F̶o̶l̶l̶o̶w̶ Fuck the Rulebook - Kenma Kozume

C6 - Wakeup call

Akasuki’s eyes fluttered open, her mind stuck in dream land as the glowing eyes of Sō were settled before her. What the hell, she jolted up pushing her chair back watching him grin at her,
“finally, you’re awake.”
Finally? How long has he been there for? Sō leaned his arms on her table sliding a piece of paper closer to her,
“I need your help.”
What? Help? She glanced down at the paper, oh, maths. She glanced up at him,
“how did you get in here?”
Sō smirked lightly gesturing over to his side, where a cluster of girls were stood watching him. Right, guess that makes sense. She furrowed her brows,
“you shouldn’t interrupt my class.”
Sō sighed leaning onto his shoulders,
“technically it’s lunch.”
Ha, funny.
“Shouldn’t you be practicing then?” She muttered taking the paper between her fingers.
This isn’t difficult, he should be able to do this.
“Shouldn’t you be awake?” Sō teased.
Her eyes lifted to his, fair play. He laid his head against the desk staring up at her with wide eyes pouting,
“no one will help me.”
“I thought Yūki was good at this stuff,” Akasuki whispered.
“He said I have to learn it myself. I tried Taketora, Kenma and Shōhei. No one,” he pretended to frown, “please Suki.”
There was the nickname again.
“Will you help me?” Sō asked.
Did she have an option? She sighed pulling her seat in,
“fine.”
“You’re amazing,” he remarked leaping up to join her side, looking down at the paper in her hands.
“But,” she spoke glancing up at him, “next time, call me and I’ll come to you,” she glanced around, “it’s weird for you to come here.”
Sō grinned with a nod,
“anything.”
She started to detail the questions, making sure she wasn’t giving away the answers straight away and that he worked for them. Akasuki completed the last question pushing the paper away,
“do you understand?”
Sō's eyes were wide as he slipped the paper under his arm grinning at her,
“wow.”
Wow? She squinted at him, snickers filling her ears from the girl group. Fuck, she needs to get him out of here. Sō crossed his arms gazing at her,
“even when exhausted you can do that,” he paused bringing his hand to his chin, “your boyfriend is really lucky.”
Boyfriend? A dreaded face flashing in her mind, no. Her mouth tightened. Was he messing with her?
“You can leave now,” Akasuki muttered putting her head back on the desk.
Sō pat her head with a sly smile,
“you’re a real heart breaker,” he paused pulling his hand away, “the coach is back today, you should come meet him.”
That depends if she manages to stay awake. She lifted her head partly with a nod,
“If I'm not still tired, I’ll try.”
Sō grinned,
“I’ll just have to carry you then.”
Cheeky bugger. Akasuki went to retaliate but he had already sprinted out of the room. She put her head back down, he's a big kid, they all are. That’s what she liked about them. Class went by smoothly with a couple of whispers about Sō's visitation, but nothing dramatic happened. She pulled her bag onto her shoulder as the room emptied. The coach huh? That should be interesting. She yawned as she approached her professor,
“Miss.”
Professor Himira looked up from her desk with a smile,
“Akasuki, are you okay?”
Professor Himira was probably one of the nicest Akasuki was taught by. She nodded,
“yeah, I just had some questions.”
Professor Himira stood pulling on her coat making her way to the door,
“let’s walk and talk.”
Akasuki nodded following her, the pair beginning to walk down the corridor, professor Himira speaking first,
“what’s going on?”
“Well,” Akasuki sighed lightly, “I’ve joined the volleyball team as their manager, but I haven’t even met the coach yet.”
She nodded slowly. She had a couple worries about the coach. What if he hates her? What if he fires her? She could read the worry on Akasuki’s face, humming lightly, turning down the corridor towards the faculty office,
“I’ll introduce you.”
What? No, that’s not what she meant. Before Akasuki could verbally express her disproval, they had reached the door. The door opened without Professor’s Himira's touch, a short older male with beady eyes and grey hair stood before them.
“Yasufumi,” Professor Himira beamed.
He looks, kind. The older male smiled lightly,
“Himira, who do I owe for this pleasurable encounter?”
Professor Himira stepped aside, revealing Akasuki stood behind her,
“one of my second-year students, Akasuki Au.”
His eyes lit up at the mention of her name,
“I remember hearing your name from Tetsuro,” he recalled, “our new manager.”
Akasuki gave a short nod, they actually mentioned her. Professor Himira stepped back with a smile,
“I'll let the pair of you get acquainted,” she turned to Akasuki, “keep up the good work.”
Akasuki nodded with a smile,
“I will.”
