Courage
"On the way"
"A normal friendship comes from taking time to get to know each other. A meaningful friendship comes from doing things together for a long time. A special friendship comes from growing to like the person you once hated. But the best friendship out there comes from unexpectedly liking the person the moment you meet them." –Fumiko Matsubara
"Being friends with me equals sacrificing your own sanity."–Makoto Murasakime
"While friendship itself has an air of eternity about it, seeming to trascend all natural limits, there is hardly any emotion so utterly at the mercy of time. We form friendships, and might grow out of them. It might almost be said that we cannot retain the faculty of friendship unless we are continually making new friends."–Robert Hugh Benson
I will text you 50 times in a row and feel no shame. You're my friend. You literally signed up for this.–Yuu Nishinoya
Breathe in...
Breathe out...
"Sakime-chan, nice serve!"
Yuu's voice rung out inside the small gymnasium.
Clad in her training gear: a white shirt with green endings, green sport shorts, black high thighs, white knee pads, and white volleyball shoes, Makoto held the ball with great concentration, not wasting any movements, steady and calm as she should be. The Molten branded volleyball was held by her left hand, her grip is tight yet clam at the same time. Eyes closed in concentration, steady breathing, and the way she held her position for quite a moment, those are the traits of a volleyball champion, especially to those who frantically trained for 13 years.
Sighing smoothly to ease the tension building up, Makoto opened her eyes calmly. Her beautiful vibrant eyes calmly held a sharp glint, a sharp glint that practically scream "Don't mess with me!" to show how much dignity she held as a player.
This is her Volleyball persona. Once the happy-go-lucky, carefree, approachable, and friendly schoolgirl stepped onto the court, she is completely a different person. A normal person can already see how talented this girl is, how precise and accurate she can be, and how her presence can change the flow of the game.
"Oi." She called out, still holding her position without any struggle.
From the other side of the court, Yuu, in his own concentration, calmly replied, "Yeah?"
"You're supposed to say 'bring it on', duffoos."
Blankly staring at her, Yuu can only nod quietly in reply. Repositoning himself, he blinked his eyes slowly. When they opened again, they showed the same sharp glint that Makoto is currently holding.
Seeing this, Makoto narrowed her eyes further in thought. Damn... Is this really Noya-kun? Just what the hell is with that immense concentration he's having? Totally different from how he acts around me...
Yuu is also different in the court, almost as if there was a different person playing in his steed. Makoto described him as an obnoxious, carefree, cocky, and weird guy who simply gets way too fired up for his own good. But now that he's on the other side of the court, all she saw is a talented libero who's incredibly calm, extremely focused, and surprisingly calculating.
The way his eyes intensively glazed all over her, watching every bit of her movements intently like he can determine the serve by just looking at her position, Makoto is greatly convinced that this small form of great ability became the best in this prefecture. She admitted though, Yuu's concentration is actually scaring her, like her own concentration as the former Strongest spiker has no match for his, a libero who hasn't even made it to the top 5.
Internally shaking these thoughts off vehemently, Makoto called out, "Here I go!"
Unfazed, Yuu yelled in response. "BRING IT ON!"
That's better... Makoto felt the corners of her lips twitched upwards, threatening her face to smile a little. Giving up, she sent Yuu a challenging smirk that will surely rile him up.
Grinning, Yuu watched her as she tossed the ball with her left hand. Such a perfect toss... He thought. He saw her run, accelerating to jump surprisingly high, all the while maintaining a great form.
She sure jumps high...
Suddenly, his eyes widen when he saw the ball meeting Makoto's left palm. She was actually serving left-handed, where the ball is going to spin differently to make it hard to receive.
She's left-handed?!
Again, left handed serves are difficult to receive because of the different way it spins rapidly.
Yuu hated this.
He watched as Makoto hit the ball with such monstrous strength, sending the ball directly towards him, much faster than most serves he had to receive back in his middle school days. Not to mention she hit it left-handed, asking her to practice with him might be the best idea he ever had.
Makoto, other hand, landed gracefully inside the court. Positioning herself on the front line, she watched Yuu waiting for the ball quietly.
He might think the ball will go directly towards him, I did it on purpose anyways.
The ball spinned rapidly towards him, the latter waited for the ball in anticipation.
It's going head on...Then it'll curve...
