Chapter Text
"So, tell me a bit about yourself, Ran. Why are you here?"
"It's a long story, ma'am. I don't even know where to start."
"How did it all begin?"
"Well, there was this new guy..."
————-3 months ago————-
It wasn't new for any of them to welcome new players. With the VNL season approaching, it was more important than ever to look for outstanding players and recruit them.
However, the second Yuki laid eyes on the tall, brown haired opposite hitter, he had some sort of bellyache.
If it weren't for Philippe, Yuki would not have even talked to the newcomer.
As soon as the coach started speaking, everyone else shut up. Their attention was solely focused on Philippe and the slight taller boy. "This is Neo Yamozu. You can introduce yourself, I reckon." Neo nodded, flashing them a bright smile. "Hi, my name is Neo, I am 23-years old and mainly play as an outside hitter. Thank you for giving me this chance and I am hoping to be able to contribute to the game results with my skills."
He emitted passion. His smile was big and full of joy. Yuki had to admit to himself that the boy looked kind-hearted.
Once they had all finished applauding, their head coach spoke again. "Alright, let's begin with our regular warm-up."
Said warm up included five rounds of running around the court, stretching every part of your body while talking to someone else (the usual line up was Akihiro - Onodera; Yuji - Kento; Ran - Yuki; Yamamoto - Ogawa), throwing the ball into the air and catching it, which was followed by practicing as a whole on the court with talking about new tactics and possible ideas.
Two hours in, one more to go. In the last hour all of them split into groups, those groups depended on the position they played.
For Yuki it was position two, outside hitter. Normally, he would warm up with Ran. This was not the case today, though.
Because Philippe had approached him with the sweetest smile and the new boy next to him, the captain couldn't say no. Also the reason he ended up being in a team with Neo. The younger still gave Yuki a weird vibe and he simply did not know why.
Ran meanwhile warmed up with Tatsunori. But not all of his attention was directed at the ball. One would talk about luck that the older missed by a few millimeters.
"Ran- Ran, are you okay? What is up with you?" He shouted, picking up the ball that Yuki threw back at him. The addressed snapped out of it, slapping himself on the cheek as if trying to wake up. "I am sorry, a bit out of it. Must have not slept too well." He apologised, bowing slightly. The older did not really buy it, but he did not deem it necessary enough to question him further.
-
Yuki could not tell why he had thought about Neo the way he had. Throughout the whole practice, the younger received balls relatively well, listened to feedback and applied it. He had the talent to become a great player.
-
"R-Ran! Ran, wait!" Neo was chasing after him. His backpack was bouncing from one shoulder to the other, shoes still untied and sweat drenched sport clothes still on. As he approached, Ran could start making out an object in his teammates' hand.
Was it his? No he had made sure- "You are such an idiot! Waiting for a bus, but forgetting your wallet and bottle of water? Say thank you." Ran laughed shyly, Neo handed him his stuff. He proceeded to smile at him just as carefully. "Thank you, Neo." "No problem. I don't want you to suffer because of thirst on your way home, water is important after such a workout." He laughed.
A car approached, headlights blinding the two. Ran noticed how the other squinted his eyes. Then he suddenly shot up, excitedly waving at Ran. "Bye, bye Ran. See you tomorrow." And he immediately got inside the car, shutting the door behind himself. The new boy was gone within the blink of an eye.
Another snicker left the 21-year-olds mouth. He didn't know why he had been so absent the whole day, but blaming it on the lack of sleep was probably the best. Ran knew he had nothing to be worried about.
He finished the bottle just in time as the bus arrived.
-
Wednesday. He woke up feeling like absolute shit. His head was screaming at him every single time he moved just the slightest. Within the blink of an eye, three coffees down.
Ran still felt tired. He was exhausted. It could not be from the matches recently and not from a lack of sleep. Twelve solid hours of sleep stored in his body. That could, on some occasions, be enough for four to five days.
The athlete leaned onto the kitchen counter, resting his head on his palms. A deep sigh. A phone ringing.
