Shy

Chapter 5

        It's her. 

There she was - Kita Tsukiko. The girl he had been thinking about all day. The one he had been hoping to see again soon. The one he had been smiling so stupidly for.

She looked frantic. What was wrong? Who did something to her?

All of a sudden, Tanaka somehow got the strength to push everybody off of him. He felt revitalized and ran straight for the doors of the gym. Hinata jumped out of the way before he would be hit. Tanaka stopped just in time and slid right in front of her, just a few inches before a collision happened.

"Tanaka Ryunosuke, here! But you can call me 'Senpai'!" He introduced himself while giving a proud smile and pointing his thumb against his puffed out chest.

Tsukiko was surprised to say the least. She hadn't expected him to be so...eager. Even though she tried preparing herself, it was like class introduction all over again. Her face flushed red and she looked down at her feet, her bangs covering her eyes.

"U-um, hi. I-I'm Kita Tsukiko. I-I need to talk to y-you." She spoke in a quiet voice, but everybody heard her nonetheless because of how silent the gym was after that whole fiasco.

Tsukiko could feel all the eyes on her and it made her even more uncomfortable. "U-umm, could we talk...outside?"

"E-Eh? Okay, sure!" Tanaka's face also became flushed. A cute, shy girl with a blushing face asking to speak with him privately? Surely, that meant something big was going to happen - a confession perhaps? Well, of course! He is a great man and senpai after all! The two walked out and went a little ways away from the gym's entrance.

The rest of the volleyball team watched in astonished silence, mouths agape and eyes bugging out.

"D-did a girl just ask for Tanaka?" Kinoshita asked nobody in particular.

"Not only that, but I think she means to confess..." replied Ennoshita.

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"EEEEEEEEHHHHHHHH!!!"

"D-do you really think so?" Hinata's face was beginning to resemble that of Tanaka's and Tsukiko's.

"W-Well, let's think about it." Sugawara started. They all formed a circle and huddled up. "So a girl came here and asked to speak with Tanaka specifically. She was blushing furiously and couldn't meet his eyes. Then, she asks if they could talk privately. What does this mean...oh, dear lord..."

"Tanaka's actually being confessed to right now?!?!?" The team couldn't believe it.

Now, that's a little harsh. He's not that bad is he?

Daichi spoke up, "Well, we should be happy for him, shouldn't we? This doesn't happen often and she's pretty cute!" The team agreed after their initial shock.

"Yeah! We should throw a congratulatory party!" Hinata suggested.

"Che! As if a guy like that could get a confession from a girl." Tsukishima sneered.

"Hey! What are you trying to say about your upperclassman?" And then a fight ensued.

Although they were a little ways off from the gym, the two could still hear some shouting going on. What's going on? Thought Tanaka. Tsukiko was a little worried too, but she was more occupied with deciding on how to apologize to Tanaka.

"T-Tanaka...senpai." She addressed him. He blushed at the 'senpai' part. "I-I wanted...to say that..."

Here it was. Was he really going to get a confession from her?

"I-I'm really sorry!" She bowed deeply.

Eh? What did she say? Was she rejecting him already? He hadn't even said anything!

She raised her head a bit. "I mistakenly took you for a delinquent and ran away from you that time when you just wanted to help give me directions!" She said it quickly and bowed her head again.

Oh. So that's what she came here for. Somehow, Tanaka felt a bit disappointed.

"A-Ah! That's fine! No worries! I should be sorry for scaring you off!" He put his hand on the back of his neck and averted his eyes, afraid that she would catch onto what he was thinking by looking into them.

He had accepted her apology, but somehow, Tsukiko was not satisfied with this. "I-Is there anyway I can make it up to you?"

Give me a smile. "Huh? There's no need for that! I, as a man and a senpai, couldn't make you do anything like that!"

"P-Please! If there is anything I could do at all, please tell me!" She insisted.

Well, if she insisted then..."Uh, then...why don't you come and watch me practice?" It would feel so great to have such a cute girl watching him play volleyball. To have her cheer him on would give him all the support that he needed. She blinked, "P-Practice?"

"Yeah! I play volleyball, and I'm pretty good at it! I'd say I'm one of their best spikers!" He announced proudly.

"O-oh! I could watch, b-but I have to g-go home for now." There was that inkling of disappointment in Tanaka's chest again. "I-I can come tomorrow though!" And just like that, the feelings of disappointment disappeared.

"That's great! Make sure you come, cause you'll be amazed by my performance!"

She nodded. "O-okay. S-see you t-tomorrow then, Tanaka s-senpai!" She turned around and ran off before she could see him blush.

Tanaka had a great smile on his face. He heaved a wistful sigh after her. Guess she really wasn't confessing, huh. What he didn't know, however, was that Tsukiko had just as big of a smile as him while she ran off.

He walked back to the entrance of the gym. When he made it to the doors, he could hear some whispering going on. Tanaka opened the doors.

Popping sounds were heard. "Congratulations, Tanaka!!" The team had somehow gotten party poppers in the time that he was gone and now confetti was everywhere. There was even a small banner pinned up that said 'Congrats'.

Tanaka was utterly confused. "Congratulations? Congratulations for what? What are you talking about? You guys are being so weird today..." They could've said the same thing to him.

"What do you mean 'for what'? Congrats on getting a girlfriend! She's pretty cute, by the way. Wasn't it the same girl from that time, you know, when she came over for Matsumoto?" Narita responded with slight confusion.

"Yeah" Tanaka responded to his question about who she was. "W-Wait! No! She didn't come here to confess!" A pang of disappointment again. "She just came to apologize to me."

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"EEEEEEEEHHHHHHHH!!!"

"See? Told you a guy like that couldn't get a confession." Tsukishima stated.

A vein appeared on Tanaka's head. "What's that supposed to mean, Tsukishima?!?!" Well, there goes another fight.