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nova stared down at her open backpack as she prepared to clean it. she'd arrived home earlier from watching the match at the gym and changed into lounge clothes after taking a shower. she had disposable gloves on now as she prepared to clean her backpack after taking the contents out.
except.
she stared in horror at tsukishima's neatly folded sweatshirt. i am. an idiot, she decided, nodding her head decisively while trying not to panic. quickly, she took the article of clothing out and put it in her washing machine along with the clothes she had worn earlier. i will need to wash it now since it has entered the house. it is obviously dirty, she decided. that was the first step. she would finish her cleaning now and decide what to do with the sweatshirt later.
soon enough, she sat at her desk with her phone in her hand, tsukishima's contact staring back at her. her hands shook as she tried to decide what to tell him. she had never texted him directly. they had only contacted each other through the group chat, and even that was sparse. yamaguchi was usually the only one who texted. i have to tell him i have his sweatshirt, she reasoned with herself. he gave it to me for safekeeping, this is my fault. slowly, she typed out a message to him.
tsukishima-san
i have your sweatshirt.
nova sighed to herself. she closed her eyes, completing her breathing exercise to try to calm herself down a bit. she startled as she felt her phone vibrate, still clutched in her hands. she quickly opened her phone to see a reply from the boy.
tsukishima-san: okay.
she blinked slowly down at her phone. what. she willed him to send another text, as she didn't know what to do in this situation, but no other response came. glaring slightly at her phone, she gathered her courage and sent another text to him.
tsukishima-san
i apologize, i did not mean to take it home with me. i forgot that i placed it in my backpack.
she put her phone down and leaned back in her chair as she waited for him to respond. she was upset at herself for being so forgetful. she couldn't even remember the last time she had done something so careless. maybe i have, and i forgot, because i am careless, she thought, the horror growing. she was brought out of her spiraling thoughts when she heard her phone vibrate on the desk. she quickly picked it up to read the notification from her messages app.
tsukishima-san: it's fine. just give it to me on monday.
i will wash it.
tsukishima-san: you don't have to.
yes i do.
tsukishima-san: ...
tsukishima-san: okay.
okay.
tsukishima-san: okay...?
nova nodded to herself, feeling a bit better because tsukishima didn't seem to care that she had forgotten to give the sweatshirt back to him. at least it will be clean when i return it to him.
"nova! are you going to practice on the piano today?" she heard her mother call, and nova sighed while slowly getting up from her chair, feeling the wear on her body from the events of the day. my whole body hurts...
☾ ✧
nova waited near the gate on monday morning, staring resolutely in the direction that tsukishima and yamaguchi would come from. this was the first time she had come out of her house before they had arrived. usually, yamaguchi would text that they'd arrived, but today, since she wanted to give tsukishima his sweatshirt back as soon as possible, she stood waiting to see them.
soon enough, she saw tsukishima and yamaguchi walk from around a street corner further down from her house, and she clutched tsukishima's shirt tighter in her arms in anticipation (she made sure not to wrinkle it though).
they seemed surprised to see her already waiting for her, and yamaguchi smiled and waved when they were within a few feet of her form. tsukishima only nodded and glanced at the article of clothing she held before looking back at her face. she met his stare for a second before quickly bowing and holding out the sweatshirt to him. "here is your sweatshirt," she said, trying not to feel nervous (she failed, it was impossible to not be when it came to him).
she felt him take the clothing from her hands and straightened up, tucking her loose hair that had come free back behind her ears. "thanks," he replied casually, placing it in his shoulder bag. she nodded, and they just stood there staring at each other, nova more so in his general direction. yamaguchi looked between them awkwardly before hesitantly asking, "should we... go?"
nova nodded and turned, beginning to walk in the direction of karasuno with tsukishima and yamaguchi quickly catching up to walk next to her.
