It had been a week ever since Sosuke and [name] met. Both of them were extremely busy with their own trainings for the upcoming tournaments that were happening as well as their studies as they both were in their final year of High School. [name] was getting a little more depressed as the days passed, and it was her birthday. [name] wasn't looking forward to her birthday at all; ever since her family passed away, she never once celebrated it at all. Even her own teammates didn't know when her birthday was.
But surprisingly, someone knew.
Sosuke made his way down the street from the subway station that he had just left. He was on his way to Iwatobi High, with a stalk of rose in his hand and a gift wrapped box in his jacket. He had remembered that today was [name]'s birthday as he recalled seeing it being marked on the calendar before. Sosuke frowned slightly as he tried his best to follow the signs that were shown on the streets.
With much difficulty, he arrived at the front gates of Iwatobi High.
[name] walked down the steps as students rushed past her; making their way home on a dreadful Monday. [name] had always taken her time to go home, since there wasn't anybody waiting for her at home. [name] soon reached the ground level of the school; and was about to walk out of the building when suddenly she realised everybody was crowded at the front gates; and students were dashing past her to join the crowd.
"I heard So-chan is here!" she heard Nagisa's voice, and wasn't surprise to see his blonde hair flying past her as he ran towards the crowd; along with the rest of the swim team. Makoto then turned to look and realised she was there. He then stopped in his tracks and walked up to [name].
"[name], heading home?" and [name] nodded in response.
"Alright, be careful okay?" and [name] nodded once again and then he took off running once more. [name] then shrugged her shoulders as she continued to walk forward towards the front gate; trying her best to avoid the crowd before her.
"Souske! What are you doing here?" and [name] stopped in her tracks the moment she heard Sosuke's name. She then turned slightly and was kind of surprise to see Sosuke standing at the front gates.
"Have you seen [name]?" Sosuke asked.
"[name]? I saw her, she was on her way home though." Makoto spoke.
"[name]-chan is right there!" Nagisa yelled out, and pointed his finger in [name]'s direction. [name] then stood there calmly with an expressionless face as Sosuke made his way towards where [name] stood. He then stood in front of [name], and held out the stalk of rose for her;
"Happy Birthday, [name]." and [name] stood there feeling shock. A stranger she had met a week ago; knew her birthday. A stranger she had met a week ago; saw her walls crumble. And the very same stranger stood before her; with a rose in his hand, wishing her on the birthday that she started to hate.
"T-T-Thank you…" [name] mumbled out just loud enough for Sosuke to hear, and he smiled.
"OH? IT'S [NAME]-CHAN'S BIRTHDAY? HAPPY BIRTHDAY [NAME]-CHAN!" Nagisa yelled out as he suddenly lunged forward and hugged [name] in a tight hug. [name]'s body immediately stiffened up; but she was more worried about the rose being squished by Nagisa. Sosuke saw [name]'s body stiffened up, and he quickly pulled Nagisa back by the collar of his school blazer. Makoto and the others soon came up as well;
"Happy birthday, [name]." Makoto wished, and [name] nodded in response.
"Makoto-senpai, Haruka-senpai; aren't you two in the same class as [name]-senpai? How come you guys didn't know it was her birthday?" Rei asked.
"[name] hardly speaks in class. Or actually, being in the same class as her ever since first year; I've never heard her voice in class. Only when she's on court. Honestly we don't know much about her." Makoto explained, and Haruka nodded in response; the three swimmers then turned to look at [name] who was standing beside Sosuke; holding the rose dearly to her chest as Nagisa continued to ramble on about it being [name]'s birthday.
"I've got an idea!" Makoto cried out, and immediately took off running back into the school; Haruka and Rei immediately ran after him; and so did Nagisa when he realised that the trio had ran off.
"BYE [NAME]-CHAN, SO-CHAN! ENJOY YOUR DATE!"
"Oh god, [name]-chan is so lucky to have such a sweet boyfriend to pick her up from school!"
"Her boyfriend is so handsome, look at those eyes!"
"Boyfriend…?" [name] thought to herself as she looked at Sosuke.
[name] was baffled by the amount of cake that were being sold in the café that Sosuke had brought her today. He had decided to take the day off; or rather, skip swim practice to spend time with [name] on her birthday; after he had realised what she was going through.
Call it doing it out of pity.
But Sosuke was extremely attracted to [name].
"Which cake would you like?" Sosuke asked as he smiled softly at [name] who was staring at the cakes with an emotionless expression. Sosuke knew that deep down, that expression was a mask to hide all that she was feeling; for she fears the same thing will happen again. He snapped out of his thoughts when he felt [name] tugging she sleeve of his jacket to get his attention. He then realised she was pointing to the strawberry shortcake; and he decided to get that for her.
