this chapter is from aones point of view so we can see the yearning from both angles 😳 i hope you enjoy
i walked away from y/n, mind slightly buzzing. needless to say i am not used to the feeling of people initiating physical affection. i stepped hurriedly to avoid the nervousness being around her brought me. i walked to my first class, not very far from y/n's. i make a mental note to stop by her class so i can walk with her to lunch. this was extremely new to me, im not used to being approached. i know im scary, i see it everytime i look at somebody too long and they get nervous. i see it everytime i stand too close to people in line and they sneak terrified glances at me. i see it everytime the waiter flinches as i reach for my wallet. i see it everytime i look into the mirror. i dont hate that people dont talk to me, i enjoy being left alone for the most part honestly, but people avoid me. theyre scared of me. everyone except her. not once did she seem afraid, nor intimidated by me. the moment she strutted over next to me with no hesitation i recognized her.
even back when i first saw her play against seijohs team, i could see her personality in her playing style. on and off the court she was bright and considerate. i saw the way she catered her hits to her teammates when she played, and i was particularly impressed when she bought a drink for the libero she almost killed. she is kind and determined, shes like the sun. shes peaceful and warm, she was easy to be around. i like being left alone, people make me nervous, everyone except her. she makes me nervous in a different way, she confuses me more than anything else. ive only fully known her for a couple of hours but everything shes shown me so far has taken me off guard.
i push open the door of my classroom, barely making it on time. as i enter i fail to realise that i may have pushed the door of the class a tad hard from being lost in my thoughts and it thuds against the wall, making everybody jump and stare at me. i am once more reminded of my looks by the way everyone stares at me in fear, silently hoping i dont do something awful. the feeling settles in my stoumach and feels like iron in my lungs as i panic and make eye contact with the floor. embarrassment comes off of me in waves as i silently walk to my seat, next to futakachi. once im seated people resume their talking normally and i look up at futakachi, to see him smiling at me with pity in his eyes. he could tell how embarassing that was for me and i turned my face back toward the desk, pulling out what i needed for class and my phone. the bell rings and our professor is still yet to show so i open up my phone, going to instagram.
as you can probably imagine i am not much of a social media man, but the team has a groupchat on there they insisted i be in, so i made one. i have yet to post and more than likely never will. i spend my time on instagram looking at volleyball highlights and memes, not really following anybody other then celebs and the team. i can only imagine what the people at school would think if i followed them, probably that i was stalking them or something. i think of their reactions and am reminded of y/n. she was different and it intrigued me. ive never had a friend who was a female before since they all seem to be too scared of me to approach me, and i will never ever approach a woman. i once tried to hand a woman something she dropped and she screamed and ran away, leaving me in the middle of the sidewalk holding out her hand mirror, all passerby's thoroughly confused.
i look foward to practice at the end of the day, it was always my favorite part of the days. futakachi taps my shoulder and i look up at him from my phone. he starts speaking.
"so, you never said anything about y/n when you met her this morning. i gotta know, do you see how cute she is?"
my face goes red and hot at his statement. of course i saw that y/n was attractive, but my focus was usually on how peculiar she is. thats not to say i dont think she is beautiful as well, but she really has shocked me with her attitude. the warmth reaches my ears at how she wrapped her arms around me this morning before her class, female friends are different from male friends. i look up at futakachi, my red features being the only confirmation he needs. he snickers and looks at me with that stupid look of "knowing" that i hate so much. he looks at my phone and sees i am on instagram looking at volleyball highlights before he looks at me with an almost genuine smile and says
"you should look up her name on insta, i bet shes got some more clips from her games posted"
suddenly, it dawns on me that i probably could do that. i begin to feel as if i may be acting creepy, we only met today. she was so different and interesting that i ended up letting my fascination get the best of me. i dont have the privilege of this kind of thing, i would scare her away. i think back to what futakachi said about her having clips from her games on her instagram. i want to continue watching her play, watcher her break past blockers like that. she was amazing at what she did, her spikes reminded me of oikawas and that was a compliment not many received. i am most definitely not a sexist, but god i didnt think a girl could spike like that! i admire how she plays, and i wouldnt mind getting to learn more about her.
youve gotta remember aone, shes different. she wasnt scared of me then and she wont be scared of me now, just follow her you big coward! i internally yell at myself. i tilt my head up and look around to make sure nobody is watching and will think im stalking her. i quickly go to the search bar and look up y/n l/n while my heart lightly pounds in my chest. her profile is the one that pops up first.
y/n_got_spikes
the username made me smile lightly to myself, she really is cute isnt she? her profile pic was of her holding up a peace sign and sticking her tongue out. she looked good, the picture seemed reacent. i nervously clicked the profile and saw her bio
18 years old
resident wing spiker😎 i can break past any block and any wall 🤠
the swaggiest person you will ever meet!
