Disclaimer: I do not own Haikyuu! or any of its characters. I only own my OCs.
Chapter 2: Number One Handsome Annoyance
"I-Is she dead…?"
"Way to go, Trashykawa, you killed a girl already and the first week isn't even finished."
"Eh, I didn't mean to!"
"You hit her right in the face, too…"
"Ouch, did it make her uglier?"
"Why is that your thought process?!"
"I saw her walk in, she's cute. Maybe not anymore, though…"
"Matsukawa!"
"No, no, she's fine. A little…bruised, but fine."
"Seriously, Shittykawa, I thought your control was better than this…"
"She was frowning at me when I saw her earlier…"
"So you hit her with your serve?!"
"Not on purpose!"
"Oi, make way."
"Stop crowding her, idiots. Let me see."
Minako's vision was annoyingly blurry as she tried to blink away her disorientation. The pain spreading throughout her head-area throbbed violently and she groaned softly.
"Are you okay, Sonozaki-san?"
Minako groaned again, unable to form coherent thoughts and words. She tried to get up, but the dizziness hit her once again and her head tipped back to hit the floor and lolled to the side.
"O-Oi!"
"Will she have memory loss?"
"Oikawa's serves can't be that good."
"H-Hey!"
"Everyone shut up, please…"
"Oikawa, take her to the infirmary."
"E-Eh?! Why me?"
"Because you're the one that hit her, dumbass!"
"Aish, okay okay."
Minako faintly registered her body being hauled up effortlessly. The sounds of various voices melded together, and the girl found herself subconsciously curling into the sweaty, smelly form of the person carrying her as they made their way out of the gymnasium.
—
She blinked once. Twice.
The brightness of the room was blinding, even behind the blurriness of the girl's vision. She brought a hand up to rub her eyes before shifting it up to rub her head. The pain had dulled considerably, but she knew that the headache would persist for the rest of the day. And she didn't even want to think about how it looked like…
"Are you okay?"
Minako glanced toward the voice that called out in her grogginess. Oikawa Tooru was sitting on a chair beside the patient's table that she was perched on, staring at her expectantly. He looked surprisingly calm and unperturbed for someone that just injured an innocent bystander, but the girl decided not to hold that against him.
"Headache…" she mumbled inelegantly.
Oikawa chuckled, "The nurse said you'll be fine, there's no concussion or anything, but you should probably take it easy for the rest of the day. Maybe you should just go home and rest?"
As her vision cleared, she took a good look at Oikawa as he looked at her innocently. He really was handsome…
'Dammit…!'
"By the way, sorry," Oikawa sheepishly rubbed the back of his head, grinning gently. "I'm normally great at controlling my serves, but I guess I messed up."
"Uh…it's okay…" She knit her brows at the underhanded, ego-filled apology but disregarded it as she sat up straight and made her way off the table. Oikawa stood up to assist, but she pushed his hands away. "I'm fine."
"Okay~! By the way, who are you?" Oikawa looked down at her, smiling wide. The impurity and disingenuous air in that seemingly sweet-natured gesture made Minako groan inwardly.
"Sonozaki Minako, second year," she replied curtly. "I'm the new sports columnist for the boys volleyball team."
"Oh, great! Oikawa Tooru," he made a peace sign, "pleased to meet you!"
"Right…"
"So, you're a writer then?"
"…Yes."
"And Hirayama-senpai gave you the position when she left?"
"Who?"
Oikawa laughed, peering at her curiously. "Hirayama-senpai wrote for us last year, but she graduated."
"Oh," Minako blinked, scratching the side of her face awkwardly. "No, I was given the position by our assistant editor."
"Oh, cool. How long have you been writing for sports then?"
"I just started today."
"Eh? Really? Do you know anything about volleyball then?"
Minako's eye twitched at the, what seemed like, ostensibly patronizing tone of his comment. And the look on Oikawa's face—an almost child-like innocence and genuine curiosity blended together with the piercing acumen in his eyes—made her realize that this guy was not truly as he seemed; a pretty face coated over a finely operated disposition—and it did not feel pleasant in the least. The implication of that thought caused an ominous shudder to make its way through her body.
"No, I don't. But I'm a quick learner," Minako stated firmly, before any more time elapsed for her hyper-analysis of the boy.
"Oh? Okay, then," he chuckled, patting the girl lightly on the shoulder. "I can help you with that, if you'd like~."
"Uh…"
"Or Iwa-chan can, maybe…he's better at explaining things like this…"
"Um, what…?"
