This morning wasn't gray but by soothing lavender and brilliant amber.
Twilight melted away; majestic sunrise, red-orange glow seeped over the horizon as if the light itself was being poured from a molten sun. Powerful rays flooded over the landscape, lighting every blade of grass, shining from each leaf.
"Ahhhh-hhaaaaaa." (Y/N) stretched her arms over her head.
Itachiyama was playing the first match of the day against Tsubakihara Academy. They were on the court earlier to warm-up and practice their serves before the other team came.
"Tired, (Y/N)?" Komori asked while he picked up the loose volleyballs on the ground.
"It's not even yet," she groaned out. "I didn't get much sleep last night."
Komori laughed before returning to the court.
(Y/N) heavily sighed and flopped back into her seat. She couldn't sleep all night after finding out she had fallen asleep on Sakusa's shoulder. He probably hates her now since she touched him with her germs. She hasn't talked to him all morning. Maybe he hates her-
"(Y/N)." A resonating voice rang out. She turned her head to see Sakusa trudging towards her.
(Y/N) bowed deeply. "I'm so sorry for falling asleep on you, Kiyo! I won't do it again! Please don't hate me!"
"Huh?" Sakusa tipped his head to the side. Is that why she wasn't talking to him all morning? He thought she just wasn't in the mood to chat, but it seemed like that was the actual reason why. "It's no big deal."
"Oh, thank goodness. I thought you hated me for that." She broadly smiled.
"Why would I hate you?"
"Well, I did touch you with MY germs. Aren't you wary of the germs?"
"I don't-" Sakusa was cut off once again from a shout on the other side of the court.
"Tsuba High! Fight!"
"Yeah!"
They both raised their heads to the sound of the cheer. Tsubakihara Academy had arrived on court, ready to play.
"My nerves are shaking," #1 of Tsubakihara yelled out. "Why did we have to go against Itachiyama first thing in the morning..."
"Sakusa is scary, so are his spikes."
Sakusa gave a sullen grumble. "I don't get why everyone's so scared of me..."
"Maybe because you're always frowning."
He frowned and took off his jacket before handing it over to (Y/N). He casually walked to the back where the rest of the team lined up.
The quarter-finals were just about to start, and the atmosphere was tense. Most of the members of Tsubakihara looked like they were internally panicking while the Itachiyama member's stayed calm.
"Good luck!" (Y/N) giggled and sat right back down. She was a bit worried about how everyone was holding, but it was clear that they were holding up well. This match was going to be an interesting one.
"Let's play!"
Yoneda went to the back to serve. He took a deep breath and spun the ball. "Let's do this."
He aimed the ball to the right, only to have it swerve to the left and their libero. "Damn it."
"Nice receive!" The libero easily passed it to their setter.
"Tera!" Teradomari jumped for the spike.
"So high!" (Y/N) watched as he spiked it into Matsushima's block.
It was powerful enough to blow through typical, weak blocks, but Matsushima's blocks were different. He easily closed up any possible openings for the spiker and forced him to spike into his block, shutting him down.
"Nice block Matsushima!" (Y/N) cried out from the bench. It seemed that the nervousness of the other team was controlling them.
The score gap was wide with Itachiyama in the lead, 8-2. Tsubakihara Academy called for a timeout. "Gather round!"
"Keep up the good work you guys," (Y/N) handed each of them a towel and their water bottles. "They look very nervous right now."
"Thanks (L/N)! Your support always brings me energy!" Matsushima gave (Y/N) a thumbs up as he got dragged away by Yoneda.
"Let's go before the timeout is over."
Sakusa approached (Y/N) as she was putting away the used towels and bottles. "(Y/N)..."
"Hm?"
"Do you think I'm scary?"
(Y/N) faintly smiled. "Not really, but you should smile more!"
Sakusa then proceeded to give her a Cheshire smile while his eyes remained unexpressive. "Like this?"
She looked at Sakusa like he had two heads. His smile didn't match with his emotionless eyes. It also looked painfully forced. "Uh, let's practice smiling before approaching someone with it."
