The arena was only a few blocks from the station, and it didn't take long for them to walk there. (Y/N) had only seen the building once before when she visited Tokyo in the past, but she had never been inside the massive arena. They lined up and got their tickets scanned.
Inside the entrance hall there were some food and apparel stalls, with many people wandering around while waiting for the game to begin.
"Uhm, I'm going to go find my seat now. I'll see you guys around." Sakusa said quietly. The boy looked as though he were about to pass out. He kept nervously glancing around the crowd, almost flinching as people brushed past him.
"Bye Sakusa-San," (Y/N) said goodbye, "It was nice meeting you."
He nodded and walked off, maneuvering himself carefully through the busy mass of people.
"Wow, he's really timid." (Y/N) said to Atsumu once Sakusa was out of sight, "Especially in crowds."
"Well," Atsumu looked up at the ceiling thoughtfully, "Sakusa may be timid most of the time, but the second he steps onto the court and takes off that silly mask of his, he's an absolute monster at volleyball."
(Y/N) nodded, "I figured." She pulled out her ticket and inspected it, "Let's go find our seats, I think we are sitting in section 4, 2B and 2C."
"Okay, but first we should grab some snacks." He pointed towards the food stalls, "What do you feel like? They seem to mostly have standard stadium food a-"
"OH MY GOD THEY HAVE TAKOYAKI." (Y/N) interrupted and took off, pulling Atsumu with her.
They waited in line and (Y/N) ordered her takoyaki excitedly.
"That will be 600 yen." The man serving the food announced.
(Y/N) looked down at the 500 yen in her hands, "One moment." She said, reaching for her wallet to grab some more coins.
"Thank you." The man spoke out of nowhere.
(Y/N) looked up from her wallet in confusion to see Atsumu passing the vendor a bill. The man handed her the takoyaki and called the next person in line.
As they left, she turned to Atsumu, "You didn't have to pay, I had enough money for it."
"My treat." He smiled.
"Your treat?" She raised an eyebrow, "You already treated me by taking me to this game."
"(Y/N)." He playfully hit her in the head, "Just take the free food and don't question."
Together, they headed in the direction of where they were sitting. Walking down the stands, she studied the tickets closely, "Are you sure we're in the right section?"
"Yeah. Here are our seats." He indicated two spots in front of him.
"We're in the second row!?" She looked at him in shock. They had a closeup view of the court and could clearly see the players.
Atsumu winked at her, causing a warm feeling to suddenly spread through her body. Lately, he had made her feel so... special. Teaching her volleyball, going to the night market with her, and even treating her to this game.
She slid into the aisle and sat down beside him. On the court, the teams were beginning to warm up. The players themselves were huge, all of them standing much over six feet tall. Even from their warm up, (Y/N) could tell that their skill level was beyond anything she'd experienced before.
The game started soon after. While munching on her takoyaki, (Y/N) watched in awe at the incredible volleyball being played out right in front of her eyes. She studied the hitters, taking note of how fast they were able to approach the ball and gain momentum.
She glanced at Atsumu in the seat next to her. His eyes were glued on the setter on the Japan team, as if watching his every movement.
"Ya know..." (Y/N) began, "That'll be you one day. Standing on the court, representing our country."
Atsumu tore his eyes away from the game, "What- you really think so?"
(Y/N) looked into his deep brown eyes, "Atsumu, you're unbelievably talented, hardworking, and overall an exceptional volleyball player. At the rate you're progressing at, I have no doubt you'll end up on the global stage. You've already been scouted for the All Japan Youth Training Program and I think that's so awesome..." She trailed off, realizing she had been rambling.
For a moment Atsumu didn't say anything. Then he reached over, placed a hand on her knee and faced her in his seat, "You really think of me like that?"
"Y-yea." She flushed, a bit embarrassed.
"Well you see," Atsumu leaned closer and said quietly, "I think you are one of the most incredible people I have ever met. You're strong, smart, funny, and also crazy good at volleyball. (Y/N), make sure you set high goals for yourself because I know you can achieve so much."
Her face went an even brighter shade of red. (Y/N) hadn't realized Atsumu had thought so highly of her. It made her stomach flutter uncontrollably.
"I-" She started but was cut off by a roar from the crowd. Japan had just won the first set of the match.
The replay of the point was shown on the big screen above them. Distracted, (Y/N) forgot what she was going to say.
"Woah that was a really good setter dump." Atsumu watched as they played the clip in slow motion.
Both of them had forgotten about their conversation and were preoccupied with the second set beginning. This time Korea fought hard and ended up winning by two points.
"Hey, there's a short break between the second and third set, wanna go look at T-shirts?" Atsumu asked.
"Yeah!" She said, springing up from her seat. They walked up the aisles and back into the entrance hall, where they found a booth selling clothes.
"Woah, look at this one." (Y/N) grabbed Atsumu's hand and pulled him over to a shirt.
After looking around some more, (Y/N) noticed that she hadn't released Atsumu's hand. But strangely, she didn't want to. Instead of letting go, she readjusted her grip and interlaced her fingers with his.