What a thrilling, close match!
Black Jackals vs Falcons was a super hit if the crowd's wild reaction was to be taken into consideration. As the match progressed, Ren also remembered why Aran-san was the ace of Inarizaki back in school. He had definitely grown over the years, and with the other tremendously talented members of the Falcons, it wasn't hard to see why they had a constant present in the first Division games.
However, with the ravenous jackals ready to gobble anything that strayed into their path to success, it was hard to imagine anybody else getting an easy win over the them. Especially with Miya Atsumu releasing one starving jackal after the other to spike, block-out and dump almost all of their shots.
Regardless, the game was nothing short of being incredibly entertaining, the players gave the best actions and reactions to each amazing play on the court, and the anchors of the event ate up every morsel of thrilling rallies between the teams.
Overall, for Ren, it was a great prelude to the upcoming divisional games.
But while she was with her work colleagues by the sidelines, discussing the success of the match and projecting more ideas for their future games, Mikasa-san walked up to them, only to ask if they could be excused.
That's how she found herself in the company of Mikasa-san, who walked them both to the locker rooms along with the coach.
I hope they're all decent...
When they walked in, the players were mostly good spirits, no doubt because of their victory. Shouyo-kun and Bokkun seemed like they were experiencing some kind of an out-of-body experience listening to one of Barnes' stories, Shion-kun was laughing at their expressions, the captain was quietly observing everything in the room, especially keeping an eye on the MVPs for today - Sakusa Kiyoomi and Miya Atsumu.
The duo has really out-done themselves on the court today - Atsumu made some of his boldest moves till now (at least according to the coach), and Kiyoomi-kun's spikes have been especially clean and sharp. And right now Atsumu was also out-doing himself in teasing Kiyoomi about something, since there was a visible tick mark on his temples.
Mikasa san's light clearing of her throat grabbed everyone's attention in the room, but Ren watched as Atsumu's gaze swiftly moved to hers instead of sticking on Mikasa-san's.
Without a preamble, as soon as his gazed locked on hers, her breathing increased rapidly, lighting some kind of an addictive fire in her. Maybe it was his incredible plays today, but Ren found herself unusually attracted to him today, especially reminding her of that weekend about a month ago.
None of Mikasa-san's and coach's words were even heard by her, and by the looks of it, Atsumu wasn't paying any attention to them either. When they all moved to quit the room, the gentle brushing of their fingers, hot whispers of how happy he was see her at the stands today, and blazing eye contacts sent pleasant chills down her spine.
Calm down Renny! You're still unsure about this whole thing, you need to really chill yourself!
"I'll be seeing you around Atsumu. It was a good game," she said, abruptly, shattering their bubble, and leaving Atsumu behind with his teammates.
Maybe she was wrong, but she could swear that Kiyoomi-kun asked him if he was alright. As much as she really wanted to verify this unbelievable incident, she didn't have the guts to look back.
Something told her that's he wouldn't like the expression on Atsumu's face. It would break her heart even further.
With a sharp click of her apartment door's automated lock sliding back in its place upon its closure, she walked into her currently cold hearth and home.
Her keys jingled to the bottom of the key bowl, and the slight echo of that sound brought her back to her lonely reality.
She sighed and bent to remove her heels. The momentary relief that was brought by pulling them out, was replaced by the uncomfortable cold touch of the floor. She looked around to search for her house slippers, but then remembered that she had put them to wash just that morning, and they couldn't have dried yet. She rummaged through her shoe closet and couldn't, to her disappointment, find her spare slippers. With the day's physical and mental exhaustion taking a toll on her, she gave up on her search.
The relief of being out of my shoes is definitely palpable, but the cold reality set in, to remind me how I may not find a replacement eh...
With a heavy sigh, she ambled tiredly to her room, and dropped her bag on her work desk with a muted thud. By the sound of it, the bag may have toppled over on her table, but she had no energy to deal with anything else falling apart in her life. She had to gather her wits, and make a decision soon, after all.
But how?!
She trudged over to the bed and plopped onto it on her right, feeling the day's fatigue seeping into every cell, even though she wasn't the one who played the game today. Belatedly she also drew parallels with how exhausting it had been in the past, every time she fought with Atsumu, the only glaring pieces of memory that kept coming back to her like some devastating tsunami.
Sigh...
She threw her arm over eyes, she tried to will the memory of his passion and his love away from her thoughts. She had to be objective in making her decisions, and thinking about that weekend would create a huge bias.
Huge indeed... Sparks wouldn't stop flying when the two of made love...
She threw her arm over eyes, willing the memory of his passion and his love away from her thoughts. She had to be objective in her decisions, and thinking about that weekend would create a huge bias.
But it was an undeniable fact that he had always been sweet to her, even back in high school and for sometime when they were university students. If the point was to be unbiased in this decision-making, she had to remember that she couldn't ignore everything good about him as well.
With a restless huff, she turned to her left, clasping her palms together and tucking them under her cheek, staring at the wall that felt just as cold as her heart, especially at the thought of possibility that they may not end up together. Deep inside, she knew that they fit well together. (A/N: Catch the pun please!) But she had to get to the root of why she was so apprehensive about them as well. She couldn't walk forward with so much anxiety clouding her heart.
She heard a little tinkle from the corner of her room. She looked in the direction to see her phone emitting little rays of light from the top of her handbag. She walked over to check.
A message from Ki-chan!
Ki-chan: Renny, I hope you can come over this weekend with Atsumu and Aran. Grandma wants to meet you all, and I would like to see you again.
Hmmm, maybe I'll ask im. about this too...
She walked back to her bed, peeling off her clothes one by one, just to take a short nap before showering and having some supper.
And before she knew it, as soon as her head hit the pillow, her eyes fluttered shut, her senses becoming drowsier by the second, and pleasant visions of Atsumu swam behind her shut eyes.
She saw the sweetness of his smile, merriness of his laughter, the heat behind his kisses,... his touches, his... warmth... and... and... his...
(A/N: Shhh... she's out. Let the poor girl sleep, hopefully Ki-chan will pull her out of her troubles in the next chapter)