𝐃𝐔𝐌𝐁 𝐂𝐑𝐔𝐒𝐇 ❥ 𝐠𝐨𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐤𝐢 𝐭

𝟬𝟭. 𝗙𝗜𝗥𝗦𝗧 𝗖𝗥𝗨𝗦𝗛

The crowd was especially loud today. Shiratorizawa was currently playing for a spot in the finals in the Spring Interhigh tournament. The team that Shiratorizawa was playing against was no match for them. Shiratorizawa was the powerhouse school after all. The cheers and band of the Shiratorizawa students filled the gym. To say that they were proud of their boy's volleyball team was a clear understatement.

The third-years were giving their all to this match since it was the last year of them playing for Shiratorizawa. Goshiki admired his upperclassmen and his wish was to gain respect from them so he tried his hardest to impress them. Of course, being a first-year meant that he did not have as much experience as the others. This cost him to lose a point against the other team.

This made Goshiki frustrated with himself for letting down his upperclassmen even though they told him that it was okay. Goshiki held himself with high expectations so his feelings did not change. "Goshiki-kun," Tendou places his hands on Goshiki's shoulder. "You did just fine! It's okay to make mistakes!"

"I could have done better," Goshiki protested.

"Of course you could have," Shirabu scoffed.

"Not helping," Tendou whispers to Shirabu. "What Shirabu-kun meant is that you could do better by gaining experience and learning from it."

"That's not what I mean-"

"Exactly what he meant!" Tendou interrupts Shirabu in order to avoid Goshiki from feeling worse.

"Goshiki," Coach Washijo called. "Switch with Reon." Goshiki nods as he walks over to the bench. Reon gave him a pat on the back before running towards the court.

Goshiki cursed himself under his breath and wished that he could have been a better player, especially if he wanted to become Shiratorizawa's future ace. After a few minutes, a boom of loud cheering shook the whole gym. Shiratorizawa won which meant that they were going to the finals.

The team congratulated each other but Goshiki parted himself away from them. He thought that he didn't deserve to be part of it since he didn't gain a point. He, without the team noticing, slipped out of the gym and went towards the vending machine. He was the type to feel comfort from eating a snack so he felt that he really needed one at the moment.

Just as he was inserting his money, the gym door opened and his eyes widened when he saw who was walking out. Aoba Johsai currently was storming off from the gym and there was a dark aura surrounding them.

"They must have lost in the semi-finals," Goshiki thought to himself as he watched them walk by. He then made eye contact with Kunimi who just shot him a glare.

"What?" Kunimi got annoyed at his staring. No words came out from Goshiki's mouth and Kunimi scoffed in response.

"Stop it," Goshiki heard a voice say. "Stop acting so rude to other people that aren't doing anything."

Goshiki shifted his gaze to the (h/c) girl who was currently scolding Kunimi. Their eyes soon locked and Goshiki felt as if his heartbeat increased.

Her eyes were so captivating and her hair flowed as she walked past him. Goshiki furiously blushed and he felt his stomach feel as if it was twisting. He was frozen in place and his gaze never left her. But once she left the building, it took a few minutes for Goshiki to be able to get himself together.

"What is this feeling?" Goshiki thought to himself as he replayed her image inside his head.

"What's wrong with him?" Tendou approached Semi as he drank from his water bottle and looked at Goshiki who was currently spacing out.

"No idea," Semi shrugged as he set a ball to Ushijima.

"He looks like he's been in deep thought for a while," Reon says.

"Do you think that it's because of what happened in yesterday's match?"

"Possibly," Tendou placed a finger on his chin. "But he seems to be blushing."

"Maybe he received a confession from someone," Semi shrugged. "A lot of girls in this school fangirl over this team."

"Ooooh, should I ask him about it!" Tendou got excited to ask his kouhai if there was a girl in his life.

"Don't," Shirabu stops him. "If he wants to tell us then he'll tell us. Don't force it out of him"

"But maybe he has no idea on what to do which is why he's been in deep thought," Tendou explains. The team stopped Tendou once again from bothering Goshiki and continued on with their practice.

Goshiki tried his hardest to focus on practice but his mind would still wander to the girl he saw. He's never had a crush before so this feeling was new to him.

He wanted to ask his senpais for help but he felt that if he did, they would laugh at him or just not care. Plus, he didn't even know the girl so how could they possibly be able to give him advice?

All he knew about her was that she was somehow connected to Aoba Johsai. So he hoped that he would see her in the gym sometime.

It was the last day of the Spring Interhigh tournament, so this was his only chance to see her. But when he returned to that same gym, she was nowhere to be found.

The girl never left his mind. He would think about her during his class, during practice, and sometimes dream of her during his sleep. He would even think he would see her crossing the street but when he approached them, it wasn't her.

His senpais took notice of his odd behavior and couldn't help but feel curious about the reason why. Once Goshiki became aware that they've noticed, he gained his posture back so they wouldn't worry about him.

It pained Goshiki more and more each week since he had no idea how to get in touch with her. He didn't know her name or even asked for her number. All he knew was that she attended Seijoh. It came to a point when Goshiki wanted to go to Seijoh's campus but he was afraid and thought he may come off as a stalker.

He was so determined to find her one day and kept hoping that she would one day walk through the gym door. To his surprise, she did.