I sat myself down on one of the bleachers that overlooked the entire court.
Not super close to the players where they're right under my nose.
Or rather on top of my head since they were taller.
I tried to wave at Ran but he didn't see me until one of his team mates pointed it out. He looked at me and gave me a small smile then focused on warming up. His team mates looked at him weirdly but said nothing and just walked away to do their warm ups.
It felt a bit awkward as I just sat there silently.
Soon after, another group came in. They came in wearing white jackets and black shorts. They were very tall, even taller than Ran.
Suddenly, a pair caught my eye. They both looked at me and waved happily.
"Rika!" Matteo's voiced echoed in the arena, making people look at his direction.
I jumped at the voice as I felt embarrassed to be the center of attention.
Yuki slapped the man's arm then waved at me. He smiled warmly as Matteo was wincing, rubbing his arm from Yuki's volleyball slap.
I chuckled.
Yuki motioned me to come closer to them, so I did.
I hugged Matteo first but paused to think if I should hug Yuki as it wasn't in our culture to do so. We both hesitated but ended up hugging, awkwardly. Matteo laughed at the situation, making us laugh at it as well.
"What are you guys doing here?" I asked.
"We're here to play!" Matteo exclaimed.
I tilted my head confused then finally connected the dots.
"Oh, You're having a practice match with them!" I said as I pointed towards Ran's team.
They both nodded and looked at each other, then looked at me.
"Uhh... What are YOU doing here, Rika-san?" Yuki questioned.
As I was about to explain, I noticed a group of people coming over at the corner of my eye. I looked to see Ran and his team mates coming over to Yuki and Matteo's. I stepped back to give them space.
I mouthed a 'Later' towards Yuki and Matteo as they both nodded and focused on Ran's team, Monza.
As I walked back to the seats, I noticed Ran glance at me then shifted his gaze to the other team.
'Weird'
Seating myself back down, I noticed Yuki and Ran talking. They looked at me for a moment then continued talking.
'Uhh what?'
I just shook my head and focused on other things. Looking at the other side of the court, I noticed a tall boy looking at me.
He was taller than Ran. He had a bowl cut making him look like a kid. As a Japanese person, he doesn't look very Japanese.
We kept staring at each other until Ran came in my field of view, almost like blocking the boy from me.
'Ran, I can still see him. You're shorter than the kid..'
I chuckled as Ran gave me a glare, making me awkwardly clear my throat as I looked the other way.
'Well.. This match will be interesting..'
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The whistle blew indicating a time out. The team dispersed into their respective benches, drinking some fluids. It wasn't exactly water so I'm assuming it's some sort of hydration.
So far, everything was going well for Allianz Milan, Yuki and Matteo's club. Though, throughout the match, I noticed it was very...
Intense.
I remembered watching my brother's matches before and it wasn't this fierce. Is it because they were on a professional level? But the opposing team, Milan, seems to be very chill, not really exerting a lot of energy but still very precise with their movements.
To be honest, the only person that was very intense during the practice match was Ran.
Confused, I took a peak at Ran, checking if he was okay.
But he was already looking at me.
While he drank from his bottle, his eyes never left mine. He was nodding at what the coach said but he kept his eyes on me. It looked like he was throwing daggers at me.
I felt so naked and small.
One of his teammates finally called him, making him turn away from me. I immediately let out a breath, realizing I was holding it the entire time.
'What's his problem?'
And just like that, the game continued.
He continued to hit the ball too hard. Either it lands out of bounds or it was directed to the other players block, making it land on their side of the court.
A guy, almost the same height as him, started to get frustrated. It looked like he was the setter of the team. His back was facing me so I read the name written on the jersey.
'Fernando.'
The guy named Fernando started scolding Ran and Ran could only nod and walk away.
I took a peak at Milan's team and noticed that Yuki was looking at Ran, worriedly.
Yuki and Ran were both in the national team so it was safe to say that they were quite close and it showed that Yuki was worried for his fellow junior.
Looking back at Monza's side, Ran was looking at me.
Again.
I widened my eyes, finally having enough of whatever the hell is happening with this child.
"Focus." I mouthed, using my index and middle finger to point at my eyes then at the game.
He only rolled his eyes and finally looked away.
The whistle blew and the other team, Milan, finally served. As the team served, Monza's libero went for a dig sending it high. The guy that scolded Ran, Fernando, set the ball and Ran spiked it down to other side of the court.
Finally breaking Milan's streak, I jumped in my seat and squealed silently. As Ran wasn't focusing today, for God knows why, I was relieved to see him ease up a bit. His teammates gave him a slap on the back for the point he made.
