-" the male cursed with his eyebrows furrowed, turning to face the smaller female when he felt his hair get slightly tugged.

"cute," kiiro mumbled, which he clearly heard. their eyes lingered on one another for a minute, but it was cut short when the male looked away, and then there was silence.

"stop staring at me," he mumbled, shifting his weight to his other foot.

"i didn't complain when you were staring at me from the corner awhile ago," kiiro retorted, which made the male cough.

as creepy as it sounds, he was indeed staring at kiiro, but she managed to capture his attention when she was merely spacing out.

"frankly speaking, you looked like a creep, but i'll let that pass because you're cute," kiiro added, which made the latter cough intensely.

"d-do you just straight up flirt with the "cute" people you meet?" the latter air quoted the four-letter word with a baffled look on.

with a sly grin, kiiro raised an eyebrow at him. "and don't tell me you were flattered?" she teased, but the male's reaction made her giggle.

"damn bro, i was just kidding!" kiiro laughed, irking the latter even more. "i'm kiiro. thanks for saving my arse back there."

the male stared down at her stretched hand. to say, he was having an internal battle over whether to accept the handshake or turn her down, but then he just took it and gently shook her small hand.

who cares anyway?

"sakusa. sakusa kiyoomi."

┉┅━━┅┉

"we're like the blood in our veins. we must flow without stopping. keep your oxygen moving and your mind working."

the usual chant of the nekoma team. they would always recite it to set the mood before their official games, and their team captain, kuroo is the one who initiates it every time. which their blond setter hates when they do it, but he has no choice at all.

"remember to keep your defense strong. keep the ball up in the air," coach naoi reminded, earning their loud, synchronized yes.

everyone then shifted their attention to their older coach, nekomata, waiting for his brief advice before the team dispatches to the game. nekomata only smiled at them and turned his head towards their manager, who was standing quietly beside the coaches.

"kii-chan, anything to say?"

kiiro grumbled under her breath as she felt all eyes on her. her eyes stuck on her white sneakers, not daring to look up at the boys.

coach nekomata really likes to put me in the spotlight.

with a sigh of courage, she began talking about what she thought would be at least helpful for them. "things were hard for everyone... i mean, you had to undergo that anyway," she said, which made a few of the boys cackle slightly.

"but i wish you all the best today because if you aren't going to get qualified for the tournament, cry your eyes out for all i care."

"kii-chan, we know you car- oomf."
kiiro glared at levi, who has his butt on the floor with a towel on his face and is complaining in pain after getting hit by a towel.

"as i was saying," she cleared her throat before looking up at them. "ganbatte."

there was a moment of silence at first, but kuroo grinned so widely when his teammates, aside from kenma, all yelled in joy and determination as they walked to their respective places on the court.

meanwhile, coach nekomata felt relieved to witness the tension between the boys and the manager. he lightly nudged kiiro's shoulder to gain her attention.

"the road ahead isn't always a smooth journey, but what matters most is the bond among the team."