She continued to stroll down the corridor leaving the pair alone. He started to walk gesturing for Akasuki to follow,
“Akasuki Au, right?”
She nodded following beside him. She hoped he wasn’t going to be mean.
“You look like a hardworking student,” he remarked, “are you up for committing your time to these boys?”
Committing her time to these boys. She thinks she is. She nodded. He glanced at her,
“do you speak?”
Oh, right, words.
“Yeah, sorry,” she apologised, “I forget I have one sometimes.”
He chuckled lightly,
“you're gonna need it with these ones.”
She nodded lightly. She’s spoken quite a bit to some of them but she’ll have to become comfortable with the others sometime soon.
“Are you familiar with volleyball?” He asked.
She shook her head,
“sports aren’t really my thing, I don’t like getting,” she gestured her arms around, “tired.”
He hummed in understanding,
“how about practicing alongside the boys?  You don’t have to, but I think it’d be helpful if you got involved with them.”
She can do that? She thought to herself for a moment, maybe it might help her get along with them better. They neared the doors exiting to the gym, but Yasufumi stopped by a door opening it before rummaging around,
“you should have your own school one but,” he pulled out a pair of red shirts and a black shirt, “here,” handing them to her, “I assume you know where the changing rooms are.”
An actual kit, wow. She nodded taking the clothes in her arms.
“get changed and I’ll see you at the gym,” he smiled softly heading towards the door, “it was nice to meet you Au.”
“You too,” she whispered watching him leave.
Once he had left, she stared down at the kit in her hands. She can’t believe it. They’re just clothes but this was like a ritual of acceptance. She grinned as she headed to the changing rooms.
She stood before the gym doors, tugging at the end of her shorts. This is kind of embarrassing. Ah, fuck it. She pushed the door open using her bag to cover herself, the boy’s heads lifted as she entered. Ah god. Her cheeks started to burn as she moved towards the coach, throwing her bag down to the floor. Crossing her arms over her chest turning around, eyes still pressed on her.
“What are you? Bloody animals, get back to practice!” Yasufumi yelled.
Thank god, that was embarrassing. She joined his side,
“thank you.”
He shook his head,
“I forget they’re just kids sometimes.”
She knows what kids are like, and they are definitely similar to these boys,
“I, have brothers,” she spoke slowly, “younger ones.”
More like two little devils. He glanced at her as if asking for her to continue. She went to speak again but he suddenly burst out in a yell jabbing his finger in Yuki’s direction,
“what are you a slug? Pick your feet up!”
Whoa, that was loud. And scary. She gulped rubbing her arms, should she continue speaking? He glanced to her with a nod,
“sorry, what were you saying?”
Right okay,
“one is rather isolated and confident, while the other is people dependable and loves team sport.”
He nodded in recognition,
“you’ll be good here, they’re practically kids,” he paused, “yet, you know nothing about volleyball, if I’m correct?“
Wait, she brought the book with her today. She jogged to her bag pulling out the book to hold up to him with a proud smile,
“It’s a start to learning more.”
He nodded, somewhat impressed with her independence. She shoved it back inside joining his side again.
“You’re independent enough to make your own path towards success,” he looked to her, “they’ll need that.” 
Really? She gazed over to the boys; they’ll need her. Is he serious about that? Is it possible that anyone could need her? Let alone, actually want her? Yasufumi cleared his throat pointing towards Taketora,
“I want you to yell at Yamamoto, his hit is sloppy and weak, he can do better.”
Yell at him? She can’t do that. Right? That’s just, rude. She fixed her gaze on Taketora glancing to Yasufumi, can she really? He gave her a short nod, before turning back to face Taketora. Clearing her throat, here goes nothing,
“hey Yamamoto!” he lifted his head in response to her, “you’re doing absolutely perfect,” she paused a small smirk appearing on her lips, “if you were serving ice-cream to kids!”
A hearty laugh arose from Yasufumi as he shook his head,
“that was a good one!”
Was it? It felt kinda useless and mean. Yet, it felt just as good to get it out. She couldn’t help but smile at her achievement, watching Taketora receive snickers from the other boys. He didn’t seem overly bothered by it. In fact, the moment he ran up to hit the ball, something had changed, Akasuki didn’t know what, but it had. And the hit was perfect. Yasufumi turned to Akasuki,
“I think being insulted by you hurts more than me insulting him.”
Maybe, she didn’t think it was the fact that she insulted him, more of the fact he seemed to be a very female orientated guy.
“You can rest now,” Yasufumi claimed with a soft smile.
Rest, that's appreciated. She moved to the bench taking a seat, bringing her knees to her chest as she watched the boys’ practice. Something felt right here, like little bubbles of joy rising through her. With heavy eyes, the match faded into darkness.