Just as she predicted, the ball instantly curved to the right. Suddenly, the smile Makoto has on her face fell. She watched the libero with wide eyes as he quickly moved side ways, receiving the ball effortlessly.
The impact must be too strong that he nearly lost his footing, thumbling a bit before he regained his balance. But that wasn't what bothers the ravenette.
It was the fact that he was able to receive one of her powerful left-handed serves.
He received it, effortlessly.
Makoto stood frozen on her spot as she watched the ball landing exactly on the setter's position.
You have got to be kidding me...
She thought, jaw slightly dropped as she turned to the libero, who is smirking victoriously as if he won an unspoken bet.
A perfect serve-receive...
Standing up proudly, Yuu approached her with a huge grin. "How was that, Sakime-chan?! Did I do any good?"
Unable to say anything, Makoto only nodded quietly. She watched as Yuu pumping his fist on mid-air, all the while thinking deeply.
Just what the hell did I put myself into..?
"Yep! I go to Karasuno!" Grinning brightly, Yuu happily pointed to himself with his thumb.
Slightly embarrassed at her sudden outburst, Makoto cleared her throat to regain her composure. "S-so... You're a second year, no?" She asked carefully, more likely to prevent him from asking about her reaction.
But Yuu was able to see through this, which made him chuckle a bit before he gets to answer, "Right, again!" He slightly paused then carefully added, "For a minute I thought you're going to mistake me for a first year due to my height."
"Pssh." Makoto rolled her eyes at that then nudged him with her elbow. "Duffoos, you just told me that you went to the Nationals two years ago when you were a third year. Plus, how could you get suspended on the first week of school when Karasuno is only a high school?"
"Alright, alright. I get it, Sakime-chan. And duffoos?"
A smirk formed around the ravenette's lips; she looked at him smugly. "Yeah, it's a nickname that I came up with for you. You like it? It sounds cute, doesn't it?"
This time, it was Yuu who rolled his eyes at the intended insult. After a few milliseconds, he inwardly cackled. "I like it! It has a nice ring to it! And the way you said it suited your voice very well!" Yuu beamed at Makoto like a little kid almost genuinely.
"Wait... What?"
Makoto instantly felt heat quickly rushing to her cheeks at the indirect compliment. She took very small and quick glances at the brunette to make sure whether he was lying or not, but his lively grin spoke otherwise. Of course, she gave up in the end then sighed out lightly.
"Hey, why won't I give you a cute nickname too, Sakime-chan?" Yuu asked a bit too lively, which caused Makoto to raised one of the eyebrows at the suspicious behaviour.
She then shrugged it off nonchalantly. "Sure, I guess? I don't really care to be honest."
"Ooookay~!"
Then he suddenly went to a playlfully serious thinking position. Makoto found his pose a bit too amusing that she bit her lower lip to prevent herself from laughing. The way he intesively stared at the ground, leaning his chin to his back hand and furrowing his eyebrows in deep concentration, it took a lot of her will power not to let out just a giggle.
As fast as lightning, Makoto fished her phone out, quietly took a photo of him, then shoved it back to her skirt pocket.
Ohohohoho! How beautiful would it be if I get to use this photo as my introduction of him in my journal? Mommy would be so amused if she saw this!
"Nnnghh..." A weird groaning sound made Makoto to turn to the source, the thinking man himself.
It's evident in the face that he's currently making that Yuu is facing difficulties trying to come up with a nickname for her. His eyes were narrowed, his eyebrows were furrowed further, and he was gritting his teeth. Makoto, observant as she was, noticed the enlargement of his nostrils whenever he inhales.
He looks like a gorilla... That would nearly choke her to death if she was drinking something.
"Nnngggh... I GIVE UP!" Yuu finally exclaimed, lazily leaning backwards in dejection.
Makoto finally let out a chuckle after moments of supression. "So soon?"
Yuu gave her a look then straighten up his position. "Naming my moves is one of my specialties, I'm confident. But giving a girl a nickname is another thing for me. It's like choosing between volleyball and food!"
"Is that it? Of course I'd choose foo–!" She paused before thinking deeply for a second. "But I love volleyball too~!" She complained to herself.
"See? It's that hard..." Yuu concluded with his arms crossed, casually nodding his head at the same time.
Makoto rolled her eyes with a smile. "Fine, you're right."
"About me knowing that you also go to Karasuno?" Yuu asked with a smirk.