Sakusa wasn't the one to smile a lot. Even during his childhood, (Y/N) could barely remember memories with him smiling. The fact that he tried smiling today was endearing.
Itachiyama won the first set with 25-15. What a gap. They had just begun their second match. It seemed like Tsubakihara had finally managed to calm their nerves and were catching up.
"And there goes Sakusa with his killer spike!"
(Y/N)'s eyes sparkled as she watched him score another point. Every point he scored made her feel electrified and left a satisfying sight. "Let's go, Kiyo!"
Her voice rung in Sakusa's head every time he went to spike. (Y/N)'s cheers would leave an impression on him. He felt at ease when he heard her cheers. It enlivened him. He wanted to hear more of it.
"Crap, it looks like Sakusa's getting into the game." #4 of Tsubakihara had just tried to receive Sakusa's spike only to have the ball flying off his arm.
"Don't mind, let's get the next point!" #2 calmly announced.
The score was now 24-17, match point. The air on the court grew thick with anticipation as Matsushima went up to serve. One mistake from Tsubakihara and the match would end.
"Bring it on!"
Matsushima served it at #1, who effortlessly passed it to their setter. #2 sets it to #3, who slammed the ball through the block and getting them another point. "Yeah!"
Tsubakihara subbed in their pinch server, #14. He was clearly under extreme pressure.
The point rested upon him. (Y/N) watched in surprise when she saw that he was preparing for an underhand serve. She watched as it flew into the ceiling and back down onto Komori. "Sorry!"
The ball went to Yoneda, who sets it to Sakusa. "Finish it, Sakusa!"
"Drats," #10 mentally cursed. Three of them went up to block only to have the ball blow through their block. They watched as the ball flew in the air.
"Free ball!"
Matsushima carefully watched where the set was going and jumped. "One touch!"
"I got it!" Komori passed it onto Iizuna, who passed the ball to Yoneda. #1 received his spike and observed as the ball flew back into the air.
"A rally!" (Y/N) carefully observed every movement from each player. She watched as Sakusa went up for another spike. "Kiyo!"
Something clicked inside of Sakusa, and #2 of Tsubakihara noticed. He spiked the ball into #2's fingers and made it fly into the back wall on Tsubakihara's side. The sound of the ball hitting the wall echoed through the gym.
"TWEEEEEEEET!"
It was the end. They made it pass quarter-finals and proceeded onto the semi-finals. The score was 25-18 when the match ended. Itachiyama was on a roll with four consecutive wins.
"All right!" Matsushima hugged Yoneda, who surprisingly returned it.
"You guys were amazing!" (Y/N)'s eyes brimmed with tears. "You did astounding as usual too, Kiyo!"
"Yeah, sure..." Sakusa went to wear his mask and jacket. "Let's go get some lunch."
They walked together to where their bags were. Sakusa took out his bento and waited for (Y/N). She was rummaging through her bag but couldn't find her bento. "Where did I put it?"
A sudden wave of realization hit (Y/N), she had forgotten it at home. She was so tired that she forgot to place it in her bag. "I forgot it at home! I made it, but I forgot to pack it in my bag!"
She placed both of her hands on her head. Sakusa saw her distress and offered to share his lunch despite the germs. "You can have some of my lunch."
"No, no, you need the food for energy. I'm not that hungry anyway."
"Okay," Sakusa shrugged and walked off to watch a game.
He could see (Y/N) sneaking glances at his food as he ate and watched.
"Are you sure you don't want some?"
(Y/N) whipped her head back. "No."
"Your facial expression says otherwise."
"Was it that obvious?" She whined out, and her stomach grumbled.
"I think I saw a vending machine on the second floor. If you don't want some of my lunch you could-"
Before Sakusa could finish his sentence, (Y/N) had already runoff. He watched as she dissolved into the crowd, looking for the vending machine.
Sakusa sighed before resuming to watch the game. (Y/N) was always so forgetful, what was he going to do with her.
• • •
"That's Sakusa from Itachiyama. Man, he looks intense."
"He's got a presence."
Why couldn't he go a day without someone talking about how scary he was...
─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───
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