égoïste
raison #30
Shiori made her way home, along the familiar path that she memorised, by herself. She was thinking; thinking about the stuff that she would do in the upcoming weeks, and the amount of summer homework she realised she would be getting, if she manages to get through the exams successfully. The thought depressed her since she'd completely forgotten, as well as the stuff to do about her future.
Oh, man, I completely forgot about that stuff…and final exams as well…that are in a couple of days' time…
She stopped in her steps, realisation dawning on her. She mentally wanted to scream, but her voice wouldn't let her use it so carelessly, so instead, she stomped on the ground, sighing deeply after she let out her frustrations physically.
Okay, I'm such an idiot…on the weekend I'll go to the tryouts; oh, I'll get the address info from Kuroo; and then before that, I have exams…urgh, and then—ah, man, I'm pretty sure this weekend the Nationals start as well!
She sighed deeply yet again to herself, finding it relaxing that she was able to free such an emotion. Letting it out made it a lot easier for her, with less of a burden to her emotional state.
She turned the corner to go onto her street, but when she did, she bumped into someone, who ended up grabbing her by the wrists to prevent her from falling.
"Arata?!" Shiori questioned, brows raising and eyes widening. She took a step back after he released her wrists, sputtering out an apology.
"Shiori, did you see anybody come by here just now?" Arata questioned, glancing around the area. "I think I might've seen the guy the police was after."
"No, there wasn't anyone here." She shook her head. Even though she was deep in thought, she didn't remember seeing anyone or anything around.
"Weird…" Arata placed his hands on his hips and stared at Shiori for a moment, then frowned. "Alright, let's go home. It's dangerous out."
Without another word, the sibling pair headed back to their home, bickering here and there about random happenings in their day.
"Hey Keiji, what's up?" Shiori put her phone on loudspeaker, placing it down on her desk as she paused in her study session. It was after dinner, and it was rare for the setter to call her instead of text.
"Good evening, Shiori-san."
"How's everything?"
"I…" Akaashi's side went silent for a moment, but Shiori patiently waited since she knew he was sometimes like this. She could almost hear him and see his expression as he tried to gather his thoughts.
"Are you free on Saturday night?" He asked after a pause. He sounded slightly hesitant because it sounded like he was asking her out on a date, but in reality it was just a dinner at his house that they planned beforehand.
"Oh yeah, I'm free. Is that the day you wanted me to come over for dinner?" She asked.
"Yeah, let's lock it in?"
"Sure thing! I'm excited." She grinned, "Is that all?"
"Yeah."
"See you tomorrow!"
"See you tomorrow."
As they hung up, Shiori continued with her homework without a hitch, whilst Akaashi just stared at his phone, a small smile on his lips.
Needless to say, he was excited for the weekend to come.
"Done!" Shiori immediately put her stationery down and stretched, yawning as she did so. She felt a weight lifted off her shoulders, and had a good feeling about the results that'd be released in the following week or two.
"How'd you go?" Yukie asked, dangling her arms off the sides of her desk. She looked like a 2 legged octopus.
"Not bad - I think I got lucky and managed to study all the questions I needed to." The female volleyball player grinned and sat back down in her seat, satisfied with her performance.
She glanced over to her side, seeing Bokuto look absolutely lifeless.
"Oi, are you alive?" Shiori and Yukie both poked the ace with a ruler. He didn't even budge for a moment, but then a huge sigh and frown came from his lips as he mumbled indecipherable words.
"I think the test destroyed him." Konoha laughed as he came up to them.
"Possibly. By the way, you guys are having a joint training camp, aren't you, after the Nationals?" Shiori questioned. She remembered hearing a little about it a while ago, and that she couldn't go because of her previously made plans.
"Yeah." Yukie smiled her signature critter-like smile. "Are you going to change your mind and not go to Miyagi and come to the training camp instead?"
The server laughed, shaking her head. "I've got my own training camp I've to attend. You guys have fun. Just wanted to confirm it was still on."
"We've got Nationals to beat beforehand, so that'll be fun." Yukie smiled as she remembered that on the weekend, the Nationals would be on.
"Oh yeah, good luck with that. I probably won't come to see how you guys go since I have my own thing to attend." Shiori gave them a heads' up.