☾ ✧
nova had been trying to avoid talking directly to tsukishima for the rest of the day since she was still upset with herself for stealing his sweatshirt (this was not accurate, but it was what she'd convinced herself of). she'd succeeded thus far, but it wasn't very difficult. she wasn't talkative in the first place. she was worried now though, as tsukishima and yamaguchi were walking with her to the gym. she would probably have to help the members with things during their practice, which included tsukishima.
she was also dreading going to the gym because she was worried about seeing tanaka again. he scared her the most out of all the club members. when she saw the gym entrance, she quickly moved a bit behind tsukishima to try to avoid attention to herself when they walked in. she heard tsukishima sigh, but he didn't comment on it.
once they'd entered the gym, nova inclined her head in both boys' directions and then headed towards shimizu, who stood a bit away from the entrance.
she greeted nova when she saw her, and then started explaining what they'd be doing. "i want to let you know the names of all of the members, as you'll be helping them out each practice. i'll mostly explain what we'll help them with today." nova nodded in response, and shimizu started pointing members out while stating their names. she knew some names, but some she did not know, such as the boy with the soft-looking hair, whose name she now knew was ennoshita chikara.
throughout the rest of the practice, nova mainly worked on her schoolwork. she was glad that the job of a manager wasn't time-consuming. a part of her thought she was wasting her time doing this, so she felt more productive doing her work. she heard shimizu call her name as she was in the middle of doing her english assignment and looked up to see the black-haired girl waving to her. tsukishima was sitting next to her, and he raised an eyebrow at her.
nova saw that all the members were sitting in a half circle around sawamura, and her shoulders clenched when she noticed them all staring in her direction. quickly, nova got up and took a seat next to shimizu, wincing slightly at having to sit on the ground. sawamura started talking as soon as she sat down.
he spoke about the positions for the practice match, and nova tried to pay attention, though she still felt like a few of the members would look at her every so often. she took note of the fact that tsukishima was on the starting lineup, and yamaguchi was not.
it seemed that tsukishima was an asset to the team because of his height, though nova thought he had more potential than that. he didn't seem to care either way, as he just responded with a drawled, "hai." yamaguchi though, had a gloomy look on his face. literally. his lips were downturned as his body trembled next to tsukishima's. it is good that you are not part of the starting line up yamaguchi-san, nova thought, frowning at the downcast boy. you won't have to worry about getting much attention.
as sawamura continued to speak, nova thought it was strange how tsukishima and hinata were both going to be middle blockers. their heights contrasted greatly. nova stared flatly at hinata when he complained of being put in the same position as, "the lanky jerk tsukishima." you should be happy that you are part of the starting lineup at all, with how stupid you can act.
the reason for the placement became clear though when nova heard that middle blockers were also used as decoys. at the very least, he can hit the ball instead of trying to block it. hinata still didn't seem enthused by this, but as the group stood up, kageyama tried to hype him up, saying that he would be, "the ultimate decoy."
"that sounds stupid," nova muttered, not realizing that tsukishima had come to stand near her. he snickered, and she startled a bit at his sudden appearance before turning her attention back to kageyama when he mentioned tsukishima's name.
"big guys like tsukishima will fall like idiots to your movements..."
tsukishima and nova both stared at him flatly, while yamaguchi seemed to take the statement personally. his eyes widened as he pointed accusingly at kageyama. "hey! you're not calling tsukki an idiot, are you?" tsukishima lowered his head. "shut up, yamaguchi," he mumbled, apparently not wanting to be included in the conversation. nova thought that was smart. also, kageyama hadn't even directly called him an idiot. "gomen, tsukki," yamaguchi said sheepishly, lowering his hand and turning away from kageyama.
the last few minutes of practice were spent trying to stop hinata from freaking out because now, he apparently felt extremely pressured. nova had developed a headache at this point from his constantly fluctuating moods. pick one, please.
"do you want to come with us to the club room?" yamaguchi asked as they walked towards the exit of the gym. nova frowned at him. "why."
"in case you need to go there sometime?" he asked, tilting his head. nova just nodded her head and walked with them, not really caring. she would have to wait to leave either way.
she thought it was interesting how the club room was on the second floor of a building near the gym. this seems inconvenient. they quietly walked up the stairs, and as they turned the corner, hinata bumped into tsukishima's shoulder. he seemed to be coming from the club room further down the hallway.
tsukishima smirked down at the boy. "ara ara, gomen~ you're so small i couldn't see you." yamaguchi chuckled from beside nova, seeming to think this was funny. nova just stared between hinata and tsukishima, dreading the possible shouting from hinata at the comment. he seemed to be very sensitive about his height. hinata only turned to stare blankly at the trio, creeping them all out. he continued to stumble down the hallway while clutching his stomach, mumbling to himself.
