More Than Anything Else (Tooru Oikawa)

Oikawa

Takeru throws the ball to me, I bump it, and Oikawa tosses it to Ibuki. The young brunette boy hits the ball over the elementary level net with pretty good accuracy, but his twin sister is there on the other side. She is able to receive the ball and it flies back over the net. Oikawa catches it easily and give the girl a thumbs up. "Nice one Itsumi-chan. You've gotten so good at receiving!" He praises her. "I think it's due to a very pretty and talented teacher you have."

The flirty setter winks at me and I just reach my hand up and flick his forehead. "Shut up," I mumble to him as I feel my cheeks heating up. I know he doesn't mean any of his constant advances at me. Over the past month of knowing him, I've learned that's just how he is. For some reason though he can always get a good reaction out of me, which encourages him to keep doing it.

"Owie, Asu-chan!" Oikawa whines in a childish way as he holds his forehead. "That was a complement. You are so mean."

"And you are insufferable," I shoot back.

"Then why do you still hang out with me?" Oikawa smirks as he gazes down at me.

"You have your moments," I admit, grinning at him. "Plus it's always a mystery in you're presence. I don't know what you have it store every Monday, and it amuses me."

Taken by my surprisingly honest statement, his face breaks in an ear to ear grin. "Aw, Asu-chan, I forgive you." He pretends to wipe away tears as he tries to pull me into a bear hug.

"Get off!" I complain, pushing him away while laughing. "Let go of me, you dunderhead!"

We get back to practice for another half an hour. We practice different tossing and receiving drills, helping with the kids' form, and making it into a game. All the while we are laughing and having a lot of fun together.

During my time with Oikawa, I've learned some things about him. He's an utter child sometimes when he gets into a mood, but occasionally when he breaks away from us to practice on his own, his eyes are sharp and laser focused. He's actually an amazing and patient volleyball teacher and great with the kids. He helps them up when they fall over, and he even consoled one of them when they started crying about never being able to spike a ball correctly.

"When I was learning volleyball, I needed to practice twice as much as Iwa-chan just to be as good as him. Now I'm the captain of my team," he told them. "It goes to show that although you might not get something in the beginning, the best way to get better is to just keep practicing. Pull yourself off the ground, shake it off, and try again."

Oikawa was a conundrum. His constant mood swings and flippant personality make him difficult to be around him at first, but then you start to see him differently. He's not just the narcissistic ace setter who the girls go wild for. He's extremely intelligent and scarily good at reading people which probably has helped him turn volleyball games into mind games, toying his his opponents' weaknesses and emotions. He pushes himself beyond the limit during his own training to make himself an even better player, which goes to show his drive for the things he is passionate about. Unfortunately I've needed to berate him a few times to take it easy especially with his, still not completely healed, knee injury. And although he teases and nags Takeru a lot, I can tell that he is extremely proud and fiercely loves his nephew from the bottom of his heart.

After lessons, Oikawa, Takeru, and I go out for ice cream since we finished earlier than usual. We all get ice cream cones. Takeru, two scoops of cookie dough, Oikawa, a scoop of mint chocolate chip and a scoop of cookies and cream, and I opted for a vanilla soft serve with rainbow sprinkles. I am currently being made fun of because of my choice of ice cream, being called a 5 year-old by Oikawa.

"Who was the one who pouted like a 5 year-old when he lost a race to a girl," I sneer.

Oikawa lips form the same pout that he had that day when I beat him in a running race around the playground when he called me short.

"I can't help it that your a freak with a weird ability to run fast," he huffs as we sit at a table outside.

"Look who's calling who freak with your freaky spike-serve," I shoot back.

"That's called talent right there, sweetheart," he boasts.

"And me being faster than you is not talent?" I argue.

"Its called cheating. There's no way you could have beat me in a fair race," he replies as he licks his ice cream.

"Will you two quit bickering already?" Takeru complains. "Its annoying and I'll leave if you don't stop."

"Well no one's making you stay," Oikawa sasses the 7 year-old.

"Oikawa, shut up. He will actually leave and you will be the one blamed by your sister when she finds out you let him walk around town by himself," I tell him, knowingly.

Oikawa sinks down in his chair. "I can never win, can I?" he sulks, as he takes another lick of his ice cream.

"Ah! It's Tooru Oikawa!" I hear a high voice squeal behind me.

"Wow! He's hotter in person!" Another voice responds.

Oikawa immediately perks up at the voices and a smile appears on his face. He's such a simpleton sometimes. He waves to the group of girls behind me and they immediately burst into a frenzied buzz as they fangirl together about the boy sitting in front of me.

I shift in my seat, an uncomfortable feeling in my stomach. Is it the ice cream?

We continue to chat as we continue to eat our ice cream. "So how are classes?" Oikawa asks me. Knowing that this is an important topic to me, he never fails to ask me about my grades and encourage me to get better.

"Well, I'm trying my best, but it's not the grades I really want," I tell him "I'm starting to apply to schools as well so there's not much time for improvement."

"You'll do well. I believe in you," he tells me with a smile.

I feel my face heat up at his kind words. "Thanks," I mumble and then launch into the list of colleges I'm applying to. I'm applying to the three top pre-med schools in Japan as well as one in America and two more local colleges which are my safety schools just in case. I really hope I don't really need the safety net, but it's better to be safe than sorry. Coincidentally, Oikawa also is considering applying to the two local schools as well. Although it would be nice to go to school with him, we both know I'm shooting for the number one school in Japan or the American one.

Afterwards, we both say our goodbyes and walk our separate ways. I walk down the familiar streets that lead to my house, swinging my bag in my hand and humming a song.

Today was a good day.

***

^Agreed.

Today was a good day for me as well. I got to go home this weekend to see my old high school's musical so I got to see all of my drama children. They did amazing as expected since my son (I played his mom in a previous musical) was the lead. They did Addams Family and it really made me miss doing the shows. I don't miss high school at all. Only the shows but it was really nice seeing everyone again.

Question of the Day:
Do you have a favorite musical?

Mine's Hello Dolly cause I got to see it on Broadway with Bette Midler and it was PHENOMENAL! I also love Cornelius lol

Until next time,

Catherine