Oikawa looked at her in earnest, eyes shining, "Mm. We can help you if you have any questions or need some explaining!"
Minako narrowed her eyes, "Why would you want to help me?"
"Hm…" Oikawa held his chin thoughtfully before laughing. "Well, no reason! Just make sure to write about me a lot, and give me lots of compliments! Which shouldn't be hard."
…
'I swear, this boy…!'
"I don't like writing lies," Minako stated blankly.
Oikawa blinked. "Wh…What?" His eyes glinted with ire as his mouth twitched into an irritated smile.
Minako scoffed and crossed her arms defiantly, "So give me something good to write about, then, Oikawa-san~." She stretched out his name provokingly.
A part of her knew she was being needlessly vexing, but something about the boy irked her to no end. And she had only just met him. And the maddening thought that people opted to hear about him more than her own creative writing soured her entire perspective, and she willingly admitted that perhaps her thinking had become slightly more narrow-minded. The challenges came out naturally, and she could do all but oblige in her instincts. Perhaps the hit to her face affected her in some ways…
Oikawa stared at the girl, a mixture of chagrin and amusement, before chuckling darkly. "Oh, that won't be a problem, Sono-chan~. That is, assuming your ability will be able match mine, hm?"
There it was—the underlying shadiness of Oikawa's demeanor as Minako had noted earlier. She felt riled at his audacity, though not unsurprised, due to her own affronts. The sudden idea of gaining the opportunity to pick apart this guy made her feel a simultaneous blend of excitement and aggravation.
The vein in Minako's forehead popped, "Oh, that won't be a problem."
The two teenagers glared at each other with menacing eyes, though their mouths formed pleasant smiles. It was a strange stand-off, but the two soon relented, Oikawa sighing softly before running a hand through his hair.
"Heh, you're interesting, Sono-chan." The boy smirked as his features softened. "Anyway, I should head back to practice. Take care~ and you should probably ice your face as soon as possible. Sorry again—!"
"How…unpleasant…" Minako's mouth contorted into a frown as she watched the boy bound out of the infirmary, a cheerful bounce in his step.
He was an enigma of the infuriating kind. No matter the bubbly and cheery exterior of his, Minako felt something stirring underneath it all. Perhaps it was her habit of over thinking things, or perhaps it was just simply his sheer annoyance clouding her better judgment. All she knew was that it would bother her, and it would keep bothering her, until she got somewhat of an answer. An enigma of the extremely infuriating kind, she noted once more.
'Number one handsome annoyance…'
…
'Stop thinking he's handsome!'
Minako slumped in her seat that next morning, the improper sleep she received the night before starting to take its toll. She had spent her night at home laying in bed with an ice-pack resting on her face, but the headache persisted all evening and well throughout the night. Her usually quiet father's overbearing concern at the dark blue and black bruise that bloomed across Minako's nose and spread to her forehead didn't help. Her brother, however, was not as kind, Minako noted bitterly as she re-read the texts that were exchanged the previous night.
[To: Baka-chan
From: Koichi]
Ha! That's one heck of a "welcome" message. Send me a pic! I wanna see your ugly mug.
[To: Baka-niichan
From: Minako]
Shut up, you no-good jerk. The entire appendage hurts. Besides, you're supposed to be on my side in regards to this blatant injustice.
[To: Baka-chan
From: Koichi]
Calm down, baka. So you have to write for the volleyball team now, big deal. Make the best of it!
[To: Baka-niichan
From: Minako]
How? I have no idea how to write for sports.
[To: Baka-chan
From: Koichi]
Don't think too much about it. Just write like you normally do. But with more volleyball jargon.
[To: Baka-niichan
From: Minako]
That's easy to say.
…
Everything hurts.
[To: Baka-chan
From: Koichi]
LOL just get some rest. You'll be fine.
…
But send me a pic first!
…
Minako groaned, rubbing her temples slowly. Matsui kept throwing her questioning glances; Minako had expertly avoided spilling any excruciating details to her nosy friend, but no doubt Matsui already correlated it to her volleyball mission. And the last thing she wanted to admit was that it was Oikawa that did the deed—all that welcomed was an immediate disregard for concern turning into gratuitous, fangirl-induced screeching.
As students began filling into the classroom, the morning bell just about to ring, Minako noticed a tall shadow loom over her desk. She glanced up hesitantly.
Iwaizumi Hajime was staring down at her, looking casual and blank, but at the sight of her face he visibly winced.
Minako snorted, "It's that bad, huh?"