it was so very her, she really was so bright. she reminded me of the sun, the way she never failed to brighten things up, even when she was nervous. i looked at the follow button and hovered over it nervously.
its not too late to turn back! what if she gets nervous? thinks youre stalking her?
but what if she doesnt? what if she thinks its sweet? do it already!
i close my eyes and press the button, immidiately regret settling in my stoumach. i gulp down the fear of making her uncomfortable and look at some of her posts. her most recent was from a few months ago, and it was a couple of pictures of her, selfies. my face heated a little at the pictures, you really would have to be blind to not think shes cute. futakachi was right, but im nothing like futakachi, and probably will never ever comment on it. i scroll down and see a few clips from some of her games.
i look back up and around to see the teacher has yet to arrive, everybody is still chatting to themselves and futakachi as scrolling on his phone. i look back down at my phone and click play, seeing her serve the ball towards the opposite court. from the looks of it she is playing karasunos team and they have a fairly impressive libero that digs up the serve. she runs into court and makes eye contact with the setter for a moment, than runs to one side of the net, two blockers following. last second she jumps a few feet to the left and jumps up off the ground, spiking the ball down HARD and falling back onto her feat as the ball smacks the gym floor with a BOOM. she does a little happy dance in place and the video ends.
i watch over again a couple of times, taking in the clip and whats going on. she really was quite an impressive player. i swiped to the next clip, excited to see what she would do next.
in this clip the blockers are heat synched onto her, shes extremely focused, glaring intimidatingly. it was obvious she wasn't glaring on purpose, thats just how determined she was. she jumps up and cocks her arm back to swing, the blockers following suit. as the ball reaches her hand, she smacks the ball as hard as she can, but goes for a cross court shot instead. the blockers are forced to watch as the ball flies across and lands perfectly inside the bounds, smacking the floor once again. when she reaches the court she does a little dance again, but the blockers start scowling at her angrily.
i can see now why she was captain of her old team, her spikes were intimidating and her reaction time was sharp as a needle. she was good at what she did, and she always did it with a smile that visibly brought up her teammates. i rewatch the clip again and see her dance again, this time i notice how one of her teammates joins in with her. she was good with her people, they probably were close friends. suddenly, as im watching the video a third time, a question pops into my mind that confuses me thoroughly.
why would she leave?
she was an amazing captain, amazing player, and had a close bond with her teammates. she was probably praised by everyone for her talents and she seemed so happy. so why did she leave it behind? maybe her parents forced her, but she never did mention the reason for her move. i sit in contemplation for a moment before being pushed out of it from a notification on my phone
y/n_got_spikes followed you on instagram.
my mind blanks and i feel relieved. she probably wouldnt follow back if she thought i was creepy. i felt a little more confident and nervously clicked the like button on the volleyball clip i had been watching, than scrolled up and liked the selfie. i was being far more bold than i was used to, and it honestly got my heart racing. as im sitting thinking about it i see another notification.
y/n_got_spikes: why are you on your phone in class :0!! get off ur phone you delinquent!! >:(
my cheeks reddened and i internally chuckled to myself at her sarcasm, feeling the confidence soar at the fact that she texted me first, playfully at that. i feel my heart in my throat as i type out a response than hit send.
you had to be on your phone to text me... hypocrite :p
she read the message and didnt respond for a moment. internally i pictured her holding in giggles at my sarcastic response. it made the heat rise to my cheeks at the thought, her stifling giggles from something i had said. i look down and see the typing bubble, i eagerly await to see how she will respond.
...touché. guess we'll both fail </3
i almost giggled audibly at her responses, choosing to instead lightly smile to myself. i enjoy talking to her, it seems i may have actually made a new friend today. the thought swirls around in my head a little, feeling foreign. im torn from my thoughts when the door flies open and my professor barges in, profusely apologizing for being late, though its obvious we would rather him not have showed at all. i quickly slip my phone into my bag, zipping it up afterwords. the thoughts of y/n still bounced freely around my head, i was going to think about her all class more than likely. my first female friend. she actually feels comfortable around me. she actually liked talking to me enough that she texted me on her own accord. she kept surprising me, and it made me feel warm at the idea of finally making another friend. my dad would be proud, and frankly i feel a bit proud of myself as well.
so for the rest of class i struggled to retain any of the information as i thought about all the thoughts from today. the big question popping into my mind again, why did she leave nekoma? this girl was interesting as all hell.
