Chapter Text
Kiyoomi, the volley ball player glares, constantly glares, though around the school it’s become common knowledge that that’s just how he looks... at everyone, but you can’t help but wonder if others feel the daggers as well.
“L/N-Chan!” A boy of average height greeted you, well, average amongst Japanese men, you still leered over him, at least a few centimeters taller.
“Ito-san? What’s up?” He shifted un-easily
“Do you... do you think you can deliver these to the Volleyball club?” Ito gave a deep bow while holding out a pile of papers, you took them but tilted your head questioningly.
“Have to pick up your sister again?”
“Ahh...” he scratched the back of his neck and peered out the window.
“No... no not quite.... it’s just...”
“It’s just?....”
“T-the Ace.... K-Kiyoomi-senpai said I’m too... dirty?”
“You’re just now too dirty? Haven’t you been bringing papers for them for almost six months now?”
If Ito-San needed you to deliver for him he could just ask, no need to make excuses.
“Ah, well, you see...” Ito stumbled in his words irritating you by the second.
“Ito-San if you have something to say then say it.” He flinched at the sudden aggression in your words.
“Kiyoomi-senpai! Said you smelled better?” The words came out so rushed you thought you may have misheard.
“Are you asking me or telling me?” You leaned against the wall as the papers were becoming far too heavy.
“Telling?” You glared. “Telling! I’m telling you, L/N-Chan.” He smiled brightly as if he’d just solved a hard question.
“Kiyoomi-Senpai, wants me to deliver papers, because I smell better.” Your eyebrow raises as each word flows from your mouth.
“Well... no, no technically he said ‘her scent is less offensive and at least she washes her hands, unlike this maggot’ though.... I’m not sure I was supposed to hear the last bit...”
Those words did sound more along the lines of what little of the volleyball’s ace she actually knows about.
“Hah~” you breathed out harshly from your nose tilting your head back trying to counter the weight of the papers in your arms, the ones your peer had been making you hold while he rambled.
“Fine, alright, okay,” you start only to be interrupted.
“Okay?...”
“Yes, okay, I can do this one more time for you but you need to make it clear I can no longer be doing *your* job after this”
His face and body deflated on himself and he began to slouch.
“Unless you want to do it this time as well?” You say pushing the papers against his frail body making him stumble.
“No! No, thank you L/N-cha-“ you gave him a dead stare.
“L/N-San...I will make it clear after this from now on”
Your eyes shifted from him to down the hall as you made your way to the gym.
“Well as long as you know it’s fine.” You say off handedly over your shoulder.
Ito stopped being tense the second you fled, but nervously scratched at his neck again.
He couldn’t help but wonder if he should’ve told you how... odd kiyoomi-senpai was behaving since last week, or how he swear he saw a soft pink peeking from his mask while he spoke of you.
‘Scent was less offensive and at least she washes her hands’
was that supposed to be a compliment? And while she of course washes her hands routinely, does this mean Ito-San didn’t? Were his hands so unclean that it was visible how dirty they were?
While she was a bit more germ conscious than most, going down this path would make her constantly vigilant of Ito’s hands... maybe she should be.
But then again, it was kiyoomi-Senpai that made these remarks, known to make his disgust of everything and everyone clear through his eyes alone, and with words when apparently necessary.
Abrupt giggles and delicate voices passed by swiftly, other first year girls, same age as you, but much cuter.... much smaller.
Maybe you should have applied for one of the girls sports teams when the offers came flooding in a few months ago, would’ve been easier to make friends.
As the smaller girls passed in groups, most likely heading to after school clubs, a small girl lingered beside you.
“L/N-senpai!” Nakama Yuko, a girl in the same class as you, but has continued calling you her senpai after originally mistaking you for a 3rd year.
“Nakama, I thought we were both dropping the formalities?”
A soft smile escaped your lips as you peered down at her, you’d originally avoided the girl as you weren’t used to the cheerful type, but had quickly grown to her sweet and honest nature.
“Ah~ sorry, sorry, I’m trying to change that habit I swear.” Nakama’s smile was almost too bright, but turned into a small pout when she saw your papers.
“Eh? Why is Ito-Kun troubling you again?”
She gave her best, what you assumed, glare, trying to burn the papers away.
“Hm, something about the team growing tired of his presence, apparently male managers aren’t as capable, terrible at carrying papers.”
She gave a small tilt of her head in acknowledgement.
“Oh? That so? They should get a female manager then.”
A quality you found quite cute was how she took everything at face value, jokes went over her, while this made it easier for you to talk to her, it made her a bit of an outcast socially.
“That was a joke, Nakama”
You tried your best to point it out when you could, hoping that like a dog, she’d learn if you kept reaffirming it.
“Oh!” She laughed “I see, sorry, hey L/N, would you maybe-“
“Nakama-Chan! We’re supposed to be in the art room in ten” a voice yelled near the base of the stairs, waiting for her.
“Sorry! I’ll have to ask you later!” Running off and up the stairs, bickering with the other girl on the way up.
You wondered if Nakama knew she could’ve uttered the last few words of her question and still have nine minutes left...
You pushed open the exit with your shoulder, surprised by the suns blazing heat as it was already Late September, shouldn’t it cool off by now? Maybe you were just temperature sensitive.
Still, you were glad the gym was so close to the schools exit or you’d openly complain of the heat. Your shoulder nudged the gym door only to be greeted by the cat eyed senpai from last week.
“Ah!” He said excitedly, snapping his fingers at the realization.