Trying to blend it out had no use. Every time it stopped, it started again not even five seconds later. The second Ran looked at the screen, he wished he would have never ignored the calls. It was like his heartbeat increased by a thousand percent.
"H-" "Ran, where the hell are you? Training started almost an hour ago and you still set no foot into this building!" Yuki shouted through the speaker, voice angry with a dangerous vibe to it.
"W-What? We don't have practice yet, its- " He flicked his watch, taking a close look at the displayed time. Oh fuck. "I will be there, Yuki. I will be there in fifteen minutes. I will hurry." "You better." Yūki immediately hung up. A short, stunned moment of silence later and Ran was panicking, running around his apartment to try and find his bag. Five minutes till the bus arrives. Two, and he was out the house.
His hair was not even combed through, slippers on and mask dangling from his ear while he sprinted to the bus stop to try and catch the bus.
-
A loud snort echoed through the room. Masahiros', to be exact.
But the sight really was something.
The youngest among them was standing infront of the door, sweating purposefully. Red, checked sweatpants, a baby blue shirt and some black slippers was what he wore.
Phillips looked at him with raised eyebrows while their analyst furrowed his. Yuki just hid his face, embarrassed and Yuji tried his best not to laugh. However, he did not manage to stop a few snorts from escaping.
Still breathing heavily, Ran pointed somewhere near the exit and slurred something along the lines of: "Sorry, wasn't feeling well and totally forgot the time." Instead of sympathy, all he got was: "Go ahead and change. We are done watching the plays. You will have to say behind and study the board as you missed one hour already and I won't explain everything again. When you are done, go grab a ball and join the others." On queue, all of them got up and left, Ran disappearing in a nearby changing room.
-
Yuji observed his friend throughout the entire training. Ran really did not look well. His face was white as a wall and he constantly massaged his temples. A headache, if he had to guess.
Sure, he played just as good as always, but that didn't mean the other was any less worried. Twenty minutes left and they were done.
"Four!" Yuji shouted, jumping and spiking the ball right at the middle of the court, scoring. "Open your eyes, Neo! If you really want to play outside hitter, you need to be able to receive such a spike! Look at Ran, he manages to do that with even more aggressive spikes! Focus or Tatsunori is replacing you." Philippe shouted angrily. The coach gave him the cold shoulder immediately afterwards and instead sipped on his water bottle. The analyst was pointing at something drawn on a sheet of paper.
Neo crumbled, apologizing quietly. Yuji and Ran looked at each other, the latter raising his eyebrows to signalize his shock. All of them noticed how sad Neo looked, even Yuki seemed to feel bad for him. The captain wanted to say something. Wanted to.
Now Philippe instructed them to start playing again, eyes fixated on the player stats in his hands.
-
Five minutes left.
Shouting everywhere, even though the energy visibly started to fade. The ball was received by Tomohiro, set by Masahiro and spiked by Yuki. Shoma received it.
As the ball flew through the air, Taishi noticed how Neo started approaching with the three step-technique. His steps were fast and confident, eyes flashing red. He seemed angry. But Taishi knew that he was supposed to pass him, not to think about the aura the newcomer gave off.
His eyes, on the other hand, were not even fast enough to catch sight of what happened after Neo spiked the ball. All he could hear was it making contact with something. It wasn't the floor, that was for sure. Something softer.
His assumptions were proven correct as soon as soon as he turned around.
Ran was laying on the floor, shielding his face with his hands. There were no cries. But his body was tensed up and chest falling quickly. Yuki, Masahiro and Yuji already kneeled next to him. There were soft mumbles.
Taishi, as soon as he took the situation in, ducked under the net and ran to his friend. Ran's face was red and already swollen, nose bleeding heavily. He was swaying from left to right when he finally managed to stand up and walk. Needless to say, he was not allowed to continue playing.
Ran had closed his eyes while waiting for the practice to end, taking an aspirin and pain killer that Yuki had handed him. Even their coach apologized and allowed him to go home instead of having to study the board. However, Neo did not say sorry. Not once did Ran even receive a look of pity.