—about 2 hours later—
the bell rang, signifying that class had ended and it was time to head to lunch. we had an hour of lunch and i spent it with my team in the cafeteria, occasionally we would move out to the courtyard as well if it was nice out. i am the only one on the team who likes winter, i love the chill in the wind and the feeling of bundling up to hide from it. the cold made the air seem thicker, it felt refreshing. the snow made the world quiet, it brought peace to the city and muffled the thoughts that often bounced around my chronically overthinking mind. it was just as beautiful as it was peaceful too, i make a pastime of sitting by the large window in my room, quietly watching the snow fall as i read or ate or anything else at all.
i stood quickly from my seat and packed my stuff in a hurry, making out the door in a few seconds to begin my speed walk through the halls. i wanted to reach y/n as she left her classroom so i could walk with her to the cafeteria. the halls of date tech can be really confusing and the cafeteria was on the first floor. on my first day i couldnt find my classes or the cafeteria and was too nervous to ask anybody for help. as much as i trust koganegawa i know better than to leave him to direct y/n to the cafeteria, because hes always hungry and sprints to the cafeteria immidiately upon the bell ringing. he would definitely not wait for y/n under any circumstances and i didnt want her to get lost. i was excited for her to sit with us so i could again bare witness to her interaction with the team, the way she kept playful banter with futakachi and how well she dealt with koganegawas constant energy. she fit right in with the team and it made me happy that my friend was now a part of my OTHER group of friends.
i speed walked through the hallway, making sure not to bump into anybody because god knows how that would end. i reached y/n's class in no time and saw kogane sprint past me, y/n watching in shock from the classroom doors at how fast that man can run. i too was inclined to watch koganegawa run like that in awe, he was very serious about his food.
y/n's eyes light up as she sees me, smiling and waving. she walks over to me and begins talking about how class was. i look down and watch her rant away, listening intently and occasionally nodding or grunting to let her know i was listening as i lead her to the cafeteria.
"it was so funny how koganegawa kept making faces at me during the teachers lecture, i ended up snorting! can you believe that!? SNORTING! it was so embarassing i think i could kill him, if he wasnt so freaking hard to be mad at. hes like a puppy! i quite think hes become my new best friend very quickly, as well as my number one fan! he kept asking me stuff about volleyball and how i was so good and if i could teach him, it was nice to he admired like that- WAIT!"
she said whipping her head to me, surprising me how she shouted like that mid sentence. she looks at me and playfully scowls, and i internally cringe at how she might poke fun at my "stalking" her, or make fun of me for liking her posts. she instead says something i wasn't expecting
"look, i know im amazing at volleyball and its probably hard to take your eyes off of, BUT NO BEING ON YOUR PHONE IN CLASS!" she pokes my shoulder as punctuation to her scolding, and i smile, breathing out of my nose in amusement at her fake scolding. she stops talking and stares at me with a shocked face, and goes completely quiet for a moment. im confused until i see her face turn into a wide smile and she throws a fist in the air, than says
"YES! i made the stone cold aone laugh at my amazing humor! perhaps i am that amazing, i expect a reward!" she says cockily, putting her hands on her hips in triumph.
she really was very cute, again she reminded me of the sun with her actions. she quickly resumed her rant about everything and nothing at all, until we reached the cafeteria. the cafeteria was a very wide open room with windows lining the walls, and large tables all around the room. the food lines were near the bottom of the cafeteria and werent very long, the lunch ladies were always very quick. i looked at y/n to check if she had packed a lunch or not and saw a small brown paper bag stick out from her backpack. i looked toward the corner by the window where i saw most of the team, and began silently routing our course towards that direction. y/n suddenly realised we were walking towards the team and waved at them, smiling brightly. i looked and saw kogane wave back excitedly and futakachi wave as well. the rest of the team smiled and waved or nodded in my direction. as we reached the table everybody greeted me as well as y/n and kogane looked at us, before yelling
"Y/N! AONE! SIT NEXT TO ME PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE!" im a little mortified by his excitement but y/n seems quite pleased by it. she giggles quietly under her breath and looks at kogane before nodding and saying a quick
"anything for my bestie"
kogane just about explodes at the comment, and i internally chuckle at how she probably did that on purpose. she sits next to him and pats the open seat on her other side, motioning for me to sit next to her. im shocked that she wants me to sit next to her for a moment, before i remember that shes not like anybody else ive ever met. she never fails to surprise me. she starts talking to kogane and i start taking my lunch from my bag. my mother makes a little extra from her breakfast before she heads out to work most days so that i can have lunch. my mom is usually gone by 4 am and gets back around midnight every day. she works as ceo of a company and often spends the night at the office.
my dad passed when i was young, about 12. he had a terminal illness, cancer, and there wasnt anything we could do. my mom now spends most of her days working to distract from the quiet house. she took the loss of my dad hard, they were highschool sweethearts. i think she has a hard time being in the house that we all used to live in together.
it seems this morning my mom made french toast, one of my favorites. i look over at y/n and see she hasnt pulled out her lunch yet. so i nudge her lightly with my elbow. she turns to me surprised, probably not expecting me to start any conversation. i motion down to the brown bag in her backpack, with a confused look. it takes her a second to piece together that im asking why she hasnt gotten her lunch out yet.
