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Honestly speaking, Mika doesn’t know much about Daishou Suguru.
He’s from class 3-A across the hall. He’s fairly good looking and his grades are above average. He’s the captain of the volleyball club.
These few facts are most, if not all, of what Mika knows about the boy. Her classmate, Numai-kun, is also on the volleyball club (last she heard, he was a regular?) and Daishou occasionally drops by to talk to him, but that’s the extent to which she really sees him.
This does not explain why they’ve come to the student council room at a time when most clubs have after school activities.
As it is, she’s currently in the middle of Very Important Paperwork and barely lifts her head up to acknowledge them. “Hi, can I help you?”
It’s Daishou who answers.
“We’re here to see if the volleyball club can be excused from the set-up for the cultural festival—”
Ah , there it is.
Every year the school requires all clubs that use school finances to be responsible for a certain degree of set-up for the school festival. Although the festival itself is still months away, clubs typically sign up for scheduled preparation blocks ahead of time so as to keep their obligations from impacting too much of their activities. Mika pulls the document of the list of clubs and, yes right there that empty space, the volleyball club is still not signed up for any time slots.
Raising an eyebrow, Mika looks up at the captain. “Daishou-san, set-up is mandatory for all clubs who use any of the school finances, including, but not limited to, equipment and travel fees” She holds up the mostly filled sign-up sheet and stares expectantly at him. “Why should the volleyball club be exempt from this?”
“The volleyball club has a lot of important competitions coming up during the open slots for set-up.” He smoothly replies. Giving her a small smile that she refuses to believe is responsible for the butterflies that suddenly appeared in her stomach, he continues, “Qualifiers for Spring High Nationals take place right after summer break too, and we can’t afford to skip out on practice time to help out for the festival.”
Mika frowns.
“Be that as it may, I can’t just let the volleyball skip when all the other clubs are doing it. The baseball club has Summer Koshien and the basketball club has Winter Cup coming up but they’ve already signed up for their slots.”
“Th—”
“The volleyball club doesn’t practice on the weekends right? For the time being, I’ll just mark the volleyball club down for next Saturday.If you wish to reduce your hours you can file an official petition through the board, but in the meantime I expect to see the volleyball club next weekend okay?”
Daishou is gaping at her with a completely stupefied expression.
Mika furrows her brows after a beat and gives the sheet in her hand a little shake. “Daishou-san?”
A cough that suspiciously sounds like a smothered laugh has Mika glancing at Numai-kun, whose face is struggling to remain straight behind the fist he’s brought up to this mouth.
“Er, uh, that should be fine Hisakawa-san. We should be fine for next Saturday and we’ll try petitioning out, thanks.”
With that, Numai drags the still-dumbstruck captain out.
Mika tries very hard not to think about how smooth Daishou-san’s voice was or how cute he looked caught off guard or how toned he was from what could be seen—
The stack of Very Important Paperwork isn’t touched for the rest of the afternoon.
“You guys should have been there she looked at him and threw like two sentences at him and he just shut do —.”
“NUMAI.”
“—ould’ve seen his face it’s like he—”
“ Shut. Up. Numai — I just— She’s just—”
“Hmmmmm?”
“ She’s just really cute okay ? God. Happy now?”
“Oh man, you have no idea.”
She sees him everywhere now.
It’s strange, she’s never took much notice of the volleyball captain before, yet now almost everywhere she goes she’ll notice his figure somewhere in the vicinity. It probably has to do with the fact that his shoe locker is in the same row as hers, his classroom is across from hers, and even the gym is along the same direction as the student council room.
But still .
She keeps seeing him now.
She sees him neatly placing his shoes inside his locker, she sees him jeering and roughhousing with his team. She sees him casually walking to class, shoulders relaxed and head held high. She sees him make eye contact with her, freeze , and stumble away to class or club or wherever it is he has to go whenever his face indicates his brain’s short-circuited.
