Peppermint [Asahi Azumane]

~ crisp air ~

One of the final volleyball matches of the year was fast approaching. The team had improved immensely, and morale was high.

Just because a majority of the team was excited, doesn't mean a certain someone was as well.

I liked to consider myself to be a very observant person, identifying the tension in a room and attempting to dispel it almost immediately. This means that over the 8 months of knowing Asahi, his habits that bloomed out of anxiety were painfully obvious.

When he sits down on the bench during his break in the middle of practice, especially one that hasn't been going too well, he would put his hands directly over his knees and start circling his dumb in a circle over his kneecaps. He would stare off into space or directly at his hands as he tried calming down his speeding heartbeat.

When he stands with his other teammates at the beginning or end of practice as Ukai goes over drills and progress, he tensed up whenever Coach brought up his name. His hands always had to be busy doing something, be it twiddling his thumbs, or simply keeping his hands clasped in front of him so tight that his knuckles turned white.

Asahi barely had anything that big to worry about, as it was almost always praise on how solid his spikes were. Whenever actual criticism was mentioned, it was never anything major. If anything, his criticism would just be Ukai telling him to stop being so damn anxious all the time.

It would make me a bit upset every time he had his nervousness invalidated. He was one of the stronger players on the team, and it hurt me to see him constantly doubt himself.

In a way, I saw a bit of myself in his insecurities. Minor inconveniences nearly ruined my day, and every now and then, I would just let everything build up until I blew up (case in point, the whole Yuki situation). He had never quite gotten to that point, at least not yet.

It was no different today.

The break an hour after practice started was a few minutes of him trying to take deep breaths and acting so much smaller than he should be.

"You okay?" I walked up to him as he resumed his habit while sitting on the bench.

"Im fine. y/n. Thank you for checking up on me, but you really don't have to-"

"You're a player on this team like everyone else. I keep track of everyones well being." *sigh* "You deserve to be on the starting lineup. No one is disappointed in you." I say as I keep my voice level. "I know youre not actually okay. You're very easy to read."

"I am?"

"See, you didn't even try to deny it!" I giggle. "Breaks almost over." I watch him stand up from the bench. "You've got this." setting two comforting hands on each of his shoulders, very similar to how I did the first time, 8 months ago.

His spirit was just barely raised after I spoke my few words of encouragement.

I check on him once more at the very last drill for practice when he messes up on his serves a few times in a row, grunting in frustration. He was overreacting way too much for a missed serve. "Tell me, whats up?" my eyebrows furrowed in concern.

"Nothing." he replied, not even sparing me a glance. "Just tired, I guess."

"You and I both know youre not that tired. You can talk to me."

"Really. its nothing."

"Asahi-"

"Just stop, okay? I don't need to tell you anything. I am tired. Im not in the mood to talk."

He drew the attention of some of the other players, and I could've melted into a puddle of embarrassment right then and there. What was wrong with him today?

"My bad, I was just worried." I say, obviously the slightest bit upset at how harsh he had been.

She walked to place some of the volleyballs back into the designated basket as the third years went up to Asahi. He was clearly regretting how he had spoken to her just a second ago.

"What the hell was that?" Daichi looks dissapointed and confused.

"We know you havent even been together, just mindlessly pining after each other, and it's pissing me off." Suga says.

"Who cares if you're leaving! Just tell her how you feel."

He had told he, and she had reciprocated those feelings back then. Overtime, that "like' slowly turned into something more than that.

"I'm sure she knows already, Suga." Daichi laughs in order to lighten the mood and continues an entire different conversation about their schools, completely distracted and veering off of the topic of love lives.

Asahi peeked out of the corner of his eyes, fully expecting her to be gone. He was instead greeted by her leaning against the doorway as she waited for him, still annoyed.

The walk back home was quiet, unlike most times when I would talk my head off about anything that came to mind. He would have his moments of bubbly chatter as well.

And the weather was warming up, soon it would be insanely humid and the gym would smell even mustier than usual. And the air, although still somewhat crisp and fresh, had unresolved tension lingering.

"Ill see you Monday then for practice?" I ask him as we stop in front of the driveway.

"Yeah, of course." I catch him holding back a small smile at the way I rock back and forth on the balls of my feet in my nervousness. He wasn't able to pinpoint why exactly I had been nervous.

He was being shitty to me just twenty minutes ago, but it didn't seem like he truly meant it. I had easily picked up on the fact that he had something on his mind, even as I was about to walk up the stretch of pavement to my door. Just don't look back at him.

The truth is, I'd miss him every time the weekend would arrive. I used to be able to 'study' at least once over the stretch of time we were both free from the confines of school, yet there was no excuse anymore. Or at least both of us felt it would be easier not to be so close anymore.