- Tuesday, 9:17am -
Today is the day of the boys vs girls match, and I can't focus.
My head is bursting with thoughts of the upcoming Spring Interhigh, the volleyball match we have today, and the assignments for English and Science that are due soon. My inability to focus is a good and bad thing. It's good, because if I'm too busy thinking about everything I have to do, I don't have time to think about the embarrassment of Saturday and Thursday at midnight and what happened when I was walking home that other day. It's bad because I can't focus on my assignments and I'm terrified of failure.
In English, my first class, I try to write as best I can but I end up with one badly written paragraph and doodles all over the rest of my paper. In math, it's just as bad, and in science, it's even worse. As time ticks closer and closer to the match, the butterflies in my abdomen multiply and I feel slightly sick.
When lunchtime rolls around, my throat feels dry and I'm sweating. I don't know why a boys vs girls game is so stressful for me, but I'm feeling very under pressure.
Suna is at our usual table in the library, reading a book. When he sees me making my way over, he puts it down on the desk. He wants to talk about the match, I guess.
"Listen, Aya," he says, as I take my seat and pull out my lunch, "no matter the outcome of this game, let's stay positive, okay?" He smiles at me with his eyes closed, and it becomes apparent that this was a tease.
I twist my face into a forced smile. "Yes, yes, I agree. We don't want you running home sobbing, do we?"
He raises his eyebrows at me, his face back to its normal blank state. "Luckily for the both of us, that will never happen."
"Oh, I'm not so sure!" I laugh, taking a bite of my cupcake. "It might sneak up on you, Suna Rintarou."
He chuckles and takes a strawberry from my lunchbox, biting into it. "Juicy," he says.
It strikes me that when we first talked, he said that he tries to avoid talking, but now, he's the first to strike up a conversation. "You've changed a lot, haven't you?"
He pauses his chewing, processing what I just said. "How do you mean?"
"I mean, when we first talked... I don't know. Never mind." I don't want to give him the pleasure of knowing that I've analyzed him a lot.
"You've caught my interest now. What do you mean?" He presses me for more.
I sigh, giving in. "I just mean that when we first talked, you avoided using words, but now you seem to use them quite a bit."
He smirks. "Ayano-chan, have you been thinking about it a lot? Has it been on your mind?" He laughs and leans back in his chair, his arms behind his head.
"Not really," I shoot back at him, hoping to crush his ego, but once he's started teasing, he can't seem to stop.
"Look at you, getting all defensive. Oh, I've been on your mind," he jokes, clearly savoring this moment.
I wish I never spoke.
When he sees my face, my expression of what I hope to represent disgust, he rolls his eyes.
"Anyway, the game. Does your team have a strategy?" he changes the topic.
"You mean for your jelly arms that can twist in any direction around the block?"
He stares at me, his eyes cold. "Did you just say... jelly... arms..." he pretends to be hurt. "Don't ever repeat that."
"No, I think I will," I smirk, tilting my head to the left. "Jelly arms, jelly arms, jelly arms. This is the birth of your nickname."
He lets out a snort, so I know he's okay with it. He's just pretending to be horrified.
"When I watch your games at the Interhigh, I'll cheer you on from the stands. I'll scream, 'GO, JELLY ARMS!' and only you and me will know who I'm cheering for," I giggle, enjoying my moment as he enjoyed his.
He pinches the bridge of his nose and hides his face so I can't see him smiling. "That's such a terrible nickname," he complains. "Okay, I need one for you."
"No, you don't. I don't need a nickname. You can use my name," I insist, pushing my lunchbox towards him so he can take more strawberries.
He smiles softly. "I know how I'll cheer for you at the Interhigh."
"How? 'GO, AYANO?' That's the only correct answer."
He shakes his head, refusing to tell me the nickname he's just created for me. It's fine. I'm not worried, because Suna isn't the kind of guy who will embarrass himself in the stands just to call you by some weird nickname and piss you off.
Well, maybe he'd do it to piss you off, but still.
By the end of lunchtime, the dry feeling of my throat is gone, and I don't feel like I'm in danger of throwing up.
- Suna, Tuesday, 5:13pm -
This is it. The boys vs girls match that has motivated both of our teams.
Everyone is changed and the net is being set up. Both teams are warming up with various drills, and when the girls team is warmed up, they sit down to stretch and chat before the game.
They're probably going through the strategy Ayano will have cooked up to save them from my "jelly arms".
I chuckle at the memory of this lunchtime. It's such a ridiculous name. It would seriously piss me off if she actually cheered for me using it in the game.
No, it wouldn't. If she cheered for me in game, no matter what name she used...
"What are you chuckling about?" Atsumu taps me on the shoulder, dragging me out of my thoughts. "Quit daydreaming, we gotta win this."
"And we will," I affirm. "I'm focused, Tsumu. Just set me like you normally do. I'll handle the rest."
"I know you will."
The trust between us two, despite us not being the closest of friends, is unbreakable. He promises to put the ball up for me, and I promise to do something with it.
I'm nervous, but it's not because I doubt my own ability. It's because I know Ayano's too well. She's been training with us not only to improve her own skill, but to study us, to learn off us, to adapt to us. She knows she'll face opponents who may work like us, but even if she doesn't face opponents like us, learning how to strategize and adapt based on your opponents is a skill you can only learn through actually doing it.
I don't doubt that part of the reason Ayano trains with us every week is because she is good friends with the Miya twins, particularly Atsumu, and because she loves volleyball as much as I do, but I also think she knows how much there is to benefit from training with a team other than her own.
She's not only hard working, Otsuka Ayano is intelligent and driven.
- Ayano, Tuesday, 5:30pm -
We've warmed up. We've stretched. We've talked.
There's no putting it off any longer.
Together, my team steps on court. Together, Suna's team steps on court. The referees - two players, one from each team, who aren't on the starting lineup - take their positions.
I make eye contact with Suna through the net. His eyes look calm, constantly calculating as usual, but calm, like as soon as he stepped on court, he was home.
I know what he's feeling, because that's what I feel as well.
The referee blows the whistle and the match begins.
a/n++
ayano and suna kind of flirt through being mean to each other ahaha, just like me and this guy i used to talk to. turns out hes a dick tho lol. i love their little conversations where they're mean tho :>
qotd: how are you doing, bub? are you getting enough sleep? are you eating properly? go drink some water!