Strings (Ryuunosuke Tanaka x Reader)

Chapter Seven: Last day

(Y/N) POV:

"Round two!" Called out Hinata.

Sugawara set the ball to Tanaka and the ball went soaring almost immediately. It all happened so quick that nobody really processed the spike until it hit the floor with a thud.

The "judges" stood stunned and slowly turned around to each other. The talk didn't take long before they yelled out "Ten!"

Tanaka pulled his shirt over his head as usual and started swinging it in circles. I laughed at his little act of celebration.

I walked up to him and placed a hand on his chest then pushed him back, "step aside volleyball boy."

I stepped up to the net and Suga set almost immediately. I jumped up and put all my power into the spike. This accidentally sent it out of the court lines... Far out.

The judges decided almost instantly. They didn't even need to talk before announcing that it was a 4.

That was the mistake I said would mess me up. Nice going (Y/N), you jinxed yourself. Never celebrate too early.

I heard Tanaka snicker just a bit. I whipped my head around and he looked away, pretending that he never laughed.

"Final round! Judges won't grade until both participants went!" Yelled Kageyama.

Tanaka stood in front of the net, still shirtless and more fired up than ever. He jumped just a little early, still enough to get a great serve but not a perfect.

The ball still went over the net and hit hard in center court. The judges whispered to themselves but didn't announce anything.

My turn to make a final impression. Sugawara and I moved at a fast pace and the ball hit the other end of the net. I didn't look to see where it landed.

I hit the ball softer than I did the last. When I put too much power into it, it flew out of the court. I took note of my mistake and softened the hit but it might've been too much.

The judges talked to each other and Tanaka and I stood side by side facing them from a distance. I crossed my fingers that I beat him when they turned back around.

"Well first of all, you guys were one and one so this was the tie breaker." Takeda-sensei spoke.

"What's sensei is saying is, you both tied. I don't know how but you managed to hit the same spot in the same way on that tie breaker spike." Coach Ukai sighed.

"What!?" Tanaka and I yelled in unison.

"Let's go for one more round!" Tanaka turned to me.

"Nope, you guys said three rounds so it's practice time. Drills!" Coach Ukai stopped us before we could even start.

"Please coach?" I begged.

"I want to use the court to practice. Just accept the tie!" Tsukishima cupped a hand over his mouth to project his voice.

I glared at him and he shrugged me off. Yamaguchi mouthed the words "sorry (Y/N)" at me in Tsukishima's place.

I lifted my left hand and shook Tanaka's right. I saw that my string was slowly turning a different color.

I was exhausted of the string not being able to make up it's mind. I looked at the string only to see it turn back to gray. When I glanced back up to Tanaka, I saw disappointment in his eyes.

"What's wrong?" I asked him.

"Nothing, nothing. Just tired of the color change." He smiled but I could tell it was fake.

"Tanaka go practice! And put a shirt on while you're at it!" Coach yelled from the side of the gym.

Tanaka hurried off before coach yelled at him again. I walked over to the side and leaned against the wall.

Practice ended and I was on cleaning duty. Everyone had left but Tanaka. He wasn't even on duty but stayed to help anyways.

Once we were done I went to pick up my bag and realized that Tanaka wasn't getting his things. I turned around and saw him standing on the court.

"C'mon, let's go." I jerked my head towards the door.

"Today was your last day right? I kinda don't want you to leave." Tanaka sighed and smiled at the floor.

"I'll still come to practices here and there, just not every one and not as a practice member." I picked up Tanaka's cap that was resting on his bag. "Why do you carry a cap to school?"

"To keep my delinquent look. That and I like the cap itself." He started walking in my direction.

"Oh really now?" I smirked and put the cap on backwards. "Come get it back."

I started running around the gym and Tanaka soon sprinted to follow. He was faster than I was so he held me in place from behind and I squealed just a little. The chase wasn't even that long but I wanted him to stop looking so down.

"Okay okay you win Tanaka!" I yelled through laughs.

He lifted the cap off my head but didn't let go of my waist. I turned around and saw him looking at me.

"Tanaka?" I asked.

"Yeah?" He whispered.

I didn't even notice I was leaning in towards him. Just a few inches from his face, I realized what I was doing. Instead I pulled him into a hug to hide my blushing face.

"Let's go home." I said as I pulled away and picked my bag back up off the floor.

"Y-yeah."

I started heading out the door and Tanaka soon caught up. He ran to my side in a matter of minutes.

"Hey, I was wondering... What if we... go do something... this Sunday?" He took pauses which meant he was nervous.

"Sunday? Yeah I'm free, let's go out." I smiled at him.

"Really? Great! It's a date! I'll see you then (Y/N)!" Tanaka ran off in his direction home before I could say anything.

It's a date. Those words kept repeating in my head as I walked home. Did he mean that, was this a date? I mean it's just an expression right? I do hope it was a date though, it would mean he felt the same.