Metanoia [Ushijima x reader]

Chapter 14 : The Long Week Begins...

You repeatedly mumbled as you walk, your body feeling somewhat sluggish as you moved at a snail's pace. Your mind constantly imagining scenarios that would play at your 13th attempt to apply as manager, your speech for later getting more and more nonsensical every time you practiced. No one could really blame you for that, with Ushijima and their team captain, Gin, bluntly turning you down with every attempt; it isn't much of a mystery why your confidence is slowly deteriorating.

A week has passed since that dreaded first day of class where Ushijima singlehandedly spiked your dreams into oblivion. His words breaking your spirit when he identified you as "not needed" without so much as a hint of hesitation or pity in his voice. "I must be a masochist though..." you thought as you walked out of the building with the volleyball club's gym coming into view. Despite hearing ice-cold words and rejections left and right, your stubbornness surprisingly got the best of you allowing you to push your pitiable self to keep on applying though you made sure that your presence at the gym would be kept at its absolute minimum so as not to bother the other members.

You repeatedly let out deep breaths trying your hardest to calm yourself down as you stood in front of the gym. Your hand reached out for the handle when you suddenly heard noise inside. "Did they start already? That's early," you pondered while looking at your wristwatch. Gently, you slid the door open just enough for you to peek through. Placing your hands on the doors you leaned forward, trying your best to catch a small glimpse of what was inside. "I can't see..." you groaned before leaning even closer trying so hard to sneakily peep. Then all of a sudden the door slid wide open.

Gravity began to work. Your eyes gradually widened with each millisecond. You can feel yourself falling but you can't do a thing about it. During this tiny moment, along with the instant realization that your face will high five the floor, you can hear someone yelling "timber!" The wait was over in only about half a second. Your body has now contorted in what seemed like a weird dogeza as you sprawled out on all fours. The pain from your face was just about enough to make you pass out when a sudden yell made you jerk your head up a bit. "YOU'RE LATE!" the voice bellowed.

The echo made by the voice magically made your body sit up, scaring you to the point that fear has overtaken the pain you are feeling from your fall. As your eyes focus to the people inside the gym, you can see an old man probably in his late 60s wearing the Shiratorizawa's VBC official tracksuit, his white hair slicked back and his thick gray eyebrows furrowed looking at you with annoyance. It didn't take you a second to determine who the elderly person in front of you was. Your voice trembled as you spoke. "W-Washijou... Tanji."

"Well? How long are you going to keep gawking? Hurry up and get changed! Practice is starting!" he gruffly said before walking away, his words leaving you dumbfounded as you sat on the gym floors. You picked yourself off of the ground and walked towards the coach. "W-wait! Ummm... Does that mean that I'm...""Not yet," the coach said as he stopped walking. He peered over his shoulder, his gray eyes staring directly into your (e/c)-colored ones as he spoke, "get changed first and I'll explain to you later." You gripped the hem of your jacket happily before bowing respectively "YES!" you loudly said feeling excitement run through you wondering if your stubbornness finally pulled through.

"Finally..."

***

You could feel your body growing smaller by the second. Your face instantly going pale the moment you got back to the gym after you changed your clothes. Your hands tightly held together as you were barely able to hide your fear of the situation. Slowly, you tried to lift your head but you instantly regret doing so. You didn't expect that the difference in height was this great. 20 centimetres is no laughing matter, but you find yourself laughing sadly at how pathetic your 160 height is, compared to their 180... And above...