"Huh?" The manager cocked his head to the side, "Was this the thing you talked about last time with Kuroo?"
"Oh, yeah! It was. I'm going to be trying out a little bit." Shiori had absolutely no idea what would happen there. All she knew was that there were tryouts and she'd be playing volleyball. Kuroo has yet to send her more information.
I'll bug him a little later for it...she made a mental note.
Apart from the weekend being busy for the boys due to Nationals, it'll be busy for her too. There were so many things going on.
Come to think of it, did Nekoma make it to Nationals this time around? Shiori thought back to her conversations with the cats, but nothing came to mind. Did I just forget? Oh well.
"Earth to Shiori!" Yukie waved her hand in front of the girls' face, but due to no response, she karate chopped her forehead.
The volleyballer yelped, wondering what was up. "Sorry, sorry! I got lost in my thoughts."
"Since we're prepping for Nationals today, you don't actually need to come." Yukie waved a hand. "We're going over strategies and whatnot."
Shiori nodded slowly, an "ah" slowly escaping her lips. "Good luck at Nationals!"
Yukie grinned. "We'll do good."
"Maebara, the homeroom teacher wants to see you." A classmate called her, letting her know when they popped their head into the classroom.
"Ah, got it! I'll be there." Shiori called back, surprised.
"Did you get in trouble, Shiori?" Bokuto raised a brow, an expression of shock on his face. "Is it about your piercings again?!"
Seeing how serious he was about it, the female volleyballer couldn't help but let out a laugh. Waving a hand, she shook her head, "Probably not! I think it's about the careers sheet and clubs maybe."
She had heard from her former upperclassmen that this sort of thing normally happened to those who didn't have a set goal in mind for post high school.
Not that I don't have one...
"I'll see you guys later." With a wave, she left.
Akaashi had just come into the classroom as she left, passing right by her as she swung by.
"Ah, Keiji! Good luck at Nationals!" She waved at him, sending a grin his way before going off.
He didn't even have time to respond as he watched her leave, then entered the classroom. "Where is Shiori-san going?"
"She got called by the teacher," Konoha opened a juice box, stabbing the straw through the foil, "probably to do with her career sheet."
"Doesn't she want to be a designer or volleyball coach?" The setter asked.
"I thought so too. Maybe teachers don't think that's a good option to have both?" The wing spider shrugged.
Yukie tilted her head just slightly, thinking the same. What was the problem?
"You can't just leave your careers sheet blank, Maebara-san." Shiori's homeroom teacher took a sheet from their desk and showed it to the teen, who laughed lightly in nervousness. "Have you not decided what you want to pursue?"
The teacher glanced at the sheet once more, seeing that there were traces of pencil being erased. "You wrote something, but you erased it? How come?" They asked with curiosity.
"Actually, I did have something in mind, but I'm not sure. What if I want to change my profession?" Shiori smiled at her homeroom teacher, but her smile didn't reach her eyes.
Normally when choosing careers, it's almost something that sets the students for life. Whatever they write down on the sheet, is what they're expected to go into a course of.
But the reality is, according to Arata, that normally doesn't happen and more or less, people end up hating their course and changing it or going into a different profession altogether. So as he would put it, it would "not be accurate to just force students to write down what they want to be, since it forces them to have to follow it".
Arata's not wrong, but he isn't 100% right either…
"Hm...it's good to have a set career that you'd like to have but it doesn't need to be all that you do. You're free to change careers if you'd like later, but it's good to start earlier."
Shiori tilted her head and stared at the sheet, "In that case, since I'm not too sure, I should just take a gap year, right?" She grinned at her own statement, knowing that it would make the teacher nervous. After all, the times were different now.
There was surprise on the homeroom teacher's face as they tried to mask their displeasure at the suggestion. "Ah, that...that's something that you can do as well, but we strongly suggest going to university out of high school as it's incredibly competitive to get in."
"And?" Shiori left the smile on her face, "It may be extremely competitive, but I think it'll be a good idea, yet I'm not too sure. There are benefits, but I'll think about it for a little bit more. I don't want to be rushed into this, if anything."
The teacher handed the sheet to Shiori, "As long as you hand it in after the 2nd round of sports competitions, then you'll make it in time for the university exams."