Sosuke then ordered their food and drinks; and even paid for them. He had taken the liberty to bring [name] home first; and get her changed. He then practically forced her to give up her wallet to him; which he had to get it by force.
"It's either you leave your wallet at home, or you give it to me." Sosuke spoke, and [name] continued to shake her head in a response of saying no. Sosuke then frowned as he moved forward, and [name] took a step back; clutching her wallet tightly.
"Hand it over." And [name] shook her head again. Sosuke then lunged forward and made a grab for [name]'s wallet; which she skilfully avoided thanks to her quick reflexes, and she made a dash up the stairs into her room. Sosuke then growled slightly and ran up the stairs as well to continue his tries.
He sighed in frustration as he saw [name] on her bed, with her blanket over her body. He then thought to himself quite some time, and eventually muttered under his breath.
"This better work…" and he walked over towards [name]'s bed and flung the covers away. He then grabbed hold of [name] by her sides and tickled her mercilessly. [name] squirmed and swatted his hands away; and eventually she burst out laughing. Sosuke stopped tickling the moment he heard [name]'s laughter; and he couldn't help but stare at the way she laughed. [name] immediately shut her mouth the moment she felt Sosuke's hands wasn't on her anymore, and her face turned slightly red. She quickly raised a hand to cover her face; when she realised it was the hand that was holding her wallet; and Sosuke snapped out of his moment and quickly grabbed hold of her wallet.
[name] then wore her usual emotionless expression as she made a grab for her wallet; which Sosuke raised up out of her reach.
"Sit down, or else no cake!" and almost immediately [name] sat down like a good girl she is.
"Cake!" she suddenly cried out, and Sosuke stared in shock at what just happened.
"So she loves cake."
[name] sat down at the window seat while waiting for Sosuke to arrive with their order. She had a lot of things going on her mind ever since Sosuke had entered her life.
Why was he being so nice to her?
Why was he trying to understand her?
Why was he so observant about her?
Questions flashed through her mind as [name] continued to be deep in her thoughts; she didn't even notice Sosuke had been sitting opposite of her for the past two minutes. Sosuke then frowned as he waved his hand right in front of [name]'s face; but realised she was still deep in her thoughts. He then flicked her forehead, causing her to snap out of her thoughts then.
"What are you thinking about?" Sosuke asked and [name] shook her head in response.
"WHAT CAKE DOES SHE LIKE?!"
"I DON'T KNOW!"
"AREN'T YOU GIRLS HER TEAMMATES?!"
"BUT WE JUST FOUND OUT IT'S HER BIRTHDAY TODAY!"
"HARU! DON'T!"
"DON'T PUT IT THERE IT WILL-."
"It just did…"
"SOMEONE CALL SOSUKE AND ASK THEN!"
"HE'S ON A DATE WITH HER RIGHT NOW!"
"IS RIN GAY?"
"WHY ARE YOU GIRLS SUDDENLY TALKING ABOUT ME?! I'M NOT GAY!"
"Hey there beautiful. Just want to ask whether you've got a map with you?" a light brown wavy hair with fairly dark brown eyes, with a slender body man who was around [name]'s age spoke. [name] mentally gagged as the man continued to use the pickup line on her.
"Because I'm getting lost in your eyes." And [name] rolled her eyes and turned to walk off. Sosuke had brought her to Samezuka Academy for reasons that were unknown to her. And not knowing that Sosuke had went to check the indoor sports hall instead of actually heading to the toilet.
"Aw come on beautiful, at least give me a smile?"
"Hey, Arata. Isn't she the volleyball player who broke down in the middle of the court during the finals?" his friend called out. He had fluffy black hair and fairly sharp brown eyes.
"Eh? You're right, Kira. She is the girl." And Arata made a grab for [name]'s chin and held it with his fingers; forcing her to look at him in the eye.
"Talk about embarrassment, she probably broke down because she was too nervous! What a wimp." Kira chuckled out, and both him and Arata started to burst out laughing. [name] could only stand there as she listened to what Kira had said…
.
.
.
"H-Hey, d-don't cry! W-We were just kidd-."
Sosuke was checking out the indoor sports hall. Makoto had called him an hour ago stating that they had a surprise waiting for [name] at Samezuka Academy's indoor sports hall. With curiosity getting the better of him; he had gone to check it out after telling [name] that he needed the bathroom.
The placed were filled with presents; lots of them. And Sosuke had wondered how did they get the presents on such a short notice. There was a volleyball, Sosuke assumed that the girls thought that [name] will definitely want to play since she had passion for it. It wasn't much, but Sosuke felt that [name] will definitely be surprised by it; especially the cake that Haruka and Rei had managed to get on such a short notice.
