strawberry blonde ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ hanamaki takahiro

01: the coffee shop

(a/n: this first chapter is in normal format but it'll be in chatfic format in the following chapters. also??? thank you guys so much for 6k on streets?? i love y'all??)

☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ:⠀ *⋆.*:･ﾟ .: ⋆*･ﾟ: .⋆

[friday 17:15]

y/n stares at the journal in front of her, trying to make sense of the arrows and circles scrambled about. you'd think, being the team's manager for her third year in a row meant she'd understand the sport by now. but alas, that was not the case. she sighs, dropping her head onto the table.

"need some help?"

her ears perk at the sound of a foreign voice much like a dog's. it was a male's voice. she sits up quickly, her eyes welcoming a mess of strawberry blonde hair and a kind smile. she furrows her brows slightly, causing him to point at the sheet of paper she had before her.

"i noticed you when i first got here, you seemed stressed. my suspicions were proved right when i saw you nearly give yourself a concussion. figured, i'd come lend a hand and as it turns out, this is an area of my expertise." he explains, flattening his hand on the table and leaning over. the girl feels her heart rate increase at the close proximity. this guy was confident. "so what was it that was confusing you?"

his grey eyes flicker over to hers. she blinks, her words getting caught up in the back of her throat.

"i— uh— well— um— i'm the— uh— manager.  for the b-boys' volleyball team at my school. a-and the coach asked me to review the— uh— the formations and positions for next week's game. i would ask my friends to assist me since they're on the team, but they— uh— had prior engagements." she wanted to punch herself for tripping over her thoughts to easily. she also wanted to punch tendou and semi for forcing ushijima to go out with them. granted, it was a friday afternoon and any normal teenager wouldn't be cooped up in a café, but here she was. and here this handsome stranger was.

"ahhh, i see. wish we had one of those." he holds his forefinger and thumb under his chin in fake contemplation. maybe she wanted to punch him too. "well, okay, you see these three in the front row?"

y/n nods, watching him create an imaginary ring around the circles in front of the 'net'. he looks to her to make sure she's following along. "so, during this formation, they're all in charge of blocking when your side is playing defense. every time the other team tries to score a point, it's their job to jump and deflect the ball. if it pushes through somehow, then it's up to those in the back row," he pauses, repeating his previous motion, this time around the ones in the second line. "to receive it and send it over."

"that makes much more sense than when my friend tried mansplaining it to me." she laughs lightly. tendou was a god-awful teacher, bless his heart.

"do we need to go over the positions, too? i've got some time." he leans onto his arm again. how hadn't she seen him around sendai, or at least miyagi in general before? this was quite honestly the most attractive guy she'd ever seen. and that said a lot considering one of her best friends was semi eita.

she braves herself to meet his eyes herself this time. a sheepish smiles inches itself onto her face, a subtle answer to his question. he chuckles, deciding to sit down in the seat across from her. he reclines in his chair, his arms crossed and his legs spread just a bit. at this point, he knew what he was doing to her and he was having fun torturing her. he was dangling just how hot he was right in front of her, like a child teasing a puppy with a chew toy.

"so let me start with the setter—" she interrupts him.

"oh! i know what the setter does, my best friend is a setter. and a... pinch server?" she hopes she doesn't sound stupid because if she was honest, she almost said 'cinch server' but it didn't sound right. he laughs, nodding his head for confirmation. she releases a huff of air in relief. "my other friend is a middle blocker and then the other is the captain and the ace. our team is a powerhouse."

his eyebrows raise. the term wasn't thrown around loosely. if she knew that much, then it had to be true. the only thing he had to figure out was which team it was. but he'd wait to do that. "nice. i'm a wing spiker. and in case you didn't know, i basically do the same thing as the ace, i just have a less fancy title."

"oh yeah i knew that. and then there's the libero right?" she rests her chin on her palm, genuinely interested in the conversation with this stranger who's name she didn't even know.

"yep. looks like you didn't need me for that after all." he snorts. his eyes scan her features, his stomach turning gently at the focused look in hers. it was cute. he glances up towards the door, where he sees a few guys walking towards their direction. he recognizes them instantaneously.

a hand on her shoulder causes her to look back, finding her friends standing there. tendou removes his grip and opts to pat her head. "hey, n/n! we finished up early and thought we would come help you out." before she can let him know that there was no need, her counterpart is getting up from his chair.

"i've— um— gotta go, but it was nice talking to you. i'll see you around, yeah?" he rushes out, beginning to walk away. her eyes widen in confusion. was her friends showing up too much? she didn't even know what his name was.

"w-wait! i didn't get your name!" she calls after the strawberry blonde who was behaving as if she were suddenly the plague. he debated on giving it to her for a split second, wondering if it was worth it because he knew he couldn't actually see her again. she was from shiratorizawa academy. she was the enemy.

but once he saw those e/c eyes sparkle, he knew he couldn't resist himself. even if he had just met her.

"hanamaki takahiro."