𝑇𝐻𝐸 𝐶𝑂𝑁𝐶𝐸𝑃𝑇 𝑂𝐹 𝐵𝐸𝐺𝑈𝐼𝐿𝐼𝑁𝐺 ┊ 𝐻𝐴𝐽𝐼𝑀𝐸 𝐼𝑊𝐴𝐼𝑍𝑈𝑀𝐼

𝟮𝟱 - 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗕𝗲𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘆𝗮𝗹

┅ ┅ ┅

Naomi pulled on her sweater, giving quick glances to her phone where Riko had left her on read.
Multiple text messages. All on read.

"Damn, what's up with you?"
She headed outside, continuing to text her, not noticing Iwaizumi standing there.
"Oh! Good morning!" She bowed her head as she closed the gate behind her.
"Morning. Everything alright?"
"I guess so."
Walking to school, Iwaizumi picked up her hand.
"Who did these?"
"Me," she mumbled, "it still calms me down."
He brushed her hair away from her face.
"That's good, I guess."

Crossing her arms, Naomi bit her gums, unsure of how to phrase her questions.
"Say, Iwaizumi, how was practice yesterday?"
"Fine."
"It's just, you hit a lot less successful spikes. Not to mention Oikawa failed on all his setter dumps."
His fingers went to his jacket's zipper where he fiddled with it, drawing it up and down.
"And?"
"There's no hope of going to Nationals at the second tournament the way things are going."
"So what?"

The zipper was pulled all the way up.
"His dream, not mine."
He began to pick at the skin of his fingers.
"The others noticed."
"The others know why."
She bit at her nail before pressing the button to cross the street.
"You should talk to him."
"Why? I don't want to."
"Because, the team needs both of you."

Going their separate ways, Naomi sat beside Riko who once again, did not offer any Oreos and instead remained silent.
"Riko, do you have a pencil I could borrow?"
"Nope."
She sighed, asking the person in front of her instead. Riko looked stern, her eyes only focusing on her own work. It never boded well for Naomi, these types of mannerisms from Riko.

To her surprise, however, Riko slipped her a note in the middle of a lecture.
Naomi held it between her fingertips, running her thumb over the curly letters of Riko's handwriting.
Can we talk during break?
This was never a good thing. Naomi hated these talks that seemed to pop up more and more. Riko was doubting her, suspecting everything she did.

It made since, Naomi supposed. Riko hadn't been very talkative since the trip, especially over text.
Riko hadn't slept the night that Oikawa and Iwaizumi fought. Naomi remembered looking over and in the darkness, she could see Riko's glossy eyes staring straight up at the ceiling. It looked like she was dead, the stiffness that she was in.

Naomi knew what had happened didnt made sense. Oikawa and Riko were going so well, which is mostly why the kiss surprised Naomi so much. She could excuse his flirting, despite hating how often he did it around others, but kissing her? Oikawa had tested his luck. He had tried too hard.

Naomi nodded to Riko, putting the note into her pocket. She proceeded to tap her finger against the desk accompanied by the tapping of her foot.
It's not like Oikawa could actually prove it, right? How could you?
Naomi had Iwaizumi wrapped around her finger. As long as he believed her, everything would be okay, right?
To be honest, she didn't know why his trust of her mattered anymore. Oikawa hated her guts, so now, she truly was just dating Iwaizumi. Mostly just because she didn't want to have to admit the truth.