"[L/N] [NAME]!" [name]'s head immediately shot up the moment she heard name being yelled at. She then looked around and realised that she was still in class; and apparently she had fallen asleep with her head being on the table. She then looked towards the front and realised her teacher had on a rather disapproving look on her face.
"Care to tell me which part of my lesson is boring?" the teacher asked, and [name] just responded with an emotionless expression as she turned her attention back down to the book that's laid out on her table right in front of her.
"Such attitude." The teacher muttered to herself, and Makoto couldn't help but look at [name] who was seated just in the row next to him. She had turned to look outside the window instead, and was extremely deep in her thoughts.
"[name]? Are you alright?" Rumiko asked as she shook [name] by her shoulder. They were currently up at the roof of the school, having their lunch together; and [name] was spacing out, deep in her very own thoughts once again.
"Did something happen in class?" Miranda turned to ask Makoto, who could only shrug his shoulders at her question that she had asked.
"It's a little worrying…" Rumiko mumbled out as she realised [name] was staring into space.
"Especially when the tournaments are coming up." Yuri spoke as she handed Miranda a bottle of water.
And Haruka could only hum in response as he continued to munch on his mackerel.
An uneasy atmosphere was what greeted them for the rest of the day.
The girls sighed as they noticed how spaced out their captain was. They were just about to head out for their usual jog which was around the neighbourhood before their start of the training, when they realised [name] was particularly slow in reaction today.
"Girls, today the swim team will be joining you girls for your run." The coach called out, and the swim team just bowed slightly as a form of thank you for joining warm up with them.
"[name], are you fit for today's training?" the coach asked the moment he saw [name] leaving the bench. She then stopped in her tracks and responded back with an extremely slow nod then; causing her coach to feel worried about what was going to happen.
"Warm up." [name] called out softly, and the volleyball team including the swim team soon gathered around her in a circle as she started to do their warm up routine.
"Is [name]-chan alright?" Nagisa asked Hinami who was beside him, which she replied with a shake of her head, indicating that [name] wasn't alright at all.
"1… 2… 3… 4… 5… 6… 7… 8…" [name] mumbled out.
"2… 2… 3… 4…. 5… 6… 7… 8…" Rumiko soon called out after [name].
"There's this one rule in our volleyball warm up though." Rumiko spoke with a hint of playfulness in the words that she spoke.
"Yeap! If you can't keep up to [name]'s pace, you're going to have to treat everybody!" Miranda called out cheerfully. The third years were extremely calm about the jogging session they will have everytime before their training; for they were able to keep up with [name]. Only difference was, they will be panting by the end of the session; but [name] will still be breathing normally. The first and second years were the ones having trouble keeping up, and they always ended up buying drinks for their seniors.
"Ready…" Yuri called out.
"Go." [name] signalled, and started jogging down the path outside their school.
"Rima, you're falling behind!" Miranda yelled out after she had turned to take a look at the back. She then realised the first and second years were falling quite far behind, and the swim team too, and she turned back to look at the front; to call out to [name].
"[name]! Slow down a little, they are falling behind!" and [name] slowed down slightly. She then turned to jog a corner and immediately she felt something off. Her eyes darted to the opposite side of the street, and her light ocean blue eyes soon made contact with a pair of orange eyes, and a smirk as well. [name] immediately stopped in her tracks, causing Miranda, Rumiko and Yuri to stop as well. [name] then saw the man's smirk turn into a grin, and she her eyes widened slightly.
"[name]?" Rumiko called out, and [name] turned her body slightly and gestured for them to continue with the session. The look on [name]'s face had already made Rumiko wonder what's going on, but she decided not to ask as she took over the session and started to lead the rest of the group on. Haruka soon jogged past [name], and his eyes showed a questioning look in them, and his gaze set upon the man who stood opposite of the street. [name] then gestured with her hand to ask him to continue, which he reluctantly did.
Makoto however, stayed behind. He then saw [name] turning to look at the man again, and the man's grin went wider as he turned to walk away. Makoto then realised that [name]'s body had stiffened slightly, and he placed a hand over her shoulder and gave it a light squeeze, causing her to flinch from the contact.
"[name]?" and [name] stared at him with an emotionless expression, yet her eyes went wider than usual and she shook her head. She then proceeded to continue with her jogging session, and Makoto soon followed suite.
"[L/N]! What are you doing, fooling around?!" the coach yelled out as he saw [name] wasn't practicing properly as she had been missing quite a lot of the tosses that Rumiko had tossed for her. [name] then stopped to look at her coach, and he could only grit his teeth as he gestured for her to come closer. And the moment [name] did…
"You better buck up or else I'm removing you from the main team."
And all the girls who were present in the court started to whisper among themselves.
"[L/N]-senpai hasn't been herself today."
"She looks extremely distracted too during the run."
"No way will we be able to go on without her."
"Coach needs to cut her some slack."
"ARE YOU MUTE!? ANSWER ME!"
"Yes coach." [name] mumbled out.
"LEFT LEFT!" Miranda yelled out.
And [name] messed up her blocking as her timing was delayed. She had jumped when the ball was already about to be hit, and it missed her block by a hand's length away. The ball then smacked the floor of her own team's court, and the girls could only stare in shock at what had happened.
"[L/N], out of the court." The coach called out, and [name] reluctantly left the court; only to be subbed by the younger middle blockers. [name] then stood in front of her coach, which she clearly knew what was about to happen. Her coach threw a towel into her face and he spoke out loud enough for everybody to hear;
"You're not fit to be a captain if you can't focus properly."
