Soon, things went back to normal
After the weekend, the three boys returned to the school
Despite the amount of schoolworks that they need to catch up, they are happy to be back
Needless to say, Sakusa became so clingy
Like I would never expect him to be so cuddly, definitely not with his phobia of germs
He would quietly sneak up behind me and hug me from behind during breaks
He would take me to the roof where we always have our lunch together
He would wait outside my classroom at the end of the day, even if the gym is just 3 minutes away
He would
And I can tell all of them improved an incredibly a lot by the way they are playing
Their movements became much cleaner, as in many unnecessary little moves were cut out, making their receives, passings, spiking and blockings much sharper
The whole team is finally together to prepare for the nationals
25 days left...
Time is ticking, especially when we need to get the rest of the team familiar with the new style that Sakusa, Komori and Emori learnt from the Youth camp
But once we're there, I doubt anything will be able to stop us getting the championship
We will be the strongest team
Anyways, it's lunch time now and I want to eat lunch with Serena and Yunaka today, I just need to find Sakusa and tell him about it, the two girls decided to come with
The three of us leaned on the railing, chilling while waiting for Sakusa's class to finish
But then the chatter of two girls not too far away from us caught my attention
"See the girl there? The Y/n L/n?"
"Zephyr? What about her"
"Did you not heard about it? Apparently she's a big slut"
"That's a bit mean"
"She keep flirting with Sakusa even though he clearly told her to stay away from him"
"I thought they were dating?"
"Omg your joking, why would Sakusa ever date someone like her? She literally has nothing but a skillful hand"
"Besides, I think she got Kauri Haya expelled with her family background because she sees her as a threat"
"Kauri Haya? That popular girl?"
For god sakes, rumors, I hate it
"Yeah her, she's expelled"
"For real? That's so messed up, I've never expect the Zephyr to have such a disgusting side behind her pretty face"
"Neither, but don't they always say celebrities have a dirty personality behind them, I guess that's true, look at Y/n!"
"Y/N L/N!!!"
That's when I was pulled back from that conversation, by Serena and Yunaka
"Sorry I-"
"You're going to break your hands if you tighten it any further"
I looked down at my hand, realizing I've been curling it into a fist subconsciously
Loosing it up, I glanced over at the two girls, who are still busy talking about how dirty I am
Unaware of the worry looks that Yunaka and Serena have, they heard everything as well
"What a bitch, she is ruining her brother's reputation as well"
"I know right! Emori is actually so fit, how unlucky of him to become sibling with her"
"Isn't it she should die"
I can feel my orbs widened in shock, my heart noticeably skipped a beat
Alright this is it, I'm not letting it slide pass this time
"Listen up you-"
But I was interrupted again before I could finish my sentence
"It's funny to see how the people who know her the least has the most to say about her"
A deep voice coldly stated, catching our attention
Turning around, I see Sakusa walking closer to us, he walk passed where the three of us are standing, stopping when he is 1 meter away from the two girls
"Kauri Haya was expelled because she used extreme violence against Y/n"
He said, in a ice cold voice that hides his anger
"I told her to leave me alone because I don't want to fall for her more than I already am"
I heard Yunaka and Serena gasped in surprise, so am I, completely not expecting him to say it out so straightforwardly, but Sakusa seem unshaken by the effect of his words
"Also"
He continued
"If I heard you two life threatening her again, I'll make sure these words get to the principles"
That ends his speech, he walked away from the two girls, who are looking guilty and left immediately
Sakusa came before us and stopped, his gaze softened
"Sakusa-san, do you mind a quick word?"
Serena asked, so quick that no one could speak up before her
Sakusa looked hesitant at first, but once he met the firm eyes of Serena, he gave in
"Fine"
The two walked off to the end of the corridor, leaving me and Yunaka on our own
I don't want to fall for her more than I already am
Does that mean... he doesn't want to like me?
Or maybe he liked me but he's over that feeling now?
"Y/n you good?"