"is he sick?" nova wondered aloud, staring after the boy. "who knows," yamaguchi replied. "what a weirdo," tsukishima added, shaking his head at hinata's retreating form.
they had only been able to walk a few more steps before someone rushed out of the open club room door. nova saw a flash of red before tsukishima covered her eyes with his hand. "hinata!" she heard the familiar rough voice of tanaka yell. "you're wearing my pants!"
what is happening, nova thought, thoroughly confused. "tanaka-san doesn't have pants on. i'm protecting your eyes," tsukishima stated, smirking as tanaka was told off by a girl walking past for being a pervert. so that girl had to see tanaka's undergarments? how cruel.
soon enough, tsukishima removed his hand from in front of her, and she blinked slowly before nodding to him. he frowned slightly at her but continued into the club room with yamaguchi, leaving her to wait outside the door for them. i now know where the club room is, nova thought, staring blankly at the ground. but at what cost...
☾ ✧
nova nervously sat at her desk the next day, too worried to try to eat her lunch. she didn't like buses, and now she would be forced to be in one for at least an hour with other rowdy students. i do not think i can go. why did i decide to join this club? this was a terrible idea. nova covered her face with her hands, so upset that she didn't stop to think of how unsanitary it was.
"oi. miako."
nova looked through the gaps of her fingers to see tsukishima staring at her with an unreadable expression. "why are you not eating," he asked, placing a bite of his own food into his mouth, chewing while he waited for her to respond.
nova breathed in, and then held it, before releasing the air. she slowly lowered her hands from her face and replied quietly, "i cannot." her anxiety over the bus trumped her mortification over the sweatshirt incident, so she ignored the part of her that was afraid to talk to him.
"yes, you can," he replied flatly. she shook her head in disagreement. "i'm too nervous. i am afraid of buses," she whispered, fumbling with her hands. yamaguchi gazed at her with sympathy while tsukishima just continued to stare.
"one of us can sit with you on the bus," yamaguchi offered. "would that make you feel better?" nova thought about this for a few seconds before shrugging. she wasn't going to believe that it would help when she had no proof. tsukishima sighed softly, gesturing to her bento. "eat. it will help."
nova nodded and slowly started to eat after clasping her hands in prayer, her thoughts consumed with dread. the rest of the group's lunch was relatively quiet as yamaguchi and tsukishima sent glances at her throughout the break, the former's worry and concern much more obvious than the latter's.
☾ ✧
nova clutched her backpack straps with worry while she stood in karasuno's parking lot, having changed into her new volleyball club uniform. shimizu had given it to her yesterday after practice, and she was relieved that she wouldn't be the only club member wearing the school uniform. she didn't want to look more out of place than she already did, what with being from america and all.
she heard her name called and turned to see yamaguchi waving to her, tsukishima by his side. they were followed by the rest of the club members, and nova shifted nervously as tsukishima came to stand beside her. "line up," sawamura instructed, and once the students had done so, they all bowed to takeda, who stood in front of the bus, in almost unison. (nova lagged behind. she still didn't understand how everyone else knew to bow at the same time.)
"let's play," the players chanted, and takeda responded with a cheerful, "hai!" before boarding the bus with the rest of the members following closely behind. nova lagged at the back, wanting to prolong getting onto the bus, but she was kept from stopping completely by a gentle nudge from behind. flinching slightly, she turned to see tsukishima looking down at her. he seemed unimpressed. "nothing's going to happen, so could you hurry up." nova only stared up at him. he sighed. "do i need to push you again?" nova quickly shook her head and turned to board the bus.
she and tsukishima ended up boarding last, but thankfully, there were two seats open next to each other near the front. nova quickly sat in the window seat with tsukishima taking the aisle seat next to her. her hands were clenched so tight in her lap that she could feel her nails pressing into her palms through the fabric of her gloves.
