Chapter Text
The gym is humid, with sweat dripping from all over. Sakusa already feels a creep of fatigue wearing his limbs down and making his eyes feel hollow. His breathing is now ragged after the rigorous game, which is currently going on for three continuous sets with barely any breaks.
But the fight is exhilarating on Sakusa’s skin. His goosebumps rise as he hears another rally from the other side, signifying the start of another round of back and forth with the ball to score and win.
When he looks up, the lights seem blinding, but surprisingly, they don’t hurt him. He licks his lips, feeling their dryness while drenched by his sweat. His shoes squeak a little too loud for his liking, yet it doesn’t bother him as his heart pounds in greater volume for him to even notice. His teammates and those from the other side of the net bark, laugh and yell out so loud he can hear them individually, yet he could care less.
His focus right now is centered on getting the ball to him and hitting it to his satisfaction.
A smile curls to his lips as he hits the ball just right for it to get a score without being out of bounds. He yells out in the proclamation of his small victory that his teammates cheer him on for, may it be a small success it was still something that builds him.
Builds their score greater, that contributes to the team’s morale, and pumps him full of pride.
His cousin, Motoya, greets him with a high-five as they get ready for their place for another start of a rally. Sakusa licks his lips as he eases his joints, cracking his fingers and readying himself to win another set and finish the game with flawless victory.
The game ends with another one of their triumphs, his teammates congratulate him and cheer him for his good hard work in-game as they start to line up one-by-one to shake hands with their opponent.
He locks eyes with grey-chocolate eyes that stare at him sharply, a smile on his lips that promises another match but for their team’s victory. He expects nothing less from the viscous, cunning, vixen-like foxy team of Inarizaki.
“Good game, Sakusa” the guy greets, splaying a tight and strong grip on his which he gladly reciprocates. “Likewise, Miya”.
Miya looks at him with his eyes squinting, his lips in a straight line and his face contorts to one that shows awkwardness. “It would truly be much better if you started calling me Osamu instead, it's uncomfy knowing the fact that I normally share my last name”
Sakusa raised his brows at Miya’s request, after all, it was the first time he’d heard someone be uneasy with calling them by their last name rather than their given name. “Oh? Not comfy sharing last names with your parents?” Osamu only laughs at him as he shakes his head, leading to Sakusa’s clear confusion. “God, no. I have a sister who is also a volleyball player. You’ve probably heard of her. She’s quite viscous on the court.”
You could see the pride and happiness in Osamu’s eyes as he talked about his sister in a smug voice matching the smirk displayed on his lips. This made the curly-haired taller man much more interested. “Really?”
“Yeah, could pro’lly beat yer ass with how competitive she is.” Sakusa chuckles along with Osamu with that statement. It was funny how he mentioned his amazing sister being able to beat him and him being so proud of that fact. Their bond must truly be something special as it is curious to see a normally non-chalant and reserved man boasting about them.
The two bowed their heads to bid goodbye just as their short conversation ended, with both of them going to their respective teams to cool down, clean up, and go home for the day.
“Oh, sorry! Di’nt mean to!” a smooth deep feminine voice uttered after she bumped into him, resulting in her smooth bow before running off to the other side of the court. Her lightened colored hair caught his eye causing him to examine her, to her height then her eyes and her lips…
How could someone, who he has just randomly bumped into, be tugging him like he has a leash connected to them? A force so strong he can't bear to look away.
Light golden-colored hair shines brightly along with the blinding ceiling lights. Her nose is tall. Her eyes were deep and rich in brown, and it wasn’t any shade of brown, it was dark with flakes of gold peeking through when she smiled brightly. Her smile is wide, and full of life. Along with that is her smooth voice that seems to glide like butter.
Sakusa can note down so many more features about her, his intrigue and interest just spiking by the second. This moment was like his wildest dreams coming to life.
Sakusa snapped back from reality when he saw her walking up to Miya and greeting him happily with a teasing voice which resulted in the other one squeezing her head which she yelled and whined about causing Miya to get scolded by their leader as well as punched at his sides by their ace.
Such a scene was interesting to watch for Sakusa, who’s always had a gossip girl essence at heart. So many questions were racing to his head, each one left unanswered by the second.
And it seems that translated to his stare since the blond beauty quickly turned her head to directly face his stare. Her eyes show just as much curiosity as he has.
This caused Sakusa to smirk before letting himself get pulled away by his cousin, whose eyebrows seemed to almost jump to the top of his forehead seeing how Sakusa acted.
“..what the” the girl mutters to herself. “What was that?” she says a bit louder, causing Inarizaki’s number 10’s ear to expand so he quickly pops beside her. “What’s weird?”
The blondie jumps a little at the sudden appearance of Suna Rintaro, quickly slapping his arm before placing it back on her hips. “That guy; is tall, dark, and mysterious. He was staring so much at me and when I finally looked back, he smiled..?”
Suna looked at her perplexed and constipated looking features before laughing at her. “Him? That one? The tall guy with black curly hair?” She nods along while looking at the man Suna is pointing at with his fingers. “Are ya sure, Tsumu? That guy’s barely sociable.”
“Hey! Don’t call me delusional! I know what I saw!” she pouts, now upset at his accusations. “Well, I didn’t say you were delusional, I said it was impossible” he laughs again. “What? You just did!”
Tsumu grunts, turning her body before slamming Suna’s side as she heads towards where her brother is. After talking with Suna-rin, she became more curious about the guys staring at her earlier. And what better way than to annoy the answer out of her dear, beloved, loser brother (said with a loving and sweet voice).
“Samuu” she first calls. “Who was the team you were up against and lost to, again?” a sickly fake sweet smile plastered on her face. It almost felt mocking to him.
