Different Kind of Beautiful

Chapter 10

To her surprise, it had only taken three practices for most of the team to get used to my presence in the gym. Much to Iwaizumi's displeasure, Oikawa often wanted to walk to the gym with me as a trio. To poke fun at his captain, Matsukawa had taken to joining me on the way to the gym instead since we were in the same class. 

I wasn't too keen on trying to avoid the girls that tried to get a glimpse of Oikawa before practice anyhow. 

Rinko had understandably been rather upset when I informed her that she technically had won our little bet, as there was no way for her to back out of her commitment. The fact that I was joining as the manager made her feel somewhat better, but she was more interested in learning what possible gossip could happen during practice since no one else was allowed it sit in and watch without permission. 

I had already expressed that I would not be spilling any secrets of the club, though I sincerely doubted that there were any. 

"You coming?" Matsukawa asked, leaning in the doorway. 

"Uh, you can go on ahead, I've got to stop by the library before I head over," I replied. He nodded and left, leaving me the freedom to take off as soon as I had my things packed again. I went straight to the library, easily finding the books I was looking for. 

"Why aren't you heading to the gym? Are you skipping practice?"

I jumped as someone leaned over my shoulder, drawing my attention due to how loud his voice was in my ear. Oikawa gave me a grin, backing away slightly. 

"Aren't you the captain? You should be there yourself," I shot back, returning to the task I had been in the middle of. "I'll be down there in just a moment."

"What are you looking for?" he asked. 

"I need to learn about your sport. I'm checking out some different books to help," I stated. "Unless you have recommendations, I'd suggest hurrying off to the gym."

He gave me an offended look. "I actually do have recommendations, Anzu-chan. And I own the books so you don't have to check anything out."

I blinked. "Really? No, I shouldn't be surprised."

He grabbed the books from my hand and put them down on a table nearby before dragging me from the library. "Let's go or else we'll be late. I'll be blaming you!"

I laughed. "No one will believe you."

"Of course they would!" he argued. "I'm the captain!"

To keep things short, they did not believe him. 

Practices were fun to watch. All of the players were dedicated to their sport, working hard to build up their skills and narrow down weaknesses. There weren't many distractions to that process, aside from whenever they would gang up on their captain to mock him for various behaviors. I found myself laughing many times on his behalf, which was terrible to say.

Oikawa practically bounced over to me once he was finished with his extended practice, a bright grin on his face that lingered as we started to walk off of the campus.

"Are you really that excited to show me your volleyball books?" I asked, glancing up at him. 

"I'm more excited that you're getting interested in it!" he chirped. "Most people don't care too much unless they play."

"Well, it seems more teamwork based than most sports which I enjoy," I mused. "I don't really like seeing teams that rely solely on a single player."

He started to grumble under his breath, making me grin. 

After a moment he started to chatter away like he normally did, leaving me to respond whenever he needed a signal to continue. The setter seemed surprised whenever I cut in with an opinion of my own, almost as if he was expecting me to simply tune him out. Though I didn't have nearly as much knowledge on the sport, he seemed to have a pretty unbiased opinion on a number of things, focusing at the time on the equipment. 

A quiet vibration caused me to check my phone as we made it to our street. 

"I've got to head home to help out with something," I quickly piped up. "Could you bring the books over whenever you get a chance?"

Oikawa glanced down at me, the corner of his lip perking up. "Of course. Do you need any extra hands?"

I shook my head. "Thanks, but I think we'll be just fine. Besides, you need to rest. Iwaizumi would kill us both if you overextended yourself."

"Don't worry so much, Anzu-chan!" he sighed. "I'll be fine!" 

"Scratch that, I'll kill you myself," I muttered. "Don't just brush off our concern."

"Alright, alright."

My phone started to go off again, message after message coming through. He started to laugh as I struggled to get it to stop. A call covered the screen and before I knew it, I had accepted. The sound of arguing came from my phone as sI flushed. 

"Ah, sorry, Oikawa- I'd better go," I blurted, putting the phone to my ear before starting off down the side walk. "What is going on?"

"Anzu? Please hurry, your mother is being mean-"

"I am not being mean, stop bothering our daughter and come help me!"

I sighed, "She's not being mean, you just aren't listening."

"My daughter hates me- she doesn't even know why and-" my father started to whine.

"I am five seconds from the house, please calm down. I don't hate you."

"DON'T COME INSIDE YET!" I flinched slightly as my mother yelled over the muttering still finding its way over the call.

I sighed and glanced behind me to see that Oikawa had already disappeared into his own home. I stood patiently on the sidewalk in front of our home, listening carefully to the muffled arguing that was still filling the call. A curtain shifted slightly as I adjusted my glasses and shifted my weight.

I blinked as the call abruptly ended, cutting off the argument. As I moved to approach the front door, it slammed open as my father practically sprinted from inside. He paused upon seeing me, his panicked look morphing into something more pleading as he pushed his glasses back up his nose.

"Oh, Anzu! You've got to help me talk to your mom," he blubbered, continuing forward. "She's been so mean all-"

I ducked as a pocket dictionary came flying out the open door, eyes wide as it stuck the man in the back of the head. He fell to the ground with a dramatic wail as I straightened up and sighed. My mother leaned in the doorway with her arms crossed, giving her husband a disappointed look.

"Anzu, who's this young man with you?" she chirped as if she hadn't just struck a grown man with a book she had thrown with terrifying precision.

I gave her a confused look before glancing over my shoulder to see Oikawa standing there with books in hand and an expression on his face that lingered on the line between terrified and impressed. He quickly gathered himself before shooting me a wink.

"This is Tohru Oikawa, third year and captain of the volleyball team," I mused, grabbing his sleeve and dragging him past my father. "He's a friend."

"Pleasure to meet you," he chirped, a small grin on his face.

My mother stood up and motioned us inside. "Come on in, don't mind my husband, he'll join us in one moment- as soon as he realizes his daughter has brought home a boy."

I sighed. "He's harmless just so you know."

He laughed. "I like your family, they're interesting."