Taking the sheet, Shiori nodded and thanked her teacher, leaving with a wave and smile. After she closed the door, the smile immediately fell from her face.
This time around is the 1st round, the next round is...end of the year.
She held the sheet in her hands as she moved to the classroom, wondering whether it was fine to have nothing on the sheet until then.
Of course, she had plans, but when she really thought about it, what exactly did she want to do?
She liked things, but did she like them enough to go into as a career? Moreover, if she wanted to have a professional career in volleyball and design, wouldn't there be 2 different things she had to do to get both? She could, of course, do the design course and then do volleyball as a club or whatever, but would that be enough for her?
Thinking about it when she had to write down careers was tough.
"Oh, you're back! What did the teacher want you for?" Bokuto bounced up from his seat, his hair spiking up more than usual. He looked restless as he moved from side to side, waiting for an answer.
Seeing the ace like that make Akaashi and Yukie accidently meet eyes, with Yukie almost telepathically asking if something was up with Bokuto. With the setter's slight nod, the manager's eyes widened, but she masked it with her critter-like smile.
"They wanted to ask about careers." Shiori took out a folder and placed the sheet inside, then exchanged it with her lunch.
Akaashi, who was seated on the other side of Shiori's table, saw that she had nothing listed down on her careers sheet, which made him question whether she was still deciding on what path she wanted to take.
"By the way, Kou, did that stalker come by your window again?" Shiori was now eating her meal, sneakily giving Yukie some. She decided to change the topic because she needed some more time to think about it.
"Ah! That! No, I was thinking of catching them if they came by again. Scary, but I think it's got to be a person!" He declared, he thought in a thinking pose.
"What, I thought it was a ghost?" Konoha raised a brow at the ace.
"They had a shadow!" Bokuto slapped his hand on his knee, "I swear they did! If it was a ghost they wouldn't have a shadow right?" He turned to Akaashi for confirmation.
"That's right, Bokuto-san." Akaashi gave him a nod of affirmation. "But maybe you should leave it with the police, since it might be dangerous."
"Yeah, I second Keiji. It might be related to the flasher pervert case too." Shiori added, feeding a piece of sausage to Konoha.
The setter nodded once, hoping to see Bokuto reconsider his idea.
"But I want to see who's stalking me!" Bokuto tilted his head, "What if it's someone I know?"
"Huh?" The group blinked with surprised, then sighed, thinking it was ridiculous.
"I think your fangirls respect you more than that, Bokuto." Shiori stabbed her chopstick into a piece of egg and put it Akaashi's way.
The setter opened his mouth as it nearly touched his lips, but Shiori quickly took it back and ate it, giving him a cheeky grin. Akaashi's lips stayed parted, a slightly surprised expression on his face as he closed his lips in disappointment.
"That was mean, Shiori-san." He stated bluntly.
The female giggled, grabbing another bite and giving it to him, this time without any jokes. "Sorry, sorry."
His fingers lightly went around her hand as he guided the food to him, which shocked the onlookers of the group. He took the bite sized piece and let go of her hand, suppressing his thoughts so that the red didn't rise to his cheeks.
As he chewed, the rest of the third years just gaped at him, wondering how he got so bold.
"You really wanted to eat the egg that much?" Shiori, as dense as she was, laughed.
Bokuto, who watched the 2 get along, pursed his lips, feeling strange after seeing that scene. He took a bite of his bread, thinking about it for a moment, but then decided he wanted to think about something else, since he didn't quite understand what he was feeling at the moment.
"...yes." Was Akaashi's reply.
Yukie glanced at Konoha, who also met her eyes as if to tell her that it was awkward.
Yeah, this is cute, but awkward, was both of their thoughts.
Why did I do that?
Akaashi stared up at the sky as he took his break, watching the clouds move slowly. He was referring back to the time during lunch.
Thinking about it made his knees weak, and he crouched down as he lowered his head to stare at the ground covered by his shadow. His cheeks and ears were definitely red now, not because of the blood running through his veins from physical activity, but from the memory of that time.
He calmed himself and evened his breathing, changing into a sitting position and drinking some water before he stood up.
As he did, he saw Bokuto coming out, who took notice of the setter straight away.
