Picture the Silence - Oikawa T.

chapter 2

The ringing of the school bells signaled the end of another treacherous school day. However, for Sachi, the ordeal persisted. Why? She had to photograph the men's volleyball club. Normally, this wouldn't be an issue; she takes a few photos, and she's good. But nope, she was informed that she had to stay the entire practice to capture before, during, and after photos. Believe it or not, Aoba Johsai was quite popular, mainly due to the fact that their team was the most attractive in the prefecture, according to the people online. So, it was important for them to keep their Instagram fresh. With the responsibility of handling their Instagram, it made sense to her why joining the photography club late into the school year was such an issue. The first week of school was when they received all the information regarding their responsibilities and so on.

The walk to the gym was awful. She hadn't expected so many people to be here after school; it was a Tuesday for goodness sake. And it wasn't just normal people strolling around; it was the fangirls of the oh so amazing Oikawa Tooru. Pushing her way through the crowd, she finally manages to step into the less crowded gym. But soon, she is stopped by what looks like a coach. "Sorry, no people are allowed in the gym during practice today," the man says, trying to push Sachi out. "I-I'm the new club photographer," she finally manages to spit out as she is practically being dragged out of the gym. "Hmph-" he looks her up and down for a second, "could I see some proof?" 'Is this guy serious?' is the only thing that goes through her head as she digs out her phone from her pocket, hoping that access to the Instagram account was enough. By now, a few bystanders in the gym had started to pay attention to the conversation. "Here it is," she hands him the phone, and he nods. "Sorry for the harshness; we've been having issues regarding people sneaking in under the pretense of 'club duties lately,' so I just like to be safe-" he turns and motions for her to walk with him towards the court. "Alright boys, gather round!" his voice echoing through the gym immediately ceases any gameplay throughout the area. As the boys clamber in, she notices a few familiar faces throughout the crowd. She didn't notice how many of her fellow third-years were on the team.

"Alright, guys, this is our new club photographer," whispers erupt all over the gym. I hope she doesn't only photograph Oikawa- she's really pretty- what year is she in? "-please treat her with respect," he nudges her forward to introduce herself. "I'm Koda Sachi, a third-year in class 6," even more whispers spread, that's the same as Oikawa and Iwaizumi senpai, "-please take care of me," she does a quick bow and waits for some kind of response. In return, the large group of boys bow and mutter a quick 'please take care of us.' After that quick introduction, the group is instructed to return to practice. "I never got to introduce myself, but I'm Coach Irihata, and that over there is Coach Mizoguchi," he says, pointing to a man with dirty blonde hair and clipboard who is watching the practice intensely. Coach Irihata then proceeds to show her all around the gym, mainly just where the safest areas to capture pictures were. "In my opinion, the best time to get photos is during drills since there is less chance of you getting hit-- but if you think you can handle not getting trampled, feel free to get pictures when we do practice games." After that, he runs through the logistics with her a little bit more before excusing her to go do her job.

Sachi looked around for a few minutes trying to figure out what the best area for her to start would be. Hitting lines? Hitting lines was the choice she made. The drill consisted of the outsides, Hanamaki, Iwaizumi, and some other person she didn't know, being set by Oikawa and then shagging their balls. It was a simple drill that would be easy to take pictures of without getting in the way of the players. She shuffled her way over to the first court and propped herself onto the floor by the edge of the net, aiming her camera up to get an interesting angle for the pictures. "Hey Sachi- I guess we're your first group ey," Iwaizumi says from the back of the line, "Yeah," snapping a quick picture before continuing her response, "I figured this was the easiest one to get pictures of without getting the way," snapping another photo as the unknown person reaches the point of impact with the ball smoothly, with a lot of strength, hitting it over onto the deep corner of the court. Sachi had seen multiple volleyball games throughout her life but has never seen this level of intensity this up close. She'd go on for a while rotating between the types of pictures she'd take, whether it be bursts of the full motion, the point of impact, or even the people in line just communicating with her. The few minutes she had spent taking pictures of the hitters had been quite peaceful, 'Maybe this won't be so bad,' is what played through her mind before a whiny voice interrupted the peace. "Sachii-chan-" this sudden name calling caused her to fall onto the floor at the sudden shock, "You've been here for 10 minutes and have only taken pictures of the boring people... I'm seriously hurt." The girl was flabbergasted, first of all, the two were not on a first-name basis and second, she was there to take pictures of the team, not just Oikawa Tooru, and this is exactly what she told the boy before excusing herself from the group. Which caused a bit of a stir at the hitting lines.