"Gather up!"
Once the clock stroke 4:00, every team who attended the mini training camp gathered around inside the host school's volleyball gym. Each coach voiced out everything they noticed – from the teams' strengths, weaknesses, techniques to be developed, and even unnecessary movements that needed to be eliminated. It was quite insightful. Everyone who participated offered their ears to every person who spoke in front – except a certain brunette.
Yippee! This training's about over! I can finally meet (Y/N)-chan!
He may have thought that it would go unnoticed by his teammates – oh, how wrong he was. Iwaizumi crept closer to the daydreaming captain and before anyone can see it, smacked the setter's head with his fist. Hard.
"Trashykawa! Pay attention!" This gathered the attention of every living being inside the area, including the one speaking.
"I-Itai!" Tooru squealed – like a man, before gently rubbing the recently hit area, easing out the pain he felt.
"You're the captain, you idiot! Pay attention to the coaches!" The brunette only pouted.
The one interrupted cleared his throat and continued talking once he has gathered back the attention of the crowd. More thanks, praises, and critiques were dished out before everyone attentively thanked one another for the three-day training.
The team from Seijoh then huddled on one corner of the gym where the coach briefed everyone on what they would be doing – waiting for the bus that'll pick them up so they can go back to Miyagi. Tooru, on the other hand, had something else in mind. After feigning paying attention to the coach, he informed him of his plan to go home separately before rushing to his designated locker to take out his stuff. While on the way back to the gym, he caught two guys from the host school, talking.
"Man! Will you still be going out with your girlfriend after this?" Asked one who was busy drinking water from a bottle.
"Yup! It's been three days since we've seen each other, after all!" The other guy seemed excited. "We'll be meeting at Aion around 5."
"A-Aion?" Oikawa unconsciously muttered, catching the other two's attention.
"Oh, Oikawa-san!" The two greeted simultaneously. A quick 'Osu!' escaped Tooru's lips.
"Thanks for the games."
"Thanks for having us!" The setter-captain smiled his signature and genuine toothy grin to the male students. "This… Aion… is a mall, right? Where is this place exactly?" The two males stared at each other.
"It's just a few blocks down, Oikawa-san," replied the one with the girlfriend. "Are you going there later?" The other one asked.
"Uh-huh~" His response was full of cheer. "I'll be meeting an online friend there for the very first time!"
"Online friend? Never imagined you to be a gamer, Oikawa-san."
"I'm not that into it, to be honest. Just happened to come across this guy when I tried playing," the captain casually replied.
"Oh, but, are you sure this guy's from here? In Ibaraki?"
"Yup," Tooru confirmed. "He says he's studying at Hebidaiza*."
"He-Hebidaiza?" The two parroted. "Wow! That's a top school for smart people!"
"Yeah! It's actually one of the best schools here in Ibaraki, both in Academics and in Sports!"
"You're quite lucky, Oikawa-san!"
"I know, right!" The captain smirked, but slowly faded soon after. "But, I don't know the guy's face. His account picture in his social media's not of his face and he rejects my requests of sending me some pictures of his."
"This guy's probably a con-artist, Oikawa-san," one said with caution laced around it.
"I don't think he is, to be honest," Oikawa defended.
"Do you know the guy's name?" The other guy asked.
"Uh-huh! He said his real name is Kotobuki (Y/N)." As he said the friend's name, both guys immediately turned to each other, shock clearly evident on their faces.
"W-Whoa. Of all people to meet online, you met (Y/N)-kun!" One of them smiled gently, which wasn't left unnoticed by the captain-setter.
"You guys know (Y/N)-chan?" He asked – more like pleaded.
"Uh-huh!" Said the other who took out his phone. "He's actually one of the silent types in our class back at middle school. He never joined in any club but rather left school as soon as the bell rang."
A member of the Go-home Club, huh, Tooru thought to himself.
"We never saw him hanging out with other people – well, not in real life, anyway. He said he'd prefer having friends over the net rather than having one in real life." The other said rather sadly.
"He hates human contact?" Tooru asked.
"Well, you could say something like that."
"But, for him to have said 'yes' to a meet-up, Oikawa-san, it seems like you were very lucky," the other proclaimed confidently.
"To be honest," Tooru brushed the back of his head. "He kept convincing me about cancelling the meet-up."
"Don't let him!" Both shouted in unison.
"I don't know if (Y/N)-kun gained a few friends over there," trailed off by one of them, the other finished.
