Enigma // (Haikyuu x OC)

cafe and a practice match

She couldn't remember much about the encounter when she was in elementary school. Mayumi only called him after a nickname and his image became more hazy as the years went on. Moving from Miyagi didn't help either, she understood there was not much of a chance for the childhood friends to meet again.

Her daydream was quick to fade away as the rally continued on during practice. The team must have completed their receiving drills and moved on to spiking drills while she was preoccupied.

We don't need things like memories.

The school's motto stared back at her, daring her to go against it.

She knew, it was another time in her life. A time when she was first introduced to volleyball. He was indirectly responsible for the passion she developed for the sport. While it was nice to reminisce at times, she wouldn't be a true Inarizaki fox if she didn't live up to the school motto slightly.

To her it meant - don't look back and dwell on the past, keeping looking forward.

Because they will always be on top.

Ojiro wasn't shocked to see their manager, shaking her head furiously as if she did something unforgivable. Mayumi did that often, practice was for mistakes to be fixed after all. Most of the time she was thoroughly frustrated over lack of effort from certain players (ahem, Suna). It was when she smacked herself in the head a few times with her clipboard that he too lost it and made his way to his co-captain. Did the twins really push her over the edge at lunch? She finally went insane?

Kita saw her. How she stared at the school's banner that was hung on the bleachers across the gym from her position at the end. He also took a glance at its words.

In all honesty, he wasn't particularly fond of the motto. Roads don't only run one way, it doesn't only run forward. To him, memories are important - in order to rise to the challenge - the team must know what happened and went wrong in the past. Otherwise, it could lead to reckless behavior.

Speaking of being reckless, she shouldn't be self-inflicting a concussion so early on in the season. If she doesn't pay attention during practice, she may get injured more by getting hit by a stray ball.

Practice ended with Mayumi having a red bump on her head. With her bangs, it wouldn't have been noticeable. But she was a crybaby once the adrenaline left her and her eyes were still red and slightly puffy after tearing up over the pain. Kita stood next to her, the coaches going over what time to arrive for the practice match tomorrow, but he was too busy stealing glances at her.

He gave her his jacket after the spiking drills were completed, when she first started to cry. It was his only attempt and knowledge of what would comfort her. The sleeves were big on her, the entire jacket covered her frame and swallowed her. He recalled the first time he gave her his jacket he had to hide a slight pink hue on his cheeks that formed. Coach Oomi dismissed everyone, Kita was broken out of his reverie and made his way to the locker rooms with Aran and Ren so that they could head home and get well rested for the practice match in the afternoon tomorrow.

Aran and Ren were discussing the stats on the opposing team that was coming in, formation and plans already beginning to formulate in the captain's head. He would have to keep an eye on the four 2nd years - Atsumu, Osamu, Gin and Suna. Their attitudes were predictable at best, it was just a matter of time until he would have to step in and take charge.

He didn't even bother to retrieve his jacket from Mayumi. She had forgotten her own tracksuit jacket that morning, and the evening brought a chilly breeze in the air, they couldn't risk the manager getting a cold. Yes, that's what he told himself - just to protect her from a possible cold.