.azumane.
i thought everything would still be alright at afternoon practice.
alas, i was mistaken.
i tried to greet noya.
"hey, noya, what's up?"
he glanced at me, seeming slightly uncomfortable.
"hey, asahi, i'm fine. uh... i'm sorry, i've gotta go help tanaka stretch."
he quickly scooted away to where tanaka was already being helped with stretches by ennoshita, and i frowned.
i thought i had made some progress this morning! where did i go wrong? i lost a friend-
wait, no, those are song lyrics. focus, asahi.
would this be just like friday's practice again, where he would make every excuse to ignore me? if so, that would really suck.
i went through a whole weekend of torture, not knowing what was going on with him, and knowing we would have to talk on monday. and then, when monday did roll around... we didn't necessarily avoid each other on purpose, but we didn't speak much either until after the entire day went by.
i felt a hand on my shoulder and turned to see daichi standing next to me.
"you've been staring at nishinoya for the last minute or two. everything alright? it seemed like you guys were talking fine this morning."
"uh... i'm not sure actually. i thought things were alright, but i tried to say hi, and he sort of ran away."
daichi studied my face for a second.
"you're whipped, aren't you?"
remembering the conversation from this morning, i snorted.
"what? did i say something weird?" daichi asked.
i shook my head.
"no, sorry, just thinking of something else... but... yeah, i guess you're kind of right. damn, who would've thought?"
"whoa, whoa, whoa! who taught you those kind of words?!"
"what? 'damn'? that's not even that bad."
he shook his head, a mix of disappointment and anger.
"i should've known nishinoya would be a bad influence on you. we'll have to wash your mouth out after this."
i screwed my face up.
"you know, just because i don't cuss that often doesn't mean i'm not allowed to. besides, it could've been a lot worse."
"you're right, it could've been worse, but absolutely not, you are not allowed to cuss."
"you know what? i don't have to take this from someone under 180cm."
"hey! well... i don't have to take that from someone a year younger than me!"
"I AM LITERALLY A DAY YOUNGER THAN YOU. JUST BECAUSE YOU WERE BORN ON DECEMBER 31st, AND I WAS BORN ON JANUARY 1ST DOESN'T MEAN ANYTHING."
he laughed heartily.
"oh, asahi, i hope you never change."
"wait, what's that supposed to mean?"
he patted me on the back, and without answering, walked away again.
i groaned. well, maybe i'd figure it out later.
for now, i need to try to figure out this noya situation.
several times throughout practice, i tried to approach him, but he always had convenient excuses to avoid me.
///
finally, when we were about 15 minutes out from the end of practice, i was starting to give up hope.
'maybe i shouldn't try talking to him after all... maybe he really does hate me...'
then i heard suga's voice in my head, telling me that he and daichi would pressure me every day that i didn't tell him the real reason i broke up with him.
i breathed out quickly a couple times to psyche myself up, then walked over to noya.
"nishinoya."
he looked over at me.
"what is it?"
"i'm sorry, but i have to be blunt here. did something happen between morning practice and now? why are you suddenly avoiding me again? i know it's not gonna be easy at first, but i thought we were at least making some progress towards being friends again."
he shifted slightly, his expression slightly pensive.
"oh, right... sorry about that, we can talk about it later. it's a bit too serious for right now, i think."
that made me a bit nervous, but i tried to smile at least a little bit.
"ah, i see... alright then. friends for now?"
he smiled a bit too, although it also seemed forced.
"yeah, friends for now."
we talked a little bit more after that, but eventually had to go back to practicing and not completely waste the last 10 minutes, so that was that for now.
///
while we were cleaning up when practice had finished, i was panic-venting to suga and daichi again.
"oh my god, noya said he wants to talk seriously again. what if he's not convinced with what i told him about why i broke up with him and he makes me tell him about my plans for college?"
daichi laughed a little, his expression teasing.
"you know you don't actually have to tell him anything if you're not ready, right?"
i stared at him with wide eyes.
"you don't understand, he has this face that he makes, and it's like mind control or something. then, before i know it, i'm suddenly spilling my deepest, darkest secrets."
suga commented, "well, if you really must tell him, we'll be hiding around the corner with nerf guns, to shoot you if you chicken out."
i did a double take.
"nerf guns?! why do you just have those here?!"
daichi shrugged.
"well, we keep them in the club room to detain any troublemakers, so usually they're reserved for first and second years, but if we must use them on you, we won't hesitate."
at that moment, tanaka was passing by, and he must've heard at least the end of that sentence, because he started yelling, but it didn't make any sense to me.
"I HEARD YOU WERE HANGING OUT WITH KAITLYN THE OTHER DAY!"
i furrowed my eyebrows.
"what? who's kait-?"
before i could even finish my thought, nishinoya yelled back from across the room.
"R- REBECCA, IT'S NOT WHAT YOU THINK!"
tanaka held up his hands in finger guns, pointing them at noya, and screamed, "I WON'T HESITATE, BITCH," before pretending to shoot him.
he dramatically fell to the ground at the feet of a giggling hinata and yamaguchi.
at this point i was shaking slightly. what was going on??
"wh- what just happened?" i asked slowly, facing suga and daichi again.
suga shook his head with an endearing and knowing smile.
"you'll understand when you're older."
"but i-"
he pressed a finger to my lips.
"shhh, no more words. i'll text you a link with all the info you need. right after holding you accountable by shooting you in the neck with a nerf dart."
i moved his hand away from my face.
"please don't shoot me in the neck, that sounds painful."
he grinned mischievously.
"i can't promise anything."
daichi chuckled, staring at suga with the Whipped face again before turning back to me.
"don't worry, i'll try to stop him, but don't blame me if you get shot in the neck anyway."
i screwed up my face with displeasure.
"ugh, fine. i guess i can't delay the inevitable."
they laughed, and at that moment, it almost seemed like everything was okay again.