The Great King -「大王様」

Chapter 10

春高の準備
Spring Inter-High Preparations

-x-

"好きだ！！(He likes you!!)" Yui celebrated. When I told her what happened with Kageyama Tobio, she's been full of energy. I didn't get the chance to tell her about how I felt about it.

As I wrote down notes in my notebook, my mind drifted to the gym. I know they're not there, but I can't help but think of Oikawa playing in the court right now.

"及川？(Oikawa?)" I looked by the door after hearing Yui say his name, but he's not there. My eyes shifted to Yui and found hers staring at my notebook.

Oh, damn! I wrote his name! Agh, and I don't have correction tape with me. I wrote over small slashes on his name. Ugh. I clearly told myself that he'll be a distraction. And clearly, he is. He is. He is!

In our last exam, he got a lower average than me, but he didn't seem too concerned about it. It almost even felt like he didn't check the rankings. I might have forgotten that he's a geek for volleyball. I doubt he cares about our academic ranking.

I started stuffing my stationery back inside my bag once I finished the last of my notes. Yui was watching me. She's been free since minutes ago, yet she chose to stay and keep me company even if she knows I'm not walking home with her.

"本当に来てくないの？(You really don't want to come?)" I asked again. We're at the entrance of the gym and I've been inviting her to visit the team with me. But she never agrees. From the way she looked at the gym entrance right now, it looked more like she was avoiding the volleyball team instead of actually being busy.

The door of the gym slid open and revealed Kunimi with his usual lazy expression, but his eyelids raised when he spotted us. "やー、国見！(Hey, Kunimi!)" I waved my hand.

"小泉さんー！ (Koizumi-san—)" My eyebrows furrowed when I heard him call Yui. I turned to her, who already left my side. She mumbled a goodbye, but that went way too fast. Kunimi walked towards the direction where Yui left, slowly picking up his speed, until the two of them disappeared from my sight.

With a sudden weight on my shoulder, my heart jumped. Turning to my side, I realized it was Iwaizumi. "岩さん。。びっくりした(Iwa-san.. You shocked me.)" My hand landed on my chest as I calmed my heart.

"行こう(Let's go.)" He guided me to the gym. Iwaizumi even took my bag off my shoulder and carried it, without me realizing. For some reason, I imagined Oikawa doing that instead. Agh, that's quite rude for Iwaizumi. Stop thinking of Oikawa too much Sekki.

The moment I stepped inside the gym, I felt a wide palm pat my head. Tilting my head up, I found Matsukawa facing the court as Oikawa did his kingly serve.

"喧嘩したか？(Did you two fight?)" he asked, not taking his eyes off Oikawa, who was using up all the balls in the basket as he served continuously.

His brows pointed down as his eyes shot an intense glare on a certain area on the other side of the net. Oikawa threw the ball up and started running, jumping just before the line and hitting the ball with all his strength.

"多分。。(I think so..)" I answered, making Matsukawa echo my answer as he abruptly looked at me.

Before I could even answer, Iwaizumi came back to answer for me after he put my bag beside his and Oikawa's. "影山と白鳥沢のセッターは夕暉をすきなんだ。だからクソ川が怒った (Kageyama and Shiratorizawa's setter likes Sekki. That's why Crappy-Kawa's angry)," he explained.

Well, that's everything laid out. Oikawa was already in a bad mood that day when I told him I was meeting up with Kageyama. When I got home, he already knew what happened.

He's probably a stalker.

Since then, he's been in a terrible mood. I didn't bother to initiate a conversation with him because whenever he's in this mode, he's not going to listen at all to anything I say.

"辞めさせる(Make him stop)," Hanamaki said, approaching us with his hands behind his head.

Oikawa does need to stop. The tournament is coming up. If he hurts himself in any way, Aoba Johsai won't be in good shape.

I took slow and small steps toward Oikawa's side. I watched him take another volleyball from the basket. Keeping his eyes on the court, he spun the ball between his palms and said in a low tone, "なんだ (What.)" His body was tensed and he was sweating profusely. It's probably hard to practice with a heavy chest. He shouldn't go on anymore.

"徹君 (Tooru-kun.)" That one word from my lips alone, made his back straighten up. He hung his head low, causing the bangs of his hair to shadow his face. He won't be serving again, so I stepped in front of him and held his hands which were grasping on the ball tight. "休みください (Please take a break)," I muttered. There was no response from him. I let out a sigh, thinking that I couldn't do anything more, until epiphany struck me. "歌うよ(I'll sing.)"

Instantly, I felt the tension on his hands disappearing. It took a few seconds before he moved to put the ball back in the basket. Oikawa headed to the side of the gym to sit, and I hurriedly sat beside him. Once we were both on the sides, he let his body fall, and his head onto my lap. His eyes were closed as he steadied his breath.

My fingers brushed through his brown fluffy hair as I sang a quiet song just loud enough for him to hear. The frown on his face was slowly being replaced by a contented one. The corners of his lips were up. Oikawa moved a little. I felt the gentle touch of his hand on my cheek when he opened his eyes to gaze into mine. "やっぱり。。怒られない (In the end.. I couldn't get mad at you)," he whispered. My cheeks blushed at the words that came afterwards. "素敵な声 (That beautiful voice.)"

While singing, my eyes scanned the whole gym out of boredom. The coaches were watching the team practice, and Kunimi was still not back. Kyotani just arrived. The ball hit the floor on Iwaizumi's side of the court, and his team started discussing their next strategy.

Oikawa woke up sometime and begged me to let him practice just once, and I let him. Just once anyway. Then, I watched them play. Oikawa really brings out his teammates' strengths. It's no surprise that he's the captain. As they played, I spotted a pair of eyes from the small windows on the other side of the gym. Is another school spying on us?

Since the game was still far from finishing, I took the chance to check out what was happening outside the window. When I peeked out of the gym door, I found Kageyama peeping hardly. "困っているだよ(You'll get in trouble)," I mentioned.

Kageyama jumped. When he noticed me, his large hand landed on his chest, trying to calm himself. "びっくりした、御免夕暉 (You shocked me, sorry Sekki.)"

"いいえ。早く帰ろ(It's fine. Hurry and go back now)," I told him. I watched him leave first before I returned to my place in the other side of the gym.

A thought bothered me. I like Kageyama, but somehow, it irritated me that he tried to check out our practice. Is it my desire to win? It's probably my renewed loyalty to the school.

"何が問題の？(Is there a problem?)" Oikawa asked as he approached me, laying his head back on my lap. "疲れった。。(I'm tired..)"

"いいえ、何もだ (No, it's nothing.)" I gave him a smile. I'm genuinely glad he's calmer now than he was earlier.

His eyelids then started dropping, and soon after, he drifted off to dreamland.

Yeah. This boy better rest for the tournament. Aoba Johsai is not going to lose again.