stubborn |tsukkishima kei|

*6*

Karasuno's first practice match of the season finally dawned the next day and [Name] made sure to make 5 alarms to make sure she would wake up on time.

Except she forgot to actually set them.

[Name] heard a series of knocks at her door and groaned into her pillow- her body felt like a ton of bricks.

"[Name]!" yelled Sora through the door, "Don't you actually have somewhere to be today?"

'Why would I have somewhere to be? I never have plans,' she groggily thought to herself until it hit her. [Name] shot out of bed, looking at her clock that read 8:45, about two hours later than when she intended to wake up. The match started at 8.

[Name] scrambled out of bed and grabbed the nearest pair of sweats and threw them on, not bothering to check how she looked in the mirror. If she ran as fast as she could, she could make it to Karasuno in 10 minutes, and hopefully, they would still be playing. She didn't really know how long these matches lasted, after all.

[Name] ran down the stairs and grabbed a piece of bread and shoved it in her mouth, earning a confused look from her parents, who were just sitting at the table.

"Where are you-" started her father.

"I'm late! I'll see you later bye!" [Name] rushed as she ran out the door as fast as she could, her feet slamming into the pavement and arms driving back and forth

Once she got to the school, she checked her phone to see the time.

"9:00. Okay, maybe I can still make it," she muttered to herself, panting in between words. [Name] was so caught up in getting to the gym on time that she didn't notice the person walking just a few feet ahead of her, and ran right into his chest.

"Oh gosh, I am so sorry but I really have somewhere to be right now," she stuttered before looking up at who she ran into. He wore a light blue shirt with a green penny and had the fluffiest brown hair she had ever seen. [Name] felt her already hot cheeks heating up as she locked eyes with the boy she had run into.

"That's alright," he said with a chuckle," I can tell you're in a rush," he said, pointing to [Name]'s hair, which was still in the messy bun she had slept in and was further rattled by the wind. [Name] was even more embarrassed now- she had totally forgotten to undo her hair in the rush of leaving her house.

"Can I ask where you're going?" he questioned," I was actually looking for the gym."

"That's where I'm going too," [Name] replied, still out of breath," You can follow me."

[Name] and the boy started on their way to the gym in silence, with [Name] too embarrassed to speak as she took her hair out of the messy bun and attempted to lay it flat.

"I'm Oikawa," the boy said, out of nowhere," Are you going to watch the match?"

"Yeah, I'm one of Karasuno's managers. I was supposed to be there a while ago, which is why I was rushing," [Name] huffed, eager to get into the gym," Are you here to watch too?" Oikawa just chuckled in response as they walked through the double doors. The two walked in just as the second set ended.

"I'll see you later, manager-chan!" Oikawa said and jogged away, leaving [Name] confused, until she heard Oikawa yell," I'm here!" to the team on the opposite side of the court.

"[Name]! Have you been fraternizing with the enemy this entire time?" yelled Tanaka, marching over to the poor girl, who had no idea the boy she had bumped into was the captain of Aoba Josai's volleyball team.

"I'm sorry for being late! I forgot to set my alarms and I woke up late and I ran here as fast as I could, and then I bumped into that guy who I did NOT know was on the other team," rambled [Name], flustered from meeting Oikawa and arriving late to her first game as a manager looking like a hot mess.

"It's alright, [Name]," chuckled Kiyoko, patting her shoulder and ignoring Tanaka's remarks, much to his disappointment," We're tied with Aoba Josai, the third set is going to start soon."

[Name] nodded frantically, still embarrassed about her late arrival when she saw Oikawa waving to her from the other side of the gym with a wink. Her cheeks grew hot as she turned away from him and headed over to where the other first-years were. Yamaguchi noticed her walking over and waved with a cheeky smile.

"I was worried about you!" Yamaguchi said with a laugh," At least you'll be here to see who wins!" [Name] smiled at Yamaguchi's attempt to make her feel better, although her mood was spoiled when she heard a certain four-eyed male begin to speak.

"Look who decided to show up," Tsukkishima said with a snicker," You missed seeing shrimpy here hit King on the back of the head." This comment earned an angry look from both Hinata and Kageyama.

"I didn't mean to!" Hinata pouted," But its not like he didn't deserve it-" Hinata was silenced by a volleyball to the face from none other than Kageyama. The duo's childish bickering was enough to make [Name] laugh and forget about her morning and Tsukkishima's snide comment.

Soon the whistle blew, marking the start of the third set of the game, the one that would decide the winner of the practice match. [Name] watched as the volleyball flew over the net, bouncing off arms from side to side. She noticed that Oikawa was quite showy, but he was really good on the court, setting the ball perfectly to his team's spiker who slammed the ball onto Karasuno's side. Hinata and Kageyama were quite the spectacles too, the short orange-haired boy moving faster than [Name]'s eyes could keep up with. She even drifted to Tsukkishima, the hem of his shirt lifting and he jumped to block the spikes from the opposing team.

"It's a good view, huh?" questioned Kiyoko with a light smile, causing [Name] to blush.

"I wasn't looking at him, I swear!" sputtered [Name].

"I was talking about the game," Kiyoko chuckled, making [Name] even more embarrassed, covering her face with the clipboard she held.

Hinata scored the winning spike for Karasuno, the ball landing so fast it slammed right by Oikawa, leaving him shaken. [Name] cheered for the team, jumping up and down in excitement as the boys rejoiced at their unexpected win.

She never felt this sense of unity until she became the manager. [Name] barely knew the boys, but felt like she was part of something, included- something she's never really felt before- and felt that her role would be the start of many really great bonds.

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