"And knowing his personality, I don't think he did, but, we beg you, Oikawa-san! He's a good guy. A bit loose in the head, but a nice guy. He's just a bit pessimistic, but he means no harm. His subconscious mind might have wanted him to finally have a friend outside of the computer – an actual breathing friend who'd talk to him personally rather than digitally, that's why he 'agreed' with the meet-up."
"Were you guys friends of (Y/N)-chan?"
"We consider him as one of ours, but he never talked to us offline. He'd chat with us or send us e-mails, but never actually made an actual conversation in front of our faces. We did start conversations with him, but if isn't online, he'll just say one-liner responses."
"Here!" The guy who took out his phone while talking to the setter showed Tooru a picture he had of the Seijoh captain's online friend. The picture had four guys in it, two of which are the guys Tooru's talking to.
From Tooru's perspective, it seemed that the guys were wearing their normal middle school uniform. The second guy from the right had his arms arched behind the two guys beside him – the same guys Tooru is conversing with at the moment. The same three guys are seen smiling, apparently in joy – if it wasn't that obvious. Both guys beside the one with his arms arched had V-signs, both in two different places – one along the bottom corner of the picture, while the other had his right near the corner of his eyes. The fourth guy, the one the two guys later named '(Y/N)' had an emotionless demeanour; it was as if he looked straight into the camera and didn't bother smiling.
"Wait," Tooru pointed at the unamused one. "this is (Y/N)-chan?"
"Not the guy you'd expect to be on the other side of a very lively or productive chat, isn't it?"
"Actually, yes." Tooru kept on staring at the image, unconsciously smiling while gazing at the friend's poker face.
"Hang on a second," the other guy rushed. "You still have that picture?" The guy questioned nodded. "If (Y/N)-kun finds out about that picture, he'll surely choke you."
"W-Why would he'd do that?" Alarmed, Tooru slightly paled.
"(Y/N)-kun doesn't really like to have his face photographed, as what he told me a while back. He'd only allow it if it had any contribution to his school grades or if you bribed him enough. And as far as we know, we had only successfully bribed him three times out of a thousand attempts," said the guy who took his phone back from Tooru.
"And if he finds out that you have a copy of a picture with him on it, and he didn't allow you to have one or wasn't informed, he'll force you to delete it by any means necessary."
I think I see what he's trying to do here. Tooru smirked. "Hey, can I have a copy of that?"
"Were you just listening to what we just said?"
"Don't worry," he chirped while pulling out his own phone from his pocket. "I'll be fine."
I think I can summarise (Y/N)-chan's personality now.
Currently, thanks to the guys' directions – which I later found out were named as Hasai, the one with the girlfriend, and Misao, the one who showed me a pic of (Y/N)-chan, I'm now on my way towards our meeting place.
I tried to think deeper about what could be possible be the reason as to why (Y/N)-chan never showed me any of his pictures or answer any of my calls, and why would he resort to something like strangling someone to make them delete any picture of him that they have.
Hey, I really want to be friends with this guy, but it seems he has some problems of his own – yet he's been helping me with mine for quite some time now.
Not just one, but a ton of them.
I really want to do something for him. I really do.
But how can I help him if I can't even think of the exact problem he has?
Even while I got myself thinking, concentrating, I noticed my phone in the left pocket of my pants vibrating. So I took it out, drew the security pattern, and saw a message from (Y/N)-chan.
[(Y/N)]: My class just ended. I'm on my way. - Received: 16:50
He's on his way, too? I laughed a bit.
I guess he's not backing out?
I guess I'll just say the practice just ended. He might think I did some snooping if I give him leeway.
[Tooru]: Me, too. Practice just ended. Better prepare your money, (Y/N)-chan 'cuz I'm winning our bet! ヾ(≧∇≦*)ゝ- Sent: 16:51
[(Y/N)]: Oh, really? Just so you know, I never bet on something that I'd be losing. - Received: 16:51
I chuckled slightly at his reply.
If I tell him that I already know what he looks like, he might back out and never contact me again.
I think I'll just play along on this one.
[Tooru]: Then, mark this day as the day you lose on a bet for the very first time! ٩(•̤̀ᵕ•̤́๑)૭٩(•̤̀ᵕ•̤́๑)૭ - Sent: 16:51
[Tooru]: I am not ditching you, (Y/N). Believe that. - Sent: 16:52
Wait a minute…
That's it!
That's the problem!
Why didn't I realise this sooner?
Now, I'm inside Aion. Specifically, I'm inside a coffee shop within the mall. (Y/N)-chan would be treating me later with one, but I was so thirsty I just had to buy something to drink. Of course, the female staff of the shop and several women customers then started ogling onto me by the time I swayed the shop door open.
