[English] ~𝒟𝒶𝓇ℯ 𝓉ℴ 𝒟𝓇ℯ𝒶𝓂~ Kenma x OC

Chapter 20: Training sessions with obstacles

It took a while for Kageyama and Oikawa to calm down. Atsumu patted Oikawa on the shoulder. "Let's go. We have better things to do, ya?" Oikawa nodded, then turned to us. "You have 10 minutes until we meet down at Field B." I looked down at myself. Maybe I should change again. I turned around and started running, but I didn't get far. I blindly ran into someone. I stumbled back roughly before bowing. "I'm sorry!" When my eyes fell on the person I had run into, my breath caught. "K-kozume-san..." I refrained from calling him by his first name so as not to give away our acquaintance. I wanted to be careful. Better safe than sorry.

Kenma raised his hand. "It's fine", he said. My heart was racing. I quickly brushed past him and scurried towards the stairs. Damn it. I didn't want to allow myself to feel this way. I didn't want to open my heart to someone again, only to lose them. But why was that so hard for me with Kenma? I walked down the hall to the room I shared with Maru-chan. After I reached it, I pushed the door open and slipped through. Maru-chan was just about to leave. "Good luck, Izumi-chan!" She smiled happily at me, then left the room. I sighed.

----

"You're late, Izumi", Oikawa's voice reached me across the large lawn. I cursed. Oh no. Kageyama gave me a pitying look. "Sksksk, and on your first day too... As punishment, you have to run a lap around the field." Oikawa's smug grin was already getting on my nerves. But what else could I do? I grumbled to myself as I tied my shoes. Then I started my lap around the field. When I had finished, I trotted back to the group. They had already started warming up. I stood next to them and started their stretching exercises. "Okay, let's get started, ya!" Atsumu stood up straight.

Music was playing from a jukebox. Kenma had come over to Atsumu. "Personally, I've always hated circuit training", Kenma said with a pitying look on his face. Atsumu made a noise. "Shhh, Kenma! They shouldn't know that." Oikawa took over. "We've created a little obstacle course for you. Spread out to the individual stations!" I reached for the jump rope. "Each exercise will be performed for exactly one minute. Then it's on to the next one. We'll do three rounds to start with." He pointed to Atsumu and Kenma. "Kenma will take the time. Atsumu and I will examine how well your stamina is." Kenma reached for a stopwatch. "3...2...1...Go", he starts the first round.

My movements were fluently. Every time the jump rope swished over my head, I took a deep breath. My concentration was on my body. I blocked everything out. It felt so damn good. "Next station, hurry up guys", Oikawa yelled. I put the jump rope aside and looked for a free mat. On a small piece of paper was the exercise: Mountain Climbers. "3...2...1...Go." Kenma's voice echoed across the court. I leaned on the mat and began to do the exercise. "Look at that." Oikawa had positioned himself next to me. "That looks good, ya. You have good stamina!" Atsumu grinned at me. "My brother said you were a great setter too." 

Oikawa took a sharp breath. Oh no. He shouldn't have said that. "Is that so? We'll see."

----

The circuit training had paid off. My head was filled only with the pain I was going through. "See you in half an hour.", Atsumu grinned. I ran to the washrooms to wash my face. 

When I opend the door, a group of girls blocked my way out. Startled, I took a step back. "Is it really her?" A red-haired girl about my age stood in front of me and took a good look at me with judging eyes. "Impossible. She's so...normal." What were they talking about? "It must be her." Another girl spat on the floor in front of me. "Shame on you. How dare you have something with Kenma!" What? But... No, impossible. They couldn't know that. Unless...

I turned on my heel, went back to the washroom and locked myself in one of the stalls. The girls' voices were now muffled. Their fists were pounding on the door. With shaking hands, I pulled out my smartphone.

A call came in. Rose. I answered it. "Don't go on Instagram." It was official: exactly what I feared had actually happened now. 

"B-but how...?", I asked with a faint voice. I was shivering.  "Apparently someone recognized you by your voice", she explained calmly. My body began to shake uncontrollably. "W-what should I do now, Rose?" It was suddenly quiet on the other side of the line. "I don't know, Izy." 

The door to the washroom was thrown open. "Everyone out of here." It was Kita-san. "Right now! Go to your groups." The voices became quieter. "Ito-san, would you please accompany me to the dining room?" His voice was softer now. "We'll talk later, okay", Rose said and ended the call. I slowly unlocked the cabin. Kita-san greeted me. "Everything will be fine, don't worry."

----

Kita-san closed the dining room door behind us. I recognized Akaashi-san and Bokuto-san talking to my coach from Nekoma. My legs were still shaking. What would happen now? Would I be sent home? Kita-san cleared his throat. "Please sit over here, Ito-san." 

He spoke briefly to a few people who left the room shortly afterwards. My coach, Osamu, Akaashi-san and Bokuto-san remained behind. There was no sign of Kenma. I swallowed. "What happened, Izumi?" Akaashi-san dropped down next to me. Hadn't they found out yet? "Ito-san was cornered by a group of girls in front of the washrooms. I only noticed it by chance when I was on my way to the janitor." So Kita-san didn't know why I had been harassed. Akaashi-san looked at me intently. "And why?"

My throat was dry as dust. "They found out." I didn't need to say anything else. Bokuto-san's eyes widened. "The story about the stream?" I nodded dejectedly. "Someone published my identity on the Internet. They are fans of him." 

Kita-san looked at us confused. "I would be very grateful if someone could explain to me what's going on here." While Akaashi-san was explaining it to him, my coach gave me a stern look. I knew that look. She thought I was guilty. She definitely thought that I was to blame for the whole thing. I had gotten that look from my mother so many times in the last few months. I unconsciously slumped down. Even if I explained it, she wouldn't believe me.

"This matter is very serious." Kita-san tapped the table impatiently. Osamu stroked his chin. "You should avoid leaving the training ground for now." He was addressing me. I nodded. "Where is Kozume-san? Shouldn't he be here?", Akaashi-san asked. Either he really didn't know what had happened, or he was ignoring it. After he had been so cold towards me, I didn't want to rule out the latter. Cold sweat ran down my temple. Why did all this have to happen? First the thing with my father and my greedy mother, which I was still struggling with, then that with Kenma and now this story... Was life trying to test me? I couldn't explain the whole thing any other way. I really was stumbling from one problem to the next...