i'm going to get sick i'm going to get sick i'm going to get sick i'mgoingtogetsick-
"hey."
nova jerked out of her inward spiral to see tsukishima looking down at her with an emotion in his eyes that she couldn't place. "take a deep breath in with me." he breathed in slowly, not taking his gaze off of her. nova tried to copy him, but she had to try a few times, as her breath hitched a few times before she was able to effectively do it. she watched him as he held his breath, and then exhaled a few seconds later. idly, she realized that he had just done the breathing exercise that she did daily, as she copied his motions. she continued to do the exercise until she felt like she could breathe somewhat normally again.
"what are five things that you can see?" tsukishima asked, crossing his arms as he leaned back in his seat. nova blinked at him before glancing around the bus. "school bags, water bottles, sneakers, a volleyball, and a bag of chips."
"four things you can touch?"
"my pants, my jacket zipper, my backpack, and my keychain."
he proceeded to ask her for 3 things she could hear, 2 things she could smell, and 1 thing she could taste. nova listed off each answer tonelessly. when he'd finished questioning her, she tilted her head at him. "that was the 54321 method," she pointed out. she didn't usually use it to calm herself, her breathing exercise usually helped enough. in this situation though, she felt much calmer after doing both exercises.
"you're not the only one who has anxiety," tsukishima spoke quietly, staring out the window past nova. his eyes met hers briefly before looking away. she felt herself frown a bit. it wasn't that she thought he didn't have anxiety, but he confused her so much. she couldn't understand his facial expressions most of the time, and now he apparently had anxiety. does he feel anxious around me? i cannot tell...
"what are you listening to now?" tsukishima asked her, once he'd made sure she was doing better now. nova glanced at him before looking down at her hands in her lap, which she couldn't make herself unclench. "claire de lune," she whispered. "do you only listen to instrumental pieces?" tsukishima asked, glancing at her from the corner of his eyes now.
nova shook her head. "i listen to any songs that i think are calming. instrumental music works best to calm me when i feel very anxious though, which is why i am listening to that now."
"what artists do you like then?"
nova tilted her head in thought, trying to think of who to name. "tchaikovsky, mazzy star, the oh hellos." tsukishima's eyes stayed trained on her as she spoke. "i listen to mazzy star," he commented. nova was a bit surprised, but happy about this development. "what is your favorite song?" she asked. tsukishima stared at the ground in contemplation before stating, "look on down from the bridge." nova smiled a bit. "i like that one also." tsukishima gave her a look of approval. "maybe i'll listen to the oh hellos, since your music taste seems to be okay. i already listened to tchaikovsky's swan lake." he shifted a bit in his seat, turning his gaze away from her form. "it was good," he mumbled. nova's eyes widened, and she exclaimed (softly), "isn't it? i adore it. i want to see the ballet in person."
tsukishima nodded, looking at her again. "do you do ballet?" nova shook her head. "i just enjoy watching and listening to the plays." tsukishima opened his mouth as if he was going to say something else, but was interrupted by a loud shout from behind them. nova jumped, and turned slightly in her seat to see what the commotion was.
"stop the bus!" tanaka screamed, and even with her mask on, nova could smell the putrid scent of vomit. tsukishima wrinkled his nose at him before saying to nova, "i think the pipsqueak threw up on tanaka-san." he smirked before he added, "you should try to breathe through your mouth."
nova nodded, trying not to freak out. this trip just became much worse.
thankfully, the bus arrived at aoba johsai soon after the incident, and tsukishima stood as soon as the bus stopped moving, nodding for nova to go ahead of him. she quickly got off of the bus behind shimizu, and tried to get as far away from the vehicle as possible.
she took off her gloves and put on some hand sanitizer from her backpack, even though she hadn't taken them off in the bus. it just made her feel a bit calmer since she knew buses carried many germs. she put the gloves back on and tried to focus on the scenery and not her anxious thoughts as tsukishima came to stand next to her, with yamaguchi following. the brown-haired boy smirked and pointed behind himself at hinata, who seemed to be apologizing repeatedly to tanaka for throwing up on him.
