Smells Like School Spirit

chapter four.

Jesus Christ. Apparently once the transaction between them was clear, Suna felt zero apprehension of crossing the line of professionalism and just personal invasion.

"Nope. Sorry to disappoint you, Suna." Reina shut it down with a mere raise of her hand. And she wasn't apologetic about how she barely sounded sorry at all.

"Well, Suna-kun." This time it was Mai's turn to speak up. Uh oh, Mai must've turned up the side that she usually showed her string of admirers. "If you wanted a show, you've come to the wrong place. A scene won't happen when the other party has no care left to give."

Mai nodded at her, to which Reina just dumbly responded with another nod. She was too astounded to even process Mai's words until several moments had passed.

One should wonder, if Mai's words about someone not caring was about herself or about Reina. But then again, her former best friend had always been a puzzle that was hard to solve, especially for those who weren't astute enough to see through the fortress of ice Mai put up to protect herself.

"Well, that was interesting," Suna commented.

"Don't you have practice to go back to? I'm sure you don't want your captain to size you up again, questioning why you're not back, hm?"

For once, it was exhilarating to see the usually unflappable Suna showed signs of panic, even if it was just a gulp. "It's not my turn to do the three-on-three match this time, I think."

"Nobody is asking you for an explanation, Suna," Reina pointed out with a smile. "Okay, I'm...going to take my leave. I'm sure you don't want me to accept the position, right? And no need to answer that question, it is rhetorical."

Before Suna could say another word or ask what rhetorical meant, Reina nodded at him and took her leave. Whew, aside from the piling up homework waiting for her (curse the advanced classes workload), Reina still had to think about everything that just happened today.

It was time, after all, to actually make a decision instead of keep going through her high school life like a makeshift robot that she never was.

***

"Holy crap, Suna, what's your deal with her until you can talk to someone that smart? Is she doing your homework for free?" Atsumu's question managed to break the tension. Sometimes, his lack of tact and zero amount of consideration for anyone but himself could be a saving grace.

Keyword being sometimes. And it was not that often either.

"Not telling," Suna muttered as he dribbled the ball on his hands. Shibazeki must've thought to pull up the prices to make him pay for even suggesting her to meet up in the gym. "If you wanted to focus on practice, then stop yammering about forcing free labor on someone."

"Nobody paid me enough to do my own homework," Atsumu grumbled. Right beside him, his twin brother made a face.

Shibazeki never did online transactions, but her presence was low enough to never invite unwanted questions. Until today, that is.

He took a good look at Ichijou Mai, who seemed quietly determined not to say a word after Shibazeki left the gym. There definitely was a whole lot of history between them. Suna's gossipy hunch tingled when the two girls stared into each other. It was like a girl fight waiting to happen between two stony people.

But it did not, sadly. Okay that was cruel, since Mai definitely did not look like she would last even a minute in a girl fight. Shibazeki on the other hand, Suna had seen with his own eyes just how downright menacing she could be.

"Who is she to you?" Suna finally asked with his usual bored tone. "I thought you're more like an ice queen who self isolates from everyone."

"Well, Suna, it is obvious that she doesn't want to talk about it" Atsumu pointed out, definitely did not grasp the gravity of the whole situation and said something that made sense, weirdly enough. "Anyways, we got to continue practicing to make sure most of you aren't playing like trash during Spring High in January."