She doesn’t like that, she thinks. The getaways he makes every time, no matter how subtle he tries to be.
She doesn’t like that at all.
She coincidentally catches up to him in the morning at the shoe lockers.
“Daishou-san!”
Daishou turns his head, trying to find the source of the voice, and Mika can see the instant he makes the connection to her by way of how tense he’s become but before he can do anything—
“Can you tell me more about the volleyball team and the current member line-up??”
Daishou blinks. “Eh?”
“The regulars?” Mika grins. “If you guys are still trying to petition out of the rest of set-up then it’ll be good for me to know how you guys are doing. What’s your position?”
That seems to do it. After another beat, as if to collect himself, Daishou’s running through not only his, but every single regulars’ position and where they excel, even how their coach (affectionately dubbed Occhan) points out their deficiencies, as they both head towards their respective classrooms. All Mika can see is his entire countenance brightening, the way his eyes crinkle when he’s happy, how wide his smile is, and, all too soon, the two have reached their respective classrooms and split off just as the morning bell rings.
Oh, Mika thinks, bringing her hands up to cup her heated face. Oh no.
Come Friday, she makes sure to bump into Daishou at the shoe lockers again, chirping a quick “I’ll see you tomorrow at set-up, Captain-san!” before bouncing off to class.
It’s fine, every set-up needs to be monitored by at least one student council member.
No one needs to know she traded shifts with vice-president Hanatsuda-san.
(In her hurry to leave, she misses the way he freezes with a strangled croak as one of his teammates starts to cackle as he starts singing “ I’ll see you tomorrow at set-up too Captain-san ” before promptly hightailing it out of the hallway.)
Oh my god why on earth did she think this was a good idea oh my god .
It’s fine it’s nothing much it’s normal all she has to do is go to school and check up on the club in charge of set-up she’s done this dozens of times already it’s nothing much —
But nothing much doesn’t normally lead to waking up an hour earlier than she normally would have on a Saturday, hair straightened perfectly, clothes strewn all across the room as she tries to find the perfect outfit is a dress too much too obvious does she still have that one blouse that goes well with the other skirt and—
And she takes a moment to stare at her room, her situation, and laugh because it’s nothing, it really is nothing, but, but.
But she wants it to be something and that’s all that matters that’s all that’s needed isn’t it?
Mika leaves the house with the cutest dress she has paired with a lace cardigan and floral heels.
By the end of the day, Mika’s smiled and laughed so much over the antics of the captain and his teammates her face hurts and she swears she isn’t going to smile again for another week at least .
She falls asleep that night with a smile on her face.
“Hey, hey, Mikaaa!!”
“Hmm?”
“Do you like the volleyball captain Daishou-kun?”
That , has Mika nearly spitting out the contents of her juice box as she looks up at her best friend.
“ Risa ?! What ???”
Risa grins and rests her chin on her hands, grinning deviously up at her.
“You heard what I said~ I see you two talking a lot these days hm? Even Numai-kun by association talks to you more these days too don’t you think?”
Mika blushes, quivering in her seat as she thinks back to how things changed after that Saturday, how Daishou (stutteringly) starts conversations with her in the hallways now, or how she often drops loaded one-liners before escaping the vicinity, or even how random volleyball club members walk up to her and give her congratulatory claps on the back. (The most recent one being a dark haired boy she swears is over 180cm whose clap nearly knocked her onto the ground.)
“I— I—”
“H-Hisakawa-san do you — Er — Nevermind…”
“Hisawaka-chan~ Did you know the captain thinks you’re cute? Good job knocking him down three!”
“Hisakawa-san do you need help with those boxes?”
“Hisakawa-san!”
Mika stares down at her lunch, face as red as the cherry tomatoes sitting next to the rice, and whispers, “I… I think I do…”
“I’m glad.”
When she looks back up at her friend, Risa is smiling softly at her.
