I thought owls were supposed to be...I dunno...wise?!
It had been a full week of blissful silence after Suzumeda had spoken to Bokuto in my stead. Back to my comforting routine. On the eighth day, however, everything went through the window.
"Come on, talk to me, (L/N)! You know you want to!~" It astounded me that a male of his size and stature could skip, but he was, circling me as I trudged up along the second street over from Fukurodani. That was the main problem. I really, truly didn't want to talk to him. Anybody with a hit like that couldn't be good news. At least, that was how I saw things.
Just leave me alone...You freak me out...
I couldn't say it, though. Not because of the rule, but because it would be mean. Instead, I just tried to keep my head down, counting each and every step I took to force myself to zone out of his chatter.
"Ugh, fine! You're totally missing out on an awesome friend, then!" When Bokuto huffed and jogged past me, I wasn't sure if I felt relieved or terrible. He had sounded kind of hurt, but there wasn't much I could do about it. I had to stick to what I knew, and Bokuto was the epitome of unknown territory.
Once I made it to school, I could see the usual. Bokuto hovering around Akaashi, but this time he wasn't excessively loud or boisterous. He was still talking, but he wasn't bouncing around like one of those rubber balls you get in the goodie bag at the end of a kindergarten party. Akaashi still looked like he wanted to sink into the earth, never to return, but I ignored it. They had nothing to do with me.
Later on, in business and management class; one of my electives, things got just a little bit worse.
"(L/N), a moment, please?" My teacher, Ms Moegi, called out to me before I had a chance to leave the room, and I quickly walked over to her.
"Yes, ma'am?" Sifting through some of the papers on her desk, the teacher pulled out a form, sliding it over to me.
"Remember when I instructed the class to reach out to the Fukurodani sports teams, in regards to the practical study coming up?"
Oh, crepes and nut butter..!
Paling, I nodded once, realising that I had forgotten all about it. So much for being a model student.
"N..now I do.. Sorry, Miss Moegi, it completely slipped my mind. I'll happily go and speak to the girl's track team after scho-"
"No, you won't. Aikuchi is already with the track team." She was watching me closely over the rims of her glasses, and I gulped.
"Then I'll go to the soccer team."
"Taken by Gamizu."
"Baseball, then."
"Mashimo scooped them right up."
"Ch..chess..?"
Ms Moegi sighed, a small smirk tweaking the corners of her lips as she pushed the paper even further towards me.
"All sports clubs have been taken already, apart from one." She explained firmly, and I could already tell exactly which one it was without even reading it. Still, I picked up the sheet, eyebrows furrowing once my (E/C) eyes found the familiar V word.
"I'm...sorry, Ma'am, but I'm afraid I can't go to the volleyball team. As you are already aware, I-"
"(L/N), this is a coed school, and I see absolutely no reason why I should give you special treatment. If your parents didn't want you interacting with the opposite gender, then they should have sent you to an all girls school. Here, at Fukurodani, we mix boys and girls together. It is completely up to you whether you decide to do this practical or not, but you will not be passing my class if you decline, you got that?"
This...is complete bullshit...
Clenching my jaw, I just nodded once, the sheet of paper crumpling in my hand as I turned and walked off, a lot stiffer than I had been before.
"Oh, and you begin this afternoon!" Ms Moegi called out after me, and I hated the amused tone of her voice. Was it really so hard to let me study the management of one of the girl's teams? Even if it had been out of my control, I could be punished for that. Didn't she understand?
The rest of the school day passed by slowly, and by the time the final bell rang, I wanted to curl up and perish.
"Oh, quit being all shitty and come on." Suzumeda rolled her eyes as she dragged me out of the building and towards the gym, having already changed out of her uniform and into her tracksuit pants and jacket.
"No, this is stupid! Why am I the only one who sees how stupid this is?!"
I was panicking. The thought of being caught and punished had my heart lurching into my throat, and my skin crawling. Sure, part of my was curious about the male world, but that only meant that I needed to stay away from it, right? Temptation never lead to anything good.
"Hey, isn't that the chick Bokuto freaked out the other day?" One of the team members pointed to me as he leaned in towards his friend, and I already wanted to flee.
"Yeah, she's apparently not allowed to talk to us or something."
If there is a god, please smite me.
The coach, Mr Yamiji, waved me over, and I searched deep inside myself for enough courage to act like a normal person.
"So, (L/N), is it? Glad to have you joining us for the next few weeks. I'm aware of your...moral choices...so I apologise in advance for my boys, if they happen to be a little over the top."
