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Chapter 12
Chapter note: excessive swearing at the end.
"God DAMNIT."
The other girls in the changing room turned to Haruko with questioning looks. She noticed them and sighed, turning to show them her hip, where a large hole in her pants was enough of an explanation – she had torn the pants of her tracksuit.
"Oh no, Ikeda-chan!" one of them exclaimed.
"Yeah, I don't think 'oh no' covers it… Ugh, who leaves exposed nails on the walls like this? I'm surprised I'm not bleeding…" she rubbed the spot where the nail had caught on the fabric, as well as a bit of her skin – thankfully it was nothing more than a scratch. The pants, though, had torn pretty badly – she was just about to walk out when the fabric got caught, and the sudden tug did a pretty bad number on the piece of clothing.
"Hang on, you can't possibly go to practice in those…" one of the girls said, looking at Haruko who was desperately trying to put the fabric back in place.
Haruko felt bad she can't remember any of their names, despite meeting them in the changing room nearly every weekday. All she knew was that they were from the girls tennis club.
"Okay, well, this is all I've got…" the girl said, handing Haruko a sporty black skirt.
Right. Tennis club. Tennis skirts. Of course.
Better than going into practice with a huge hole in her pants. She quickly changed into it – it was short, but not too much, the skirt ended right before her knees. Admittedly, combined with the white and purple club jacket and white sneakers, it looked a lot better than the sweatpants she had.
"Ah, I'm so glad it fits!"
Haruko turned back to the girl, with her teammates nodding in approval. She smiled and thanked her for her help.
"How come you have an extra skirt anyway? Oh and where do I leave it after practice?"
She smiled at Haruko, "I always keep an extra in case of anything like that," she pointed at garbage bin in the corner, the one which Haruko had slam-dunked her sweatpants into, "ever happening. Just leave it on one of the chairs, if I finish practice before you I'll just pick it up tomorrow."
"Wow, you're prepared." Haruko chuckled, "Will do."
"Go cause some nosebleeds, Ikeda-chan!" one of the other tennis girls said, winking at her.
She smiled and rolled her eyes, and soon after went out saying goodbye to the girls. Usually Haruko would have her tablet computer with her to take notes, but seeing as she didn't even have her phone, she decided she would have to borrow a clipboard from coach Mukai, or help out in other ways today.
Oikawa rolled his eyes at his teammates in their club room room – they've been going on about their manager for the past 10 minutes, non-stop, which led them to do a simple task of changing into their sportswear way longer than it would usually take.
"I mean not only did we get a manager, not only did we get a cute manager, we actually got a manager that's hot as hell! I almost regret coming to Shokey and I wanna punch my past self now for ever thinking that."
One of the other teammates turned to Maki, "Cute managers are so high-school, hot managers are like, a step-up from that game. Where did you even find her?"
"We didn't! She found us! She just showed up one day!" Maki explained, a little too loudly.
Oikawa had been quiet throughout the whole conversation, dressed and ready to go while his teammates were in no hurry whatsoever. As captain he wanted to rush them, but as a person he knew that if he said anything they would start teasing him for very obviously staring at her himself, which would then lead to him possibly blurting out something he shouldn't say.
With every bit of fondness his teammates showed for Haruko – whether it was her personality or looks – Oikawa grew more and more annoyed. Sure, there was a chance she genuinely cared for the team, but the fact about her original intentions still stood and he had to hold back from telling his team so much.
Don't you see that she was just using you to get to me?
Every time he would repeat those words in his head he would go through every possible scenario to follow, none of which were pretty. They're all so head over heels for her, they would be crushed.
Oikawa figured that he would be, too. He didn't know if it was because he would be upset over seeing his teammates hurt, or because he was finding it hard to repress the fact that he had the hots for her too.
That was another topic all on its own. Finding someone so attractive, someone who hits all your weaknesses at once, even those you didn't even know you had, was usually a good thing. But not when you knew you can't have the person, ever.
Part of him wanted to stop caring about her selfish intentions. But if he did hook up with her, he would be walking right into what she wanted in the first place.
Oikawa Tooru was no one's boy-toy.
"Dude, what if I asked her out?"
He groaned, rolling his eyes. If he was going to keep quiet about what he knew, he would have to deal with this kind of shit. Constantly.
"Maki, if Terushima is her type, then you're way out of her league. We all are."
"Yeah but she said they're just friends…" he whined. "Come on, don't tell me you've never thought about asking her out!"