"Ah. Akaashi, why is your face so red?" Bokuto questioned, cocking a brow.
It's noticeably red?! The inner turmoil on Akaashi's mind met with Bokuto's obvious question made him start panicking.
"Are you sick?" Bokuto inspected the setter, "That's no good! The Nationals are tomorrow so you can't get sick!"
Akaashi could only go, "Ah". After all, it was Bokuto.
"I'm not sick, Bokuto-san. It's just a little cold outside." Akaashi responded, mentally sighing in relief.
"Oh, you're right. Ok, that's good! Go back inside so you don't catch a cold!" Bokuto pushed Akaashi into the gym, surprising the setter.
He watched Bokuto go out to refresh at the taps and then sighed lightly to himself, wondering why he had those thoughts earlier.
Why am I panicking? It's not like I'm a criminal.
Akaashi noticed Bokuto's expression back at that time, and he felt a little guilty.
Is it bad that we both like the same person?
Shiori had stayed behind so that she could help out with the classroom cleaning duties and ended early. As she did, she heard some interesting information from a classmate, who was talking to another friend just as they finished. It was just as she left the classroom, but she heard them talking about Bokuto having a crush on someone.
Kou? He has a crush on someone?
Shiori remembered all the times the ace would tell her about a pretty girl, idol or actress, so she tilted her head and wondered if they meant one of them.
Is he the type to like someone he's never met? Shiori wondered. She decided to pay a visit to the gym after getting some refreshments for them - after all, they were going to compete in Nationals on the weekend.
Maybe I can gather some clues, Shiori thought, her eyes glinting.
After she got the refreshments, she happened to witness Akaashi and Bokuto's interaction outside the gym and wondered what it was about.
Aww, they're so sweet to each other…
Shiori's jaw dropped as she realised their whole entire interaction, and every other interaction they had, pointed to one thing.
Bokuto's constant need for validation from Akaashi...Bokuto's reliance on Akaashi…the list went on.
As Shiori thought more about the situation and the words she heard before, the more she was convinced that she was sure she knew who Bokuto liked.
It was right in front of me this whole time!
"I can't believe I didn't realise…" Shiori felt incredibly bad now, especially since she was playing with Akaashi at lunch. She did notice Bokuto's expression but didn't think too much of it, but now that the puzzle pieces fit together, she was sure that it was an expression of disappointment.
"But what about Akaashi…?" She wondered if the setter would return his feelings, especially since they were almost like oil and water, personality-wise. But, she didn't know? It was sometimes hard to know what Akaashi's real thoughts were sometimes, so it might be harder to decipher and find out who he liked.
Ok, I need to make sure that I don't give him away - the others should know about this, right? And whether it's true or not.
Clearing her thoughts, Shiori went up to Bokuto at the taps, giving him a good slap on the back after he drank water. "Kou!"
"Shiori?! I thought you weren't supposed to come in today." The owl wiped his mouth and looked at her incredulously. He had the urge to hug her right then and there, but he stopped himself since it wasn't the time for it.
"I bought refreshments for everyone, since you guys have all been working hard." She grinned and made her way inside the gym, with Bokuto in tow.
"Shiori?" The gym had a chorus of her name as she walked in, with Bokuto announcing her presence.
"Sheesh! Don't need to announce my presence, man." Shiori playfully punched her friend in the arm, who just grinned and slapped her back.
"I brought refreshments." Shiori told Akaashi, who was the first to come up to her. He took the bag from her hands and took a look at Bokuto, then back at the server.
Oh, is he misunderstanding something? Shiori wondered, hoping that she wasn't the cause of this misunderstanding.
Yukie popped up from behind the setter, taking the items out of the bag to give to everyone. "Thanks, Shiori! You even got my favourite!"
"I thought that it would be good to have some light refreshments," The server grinned at the manager. "as everyone's working hard."
"Thanks, Shiori-san." Akaashi took one for himself as Yukie handed it out to everyone.
"No worries. Alright, I'm going to go now since everyone seems to be focusing hard today. Good luck!" She gave everyone a wave as she left, not wanting to disrupt the session further.
It was quite lucky that she got them while they were on break, but it certainly was a little awkward now that she had a hunch of who Bokuto had a crush on.