“I was always kind of worried you know? Ever since I got together with Miki-kun, I’ve just been leaving you alone after school.” Risa shakes her head and presses on as Mika opens her mouth to protest. “I know that you said you were fine with it and you have student council activities anyways, but I was always worried about leaving you alone.”
“I’m really glad, even if Mika doesn’t like him like that, I’m really glad that Mika found another friend she could talk to and have fun with.”
“Risa…”
Risa grins, attention going back to her own bento.
“Of course, this also means I’ll finally be able to go on a double date with Mika and her boyfriend, goodness knows how long I’ve waited for this—”
“ Risa. ”
A week later she finds a letter in her shoebox.
By the time she’s finished reading it she can't keep a straight face.
I await your answer behind the gym at 4:30.
“Oh my god oh my god I can't stop laughing he actually put it in her locker — ”
“Numai weren't you the one who suggested the letter to start with.”
“Shut up Hiroo I didn't think he’d actually go through with it— Jesus my stomach hurts.”
“Man did you guys really not expect this have you seen him the past few weeks? He didn't even go after me when I made fun of him — ”
“You're our only setter he can't hurt you — ”
“Yet.”
“I think she’s here.”
“WHAT WHERE?”
“Shhhhhhhhhhhh!!”
“Oh I see her I see her! Hah look at Suguru’s face!!”
“Can anyone hear what they're saying? Has he frozen up yet oh my god.”
“YO LOOK AT THAT I THINK SHE SAID YES?!”
“SHE SAID YES THAT’S DEFINITELY A YES HOLY SHIT.”
“Takachiho-senpai you owe me 3000 yen…”
“AH YES… THE SPRINGTIME OF YOUTH…”
“OCCHAN WHAT THE HELL.”
“GUYS SHUT UP THEY’RE GONNA HEAR US.”
It’s fun to be with Daishou ( Suguru , he told her to call him), it’s even better after they start dating. Though they both have after school activities, they make arrangements to walk back home together, oftentimes taking small detours to marketplaces or cafes.
She learns a lot about him when they’re together. She learns that he really likes to use snake metaphors (the nerd ). He wakes up 30 minutes early every morning to style his hair into that ridiculous part, he’s an only child. He’s scared of roller coasters that just drop straight down. His blood type is AB. He really is a nerd enjoys reading classical literature. His favorite quote, “Not once have I regretted the things that i did. I only ever regret the things that I do not do” is by his favorite author. He likes strawberries and hates peas.
In turn, he learns a lot about her too. She likes to go out on walks in the evening, she likes thrill rides at amusement parks. She despises bugs but loves butterflies. It takes her an hour each day to straighten her hair right. Her favorite subject is math. She prefers cats over dogs. Her sense of direction is terrible.
Things stay like this for a while, after school and club walks home, detoured dates. Their first kiss happens one day when Suguru leans down and presses his lips to hers without thinking. Their second kiss happens when she pulls him back down after he frantically backed up, trying to explain himself.
They’re happy.
She’s happy.
Interhigh is only a month away.
It takes an entire morning and two extra hours worth of navigating around a crowded sweaty gym for Mika to admit she’s lost. By the time she acknowledges this fact and pulls out her phone, the match has started already and she has no way to contact him.
You’d think that with an entire school’s worth of cheerleaders and support she’d be able to find her school easily but no. She’s surrounded and swamped by a ridiculous amount of people from different schools and really bad directions from the help desk. Mika had wanted to get to the gymnasium center earlier, especially since she had to miss the previous matches for student council work. Especially since they’ve been spending less and less time with each other because of club activities.
Huffing a bit and blowing her bangs away from her eyes, she turns around and—
Bumps straight into someone’s chest.
“Oh my gosh I’m so sorry—” Mika frantically bows and backs up, before looking up at the… rooster… head…? What on earth did he do with his hair —
“Aah, don’t worry about it, I wasn’t looking where I was going either~” Grinning cheerfully, the boy waves a hand and cocks his head. “You’re looking a bit frazzled there, need help getting somewhere?”