"i think he's gotten worse since yesterday," yamaguchi commented, and tsukishima added with his hands in his pockets, "definitely." a scary gleam was in his eyes as he also smirked at the short boy. nova glanced between them, not understanding their amusement over the boy's nerves. "are you not nervous?" she asked them both, although she was more focused on tsukishima. she felt more comfortable with him now since she knew more about him, and was curious to know whether he felt any anxiety over the game.
"a little bit," yamaguchi admitted, rubbing the back of his head nervously. tsukishima's scoffed at him and rolled his eyes. "why should i be?" he said, turning his attention back to nova. "this is a practice match, and anyways, this is just a club." nova nodded hesitantly.
once the other members were ready to leave, they all started to walk towards the school entrance. kageyama ended up walking next to yamaguchi, muttering that if he was near hinata, he would beat him up. nova shifted nervously when she noticed what she guessed were aoba johsai students looking curiously at their group and tried to move a bit behind tsukishima.
her attention was drawn to tanaka when she saw him peeking around a corner, apparently listening in on a conversation. he looks stupid. she just tried to ignore him along with the other three boys as they passed him, but then she saw two students wearing a uniform similar to theirs, only with aoba johsai's colors. are these two members of their volleyball club? she saw the shorter of the boys, who had light brown hair, shift uncomfortably as all four of the boys came to stand intimidatingly before him. nova felt very out of place, so she just tried to hide behind tsukishima.
"u-um..." the boy stuttered, uncomfortable with tanaka basically leering at him.
"don't underestimate us too much," the boy started, and right then nova saw a murder of crows take flight from behind her. aren't crows karasuno's mascot? that is coincidental. she quickly turned back to tanaka as he continued to speak. "or we'll eat you alive." nova stared flatly at him. this idiot... did he just refer to himself as a cannibal.
the two aoba johsai boys froze up at the statement, quivering where they stood. nova heard a quiet chuckle from in front of her and looked up at tsukishima to see him with a smirk on his face. his eyes were hidden since his glasses were reflecting light off of the lenses ... somehow... it was cloudy and would likely rain soon. nevertheless, they glinted, and he looked very intimidating as he stared at the two boys. he lifted up a hand to wave nonchalantly toward tanaka. "you shouldn't threaten them like that, tanaka-san," he commented lightly, although nova grew wary of him. this tone sounds familiar...
she could see his eyes again as he tilted his head towards tanaka, the carefree smile on his face replaced with a wicked smirk. "look what you did. you scared these poor elites. now i feel sorry for them." nova stared at him with wide eyes, unconsciously taking a step back. he glanced back at her, and his smirk turned into a frown when he saw that she'd moved a bit away from him.
"w-we're not intimidated," the taller of the duo retorted, although his spooked eyes indicated otherwise. his hair is defying gravity, nova noted idly, glancing at the black strands that stood straight up. it is quite an ugly hairstyle.
"oh, you're right," tanaka replied, stepping closer to the boys. "we should save our bullying for the match." nova was growing more irritated with him as he kept talking. sawamura saved the situation as he came from around the corner with an angry expression on his face.
"you guys! i can't let you out of my sight."
with no expression, tsukishima grabbed nova's sleeve without touching her arm and pulled her with him as he walked away from tanaka, yamaguchi, and kageyama. she looked up at him in confusion, gently tugging her arm from his grasp as she wasn't comfortable with the grip. i am not upset about being taken away from tanaka, but why? she received an answer when sawamura came up next to tanaka and grabbed his head aggressively, forcing him to bow with him to the two boys. "we apologize."
nova looked up at tsukishima with widened eyes. he just raised an eyebrow at her. "what? it was obvious he was going to be upset with tanaka-san." they followed a bit behind karasuno's group as they started walking toward the gym where the match would be held.
"you did the same thing," he muttered, placing his hands in his pockets. nova noticed that he did this frequently. is it comfortable? she tried to copy him, but almost immediately pulled her hands out of her pockets. not comfortable. she didn't notice tsukishima's momentary small smile when he saw her action before his expression turned blank again. "what thing?" nova asked.
he glanced at her in surprise before looking ahead again, not expecting her to have heard him speak. "you look at me weird sometimes when i'm talking to other people besides yamaguchi. and you did the same thing now and moved away like you were." he paused and grit his teeth, before muttering, "scared."
