More Than Anything Else (Tooru Oikawa)

Loss

I stare out the bus window, my leg anxiously bouncing up and down as houses pass through my vision. It's the first day of the tournament and the nerves have kept the bus silent during the whole trip. We should have practiced more. We aren't ready for this, but I can't let regrets bother me. It won't help me now regretting my actions.

When we arrive we wish the boys good luck and head in the direction of where the girls' games are. There are boys and girls from all different schools here all warming up to play volleyball. I feel a bit intimidated, but I try not to let it bother me. The key word "try."

"Oh my gosh! There he is!" Ima exclaims quietly to her sister.

"He looks more like a prince in real life!" Ito responds in the same tone.

Yui nudges me and I look over to see none other than Tooru Oikawa in an Aoba Johsai jacket chatting with a swarm of girls, laughing gleefully. Yup, just as I thought.

"You girls are just the sweetest!" he exclaims. "I'll make sure-"

He stops when his eyes meet mine. I feel my face grow warm as his eyes widen in recognition. Well, there goes my plan of never seeing him again.

"Oi, Trashykawa!" a voice booms, and Oikawa flinches, looking away from me to a dark haired boy wearing the same jacket as him.

"Oh, hiya Iwa-chan," Oikawa says with a wave and nervous smile. I smirk. It seems he's intimidated a bit by his teammate's glare.

"We have to warm up, come on," his teammate says.

"But-" I see him look over at me again briefly until his teammate grabs him by the collar of his jacket.

"You can talk to your fans after our games," the boy tells Oikawa as he drags him away.

"Iwa-chan! I can walk by myself," Oikawa complains as they disappear around the corner.

Just then Yui punches me in the arm.

"Ow," I complain, rubbing where she hit me.

"See, I told you he has a thing for you!" Yui exclaims. "He kept on staring at you."

"That's probably because he was surprised to see me again, especially at a volleyball tournament," I respond,rolling my eyes.

"I think its fate that you two met," she giggles as we walk through the crowded hallway.

"I think the word you're looking for is coincidence," I mutter.

***

I wipe the sweat off my forehead as I stand, knees slightly bent, on the court. We are losing badly. No matter how many times I receive the ball, we seem to just barely score, and those are the times I am able to receive them. We have already lost the first set, and the second set is at match point for the other team while we have 21 points.

I watch with narrowed eyes as the opponent setter's eyes glance to where they want to hit it. I glance at the spiker coming in for the kill. Judging by where the spiker is spiking from and where my teammates are, I dart across the court. The girl spikes the ball and I dive. Yes! It ricochets off my forearm up into the air.

"Nice recieve!" I hear a few of my teammates yell. I quickly hop to my feet as Yui spikes the ball, and it gets blocked by two girls' wall.

I dive for the ball again, but I'm too slow. I lay on the ground with my arms outstretched as the ball bounces away. I watch the ball roll away just laying there on my stomach, my arms still outstretched. I then slowly get up onto my knees, my head down as I hear cheering from the other team. My teammates are quiet as the realization that we lost sinks in.