SEVENTY-SIX. GF-FORHIRE
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the fourth arc begins in tokyo, japan as the olympic teams' arrivals are ongoing.
japan's women's basketball team was already settled in their previous hotel, having roomed in the same suites.
inside the conference room of the hotel, they were having a team meeting, led by the vice-captain, who was also the previous captain last year, mizuno kasai, and supervised by the current captain, ymari seinaru.
"inko-san said we're not required to be part of the welcome committee, so take the time you need to get over your jetlags." she said.
she then looked at the captain, who was just listening in. "seinaru-sama, do you have any more to add?"
seinaru scanned her team. everyone was here. the usual playful aura that the nippon team had has faded, they all looked serious.
she internally smirked.
good.
they had to be, or they'll be murdered in this war we call the olympics.
"review your tapes, go over your charts- then do the same for the teams on our block." she instructed. "review their strengths, their weaknesses, and find ways to leverage your knowledge during the game."
she tapped the table. "meeting adjourned."
the girls stood up and bowed. "thank you for your time."
she waved a hand and they all got back up.
everyone left the conference room, but utsui stayed back.
she looked at seinaru, who she noticed was a bit too serious since she arrived, with curious eyes. "you good?"
the captain merely shrugged. "yeah."
she then stood up, glancing at her watch. it was half-past two in the afternoon. she has someone she needs to meet.
"i must go now." she walked past utsui and left the room.
utsui sighed, stuffing her hands into her gray joggers' pockets as she too, left the room and headed for her quarters.
-
remember the favor her aunt was asking from her?
the one about the photoshoot for the front cover of tokyo sports magazine for january's issue?
she thought about it, really. in fact, she gave her final word to her aunt last night that she refused.
but this morning, just when she arrived in tokyo, the aunt called her, in absolute peril, saying that nobody wanted to be on the cover- that she needed ymari on it otherwise the magazine might sue her.
jetlagged, sleepy, and not herself at six fifteen in the morning, the girl absentmindedly agreed.
she woke up at twelve noon, and it all came back to her- making her curse her sleepless self for letting her be fooled into submission.
she was now inside the building of the famous magazine company- tokyo sports magazine.
everyone was too busy that no one took notice of the tall girl in a black tank top tucked into a pair of black high-waist shorts, white stilettos, a white coat over her shoulders, and a white beret over her long black hair, who was walking towards the elevators.
"what floor am i meeting you on again?" ymari spoke into the phone as she passed by some employees.
her aunt chuckled on the other end of the call, "oh i must have forgotten to tell you.."
there was shuffling on the other end, before ymari heard the revving of a car. "i'm actually on my way to a meeting with china's representatives- they're wearing ics to the olympics."
ymari's eyes narrowed as she stepped inside the elevator. the doors closed and she let out a sigh. "you asked me to meet you here, are you saying i just wasted my time?"
"oh the staff will take care of you." her aunt quipped with a giggle. "there's also this nice young boy you'll meet."
ymari scowled at the mention of a new boy.
anyone her aunt introduces is trouble- she tried pairing her with a businessman's son once! didn't work out- he didn't swing that way.
"i have enough boys to form a basketball team already." she rolled her eyes. "now what floor?"
"top floor." her aunt said. "oh and since you already have so many, what's one more?"
"a nuisance. that's what it is." she rebutted, being very salty at the moment because she was still jetlagged and she hasn't gotten coffee yet.
in the penthouse suite where the nippon team has gathered to play uno, including kasai and saito, utsui suddenly blinked when she felt something in the cosmos shift out of place.
"hey did anyone give ymari coffee when she arrived?" she asked.
everyone shook their heads. "nope."
her eyes widened in panic, which made the rest of the team look at her in worry and panic as well upon the realization.
"oh no!"
back in the building, ymari was walking out of the elevator when her aunt tried to push the idea of the boy again.
"you've got a thing for volleyball players, right?" her aunt asked. "this one's the cream of the crop."
she held back an eyeroll. "i'm dating a top ace."
