Another Manager (Akashi Seijuro x OC)

1.7 Versus the Great King

Ai tore herself away from the game and went out into the hallway to find a sink. She knew that the vomit would soon become odorous and harder to clean the longer it was left as it was. She had stolen Tanaka's pants while he jumped and blocked one of Seijoh's attacks, and now she took it out of the plastic bag.

Holding her breath, Ai turned on the water and started scrubbing. Thinking she should've also bought a bar of soap at the drug store, she did her best to wash the black cloth.

It took her a while before she was satisfied with her work, but after a few back-stretches to relieve the cramp from being hunched over, she turned off the faucet. She ignored the few whispers, stares, and whistling from the Aoba Johsai students as they wondered who the beauty in black was. Squeezing as much water out of the clothes as she could, she headed back into the gymnasium.

She laid it out on the bench to let it dry a little before she would have to store it back in the bag. Since the third set of the game was about halfway through, she went back to her notes.

Oikawa's serve was terrifying, like Kagami's Meteor Jam dunks, which she had seen a few times last year. And, to make matters worse, he specifically aimed for Tsukishima. She rewrote and underscored receive training once again on her practice schedule notes.

Lucky for them, however, Hinata spiked a broad attack that made their victory. It was unbelievable. They had just won against the prefecture's fourth-best school. Unfortunately, from where she was standing, she couldn't see that Hinata had his eyes open when he deliberately hit the ball in Oikawa's direction, but she did find it a little odd and disconcerting.

After they had lined up and thanked the opposing team for the game, it was up to Takeda-sensei to give them a little feedback. Be that as it may, it was more like an inspirational speech; he was a poetic teacher and still a novice to the sport. Ai quickly rehashed what he'd said in brief, more understandable words.

She handed Tanaka his pants while the team packed up to leave. Hinata and Kageyama had disappeared somewhere, but she knew she would go collect them before they left.

"Here, Ryu. I just washed them with water, so they're still wet. If the smell doesn't bother you too much, you should keep the bag open to let the air vent itself."

"Woah, thanks Ai!" He seemed elated, for more than one reason, of course.

"You're too nice to this team, Ai. You spoil us too much." Sugawara laughed.

"It's true. You're too kind," the captain scolded. "Shimizu, tell her."

She and Kiyoko unblinkingly stared each other down with cool gazes.

Finally, her mentor smiled. "You make my job so much easier."

"Thank you." Ai returned the smile.

Sugawara sighed. "You two are hopeless."

Before she packed the lavender oil, she used some for herself and smelled her wrist. It was really lovely.

They all walked back to the bus, bathing in the purple-orange sunset. Daichi reflected that they needed to work on being able to handle serves like Oikawa's. If they had been up against those murderous serves from the start, they probably wouldn't have lasted until the final set versus the Great King.

Speaking of, they were surprised by the Great King himself waiting for them at the front gates. As usual, Tanaka pulled a face on his enemy, with Hinata supporting him from behind.

How long had he been standing there, posed so impressively just to talk to them? What would he have done if they had already gone home? It was a bit cute of him; to think that smug smile could have been in vain.