With Love

2: marred views

  Silence settled into the gymnasium. But an odd inkling made it's way into (Name)'s mind, that perhaps silence would be a rare occurrence in the Karasuno volleyball club.

  Daichi turned to face her, and the scary look he had displayed earlier immediately gone when he faced her. Instead, his calm smile reappeared again as if his stormy expression was never there.

 This rapid change had easily made (Name) much more terrified.

  "Hello, I'm —" 

  Despite being outside, Shouyo's loud begging had very easily interrupted Daichi's self introduction.

  "PLEASE LET ME IN!! PLEASE LET ME PLAY VOLLEYBALL!!! I'LL GET ALONG WITH KAGEYAMA, TOO!!! PLEAAAAASEEEEE—"

Daichi's sunny smile had nearly fell again, and (Name) promised to herself that if she ever became a manager in Karasuno, she would try not to step on any of Daichi's buttons.

   "Are you sure about this, Daichi?" His friend, Suga inquired Daichi with doubt, "They're still members. Teams come together gradually anyway."

  He layered his question with thinly-veiled pleading but Daichi was unmoved. He folded his arms again, polite smile gone and irritation renewed to creasing his forehead.

 "I know, but—" 

  Shouyo's pleading was interrupted by a pained yelp, and (Name) had almost opened the door if it weren't for Kageyama's sudden interruption. 

  "I apologize!" he declared, "I swear I'll get along with this guy! Please let me participate in the club!"

  A brief flicker of irritation passed (Name)'s mind.

  You didn't even refer to Shouyo by his name! 

  (Name) looked at Daichi, waiting for his response. Instead, he walked towards the door of the gymnasium, squatted down and opened it by a fraction of an arm's length. Through the gap that he had opened, Kageyama's face was visible and expressive in his reluctance - his face turned comically grey, and (Name) was sure that their senior was back to showing his terrifying glare.

  "Are you sure you mean that?" Came Daichi's question.

  If possible, (Name) could hear Kageyama's teeth grinding together in thinly-veiled pain.

  But he responded with a mellowed tone, "If I had to cooperate with that guy in a match, I'd rather receive, spike and toss all by myself."

  He looked to the side, as if ashamed by his honesty. Daichi, however, let out a mirthful laughter.

  "I can't believe you just told me your true feelings! But I think that's a good thing..." He continued when he had stopped laughing, but the amusement was still clear in his tone, "Still, in volleyball, you can't drop the ball, you can't hold the ball, and one player can't touch the ball twice. How do you plan to play by yourself?" 

  It was a rhetorical question. Seeing the frown on Kageyama's face deepen only made (Name) sigh.

  Perhaps he and Shouyo can be friends someday... They're both a bit stupid. They can bond over that.

  But (Name) was broken out of her thoughts when the seniors turned their attention toward her. The uncomfortable and wary anxiety inside her returned, but she pushed it away as best as she could.

  "Sorry about that," said Daichi, his quick-to-crumble smile returning when he faced (Name) again, "My name's Daichi - I'm the captain of this team."

  The gently-smiling boy from before gave (Name) a smile before he introduced himself. "I'm Sugawara," he then gestured to the boy with the buzzcut next to him, "And this is Tanaka—"