"Oh...umm..yeah I guess"
I answered, my voice getting quieter
"Clearly not"
She said, Yunaka is always the observant one so I stayed quiet, not sure what to say
"Hey listen, I don't know how you react to his words, whatever you want to do is completely up to you, but bear in mind we are here for you, we will back you up"
I blinked a few times to prevent myself getting emotional
I wanted to say something, but I figured no matter how I phrase the words, it doesn't emphasize my gratefulness
So in the end, I just let out a little laugh, stepped forward to hug Yunaka
"Arigato"
[meanwhile]
"What do you want to talk about?"
Sakusa asked, leaning on the railing at the end of the corridor, keeping a certain distance away from Serena in concern of germs
"Did you mean every single word you said back there?"
The girl didn't waste any time to get into the point, she doesn't care how far away Sakusa want to be away from her
Becuase her aim is to make sure her friend does not get played
"Huh?"
"Did you mean it, when you said you've fallen for her"
"Umm..why?"
"Why what?"
"Why did you ask"
"Because Y/n don't need a player"
Serena answered straight away, without any hesitation, she, alongside Yunaka, was with Y/n during the 2 weeks that Sakusa was away
And they knew perfectly well how much control Sakusa have over Y/n's happiness
Of course, as a fellow friend, they want Y/n to be happy, but they don't want her to be hurt, during these days, they realised that Y/n is different from Zephyr
Zephyr is the expectation that the society want Y/n to live up to, Sakusa would be a good comfort for her, but first, they need to make sure Sakusa is not a player
"I'm not a player though"
Sakusa replied, half confused
"What you've done for the past few weeks seems like a player to me"
Serena showed no attempt of backing off
Knowing where she is coming from, Sakusa only sighed
"I made a terrible mistake by trying to force us apart, it wasn't until a specific night when I realised that how much more broken she became because of the stupid decision I made and the mean words I said to her"
"If I can turn back time I would stay with her, spend every possible seconds together, I know I hurt her more and I'm trying to make up to her"
He pronounced every single word clearly
Serena stared into his eyes, as if she was trying to figure out if he is lying or not
In the end, Sakusa's firm gaze convinced her, they all say ones eyes tells everything about them
She can read certainty in his eyes, therefore she chose to trust him
"Good to know, I hope you live up to your words"
That's all she said, before turning back to go back to her friends
"By the way, Y/n is having lunch with us, we'll try to get her to realise her feelings!"
Suddenly, it seems like Serena's cheerful side came back, she skipped to the two girls and tackled them into a hug before going down to the dining hall
Leaving Sakusa shocked at how a intimidating girl switched into a easy-going one within seconds
But that is not his focus, he need to find Komori and Emori
Simply because he want to confess to Y/n more seriously rather than how he implied it few minutes ago
And he hated to admit, Komori and Emori is more experienced, at least they are emotionally smarter than him
Only by a bit though
——————𝕥𝕚𝕞𝕖 𝕤𝕜𝕚𝕡——————
[Nationals]
As I said before, time flies, and the nationals always arrived sooner than we expect
To be fair, I think Itachiyama have a pretty good chance of winning this year, given how much each individual player have improved and how much the teamwork have improved
Yunaka and Serena came with me, because I emailed the organization saying these two are my bandmate, Yunaka on drum while Serena play on guitar
The organization agreed, I mean it does mean less work for them to search for other musicians who I have never worked with before
Anyways, after I informed coach, we went on our own to find the backstage staff who will be helping us to set things up
Apart from this, my solo song 'Since The Day I Met You' will also be released tonight, I recorded the song a week ago at my mum's best friend's company
We left the team on their own with the coach, and went to the backstage
I didn't tell anyone of the players that I'm performing in the opening, not even my brother, because I want to surprise them, especially Sakusa
Once we arrived at the backstage following the signs, one of the staff is there, waiting for me
"L/n-san, Kurosawa-san, Shirakami-san, it's great to have you here, please follow me this way"
I smiled before following behind her, the other two tagged along, she led us into a preparation room, our outfits for the show is already there
"Here is the changing room"
She pointed at another door
"Please sit down here after you're dressed, we need to apply some makeup to lit up"
"Amazing, thank you"
I said, and walked into the changing room with my outfit
To be honest I quite like the outfit, it fits in with the concept
Just then, Yunaka came out with her outfit
She look stunning
It fit with the concept really well, and it's look really cool because she's a drummer
Before I could say anything, Serena came out as well
"Look at our breathtaking guitarist"
Yunaka said before me
"Why does our outfits fits with the concept so well I'm loving it"
We talked for a bit, waiting for our makeup artists
It wasn't long before they arrived
"Sorry we are running a bit late"
"Don't worry, I'm sure we have plenty of time"
We sat down in front of the mirror as the allocated makeup artist start apply stuff
"L/n-san, do you mind we quickly run through the order of event with you and your friends now?"