Akihiro, who had been sitting next to Ran, could have sworn that he saw a grin on the youngers face. But it wasn't his time to say anything or judge him. Maybe it was truly just an accident that Neo did not know how to handle.
-
"Are you sure that you are fine, Ran?" The named had lost count of how many times Yuji had already asked him that very question. Probably more than a hundred times and that only accounted for the timespan after leaving the gym.
Ran was starting to get annoyed, but he did understand the concerns, partly even grateful as it showed that the slight older cared about his well-being. So he answered calmly. "I am, Yuji. Really. The aspirin really helped and I am feeling a lot better now. See, the nosebleed also stopped. Gonna be in top shape tomorrow again and absolutely destroy Canada. Believe me, I never lie to you."
He did have a point, Yuji had to admit that. A nod, followed by a friendly warning. "If I notice you even swaying the slightest or whatever during the game, I am personally gonna call your brother to pick you up and take care of you. Believe me, Ran Takahashi, I am not playing around." They laughed, Ran playfully hitting him on the shoulder.
"Okay, dad. Now, if you mind shifting your attention to the car just five meters away from us, you will notice a woman waving at you. And if you take an even closer look-" "Alright, I get it. I am gone then." "Bye, lovebird. See you tomorrow." Ran watched him get into the car and disappear out of his line of sight.
-
"We need to celebrate this, come on. Three days break, eight consecutive wins and winning against Brazil. Let's all have dinner together. Bond a bit. We don't really talk to one another and I barely know the nine of you. I know you are like the 'top players' and all, but I would really appreciate getting to know you better." Neo stated, looking at the people next to him.
The nine of them had been sitting together on the floor after practice had ended, catching up a bit when Neo had arrived and asked them out for dinner. To be honest, no one wanted to go out. Some because it was already late and others 'cause they simply did, personality wise, not match.
Not even Masahiro, who has always been a master in finding excuses, managed to find a way out. Going out it was then.
-
Akihiro desperately wanted to go home. He wanted to sleep, watch TV, do anything if that meant being away from here. Maybe someone would call him and he could use that as an excuse to disappear. He wasn't the biggest fan of social interactions anyway, so this was just not it for him. To his misfortune, the dinner lasted for almost two hours. Two hours of complete awkwardness, only Tomohiro, Kento, Taishi, Yuki, Masahiro and Tatsunori warming up to Neo.
Yuji, Ran and Akihiro somehow did not manage to. Maybe because the latter did not even want to be here in the first place and was therefor closed off.
-
It was almost 10pm when a soft voice spoke up. One that had not said anything for the entire evening. "I will head home now, starting to get tired and I promised to call my mom today." It was Ran who was now getting up from his seat.
However, when he was about to grab his jacket, Neo stood up as well. "I will lead you outside. After all, I am your host and you are the guest. One needs to take care of his guests, am I right?" He laughed, receiving nods from the others. After saying goodbye to everyone, Ran left the restaurant with Neo trailing behind.
It was cold outside. The wind stung and it smelled like rain was about to fall.
The younger straightened his collar, eyes searching for a taxi. Neo still stood next to him, taking a few glances at him. Suddenly, Ran faced his direction, making eye contact. He awkwardly laughed. "Ran, I am sorry about recently. I should not have hit you in the face or should at least have apologized." "It's fine, really. Happened to me too. Nothing to worry about." "I am curious though: Do you really think you are so much better than me, Ran Takahashi?"
Now this, this was completely unexpected.
Ran's eyes widened. Taken aback, He turned to Neo, a shocked expression on his face. "I am sorry?" "Act like you are surprised. You look down on everyone. Ever since I joined the team, you've been hating and ignoring me." That left the younger completely stunned. Did he really act like that?
"I am sorry, I did not want to make you feel this way, Neo. Really. I will try my best to change that." Ran did not receive an answer to that statement, just a 'you sure?' Look, before the other opened the door to the restaurant and left without saying another word.
The first rain drops started to fall. A taxi sign appeared in Ran's line of sight.
The raindrops that hit him did not bother in the slightest. Ran just stood there absolutely confused and taken aback.