Blushing, Mika hesitates, before, “Um.. Yeah actually… Do you by any chance know where the Nohebi match is being held…? I’m a little lost and my boyfriend’s already in the match and not answering his phone…”
“Oho ho ? You’re a snake now are you?”
Raising an eyebrow, Mika stares defiantly up at him.
“Yes? Is there a problem?”
The roosterhead laughs good naturedly, shaking his head. “Nah, don’t worry about it. I’m Kuroo Tetsurou, captain of the Nekoma volleyball club, I’ve probably played against your boyfriend before. Hope you don’t mind when I thrash him to the ground yeah? By the way Nohebi’s match is actually in the other wing of the gymnasium, this way this way.”
Mika quickly follows him, vaguely remembering Suguru mentioning an annoying team of kittens.
“ Really now,” Mika grins cheekily at the taller bow. “I’m Mika, Suguru’s girlfriend. I’m pretty sure he told me he’d be wiping the floor with some unruly kittens.”
At that, Kuroo gives out a bark of laughter as he strolls through the crowd, parting the way for the shorter girl behind him. “ Suguru? Oh man this is great. Don’t believe everything you’re boyfriend says now Mika-chan, guys always wanna impress their girlfriends— Oh here we are. Just exit out that big door and Nohebi’s playing at the adjacent court two down from the right. You should be able to find your school easily from there I think. I gotta get back to my team so this is as far as I can take you.”
Just as he points out the door and down the hall, Mika spies someone wearing her school colors and brightens up immediately.
“Thank you so much, Kuroo-san!” She quickly makes her way towards the indicated door.
“Oh yeah wait,” Mika pauses and turns back, as Kuroo hastily takes out paper and pen, scribbling something down and handing it to her. “My LINE, just in case. You don’t have to use it if you don’t want to but I don’t have a match until later in the afternoon, so if you still need help finding your team you can text me where you are and I can try to give you directions.”
Hesitating for only a moment before thinking about how the boy in front of her hadn’t purposely tried to make a move on her at all, she grabs the paper and chirps out another “Thanks!” before running off to try and catch up with the person she’d seen earlier.
The Nekoma captain gives a cheerful wave she returns before sauntering off to wherever it is his team is at.
By the time she catches up with her fellow schoolmate and to where their school is sitting in stands, the match is over and she can see Suguru doing a ridiculous cheer with his team excitedly.
[To: Suguru] 15:03 : Suguru! Sorry I missed most of the match... I got lost (´Ａ｀。) I’ll try to make final prelims next week if I can finish student council work in time!!
[To: Kuroo-san] 15:05 : Kuroo-san, this is Mika! Thank you again for your help today! We’ll see you next week when we kick you out of the running! ʕง•ᴥ•ʔง
Suguru forgives her with a laugh and she promises to rush over to his match as soon as she’s done with her work. They spend the rest of the week working hard for the coming Saturday.
She arrives just in time to see match point.
Nohebi loses and is disqualified from the tournament.
When her first few attempts to comfort Suguru are largely rebuffed, she gets it and gives him space. Mika knows when to push and when to give.
It’s a few days later when she’s leaving the student council room for the day that she finds Suguru waiting at the shoe lockers for her. Brightening immediately, Mika lengthens her strides to catch up with her boyfriend as he takes her hand in his.
“Hey.”
“Hey yourself,” Mika murmurs. “How goes?”
Suguru’s hand tightens against hers for just a moment before relaxing again with a soft sigh.
“I— We— We did everything we could at the tournament, but it wasn’t enough. We’re probably… we’re probably going to increase practice time and go on a longer training camp than originally planned.” Hesitating, Suguru draws back from Mika a little to look at her. “Summer break too… We probably won’t have a lot of time to spend together.”