"N-No…! It's just…" Iwaizumi stuttered, "Oikawa probably didn't apologize properly. So…I'm sorry. For the bruise, and for him. I hope it didn't cause too many problems for you yesterday."
"Oh," Minako nodded at the boy, absentmindedly rubbing at her nose. "It's okay. Thanks for the apology, I guess…"
"It doesn't hurt, does it?"
"Not really, not anymore. It's fine, really."
"Okay, well," Iwaizumi shrugged and turned to his seat. "Sorry that your first day on the job involved, well, that. But welcome to the team."
"Thanks…" Not once did Minako think she would be 'part of the team'. In fact, she wanted to be as far away from that position as possible. She could already tell by the scorned whispers and offended glances from half the school's female population that her involvement with the volleyball team—as a girl, nonetheless—would cause for some unwarranted hostility. The more detached she was to the team, the better.
Although that hope would be short-lived, Minako realized with dismay, as lunch-time rolled around. The hushed whispers turned to asinine gossip, and she suddenly started becoming aware of the things people were saying about her little accident.
"I heard she got destroyed by Oikawa-san…!"
"She just got hit by a volleyball. Though the bruise does look pretty bad…"
"It looks like she got beat up."
"Serves her right, tch…"
"HA! Serves her right, get it?"
"What was she doing in the gym anyway?"
"Is she dating Oikawa-kun?!"
"Why would she be dating him?"
"WHY would her boyfriend hit her with a volleyball, anyway?"
"So they are dating?!"
"They're not dating…! I don't think…"
"I heard Oikawa carried her to the infirmary."
"Oooooh, scandalous!"
"Ahhh, I'm so jealous!"
"Isn't she the new writer for the volleyball team?"
"Who even is she?"
"Are she and Oikawa-kun friends now, or something?"
Minako's eyes glowered furiously as the baseless nonsense continued to spew from the students' mouths. She couldn't help but think of the words spoken to her the previous day by her assistant editor—about the students wanting to read something 'simpler'. If a majority of their time and effort was spent on fueling hapless high-school gossip, then she could do all but agree with Asana's statement. The student body was depraved, and she was only going to aid that. Minako let out a long, drawn-out sigh, and made her way back to the classroom after eating her lunch in the newspaper club room.
"SONOZAKI-CHAAAN!"
Minako lurched forward as the weight of another human pummeled into her. She turned around angrily.
"Ow…! Matsui, what the hell?!"
Matsui grabbed onto Minako's shoulder and shook her violently. Her eyes were wild with zeal and shock, and her short, copper hair flew around her face. "Why didn't you tell me OIKAWA-KUN gave you that bruise?!"
Minako scowled, "Why does that matter?"
"WHY DOES THAT MATTER? It matters the most!" Matsui continued shaking the girl.
"How?"
Matsui halted her movements and sighed dramatically, "I was in his class all last year and never spoke a word to him. But you've barely known him a day and already interacted with him significantly!"
"Uh…!" Minako gawked at her friend, astounded. "He hit me with a volleyball! How is that significant?"
"And then he carried you to the infirmary, and he stayed with you till you came about!" Matsui grabbed onto Minako's hands, eyes shining with passion and grinning from ear-to-ear. "Is it true he asked you out?"
"What?!" The black-haired writer shook Matsui's hands off and stepped back, "Where do the students get these unprecedented ideas from?"
Matusi shrugged, "There's a lot going around, Sonozaki-chan. All of them a stretch, I must say, but somehow romantic…"
Minako shook her head, sighing aggravatingly as she brushed off the insistent questions posed by her friend and her hyperactive imagination.
"Sono-chan~!"
A sinister shudder made its course over Minako's body as she registered the voice of the person calling her name. Of all places, it had to be in public under the scrutiny of the savage student body. Minako ignored the comical gasp that came out of Matsui's mouth and turned to the voice.
Oikawa waved at the young writer enthusiastically, before his face displayed concerned surprise—though it looked utterly disingenuous. He, however, still maintained that ever-cheerful and annoying grin… "Oh, that bruise looks bad."
"It's your fault…" Minako uttered, miffed at the boy's lackadaisical remark.
"Aha, sorry sorry," Oikawa pressed his hands together in apology. "I guess my serve was just too powerful."
"EH?" 'Didn't he say yesterday that it was because he messed up?! Minako gawked at the boy who simply grinned gleefully at her.
Oikawa reached over at pat the girl gingerly over the head, "Maybe next time you should also pay attention?"
"EH?! Who do you think yo—!"
"Oi, Assikawa, quit antagonizing her," Iwaizumi appeared behind the audacious boy, smacking him across the back of the head.