And somewhere in [name]'s heart, just cracked a little.
[name] panted as she sprinted down the street, avoiding the usual route she used to take when she goes home. She turned to look and spotted the man still chasing after her. She then turned a corner and sped down the empty street as she reached into her jacket and pulled out her mobile phone. She then fumbled with it; multitasking at the same time and pressed call…
.
.
.
"Gomen. I'm currently busy at practice. Please leave a message."
"Shit." [name] mentally cursed as she fumbled with her phone once more and dialled another number, praying that the person she had called would pick up.
"Hello!"
"R-Rumiko, I need help!"
"[name]?! What's wrong, why do you sound so breathless?!"
"I-I'm being chased, h-help me!"
"Where are you now?!"
"I just passed t-the third street from the food stall that I work at."
"Alright, turn in to the fifth street; I'll meet you there!"
And Rumiko immediately hung up as she quickly ran out of her house.
[name] then turned and spotted the man closing on to her. She was running out of energy for she had ran for a good 20 minutes straight. She ran past the fourth street, and she turned to look back once more; and spotted the man was just about 5 metres away from where she was. She soon ran towards the fifth street and turned in. She then ran down the empty street until…
.
.
.
"[NAME]!" and [name] saw Rumiko waving at her. [name] then ran towards where Rumiko was, and Rumiko immediately grabbed hold of [name]'s hand and sprinted quickly; widening the gap between them and the man. She then pulled [name] into a corner and sped down; running into her house and slamming the door shut.
[name] knelt down on the floor of Rumiko's house, with her hands on her thighs as she tried to catch her breath. She was sweating profusely and her heartbeat was unstably beating. Rumiko panted slightly and pulled [name] up; helping her towards the living room. She then went to pour a glass of ice water for [name] and handed it to her; which [name] chugged it down in one shot.
Rumiko gritted her teeth slightly as she called someone on her mobile phone.
.
.
.
"What's up?"
"WHAT'S UP?! THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOUR PHONE?!"
"H-Hey, chill!"
"I CALLED 9 TIMES, MATSUOKA! 9 TIMES! NOW GET SOSUKE ON THE PHONE!"
"SOSUKE!"
"Hello?"
"Sosuke! Make your way over to Iwatobi station right now! Makoto will meet you!"
"Why?"
"[name]!"
And with just [name]'s name being mentioned; Sosuke immediately bolt right out of the shared dormitory, along with Rin.
Rumiko sighed as she came out from the kitchen, and saw [name] staring at the now empty glass that was on the table. She smiled softly and shook her head as she took a seat beside her on the sofa and pressed [name]'s head down.
"So, what happened?"
*SLAM*
"Where is she?!" a voice roared out, startling Rumiko who was descending down the stairs. Her eyes then narrowed as a frown appeared on her face as she realised who had entered her house.
"Shut up you whale. She just fell asleep." Rumiko snapped out as she plopped herself onto the sofa and sighed out loudly.
"It took me a good whole hour to calm her down, don't you fucking dare wake her up." Rumiko muttered out as she tilted her head slightly to a send a glare to the "guests" in her house.
"How is she?" Rin asked as he held onto Sosuke's collar to prevent him from running up into the room.
"Frightened." Rumiko mumbled out as she stood up and walked over towards where Sosuke stood along with Rin and Makoto. Her hand then shot out all of a sudden and grabbed Sosuke by his shirt. She used all her might to pull him down to her level, and she spat out angrily;
"And you didn't bother to inform any of us that she was being sexually harassed?!"
Sosuke paled slightly, and Rin could only stare in shock. Makoto could only chuckle lightly, causing Rin to look at him with a confused look.
"She has always been like this ever since we were kids." Makoto explained. Rumiko then sighed as she sent a glare towards Rin next the moment she let go of Sosuke's shirt;
"And did your phone went swimming with you?!"
"Come on Rumi…" Makoto tried to reason out only to be shot back down.
"Shut it. [name] was in danger. My captain was in danger. MY FRIEND WAS IN DANGER. HOW DO YOU EXPECT ME TO JUST LET THIS GO?! DO YOU KNOW HOW BADLY DISTRACTED SHE WAS AT TRAINING?! THE COACH EVEN REPRIMANDED HER FOR EVERY LITTLE MISTAKE SHE DID! I'M HER TEAMMATE. I'M HER SETTER. I'M HER FRIEND! OBVIOUSLY I HAVE THE RIGHTS TO KNOW WHETHER IS SHE IN DANGER OR NOT!"
"Miko…" and Rumiko turned to look at who had mumbled out her nickname. She was surprised to see [name] at the stairs, rubbing her eyes with a slight pout on her face. Rumiko then rushed towards the stairs and looked at [name] in the eyes; the moment [name]'s hands went down.
"I'm sorry for making you worry." [name] spoke out as she smiled apologetically at Rumiko. Rumiko's face then turned slightly red as she realised [name] was smiling at her, and it wasn't those fake smiles. [name] looked beautiful. Rumiko then pulled [name] into a tight hug as she cried out;
"BAKA!"
"[L/N]-senpai! [L/N]-senpai!" Hinami called out as she ran up to meet [name] and the other third years who were waiting for the rest of the teams at the national gymnasium where the volleyball tournaments were being held at.
"You're late!" Miranda spoke out, and the third years except for [name] burst into laughter as they saw how apologetic Hinami and the rest of the juniors looked. Rumiko then stopped laughing and turned to look at [name]; she than smacked her hard on the back,
"Time to register, captain." Rumiko called out with a wink, and [name] nodded.