And that… that hurts. That hurts more than Mika thought it would, even though she’d knew somewhere back in her mind that something like this would happen. She’d been anticipating the upcoming festival to severely impact her free time too. She knew all that, she knew, but still .
But she swallows her reservations and throws another smile at Suguru.
“Of course! I’ll be busy with the school festival too! We can see each other at lunch though! And over the weekends! Risa’s been looking forward to a double date with us since Day Zero so I’ll just arrange for when you come back from training camp!”
Suguru grins and starts to swing their arms back and forth again as they make their way back.
“Wait Day Zero?”
“Shut up.”
“Why would she—”
“ Shut up. ”
“You liked me~”
“ Shut up oh my god I’m not the one who wrote a TOTALLY RIDICULOUS BY THE WAY love letter like “ I await your answer ” what is this the Showa period?”
“ HEY .”
Risa’s frowning by the time Mika finishes sending her text.
“Again?”
Mika nods, just once.
“Isn’t that the, what, seventh time this month?” Risa bristles. “Have you even seen him this week?”
“Don’t be ridiculous of course I have…”
“But I’m not .” Seething, Rika pushes on. “Summer break is next week . He’s leaving for a training camp in another! You’re barely going to see him right now as it is and he’s pulling the ‘staying late for practice so go on home without me’ card again ? That’s ridiculous! Have you talked to him at all?”
Has she talked to him at all? Of course she has, of course . Did it matter?
“Suguru we need to talk.”
“Ahh Mika-chan right now isn’t a good time — ”
“When is a good time? It’s never a good time anymore Suguru — ”
“Mika-chan — ”
“Stop it Suguru, just stop it. You’re not the only one busy with activities all the time! The culture festival is coming up and the student council is swamped with work but I do my best to work hard and make time but I can’t be the only one trying to make this work Suguru, I can’t.”
“...”
“Not when you can’t even find the time to walk home together, or come see me more than once or twice a week during lunch, or cancel any plans we ever make! Are we even still going on the double date with Rika? Or are you going to stand me up, again? You haven’t— we haven’t— we haven’t even made plans for the past two weeks Suguru, how long is this going to last? Until qualifiers? And after that? Until Nationals?”
“Mika-chan…”
“Yeah, Suguru?”
“...Look, Mika-chan listen. I’m really sorry, everyone’s still been stinging over the lost at Interhigh and practice has increased for everyone, I won’t miss the double date with your friend, I swear, I’ll work harder so we can go home together more and go on a few dates. Promise.”
“...You swear?”
“Mhm.”
“.......Suguru, I really like you, you know that right?”
“Yeah, I do.”
That’d been two weeks ago.
Though she’s saved from answering by the bell, she doesn’t miss her best friend’s glares at the only other volleyball player in the room.
Neither does she miss the conspicuous lack of Suguru in her life before summer break starts.
[To: Suguru] 16:11 : Suguru, me, Risa, and Miki-kun are already here, will you be here soon?
[To: Suguru] 16:15 : Are you running a late?
[To: Suguru] 16:19 : Suguru what’s going on
[To: Suguru] 16:20 : ?
She stops making excuses by the half-hour mark.
[From: Suguru] 16:52 : Shit Mika-chan I’m so sorry we had a last minute practice match
[From: Suguru] 16:52 : We’re on our way back right now
[From: Suguru] 16:53 : I can get there in 15 minutes if I run
[From: Suguru] 16:53 : Shit, Mika, I’m so sorry
[To: Suguru] 16:54 : Don’t bother
[To: Suguru] 16:55 : Suguru is only ever absorbed in his club activities
[To: Suguru] 16:55 : He’s no fun
[To: Suguru] 16:56 : I don’t want to go out with that kind of Suguru anymore
She looks up at the couple in front of her and desperately tries to smile apologetically.
“Aah, I’m really sorry to have made you guys wait so long just to cancel, but I don’t think we’ll be going on a double date anymore.”