"Ow—!"
Minako shoved Oikawa's hand off her own head, silently thanking the other boy for interjecting and subsequently preventing the girl from swinging a well-aimed punch towards the pretty-face of the chocolate-haired teenager.
"Sorry, again," Iwaizumi added lightly, motioning towards Minako before walking past her, and dragging Oikawa behind him by the ear.
"Ow—! Ow—! Sorry, sorry, Iwa-chaaaaan!"
Minako turned around towards the retreating figures of the two teenage boys, hands balling into fists and steam practically ejecting out of her ears.
"Oh…my…gosh…" Matsui choked.
"How infuriating…"
"You totally are friends with him!"
"How did that demonstrate friendship?!" Minako shoved her friend on the shoulder and continued walking back toward the classroom, ignoring the astonished gawks from the rest of the students in the hallway.
Matsui jogged up to her, "He called you 'Sono-chan'!"
"I never gave him permission…"
"It means he sees you as a friend!" Matsui squealed merrily.
"He's no friend of mine. I hate that guy…"
"Oi, Sonozaki-chan, this means that every girl is going to be jealous of you…"
Minako tuned out the rest of the girls ceaseless drivel and made her way back to the classroom before dumping herself on her seat. She glanced at the clock warily, and noted with utter disdain that she probably needed to go back to that horrid gymnasium at the end of the day to face that horrid creature once again. She groaned and laid her her head on her desk, ignoring the throbs of pain reverberating throughout her head. Whether or not that pain was due to the contact of her bruise on the wood of her desk or of her own burning antipathy, she didn't know. All she knew was that the upcoming year was not going to be easy on her energy reserves, and she could feel the pangs of it already.
Minako was walking through the hallways at the end of the day, fiddling with a pen in her hands, as she ran into Asana Tsuyo, who was carrying with her a stack of papers and newspaper clippings.
"Ah, Sonozaki-san!" Asana waved over to her with great difficulty.
"What can I do for you, Asana-san?" Minako asked halfheartedly.
Asana handed to her half the contents in her arms. From what Minako could see, it looked like various articles, news clippings, and information sheets—all pertaining to volleyball.
"Those," Asana pointed to the bulk of papers she handed to the other writer, "are various clippings from Monthly Volleyball, as well as articles written by our previous volleyball columnist. It might help you get a grasp on how to write for sports, and volleyball specifically. I've also included some rules sheets to help your understanding of the game."
"Oh…" Minako flipped through each of the papers, all thoroughly detailed and fluidly crafted. "Great, thanks. I'll definitely take a look."
Asana grinned, "Great. And if you want more information, just asked the coaches to give you access to the video archives so you can view previous matches."
"Right."
Asana let out a big sigh, "And more thing," she looked at Minako encouragingly. "Since official tournament matches haven't begun yet, why don't you write up some introductory pieces first. Get used to the players, their positions, their play-styles, as well as some insight on their thoughts and goals and we can start from there. You can even add some of your opinions! Just…let's give the students a taste of what to expect for the coming year."
"Uh," Minako processed all that was said to her in the past few seconds. Introductions…insights and goals…her own opinions. She pondered for a moment, realizing that what was asked of her really wasn't all that bad. It would give her something to write about until official matches started, anyway. "Sure."
Asana Tsuyo beamed, "Yes, thank you! I know you'll be great, Sonozaki-san. Don't change anything; write like you usually do and don't be afraid to be, well, you."
Minako offered the fellow second year a kind smile, "That…is doable. Thanks, Asana-san."
Asana gave her an enthused thumbs up and turned around to leave—but before she did, she spared Minako one final, tentative glance. "By the way, um, that bruise really isn't all that bad. Plus, Oikawa-san gave it to you, and he carried you to the infirmary. Girls are already dying of jealousy…okay, see you later!"
Minako scowled. If this is what girls considered a point of envy, then she had already given up hope for the retribution of the Aoba Johsai student body. Oikawa rancorously slamming into her life felt more like the threat of war, and if that were the case then she was taking up arms and fighting back.
She had her weapons at the ready.
Clutching at the pen in her hands, she made her way to the gymnasium.
The gymnasium was bustling, as usual. The throngs of fangirls she pushed through stopped and stared this time, turning to each other and whispering vehemently while gaping at the deformation on her face. Minako brushed off the attention before making her way inside.
