The Pinnacle

Ch 2

Leaving the showers, we went back to the gym and cleaned up the equipment we had left behind before locking up. Then we just naturally fell into our routine as we had done dozens of times before when we stayed late practicing together. Silently and efficiently, we would gather our things from the locker room, the walk to the bus stop together. There were never many words exchanged unless Ushiwaka wanted to discuss a certain play or upcoming match. And since our tactic is pretty much always the same, so it was rare.

The cicadas echoed through the trees as the sun was wetting on a long day. The sizzling heat blurred the middle distance as I stared at Ushiwaka's broad shoulders in front of me. I quietly kept pace with him, wincing occasionally when I moved my groin the wrong way and reintroduced the pain from where he had entered me.

"Spring prelims are starting soon," Why was he talking all of sudden? It's really not like him. Did he feel awkward too?

"Yeah," I replied.

"The only team who may pose a problem is Aoba Johsai." That name struck a chord. Even though the rest of Seijo were good in their own right, I knew that Ushiwaka was only referring to Oikawa. Oikawa Tooru, the prefecture's most perfect setter with the ability to get the most out of every one of his spikers. I knew that Ushiwaka was always disappointed that he hadn't come to Shriatorizawa instead.

Damn that Oikawa. I ground my teeth together, I'll bet my eyes were bright green with rage. "We will crush them," I said firmly. It wasn't a question. It wasn't a statement. It was my demand to Ushiwaka. I was telling him that I would be a better setter than Oikawa this time. So he also had to play at one hundred percent. Anything less would be unacceptable.

He stopped for a moment and turned his head to me. Seeing the flaming daggers in my eyes, he smirked, "Of course,"

I took a few quick steps to catch up to him and we continued to make our way to the bus stop where we eventually parted ways without exchanging another word.

...

The ceiling never looked as interesting as it did that night when I just lay still on my bed, thinking about the day's events. The pain in my body where he... I could still feel it. His fingertips, the surface of his palms, the hands he had used to hit so many of my sets, I still felt their warmth as they ran over my body. His lips pressed against mine, his tongue battling with me; every sensation had engraved their memory on the very makeup of my cells. While I had simply intended to replay the events in my head so that I could logically process what he was thinking and what to do next; what ended up happening was that my body remembered too clearly how his touch felt and it stirred my core like chemistry. We were two foreign elements that came together and the combining of the molecules made an explosion.

Ushiwaka... even though it had only been a few hours, I already wanted to feel him again. No, Shirabu get your mind out of the friggin gutter. Putting aside the high I was on from the physical aspects, I needed to process the actual events that occurred. What was I supposed to do now? On Monday, when I saw him at practice, what was I supposed to say? What would he say? Why did he even do what he did? I didn't understand any of it. Was it just the heat of the moment? To say a million questions were flashing around in my head would have been an understatement. I had thought that the moment I was caught kissing him that everything was over for me. This was not a scenario I had planned out. I don't know why, but none of the conclusions I was coming up with included the idea that Ushiwaka wanted to do it. That just did seem rational.

In the worst-case scenario, he would be disgusted with me, and things would be a little awkward. But we still have to see each other, we're on the same team after all. I mean it's not like he could just kick me off the team, even he didn't have that kind of power.