Beads of sweat formed on her temples, at the nape of her neck and even her back as her body raised its temperature with the growing embarrassment Ren felt.
Oh shit. What the hell did I just say?!
"You said something Ren-chan?" asked the coach, looking at her rather curiously.
"Ah, nothing at all Coach. Please excuse my nonsensical mumblings," said Ren, mentally cursing herself again at her stupid slip.
"Are you hot, Ren-san? I thought you said you're hot...," said Shouyo, looking as the epitome of everything innocent and sweet in the world.
Damn it, nooo! You look so precious, I can't even be mad at you, Shouyo!
"No no no," she said hurriedly and turned back to the coach, in an attempt to change the topic, "I'll be happy to meet the rest of the team and get to know their plays and positions, Coach."
"Of course, stay back and watch a little bit of their practice," said Coach, waving off any rebukes.
"Yes Coach, it would be helpful in planning the next few events with Mikasa-san," said Ren, feeling more enthusiastic as the topic changed just like she wanted.
She kept her notepad and pen on the bench next to the coach, got a tiny tube of hand sanitiser out from her pocket and poured some in the palm of her hand before rubbing it thoroughly in her palms. To the coach and (she guessed) the keen-eyed setter as well, it was obvious that she was attempting to gain the trust of one of the players. The others, on the other hand, noticeably glanced at their famed germaphobe teammate, who seemed to have a glint of approval in his eyes as he assessed her actions. Of course, Ren saw it too.
Score!
"Boys, this is Shimizu Ren, the new Assistant Business Manager, working directly with Mikasa-chan, and she will be working with you from time to time," said the Coach.
And I look forward to seeing how this goes, she thought to herself, staunchly ignoring the blonde and pretending like she never saw him in the first place.
"Oya? Shimizu Ren? As in Ren-chan from Kubro's texts?" exclaimed Bokuto Koutaro, leaving Atsumu to wonder who this Kubro was that the two of them seemingly knew.
"Yes, Bokuto-san. Nice to finally meet you after all I've heard about you. It'll be interesting to catch up after your training, since I plan to make minced-meat out of... Kubro... later on," said Ren, smiling at Bokkun.
"Hey! Hey! Hey! I can guess why, but yes! Let's grab some ice cream!"
"Not too much, Bokuto. You're just recovering from a cold, and the weather would change soon again," interrupted the Coach.
"You got it, Coach," laughed Bokuto heartily.
Who the hell is Kubro?! I don't like this dude... Why does she know him as well... I don't like this dude...
"Meet the current batch of regulars of the team. The captain and middle blocker, Meian Shugo, libero Inunaki Shion, middle blocker, Adriah Thomas, power hitter playing the position of opposite hitter, Oliver Barnes, and setter, Miya Atsumu."
"Pleasure to meet you Shimizu-san, and I'll make sure our players will give you no trouble and help you in any way they can," said the Captain, Meian-san.
"Pleased to meet you Miss Shimizu," said Thomas-san.
"I hope you can join us for dinner this evening, and we can smash away any leftover awkwardness on your first day at work," said, Oli-san, smiling at his clever usage of pun.
She smiled as shook hands with everyone, and when glanced at him, she smiled on at him, expecting something out of him clearly so he doesn't stick out like a sore thumb in the middle of these effusive introductions.
"Good to see you, Shimizu-san," he said, while nodding to her. He draped his arm around Hinata, so that it wouldn't seem like he's being any less friendly than the others, but relaxed enough to seem cool and detached. At least, according to him.
"Nice to meet you, Shimizu-san. Just call me Shion though," said the libero, unnerving Atsumu a little bit, since he was asking her to be on first name basis with him.
"Then you must address me as Ren," she said, making that sly little fucker smile wider.
Asshole...
"And he is one of the newest rookies to join us this year, Ren-chan. Sakusa Kiyoomi, but you seem to already know him?" said the coach.
"Indeed. He was a big deal even when I was in high school. It's good to know we'll be working together in future, Sakusa-san," said Ren, smiling way too much at the gloomy germaphobe to Atsumu's liking.
"Call me Kiyoomi," he said, while shaking his hands with her.
Wait. What. And no sanitiser?!
"Kiyoomi?!"
"Ki-... Ki-... Ki..."
"Woah... so forward..."
"First name basis already?!"
"... Ki-... Ki-... Ki-..."
"Hey! Hey! Hey! Omi is chummy!"
Ki-... Ki-... Kiyoomi?!
