égoïste [Akaashi Keiji]

raison #13

"I'll see you guys at school tomorrow!" Shiori beamed, waving at them happily as they left the restaurant they went to for lunch. Everyone was heading home. She didn't want to keep them with her for so long; they probably had stuff to do.

"It was nice meeting you all!" Arata grinned and waved. "Let's play some volleyball next time!"

When the others left their field of vision, the Maebara siblings headed home.

"Do you think dad's home yet?" Shiori questioned. "We were out the whole time."

"Yeah, he said he'd be back around the afternoon. It's like 3 now." Her brother checked his watch. "He should be back."

"Mhmm," Shiori hummed, a skip in her step.

Arata raised a brow, his lips tugging into a smile, "What's making you so happy today?" He already knew the answer, but he thought he'd ask anyway.

"Dad's coming back, and I did a success spike! Well, just one, but you know!" She beamed, looking over her shoulder after she skipped ahead. She pivoted on her heels and spun around to face her sibling, "I can't believe I managed to do one! I've been trying for ages!"

Arata just smiled, "That's good news, then." He was happy for her, truly. The last time he had come back to see her, she was always at the sports centre trying out spiking techniques (apart from serving), but they always failed. He remembered that the current team setter for 'Pillows' and her had worked for a very long time to get where they were at now.

I'm surprised that Akaashi was able to draw out her potential in just that game alone, Arata mused. He glanced at the shorter one, then ahead. He's a good setter. Analytical; adaptable. He kind of reminds me of Tooru, in that aspect. Though I can't really say too much; Tooru's able to synch up with her perfectly when they play together, but they would still need to practice if they wanted to get to that level.

"Do you remember when I said I couldn't be a wing spiker?" Shiori looked to her brother.

"Hm?" Arata snapped out of his thoughts. "You mean back in middle school?"

Shiori pressed her lips together and averted her eyes to the ground, "Mhmm."

"Yeah, I remember."

How could I forget? He thought. He forced his expression to remain calm and neutral.

Back then, it was the last year of middle school for Shiori, and Arata was in his 2nd year of university. It was also the time when her teammates were somewhat shunning her because she was pulling down the team. The first half of the year was manageable to a point, but when it got to the second half of the year, it was harder to ignore, even for someone as headstrong as Shiori.

Arata recalled the times when Shiori would have club, and she would end up telling him what happened at that time when she came home. She would say that her team, who had previously stated that they would get to Nationals and make sure that they improved so much that nobody could keep up, had ditched her, and it was heartbreaking to watch. At first, Shiori didn't let it bother her at all because she had known them for a while, but after the first half of the schooling year, it began to affect her.

'Aren't you a prodigy? You're supposed to be able to do something as simple as this! Get better!'

'Why aren't your spikes good? My sets are good enough for you to hit!'

'Why aren't you trying? We're doing our best, but you're just dragging the team down with your dillydallying!'

As strong as the girl was, the pressure of being the best was intense.