from the start | ran takahashi

Chapter 8

I sat myself down on one of the bleachers that overlooked the entire court.

Not super close to the players where they're right under my nose.

Or rather on top of my head since they were taller.

I tried to wave at Ran but he didn't see me until one of his team mates pointed it out. He looked at me and gave me a small smile then focused on warming up. His team mates looked at him weirdly but said nothing and just walked away to do their warm ups.

It felt a bit awkward as I just sat there silently.

Soon after, another group came in. They came in wearing white jackets and black shorts. They were very tall, even taller than Ran.

Suddenly, a pair caught my eye. They both looked at me and waved happily.

"Rika!" Matteo's voiced echoed in the arena, making people look at his direction.

I jumped at the voice as I felt embarrassed to be the center of attention.

Yuki slapped the man's arm then waved at me. He smiled warmly as Matteo was wincing, rubbing his arm from Yuki's volleyball slap.

I chuckled.

Yuki motioned me to come closer to them, so I did.

I hugged Matteo first but paused to think if I should hug Yuki as it wasn't in our culture to do so. We both hesitated but ended up hugging, awkwardly. Matteo laughed at the situation, making us laugh at it as well.

"What are you guys doing here?" I asked.

"We're here to play!" Matteo exclaimed.

I tilted my head confused then finally connected the dots.

"Oh, You're having a practice match with them!" I said as I pointed towards Ran's team.

They both nodded and looked at each other, then looked at me.

"Uhh... What are YOU doing here, Rika-san?" Yuki questioned.

As I was about to explain, I noticed a group of people coming over at the corner of my eye. I looked to see Ran and his team mates coming over to Yuki and Matteo's. I stepped back to give them space.

I mouthed a 'Later' towards Yuki and Matteo as they both nodded and focused on Ran's team, Monza.

As I walked back to the seats, I noticed Ran glance at me then shifted his gaze to the other team.

'Weird'

Seating myself back down, I noticed Yuki and Ran talking. They looked at me for a moment then continued talking.

'Uhh what?'

I just shook my head and focused on other things. Looking at the other side of the court, I noticed a tall boy looking at me.

He was taller than Ran. He had a bowl cut making him look like a kid. As a Japanese person, he doesn't look very Japanese.

We kept staring at each other until Ran came in my field of view, almost like blocking the boy from me.

'Ran, I can still see him. You're shorter than the kid..'

I chuckled as Ran gave me a glare, making me awkwardly clear my throat as I looked the other way.

'Well.. This match will be interesting..'

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