"Hey, hey, I respect my teammates, and if none of us get her, then-… Alright who am I kidding, we've all thought about it."
"Especially after she got that piercing." Daiki added from the other side of the room, earning several nods and noises of approval from the team. "Like, I know that was yesterday, but damn."
Right. The piercing. That god damn piercing. Thanks for putting that image back into my head, Daiki.
Part of Oikawa was glad that he wasn't the only one obsessing over it. Part of him was jealous.
Because every time he would remember it, he couldn't help but wonder what her tongue and that piercing would feel like on his di-
NOPE.
He shot up and head straight out the door. "OKAY, time for practice, let's GO."
A few of his teammates had even flinched at their captain's sudden movement, especially when he had been quiet the entire time. Shrugging it off, they followed him to the gym, and, unknown to them, to their demise.
You've got to be kidding me.
Oikawa, as well as anyone else who had noticed Haruko walk into the gym, stopped doing whatever they were doing and couldn't help but stare at her.
This woman is going to kill me.
As if the piercing wasn't enough, she had walked into the gym with a tennis skirt. A goddamn tennis skirt.
Haruko sighed, clearly feeling their eyes glued to her, and brought up the whistle she had hanging around her neck to her lips.
'FWIIIIIIIIIP'
The loud whistle noise made the rest of the teammates turn to her, standing near the entrance with a clipboard. Great, now all of them had their eyes glued to her, at this point Haruko couldn't tell if she felt flattered or uncomfortable.
The boys took a moment to register that she needs them to come over, which they did more than happily. Those that haven't seen her earlier said their hellos, some with their voices an octave higher than usual.
This is going to be a long day…
She sighed and began, "Okay, so, before any of you say anything like 'what's with the new outfit', Maki, Daiki, and/or Oikawa," the boys pressed their lips at the glare and callout she gave them, "my pants got ripped and I had to borrow this from the tennis club girls. So don't get used to it."
With a stern voice, she continued, "As if my day couldn't get any better, I'm also in charge of you lot for today. Mukai-sensei caught up with me while I was coming over, asking me to cover for him – he had to go to a meeting, which will probably last for the rest of the day. He gave me a list of things you all need to do, and told me to tell you, ahem..."
She cleared her throat and began imitating their coach's voice.
"If they don't do as you say, you tell me and I will make sure they all regret it after I make them do 100 serves."
The team flinched in sync. Good.
Haruko had to admit it was fun being in charge.
"So," she spoke up again, clicking her pen and bringing her clipboard closer, "shall we get started?"
Oikawa was running behind two of his team members on their last run of the day.
"Do you think there's a way we could convince her to keep the skirt?"
"Pff, ask her yourself dude, I ain't doing that."
"No way! She's intimidating as hell!"
"Yeah, that's why I said I ain't asking her, she's on another level!"
Oikawa sighed, the end of his sigh turning more into a groan. His teammates didn't hear him and simply continued with their conversation.
Most of his teammates were distracted all day, focused more on trying to impress their manager than do any actual training. Sure, they did do what they needed to do, otherwise she would have gotten them in trouble, and honestly they were too intimidated not to comply with her orders.
It wasn't like they didn't do the work. It wasn't like they slacked off. If anything, his teammates were more in-check than ever when she played the role of their coach.
It was the effect she had on them that pissed him off. It was the effect she had on him.
Oikawa and the last few of his teammates soon ended up back at the gym after their evening run, ready to pack up and go. He, however, decided that he needs to blow some steam off. After a short argument with Iwaizumi about 'overworking himself AGAIN', his friend gave in, telling Oikawa that if he doesn't send him a selfie in 30 minutes, where Iwaizumi could see that he's out of his gym clothes and is going home, he won't live to see tomorrow. Iwa also added that this is the first and last time he would ask for a selfie to be sent to him.
The boys left, leaving only him and Haruko behind. She stood next to the gym door, arms crossed, raising an eyebrow at him, asking a wordless 'Well?'.
"I'll practice serves for a little longer."
He turned around and grabbed a volleyball, heading towards the end of the court before Haruko could say anything. She let her hands down and let out a sigh, "Oikawa, I want to go home."
"Then go home."
She lifted her hands a bit, making a silent 'seriously?' movement, parting her lips. Out of all the days he had to be a little shit, it had to be today?
Oh, wait, that's every day.
