Winner [Haikyu!! x OC] (Completed)

Trust

"You know," Daisuke leans close to my ear as we stand on the sideline during a break.

Free practice with the city league is almost over, and I'm taking a long swig from my water bottle. Attending two different practices every day is catching up to me. I'm exhausted. And I can tell that my grades are starting to slip. I don't know how Kyotani does it. Though he probably doesn't care so much about his grades. But I'm going to keep pushing through it. For the good of the whole team. My exhaustion isn't important in comparison.

"Kyotani is responding to you a lot better today. He let you analyze his serve, and he hasn't blatantly avoided you even once. I think our plan is working."

My skin tingles where Daisuke's breath hits it. I tilt my face up toward him, fighting the urge to bite my lip when I find us to be much closer than I thought we were. "You think?"

"I take that back," he smiles down at me, dark hair falling into his eyes. "I know our plan is working."

He surprises me by squeezing my hand, and this time I can't stop myself from biting my lip. I quickly look away, giving his hand a small squeeze back before letting go. "Well, I did eat lunch with him today," I say in an effort to both keep him informed and help me move on from how floaty my stomach feels.

"You did?" Daisuke sounds excited. "How did it go?"

The way he's so invested in my mission here is actually adorable. But the thought makes my neck feel warm, so I mentally delete it. "Better than expected. Especially considering I brought two of the other team members with me."

"That's amazing, Lillian!" Daisuke's wide smile is contagious.

I put my hands on my hips as I smile back at him. "How many times do I need to tell you to call me Lily?"

"Sorry, Lily," he takes a miniscule step closer. "I keep forgetting."

I start to roll my eyes, but a yell from one of the other city league players sends me jumping away from the tall boy standing very close to me.

"Daisuke! Stop flirting and come toss for us before we have to clean up!"

Daisuke laughs and jogs onto the court. "Your work ethic inspires me, Takumi."

I blush. Coming to the city league practices to flirt with the guys is not the image I want to create. It's not even close to the truth.

But Daisuke didn't deny Takumi's accusation that he was flirting with me just now.

Whatever. I shake it off and join the boys on court. Whether he was flirting or not is unimportant. That's not what I'm here for. He probably wasn't anyway. He's just helping me become friends with Kyotani. And I have to admit that without his help, I wouldn't be getting anywhere.

Daisuke, Kyotani, and I remain in the gym after the other boys leave, repeating our routine of me throwing a ball into the air to Daisuke, who sets it for Kyotani to spike. The amount of time we spend in this cycle depends solely on Kyotani. We stop only when he feels like he's hit the ball sufficiently hard enough and feels satisfied.

I don't mind. If this is what it takes for him to trust me, then I'll do it without complaint.

Kyotani hits another spike with a grunt, taking a deep breath when he lands. He straightens slowly.

"Nice kill, Kyotani," Daisuke repeats for probably the fiftieth time.

"Nice kill," I echo.