"i was scared," nova confirmed, nodding her head. tsukishima's eyes flicked to her, apparently surprised by her response. "what. why?"
"because you act scary sometimes. i am afraid you will look at me the same way that you've looked at hinata, or kageyama, or those two boys just now."
tsukishima huffed softly before pausing and turning to face her. confused, nova halted too, trying to ignore the looks they still got from passing aoba johsai students. he slowly raised his hand, but paused, looking at her calmly. she just nervously shifted, not sure what was happening. apparently content with what he saw, he proceeded to lightly pat her head twice before he let his hand fall.
shocked, nova stared up at him, mind blank.
"i wouldn't look at you like that, stupid. i only do that towards people i don't like. it's called taunting. and we're friends, remember."
she nodded hesitantly, still in shock. tsukishima started walking again, and she quickly made herself follow. "what is the difference between taunting and teasing?" she asked softly, nervously playing with her fingers. "i'd tease you and yamaguchi." tsukishima replied without looking at her. "obviously, it doesn't really work on you," he added, smirking a bit. "because i don't understand social cues, correct?" nova asked for clarification.
tsukishima sent her a deadpan look. "right." nova nodded seriously, but then she felt bad, for some reason. should i not be friends with him if he likes to tease people, and he apparently cannot tease me?
nova noticed that they were almost to the gym now, as she saw the group ahead of them approach an open hallway that led into an area that looked similar to the gym at karasuno. a sign in the hallway read 'gymnasium no.3,' confirming her suspicions. she clenched her fists and took a deep breath in, trying to prepare herself for entering the gym. shimizu had warned her of how loud the stands could get during matches, as aoba johsai's volleyball team was very popular.
she winced as she entered the gym a bit behind tsukishima, realizing the sheer size of it. she actually shared hinata's sentiment when he clutched his bag, stuttering, "h-huge. the gym. the people."
"greeting!" sawamura shouted at the front of the group, and nova hesitantly bowed along with the rest of the members as they shouted together, not understanding why this had to be done. it only drew the attention of the aoba johsai's players who were warming up on the court to their group, and subsequently her. she saw a few of them look in her direction and point, increasing her feeling of dread. she moved a bit more behind tsukishima to try to hide herself.
she was given an out though, as she heard hinata mumble in a strained voice, "i'm going to the restroom," while clutching his stomach, a queasy look on his face. as he stumbled past her, tsukishima, and yamaguchi, she stated to them, "i will go with him."
tsukishima frowned slightly at her. "you want to go alone?"
"i will be with hinata-san," nova corrected, already starting to walk after the boy. she didn't need to use the restroom, she just wanted to stay out of the large, loud gym for as long as possible. basically, until the match started. she quickly sped up to walk a bit behind hinata. she was again reminded of just how short he was, as she stood considerably taller than him.
she noticed others' gazes on her in the school's hallway also, but at least there weren't so many trained on her at once. she stood awkwardly in the hallway to wait for hinata a little away from the restrooms when they arrived. five uncomfortable minutes later, she heard many shrill girls' voices, although she couldn't quite make out specific words since the voices were so high-pitched.
nova winced and placed a hand over her headphones' speaker, although it didn't help to muffle the shrill sounds. she looked over at the commotion to see a tall, brown-haired boy holding the door leading outside open down the hallway. unfortunately, the restrooms were situated near an entrance to the school.
nova watched in confusion as the boy waved to multiple girls who were outside. he said something to them, although she was too far away to hear. whatever he said seemed to make the girls sad, but they stopped squealing, and eventually walked away. the boy turned when the girls were gone, and nova was able to see his full facial features. a model? that was the first thing nova thought, but she realized it was more likely that he was a member of the volleyball club, as he wore the aoba johsai tracksuit that the other boys in the gym did. he started to walk down the hallway, and nova realized too late that he would walk right past her. she felt dread pool in her stomach when she saw the boy glance at her with disinterest before his brown eyes widened in surprise.
he stopped walking a few feet away from her and turned to face her, a small smile resting on his lips. "oh? who are you?" nova didn't respond, too nervous to form words. she played with her jacket's zipper nervously as the boy assessed her form. he stepped closer to her, and nova in turn took a step back. he chuckled a bit at that, his smirk turning into a full smile. "are you nervous? gomen~ you're just so cute that i wanted to get a closer look at you." he winked at her, while nova just stared back at him with a blank look.
