fate, destiny, & love

02 | giusto

02

giusto [it.] — just, strict

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"what a great friend you are, letting me fend for myself back there!" quqi huffed as she walked back to the string department's booth, shoving a spoonful of frozen yoghurt into her open mouth.

"sorry, sorry, it was just too funny," remi laughed, completely unapologetic (not even the slightest bit so), spooning a scoop of ice cream of her own, "the way you looked like you were third wheeling? a true chef's kiss moment right there."

"well, thanks for that," quqi grumbled, "anyway, what was that guy's deal? the one with black hair, i mean."

"oh, him?" remi said, speaking through a mouthful of ice cream, swallowing it, then continuing, "you don't know him?"

"if i did, i wouldn't be asking you," quqi replied, giving her a pointed look.

remi hummed, then continued, "well, for one, he's this volleyball prodigy and superstar and he's pretty famous in the volleyball community, ever since junior high." she frowned in thought, then raised her eyebrows upon remembering something, "oh! speaking of junior high, i heard that he had an incident back then."

"and what's this incident that you speak of?" quqi's eyes were focused on her yoghurt, picking a stray chocolate ball using her spoon. to be honest, she was generally uninterested in this incident that remi spoke of, but since she was a sucker for tea, she tuned in and listened anyway.

"apparently he got benched in the final game of his third year? and his team lost in the finals," remi said, the frown back on her face again, "i don't know the details, but i heard it was pretty bad. who knows? it'll be better for you to hear the full story from one of the volleyballers themselves."

the image of the tall volleyballers she had come across popped into quqi's mind, and she shook her head.

"like i know them well enough to talk to them," she snorted, "they're pretty intimidating."

"that's rich coming from you," remi laughed, "you have the worst resting face i've ever come across. well, maybe you'd lose to kageyama in that department. actually, now that i think about it, you guys are really similar in a lot of ways." remi gasped, turning to quqi, "this is actually a match made in heaven!"

"you're delusional," quqi laughed, finishing the last scoop of yoghurt, then disposing the empty and used cup into a nearby trash bin, "let's go warm up for the finale concert."

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"good work everyone," the conductor, suzuki-san said, addressing the horde of students gathered backstage, "have a good break."

everyone whooped and cheered, bowing to one another with choruses of "good work today" leaving everyone's smiling lips.

remi sidled up next to quqi and interlocked arms with her, "need help moving your harp back to the harp studio?"

"yes please," the shorter girl said with a tired smile.

as the percussionists and stage hands went back onstage to move their respective items, quqi and remi followed suit, with quqi grabbing the bulky black sling bag full of spare strings, a tuner, a pair of pliers and a pair of scissors, while pulling the trolley behind her. she was loading the harp back onto the trolley when her eyes spotted a familiar face who was in the almost empty audience.

kageyama.

and of course, beside him was the gingerhead tripper from earlier, and a blonde male.