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Au: Regular (timeskip)
Requested
Tags/Warnings: GN!Reader (But male teams), Alcohol consumption, Frenemies to lovers
Word Count: 3.6k+
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"I don't see why you wear those white jerseys. They don't hide a thing by the end of the game." You stared at the shadowed lines on the man's torso, staring through the nearly transparent fabric as it clung to his skin from all the sweat.
"It works as a suitable distraction don't you think? Like the view? Good luck trying to throw me off my game. It's not working."
When your eyes shot up, you were met with a sly grin and knowing eyes.
You glared at the man's white hair as he walked back into position. It bounced slightly as if trying to get its ends to float off of his head and out of its pressed down style. Even with a thin layer of sweat making it flat, a few sections of hair managed to separate from the rest, and float naturally.
The day Hoshiumi cut his hair back down to a short close cut was only a day after the team's physical examinations back in third-year. After years of growing it out, at the news that he had finally gotten a bit taller, he chopped it back down to his childhood crop. It was a weird change to suddenly be presented with. Having known Hoshiumi since elementary school, before he first started to style his hair in an upward plumage, most of your more nostalgic memories about the boy had been with his short hair. But after living a number of your more notable years with his hair pointing upward, those old nostalgic memories had become warped to reflect the surrounding reality.
It felt like a hand had constricted around your lungs when you walked into the gym the next day to see Hoshiumi flying in the air with shorter hair that floated along the shape of his head rather than sticking high in the air. He had started standing with more natural confidence than the loud performance he had been putting on for years, looking people in the eyes with a straight posture and protruding chest, and staring opponents down with a confident unbothered smile.
He smirked at you from the other side of the net.
You hated it. His worthier-than-thou attitude, his gaze that was somehow able to stare down at you without his height being a factor, his ability for constant improvement. You despised it all, envied it.
It was when Hinata joined the team, that you finally had someone to build your skills against to target Hoshiumi directly. Your interaction prior to him joining the team was limited to when you managed to interact and play against him at nationals, but now that he had made it onto the roster for the Black Jackals, you weren't going to lose the opportunity to use him against your old pal.
"Hoshi!" The game had finished a while ago with the Black Jackals taking the win this time around. After team meetings and waiting for all the fans to pile out of the stadium, you had free rein of the grounds. Hinata has trapped under your arm, as you waltzed him in the direction of your white-clothed opponents. "Look at this guy! Ninja Shoyo! He'll steal your title as the Little Giant if you're not careful!"