"i can see that you're from karasuno," the boy prodded, gesturing to her uniform. nova nodded. he raised an eyebrow at her, apparently waiting for her to say something else, but when she didn't, he added, "what's your name?" leaning a bit closer to her. nova shrunk a bit under his intense gaze, not wanting to tell him.
it was at this moment that she saw tanaka appear from around the corner behind the boy, and she sent him a wide-eyed stare, hoping that it would effectively convey her panic. when he saw her position (like a cornered animal), his gaze immediately darkened and he sped over to the pair, putting himself between them.
"what do you think you're doing to precious miako-san?!" the boy demanded. nova felt horrified as she realized that tanaka had just revealed part of her name, and it seemed the brown-haired boy did also, as he smirked at her, completely ignoring tanaka. "oh? miako-chan? is that your name? i think i'll call you mia-chan though, it sounds much cuter~" nova had no words to describe what she felt at that statement, but she didn't have time to dwell on it because tanaka's eyes went white with rage then. "what?! you punk-"
nova didn't stick around to hear tanaka try to threaten the boy. she quickly walked down the hallway, hoping that the pretty boy would be distracted by tanaka's loud yelling so he wouldn't try to call after her. she felt very shaken. who was that? why was his stare so intense? he is scarier than tanaka... the boy had an aura that nova couldn't place, and she just resolved to try to ignore him if she saw him in the gym. i probably will... she thought, dread pooling in her stomach. she regretted leaving the gym in the first place now.
once she arrived back at the gym, she saw shimizu standing near the entrance and quickly walked over to join her. shimizu nodded to her in greeting, and she reciprocated. "are you okay?" shimizu asked softly, seeming to be able to sense her distress. nova shook her head and fidgeted with her gloved hands. shimizu frowned in concern. "what happened?"
nova hesitated for a moment before telling her about the intimidating boy. shimizu reassured her that she wouldn't have to be alone from now on, and nova just nodded in reply. she felt a bit better knowing this, but she couldn't feel completely calm.
"during the match, remember to pay attention to each play, okay?" shimizu reminded her, after she saw that nova had settled down a bit. "in the future, i'll have you practice writing down the statistics of each play, but for this match i just want you to try to pay attention to the different moves that the players do." nova nodded dully, only partly paying attention to the older girl as she wasn't able to stop thinking about that boy's gaze.
she saw a flash of blond hair in her peripheral, and searched for the source, hoping to see tsukishima. she placed him warming up with the rest of the team, and it calmed her more to see the familiar indifferent expression on his face.
"i need to go fill up the boys' water bottles before the match starts. why don't you go sit on the bench next to takeda-sensei?" shimizu questioned quietly, realizing that nova probably wouldn't want to go back into the hallway again so soon. she nodded in agreement and slowly walked across the court, again feeling multiple stares on her.
she saw tsukishima glance at her as she walked past him. she frowned slightly at him, although she knew he probably couldn't tell with her face mask on. he gave her a flat look, and nova surmised that they both probably looked like they didn't want to be here. sighing, she sat on the edge of the bench, hoping that when shimizu came back she would sit next to her.
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[author's note]
if you are comfortable with it, please star if you liked this chapter (feedback for me :/)
i've had this chapter written for abt 2 weeks, but i've been unmotivated to edit and post it because i haven't had the energy and idk if anyone besides my sister genuinely likes this story :/ anyways, i think this has been the most interesting chapter so far, and i sincerely apologize to any oikawa enthusiasts who think i have butchered his character (i think i did). writing anyone without asd is hard send help lol (you can't that's what's sad)
i will try to post again soon. please be mindful of germs.
─── lillian
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