“Why are you asking?” his brows forced together like convergent tectonic plates. It looked funny to Tsumu. “Nothing, jus’ curious” her words feigning ignorance to the fact that there was a specific man on that team she was interested in knowing.
Osamu looked at her with suspicion, the way she acts right now truly reminds him of the time when she was egging him on for him to buy her something or ask for a favor.
“What? Why are you looking at me like that?” the two were stuck in silence for a few moments before being broken by Osamu. “Nothing. It was Itachiyama Institute”
Atsumu’s jaw dropped as Osamu did with the bomb. She couldn’t believe that the guy was from Itachiyama. He did seem like the type of guy to have money but he looked sleazy. And Itachiyama? Looking back, the colors do match.
She almost didn’t want to believe her brother’s words. “No, you’ve got to be kidding. That couldn’t…” She stopped her words before she could finish as she started to look back at the guy.
“What’s wrong with you?” The taller sibling coughs at her face looking more constipated than before. “Who was number 10?”
The question made Osamu raise his brows once more. Number 10? Why did that matter to her? And why is she asking so much about Itachiyama’s team anyway?
“Why does that matter?” he laughs at her, trying to act nonchalantly while also being nosy. After all, it wasn’t every day that his sister was interested in knowing someone. But all his questions and tugging(?) have her frustrated. “Just answer the damn question!”
Osamu rolls his eyes at her impatience. “Okay, okay. It’s… Sakusa, I think” he finally gives up, but the answer doesn’t seem to satisfy her enough. “Sakusa? Sakusa Kiyoomi? The ace?”
Now she was confused. Cause what do you mean THE Sakusa Kiyoomi was staring at her back then? THE Ace? The one with the unique flexible wrists?
“Yeah, what’s your point..?” Osamu sassed at her as he took his duffle bag. Atsumu blinks at him, a little loss for words. “Nothing… It’s just weird”
“What is?” Osamu’s question is left in the air as Atsumu just walks away from him, her thoughts floating like his question. “...what?”
But Osamu had to put his thoughts aside because they had to leave and go back to their hotel, he didn't want to be left behind by their bus and be scolded by Kita-san (again).
The boy sighed as he looked to the side and saw his sister’s stuff, which she had just left for him to carry. “That girl…” his head shakes, a frown playing on his face, and his eyes roll in annoyance.
When Osamu finally caught up to everyone, he noticed Kita-san and Aran whispering to each other while side-eyeing his sister. With wonder, he approached the two to ask, “What’s wrong?”
The two older men look back at the grey-haired boy. Aran silently pointed at his sister who looked to be… staring into nothing?
“What’s wrong with her?” he asks, now starting to get worried about her empty-headedness. “We don’t know, we just noticed her being like that ever since getting out of the gymnasium” Aran answers frankly and Kita-san agrees.
Osamu shakes his head at her again and respectfully says to his two upperclassmen to not heed her any mind as she has always been like that when she thinks too much.
The two nod at him and enter the bus to head back and rest for the day. After all, finals were in a few days and they have a free day tomorrow to go around as they please.
But as Osamu handed the Inarizaki’s Women’s Volleyball team’s manager Atsumu’s stuff, he couldn’t help but shoot a worried glance to his sister who still seems out of it.
And Atsumu was, her thoughts filling up her head with no space left to think about what she was doing, where she was, and who she was even with.
The fact that it was Sakusa Kiyoomi was still unbelievable to her. If someone told her that she’d probably scoff at them and tell them off, but she saw it with her own eyes.
She can bet that it must be a joke, a sick play of some sort. Or she could just be delusional? It may be a mental illness she has yet to know about herself.
Now she just sounds crazy.
If it isn’t a joke, does that mean… her beauty has him cracking his neck just to look and eyes locked on her?
It's unbelievable, but hey! It wasn’t impossible.
Atsumu finally sighs, all of the thoughts in her head are finally exhausting her enough for her body to relax. She lets out a yawn. Her eyes feel heavier by the second, so she drifts to her dream.
“Why are you…?” Komori’s voice breaks Sakusa from his reverie.
He stares at his cousin, clear irritation visible on his face. His brows connected, his forehead wrinkled, and he side-eyes him. Komori could only shoot a look of defense in response.
“What’s wrong with you? You’ve been acting so weird after the match with Inarizaki” Sakusa rolled his eyes at the latter. “Nothing, just thinking,” The ace said in a dismissing tone, and Komori just responded by asking what it was about. Sakusa could only sigh, he didn’t know how to explain how he felt and his thought process to his cousin when he couldn’t even straighten it out himself.
It was now Komori’s turn to sigh as he watched his cousin shake his head and drift off thinking by himself again. In these situations, Komori would be worried about Sakusa as he knows that the guy as a big overthinker.
He knew from growing up with him that Sakusa Kiyoomi liked having things organized in an orderly pattern, that’s why when he can't do the same with his thoughts and feelings as he does with his materialistic things, he gets very frustrated and has a mental breakdown.
But what exactly happened earlier that has his cousin in disarray was the only question Komori was trying to answer because that is the biggest factor and clue he has. He couldn’t force Kiyoomi to give him an answer because that would only lead to the taller one shutting him out and only talking to him when he’s finally sorted things through.
And as Motoya said, Sakusa Kiyoomi’s head is muddled. It is in a state of distress. He didn’t know when to start to end. He felt like just shutting down, feeling so overwhelmed by how his mind seemed to be like a tsunami of people talking all at the same time.
Kiyoomi’s last resort is to think about that girl again. Noting down her features that he remembers, her physic and those beautiful golden-brown eyes.
He didn’t think it would do anything, but ultimately, it did help. By focusing on her image, he eventually forgot about the mess in his head.
He smiles as he starts formulating a plan to maybe get closer to her.