WILDFLOWER [Ryunosuke Tanaka x OC]

Chapter 20 - The Interhigh Preliminaries

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"You good, kid?"

Lost in thought, Kano strolled into the gym where her team warmed up. Her aunt asked her the simple question, so Kano nodded in return once she realized she needed to answer, devoid of feeling or sensations.

What had she done?

Unconvinced by Kano's thousand-yard-stare and blank expression, Nagisa frowned at her niece, but didn't have time to prod further into her personal life... at least not in front of the team. "Okaaay," Nagisa said, knowing that this wasn't the last of this conversation. "Let's warm up! Bump-set-spike practice, let's go! Pair off!"

Kano barely heard her aunt's instructions, but managed to follow along with the other girls, despite her wandering mind.

Maybe she'd fucked it all up.

The girls broke into pairs to run the drill, stretched across their side of the gym as their opponents warmed up on the opposite side of the court. Reika forced herself onto Kano, hoping for some juicy gossip or some fleeting honesty from her ex-bestie. She set herself up opposite Kano, and, surprisingly, didn't get any pushback or sass. "So?" Reika pressed, "What happened? Did you—?"

"There's nothing to tell." Kano replied bluntly, "Just toss the ball."

"You know you can talk to me about whatever—"

"Just toss. The. Ball."

Reika sighed. "Sure, Kano... No problem."

Kano grit her teeth and started the warm-up, but she couldn't shake the feeling...

Somehow, by being herself, by being honest, she ruined everything.

❀

Typically, Ryu would never run off of the court unless it was an emergency.

But maybe confessing his reciprocal love to his best friend qualified as emergent.

After thanking the other team for their match—which Karasuno won—Ryu flew out of the gym, his sneakers squeaking with every turn and pivot, and raced down the hall toward the gym where the girls were competing. If you asked him who they'd just played against, Ryu wouldn't be able to tell you the right answer.

The memory of the kiss hadn't faded yet, and Ryu knew that he had a golden window of opportunity now. Kano felt something toward him in return, and he had to use his time wisely to seal the deal. He had to tell her that he felt the same.

At the girls' gym, he slowed, edging into the room via the door closest to the Karasuno team. Just inside, he found a small crowd of boys from other teams watching the girls' game too... mostly, their eyes were all on one particular player.

Dribbling the volleyball and taking a steadying breath, Kano flicked her ponytail over her shoulder. She leaped into the air to serve, and Ryu found his heart in his throat. In the air, she hung suspended for an impossible moment, her long black hair a whipping ribbon, her body tensed like a coil, her expression intense and her body glistening with sweat. She slammed that ball down on the opposite side of the net unhindered, zipping past her opponents and earning her team one more point.

The Karasuno girls swarmed Kano and screamed and hugged and jumped, some even in tears. The game was over. Karasuno won for the first time in who knew how long.

Pride surged through Ryu as he watched the girls cheer, as he saw Kano's beaming smile while she received hugs and admiration and well-earned praise.

The boys beside Ryu clapped politely, and Ryu did too, preparing to wolf whistle, only to get stopped by a familiar face.