Physical Attraction | Sakusa Kiyoomi

43.

She was standing with her back to me. Her petite back covered by her soft curls. Far too briefly, I saw her pretty face as she quickly turned to the side to show her counterpart something. Far too far away for me to follow the conversation. Even if I wanted to, it was just too loud around me to listen to her.

My gaze wandered down to her legs. She had lost weight. Not much, but enough for it to be noticeable. While I probably only watched her for a few seconds it felt like hours. My ears were numb while my eyes tried to take in every inch of her body, facial expressions, and gestures.

Lately, I saw her far too infrequently.

"OMI-OMI!"

Miya's loud call snapped me out of my trance. Normally, I would have looked at him annoyed. However, we were right in the middle of a game in which I was drifting off, as I had been doing so often lately.

Therefore, I looked at the blond setter not annoyed, but startled. Not only because he had snapped me out of my thoughts, but because he tossed the ball straight to me. However, I reacted much too slowly. Before, I could even raise my hand, the ball was already threatening to fall next to me.  If it hadn't been for Inunaki behind me, who intercepted the ball, allowing Hinata to smash it into the opponent's side.

The shrill whistle announced our victory over the first set, which we managed to win with great difficulty, obviously not because the opposing team was too good.

My carelessness almost contributed to our defeat. Even though this was just a practice game with a team that had traveled to practice for the upcoming tournaments.

"Hey." Meian patted my sweaty back as we walked toward the benches to take a short break. "What's wrong with you?"

"Save your questions." I knew what my captain was getting at. I didn't just start playing like crap today. We had almost lost the set due to my lack of concentration.

Tch. What an embarrassing victory.

I felt his insistent gaze and his silent question. However, he chose not to say anything. After several futile attempts the last few weeks, he had realized I wasn't going to give an answer to his question, so instead he said, "You should get some rest. Clear your head."

Sure. Clear my head. I hadn't been able to clear my head for a month.

A month had passed since my argument with Arisa. A month in which we hadn't exchanged a word. No greetings, no formalities, nothing. Not a single word.

"Dammit Omi! What was that about? You blew my perfect serve!"

Exhausted, I dropped onto the bench where towels and water bottles were already waiting. Tired, I looked at the more-than-annoyed setter, who grabbed a bottle before starting to drink aggressively out of it.

"Sorry about that," I muttered, which apparently surprised Miya so much that he coughed, taking the bottle from his mouth, half of the water splashing on the floor. Gross.

"It's okay," he said with slightly red cheeks, visibly touched by my apology. I was surprised at this myself. However, I knew how proud Miya was about his serves, and he certainly had the right to be. He was an excellent setter and my inattention had offended him.

"Don't screw up again next time," he added quickly before turning his back to me to continue drinking from his bottle. His ears that suddenly went up a bit, however, revealed that he was grinning.  Morons were really easy to impress and make happy.

Normally, I would have given Miya a different answer. However, under normal circumstances, I wouldn't have missed a toss either.  At the moment I had other things to worry about than dealing with Miya. So an apology was the easiest thing to do.