"So, where's the birthday girl?" Rin asked as he nudged Sosukse with his elbow.
"Oh right, I'll go get her now." And the girls giggled as they went to their hiding spots, as well as the boys.
Sosuke then left the indoor sports hall and made his way quickly towards where he had left [name], which wasn't very far off; so he prayed that he will not get lost in such a short distance. He made a turn, and frowned at the scene before him; two students from Samezuka Academy were hitting on [name]; he assumed. He then made his way over but gritted his teeth as he heard the conversation;
""Aw come on beautiful, at least give me a smile?"
"Hey, Arata. Isn't she the volleyball player who broke down in the middle of the court during the finals?"
"Eh? You're right, Kira. She is the girl."
"Talk about embarrassment, she probably broke down because she was too nervous! What a wimp."
And Sosuke stopped in his tracks as he saw tears falling down from [name]'s face.
"H-Hey, d-don't cry! W-We were just kidd-."
*WHAM*
The guy who was holding [name] by the chin was punched in the face. [name]'s eyes widened slightly; but soon softened when she realised it was Sosuke. He then stood in front of her and shielded her with his body. [name] then realised that she was actually crying, and she quickly wiped away her tears.
"That hurts you bastard!"
"You're the bastard for making her cry!"
"It was a joke!"
"Joke? So making girls cry is a joke to you?!" and Sosuke was about to swing another punch at the guy, but he stopped when he felt [name] holding onto his arm. He then turned to look at her, and saw her shaking her head. He then realised what he was doing was wrong; and he placed his fists down.
"Fucking overprotective boyfriend." The guy spat out and took off running with his friend.
Sosuke then turned his body entirely and cupped [name]'s cheeks in his hands, wiping away the tears that were still falling with his thumb.
"Did they hurt you?" he asked, and [name] shook her head.
"Good, I would have killed them if they did." Sosuke mumbled out.
"Why?" [name] asked, stunning Sosuke with her sudden question.
"Why?" Sosuke repeated.
"Why are you being so nice to me? You barely know me for a week, yet you're here remembering my birthday and protecting me." [name] spoke out with full honestly, shocking herself as well as Sosuke in the process. Sosuke then snapped out of this thoughts and he ruffled [name]'s hair;
"You deserve it. It isn't out of pity, you caught my attention. I want to know more about you." Sosuke spoke, and [name] grabbed hold of the hand that was ruffling her hair. She then brought it down from her head and stared at it…
.
.
.
"I want to know more about you too." [name] spoke out with an emotionless expression as she rubbed Sosuke's knuckles as she realised it was slightly bruised from the punch he had given.
"HOW CAN YOU SAY SUCH THING WITH SUCH A STRAIGHT FACE?!"
"They're coming!"
"Quick, get ready!"
"The cake, the cake!"
"Sosuke-kun, why are we here? It's dark."
And the girls and boys in the court except for Rin and Momo were shock. [name] was speaking openly to Sosuke, and they barely knew each other for a week!
"Let's go!" Rin yelled out, and both Sosuke and [name] turned to face the front. The lights in the indoor sports hall soon switched on, and there in the middle stood Makoto, Haruka, Nagisa, Rei, Rin, Momo, Ai, Rumiko, Miranda, Yuri, Yumi, Hinami, Emi, Rima and Seirin. Haruka was holding onto a cake, with candles on it; and [name]'s eyes widened in surprise.
"Oh my god, her eyes went big just now!"
"I know right!"
And Sosuke chuckled at [name]'s stunned expression and pulled her towards the center.
"Otanjyoubi omedoto
otanjyoubi omedeto
otanjyoubi omedeto [name]-chan
tanjyoubi omedeto!"
"Come on, [L/N]-senpai; make a wish!" Hinami cheered out, and [name] nodded. She then shut her eyes and placed her hands together; making her wish.
"I wish to find my reason for holding on to hope soon." [name] thought to herself as she opened her eyes and blew out the candles.
"What did you wish for?" Rumiko asked as she gave [name] a hug, which [name] for once returned it; causing the girls to stare at her in surprise.
"TEAM HUG!"
"First you place your hands together like this, and then you bend your knees slightly; your feet should be shoulder width apart. And then the contact point is here." Emi explained to Nagisa who was following diligently, and Rima was standing by the side to watch.
"You must snap your wrist when you spike. Snap it." Miranda explained, and Yumi then tossed a ball for Rin and Haruka to try out; and both Hinami and Rima were watching with admiration at how Rin and Haruka spiked. Although for the first few tries they missed the ball.
