After spending most of her childhood in America for 6 years, (Y/N) finally returns to Japan. It has been a long time since she visited Japan, and she wonders if her childhood friend, Sakusa Kiyoomi, remembers her. A memory that can't be forgotten. T...
When Sakusa and (Y/N) walked into the gymnasium, her face contorted in amazement at the display in front of her.
The ceiling was unbelievably high, and there were numerous amount of windows along the wall, letting in a generous amount of natural light, illuminating the gymnasium.
Sakusa told (Y/N) to sit on the bleachers while waiting for his practice to finish. He walked off to the change room and left (Y/N) in her thoughts.
She went to find a seat on the bleachers and watched them set up the nets. The gym seemed big enough to have two volleyball courts, while most other schools were only able to fit one. It was impressive to her.
Sakusa's teammate, Matsushima*, took notice of (Y/N)'s presence and slyly grinned. "I never knew Sakusa got a girlfriend."
Yoneda* finished tying the net up before looking at (Y/N). "Oh, she's the new student in our school. She's already built quite the reputation for herself since half the school knows her name already."
"It's still surprising to see Sakusa's able to get a girl with his personality," they snickered out. "But have you ever seen the amount of love letter he gets every day? I'm jealous of that guy."
Komori, who overheard it, stepped in between them and patted their backs. "Now, now, let's not tease Sakusa about this. You know how he is-"
"Who?" Sakusa walked out the change room, all changed, and with his towel slung over his shoulder. He had heard only a fraction of their conversation but didn't know they were talking about him.
"What about (Y/N)?" His voice rang out, irritated.
"U-Uh, nothing! Let's go practice before coach scolds us for standing around," Matsushima yelped out. He didn't want to irritate Sakusa furthermore and undergo his wrath.
"Okay." With that, they left the conversation to begin practice. They started stretching before starting their drills. They first began with serving drills. The sound of balls bouncing echoed through the gym as balls flew over the net from both directions. After finishing their serves, they began to do spiking drills.
(Y/N) watched with admiration as Sakusa flicked his wrist. His wrist was unusually flexible, making his shots extremely precise.
She watched as someone tried to receive it, only to have it bounce off his arm and out of bounds. His spikes had hard-to-receive spins, and Komori was the only person able to take it on.
As Sakusa spiked, he felt a sudden urge to show-off to (Y/N) and bounced* the ball. He glanced at her for a reaction and to see her face glow in amazement.
Her reaction almost made him smile. He didn't show any form of feedback whenever he scored, but this time, he could feel a tiny bit of his pride spike up. By the time practice ended, everyone was drenched in sweat and out of breath.
"Why does Sakusa seem like he's trying more than usual today?" Yoneda asked Komori. They both were taking down the nets and poles.
"Hm, what do you think?" Komori cheekily smiled.
"Is it because of (L/N)-san sitting over there?" He pointed over to where (Y/N) was with his thumb. She was too busy on her phone to notice.
Yoneda had never seen Sakusa practicing as hard as today since the latter would never use any energy that wasn't needed.
"Maybe," Komori could only reply with a grin before leaving to drag the nets back into the storage room. It was already when practice ended.
The sun sank lower in the sky, the light of day draining away, giving way to the velvety dark of night. Crickets chirping, dusky colours subdued in the fading light, and street lights clicked on.
When Sakusa went to change, he could only think of the reaction (Y/N) gave when she saw him spike. Was he going crazy?
He took great pride in his spikes but never showed much whenever he scores. Sakusa knew that he was one of the top three aces, but when he also knew that (Y/N) was watching, his spikes felt more to him. He placed his sweat-drenched clothes in his bag before putting on his mask and walking out the locker room.
When he got outside, he saw his coach speaking to (Y/N). They both were laughing, but the smile she put on, dazed him. (Y/N) saw Sakusa walk out the change room and waved him over, snapping him out of his daze.
"Good work today, Sakusa," the coach told him before leaving the gym.
Sakusa looked at (Y/N), who was still smiling.
"What did he say to you?"
"Your coach offered me to be a manager for your team," she snickered. "Doesn't that sound great?"
Sakusa raised his eyebrow at her words. "Are you going to accept it?"
"Do you think I should?" (Y/N) brushed a strand of hair off her face and grinned when she caught Sakusa staring.
"It's up to you," he shrugged before walking away, "Let's go now. It's getting dark."
(Y/N) skipped happily beside Sakusa while humming a tune. "Oh, also, congrats on making it to the Kantou Tournament*! I'm sure the team will do well!"
Sakusa snuck a glance at her; usually, someone so bright and bubbly would annoy him, but he enjoyed (Y/N)'s company. It was different to him. It was pleasant to know that someone so dear to him was around.
"(Y/N) as a manager..." he thought to himself. It would mean she would be around more, which he didn't mind. It was better than someone troublesome.
(Y/N) was the only exception he'd take.
─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───
Bounce (volleyball term) - A hard hit straight down.
Matsushima, Hiroyuki (An OC) - 2nd year middle blocker. Despite his playful personality, his instincts are on point, and is another reason for Itachiyama's many points and victories. He has a fast reaction and highly observant (show how he notices (Y/N) while everyone else doesn't or don't care). He gets serious when the game starts. 192 cm. Jersey number: #2
Yoneda, Kou (An OC) - 3rd year wing spiker. He's laid-back but likes teasing once in a while. Like Komori, he looks out for the team. His spikes are powerful (not as powerful as Ushijima though) and can easily blow through blocks. 186 cm. Jersey number: #4
Kantou Tournament (an event that didn't actually happen in the anime or manga) - Usually held at the end of May or the beginning of June. Qualifiers are needed and only the top 12 teams of the prefecture can move onto the main tournament.
50 teams - 12 teams from Tokyo, 6 from Saitama, 6 from Chiba, 4 from Ibaraki, 8 from Kanagawa, 4 from Gunma, 4 from Yamanashi, 4 from Tochigi, and 2 more from the hosting prefecture.
An elimination tournament played over two days. Day 1: First round, Second round, Third round; Day 2: Quarterfinals, Semifinals, Finals. Hosting prefecture changes every year.
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