LET ME DOWN SLOWLY ⸻ sakusa kiyoomi.

𝐬𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 | a confrontation

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A CONFRONTATION !!

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- fall break, itachiyama training camp, 3pm !

A SOMEWHAT AWKWARD SILENCE ensued as the two male volleyball players walked off, and Kina could feel the eyes of several people falling onto her, the only person in the cafeteria who was out of their seat. Should it be a normal situation, Kina would've been able to cooly brush off the whole situation and sit back at her seat.

This time, it was with a tug on her jacket that snapped Kina out of her daze, her light brown eyes the shade of dark honey widening as she looked back, at the sight of Rui tugging on her the hem of her Ōkamikumo jacket, the light blue frame of her glasses glinting in the light.

"Tsukishima-senpai, you should finish your food," the girl said, turning her head back to face the table, her bangs falling over her forehead, long hair the shade of a blackish pebble tied back in a low ponytail. "The next meal is at 8pm and there are only ten more minutes left until the end of lunch."

"Ah, yeah," Kina said, nodding in thanks at her kouhai - as usual, the half Chinese middle blocker was as formal as ever, facial expression not changing in the slightest and posture upright and straight - she really did remind her a little of Kei, with his quiet and slightly offhand attitude, and the way he naturally seemed to talk to Akiteru formally and her semi-formally. "Thanks. Sorry."

Rui turned to glance at the setter. "There is nothing to apologise for, senpai."

Okay. What.

Kina didn't reply, and picked her chopsticks up, starting on her lunch again. Rui spent a few seconds scrutinising her upperclassman, looking a little like Kina as she blinked, watching Kina, who looked both blank and deep in thought, eat her oyakadon.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

"I'm sure you all already know it, but watching other players play in practice matches can help us to learn new tactics and avoid combinations that seem unnecessary to work on," Yamazaki told the group, walking into the second gymnasium - gymnasium 2 was slightly bigger than gymnasium 1, and instead of the usual second-storey spectating stands, there were benches laid out in rows, imitating the appearance of bleachers.

The Itachiyama girls' team was already seated on the stands, some of the players yelling out names - the most heard name being Sakusa Kiyoomi. Shiratorizawa was standing in position at one side of the court, watching as a tall and lean-muscled boy with wavy locks of black hair, and eyes that looked dead, waited for the referee's whistle, already in position.

Right at the blow of the whistle, the ace threw the ball up into the air, taking several steps - his jump floater was successful, landing a service ace. The libero of Shiratorizawa as well as their number eight had dived for the ball, though the ball hit the ground before they did.

The coach, an old man with wrinkles that made his features resemble a spiteful bulldog began to yell at number eight, for blocking the libero's path. Poor number eight, a tall boy with a childish expression and dark blue bangs cut into a scarily precise straight line let out a stammering, "h-hai!" at the coach.

"Poor guy," Doi said, watching the boy who had gotten scolded walk to his position after rotation, fists clenched and cheeks coloured, chin downcast toward his chest in a gesture of shame. "Shiratorizawa's coach is a bitch."