"you mean that boy that hugged you on live tv?"
"yeah, that one." she nodded.
she was walking aimlessly on the top floor, not seeing any signs of the photoshoot place.
"he's cute." her aunt commented as she remembered bokuto. "a bit on the outgoing side though- that's not your type anymore, is it?"
ymari stayed silent, her eyes darting from corridor to corridor as she tried to ignore her aunt's qualm.
"i'm also dating the nation's best setter." she said, diverting the topic.
"which one?"
"the blonde with a twin." she told her aunt.
"oh, the one that looks like that murderer.. sangwoo, was it?"
"stop comparing 'tsumu to that." she rolled her eyes.
"that sangwoo guy's fictional, 'tsumu isn't."
"whatever you say~ he could very well be fictional since you haven't formally introduced us." her aunt taunted playfully.
"he'll be here this week, so i probably will." she quipped.
her aunt squealed. "yay! everyone else too, okay?"
"you want them at the same place at the same time?" she asked.
"your call." her aunt answered.
she shrugged, "alright."
she saw a staff member loitering around and approached him. "hi, where's the shoot for the january issue?"
the man blinked up at the incredibly tall girl. "oh, seinaru-san! it's a few turns that way, then you turn left, then just go straight forward after that."
she nodded and thanked the man before she went her way.
"anyway, the one i'm telling you about- he's a really nice boy, clean, handsome, tall, kinda quiet, talented, and- did i mention clean? i actually wanted to introduce you to him at the ball but i never got to talk to both of you at the same time."
ymari hummed absentmindedly. "right."
she saw a glass door, with glass walls surrounding it, with the label 'january issue photoshoot'. "hey i think i found the room."
"just go inside and say you're ynari seinaru- oh wait they'll probably recognize you at first glance." her aunt quipped.
ymari rolled her eyes and pushed the door open. "right. well, bye now."
she stepped inside the room, eyes still on the handle, as she opted to end the call.
"you'll meet him there at the shoot, by the way."
her ears perked up, "meet who?"
then the line went dead.
"i think she meant me." a voice entered her thoughts.
she looked up and was met with a familiar face.
pitch black curly hair framed his face, noir eyes looking at her intently, with half of his face covered in a mask. he was about her height, or even possibly taller by a few centimeters.
she blinked, shutting the glass door behind her silently. "you're motoya's cousin, right?"
he blinked down at her, stray curly locks swishing lightly as his noir eyes scanned her figure instinctively.
"yeah."
"ymari shekinah seinaru." she held out a hand for him to shake.
he blinked blankly, before outstretching his own. "kiyoomi sakusa."
ymari clasped her hand around his, when she felt something different.
latex.
she looked at his hand that encase hers- he's wearing black latex gloves.
her heart thumped loudly in her chest as a memory flooded back to her.
she blinked at him in realization, and quickly retracted her hand. "it's you."
"huh?" the boy cluelessly pondered.
she glanced up a him, the intensity of her stare setting sakusa off guard.
"the misogynistic germaphobe." she blinked, finally realizing who he was after all this time.
'so that's why he looked so familiar.'
she then nodded at him. "good to see you're well."
"ah- i'm.." sakusa took in a sharp intake of breath when he realized that she finally remembered him. "i apologize for that."
she shrugged, "it's fine."
he looked at her with eyes slightly wide. "that easily?"
"what?" she asked.
"you're forgiving me that easily?" he asked, cleaning up his former sentence.
"i made a speech about you at the ics ball already- i assume you know because i heard you were there. i think that's enough compensation for the trouble you've given me that evening." she blinked.
she looked behind him. "no one's here yet?"
ymari went to take a seat, sprawling herself all over the couch.
sakusa shook his head, looking at the girl, "an intern was here an hour ago."
"i assume you know him though, 'cause you're his..." the rest of the words were incoherent mumbles.
ymari perked up, "pardon?"
