Observant || Oikawa Tooru ff

5. Paradox

Ume's days at school had settled into a routine after that. She left home early, changed buses and reached school. She tried diligently to keep her presence to minimum and acted spectator. Her classmates did not disappoint. The class was full of some or the other drama happening everyday. 

If nothing was happening in the class the rest of the school was there to fill in the void. The first years had quickly found out the social situation in school. The players on the school's various teams were regularly receiving confessions, so were many members of the student council. 

Ume was walking in the hallways during lunch break with her eyes darting around. That was when she noticed a few photos of school activities from last year had been pinned on the board. She saw her own self in one of the photos. It was during last year's sports festival, she was looking at the ongoing relay race with much interest.

She remembered it clearly. Two of their senpais had gotten into a disagreement over something and had decided to settle the differences with that race. They still got into a fist fight at the end of it, though it was altogether a different story. 

It was the first time she realised how she looked when she was observing others. Her eyes held a scorching heat. They were wide open and held a considerable amount of intensity. She smiled to herself at that and let herself wander to the other photos. One of them caught her eye. It was from one of the volleyball matches last year.

Her breath hitched as she saw the figure of a tall brunette. He was holding the ball, standing outside the court, perhaps getting ready for a serve. What made Ume do a double take was the look in his eyes. Scorching depths, staring intensely at his opponent. 

He was observing too.

That sudden thought made Ume very uneasy. She was used to using people for entertainment, but being somebody else's entertainment all of a sudden felt uncomfortable. She fidgeted standing there, feeling a bit unnerved. 'Hypocrite!' she berated herself. Shaking her head to get rid of random thoughts, she continued towards her classroom.

Standing farther away from the notice board, the tall figure of Oikawa was leaning against the wall. To a passerby it would almost seem like he was deep in conversation with his friend. But that was far from the truth. He watched as the strange girl walked away from the notice board, clearly miffed about something.

He found it very amusing, her obliviousness that is. He was well aware she paid attention to people only to keep herself from boredom. He had noticed in their first year how she switched from watching one person to other like she were changing TV stations. What he found strange though was that it never occurred to her that just as she watched people, they could do the same to her too.

He felt the strong fist of Iwaizumi smack his back to shake him out of his reverie. He glanced up only to find his friend scowling at him.

"You will not be attending practice till your injury heals, you hear me Oikawa?" He asked sternly. Oikawa nodded eagerly in compliance. He had no plans of receiving any of Iwa-chan's infamous beatings.

Ume on the other hand, had convinced herself that Oikawa was like that only when playing volleyball. She knew for a fact that many things made her uncomfortable. Getting close to people, being a part of a group or going to unknown places were a few of them. If she were to add getting stared at to the the list she felt that her nerves wouldn't let her sit still.

Class was filling in. When the two jocks had entered Ume suddenly felt very skittish about the whole situation. She involuntarily shivered when Oikawa suddenly made eye contact with her all of a sudden. But he instantly looked away making her wonder if she was imagining these things.

School ended soon after but Ume stayed behind in the library to continue with homework. She was almost done and decided to pack up. Outside by the lockers, she heard the faint whining of a first year.

By now, she almost knew all the first years by their strange traits. This short and a little chubby girl always seemed to loose her things. Whether it was somebody else's doing or if she really was an airhead was a mystery even to Ume.

Apparently getting your things lost all the time was not good for your mental health. Because this first year seemed to be nearing a breakdown as she complained loudly to herself in the empty hallway.

"Where is my timetable? I've lost my blazer on top of that? It's so cold outside. Does the goddess of misery only know me?" She was wailing loudly. Though soon enough her wailing had turned to tiny sobs and shallow sniffles. Ume heard the door to the bathroom across that hallway close. The sound of the sobs had receded.

Ume thought that was the end of it when she heard tiny whoops and hurrays coming from the same girl. But she was too lazy to actually turn around the corner of the corridor and see what had happened. 

Though soon she saw the girl happily humming and walking with a slight jump in her step. She did not realise that Ume was standing there staring at her... nor did she realise that the blazer she was now wearing, was a little too big for her.

Ume saw delinquent kun of all people from her class slinking across the corridor. He was of course without his blazer. A faint smile spread across her lips and he jumped in surprise when he saw that she had been standing there all along.

Her expression told him that she realised what had happened. He lifted a finger to his lips, trying to appear as dangerous as he could. But the amused smile never left her face and she nodded her head like a little child.

After the incidence, Ume decided that just staying silent and watching people was not all that bad. If she didn't, would she get to see incredible sights like she did today? This might as well be the start of a blossoming romance.

She stood by the school gates and turned about to look that the vast building of her school. It was place she tried to find some amusement at. No, more so it was a place that allowed her to stay away from home for extended periods of time.

Well at least today she was returning home later than usual. She had a meal with her father to thank for that.