Agapē (Hirugami Sachiro x OC)

11 - Journey to Miyagi

Ino

Cold air breezed throughout the place where we all gathered. Its 4 in the morning. Shuttlecock just returned from the NYTC and the rest of the team is so fired up for their coming match against Shiratorizawa Gakuen from Miyagi prefecture. Today, the whole team is getting ready for a journey to Miyagi. I honestly never heard of Shiratorizawa, but everyone on the team is yapping about how strong they are.

"We're really going to Shiratorizawa! Man, coach is amazing for arranging this!" Gao exclaimed.

"Keep quiet, it's 4am!" Kanbayashi scolded him.

"That school's got Ushiwaka! Ushiwaka, you know?! One of Japan's top 3 aces!" Izuru was fanboying.

"Is that so? What's the deal with this Ushiwaka? I heard they won't be in the nationals." I commented.

"Yeah..." my brother said in a low tone. "But they are really strong. That Ushiwaka is part of the U-19 National Team, and that team's crazy good. So its a big news when we found out they won't represent Miyagi for the Nationals. I've been curious as to what kind of team defeated them in the finals, though."

"Well, you've beaten the team with the libero who's also part of the U-19. I'm sure you can pull off this one too." I replied honestly to my brother. The others must've heard me because Suwa-san suddenly approached me and placed his hand around my shoulders.

"Hearing that from our manager boosts our morale more. Hear that, boys? Let's crush those eagles!" he said.

"And I'll crush you too if you don't let go. Hey, no casual arms around my sister's shoulder, baldy." Izuru told his captain. This brother of mine, he's just too much. Suwa-san just laughed him off.

"Doesn't matter who we are against with, doesn't matter what kind of team they are. I will still win." Shuttlecock declared. Again, he's just too cocky.

"Yep, that signature line again. That's Kourai-kun for ya." Hirugami said.

"Huhhhh? You sayin' Hirugami?"

"Nothing." I tried not to laugh at their stupid exchange.

"The bus is here. To Sendai!" Kanbayashi said. Everyone slowly filled inside the bus except for Hoshiumi, who ran back to the gym yelling, "I forgot my shoes!" So I decided to wait for him outside for a while. Then I saw Bessho looking blankly at the bus. This freshman is quite an enigma. It's like there are a lot of things going on his mind and he doesn't really say it out loud. He was repeatedly mumbling something like "beef tongue, beef tongue" which really made me chuckle. Of all things he can think of, its Miyagi's local specialty.

"Caught you looking! Aren't you going in?" I bumped his side to wake him up. Well, it seem to work. And he stared towards me. Must be the nerves for excitement, I thought.

"We're going against one of the top 3 aces. It'll be my first time in Miyagi, and I'll just be playing a game. I wonder if I'll ever get to taste their special beef tongue? Maybe I can ask the coach for a little break so I can stroll around the city and buy it. Must be very delicious." I tried my best to mimic his voice as I circled around him. "That's what you're probably thinking, right?" He gave me a look of pure shock.

"How is this possible? Can she read minds? How come she knows what I'm thinking about? Is she a psychic or what?" I did the mimic again, which made his eyes even wider.

"Get in Bessho, I'll make sure you get those beef tongues." I told him in my normal voice. He blinked twice slowly then muttered "Sure?", to which I replied, "Yeah" and went inside the bus. I followed suit as I saw Hoshiumi from the distance.

Inside, there were two spaces available for me to sit. One was beside my brother, who probably left it free on purpose so I can sit next to him, and the second, in the empty seat beside Hirugami, who probably left it free for the Shuttlecock. I decided to annoy Izuru and sat beside Hirugami. He shot me a look to which I just returned with a bleh. Shuttlecock soon came up inside and pouted when he saw me next to Hirugami, who just smiled guiltily at him. I, also gave him a bleh. He sat next to Izuru instead.

The five-hour bus trip to Sendai was uneventful. It would've been faster if we took the Shinkansen, but our budget is limited so we opted for the bus option instead. Most players were sleeping. I listened to Hirugami's playlist, which surprisingly was full of many anime OSTs that I absolutely love. The two of us even headbanged during the chorus of TK's "Unravel" from Tokyo Ghoul. Heck, maybe I was so noisy because Izuru glared at me while I was having a concert during FLOW's "Colors" from Code Geass.

After about two hours, we passed by the bus stop and I didn't leave my seat. Hirugami did though, so I positioned myself so that my entire body will occupy the two seats. Who knows, someone might take Hirugami's. I only tried to keep it for him.

When he came back, he offered me a snack that he bought from the stop. I gladly took it. The rest of the journey continued and I got so sleepy since the playlist became more mellow and nostalgic, starting from Slamdunk's "Anatadake mitsumeteru" to FMAB's "Again". It feels comfortable here. Before I knew it, I fell asleep in Hirugami's shoulder.

--

Sachiro

And now she's sleeping with little snores coming from her mouth. I didn't actually expect her to take the seat I left open for her. And when she did, I got excited that I absentmindedly offered her my right earphone so she could listen to my playlist too. And the playlist is lame. I thought she will hate it, but she actually liked it? Right? Coz she started singing to some of those? I thought she'll tease me for being an otaku. Wew.

"Aw, come on." I muttered.

"Hey, Hirugami, if you're uncomfortable, we can always change seats." Nozawa-san said from the other side of the bus. Does he have sister complex or what?

I'm uncomfortable, yes, but not because Ino-san is sleeping in my shoulder, but because of the looks my teammates are giving me. And also, what is this weird thumping in my chest? Am in nervous for later's game? But that's strange.

I just decided to just drown away their noise by focusing my hearing on my earphones and shutting my eyes to keep myself from looking at their faces. Eventually, the drowsiness kicked in. We left Nagano at 4am, after all. Sunrise was painted along the horizon but it didn't really awaken me. I grew even more sleepy. I looked at the girl sleeping in my shoulders. Her hair smells nice, must be so soft so take a nap there. The rest are already sleeping. I gave in to the scent of her hair and lost my battle against the god of slumber, then rested my head atop hers.