"oh it's nothing." sakusa shut his mouth. she wasn't supposed to hear that.
her eyes narrowed at him, "no, i think you said something for sure."
"no i really-"
"hi baby! pick up the phone- are you fucking kidding me right now? oh shut up suna baka-rin! nyahaha!" her boyfriend's ringtone, which was a personalized voice recording from atsumu, featuring an exasperated suna, and a very amused laughing duo- osamu and ginjima.
she held up a hand to kiyoomi, "hang on."
sakusa only frowned, recognizing the group of voices immediately- inarizaki, aka the home to her so-called boyfriend, atsumu miya.
he held back an eyeroll at the setter's voice. the blonde annoyed him to the brink, moreso that she was dating him.
"hi baby." she greeted once she walked over to the glass window on the opposite side of the room and slipped the answer button.
there was shuffling on the other end before her boyfriend's voice was heard. "hey baby, ya' in tokyo yet?"
she grimaced, "oh yeah, i am. sorry i forgot to tell you. was kinda caught up in a bunch of things."
"great ta' know! and don't worry, that's fine." he tried to appease her. "i told ya' already, ya' can text me or call me back at yer' own pace, alright?"
ymari smiled. "yeah, 'course."
"shouldn't you be studying for finals though?" she pulled up the topic.
it was finals week for all high schools right now- those participating in the olympics were exempted and were given grades that were of flying colors. she knew for a fact that atsumu had finals this week- he was ranting to her about it so much last weekend when she visited his home in hyogo, that osamu had to call their mom to get the blonde off her ear.
there was a long pause on the other end, before atsumu replied. "oh, yeah."
"anyway, i also wanted ta' ask-" there was a bit more shuffling on the other end, it sounded a lot like a bunch of papers as he tried to divert the topic.
yeah, atsumu was definitely calling her instead of studying for finals.
"why'd ya' buy everyone tickets?"
she blinked, "pardon?"
"kita-san gave everyone gen ad tickets for the olympics. he said ya' sent 'em ta' him by post." atsumu told her, there was a tinge of worry in his voice.
"i ain't good in math and all, but i know for a fact that gen ad costs ¥2500- and ya' bought 17." he voiced out his concern. "ye're spending too much for me."
ymari's brows cinched together. "it was just 17 pieces."
"yeah, try ta' add that to the vip tickets you gave me." he tsked. "i looked it up- ¥130,000 each."
she blinked, eyes trailing over to sakusa who was just sitting in the corner, on his phone.
"they were given to me for free." she told him, noticing that there was a note of frustration in the boy's voice.
" 'tsumu is everything okay?" she asked worriedly.
atsumu sighed. she could imagine him running his free hand through his hair in frustration. "no."
"ye're spending so much for me. it's four times the payment i've given." he told her.
ymari blinked. "payment?"
sakusa's ear perked up. it seems ynari forgot to minimize her voice.
'payment, huh?' he repeated in his head.
"it was a month, fifty-k yen." atsumu told her. "ye're losing money, i don't like it."
she bit her lip. "the tickets were free, 'tsumu."
"the gen ad tickets value at ¥42,500. add in the ¥260-k for vip. not ta' mention all the food ya' spent money on for my team and i. that's a whole damn lot."
"what are you getting at?" ymari asked cluelessly. "i gave them to you not because i was obligated to-"
sakusa's eyes widened as he continued to listen in on the conversation between the couple, but only hearing it from ymari's end.
"-but because i wanted to, atsumu." she told the boy in a calm voice. "don't overthink it or i'll make it worse."
"make it worse?" atsumu asked, his voice weary after being scolded. though her voice was calm, it was obvious he was getting his ear chewed off for his overthinking.
"yeah." ymari blinked, looking out the window of the high rise building and seeing the traffic in tokyo welcome her vision.
"does a house and lot sound bad enough for you?"
atsumu burst into apology, saying that he won't overthink things anymore as long as ymari stops spending for him.
ymari shallowly agreed, not really aiming to abide by what he said.
soon enough, the call ended, with atsumu and ymari sharing their i love yous.
and then there were two.
she pocketed her phone and turned towards sakusa who was still on his phone.
