𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝-
3.5
(Y/N) was planning on spending the day in her great-grandfather's garden with a nice cup of tea and her copy of The Brothers Karamazov she needed to read for the summer. Skipping Karasuno's Sunday practice was a... trivial choice, to say the least. She'd barely been showing up recently, but with good reason.
Well... meh, reason (if you count needing to work 'good reason').
The previous days had definitely served as a much-needed break and distraction from the tireless hours spent hunched over a textbook, a music sheet or pages of kanji. But alas, she had business to get down to (quite literally, sometimes). Sure, the crushing tension she had felt on her shoulders had eased and she felt a lot calmer and the raging storm that had once been messing up her head had dissipated for the most part.
But even so, there was this small nagging fly that had sat on her shoulder whispering these guilt-filled thoughts all weekend. Usually along the lines of 'You've been slacking off. Why are you having fun when you have a paper to write? What about your college essays? You'll never get into Harvard like this. Not to mention your summer project-' This voice sounded an awful lot like her mother.
So, (Y/N) had hoped to be able to sit under the filtered sunlight that streamed in through the thick summer leaves, only the cicadas to keep her company with the occasional interruption from Ikkei about a drink or lunch.
She most certainly did not expect to see a certain energetic ball of sunshine there.
"(Y/N)-sannn!" He waved cheerfully from the makeshift volleyball court that lay just by the green-bean plants, the colourful red-green-and-white ball held loosely under his arm.
She smiled, though it was a little strained. She loved the boy, yes, but he was interrupting her peace and quiet. Her time for work. "Hinata, hey! W- what're you doing here?" She asked.
Hinata's eyes lit up as fast as a lightbulb, quickly bouncing over to the younger Ukai, "Oh! Well," He started, almost like he was telling her a great story, "Coach Ukai, your dad- I mean, took me here to practice! You know Kageyama and I had a fight, and I need to be a better player to make it to Nationals! And then Coach Ukai senior showed me the tempos, and I'm practising with a bunch of different people to open up my capabilities with their different techniques and skillsets. You should have seen me! You know how whenever the toss was off I used to panic middair and go like 'Ahh!' and the ball would fall with a 'Splat *frowny face*'. Then, when it was off and I managed to go 'Fwoom!' I HIT UP, (Y/N)! I actually hit it!"
(Y/N) blinked a couple of times, nodding slowly with an amused grin, "Uh-huh..." She mumbled, trying to make out what he said, "Well, uh, you seen Ikkei around?" She hated to brush him off like this, but his cheery self didn't seem to mind.
"Oh, yeah! Coach Ukai Senior is making some tea for the people here with me today," He waved vaguely at the inside of the traditional Japanese house something which would be quite rare to see in Tokyo. "Hey! Can you toss me a few? Just a few? Pleaseee! Please! Pleaseeeee! It'll only be a few, I promise," Before she knew it, his puppy dog eyes looked up at her as he held onto her arm, pleadingly pouting at her.
If it was his way of guilting her into setting for him, it was working.
She scanned his face, though she didn't know exactly what she was looking for. Maybe it was just a way to avoid locking gaze with his golden honey irises that would probably kill her if she looked at them too long, or to just one over her decision. She glanced up at the sun, the searing brightness making her look away quickly. Maybe she had time for a couple of tosses...
The book was only like, what, eight hundred pages? Yeah...
Pursing her lips, she finally let out a sigh of defeat, "Fine," She groaned, though she couldn't suppress the smile that was tugging at her lips as the mandarin jumped up in the air happily. "C'mon," She made her way to the court, grateful that she had dressed in simple trainers with sweatpants with a large t/shirt as opposed to her usual fashionable self.
With a small wave, she greeted the young boy who was twirling a ball on the sidelines, though his eyes quickly widened in awe at the sight of a stunning girl. His head whipped to his slightly older friend, finding that he too had his eyes trained on her.
"Hey~!" She called at him, making the poor boy flustered as hell, "Can you throw it for us?" (Y/N) asked gesturing the ball in his hands. He nodded, not trusting himself with his words.
She hummed in thought as Hinata got ready, eyeing the space around her to get a better feel of it, "I think I've been lectured about the tempos by Ikkei, but I don't know too much about them,"
Hinata smiled brightly, "It's okay! Just get the ball up around, well, there," He waved into the air.
(Y/N) chuckled, nodding to the youngest boy to throw it.
No less than three seconds later, the ball fell flat, Hinata not being able to reach it.
Now, (Y/N) was no setter, but both Mikasa and Keiji had taught her a few things here and there, making her better than most.
But that being said, Hinata had to take a few seconds to come back to the real world. He trailed the ball that was now rolling on the ground, white now dusted brown due to the dirt. He looked back up at (Y/N), who looked like she just ate a lemon.
"Ahhh, I'm sorry. I did it too high," She apologized to him, frowning deeply.
He shook his head, "N- no it's okay! I'm the one who needs to improve..." He paused, in thought, "Hey, why... why'd you do it higher? Higher than what I usually aim for, I guess,"
(Y/N)'s brows furrowed, "Uh, I guess my setters back in Fukurodani focus on challenging their ace's when we practice. I mean, Mikasa's always telling me I can go higher than I aim for. Plus, Keiji's always trying to use Bo's talent to its extent. Usually, you jump 'as high as possible' and the ball comes to your hands. I wanted to see what it would be like for a target to be set for you, I guess..."
"Oh..." Hinata bit the inside of his cheek, a thought arising, "Is that what people do to you? Set a target for you, I mean, rather than creating your own?"
(Y/N) tensed up, realization of what she just did seeping in. "Y- yeah," She mumbled solemnly, eyes set on the ground, "I guess they do,"
♡
(Y/N) sat under a tree in the small forest behind her great-grandad's house, eyes stuck on one word from her book at she thought. She had barely made it through any pages, always finding herself going back to what Hinata said.
She eventually gave up on her book, instead opting to lean against the trunk with the cold tea Ikke had prepared for her in hands, ice shifting with a small clink as it melted, water condensing at the sides of the glass cup. In the distance, she could hear the faint bounce of the volleyball's, produced by the same people she had to excuse herself from just a few minutes ago.
For now, the insects would keep her company.
Her own targets, huh? What were those...
She knew she wanted to go into business. As much as she hated the billionaires and everything they stood for, maybe she could find a way to change it all from the inside. Or at least be better than Bezos or Suckerberg.
It didn't have to be too big, though the more money and more popularity you had, the bigger the impact you made.
And her mother shared this path with her, for the most part. But there was a point in which they went in completely opposite directions, a fork in the road.
Her targets weren't really her own, were they? They were her mom's, predominantly.
Sigh. So much for a peaceful day of reading.
♡