The boys were practicing as normal. Oikawa noticed her entrance and paused to wave amiably at her while shooting her a challenging smirk. Minako pointedly ignored him and walked towards her usual spot, taking note to not stand so close to the court this time around…
Coach Mizoguchi, standing next to a few players she didn't immediately recognize, noticed her approaching and signaled over to her. He paused for a moment, seemingly recoiling at the sight of the ugly bruise on her face before composing himself.
"Ah, Sonozaki-san, these are 3rd years, and captain of the team this year, Otsuka Naoto, and vice-captain, Sakai Akihito." He gestured to a tall, lean boy with dark red hair and another, shorter, but bulkier boy with curly blond hair respectively.
"Ah, sorry about that," Otsuka awkwardly pointed to her face. "I'll make sure Oikawa practices his control a little more."
Minako fought the urge to roll her eyes, "It's fine, really. Uh, pleased to meet you both."
Sakai laughed genially, "And if you need any help, feel free to talk to anyone. They'll jump at any opportunity to chat up a cute girl."
"Sakai," the coach warned.
"Ah, okay…" Minako quirked her brows. "Um, if it would be possible to schedule some individual interviews with the starter roster for next week, that would be great."
Otsuka nodded, "Of course. You can always catch us before and after practices. Many of our starters are in your year, so feel free to get a hold of them throughout the day if you can."
"Thank you."
As the two players jogged back to the court to start their drills, Minako made herself comfortable by the wall and pulled out her notebook and pen, along with a sheet of the basic rules of volleyball to go over and apply to what she would notice during their practice games. Reading through the rules, Minako had to admit that as simple of a game as it was—not much more complicated than, say, Basketball—there was still a lot that the players had to keep in mind while playing. Volleyball was one of those sports where you had to always be two steps ahead in order to execute perfect plays. As annoyed as she was by her whole ordeal, she still had to give respect where respect was due; and considering that Oikawa was one of the best, he was one of the ones where that respect and admiration had to be particularly doled out to, as much as she loathed the idea.
In the midst of the various noises on the court, and Minako's own thoughts, Oikawa's voice rang throughout the gym in irksome clarity.
"Yahoo, Sono-chan~! Make sure you pay attention this time otherwise your face will be unrecognizable!"
What was that about respect, again? 'I'm…gonna kill him…!'
"Yahoo, Oikawa-san~! Maybe you aren't all that good of a player if you have to worry about that, eh? How pathetic..." Minako wrinkled her nose and turned her lip upward in a sneer, placing her hand over her mouth to cover up a mocking chuckle.
"You—!"
"Shut up, Oikawa!"
"Ow—!" Oikawa recoiled from the smacks dispensed out by his seniors.
Minako grunted and returned to her work, alternating between re-reading rules, watching the players, and jotting down notes. Every once in a while she and Oikawa would make eye contact and would consequently make displeased faces at each other. It was a tiresome rotation. Yet still, she couldn't keep her eyes from occasionally darting to the annoying, star-player more often than she would have liked. His finesse on the court, paired with his raw strength and talent was a sight to behold. She suddenly, horridly thought that conducting interviews with him would only inflate his massive ego and goad him into further annoying the girl. She scowled at the idea; just when she thought she would finally be okay with her new stint as the volleyball columnist—the words of Asana and her brother encouraging her to be herself and not change her writing being a major uplifter— it was also seeming that it might get more and more troublesome…
"Sono-chan, look out!"
Operating on instinct, Minako jerked suddenly, throwing away her writing materials haphazardly and flinging herself to the side to avoid the oncoming onslaught of force-filled volleyball.
But nothing happened.
Ungracefully sprawled on the floor, the girl glanced up shakily and met Oikawa's expression which lit up playfully. He held up a peace sign.
"Ha ha, just kidding~."
Minako's eye twitched.
Be herself, they said? Don't change anything, they said? Share her opinions?
'Oh, believe me. I will.'
A/N: I'm writing this fic a few chapters in advance from what I post...so whereas the story is still in its beginnings, I'm already experiencing a starts of writer's block, self-loathing, and just hating everything I write. It's great. Despite that, I press on with great struggle. Isn't being a writer great? *heavy sigh*
Thank you thank you thank you so much for all the favorites and follows! And thank you to jungkookies, Lady Syndra, and LOL(guest reviewer...lol) for the reviews and kind words!
And jungkookies: I don't read many Haikyuu fics, but I totally realized how cliched the volleyball-to-the-face was haha. And I'm a sucker for cliches and tropes. Thank you SO much for the lovely review! You made my day when I saw it :)
Reviews are great! Thank you, friends, and I'll see you soon!
-Anzu