"so you were saying earlier?" she asked. "the intern? who is he?"
sakusa looked up at her, pretending like he hadn't been listening in on her conversation with her boyfriend, "nekoma's captain."
she blinked, nodding. "dori-chin. yeah i know him."
sakusa blinked at the nickname, however his mind was more focused on her previous conversation with atsumu. he couldn't help but ask- "was that miya?"
she nodded. "yeah."
"a house and lot?" he asked, a bit nosy.
she snorted, raising an eyebrow at him challengingly, "why? think a woman can afford it?"
sakusa felt his cheeks flush at what she said. "that's not what i-" he coughed.
"i meant, you're that serious already?" he asked.
her brows furrowed as she laid down on the sofa again. "curious much?"
he shrugged, noir eyes trailed on her.
ymari took a pillow and propped it up behind her head as she looked at the ceiling.
"so are you going to answer my question or-"
"i date to marry." she cut him off, eyes still on the ceiling.
she bit her lip. "i don't date for fun."
"marriage?" sakusa's brows furrowed. "but aren't you and the setter of ne-"
"we're here!" a voice barged in their conversation, making sakusa scowl, and ymari look at the curly haired boy in suspicion.
if she didn't know any better, he was most likely going to say.. nekoma.
"hon-chan!" a familiar voice cheered.
her eyes snapped towards the person who entered the room, along with the entire image production team.
he approached her, grinning. "long time no see."
she blinked, before letting out a soft laugh. "you're still ugly."
"rude." he looked offended. "you're still as lovely as ever."
"i know." she rolled her eyes at him. "what're you doing here?"
kuroo blinked at sakusa and gave him a nod. "your make up crew is over there."
sakusa gave him a narrow-eyed glance before nodding and going over to the makeup crew.
kuroo glanced at seinaru, "we should get you ready too."
the girl just shrugged and let him drag her to her make up crew's corner.
"why are you here, dori-chin?" she asked as the makeup artists pulled back her hair.
kuroo leaned against the wall. "ics intern. i'm your caretaker for the day- i thought sana-obaasan told you?"
"oh, she didn't." she blinked. "since you're here anyway, can you get us both coffee? i might fall asleep anytime now cos' of jetlag."
kuroo nodded, "sure."
she handed him a wad of cash but he pushed it back. "i got it."
she blinked. "no-"
"i said i got it." kuroo smiled at her. "consider it a treat from a friend."
she sighed and nodded.
as kuroo left to get her some coffee, as she instructed, she then realized that he must be the intern sakusa was talking about earlier. come to think of it, she also heard him say something akong the lines of, "i assume you know him though, 'cause you're his..."
his friend's...
her eyes widened as they darted towards sakusa who was already getting his makeup done.
she blinked, remembering all the times she saw him before.
she swears she saw his silhouette back at the restaurant where she ate lunch before and phoned kenma about their date.
come to think of it, she also..
she also happened to wear akaashi's jacket that day.
she also saw him during the hospital visit courtesy of bokuto's concern for hr.
and she swears to kami-sama that he probably recognized her.
perhaps.. he already figured her out.
she internally facepalmed as the makeup artist dabbed makeup on her face.
'great, another nosy boy like hinata.' she sighed. 'but a taller, misogynistic one.'
as she glanced at the boy who was getting his hair gelled back on the opposite side of the room, she wonders how she'll be able to keep his mouth shut.
as the shoot progressed and they were asked to pose individually, her mind was still trying to assess sakusa.
she doesn't even know why he was relevant at all.
so what if he figured her out, right?
she shook her head as she was called to go in front of the camera.
well, maybe she was just overthinking it.
she posed for the camera, holding a limited edition starlding basketball while wearing her tokyo olympics jersey, along with a pair of brand new basketball shoes the magazine company gifted to her a few minutes ago.
yeah, maybe she really was just overthinking it.
but once the individual shoot for the day ended, and the boy came to approach her, she wasn't ready for the words that slipped out his tongue.