Walking back to his position, he glanced in my direction. I gave him a thumbs up as I smiled warmly. He returned the thumbs up and finally focused on the game again.
'There you go..'
Soon, the match was over, resulting Milan to win 3 sets straight. Both teams shook hands and went to their respective area. I noticed Yuki was walking over to Ran's side, checking in on him. Yuki patted Ran's back as he smiled at Yuki, indicating he was fine.
Knowing Ran, that smile was fake.
And I think Yuki knew that too.
I stood up from my seat and started walking over to them, checking if everything was alright.
As I got closer, Yuki slapped Ran's back, making a loud smacking sound. Everyone looked at the two and went silent.
Everyone knew that Yuki was the captain of the Japanese national team and even though the two Japanese played in different teams for now, it didn't mean that Ran wasn't Yuki's responsibility as a senior and captain.
Ran tried to rub his upper back as he winced in pain.
"What was that for, Yuki-san?" Ran spoked in Japanese, pouting.
"That was a reminder... Keep your head in the game. I thought you knew that." Yuki said calmly.
I watched them from a far but could still make out what they were saying.
Ran mumbled something under his breath that made Yuki roll his eyes.
"Is it because of Rika?" Yuki questioned.
My ears twitched at the sudden mention, making me curious as to what Ran would say.
Ran didn't say anything after that. He looked my way as I turned my head away from them, acting like I didn't hear what they just said.
"If so, then it's better to say it out loud than to keep-" Yuki advised but got cut off by Ran.
"It's not her.. You know I'm not like that. And besides.." He whispered the last few words to Yuki, making it incoherent to understand.
Yuki just nodded.
"I hope you aren't like that Ran." Yuki patted Ran's back once more and walked towards his side of the court.
Yuki passed by me and gave me a small smile then continued walking.
I looked back at Ran to see that he was walking towards me.
"Hey.. Good job!" I said, greeting him.
He just nodded and looked away, scratching the back of his head.
"Look..uhm.." He stuttered but someone suddenly butted in.
"Hey! My name is Arthur!" A tall white man greeted, putting his hand out.
I remembered him from yesterday, when he suddenly barged in between Ran and I's conversation.
I widened my eyes out of shock but shook the hand nonetheless.
"H-Hello! Nice to meet you-" I greeted back but got cut off again.
"Woah, woah, woah Ran! Is this the girlfriend you were talking about?" Fernando, the setter, teased Ran.
'Girlfriend?'
Ran widened his eyes.
"No, no, no!" He waved his arms.
"Hello! I'm Fernando but call me Cachopa, please." He greeted, also putting out his hand to be shaken.
I shook his hand and just smiled.
Another man came in to the conversation. He was taller than Ran and Cachopa, but not as tall as Arthur.
"Oh! So you must be the reason why Ran was hitting the ball too hard today, huh?" The man teased as he patted Ran's back.
I widened my eyes and looked at Ran.
Ran had his face covered by his hands, probably blushing at the statement. He looked like he was in a state of crisis.
"I'm Stephen, by the way!" The man greeted, instead of putting his hand out for a hand shake, he opted for a high five which I gladly gave back.
The other team mates started to surround us and continued to introduce themselves to me and asking if I was the girlfriend of their Japanese team mate while Ran was jumping around, trying to tell everyone the truth.
And of course, he was being ignored.
The Monza team started to ask questions that made me too overwhelmed to answer. All of a sudden, I was pulled to the side as an arm was wrapped around me.
"I think that's enough guys..." The man said.
I looked up and saw Ran was glaring at them as his teammates started to tease him even more. I kept looking at him as he rolled his eyes and looked down at me.
"You okay?" He asked, still keeping me in his arms.
I just nodded and looked away.
"Yeah! Totally not your girlfriend!" Cachopa teased.
Ran finally let go and let out a deep sigh.
"It isn't her.." I heard him mutter.
"This is Rika Kobayashi, she's a childhood friend of mine." He introduced me as I bowed at them.
They cooed and booed at the same time as I giggled at the interaction.
The whole team was so lively, and seeing Ran like this felt very nostalgic.
"So, Ms. Rika.. Would you like to join us for dinner?" Arthur asked.
"Nope! She can't." Ran protested.
I looked at him weirdly.
"Why?" I asked, speaking in Japanese.
He gave me a glare as I kept silent.
"Aww look! He's gatekeeping her.." One of his teammates, named Gianluca, teased.
Ran tilted his head and looked at me.
"Gate? Keeping? What does that mean?" He asked me.
As the team laughed, I just shook my head and laughed with them. Ran pouted and gave me a small glare.
'Well.. This is refreshing.'