"Of course, thank you"
Why do I feel like a proper celebrity now...
Anyways, I listens carefully as the staff starts to explain
"First we'll have each team walking into the main space, they will be introduced one by one, then the ace from the Japan National Team will have a quick speech, after that the team will be seated within the stadium, during that time all the instrument will be moved into the centre stage, and the lighting would come back on as the teams are seated, that's when you enter..."
We listened carefully, note down the exact moment when we go on stage, and when we leave the stage
Apparently, there might be a quick interview after the performances as well, to briefly entertain those teams who don't have a match straight after
I checked the schedule for Itachiyama, realising we are up against Jindai High School [completely made up] straight after the opening ceremony, with the interview thing, I might miss the first, possibly the second set of their game
Quite sad actually, I do want to be there, on the side to witness their first win, it is a moment for them to prove their abilities
...
[Meanwhile]
It didn't take long for Sakusa to realise that you went missing, alongside your friends
He went to Emori straight away, thinking he might know where she is
"Wait what? She is not here?"
Well, that is definitely not the answer that Sakusa was looking for
So Sakusa went to the coach instead, with Emori, who is currently worrying that his sister might be kidnapped
"Y/n? She went to the toilet with Serena and Yunaka, they should be waiting at the audiences' seats now because you guys got the introduction and the manager are not going to come with"
Y/n specifically told the coach not to tell the boys where they're gone, because the three girls want to surprise the player, there's nothing bad within so the coach agreed
It seems to calm the boys down a little, but Sakusa still feel like something's wrong
How can he be so careless?
How can he not notice when she's gone?
"Right boys, line up, we're walking into the stadium"
The coach yelled, the boys immediately got into the line that they rehearsed few days before
With Lizuna-senpai at the front, hold up the flag for Itachiyama, they waited patiently at the entrance of the stadium
"Next, let us welcome Itachiyama Institute from Tokyo"
The speaker announced, the boys walked in as the speaker continued
"From this team, we have the top 2 high school ace across Japan, Sakusa Kiyoomi"
Sakusa didn't do anything, being the 2nd best ace is nothing special to him
"We have Komori Motoya, the 1st high school libero"
The camera focused on him, the boy smiled cutely and waved at the camera
"Here comes the top 3 high school middle blocker, the Diamond Wall, Emori L/n, who is also known as the Ace Server"
There were some squealing of girls from the audience seat, Emori just smiled, followed his team
I watched all of these quietly, at backstage
Unaware the eyes of a particular curly haired boy is travelling across the audience, looking for her
After all the team were introduced and the talk from the ACE of the Japan national team, they were excused onto the audience seats
Y/n is still nowhere to be seen
The only abnormal thing that is going on is that staff are placing instruments in the centre of the stadium
By instruments, he meant a drum kit and a keyboard
He sighed, and was about to stand up and leave to look for Y/n
"For this year's opening, we have honourably invited Y/n L/n-"
The pair of dark orbs widened, he did a 180 degree turn and sat back down to his seat
"-and her friends, Serena Kurosawa and Yunaka Shirakami to perform"
"Now, let's welcome the three girls, and their new song, Since The Day I Met You"
- Finished: 11.12.21
2590 words