"Omi-Omi-kun! You're being unusually relaxed for hating germs on people," said Atsumu with a tight smile that was hurting his face and internally seething at the hands that were still in touch with each other.
"She sanitised beforehand. I like her," he intoned, before walking back to the trolley of balls, ready to practice again.
"Did he-... Did he just say he LIKED her?"
"Hey! Hey! Hey! Omi-Omi is very chummy-chummy!"
"Shimizu-san, you're the second person he shook hands with today without bothering to sanitise his hands first AND being on first name basis," said Barnes.
Oh yea. Shouyo-kun was the first.
"Oh really?" she asked, looking very surprised at that. "Who was it?"
"Hinata-kun here."
"Yes! Omi-san, is really nice," said Shouyo, hopping after Sakusa, wanting to get some practice with him, probably.
"Ah... I can imagine why," she said, while smiling away at the receding back of the hyperactive carrot-top that was no longer Atsumu's favourite thing to happen today.
Don't tell me, she's enamoured by him as well...
He felt a little steamy, as his gaze fell back on the dainty little black-clad angel in front of him.
"So, Ren-chan," he began as he started walking towards her, a stray ball in hand, "when you said atsui earlier, did you mean, atsui as in hot, or atsui as in thick?" He paused a little while, watching her kohl lined eyes widen slightly and a hint of blush dawning upon her lovely cheeks. "Because, I'm both, and I'm kinda confused about that."
And with that, he spun around walking back towards the court, satisfied with the slight hitch in her breath that he managed to hear.
Dangerous.
That boy is still as dangerous, as she remembered him from back then. Her feelings for him were oscillating around like a pendulum in between love and hate, and that insufferable boy was swinging it harder every time he even glanced at her. Fanning herself a little, she settled next to the coach, unaware that he had caught their little exchange.
"Ren-chan, where did you do your high school again?"
"C- coach?" she stammered.
"High school?" he responded back.
"Uhm. From Hyogo prefecture, Coach," she mumbled.
"Okay, which one?" he persisted.
"Uhm. Inarizaki High School, Coach," she said, looking down at her lap, praying to whichever gods were willing to listen to her, that he won't ask anymore.
And they did hear her prayers. Since all he did, was hum audibly in response.
But what she did miss was the glint in his eyes as he looked at the receding back of his setter.
Much later that day, after practice were over, before Atsumu could even go back to have a few more words with Ren, she had already bowed to the coach and scuttled out of the courts.
That's okay... they had dinner plans, and she would be sitting right next to him... He'll make sure of that.
The players freshened up and got into their casual clothes, ready for their dinner. Atsumu skipped on his white turtleneck and layered it with a light suede jacket, going well with his blue denims. He walked out of the players' area with Shouyo, as he was sharing his experience with beach volleyball. When they reached the reception, they heard a loud commotion outside the building.
"KUROO TETSUROU! How dare you?!" he heard her all the way from outside, making several people in the reception look in her direction as well.
What on earth... Who's got her pants in a twist?
"Hey! Hey! Hey! Kubro! That was a masterstroke! I didn't realise your plan would work so effectively," he heard the loud wing spiker, whom he hadn't noticed till now.
But as he walked out of the building with his fellow teammates, what he saw next, made him meet the green monster he hadn't seen in a long, long time.
Bokkun was standing way too close to her, hanging his massive bulging bicep-laden hands around her shoulders, while they were on the video call.
"Bokuto-san, do not encourage the wily cat. It only gets worse, and I'm quite annoyed with him as it is," she huffed, pouting at Bokkun.
He felt as if his soul left his body, when Bokkun pulled her closer, laughed even louder. For a minute, he thought that he would peck her tantalisingly pouty lips, like he would have, to make her frown go away. But, that didn't assuage the flames of jealousy in him.
Get your hands off of her BOKKUN!
"That's okay Ren-chan. We'll get to Tokyo soon, and beat the shit outta him together! I promise you, since I'll be taking care of you from now," he turned back to the phone saying, "Kubro. I got her, bro."
"You promise, Bokuto-san?" she asked, pouting a little too much now, and all Atsumu wanted to do in that moment, was rip her out of his teammate's arms, and suffocate them both in a never-ending passionate kisses to sooth his bitten-in-anger lips, accompanied with some dry-humping to sooth the other pain he felt, further down his body.
Damn you, Bokkun. Damn you straight to the same hell I'm suffering right now! This friendship can go STRAIGHT TO THE MOTHERFUCKING HELL!