Gold || Oikawa Tooru x Reader

Chapter Twenty-One: Breathing Confidence

The morning of the finals started at five o'clock in the morning for (F/n). She was supposed to be at school by 7:30. She'd woken up two hours too early.

She looked through her window. It was still raining. She wondered if the team would be able to keep warm in weather like this.

"Ah, whatever. May as well go to school soon." She muttered to herself, gritting her teeth and sitting up from her bed. She blindly grasped for her phone, then carefully went to go turn on the light.

She got dressed quickly, having showered the night before and having no need to do so again. Brushing and flossing her teeth, combing down her hair, all the basic morning things were done.

She went downstairs quietly, to make sure she didn't wake her mom and dad, and possibly her brother if he'd decided to stay over.

She poured herself some cereal, and got a glass of orange juice, then sat at the dining room table to eat.

She listened to the rain patter outside.

This was it.

Her team either went home today in tears or advanced in triumph. There was no in between.

"I heard you on the phone last night." Her brother said, appearing in the doorway. (F/n) nearly fell from her chair.

She let out a small sigh of relief when she didn't fall, then shot him a glare. "Dude! Watch yourself! You scared the hell out of me!"

He ignored her yelling with a smirk. "Were you talking to your boyfriend~?"

She let out a huff. "We both know that I'll be forever alone. Are you having breakfast or not? I'm leaving in about fifteen minutes."

"Aren't you bussing to the finals at seven thirty? It's nearly six thirty." He pointed out, heading back into the kitchen and pouring himself some cereal.

"Yeah, but I woke up early." She sighed, sipping on her orange juice. "Besides, the boy's team should be practicing around seven, so I'll warm up with them. And I need to check on their captain."

"That guy with the scary serve?" He asked, sitting across from her. She nodded, munching on her cereal. "I've seen him in those Volleyball Monthly magazines. He's a pretty popular guy."

"He's a little broken up from his loss to Karasuno." She sighed. "I called him last night to comfort him. And yeah, very popular. Girls are surrounding him every day. I wouldn't be surprised if he missed my match because girls are holding him up."

(B/n) chuckled. "Well, at least Hajime and I will make it."

"That's all I need."

The two smirked at each other, then finished their breakfasts quickly. After cleaning up, the female captain began slipping on her shoes, taking an umbrella from a basket by the door.

"Good luck. Do your best." Her brother called, and she nodded, slinging her bag over her shoulder and stepping outside, setting her umbrella up and walking to school.

"OI! (F/N)!" Daichi's voice carried through the sound of the rain, and the male captain jogged up to her.

She smiled at him. "Looks like we'll both be going to the finals."

He nodded. "Looks like we are. Wanna make any bets?"

"Whoever wins gets ice cream." She announced, and he laughed. The shook hands to seal the deal. "Oikawa was very torn up about losing. I was up 'till midnight giving him one of my captain speeches."

"Really?" Daichi scratched the back of his neck with a guilty smile. "Sorry about that."

"It couldn't be helped. I got my uncle to record the game for me. You guys were brilliant!" She beamed. "And Yama-chan has improved so much! Everyone's expressions when he did the serve was priceless!"

They chatted more about the games as they walked, sharing the umbrella she had. They also confided in each other about anxiety and imperfections. By the time they had to go their separate ways, they were almost breathing out confidence, which would surely help their teams.

She ran up the school steps, closing her umbrella and stuffing it in her bag before entering the school, her chest swelling and squeezing with both nervousness and excitement.

As she went down the hallway, people began wishing her good luck for the games, to which she'd nod and smile.

She quickly changed into her uniform in the changing rooms, pulling on her knee pads and slipping on her volleyball shoes. She went to the gymnasium doors and slipped inside, motioning for the coach to be quiet. It was easy for her to go in unnoticed because the boy's were practicing.

They were all clearly upset. When they spiked, it held so much frustration and power. When they served, almost three quarters of them hit the net or just barely made it over. Oikawa was the only one who could get it cleanly over the net.

She watched from the corner of the gym while she was tying her shoelaces. She let out a small sigh, crossing her legs and just observing for a little while. It wasn't long until the third year girls on her team found her.

They were already in uniform, so they went to go join her, piling their sports bags at the door and sitting beside her.

They didn't talk to each other. They just watched their male counterparts let out their anger the only way they seemed to know how.

Finally, (F/n) had enough, standing up and skirting around the court to where Oikawa was practicing his serves. Before he could go after the ball he tossed up, she grabbed his wrist, making him freeze.

The moment the ball bounced softly to the floor, the boy's turned to look at their captain. That was the first time since they began practice that they heard a ball land like that.

"Oikawa." The female captains voice was assertive and harsh. "Do you really think it's a good idea to do this to yourself and your team?"

The captain's breath hitched, and he looked down, a shadow falling over his eyes. His back was still facing her. He didn't want to face her.

"When you're a captain, Oikawa," Her voice shook the tiniest bit, "you have to be there for your team. You're the one who they aspire to be. You're the one who motivates them. You push them to do their best." Her grip tightened on his wrist. "Pushing all your anger and frustration as a captain out onto them is unfair."

She glanced at her third years, who stood up and went to go join the male team. Arata dragged two of them off the court to wrap up their fingers, which they'd busted from blocking and spiking.

"Tooru." She knew the use of his first name would grasp his attention, and it did. "You influence your team, whether you're aware of it or not. They themselves might not even know it. Pushing your anger onto them won't solve anything. It won't help them improve."

He sucked in a breath, and she dropped his wrist. "You should go and rest, Oikawa. I'll buy you all ice cream after the finals."

With that, she gently pulled him back from the court, before jogging over to her cousin and hugging him, before lecturing him on how wrong his previous spike was.