“You’re! The one who,” he snapped again as he was trying to think of the answer.
“Last week....”
you thought you might snap if he snapped again, only for a much louder snap to make you flinch from inside the gym, followed by a muttered ‘that just can’t be healthy...’
“L/N-Chan! Yes that’s it” he snapped his fingers for what you hoped was the last time.
“Yes...” you answered, still curious about whatever the hell was going on inside.
“So you thinking about applying for manager, huh? Not like there’s much competition.”
Now that caught your attention.
“What do you mean?...”
He tilted his head, a few drop of sweat flicking off him.
“Ito-Kun said he’d ask you about becoming manager in his place? Since, uh, he doesn’t... fit in the teams future plans?”
He sounded like he was testing out the words, but then nodded, seeming to assure himself.
“I.... was not told of this.”
Was all you could manage, otherwise you would’ve raised your voice, and hands, and then track and beat Ito with them.
your senpai gave a small frown, slouching himself a bit closer to your height.
“I- oh- hm.... well” he said nudging your shoulder inside.
“We can... discuss that, I’m sorry.”
Once your body entered the gymnasium, you were greeted with that snap again, but this time you could see what was causing it.
Kiyoomi-senpai.
Every time his hand connected with the ball, a sickening crack was heard. You knew that people could hit the ball hard, of course, hard enough to make a loud sound like that, but this just sounded...wrong.
“That ain’t right, I don’t think it’s normal for wrists to sound like that” muttered a first year from the side lines.
“You’ll get used to it...” responded a 2nd and 3rd year.
Cat Eyed senpai had taken the papers and gone... god knows where, leaving you to your thoughts.
So it was his wrist making that noise? That was indeed not... right. As you payed more attention to his wrists, you noticed they snapped forward each, and every hit.
Was Senpai double jointed? He must be, because you could never be able to do that no matter how much practice you put in.
You watched with child like amazement, kiyoomi-senpai hit the ball repeatedly with absolute accuracy, again, and again.
You must’ve been staring a hole through his back because he eventually turned to face you.
Have you ever actually looked at kiyoomi head on before? No, no you don’t think so, because surly you would’ve felt this particular glare before.
But when thinking about it... wasn’t this quite similar to last week when you delivered the papers? Before your mind could try to remember, you felt a light tap on your shoulder.
It startled you but you were met with a smile from another team member.
“Hello, I’m Tsukasa lizuna, captain for the team, we met briefly last week.”
He sat down on the bench next to you.
“L/N Y/N,” responding as casually as you could with someone staring, no, glaring a hole into your back.
“I know this may not make much sense but, would you be our team manager until we find a replacement?” Ah, so what cat eyed senpai had said was not a fever dream, Ito actually planned to dump this on you.
You weren’t sure how to respond, on one hand, you wanted to strangle Ito, and on the other, you had so much free time these days that would being a team manager really be that much more of a hassle?
“Isn’t.... Ito-kun your team manager?” Which could be rephrased to ‘why can’t do his job’
“Well actually we tend to go through managers quite fast because-“ he gave a quick glance to kiyoomi who was currently doing stretches on the floor.
“Our Ace is a bit... sensitive to smells, germs... people...” he muttered the last part.
“So we tend to switch out managers every few months, otherwise he gets a bit crabby.”
This was interesting information, you knew Kiyoomi had his faults, from rumors alone, but didn’t know he was that picky.
“Is there a reason it has to be me?” It may have come off a bit harsh but if you were just going to be replaced in a few months anyway did it really matter who it was?
Tsukasa took a moment to ponder, maybe trying to come up with a lame excuse like Ito-Kun, who knows, however you weren’t expecting this response.
“Sakusa-San likes you.”
Huh? Which you apparently said out loud, accompanied with wide eyes, Tsukasa had to hold in a laugh.
“Sakusa-San” he pointed to Kiyoomi “likes you.” And then pointed at you.
Was he trying to be funny? Because this wasn’t funny, it just made you mad.
“We’ve never even talked before!” You raised both your voice and body before lowering yourself back down again when you were drawing the first years attentions.
“Love at first sight, smell, tolerable-ness,” he said somehow completely straight faced.
“You’re.... serious....” coming to realize this senpai fully believed his own words right now, maybe he was experiencing psychosis.
“Ah, I’m not telling you to reciprocate of course,” oh of course.
“Just that I’d like to have you as manager and see how things go with him, I’ve never seen him this happy before.”
He gave a smile as he looked at kiyoomi, which you also gave a glance only to be glared at.
“Is love supposed to be that menacing?” You asked and flinched as Kiyoomi made another sickening hit against a ball.
“Love comes in all shapes and forms” he shrugged.
He’s crazy, actually crazy.
You stood to leave only to have him gently grab your wrist.
“A week? No two weeks, please, at least until we go against Shiratorizawa academy, I’d really like to keep the current energy he has for his next match.” His eyes were pleading, and a bit pathetic.
“.... it would only be for two weeks?”
You were actually considering this, you’re just as crazy as he is.
“Well, I mean, maybe three-“ you stood to leave.
“Two! Yes just two weeks and then you can continue your normal high school girl activities!” He now sounded as desperate as he looked.
Sighing you look over to Kiyoomi, sitting on the other side of the gym alone on the benches who for the first time you actually saw his full face as he took a sip of water. His face finally looked a bit relaxed, eyebrows no longer downturned, eyes not holding any secret daggers. He was actually kind of handsome, which in turn made you blush slightly and look away.
“Fine, two weeks.”