As if I'm not used to this behaviour of people.
Come to think of it, (Y/N)-chan never did comment anything about my looks.
Oh, wait, he did. There was this one time during our early days of friendship that (Y/N)-chan said something about me and my looks. Better check it up.
Sitting on a comfy sofa beside the glass door, I placed my brewing hot espresso on the coffee table in front of me before checking on my phone for our past conversations.
I never thought we actually do chat with one another almost every single day.
Where those guys really referring to the same (Y/N)-chan I know?
I mean, the guy they know could exactly be my (Y/N)-chan. They did say about him being the noisy type if conversing through the gadget. And the personality behind my previous picture requests clearly makes sense. I can't say the same thing for the rejected phone calls, though.
Ah, here it is.
Arriving at the chat where he has mentioned anything about my looks, I decided to read through the entire conversation again.
[Tooru]: (Y/N)-chan! If you don't want to send me any picture,
How about sending me a video of you instead?
It's different.
ヾ(≧∇≦*)ゝ - Sent: 13:27
Now that I think of it, it isn't any different – it's far worse.
[(Y/N)]: Hahaha! (￣▽￣) - Received: 13:28
[(Y/N)]: Nice try, Tooru-kun. I think I'll give you points for this. But, no. (＃￣ω￣) - Received: 13:29
[Tooru]: Eeeeh? But, why?
Why, my dear (Y/N)-chan? Why?
(╥ω╥) - Sent: 13:30
[(Y/N)]: Because I'm not as good-looking as you, Tooru-kun. - Received: 13:30
[Tooru]: Eh? What's with that? - Sent: 13:30
[(Y/N)]: With what? Your kouhai? Your kouhai that seems to outshine you in every possible way?
Is that what we're talking about? - Received: 13:31
[(Y/N)]: Because if it is, then, yeah, you're right. Kageyama-san would surely beat you next time you guys meet.
He has that jumpy partner of his, after all. (っ´ω`)ﾉ(╥ω╥) - Received: 13:32
[Tooru]: Hey! Just so we're clear, I'm better than that no-good Kageyama! I'm way better.
o(TヘTo) - Sent: 13:33
[(Y/N)]: Yeah, yeah. Sure.
Whatever you say. - Received: 13:34
[Tooru]: I'm way better, okay?
Don't even think of arguing!
ヽ(`⌒´メ)ノ - Sent: 13:34
[(Y/N)]: Okay. If you say so~~ - Received: 13:35
I never realised that he actually diverted the subject. He's good.
I pressed the Home button to exit our chat and proceeded to the picture Misao-san sent me earlier. Upon opening the image, I began to process my ideas.
Does (Y/N)-chan, by any chance, hate his appearance? Well, he does have a (Face/Shape) face, (Skin/Colour) skin, and a bit (skinny/fat/chubby /etc), but does he think I would judge him based on how he looks? I don't know about the voice, but probably I think he feels that it won't be my type.
But…
I continued on gazing at the picture – at the guy who didn't smile despite his companions' cheerful dispositions. The longer I looked at it, the more confident I felt about my theory.
Does he hate getting his picture taken because he hates how he looks? But, isn't that a bit extreme? Can't it just because he doesn't have confidence in himself?
While I was staring at the photo, a pop-up of an incoming message appeared. It came from (Y/N)-chan.
Where are you?
[(Y/N)]: Did you run off already? - Received: 17:10
Oh, good. He's finally here. But I better keep my coffee a secret~
[Tooru]: Nope, (Y/N)-chan~~(/^▽^)/ Just did a bit of a wardrobe change. After all, I mustn't be sweaty when I win my prize, right?
That'll be so uncool. ✧٩(•́⌄•́๑) - Sent: 17:11
[(Y/N)]: Go drown yourself in a lake. - Received: 17:11
I laughed at his remark. Typical (Y/N)-chan.
[Tooru]: Meanie!(ᗒᗩᗕ)՞ Then again, you're a tsundere, (Y/N)-chan~~o(≧∇≦o) - Sent: 17:12
[(Y/N)]: D-Dare ga tsundere, Oobakawa Tooru! - Received: 17:12
Yeah, (Y/N)-chan is such a tsundere. But I think I'll go find him now.
[Tooru]: H-Hidoi!(ᗒᗩᗕ)՞ - Sent: 17:12
I stood up from my sofa with the cup of my ordered espresso on hand and headed out of the coffee shop, using my height in finding the one tsundere I'm messaging right now amidst the sea of people.
I think I'll start by catching him off-guard.
