Chapter Nine
"Ame-chan!"
Oikawa casually walks to her with his bike like he owns the place. She is leaning on the park's fence. He is taller than last time she saw him, she notes. It was three weeks ago but somehow he managed to grow. Boys are so lucky at this age, they grow like plants under the sunlight.
"Hi", she grins.
She grabs her bike and walks beside him. They are both in their casual clothes, not their tracksuits, just like two normal teenagers. It's a little bit odd because it's the first time.
"How was your first day as a suspended student?" He says with a mischievious smile.
She pouts.
"Stop making fun of me! I had to do all the chores this morning. And my mom even made me join her lessons! I feel like I've been run over by a truck."
"Oh?" Oikawa quirks an eyebrow. "She's a teacher? What does she teach?"
"Ballet."
He stops in his tracks. The idea of Ame taking ballet lessons flashes before his eyes and it's really surprising. To be honest he didn't expect that. A little snicker and a tchak brings him out of his stupor.
"Oh my, you should see your face right now" she laughs as she stares at the picture she just took on her phone. "That's the best reaction I ever got from someone."
Oikawa recovers quickly and walks a bit behind her.
"Wait, are you a dancer? You never told me about it."
"It's because I'm not! I used to dance when I was younger because of my mother but I stopped."
"Why?"
She lifts her left arm and gently spreads it out to the side. Then she looks back at him.
"Do you see any graciousness in those moves?"
She's right, her arms are thin, but firm and toned. They scream strength and crave for powerful spikes, not graceful swings. She's too clumsy to be elegant. But despite that, Oikawa still finds it ridiculously alluring. She looks so steady and yet he still thinks she could break like thin glass.
"You know, you should give yourself more credit. Others might see your beauty when you don't", he says softly.
Her eyes widden in shock. She leaves her bike against a wall and comes to him. She's close and he stiffens, unsure.
"Oikawa, are you okay? Did you just say something nice without hidden intentions?"
And something ridiculously cheesy at that. His cheeks turn light pink as she giggles. Since when do girls make him feel flustered?
"So, where are we going?"
They put the snacks they just bought on his bike's rack.
"I don't know, there's not much to do around here" he shrugs.
"Hey! Is that how you usually plan your dates? Because honestly that's lame." She sticks her tongue.
"Stop complaining! If you wanted to go out with me you should have ideas." He pauses. "Well, you know you'll never run out on things to do with me here." He says in a suggestive tone.
She snorts.
"You're so shameless Oikawa."
He stops and laughs with her.
"For real, there's nothing to do in this area. It's the countryside after all. Let's just hang out."
They leisurely head down the slope that leads to flat ground, a usual thing in Miyagi's mountainous settings.
"I wonder what it's like to live in a big city" she muses.
"Ame-chan, do you want to live in Tokyo?"
"I don't know. I would be alone." She pauses. "Would you go with me?"
He's taken aback by her straightforward words, always so honest and blunt. He doesn't know if it's refreshing or uncomfortable. She's so different from him, who's never really serious and only speaks with well defined lines.
"I think it's too early for us to plan our elopement."
She laughs quietly and turns away from him.
Oikawa can't help but add "but if you kidnapped me, yes, I would go to Tokyo with you."
"Is that a promise?"
"It is."
She looks back at him, and he can actually see in her eyes that she believes him, even though he said it just like that. It's just a stupid promise he makes as a capricious teenager. But it doesn't matter, because at the moment he is serious about it. He would do anything to please her, because he likes her. Oikawa just simply forgets that feelings are fickle, he forgets about all the girls he was ready to conquer the world for, the same girls he forgot just a month later. Because that's what young love is, giving everything you have in a moment of inspiration and changing your mind afterwards. Repeatedly.
He takes her hand.
Ame stares at her phone, her brows furrowed.
"Is something wrong?" Oikawa asks. He is beside her and they are both leaning on a railing at the side of an open court. Their empty snacks lay at their feet. Boys not older than twelve are playing under the afternoon sun. Loud laughters erupt now and then.
She types something on her screen and lets it fall in her pocket. He can see her irritation through her gesture.
"It's Misaki. She couldn't find new members."
Her shoulders slump a bit. Oikawa doesn't know what to do. No teammates means no team, and that means no matches. She has been so eager to play before they started high school, it must be such a disappointment. He doesn't know what he would do if his teammates abruptly decided to leave him.
Oikawa doesn't know what to say, so he does the first thing that comes to his mind, something he always does, he speaks about himself.
"Do you know why I started playing volleyball?"
"No, but you're going to tell me anyway."
He chuckles quietly.
"I started because the setters I saw on tv looked like the smartest guys on earth."
Ame blinks. Then she gives him an amused look.
"You know, you don't look like it at first but you're really a nerd." She giggles and he feels a bit self conscious. It's been a while since someone saw him like that. "I think I like that. You should show this side of you more often."
Instantly, he relaxes. Right, she's not a judgemental girl, so he has nothing to be embarrassed of. But still, it'll take a while, or maybe never, for him to show himself with all his quirks and lousy holes to her.
"A-Anyway! What I was trying to say," he keeps talking with a smooth voice "is that it started somewhere, but now, the only place where I can truly be happy is on the court."
She grins gently. "That's where I belong as well. But seems like the court doesn't want me." She rubs her nose. "You're so lucky to play. Before that, I thought teammates were something easily acquired and I was wrong. Teammates depend on each other. Everyone is needed and necessary." She stares at the ground. One player can lift the team up, but one player will never be a team. There's nothing I can do on my own, she thinks. I may become stronger and sharpen my skills, but it's useless if there is no team to be part of. "Maybe I should just give up. Maybe I'm wasting my time. You're so lucky to play."
He grabs her by the shoulders, his face dark and serious. Her eyes widden. She never thought he was capable of looking like that.
"Don't!" He shouts and almost shakes her. "Never say that." He adds more calmly. It's the second time that she exposes her doubts to him, he realizes. Doesn't she have any willpower? "I never want to hear that from you again."
She frowns at his outburst.
"But that's the truth" she protests. "How do you want me to keep doing that, everything, when they all left? There's no point in being stubborn like that."
"You still have your friend. Are you going to abandon her just like the others did?"
She bites her lips at that.
"Are you going to run away like a coward?" Oikawa knows his words are harsh but she has to hear it. If it's too much to bear, then it means she'll never have any resolve. "Will you renounce to the feeling of getting the last kill for a match point?"
She grabs his wrist and he realizes he's still holding her shoulders. He lets go.
"Of course I don't want to." She says softly. "But what am I supposed to do?"
"Keep trying! Find a team. Find a coach. Practice and come to the InterHigh."
"You make it sound like it's so easy."
"Maybe. We both know it's not but, I believe in you."
She stares at him. He truly does believe in her. Maybe that's even the most honest thing he ever said to her. And just like that, she's certain that everything will work out. Just because he said it would. It's funny how sometimes a single word from a single person can change everything, so much that we don't realize that we are, in fact, the ones that make the difference.
"What do you want to accomplish the most?"
"To win everything at Nationals" she immediately answers without a thought.
"Right" he smirks. "I don't know what else I expected." She grins at him. "Then in three years, at the end of high school, I will tell you that I have beaten Ushiwaka and gone to Nationals, and you will tell me that you have won everything. Is that okay with you?"
He holds out his hand and waits.
"Deal!" She takes it and beams. Next to them, the group of children cheer loudly as if to seal their second oath of the day.