The next game started, and luckily Oikawa had to thoroughly warm up. It was 24-20 Karasuno, and Kazane was sooo certain they would win. Of course they had to wait, because Aobajohsai got a point.
Then it happened; Oikawa was subbed in. Well shit. She narrowed her eyes at him as he took the ball from one of his teammates. It was his serve, so Kazane knew they were in trouble.
Oikawa served it right to Tsukishima, who shanked it. Frowning, she glanced back at the womanizer, but he was already looking at her. "Ahhh he's looking at us! He's looking at us!" A few of the Seijoh girl's squeaked. Kazane blushed and looked away, she really wasn't in the mood to deal with him right now.
The game went on, and he served it to Tsuki again, and of course the blonde shanked it again as well. "Poor Tsuki!" Tadashi wailed.
"Hey, great king!" Hinata suddenly shouted, drawing Oikawa's attention to him. "Why don't you aim for me I can take it just aim the ball right at my head unless you're too scared!"
"You tell him Hinata!" Kazane cheered, and even from how far away he was, she could still see the tick mark on Oikawa's head.
"Stop it, you're acting like a toddler!" Tsukishima scolded.
"Excuse me?!" Hinata demanded, but then got himself together and stood in front of the tall blonde. "The cool thing about volleyball is every body you see on this side of the net is your ally, okay Tsukishima?!"
Tsuki did not seem to take that well, but Tanaka did. "Wise words from a wise guy!"
"Okay, let's fall back as a group." Daichi decided, "Tsukishima, you stay close to the sideline." He instructed, to which the salt factory agreed. Kazane could almost hear the wheels in Oikawa's brain turning.
So he served it, once again, to Tsukishima. This time he managed to get it up, only for it to go over as a chance ball. Oikawa received it, then the backup setter set up Onion head. However, Hinata got there just in time, getting a hand on the ball so that it turned into a chance ball.
Landing, the little ball of carrot sonic-ed his way to the other side of the court, and Tobio set it to him with perfect accuracy once again. The ball whooshed past Oikawa, who looked startled.
The brown haired male slowly glanced back at the ball as it bounced, then came to a stop. And so did the match: 25-23.
"Did we just...lose?"
~•~
"Hey I'm gonna go to the bathroom, I'll be back in a second." Kazane told Azusa, who nodded.
"Alright, we'll be out at the bus so make sure to hurry." She advised.
"Right," Jogging towards the sign that said Restrooms, she turned the corner only to bump into someone. "Oof! Ah, sorry.." Kazane apologized, then looked at the person.
"Oh, hey Kazane. I thought I saw you." Iwaizumi smiled, and she grinned back.
"Hey Iwaizumi! It's been a while, nice to see you!" The female greeted as he chuckled.
"Still as enthusiastic as ever I see. I heard you had a practice game against our girl's team, how'd it go?" He asked, and she shrugged.
"We won, but but was still a lot of fun." Kazane told the ace, who nodded before his eyes hardened. Sensing a change in atmosphere, she glanced behind her and gulped.
"Uhh, hey Kaz.." Oikawa looked sheepish as he rubbed the back of his head. "It's good to see you."
"Y-yeah, you too..." She looked away before giving Iwaizumi a nod. "I'm gonna go, my team is waiting for me and I need to go to the restroom.."
"Sure, see you later Kazane." The ace smiled, allowing her to run off to the bathroom. "Well, she ran away again."
"Literally too." Oikawa groaned. "Has she still not gotten over it? Ugh!"
"Maybe you should just give up already, you have plenty of girls lining up to be your girlfriend." The ace rolled his eyes in annoyance.
"Hey don't go getting jealous, it's not my fault I was born with these looks!"
"No but it is your fault for being a prick."
"Hey where the hell did you even get that ball?!"
~•~
Kazane sighed as she dried her hands. Her thoughts drifted back to the last year of middle school when everything had fallen apart.
They used to be best friends, her, Iwa and Oikawa. They were always messing around, making each other stronger and bring out the best in each other.
However, all of that ended on that day...
"Kazane! Come on let's go sugar buns!" Oikawa teased, standing outside of the school with Iwaizumi.
"I'm coming chocolate brownie!" Kazane laughed, running out of the school with her bag on her shoulder.