"you're not really dating miya, are you?"
he confronted her while kuroo was out, already in the lobby with the girl's things as he waited for ymari who was still in the top floor with sakusa.
she frowned at him, "what makes you say that?"
"if you really are dating him.." he trailed off, black eyes blank as he looked at the girl's heterochromatic orbs.
"then that would mean you're cheating on him with nekoma's setter, and fukurodani's ace and setter."
she blinked. the first two she kinda got that, but.. fukurodani's setter?
akaashi?
she then remembered her theories earlier.
so it really was him at the restaurant. that's how he figured her out. she was wearing akaashi's tracksuit jacket then, talking to kenma, and then a few days later she visited the hospital with bokuto.
he probably recognized her with a mask. he was, after all, used to wearing one that maybe it made him skilled in recognizing anyone with one.
"how much do you want?" she asked.
"your not even going to ask me what and how i know what i know?" sakusa's eyebrow rose in confusion. "you're just gonna go ahead and try to buy me off?"
"you don't seem like you know the entire thing- you're not the type of guy to tell on me either. but if motoya finds out about whatever you think is going on, he'll freak that i didn't tell him, my close friend, before you, a misogynistic germaphobe who i'm not acquainted to at all, found out for yourself." she stared at him blankly, making sakusa flinch.
she crossed her arms in front of her chest, now wearing the clothes she wore earlier.
"so what will it be?" she asked. "in cash or in kind?"
"i'm not a cheap whore." sakusa blinked, blurting words out before he even processed them. "paying me off makes it appear bad."
"because you're making it appear that way." she snorted. "just say what you want from me and let's get this over with."
truthfully he didn't think about what was next. he just wanted to crack the code.. for some reason he still doesn't know. and now that she was going to give him something to keep his mouth shut, he doesn't know what to say or ask for.
sakusa remained silent, making ymari's head tick in frustration.
yeah, the coffee kuroo gave her earlier didn't help her temper at all.
jetlagged ymari is not a good person.
"obaasan said you were clean." she suddenly pulled up what her aunt told her earlier.
she looked at his latex gloves. "and that goes without saying because you're a germaphobe."
he instinctively glanced at his gloves too, before meeting her eyes again.
"so if you want me to buy you some cleaning materials that's totally cool. what do you say? how much do you need?"
the boy remained silent, mulling over her words.
cleaning materials.
appealing but..
then it'll be a one time thing.
after that.. what then?
it was then that he realized that maybe the reason why he was trying to figure out what was going on with the girl's lovelife, was because he wanted to get involved.
in what way? he doesn't know.
maybe he just wanted there to be a reason for him to be around her, may it just be through his not stalking activities.
'cleaning materials..'
he thought about what his next words should be, but seinaru was getting impatient.
"listen, dori-chin's waiting for me." she checked her phone for the time- half past six in the evening. "so either you say it now or-"
"be my cleaner." he blurted out, cutting her off.
she looked at him like he was crazy. "your what?"
"you help me clean my house, at least three times, and i won't tell anyone." he finalized.
she blinked in disbelief. "are you sure you don't want me to get a professional cleaner for you instead?"
"no, just you." he shook his head. "unless you want me to tell my cousin."
she frowned. "i can't do it during olympics week."
he but the inside of his cheeks. "then afterwards."
"i go home to miyagi then." she quipped.
"again, are you sure you don't want me to hire a professional cleaner?"
sakusa frowned at her, making her roll her eyes.
"fine. i'll figure it out." she turned around and left him in the room as she went to the ground floor through the elevator.
she clicked her tongue on the roof of her mouth before taking out her phone.
she sent a quick text to utsui.
ymari
hey how do u feel
about going out
to shop for
domex
almost instantly, the brunette replied.
utsui
who the hell
is it now?
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