Nationals week was a wreck because it pushed past exams because of bad weather but the best part was that right after the championships, the winter break began.
"Sasaaakkiiiii!!!" Was the first voice she heard when their VBC reached the gymnasium. Sakusa was startled by the sly voice.
"Tori Nii!!" She jogged right up to Shiratorizawa.
"Tori... Nii?" Sakusa's other teammates joined him to look at the weird red head.
"WHAT THE-"
"The guess monster is her brother?!!!"
"Ah, Mendokuse!"
They whined.
"Ushijima san, how have you been?" She politely greeted him.
"I've been great, thank you" he had a small smile on his face but it vanished when he saw the cold persona behind her radiating angsty vibes.
"Wakatoshi kun" he said with a sour face. "You seem to know my girlfriend"
"Oh..." he blinked "I do"
"Say, when were you going to tell me about the password?" Sakusa asked and Tendou's face drained of colours and gave Sayuri the 'HOW DOES HE KNOW!!?' face.
"Oomi san, you shouldn't be so mean" she nudged his shoulder so the scowl would fall off. "They helped you"
"Yeah, right."
"We'll see you in court" He smirked at Ushijima.
"Looks like we will" he grinned back.
The tension was rough. Sayuri was dead scared being stuck between the two really tall, towering top aces. It couldn't possibly get any worse. But it did...
"Are you waiting for me? Have you two teamed up or something?" A new voice entered. Sayuri went cold as a glacier on seeing him. It was a short haired boy with clean razor cut lines on his head and the most ghoulish face she'd come across. She couldn't manage to take in even a single breath anymore.
Wakatsu Kiryu.
"Kiryu San..." Sakusa nodded at the senior. The Musketeers trio was complete and Sayuri's legs were giving up on her. The three looked like giant, wholesome statutes of greatness and she was almost crying in both amusement and fear. Mostly fear. He looked so scary like he'd beat someone to death with his bare hands.
Her hand unknowingly reached to grip Sakusa's arm and he looked at her trembling figure almost pitying her.
"Kiryu san, this is my fiancé, Sayuri" he introduced her to him and she thought he was crazy. All she wanted was a fast escape and after that, she was certain that she'd escape even faster when she died of his hands.
"Oh, apologies" his staple frown disappeared and a smile formed instead "Its so nice to finally meet you, I'm Wakatsu Kiryu" he was suddenly as warm as the morning sun and she just blanked out.
"Nice to meet you too." She politely bowed after fixing her brain.
"My, aren't you gorgeous..." he delightfully said and she just stared at him. 'How? He just looked like he'd slaughter a family with most kids not a few seconds ago'
Sakusa scoffed pulling her from their midst put her behind him. "I gotta go, I'll see you later. Good luck with your games" she quickly ran away to her team and almost had a panic attack when she got back.
"You're so lucky. You know all three of them" Niya cried fan tears.
"Say that when you're in the middle. It's like facing death face front" she was still panting for breath.
Shiratorizawa defeated Mujinazaka in the semifinals to meet Inarizaki in the semifinals. Itachiyama was playing their semifinals with Musashi High, another powerhouse school.
Sayuri was jumpier than ever, being told off by the coach to conserve more of her energy. She wasn't holding back. As much as she wanted to play safe, she wanted to win. And the two are opposite faces of a coin. You can't play safe if you want to win. She knew that as well as she knew her spikes.
"SASAKIII SASAKIII!" The school band cheered.
"Oh? We have someone new this time?" Kiryu was upset about his loss against Wakatoshi but his eyes widened when he saw who the 'Sasaki' was.
"Ah!!!" He screamed "That's Sakusa's girl"
"SAY WHAT?" Atsumu Miya wanted to chill before his match began in a while and decided to crawl into the girls' game with a few of his teammates. But looks like he wouldn't just chill.
"Sasaki! The girl. #10" he showed. "Her name... Argh I can't remember it... I met her just this morning..."
"You met her this morning?" Atsumu raised his brow "Didn't she run away from you?"
"Wh-What? Shut up!" He said "SAYURI! Yes, that's her"
"Sayuri? What a nice name. I don't know if she can actually play. She looks so nice and... poised" Miya said eating his snack.
"Judge all you want, I wouldn't judge Sakusa's girl" he raised his hands.
Miya choked on his snack when she served. The spin on that ball was dangerous.
"What... is that??" He put his snack back into his pocket and ran to the very front to get a better view, with Kiryu right behind him.
"Why haven't I paid attention to her before?!!"
"She's really something" Kiryu said as the stadium roared. "That's a no touch ace."
She dribbled the ball before taking her stance again, waiting for the whistle to blow.
"Sasaki chaaan!!" A few cheered from the crowd. "Nice serve!"
She threw the ball high and ran all the way before jumping really highly and loosely swinging her arm. It would look like a really lethargic serve but she knew how to perfectly calliberate it.
"That's a weird form" Miya said but ate his own words when it speared right through the court.
He couldn't move his jaw anymore. "I think I'm falling"
"You better be ready for Sakusa then" Kiryu said still evilly grinning at her performance. "They could win with just her serves, you know"
"Fire as hell" Miya dreamily watched her play. "She's like a porcelain doll but so darn fierce. I like my women strong like that"
His eyes carelessly went through the crowd and spotted Sakusa anxiously watching her play "Say, Sakusa is really here."
"Why wouldn't he be? He's head over heels for her"
"Ahh, why doesn't my luck shine like his?" Atsumu fake cried. "That lucky prick."
Itachiyama won nationals again. Things between Sayuri and Sakusa seemed to be smoothly sailing until winter break actually began.
"Sayuri, Kiyoomi... you better be home today" his mother chirped early in the morning.
"Is someone coming home today?" She asked before biting into her breakfast.
"Yes, Furutani san's family is coming over for the break" she said and Sakusa choked on his food.
"Nani?" His eyes had a weird glint of sheen. "Is Kiara coming?"
"Of course she is!" She said.
"I'm sorry" Sayuri politely interrupted "Have I seen them... before?"
"Oh, I'm so sorry, Sayuri. Furutani Shimura owns the largest fisheries in Japan. His family has been close to ours since ages. His daughter, Kiara, and Kiyoomi have been friends since pre school." She said and Sayuri somehow didn't like the idea of it. She didn't know why she wasn't really comfortable.
"I'm sorry I'm late" His father joined them for breakfast.
"Sayuri..." he leaned towards her ear seeing that his mother was too busy to listen "I'm sorry I couldn't tell you."
"Tell me what?"
"Furutani Kiara..." he said "Is my ex"
"WHAT?!"
"Is everything okay?" His mother asked.
"Oh, I'm sorry" she chuckled awkwardly, trying to clear the air "Yes. Sorry"
"What?!" She whisper yelled.
"She was my first girlfriend" he said. "She just got back from the US..."
"And she doesn't know we're engaged yet"