[Tooru]: You will so have to pay for the most expensive drink later, (Y/N)-chan! ᕙ(⇀‸↼‶)ᕗ You hurt me!( ´•̥̥̥ω•̥̥̥` ) … Okay, that's it! - Sent: 17:13
[(Y/N)]: What? You finally admit that I'm not worth your time? That I'm winning our bet, Mr. 'I'll definitely win our bet'? - Received: 17:13
Gotcha!
[Tooru]: No! When I see you, I will really make you eat your words!
I'm winning our bet! And make you realise... - Sent: 17:13
[Tooru]: That whatever you look like, whoever you are no one deserves to be alone!
I will shower you with my attention so much that you'd never want to be all by yourself ever again! -Sent: 17:14
[(Y/N)]: W-Wha? What are you talking about? - Received: 17:14
I think my hunch is right.
[Tooru]: You think I haven't noticed it?
Your account picture. The constant refusals to send your photos or even answer my calls. The constant protests to cancel our meet-up.
You think I'll base our friendship with what you look or sound like, do you? -Sent: 15:15
[Tooru]: Well, you're wrong!
When I had that problem with my kouhai back then, your advice really helped me.
When I had those papers due the following day, you stayed up late and helped me do it even if you yourself had a presentation the next day.
Whenever I was down, you went out of your way to cheer me up with your emails.
And you never asked anything in return.
Do you really think I also choose my friends base on how they look, how they sound, or how they appear in public?
Well, let me tell you this... I don't care about those things. And neither should you. Be confident. To hell with what others think!
You are you. I couldn't ask for a better friend. - Sent: 15:16
D-Did I say too much?
Panicking that what I did could just backfire on me, I rushed my search for (Y/N)-chan.
But, with most of the people actually facing against me, I think this would be a problem.
I turned my head towards every direction as I walked around the ground floor of the mall, my eyes scouring every vicinity to find the one person who might never contact me again.
Shit, I think he now has an idea that I know what he looks like.
As I walked further into the mall, my attention turned to a (H/C)-haired male wearing a (Colour/Favourite/Shirt) shirt and (colour that would match F/C) jogging pants, standing in front of a cake store. The male had his hands on his phone and looked a bit ... teary.
I-Is that him?
Before I can even approach the guy whom I'd assume to be (Y/N)-chan, the guy quickly typed something on his phone as he turned away from me. As he slipped his device to his pocket, my own phone vibrated.
[(Y/N)]: I-I'm leaving... - Received: 15:19
It's him!
Before I lose him in the crowd, I charged my way across a multiple of people and gripped the teary-eyed male's arm. "Oh no, you're not!"
I felt the guy flinch in his arm. When the guy turned around to see me, I was sure. It was (Y/N) – the same guy in the picture. That one emotionless guy.
"C-Can I help you?" Asked (Y/N) monotonously, trying to hide his own shock. His voice was somewhat high for a high school male.
"Yes. Yes, you can." I smirked at him. "How about starting with introducing yourself to me, (Y/N)-chan?"
He tried to shake my hand away. "I don't know who you're talking about, sir. Clearly, you're mistaking me for someone else." His voice sounded cracked. "Please let go."
"No. Not before you admit you're Kotobuki (Y/N)-chan," I tightened my grip on him.
"I-I. You're hurting me." He started pulling his arm away from me.
"You know, you could just admit that you're (Y/N)-chan and I'll let your arm go," I said convincingly, eyeing down onto his poker face which, I might add, is near to crumbling.
"I-I told you. You're mistaking me for someone else! Now let go." He raised his voice, but still had his emotionless face on.
Thinking that he won't budge anytime soon, I decided to grab my phone with my other hand and looked up (Y/N)-chan's number before calling it.
Ring. Ring.
The poker face finally fell into pieces when he gritted his teeth as his phone rang inside his pocket. Victory! (Y/N)-chan slipped his hand inside his pocket and expertly ended the call. He looked at me again with leering eyes and a clearly irritated look. On the other hand, I grinned from ear-to-ear, knowing I just confirmed – without remark, Kotobuki (Y/N)'s presence.
"Are you happy now, Tooru-kun?" He sounded pissed. "Will you be leaving now?"
"Nope!" I genuinely smiled, not caring about his angry face. "I finally met you after almost one year, (Y/N)-chan!" I suddenly opened my arms and launched myself towards the shorter male who simply push his right arm towards my face, clearly preventing me from hugging him.
"W-Why? Why won't you be leaving?" This time, he sounded confused – but still somewhat pissed.
