Breaking Through the Iron Wall - Aone Takanobu x Reader

Chapter 5

The night before, I had checked multiple times that my alarm would ring at a rather early time - not wanting to repeat the situation of the latter day. After doing all my morning rituals at a normal pace that time, but not bothering with niceties, seeing as though everyone saw my normal face yesterday. Though my hair was a bit more out of place, probably due to all of the running I did yesterday, however, no one would notice except me. Curly hair was just curly hair to them.

Heading downstairs, a rather strange sight was bestowed upon me - my parents sat at the table together and engaging in conversation for once. My father wasn't very happy about the move - his tailoring business gained a lot more profit and customers back home, and here, customers were a rare sight to see. Usually now, breakfast was just take what you want and go, today an actual meal lay across the table. Soon, my parents took notice of me and beckoned for me to sit down with them. After taking my seat they soon engaged me in conversation. "Morning (Y/N), how was yesterday?" My mother inquired, her hands wrapped around a mug of tea.

"Pretty normal" I responded, "Besides the fact that there was a little mishap with the train."

"I heard about that, did you get to school on time?" My mother leered over the edge of her glasses - punctuality was a big thing for her.

"Just about, if only by a moment. It didn't cause any trouble though."

"Good." My mother curtly replied. I didn't want to know how she'd react if trouble had ensued.

"Enough of that, have you met any new people?" My dad sparked up, trying to liven up the atmosphere.

"Yeah... I guess I've met about 5 people."

"Elaborate." My mother said, peering over her glasses again.

"Well I met two girls called Hiroko and Rea in physical education. I met someone in social studies called... Futakuchi." I paused before saying his name - talking about him wasn't a very pleasant feeling. "I also met the volleyball captain and then someone on the train called Aone."

"It's nice to know you're getting along with people!" My dad cheerily smiled at me, the exact opposite to my mother's expression.

"You know (Y/N), you shouldn't be calling your acquaintances by their first names - they may think you to be immature and disrespectful."

My head sank, of course she'd think to say something like that. "I'm sorry, it's just that they told me to call them by their given names."

"Don't do that with anyone else." She scowled, always having to poke the fun out of every conversation. I immediately tucked into my breakfast - not wanting to talk to her anymore. After all, she'd only ever say negative things to me.

I checked my bag, making sure everything was packed, and so I stepped out of my house, not waving my parents goodbye. Sometimes I wondered how my dad put up with her. The walk down to the station was peaceful, in great contrast to the sprint of yesterday - finally getting the time to admire the scenery of the street surrounding me. A beautiful scent wafted towards me from the bakery - making my stomach churn for its deliciousness, even though I had just eaten. But I couldn't dare veer away from my path in pure fear of being late again. My feet carried me closer and closer to the train, until the point where I was already inside it. Finally giving me a rush of relief.

Once again, Aone was sat by himself in the exact same seat as yesterday, almost as if he owned it - like some sort of territory. Upon seeing his face - I smiled and cheerily waved my hand. In return, the left side of his lip curled up in his subtle smile. Almost skipping, I made my way over to him. That whole time - his little smile never left his face, it was so tiny, hardly noticeable and that's why I found it kind of adorable. It was as if he was not letting anyone see his smile besides me - truly endearing. As soon as I took my place beside him, I dug through my bag for my book. This time opening to the page detailing the lavender flower.

This flower was given as a sign of distrust, contrasting its beautiful being. Lavender was a common scent in every aromatic product, as it was known to relax and put people to sleep easier. Perhaps that was why its meaning was so contradictory, if the recipient did not know the meaning behind the flower - they would have no clue that the giver did not harbour any trust for them. Truly deceiving, therefore making it the flower of maltrust.

Just like yesterday, I made sure to turn the page slowly, so that Aone could read alongside me. It was strange that a man I had only met 24 hours ago was now reading alongside me, just like friends who knew each other inside out. Aone and myself were not like that at all, he had spoken only two words to me - his name. Yet, we sat next to each other in silence, as if there was nothing left in the world for us to talk about. The truth was far from that - we had yet to talk about everything, even the littlest of trivial things. I wondered if we'd always stay like that - side by side in silence.

We stayed reading for the remainder of the train ride. After it had arrived at its destination, I once again hesitated to move until everyone else had began to exit the carriage, I then hurled my bag over my shoulder and stepped outside once more. I felt I needed to tell someone about my big decision. "Hey Aone." His head sharply turned towards me, "I've made a decision about being your manager... And I'm going to do it."

The left side of his lip began to curl up more than it had before.

"I know I may not know anything about the sport, but I'll try. And if you don't like me being there you can always tell me and I'll stop." I rambled, starting to become flustered about the situation again. Aone shook his head and placed his hand delicately upon my shoulder.

"It's okay." He spoke in a deep and comforting tone, trying to calm me down, assuring me that the decision I had made was the correct one. It worked, the simple gesture he made stabilised my mind.

"Thank you." My eyes shifted towards his, gratitude shining from them. The simple words he spoke had just brightened my day. In return, he nodded his head. The rest of the journey to school was silent, but it was a pleasant silence - just enjoying each other's company.

Silence stayed present until we reached the volleyball gym, even though it was before school started, the majority of the team was gathered there, and of course - so was Futakuchi. His snarky smile arose as he saw me standing at the entrance. "Has their highness made their decision yet?"

"Yes." I bluntly replied, it was too early for his antics.

"And what would that decision be?" While saying that, he put his face rather close to mine - perhaps trying his hopeless intimidation tactics again.

"I'm going to be the manager, if you'd let me."

Futakuchi then started jumping around, acting like and elated child hearing exciting news. "Isn't that just great! I am so looking forward for their highness joining us. The news is music to my ears." He flailed his arms around randomly.

"Can it, Futakuchi." Moniwa shouted from across the gym, coming towards him - hopefully to clip him around the back of the head. "Oh hey, (L/N). You decided anything yet?"

"Yes..." I paused for a second, taking in a deep breath, "I would like to be your manager."

"Oh, that's great. I think it's time for you to meet everyone then." He then whistled, signalling the rest of the team to gather. Once they did, he began introductions. "Everyone this is our new manager, (L/N) (Y/N). She is starting as of today." The rest of the team bowed at me - quite the reception. The captain spoke again, "Number one is our vice captain and middle blocker - Kamasaki Yasushi. Number two is myself. Number three is our wing spiker - Sasaya Takehito. Number six is another wing spiker - Futakuchi Kenji. You've already met Aone, the crucial centre of our iron wall. Number twelve and thirteen are a wing spiker and libero respectively - Obara Yutaka and Sakunami Kosuke. There are other people here who are not officially on the team yet." He gestured over to a group of what looked like first years.

"Nice to meet you all." I bowed at them, feeling seriously overpowered by their presences. I was pretty sure that, that feeling would stay sewn into me for a while.