"I can't go home without locking the gym, and I need to give the keys to Mukai-sensei tomorrow morning."
Oikawa almost told her to just leave the keys with him, but stopped. Right, like he's going to be doing her any favors.
"Well I need to practice." he spat, still on his way, not sparing her a single look.
I can't believe Iwa left me to deal with this child on my own.
Haruko wasn't going to back down. She was just as stubborn as he was, if not more. She began picking up the leftover volleyballs and putting them away.
She watched Oikawa do a serve, and as the ball bounced off the court, she caught it and shoved it into the ball storage box, glaring at him.
He did another one. She caught it too, and shoved it into the box just like the first one. Oikawa squinted at her, furrowing his brows.
He served again, this time so dangerously close to her that she could feel her hair get picked up by the wind. She caught it again as it bounced off the wall, gripping it with more force than usual.
Is he… is he trying to intimidate me? Is he fucking serious?
She shoved the ball into the box again, glaring at him with more anger in her eyes than before. Haruko was too far away to hear him groan, glaring right back at her.
"Are you fucking done, Trashykawa?" she yelled over to him, seeing him have the last ball on the court. One more and she can shove the box into the storage room, locking it before he can come over, leaving him with nothing to practice with.
Seeing her being all high-and-mighty with one hand on her hip made his blood boil even more. So much for blowing steam off. Not only that, she had the audacity to talk to him with that condescending voice and nickname? That's a first.
Don't.
Oikawa threw the ball into the air.
Tell me.
He moved forward.
What.
He jumped.
To DO.
And he smacked the ball with all the energy he didn't even know he had left.
OH SHIT.
His eyes widened and he flinched as he began to land, time slowing down around him as he realized what he had done. He launched the ball straight at her.
To Haruko, time had slowed down as well and her body began to move on its own.
Now this stunt is low even for YOU, Oikawa.
She could have moved away. She had more than enough time to move out of the way. But that would make him feel like he won.
So instead she didn't take her eyes off the ball, brought her leg forward while bending her knees slightly, and put her arms together, breathing in momentarily to brace herself.
The ball hit her arms with a force she didn't think humans were capable of having and ended up knocking her backwards. She fell, catching a glimpse of Oikawa's face trailing from her own towards something above her.
A face so shocked, she wished she could take a picture of and frame to put on her wall.
Haruko trailed his gaze and looked above her, landing painfully on her butt while doing so, as if the ridiculous pain in her arms wasn't enough. Then she mimicked his expression.
The ball was above her. It went up. Not only did it go up, it did that in a beautiful fashion.
It was a near-perfect receive.
Holy shit.
Both of them had the same thought at the same time, Haruko's followed by I can't believe that worked.
The ball landed a little bit in front of her and bounced, so she leaned over to catch it as it bounced off the ground the second time. She glanced over to Oikawa with the calmest, blankest expression she had, seeing him in the same position, as if unable to move.
She closed her eyes and helped herself up, brushing herself off like it was nothing. Holding the ball under one arm, she made her way towards Oikawa. What was just a few seconds seemed like an eternity to him, because she looked like she was definitely, absolutely, one hundred percent going to kill him.
Haruko stopped in front of him and held the volleyball with both hands, looking down at it with raised eyebrows. He parted his lips to say something, but nothing would come out, his thoughts all mixed up between 'I'm sorry', 'I can't believe you received it?', 'what the hell?', 'shit I went too far' and 20 other things. And none of them would come out.
He wasn't given any more time to think as Haruko shoved the volleyball into his stomach, making him grip it and wince from the pain. She shot him the deadliest glare he's ever seen.
"I'm your manager." Haruko spat, "Not your maid."
She let go of the volleyball and turned around, heading towards the exit. "Have fun cleaning up by yourself."
Oikawa trailed her with his eyes and saw her dump the keys on the bench next to the door.
And then she was just… gone.
That's… that's it?
Oikawa cursed himself under his breath for going too far. What made him feel even worse was that that's all she said. And the back of his mind was yelling at him that she was only putting up with this for the team's sake.
The moment Haruko went around the corner of the gym she pressed her back against the wall and slid down, holding her arms between her thighs, letting out a loud groan from the pain. She was really, really hoping Oikawa hadn't followed her.
Owwwwwwwww…
It hurt like hell. How was it even humanly possible to launch a ball with such force? What was he, a monster?
Haruko rested her forehead on her knees.