When you put it like that it makes me sound uptight...
"Thank you, Sir. I hope I won't be a burden." After a full ninety degree bow, I retreated back to the bench, feeling queasy. My eyes swept across the gym, and finally landed upon the captain, but something was different. He appeared anything but energetic.
"Uh oh, looks like Bokuto's in one of his moods..."
Glancing over to Suzumeda, my head tilted to the side, likely making me look like a lost puppy dog.
"Moods? By that you mean..?" I wasn't truly interested. Not at all, but it would be rude not to ask for an elaboration, right?
"Well, y'see, every now and then Bokuto slips into a funk. Like, a super emo type of funk. Sometimes it's when he messes up a spike, or when he keeps getting blocked. Sometimes it's an outside influence, though..." She glanced at me from the corner of her eye, making my culpability known. "Anyway, he gets all mopey and depressed, and it takes a whole damn village to bring him back up again. Unless..."
Here we go...
"Unless what?" I squirmed as Suzumeda leaned over me, hands behind her back and grin almost sadistic.
"Unless a certain someone gives him some words of encouragement. I think you know where I'm going with this." Oh, I did, and I didn't like it one bit. So what if the guy got offended by my morals? That was on him, not me. Still, it would have been a blatant lie if I had said I didn't feel just a little guilty.
My groan escaped my mouth amidst a long exhale, and I scrunched my nose.
"I'm not supposed to. Besides, what would I even say? I like your weird blue tank top thingy, even though it looks dumb over your shirt?" A muffled scoff came from my opposite side, and I turned to find Shirofuku, stuffing her face with a granola bar.
"Geez, (L/N), you're so straight and narrow! When a set is about to go up, just call out Bokuto, nice kill! Then he'll perk right up, no problems. Bet."
Suzumeda crouched down, her nose tickling my temple.
"A set is when the ball goes to Akaashi and he bops it to one of the hitting guys." Swatting her away, I whined in annoyance, schooching closer to the other manager to get away from my best friend.
"I know what a set is, Kaori!"
I didn't...but still..!
Sitting there, I mulled over my options. I could refuse, and let the strange male third year sort out his own issues, I could do what I was told, because it was kind of my fault, or I could go home and fail the assignment. I wasn't even sure why hanging around sports teams counted as study material. My class was filled with introverts, so I had my suspicions that it was all just a ploy to force us to socialise.
The time I had to decide ran out quickly, and the second I realised the ball was headed to Akaashi, I swallowed. Bokuto was standing off to the side of the court, lip jutted out like a pouty toddler, but it made me feel terrible.
"B..Bokuto! Uh...nice..kill..?!" My voice wasn't strong, by any means, but it reached him. The muscles in his arms tensed, and his posture corrected itself almost instantly. After a twitch of his lips, he began running forward, golden eyes trained on the ball.
"Akaashi! To me!"
Why was I holding my breath? The ball shot from the ravonet's fingertips, and I was barely able to keep up after that. Meeting Bokuto's hand, the ball was sent across and down at an almighty speed, creating a thunderous boom as it hit the very corner of the boundary line. It had literally cut across the court, and it made my skin prickle.
"There we go. Crisis avoided." Suzumeda laughed, sounding more proud of herself than she was of anyone else. My attention wasn't on her, though.
Bokuto was absolutely beaming. Pumping his fist in the air, he began to jog towards me, and instinctively I began trying to shrink myself down into nothing.
"Did'ja see that?! It was awesome, right?!" He was seeking praise, but it looked like it had to come from me and me alone for it to mean anything. Truthfully, I had been impressed, and he deserved it.
"Y..yeah. It was a great spike, Bokuto..."
It is called a spike, right? God, I hope so...
His chest puffed out even more, swelling instead of his head, and somehow his smile became even wider.
"Hell yeah it was! Hey, if you're sticking around till the end of practice, how about we walk home together?" I was about to open my mouth and decline, but he hadn't finished yet. "We could take the back road, and you can go on ahead when we reach our street! Come on, neighbour! Please?!"
It wasn't only Bokuto that was staring at me expectantly, but both Suzumeda and Shirofuku, too. Prying eyes, seeming to silently chant for me to accept, even though I knew it was a terrible decision. Gulping down my nerves, and tucking the thought of my probable punishment away in my pocket, I heaved a heavy sigh of defeat.
"Fine, but just this once..."
.
.
.
.
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***I just ate too many tacos and I feel like I'm pregnant again.
Next Time: Just a puppy***