"Have I told you today how radiant you look?" Oikawa winked when she caught up with them and started walking.
"No I don't think so, but may I just say your form today was absolutely flawless." Kazane winked back, causing the two boys to laugh.
"Come on you guys, I'm going to barf." Iwaizumi complained, but they only stuck their tongues out at him.
"Say Kazane, are you a hitter? Cause I can set you up~" Oikawa said, now ignoring his best friend who huffed in annoyance.
"Oh yeah? Well you must be a setter cause you're good with your hands~" Kazane returned, smirking as the two boys flushed. "You served an ace straight through my heart~"
This statement made the brown haired boy blush even harder, but then he smirked. "I see you know how to use the block, but I will keep trying."
"If I served my heart to you, would you return yours?" The female asked. That was the last straw.
Neither Iwaizumi or Kazane had time to react as Oikawa leaned in and kissed Kazane full on the mouth. Her eyes widened, as did Iwaizumi's.
So he finally did it. Iwaizumi thought, a slight smile on his face.
What the hell?! Kazane's thoughts were in a panic as she tried to figure out what was going on and what to do next. Before she could do anything, Oikawa moved back slightly. "Sorry, I couldn't help myself."
"..." Kazane didn't respond, her eyes planted on the male in front of her as he also watched her.
"Kaz?"
"Shit I think you put her into shock."
"Wait seriously?! Kaz, you're not actually going into shock right?! Please answer us!" Oikawa shook the unresponsive girl as Iwaizumi tried to pull him off.
"I-I'm fine.." Kazane finally stammered out, causing the two males to stop bickering and look at her. They smiled.
"That's good." Iwaizumi said, putting his hand on her back. "Come on, let's get you home before you actually do go into shock."
"Was it really that shocking though?!"
"Shut up Shittykawa, you're the reason for this."
From that day on, Kazane had avoided Oikawa and Iwaizumi. It was less with Iwaizumi than with Oikawa because he hasn't really done anything.
Of course Oikawa tried to fix what had happened but Kazane was too conflicted to hear him out or even see him. The waves of emotion that flooded her when she would see him somewhere, it was too much.
Kazane didn't know if she had feelings for the brown haired setter. Well, she knew she did have some towards him, but were they enough to act on?
No.
But now, after not having seen him for so long, all of those stashed away feelings were threatening to reawaken, and Kazane was not play with that.
Sighing, the ace walked out of the bathroom, only to pause at who was waiting in front of her. "What do you want, Oikawa?"
"I want a lot of things. Revenge on Ushiwaka, beating your brother, you talking to me again, maybe us ending up together. But at the moment, the only thing I really want," Oikawa said, "is to see you smile at me like you used to."
"Times have changed, Tooru." Kazane said, shrugging. "I'm not the same person I was back in middle school."
"I know that, and neither am I." The male said, "we've both grown a lot, and now I want to get to know the new you, even if I might fall in love all over again-"
"Can we please not do this now?" Kazane asked quietly but aggressively, biting her lip as she looked at the ground. "I don't.." She took a deep breath, "I don't want you like you want me. And that hasn't changed."
"Still, I'm not giving up." Oikawa said, lifting her chin with his fingers. "I'm willing to fight for you, whatever it takes."
"I know."
~•~
"Geez what took you so long? That was almost half an hour!" Azusa demanded as Kazane came out of the school.
"Sorry, I was playing on my phone and lost track of time on the toilet." She lied easily, to which the captain just sighed and crossed her arms.
"We all do that so I'll let it slide this time. Come on, let's go. I need food."
"Me too." The girls all loaded the bus, each taking a seat and buckling up before the automobile sped away.
"So you're still gonna try for her, huh?" Iwaizumi asked his best friend, who was watching the bus disappear into the distance after his talk with the Karasuno team.
"Yes. And nothing you say will change that."
"Even if I say I want to chase her too?" The statement cause Oikawa off guard, causing him to look at his childhood friend in shock. "Don't look so surprised Stupidkawa, it's not just you that feels something for Kazane. There are a lot of people out there with a crush on her."
"I know," Oikawa returned his gaze to the distance. "She's just too perfect."
"Indeed she is."