Diving Deep (requests closed)

Sugawara - Contact Me

I sat there, feeling the hot tears roll down my cheeks, my breath coming in large shuddering gasps as I finally let everything out that I had been holding in all day. I'd tried so hard, wanted this so much I could almost taste it and being denied like that hurt more than I wanted to admit to anyone. Thus why I had waited until I was halfway home, sitting under a tree with my knees pulled up and my face buried in my hands in a park people seemed to forget was there.

Maybe if I sat here long enough and cried it all out, I could go home and pretend it hadn't mattered to me, that it hadn't effected me this much. Maybe after a while, I could even trick myself into believing that.

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It took weeks before I could pass the gym without feeling my eyes start to burn, hear the sounds of the ball spiking into the wood floor without wincing each time, or listen to the sharp squeak of shoes as players hurried to reach the ball without feeling the need to run.

Months had passed before I actually stopped and listened to the sounds from the gym, wishing I could be in there with them and taking part in their practice. Taking another step closer to the door, I couldn't help but peek in, watching the ball fly through the air from one person to the next before being spiked down at the feet of the tall blonde in the back row.

"He still needs to work on his receives, don't you think?" I jumped at the sound of the calm voice from next to me, slowly turning my head to meet deep, mocha-colored eyes that I almost felt myself sinking into.

Blinking a few times, I finally managed to look beyond those eyes and take in the face of Sugawara-senpai from among the third year class 4. I'd seen him in the halls and knew he played volleyball but I had to wonder how I had never noticed his eyes before. Were they always so easy to get lost within? How come I had never heard any of the other girls commenting on those eyes?

"Hey, are you okay? You're not sick or anything are you? Should I take you to the nurse's office?" I felt a warm hand suddenly being held against my forehead and pulled back in shock, my face quickly turning red like the candied cherries I loved to eat.

"I'm f-f-fine!" I froze when I saw his eyes widen, getting a sudden chill down my spine before spinning around in place.

There he was, his lips pulled down in a frown as he stared at me, a clipboard in his hand.

"I was wondering how long it would take for you to show up. You cut it pretty close, ya know. Now get inside, you have work to do." Bewildered, I could only stare back at him as he began pulling me inside the building, far too confused to even put up a fight.

"What do you mean work to do? Hey, just because you gave me a free ice cream a few months ago, doesn't mean you can expect me to be free labor for you, Ukai-san!" I was starting to get a bit louder with each word, only quieting down when I noticed the group of boys inside all staring at me with different looks on each face.

Blushing even darker than before, I looked over at Sugawara-senpai as I bit my lip, hoping he didn't think I was some kind of crazy person for shouting like that. To my relief he was looking at me with a cheerful grin on his face.

"Is this the person you had mentioned?" He asked, looking at Ukai-san.

"Yeah, yeah, this is her. She didn't make the girls team for some stupid reason, so I decided to snag her for ours instead. She loves the sport, knows more than enough to be useful and I'm sure she'd be willing to learn the rest as she goes." A quick glance between us had him adding one more sentence. "Especially if you help teach her I bet, right Sugawara?"

I felt like I could burst into flames with how hot my face was after he finished talking, Sugawara's face flushing a bit red as well. With both of us flustered messes, words refusing to come out, we finally gave up and just stood there fidgeting nervously as a few of the boys started snickering in the background. Finally, Sugawara cleared his throat and looked at me, his eyes wide but gentle looking.

"I'd be happy to teach you, (y/n)-chan. If you'll join us, that is. I mean, you don't have to if you don't want to but it would be really nice if you did, you know?" His flustered words made my heart warm as I couldn't stop a confused smile from growing on my face.

"Umm, I do have one question before I make my decision. Err... What am I supposed to be doing, since this is the boy's team and I'm a girl?" I rubbed the back of my head, not even caring that I was messing up my hair.

"Oh! You're training for the manager position! You'll start out as assistant to Kiyoko, but you will be taking over next year when us third years graduate!" He tried to keep his voice happy, but I could hear the underlying sadness at the idea of leaving the team, even if it was to move forward in life.

"I see. I'll take the position on one condition." I couldn't even continue before I heard people making comments on how I dared to have a condition to joining.

"What is your condition?" Sugawara asked, ignoring the others around us.

"I want the contact info to all the third years who are currently on the team, so that next year and the year after that, I can share information on how their team is doing. I know if the situation was reversed, I would hope someone would do the same for me. I mean, unless none of you want to be contacted..." I trailed off in embarrassment as I began looking at the ground, twisting the toe of one foot into the floor as I stood there.

I could almost feel the silence pushing down on me as I stood there, my heart starting to sink in my chest, until suddenly a pair of arms wrapped around me. My eyes widening as I looked up, I was met with the smiling face of Sugawara-senpai, his brown eyes shining as they reflected the light from overhead.

"I'll be happy to trade my contact info with you! Hearing from you about how the team is doing next year would be nice. But is it okay if I talk to you and hang out this year first, instead of waiting until next year? I think I would like to get to know you better, before I'm not able to talk to you as easily as I can this year..." The third year boy blushed again when he heard his team-mates chuckling in the background, before the other third years began gathering close, explaining how happy they would be to keep in touch with how the team was doing from a manager's point of view.

After officially joining the team as assistant manager, I stayed and watched through the rest of practice. Afterwards, having helped the team clean up, I stood at the gate and watched as the team began making their way to Ukai-san's market for meat buns. Just as I was about to turn and head home myself, I found myself looking into the same deep brown I had nearly lost myself in earlier today.

"Aren't you going to join us, (y/n)-chan?" For some reason, the soft voice he questioned me with caused a shiver to race down my spine as I began sinking further into his eyes.

"Are you sure it's okay? I mean, I only joined the team today. Shouldn't I wait until after I have been with you guys for a while before I-" He stopped my words with a simple smile, my heart skipping a beat as my mouth shut with a soft snap.

"You are a part of this team, whether for a couple hours or the whole year, you are just as important to me. I mean to the team! So of course you are welcome to join us. But if you really don't want to go with us, can I at least walk you home?" The barely visible hint of pink on his cheeks had me nodding before my brain even had a chance to kick in.

"I'll go with you all. But if you still want to walk me home afterwards, I wouldn't say no..." I smiled and pretended I didn't see him cheer quietly to himself as he pumped his fist like he'd won a match.