ため野矢の: Because of Noya

話す Talk

"Nakemura-san, could you fetch me that towel please?"

A breathy but polite voice asked me.
I turned around to see a worn out and sweaty Sugawara-san, lazily pointing to the yellow towel I was carrying in my hands among the many others.

I threw him one off the top, and he caught it gingerly.

"Thank you. Good job today."

He smiled happily at me and walked away to attend to other matters.
It was not fair how refreshing, modest, and kind he was all the time. Whether it be in pain, sadness, anxiety, or anything else similar- a smile is always plastered on that pale face of his.

But it shouldn't be this time.

It's true- although we put up a good fight against the opposing team, we lost.
It wasn't a surprise. I mean, they won every time they went up against us, right?
No. This time was different.
It was close. Too close. 3 sets and 27- 26. I could have sworn Kozume-san was about to loose his cool any second on that court. For the first time, Ukai-kun explained, he actually was worried about victory and happened to be panicked/ disorganized. I could sense it too, and I thought we had it in the bag after that because the genius setter was in a tight corner.

But, we realized he wasn't the only one on the court. The captain (Kuroo-san, I believe) managed to pull him together, as well as the rest of the other team that was just as worried and anxious as well. It must have been a tacky quote, something about "blood running through our veins" and "we must move constantly to keep it flowing."

Whatever it was, it was enough to rile up the team while keeping their heads on their shoulders.

Our volleyball team wasn't able to recover as quickly as they did. They were too rushed and impatient to steal a point back- unlike their calm and thought-induced competitors. That's what ultimately led them to another loss once again.

In the midst of thinking about the match, I idly gazed around the gym area filled with liveliness. Surprisingly, some Karasuno players were conversing with Nekoma's athletes. I thought they would be extremely depressed, therefore not wanting to go anywhere near the team they failed against.

But, I was proven wrong when even Nishinoya-san himself was talking to Nekoma's libero. The sparkle in his eyes was apparent, and his loud voice was filled with fascination and praise for the boy just a bit taller than he was.

Speaking of him, he did attempt to do a set from the back line. This one time opportunity came when Kageyama-kun was rotated to the back and received a ball dangerously close to his corner. Therefore, Nishinoya-san took up the responsibility and handled the ball.

Or so we wished.

The volleyball was tucked in his hands, and for a second there, my heart stopped and I stared wide-eyed at the orange libero with a newfound amazement.

Even though it looked like a money shot, he ended up setting it too far away from the side of the net. Tanaka-san attempted to reach it, but it landed out of bounds before he could bump it to Nekoma's side.

Although, I was still proud and jubilant with his first try in a game at the new skill (even if he wasn't happy himself and moreover frustrated).

As of now, I was outside of the stuffy and humid gym to get a breath of fresh, cold air and evaluate my thoughts. I liked being alone, in this environment, where no pressure was added for me to compete, and soft wind was blowing gently against my red face; occasionally bringing a few stray strands of black hair over on my glasses.

"Yo."

A deep, modulated voice greeted from behind me. I turned around and brushed my thick hair behind my ear to catch a full view of the person talking to me. It obviously wasn't polite to turn to them with a blanket of hair covering my face awkwardly.