"oh! haha, funny story actually" she says with a slightly nervous face, and the team turns their focus onto her in confusion as she digs the bag out and sets it down on the table. she starts lightly giggling, than turns to me again.
"i actually forgot my lunch! this?"
she turns the bag over and dumps out a bucket worth of small caramel candies.
"this is my treasure bag"
she says through a laugh, causing everyone at the table to burst into laughter. i smile at her in amusement and chuckle lightly. everyones head whips to me and they stare in awe. this amuses me further and makes me chuckle again, it almost feels nice to be fawned over as if i were a spectacle like the northern lights.
everyone eventually goes back to their conversations and i look at y/n's pile of candy, curiously trying to figure out where i had seen these before. i grab one and unwrap it carefully, inspecting the wrapper. werthers originals. where have i seen these? i pop it into my mouth and my eyes widen, this is really good. y/n turns and sees me eating the candy and her eyes light up, clearly very excited that i like the candy.
"i actually really wanted to have you try one of those! i hoped you would like them! i sorta kinda stole all of them from the office lady mrs kiyori" she says with a giggle, rubbing the back of her neck
ah yes, thats where i recognized these!
internally i laugh at the image of y/n desperately shoving the candies into her bag while mrs kiyori wasnt looking. mrs kiyori probably would have just given all of them to her anyways had she asked, she was my favorite staff member.
i look over at y/n who is no longer looking at me but instead staring at koganegawas lunch, practically drooling. it takes me a second to register but i remember what she said earlier,
"i actually forgot my lunch!"
it dawns on me that shes probably hungry, and i remember the first time i saw her.
—a couple of hours ago—
im sitting in my usual seat on the morning train. i keep my eyes trained on the floor, attempting to not draw any negative attention to myself. i really am not excited for school today, im tired and i want to finish my book instead of go to school. as im sulking quietly i hear somebodies exhausted panting and i look up to see a girl in a date tech uniform, out of breath, standing in the door of the train. her ribbon is tied wrong and shes not wearing any scarf or mittens, shes visibly tinted pink from the freezing cold. she scans a place to sit and silently i hope she isnt terrified of me, because she really is so pretty.
—end of flashback—
she was probably in too much of a hurry today to pack a lunch, or wear the correct shoes apparently. i look down at my lunch, far too big for one person to finish alone. i stand up for a moment, nobody really noticing, as i walk to the utensil table. i grab an extra fork and go back to sit down, y/n is eating candy after candy while talking to kogane about volleyball. i nudge her again, and she turns to me almost immediately, smiling with her head tilted to the side. she said "whats up taka?"
my face flushes and burns up at the nickname, my heart skipping a few beats. i slide over my french toast to her and hand her the fork, silently telling her to eat it. her eyes widen in shock as she stares at the fork, she frowns and pushes it back towards me
"you need to eat too taka"
she said with a frown, i could tell she wanted the food but didnt want me to not have anything to eat.
i wasnt sure how to properly convey my thoughts so i slid it back, but sitting in between us. i silently offered to share, and she looked up at me with puppy eyes. she nodded and looked down, before setting her head on my shoulder. the action made me tense up really quickly and surprised me. she didnt move away though, just quietly rested her head on me for a moment quietly muttering a
"thank you taka"
she started eating the french toast very eagerly, and eventually the topic was back to volleyball. she started talking about her plays at nekoma and the more comfortable she got the more detail she would go into about her team. i looked over at y/n as she happily talked and everybody else listened, but all i could think of was the question i noticed had returned to my mind quite a few times.
"so than when the blocker got my ball, my old libero fell back trying to smack the ball and ended up receiving it with her FACE! and the funniest part was it was actually back in play so we just kept playing like it never happened"
everyone laughed at her story, it even made me smile, but the question was still on my mind. i took a deep breath and tapped her shoulder. she turned to me and smiled invitingly
"whats up aone?"
i cleared my throat, and everybody turned to look at me in silent awe.
"why did you quit?"
yep, thats right, im leaving you on a cliffhanger! its not a big one, but its a cliffhanger nonetheless! i decided to upload early... by a lot... i just felt bad for making the people on my twitter wait so long for a thread that i posted an atsumu one today AND my chapter here as a treat! this one was a little challenging to do from aones point of view but i wanted to try it, i think it turned out alright!
i wanted to leave after school volleyball practice for YOUR pov because i like writing the scenes where your playing! also: werthers are so good i reccomend highly to anybody who can try them <3
4560 words <3