Miki-kun is gone with barely a nudge and before she knows it, Risa’s arms are wrapping around her and pulling her into a tight hug.
She doesn’t try to fight the tears.
She ignores his calls and blocks his LINE. She spends most of her time going out with friends or staying at home, taking care to finish homework at a good pace. When the end of break rolls around, she goes to the fireworks festival with Risa and a large group of classmates.
She doesn’t think about Suguru.
When classes start again, she makes sure to get to school during the middle of volleyball practice. When she’s in class Risa fends off Numai-kun with the ferocity of a bear.
When their eyes meet in the hallway, she turns away.
School itself is easier now too, now that the empty hours spent waiting for empty promises is evenly spread across studying and preparing for the school festival. Although her grades were never lacking, they see a marked increase by the time October begins.
When November comes around, the cultural festival passes by without a hitch.
Everything’s fine.
[From: Kuroo-san] 20:37 : Hope your Suguru doesn’t meet us tomorrow or we’ll be taking their spot at Nationals ;)
[To: Kuroo-san] 20:44 : I broke up with him more than a month ago
[From: Kuroo-san] 20:44 : What
[From: Kuroo-san] 20:44 : WHAT
[From: Kuroo-san] 20:44 : Shit
[From: Kuroo-san] 20:45 : SHIT
[From: Kuroo-san] 20:46 : I’m so sorry
[To: Kuroo-san] 20:46 : Don’t worry about it
It’s ridiculous, it’s all completely ridiculous.
She hadn’t even remembered the qualifiers were happening, much less when they were happening. But it’s the morning of the match and she woke up an hour earlier than she normally would on a weekend to straighten her hair and pick out an outfit.
As she stares at her messy, clothes-strewn room, Mika feels a sense of deja-vu before remembering the last time she’d been in a similar situation. She doesn’t even know why she’s going, much less why she’s taking the time to look her best.
But she does know.
The volleyball Suguru loved more than he had ever loved her. She wanted to see it. She wants to see it. Was it worth it? Is it worth it?
Last time she’d wanted something from nothing. She doesn’t know what she wants this time.
Mika leaves with nothing more than a simple long sleeve and skirt.
“And with a final score of 26 to 24 in the second and last set, Nekoma High School has secured their position as the hosting representatives in Spring High!”
She doesn’t try to hide her tears.
She almost gets lost in the hallways before bumping into the volleyball team. She hesitates, until she notices Suguru isn’t there and that most of the team are pointing down the hall with smiles.
She stammers out a thanks before making her way down the hall.
“‘Suguru is only ever absorbed in his club activities, he’s no fun.’ I’m sorry for saying something like that.”
“After seeing you guys play in a match, I think I can finally, understand why you were always obsessed with club activities.”
“You… You were really cool, you know?”
“Next time, teach me how to play volleyball.”
Mika knows a lot about Daishou Suguru now.
He’s from class 3-A across the hall. He’s extremely good looking and his grades are above average. He’s the captain of the volleyball club and plays as wing spiker. His blood type is AB and he has no siblings. He’s scared of roller coasters that drop straight down. He’s coolest when he plays volleyball and used to be her boyfriend. Although he retired from the volleyball club months ago after their loss in the qualifiers, he still goes to club activities almost every day to train the team for the coming year.
These few facts barely graze the mountain of trivia and tidbits of what Mika knows about the boy.
None of them explain why he’s currently fidgeting in the student council room when she knows he has practice and underclassmen to guide.
“Suguru? What are you doing here?”
“...”
“Suguru?”
She’s entirely unprepared for the ridiculously sappy confession that follows, that somehow or the other ends with two extremely red faces, something that sounds suspiciously like a group of high school boys cheering outside the door, and an amusement park date on Saturday.
She drags him onto a dive coaster four times throughout the day before finally taking pity on him and ending the day at the teacups.