"When you set, you must remember to set with your fingertips, not the palm of your hands." Rumiko spoke as she demonstrated her setting skills for Momo and Ai to take a look.
"When you block, timing is the most important thing. Read block, you'll need to read your opponent's eyes; but it's your choice to believe it or not. And when you block, you need to visualise it and put your hands in front of you instead of above you. Add pressure to your fingertips as well so that you won't get blown off." [name] spoke as she demonstrated the blocking technique. Then [name] got into position and signalled to Seirin. Seirin then tossed a ball to Yuri; and [name] ran up to block her.
Whereas, Sosuke, Makoto and Rei stared in admiration.
"Time to open up your presents, [L/N]-senpai!" Rima called out as she placed the presents onto the coffee table in [name] house. Apparently they got kicked out by the security guards for causing too much noise pollution, and Rumiko had suggested to crash at [name]'s place instead; which [name] just gave her the usual nod of hers, not speaking a single word.
Rima then tossed her a poorly wrapped present, and [name] still carefully opened it; revealing a whale shark stuff toy with a volleyball in its mouth…
.
.
.
"It looks like Sosuke-kun." [name] mumbled out, and almost immediately did everybody in her house burst out laughing at the comment she had just made; and Sosuke's face turned beet red. [name] then smiled softly as she fiddled with the stuff toy; and opened the rest of the presents.
She had received a new pair of volleyball kneeguards, volleyball keychains, a photo frame that had a photo of the whole team together, a scrapbook filled with photos and words as well, as well as a pair of new volleyball shoes.
"We realised that your volleyball shoes were pretty worn out ever since we met you in first year." Rumiko explained as Miranda ushered [name] to try on the volleyball shoes to see if it fitted perfectly; which it actually did.
"So, what did you wish for?" Sosuke asked as he helped to clean up [name]'s house after the crash party. He then sighed as silence was the answer that he had gotten, and looked up from the ground to look at [name] in her face. He was then surprised to find her sitting on the sofa, fiddling with the whale shark stuff toy still, with a small smile on her face. Sosuke then made his way and sat down beside her on the sofa, and poked her side; causing her to flinch. She then looked at him with her usual emotionless expression and held out the stuff toy;
"It looks like you."
"It doesn't!"
"I'm going to name it Sosu-chan." [name] mumbled out, and Sosuke was basically baffled.
"How can one be so cute with such a straight face?!" Sosuke thought to himself.
"Reason to hold on to hope." [name] mumbled out.
"Huh?"
"My wish."
"Your wish?"
"I wish to find the reason for me to hold on to hope soon. I'm on the verge of giving up." [name] spoke as she continued to play with Sosu-chan. All of a sudden Sosuke remembered that he hadn't given [name] her present, and his hand went into his jacket pocket and brought out the nicely gift wrapped box.
"Here, your present from me."
"You shouldn't have. You spend time with me today. That's enough." [name] spoke as she grabbed hold of the box and opened it; to reveal a mobile phone.
"Now we can text each other. I've already saved my number in it."
"That's fast." [name] mumbled out.
Sosuke laid in the top bunk of his dormitory room that he shared with Rin. Rin was fast asleep after going through so much swim practice today, as well as running about in helping to prepare for [name]'s birthday celebration, thanks to Makoto.
Sosuke got out his phone and looked through the photos he had taken today; and the photos he had received from the others. He stopped at a particular picture of [name] holding Sosu-chan in her hands and smiling softly at it. His thumb traces over the picture and he sighed; thinking to himself:
"How can a girl like you, be so hurt to the point that you build up such high walls?"
His phone suddenly vibrated and he looked at it to realised that he had received a text message from [name]:
"Thank you for today, Sosuke-kun. I really appreciated your efforts in celebrating my birthday with me." Sosuke read to himself, and soon he was typing a reply to her; pressing send at the very last part. He then placed his phone aside and shut his eyes; a smile gracing his lips as he thought about [name];
"Maybe…"
[name]'s phone rang just as her eyes were about to shut. She then turned slightly and grabbed hold of it from her nightstand and opened the text message she had received from Sosuke;
"No problem. Like I said, you deserve it; and I want to know more about you. So how about we hang out sometime together? It's late already, get some sleep. You have school tomorrow. Once again, happy birthday. And right, you can just call me Sosuke. Goodnight, sweet dreams."
"Don't get too close to people [name]. Your selfishness will eventually backfire and take away what's precious to you in your life." [name] thought to herself after she had read finish what Sosuke had sent. She then placed her phone back onto her nightstand, and covered herself with her blanket; drifting off into a sleep filled with night terrors as always.