Her pained face soon had the biggest shit-eating grin you had ever seen.
But I looked so fucking cooooool.
She chuckled at her own ridiculousness. That was pure luck. She couldn't believe that actually worked, this whole ordeal could have went so wrong. The ball could have easily launched back at her face, and with that force it would have definitely broken her nose, and the asshole would have never let that go. But no, it worked out perfectly, and seeing Oikawa in the state he was in was worth the pain.
Oikawa 0 – 1 Haruko.
Haruko slowly stood up, shaking her arms a bit, as if trying to shake the pain away, but that didn't work. She was bound to wake up with two huge bruises where the ball had landed.
She started making her way towards the building with the changing room, thinking the event over. Sure, it worked out to her advantage, but the fact was that the asshole had launched a ball at her out of rage. Her satisfaction was slowly taken over by disappointment.
For the team, Haruko, she inhaled, for the team.
She changed back into her clothes, leaving the skirt on a chair in the changing room just like the girl had asked, and put on the hoodie she had borrowed from Terushima in the morning – it was getting cold outside, so she thanked him in her head. Borrowing it was a good idea.
She walked towards the exit of Shokey, seeing students here and there still studying and chatting. Some she recognized from other clubs, and soon bumped into a few girls from the baking club who had stricken up a conversation with her. Not wanting to be rude, she stayed with them for a bit.
Haruko sat down on a bench just outside of her university and leaned her head back, taking in the evening breeze. It was getting dark. Hands in the hoodie's kangaroo pocket she sighed again, trying to relax before making her way home. She had been on her feet way too long, she hadn't been home since Sunday night, and what happened at the gym took a toll on her both emotionally and physically.
After she said goodbye to the baking club girls she decided to give herself a moment to just exist. Nothing else. Just be there.
Haruko opened her eyes for a split second and shut them back up, cursing in her head. She couldn't have a single moment without some drama or other bullshit happening, could she?
"What do you want?"
"...Okay, shit, if I come here to apologize can you at least not make it harder with the attitude?"
She opened her eyes again and looked at Oikawa who she had noticed with the corner of her eyes a second ago. He had his normal clothes on and had his messenger bag slung over his shoulder. And those goddamn glasses.
"Wow." she said, trailing Oikawa as he sat down next to her, not sparing her a single look, "I'm torn between asking you how you can tell me not to have an attitude after that stunt, and between asking you where you learned to apologize like that. Take your pick."
Oikawa rolled his eyes, trying to suppress his breathless sigh turning into a groan. She wasn't going to make this easy, of course she wasn't.
"Look, I admit I went too far, this is the best I can do-"
"Well then your best isn't good enough," she cut him off, "especially after lashing out at me for no goddamn reason."
Oikawa glared at her, "Take it or leave it."
"I'll leave it, thanks." she said, looking into nothing ahead of her.
"Oh for fuck's sake, why do you have to be such a bitch when I am really trying here?"
He almost regret saying that when she shot her gaze back at him. "Ex-CUSE ME?"
Oikawa closed his eyes and cursed at himself for going off at her. Again.
"You have the fucking audacity to call me a bitch after you launch a volleyball at me? I don't remember signing up for target practice where I'm the goddamn target. You pull that shit again and I'll make sure you regret it."
"Did…" Oikawa rested his arm on the back of the bench and tugged one of his legs under the other, facing her with his whole body, "…did you seriously just threaten me?"
Haruko mimicked her pose, not wanting to back down. "Yes, I did."
"Wow, you and what army?"
"Your teammates."
Oikawa was taken aback by that one. He furrowed his brows for the billionth time today. She was right. She had the full power to turn their teammates against him. He knew that for a long time, he just didn't expect her to actually use that on him, even if at the moment it was just a threat.
You know what? Fuck the apology.
"Oh, I'm soooo sorry," he said with the most sarcastic voice he could pull, "I didn't want to upset you! I really thought Ike-chan would loooove to spend some time alone with me!"
Oikawa had really hoped to catch her off guard with that, but instead, his last hope of her not knowing that he knows was shattered right then and there.
"Oh my god. I fucking knew it. I knew it. I knew this was all about that. You actually still think I'm doing this for you, don't you?"
Okay, she definitely knew he knew. They both knew that… that they both knew. They knew.
"As if you gave me any reason to think you're not." Oikawa said, squinting at her.
"Are you fucking KIDDING me?" she threw her hands into the air, "You mean that you actually believe that I've been working my ass off, while also dealing with your dumbass antics, just to bang you?"
