Third person POV

"Interhigh? I-isn't that in June?" You placed your bag onto your desk, distracting your gaze by putting away your school materials.

"Yeah! April is almost over, so we really only have a month to train for it." Yahaba said, looping his arm through the handle of his school bag. 

"I see..." You lightly hummed. Both of you walked to the gym together, but your thoughts were drifting away elsewhere. You couldn't help but revolve your thoughts around Interhigh. 

You bumped into Hanamaki and Matsukawa at the front of the gym. The four of you ended up chatting and walking together into the gym. You noticed that all three of them were slightly distracted as if searching for something. You shrugged it off, not wanting to bother them with questions.

You separated ways with them so that they could head to the locker room. You entered the gym and tried to greet the teammates first. You felt like a nervous wreck, but it felt uplifting. 

You went ahead and carried the bottles outside the building and to the fountains to start your usual task. You rinsed the bottles, filled them with water, and placed them back into the carrier container. Exhaling, you picked up the carriers and walked back towards the gym.

"(L-L/NNN)-SAN!" 

"Uh...!" Surprised at the unfamiliar and shouting voice, you jumped up and whipped your head behind you. 

'W-who?' You furrowed your brows, a gasp of realization striking you. 'The guy from yesterday...' You recognized, remembering the rush to hide with the help of Iwaizumi. You saw two other male students who were just with the sprinting one walk away in the distance. 

Soka halted in front of you, a bit too closely to your discomfort. You shuffled back a few steps and uneasily tried keeping your face together. You tightly grasped on the handles of the carriers, trying not to drop them. You nervously gulped, unsure of what to do or what his intentions where.

"(L/n)-san! Do you remember me?" He asked, a shy and hopeful expression plastered on his face. 

"E-eh?" You blinked your eyes, sweat dropping and paling at the fact that you could not recall this person. "I-I'm s-sorry...?" You looked away and down towards the ground. 

"Ah, I see... Well, we did only speak for a few seconds haha!"

'Speak? I don't remember-'

"You also ran away haha!"

'Ugh...' You bit onto your tongue. 'I remember now. It's the guy I hid from on my first day...' You sweat dropped, remembering the aftereffect of where you were stuck in the storage room and crashed into Iwaizumi. 

"I was hoping to run into you again after that!"

'... Wh-what?' 

"It looks like you're helping the volleyball team. Oh! Are you the manager?"

"Uh-"

"That's a bummer! I play on the soccer team!" 

'He... He won't make room for me to even try to speak...' You winced, unsure of what to do. You obviously couldn't run away again with such odd timing, and you certainly couldn't bring yourself to just interrupt and shut him down. 

"U-um, I-I need-"

"You should watch my matches if you have the time blah blah..."

'I really need to go...' You bit down onto your lip, your brows furrowing in concern and worry. Your stomach churned, and you began to feel rolls of cold sweat roll down. 

"Please go out with me! I like you, (L/n)-sama!" He shouted and bowed his entire upper body.

'Wh-what? Out of nowhere?!' You paled and awkwardly scooted back. His entire conversation beforehand did not match anywhere near to his confession just now. It was oddly timed, but regardless, you didn't like confessions. Love confessions make you extremely uncomfortable and nervous. Yet it was easy to say no to them. 

Confessions made you feel bitter.

"Sorry. I don't even know you..." Your eyelids and gaze dropped down to your feet. The corners of your mouth dipped down.

"Ah, I figured." Soka laughed it off and stood up straight. "I'll take my leave then." He smiled and turned his heels. 

"Hah..." You wiped away at the lasting sweat on your forehead and strongly exhaled. 

Taking a few seconds to collect yourself, you walked back to the gym. Seeing as you have arrived later, the team already jumped into practice. 

You silently watched as they did their drills. A small burning sensation flamed your chest. It continued to grow and grow as your eyes glued onto the court. 

'What am I going to do...?'

-----

"Good job everyone!" 

"Hah... So tired..." Kunimi hunched his back, his eyelids drooping downwards. 

"Interhigh is next month. It'll be here sooner than we will expect it." Matsukawa wiped away at the sweat around his neck, taking the sports drink from you. 

"We can't miss practice! We are going to win them all!" Yahaba grinned with a short laughter.

"That's right!" Oikawa laughed, proudly lifting his nose up to the tall ceiling. "We're going to destroy Interhigh!" Oikawa grinned, clenching his fist.

"Hmm, (L/n)-san. Why were you after school yesterday?" Yahaba asked, his innocent question making you jolt. 

"Were you sick the past couple of days?" Matsukawa tilted his head up and placed his water bottle down. 

"Yeah...!" You vigorously nodded your head. "I-I had a fever!" 

"You look like you're being interrogated." Hanamaki sweat dropped. 

"A fever? Spring fever?" Kunimi raised a confused brow, a quick expression of suspicion and disbelief flashed across his face.

"Y-yeah..." You timidly folded your hands and nodded your head. 

"You should try taking better care of yourself. We can't have our manager out of commission." Iwaizumi turned his heel in your direction, making brief eye contact before you broke away.

"I understand...!" You nodded your head, suddenly feeling more conscious and insecure of worries at the back of your head.

*Ring ring* 

"Whose phone is that?" Kindaichi pointed to a (f/c) colored phone on the bench.

"Oh. That's mine." You blinked your eyes, surprised to hear that you were getting a call. You quickly trotted over to the bench and picked up your phone. You quickly exited the court of the gym and stood in the halls. You didn't feel comfortable talking on the phone in the spacious court with everyone there.

"Hello, dad..." You said into the phone, fumbling with the hem of your sleeves. 

"(Y/n)-san. I got your reports from the doctor yesterday. I should be back around nine o'clock." 

"Today? That soon?" Your eyes widened, not expecting to hear of his arrival. "I-I understand!"

After a couple of minutes on the phone, the call ended. You placed your phone into your pocket and stuffed your hands into the tracksuit jacket. You firmly pressed your lips and casually trotted back into the gym. 

"Oh, (L/n)-san. We're heading out now." Iwaizumi said. His eyes traced your odd and incomprehensible expression, but he didn't find it right to ask you questions right as everyone would be leaving. 

"Alright!" You grabbed your bag and looped it through your arm. You followed the boys out of the gym and walked off campus with them. 

For you, this day was perhaps one of the most pleasant day you have ever experienced in so long. 

A/N

In chapter 6, "mother" was mentioned, but I changed it to a father figure. Sorry for the random change~! :p

8/3/2020