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"I can't say no if you look at me like that."
“Look at you like what?” Kageyama Tobio asked, head tilted to the side in question and a crease between his brows.
“O-oh no did I say that out loud?!” The tiny blonde first year, Yachi Hitoka, could only barely contain herself from having a breakdown, a collapse due to embarrassment and fright; mortification caused by her lack of brain to mouth filter and fear because the person who she directed her statement at took it upon himself to shake her shoulders and get to the bottom of this, all this with the most sinister looking expression on his face.
“Look at you like what?” As the force and command in his voice increased, so did The Look™ on his feature intensify two-fold and it radiated vibes that he was about to eat her whole if she doesn’t elaborate on what she said.
Yachi wanted to die. And she knew she’d see death loom over her soon the longer Kageyama demanded answers with such vehemence.
Fate thought differently however.
It took only a moment, a ball directed at the Kageyama’s head, before the raven haired boy seized his actions and directed a murderous look at the culprit, Hinata Shoyou, and in Yachi’s current state of mind, Jesus Christ himself.
“Bakegayama! She’s talking about this look!” It amazed Yachi to no end how easily Hinata could impersonate Kageyama, though unlike the other, it didn’t hold the same amount of menace that Kageyama exuded when he made The Look™.
“That’s how I smile, you dumbass!”
“You look like a homicidal crackpot!”
It didn’t even take a heartbeat for Kageyama to release Yachi from his hold and dive at Hinata with such animal-like rage.
Yachi was free. She was finally free from grasp of Kageyama Tobio’s fierceness. And the equivalent exchange for this freedom is the disruption of order. Looking at the two boys fighting before, the panic in her chest began to bloom and the guilt that settled in her gut began to stir; the dominating sentiments within her were only natural since the origin of this chaos began with her, after all.
The increasing volume of their squabble drew the attention of the whole team, who were immediate in their actions to pull apart the the quarreling duo that were getting a little bit more physical in their disagreement. Both boys were adamant, still thrashing as their teammates held them down but one look from their captain was enough put them in their place, sweating bullets and trying to look anywhere but their captain.
“Explain.” A simple enough word from their captain but it held such power and command that told everyone of his current mood-that he was annoyed and displeased. It didn’t help that their captain donned on an intimidating look that could probably make a old grown-ass men piss themselves silly.
Despite the guilt and panic she had, there was a tiny part in Yachi that was quite thankful to the gods above that it wasn’t her being subjected to such a stare. All she could do was watch her friends talk a mile a second, trying to explain the situation and pinning faults on the other person.
The lack of coherency in their words just further agitated their already irritated captain, seen clearly in his features. It was their vice-captain who decided to step in for them less the ticking time bomb that is Daichi Sawamura explode on them.
“Why don’t we start from the beginning?” Sugawara spoke, gesturing to the bright haired teen to go first.
“Kageyama was picking on Yachi! He had this creepy face on and he just started screaming and shaking her like-” Hinata’s hands did some gestures to emphasize his point. Eyes averted to the raven haired boy who, surprisingly, had too much blood rush up to his face and was spluttering in indignation.
“I did not!”
“Did too!
“Did not!”
“Did too!”
“Did not!”
“Did too!”
It was endless. Everyone knew it was a hopeless case when they began. Interrupting their back and forth ‘not’s and ‘too’s was also pointless as everyone knew they’d just round the conversation back to point A.
It was at this point that Yachi felt their questioning looks and she felt the need to bury herself beneath the oldest sands of the earth till she’s sure that everyone involved in this mess was dead.
“Yachi what-” Before Sugawara could even finish, the first year already began detailing the events which led to the whole fiasco in the first place.
“I wasn’t paying attention when Kageyama approached me and offered to teach me how to toss properly and he was scary and I panicked and I’m sorry!!!” By the end of her explanation, Yachi was panting as if she ran a marathon. At the same time, nobody thought they’d say the day that Kageyama Tobio would be red-all over the face, even more flushed than he had been previously, and muttering words under his breath.
“-was interested” he whispered.
“What was that?” Sawamura said.
“I wanted to teach her how to toss properly. She looked like she was interested.” Kageyama repeated, looking anywhere but his teammates. Though his voice held the same stubbornness, the sag of his shoulders was enough to tell anyone his feeling of dejection.
That in itself made Yachi’s insides weigh heavier than plutonium. Yachi Hitoka was many things and one of them is the fact that she’s a person who would make up for her errs. Or perhaps, just someone who is easily crippled by guilt. Either way, those are the reasons that drove her to make up her mind and act.
“K-kageyama-kun, please teach me how to toss properly!” The blonde haired girl bowed before the teen in question, quelling the urge to bolt at feeling the heavy stares of everyone in the gymnasium.
There was a moment of silence, a stillness in the vicinity that made air itself motionless. Yachi at this point, tried to peek at Kageyama, just to see if she needed to buy him a life-time supply of milk and yogurt to atone for her sins, which she was positive she would be doing.
When she looked, however, she wasn’t prepared.
And it wasn’t just her.
Everyone present in that vicinity was sucker-punched when they saw the usually scowling boy with a smile on his features. A genuine smile that wasn’t forced like he tried before, it was one that came naturally when euphoria takes over a person and it was utterly beautiful.
The first bloom of spring, God’s grace, angel kisses, and many more words Yachi could use but wouldn’t because there were no actual words that would do justice to describe what she has now dubbed as The Smile™. All she knew was the happiness that smile held-it was infectious and it made her feel light and that has been forgiven.
“Let’s start from the basics!” Kageyama said, try as he could to hide this, his enthusiasm was evident, especially so when he pulled Yachi a long by the wrist hurriedly and guided her to the emptier part of the gym with Hinata in tow, asking them to wait for him.
When all was back to how it was, the crowd dispersed and the members went back to fulfill their usual routine. The only people who did not move from their spots were Sawamura and Sugawa. Both the Captain and Vice-Captain of the club held contemplative looks, the quiet permeated between the two. It was Sugawara who broke the silence first.
“What was that?” were the words that came from his mouth.
“A miracle, obviously.” Sawamura replied.
A moment of lull passed by.
“Do you think we’ll see it again?” Sugawara wondered to which Sawamura simply snorted in response.
“When the planets align.” Sugawara sighed.
“When the planets align.”