Work Text:
“Come on! Please, please, please?” Shiho’s voice was reaching highs Ann wasn’t aware were humanly possible.
“Do I have to, Shiho? You know I know nothing about volleyball.” she tried to defend herself.
“Oh come on Ann! You don’t have to be an expert to watch a match! And besides, it will be fun!” she said with a cheery voice, and how could Ann resist that?
“Fine. Only because it’s you.”
“Yay! I knew I could count on you!” she said and casually kissed her on the cheek.
Now, any other person would think nothing of this act, but not Ann. As she’s standing there, frozen in place, thinking how she’ll never brush her cheek ever again, she motions her hand towards it. No, she shouldn’t touch it. She’ll ruin the mark of the kiss.
Shiho was probably long gone by now, but Ann was unable to even move her legs. What if she tripped and fell right on her cheek? Now she couldn’t have that happening. And so, she did what she thought was the reasonable thing in this situation.
Anxiously grabbing her pocket and tapping with tension, she spoke.
“Ryuji? Hey, I need you to pick me up right now.”
“Did somethin’ happen with Shiho again?”
“Maaaybe…”
“Comin’.” he said, resigned from previous experiences.
Ann closed her phone, and that was when she realised her mistake. She had put her phone on her cheek while speaking with Ryuji.
“NOOOOOOOO!” she shouted desperately.
The day of their…outing was finally here, and Ann was beyond excited. She tried to get ready as slow as possible; time passed like honey, and she needed to occupy herself instead of pacing around as a pile of restless trash.
She stood in front of her mirror, putting on makeup (yes, she cleaned her cheek despite her original plans), and she stared. She wasn’t really that nervous, only enthusiastic. She had a good feeling about this.
She wasn’t very familiar with anything volleyball, not even the basic rules. She was willing to learn more about Shiho’s interest though.
Sitting up abruptly from her stool and definitely not knocking out her make-up bag and spilling everything inside on the floor, she made her way out.
The hubbub around them was very distracting, and Ann couldn’t help but wonder how her friend could concentrate with all this noise. People took every chance to start shouting either incomprehensible syllables or catchy, and mostly kind of stupid slogans. The slogans were mostly directed towards the opposite team, and they were not at all flattering.
So when Shiho shouted along with some of them, she couldn’t help but eye her with a teasing expression before letting her body shake with endless laughter.
“How is this cheering the team on? Everyone’s just offending the opposite team!” she asked Shiho during a break.
“Honestly? The point is just to make a mess. Every different crowd is shouting different things anyway.” she explained.
Yeah, that made sense. She couldn’t understand what her own brunch of the stadium was saying, let alone the ones further from her.
The match went on, and Ann’s ear might be about to fall off, because if she hears another “Oooooooh” yelled every time someone serves, she might serve them something of her own. Or she hoped she could, because she wouldn’t do that. At least not in front of Shiho. And especially not when she was “oooh”ing at a player herself right at this moment.
And seeing Shiho’s excitement as she awaited to see the results of the throw, she couldn’t help but shout right along with her. She gave it her all, and she had to admit, it was a cathartic experience.
Glancing at her friend’s devious expression, she came to the realisation of her grave mistake. Shiho wouldn’t let her forget this. Sweating bullets, she smiled anxiously before saying, “not a word.”, her finger on her mouth. Shiho’s eyes never gave up their mischief, to her unfortunate fate. She’ll make sure no one else hears about this, especially a certain someone named Ryuji Sakamoto. She might have let Shiho drag her in a match, but she was the exception.
Shiho’s response was a giggle, her eyes closing in a kind way, and Ann saw right through her irony. “Don’t give me that! I know you’re planning something.”
“Me? Why would I plot anything against my best friend?” she said, even more threateningly.
Ann gave up all hope.
The match continued, and even though the cheers got louder by the minute, Shiho got quieter instead. Ann couldn’t help but observe her; she was more interesting than the match, at least in her opinion. Shiho would probably disagree, judging by the intensity of her gaze. This must be a very critical moment, but Ann couldn’t get her eyes off her friend.
That moment, she realised just how passionate Shiho is about volleyball. She admired the look she was wearing on her face currently, trying her best to remember it. Anyone would be lucky to fall under such a meaningful gaze.
Ann smiled at herself, and she felt a very sudden wave of reassurance, which resulted in her blurting out, “This is a date, right?”
For a moment, she regretted the words ever leaving her mouth, and relief took over her body as she assumed her voice didn’t reach her, but then Shiho’s head turned slowly, making eye contact with her.
“It is? I mean, it is. If you want it to be, that is.” she struggled to speak, and despite the crowd cheering at- something that if she paid attention to the match wouldn’t have any difficulty knowing, could hear her very clearly.
Shiho smiled before saying a heartfelt “Yes.”
And then they both started laughing. Hysterically.
“How,” Shiho tried to speak in between laughs, “How did it take us so long to admit that?”
“Right? It couldn’t get any gayer, honestly.”
Of course they had circled around each other for a while, but it all seemed so distant. And now, with a simple question, the air has been cleared up.
“I’m so happy.” she said and grabbed her hand. Who cares about the thousands of people around them? She definitely does not, not when this is finally happening.
“H-hey, don’t do anything reckless, there’s people watching.”
“What, I can’t kiss my girlfriend? And besides, everyone’s too absorbed by the match to notice.” she smiled but didn’t lean in before Shiho said it was okay to do so.
“Hmph. You’re right, this is a good match!” she said, blushing. “Wait…”
“What is it?”
“The match! I didn’t get to watch the best part!” she appeared to be grumpy, but Ann knew just how happy she was instead.