Ibato Chiaki never thought she'll end up hating volleyball.
But she had.
Not by choice. But whenever she thought about the sport, her heart felt like it was getting ripped to pieces. And she knew the bitterness inside of her was growing even darke...
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Chapter 2:
Word Count: 6.3 k
🏐🏐THIRD PERSON P.O.V.🏐🏐
"Ibato-san!"
Chiaki looked up from organizing her textbook in surprise as a voice called to. Her soft gaze lands on one of her female classmates who stands near the door.
"The second year senpai from yesterday is here for you again!"
Chiaki's face visibly brightens as she grabs her crutches and lunchbox, making her way to the door. The teen can't help but flash Daichi a smile, ignoring the curious gazes she received from her fellow classmates.
"Hi, here let me help you," Daichi returned her smile with a boyish grin, taking her lunchbox out of her hand to make it easier for her to walk with her crutches.
It doesn't take long for the two to go to their usual place at the back of the school garden, spreading out their lunch. The unlikely friendship between Daichi and Chiaki had bloomed over the last two weeks. The two spent their morning and lunch together, enjoying the others company with mundane conversations. Although Chiaki does admit, Daichi did most of the talking, she only added in some of her thoughts when she deemed it worthy.
Chiaki liked Daichi's presence. He was a gentle male, watching and listening to her silently whenever she did speak. It didn't take her long to realize Daichi reminded her of her eldest brother, Minato a bit. There was something extremely warm and calming about him, and Chiaki subconsciously gravitated towards him. When beside him, she felt at ease, just as she would with family.
And Daichi was respectful. Chiaki sometimes almost wondered if he had some kind of radar in his head that warned him of conversations that could potentially make her uncomfortable. He would skillfully and smoothly change the topic whenever he did realize that she didn't want to talk about it, much to her relief.
Daichi never bought up her past. And Chiaki greatly appreciated it. However, she also noticed that volleyball was a significant part of his school life.
While he did try to avoid the topic of the volleyball with her, it was a bit hard when his life basically revolved around the sport. His closest friends at school were his teammates. He was in the gym practicing or hanging out with his teammates if he wasn't in lectures.
Chiaki couldn't blame him. Instead, she decided she liked it when Daichi spoke about volleyball. A lot of times, the dark-haired male would reveal his struggle with his skills and techniques. In response, Chiaki would gently give him some advice, which he intently listened to, sometimes even noting them down.
One thing that did trouble Chiaki was that Daichi always invites her to visit volleyball practice after school. At this point, she almost felt bad politely declining the invitations because he did it so diligently every single day they had lunch together. Luckily, at the current moment, she had the excuse of having her physical therapy session with her mother after school. While there was no harm in pushing the meeting an hour back, Daichi doesn't have to know that.