"Because! Like what I said in the text message," I stood up straight and waved my phone in front of him. "I don't care about how my friends look like or how they sound. It's what their personalities are that matters. And even if yours is a bit crooked, you still continued on helping someone like me with my own problems, even if you yourself have a lot on your plate already."
He just stared at me, as if prompting me to continue speaking. "You really think I'm so low as to consider who my friends are based on their appearance, do you?"
"Well," he looked at his feet as if it became very interesting all of a sudden. "Most people do. Especially the gifted ones – those who are lucky to be born with good looks."
"What are you talking about?"
"Don't play dumb, Tooru." He dropped the honorific as if trying to make a point. "You pretty people have it easy. You can do whatever you want, get whatever you want, and still look great while we unlucky ones can only hope of doing the same things, but ends up looking like complete fools." He pursed his lips while tears slowly crept its way down his face.
Oh, shit. My hunch is right. "(Y/N)-chan…"
"No matter how much we try, how hard we dedicate ourselves towards something, it would never go our way simply because we weren't blessed like you guys."
"Don't you ever–"
"Ever what, Tooru? Say that what I'm saying is reality? Too bad, but it is! It has always been. You pretty people never noticed it because the world is going your way." (Y/N) forcefully shook my hand away from his and started walking away. "And if you don't like the way I talk, you're free to block me from all communications."
As he took more steps farther, I didn't realise my own body chasing after him and my arms extending to wrap his body with it. The moment I did, though, I was glad my body moved on its own.
"W-What are you doing!?"
"Don't talk for now, okay? Let's go somewhere a little less… public." I turned my eyes to see that a decent number of people were already observing us. Some looked disgusted, others looked confused or even amused. (Y/N) saw it too and agreed to my request.
Letting go of him, I immediately grabbed a hold of his hand and started walking away from the gathering audience. I do love me some attention, but not this time. (Y/N) followed behind me silently, his eyes staring at our intertwined fingers.
"Why do you think I'll stop being your friend because of this?"
Once we got out of the mall, I dragged ourselves to a quiet and somewhat secluded section of the mall's parking lot. Upon slowly releasing his hand, (Y/N) began massaging his wrists even when I didn't grip around it while clearly avoiding to look at me.
"Because it's the normal thing to do," What? "You guys would always prefer to protect your image rather than help us who look rather appalling. It's easy for you guys to look for friends, after all, so it won't be much of a loss."
Somewhat pissed off by what he said, I ended up flicking him in the forehead. "Are you an idiot?"
"O-Ow! What was that for!?" He protested while rubbing his affected area.
"Clearly, you never met someone like me before, (Y/N)-chan!" I grinned. "I have tons of friends and they are all unique from one another and despite how they look, sound, or act, I will cherish them all."
"How dandy," (Y/N) crossed his arms, still looking away from me.
"I'm not lying, (Y/N)-chan! I treat all my friends the same – with love, attention, and a little bit of annoyance on the side." I slowly approached the shorter one and rested my right hand on his (H/C) hair. "I don't care about trivial matters like appearances or social status because, in the end, it's the personality of people that triumphs over the rest. What is a good appearance if the person is a fucking bitch, am I right?" I gently messed up his hair.
"I-I suppose," he turned his eyes, now directed at my chest.
"So, how about we celebrate our meet-up with a visit at Sunbock's**?" I retrieved my arm and smiled at (Y/N) who was now looking up to me. "I'm clearly the winner, after all."
"I'll give you a chance, Tooru-kun." He looked serious, but his voice was hopeful. "But if what you just said are all just bull, I will make sure you will never play volleyball ever again."
Positioning myself beside him, I quickly arched my arm around his shoulders. "Don't bother. Those words weren't bull. I promise."
"Oh, yeah. It just occurred to me." (Y/N)-chan was sitting comfortably across me as he put down his own frappe onto the wooden table between us. "How did you know what I looked like? From how you approached me earlier, it's clear that you had some sort of lead." He feigned pissed.
Happily, I took out my phone right after placing my own frappe onto the table and showed him the picture he wasn't supposed to know about. "Here! I got this from some friends of yours back at middle school."
"H-How did you get one!? Delete that right now!" His face immediately blushed. Quickly on his feet, he leaned towards me and tried to get my phone.
"Nope!" I said with a pop. "Because of this, I finally met you in person!"
"But you cheated!"
"You didn't say anything about getting pictures from your old friends, you know?"
"I can't believe I was just beaten at my own game."
I laughed softly, extending my hands towards his forehead, flicking it again. "Yep. I have beaten you at your own game, (Y/N)-chan!"
*Hebidaiza - a school I made up, though you can change it with your very own.
**Sunbock's - a parody of mine of Starbuck's