Oikawa resting his head on his hand only annoyed her more, "Again, never gave me a reason to think otherwise."
"WOW. Listen here, you little shit, the only reason I didn't tell you that I knew you were lying was out of good heart, thinking you would confess you were."
"Wait, hold on," he sat up straight again, "are you seriously trying to put the blame on me? I'm sorry, last time I checked, I wasn't the manipulative bitch who was ready to use others to her advantage?"
"Ohhhh my gooood, will you get over that already? Like, have you seen yourself in the mirror? So what if I wanted to get with you the first time I saw you, so did a lot of other people, except that I was the only one to actually take action on that. And shit, okay, maybe it was a shitty thing to do, but if I could go back I wouldn't change a thing – my dumb decisions led me to where I am. And I'm happy with where I am, all apart from having to deal with you."
Oikawa leaned closer to her, nearly growling at this point, "That doesn't change the fact that you were being selfish, and on top of that, judgmental. How about this: don't talk shit about people when you don't know them? Have you considered that before calling me a playboy, especially when you yourself wanted to fuck me to, I don't fucking know, feel less lonely or some shit?"
Haruko's shoulders dropped slightly, making Oikawa realize he hit a nerve. The rational part of him wanted to undo that, but the angry part of him was overpowering any rational thought and was only trying to do as much damage as it could.
"You know what, screw you for that one, Oikawa. Take your own fucking advice instead of being hypocritical, and don't talk shit about people when you don't know them."
"Really? Again, you're putting the blame on me when you were going to use me as a boy-toy? Don't try to turn this around when you're clearly in the wrong."
"Oh, and you're a fucking angel, aren't you? Instead of confronting me about it, you were riding the situation for weeks only to benefit yourself. How is that not using someone to your advantage, huh?"
Now it was time for Oikawa's shoulders to drop. Shit.
"Okay. Fine. It is. But the difference between you and me is that I'm not the one who started it. I only did that out of… fuck, I don't know, frustration? Or revenge or some shit?"
"Hang on, hang on, how am I the one who started this? If you wouldn't have read my diary, if you had any fucking respect for people's privacy, none of this would have happened! We would be a nice, happy team, but no, instead you had to pry and find out about something that wasn't even valid anymore! Not only that, you had to be a dick about it!"
Both of them were getting closer and closer to each other throughout the whole argument, standing their ground (or sitting, in this case) like animals. Both of them couldn't believe that the other party was convinced it's their fault.
To Oikawa, it was unreasonable that he was to blame when she had been selfish, manipulative and judgmental, even if that had changed over time.
To Haruko, it was unreasonable that she was to blame when she had been working so hard to make up for her past mistakes, and when he was the one lying and actually using her in the end.
"You're a selfish bitch, you know that?" Oikawa growled, pushing her forehead back with his own.
"And you're a lying prick, so I guess we're even." she pushed him back, staring into his eyes.
The two were breathing heavily, silence following, but neither backing down.
After he felt her breath on his skin, two things happened.
First, Oikawa realized how close he was. Second, something inside him clicked.
His eyes darted down to her lips. Without even thinking, he leaned in.
Haruko, however, reacted very quickly and shot back, eyes wide, and stood up. "Are you fucking kidding me right now?"
Oikawa snapped out of it at her words, unable to move or even look away from the empty seat in front of me.
"Are you that high and mighty that you need to test if I'm saying the truth about hating your ass?" she yelled, "What did you expect from that? That you'd kiss me and I'd confess some shit like being head over heels for you? Cute, real cute. I thought launching a volleyball at me was a low blow even for you, but this one tops it."
She shook her head and began walking away, "Fuck you, Oikawa. Great apology, by the way."
Oikawa sat on the bench for a while after the girl had left, trying to process what just happened. Slowly snapping out of it, he brought his hand to his mouth.
He almost kissed her.
'…that you need to test if I'm saying the truth?'
Everything would be fine and dandy… if he had actually meant to do that.
AN: I PROMISE I'LL FIX THIS TRAINWRECK IN THE NEXT CHAPTER
Also wow this chapter is twice as long as the others. We hit the bit in the summary, yay :D
You have no idea how excited I am to write the next chapter, but it will probably be a week or two because my uni deadlines are coming up.
As always thank you for the reviews / favs / follows / comments / kudos! I see each and every one of you :')
