The Aoba Johsai Chronicles

history project

matsukawa always knew that the friendship he held with hanamaki was more than just a casual bond; it was a connection forged through years of laughter, mischief and their shared passion for volleyball. from middle school to his adolescence, they'd both weathered life's ups and downs together. it was a bond he cherished deeply, believing it to be unbreakable until...

"goodnight, kamine."

he'd been there. he didn't mean to spy on the both of them but he couldn't help himself. he'd stumbled across those two on call together just as hanamaki asks kamine if she'd thought of the two of them having kids together.

matsukawa couldn't help but eavesdrop, his curiosity overpowering any thought he had. his curiosity had quickly morphed into a tumult of unfamiliar emotions as soon as they both turned on their camera.

jealousy.

he'd always thought he'd be content seeing his best friend and the girl he admired together. so why was he feeling this way?

his hand came up to clutch the front of his shirt, right where his heart would've been. he could feel his heart thundering inside his rib cage, threatening to burst through his chest.

reality left him grappling with emotions he still didn't have the capacity to comprehend. or rather, he just didn't want to admit that he was jealous of makki.

•

the weekend after the volleyball team had left for their away games at fukurodani, kamine hadn't expected to see them back so soon.

but as soon as she walked into her classroom on friday, the brown-haired vice captain lifted his head up to greet her with a friendly smile.

"iwaizumi. you're back already..." kamine trails off, realizing that she sounded a bit to eager. she cleared her throat and took her seat next to him, trying to ignore the way he kept looking at her.

"yeah. we've to spend some time practicing by ourselves for the spring tournament... you'll come, right?" iwaizumi leans forward, resting his chin on his palm as he turns to look at the girl next to him.

kamine nods simply, still unable to look him in the eye.

the rest of the day goes by in a flash but kamine couldn't help but grow self-conscious as iwaizumi kept staring at her all throughout the session.

she looks at the clock. 'just one more hour. just one more hour. just one more-'

"iwaizumi and yamashiro." kamine lifted her head up in question, realizing that she'd not been paying attention.

iwaizumi notices and leans towards her a bit. "it's for our history project. we've been paired together. lucky, huh?" he grins rather wolfishly, an unfamiliar glint in his eyes.

"r-right. lucky..." kamine gulps softly, not knowing what else to say. she pays attention to the rest of the class as the teacher begins to give out the instructions on how the project should be done. it was a rather big project, which accounted for a fairly large portion of their grade.

it wouldn't be a problem for kamine. but she realized she'd been overlooking a major detail.

"so? where are we meeting up?" iwaizumi brings her out of her thoughts.

ah, of course. they couldn't do it during class time. they'd have to make time for it.

they could meet up in the library, but it would close by the time iwaizumi finished his practice.

or they could meet up in a cafe. 'no, no. he might get the wrong idea.'

"h-how about my place?" kamine mentally slapped herself for stuttering. not to mention, she just had to go and invite a boy to her house. her parents would have a fucking field day with this.

"sure. that's fine with me. i'll wait for you after practice."

"we're starting tonight?"

"well, yeah. we only get a week for this. and we both only get a few hours to work on something like this. i'm busy with practice and you're just with the student council stuff."

"r-right. you can come by the student council office when you're done with practice. i'll try to finish my work early."

"see you then, yamashiro." iwaizumi grins and pats her back before he leaves.

•

he was nervous. the iwaizumi hajime was nervous. and all because of some girl.

he tries to sound as casual as possible as he slides the door open to the student council office. "hey, you done yet?" cue the mental pat on the back for not stuttering.

"yeah. almost... alright, i'm done." he watches kamine gather up her things and walk outside with him.

the train ride to her house was quiet and filled with an awkward silence. which was quite uncharacteristic, considering iwaizumi was one of the only people kamine could be comfortable around.

the moment she walks into her home, her mother is already all over iwaizumi, practically interrogating him while her father glares at him over the newspaper he was reading.

kamine quickly leads him upstairs and locks the door behind her as she pushes him into her room. "sorry about them. i usually don't bring people over... actually i've never brought another person over."

"oh? i'm honored to be your first then." he blushed as he realized how that sounded.

"y-yeah. uh, let's get started." kamine quickly takes out all the material they needed for the project.

the next couple of hours were a blur, with both of them going through all the information they needed for the project.

maybe this wasn't so bad, kamine thinks as she watches iwaizumi right down his part of the project on the paper.

iwaizumi was actually fairly respectful and polite compared to his teammates. he'd been someone she came to admire after a while.

'admire? do i admire iwaizumi?' she thinks in her head, her eyes snapping towards him again.

she studied his face, accustomed to its habitual scowl, yet now witnessing an unexpected calmness gracing his features.

her gaze slowly traveled a bit lower, tracing the contours of his sharp jawline with her eyes, lingering on his defined collarbones. she silently noted how his hardened muscles subtly strained against the fabric of his uniform.

a fleeting thought passed through her mind, wondering whether he possessed the same muscularity beneath his clothes as he appeared to.

she began to blush at the image her mind conjured up, one of iwaizumi with nothing on. she'd seen him without sleeves before, and she'd be lying if she said she didn't have any impure thoughts about him.

"you're staring." iwaizumi brings her out of her thoughts again, a bemused smile on his face. "is there something on my face?"

"no, i was just wondering what it would feel like to get choked by you."