Perfectionist ✺ Sakusa Kiyoomi

4

𝐂𝐡 𝟒 —— 𝐋𝐨𝐯𝐞, 𝐂𝐡𝐢𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐮

Chiharu shot up like there was a spring under his seat. He quickly set his phone down next to him, having finished conversing with Sakusa. Ignoring the concerned glances of the spectators around him, he gathered his belongings with lightning speed and hurried out of the stands. With speed only comparable to that of his during the middle of an intense game, Chiharu rushed from the end of the first court of the main arena up the stairs to the other side where Court 3 was.

Sakusa had opted to watch the game from one of the balconies on the side of the arena, due to them being slightly less crowded and hence more sanitary. Chiharu spotted the second-year almost instantly. Him being the only one around that was diligent enough to have kept his mask firmly on his face, as well as the only one sporting a flashy neon-yellow track jacket.

Chiharu felt his stomach do several untrained backflips as he jogged up to the second-year. He remembered what his team had collectively drilled into his head last night. Something about "going for it" or "shooting the shot" (they acted as if he were in a do-or-die situation) since it was his final year of high school, and he wouldn't get another chance after this.

Perhaps it wasn't necessarily "do-or-die", but it was definitely an opportunity he needed to grasp right here and now or let it be gone forever. "Once-in-a-lifetime", if you may.

"Kiyoomi!" He chanted, waving his arms in the air. Chiharu paused and noticed that the usual presence of Komori wasn't seen next to the ace. "Hey, where's your cousin?"

"Sh." Kiyoomi shushed him quietly and sharply, eyes trained on the court beneath him. Tiny specs of black and blue were moving on each side of the net. The clear sounds of volleyballs being crisply smashed into the ground were apparent as well. Chiharu was taken aback. Sakusa then pointed a slender finger at Karasuno's side of the court.

"I knew the Kageyama kid was hiding something up his sleeve." Sakusa said as if he were an old fashioned private investigator living in New York. Following the same mysterious tone, he drummed his fingers with a stealthy rhythm on the metal railing.

Chiharu's face scrunched in confusion.

"At All-Japan he called me 'normal' and didn't seem surprised at the elite techniques of anyone else. Turns out he was hiding the existence of Hinata Shoyo behind his outward coldness. Hinata is the secret weapon he was hiding from me." Sakusa explained with scary concentration.

"Come on, I'm sure he wasn't actively trying to hide Hinata from you specifically." the libero slumped his shoulders skeptically.

"You can never be too sure. For now, Kageyama and Hinata are unknown forces. They could potentially crush my team if I'm not careful."

Chiharu crossed his arms, sighing. "See, that's your problem." He said with an obvious expression.

It was Kiyoomi's turn to be confused.

"You think everyone's out to get you. It doesn't make any sense." Chiharu elaborated, "Sometimes you have to accept surprises and accidents. Not everyone has everything planned to a T like you."

"That's tragic to hear, Haru-san." Kiyoomi said sarcastically as his eyes softened.

This was how Chiharu knew that his words didn't hurt Kiyoomi's confidence at all. They were harsh words but spoken objectively as the conversation was falling deep into genuiness and words spoken from the heart. Chiharu liked this about Kiyoomi. The ace was blunt with no sugar-coating, and that trait of his invited Chiharu to get straight to the point as well. Speaking with Sakusa felt as if Chiharu didn't have to search aimlessly in the mist for words that he thought wouldn't be bothersome for the other person to hear because he knew that Sakusa didn't take personally the things he didn't have to.