"No– wait. How did you know?" She turned to him with an accusing look.
"Your reaction earlier when I told you that I went to Karasuno said it all." He pointed out with a teasing grin.
Makoto huffed out some air while crossing her arms and legs. "Never knew that a duffoos like you could be so perceptive." She remarked.
"Thanks, I get that a lot!" Yuu replied with a smirk.
She turned her head away from him then grumbled underneath her breath. "Cocky bastard."
"I heard that."
"You're meant to hear it, anyways."
"Why does your mood changes so sudden?"
"It's how I am."
"You're a weird one."
"Thanks, I get that a lot!" She mimicked what he said earlier with the same tone and smirk.
Yuu then shook his head with a sigh. "Whatever, copycat."
The smirk vanished from Makoto's face then she replaced it with a straight frown. Yuu mimicked the frown then surprisingly made it look so similar to hers.
They continued to stare at each other for a few seconds before breaking out in laughter.
"W-we should stop now..." Makoto wheezed out.
Yuu nodded his head in agreement. "Y-yeah, we should..." They were still chuckling a bit before they get to regain their composure.
That is, until Makoto accidentally snorted out of the blue.
Let's just say that it ended up with Yuu laughing at her, shortly followed by a red-faced Makoto continuously trying to hit him.
Once they have calmed down, Makoto checked the time on her phone then sighed dejectedly. She stood up from the bench then faced him.
"I should get going, Noya-kun. My aunt might start looking for me if I stayed here any longer. It's quarter 'til five already." She announced to him, which made Yuu to look at her.
"Is your place nearby?" He asked carefully.
Makoto looked at the park's exit which is at least 10 meters away then turned back to Yuu. "Yeah, just a couple of streets away." She answered with pure honesty.
Yuu then smiled at her then stood up. "Then I should walk you home." He said then he grinned.
Makoto cocked an eyebrow at his statement. "What? Like I said, it's nearby. You don't have to–!"
"Hey, like you said, it's what friends do." He lightly nudged her with his elbow then playfully winked at her. "Besides, my parents aren't home and I can't play volleyball with my teammates. It's also pretty rude of me if I let a girl like you to walk home alone."
"Please, it's hardly even night."
"It's going to be night soon, though."
"Fine. You can walk me home." Makoto concluded with a small smile.
Yuu awkwardly scratched his head at how he even managed to convince her. Quickly diminishing his thoughts, he asked, "What time should you be back home, Sakime-chan?"
The ravenette just shrugged. "I never said a specific time. But I kinda told her that I should be back around five."
The brunette just grinned at this. "Then we should walk slowly."
"Why?"
"So we get to talk more."
Makoto shook her head then said, "We could still talk tomorrow, but I'm asking why you wanted to."
Still grinning, Yuu casually put his hand behind his head then replied, "Because you get to have a new nickname by the time you get home."
"Duffoos." Makoto shook her head at his response but nodded nonetheless.
The walk to home is quite the journey for the two loud-mouthed Karasuno students.
The conversation turns to wherever their train of thoughts go, which a passerby realizes is even more haphazard than what is expected. In a matter of minutes, they're talking about a variety of topics from volleyball to how badass and cute the Karasuno's uniforms are to them.
Makoto learned a lot about Yuu that she had no idea of. She figured that he was struggling with one subject, which is Modern Literature, but she had no idea that he never faced problems with all the other subjects. She found out that his father owns a restaurant at Greece, a successful one at that. Makoto also learned that Yuu also plays goalkeeper in soccer and practices Judo back when he is still in middle school.
He was quite the character, that much she concludes. He told her that he was one to be shy around girls he never met before yet he's casually blabbering around her as if they were best friends for a long time when they just met an hour ago. Another thing she noticed about him was how his mood changes constantly, a very reminiscent of her own- from a socially awkward yet loud-mouthed Noya-kun to a cocky-as-fuck quiet duffoos.
The duffoos himself also learned a lot about his female companion as well, like how bad she is when it comes to memorization that she always failed in Japanese History, how extremely sensitive her hearing is that loud noises irritate her, how easily stressed she gets when working on something (especially studying), how bad she is with sports outside of volleyball and surprisingly gymnastics, and how clueless she can be when it comes to trivial matters.
Makoto is an extremely honest person, that much Yuu is aware of. She shared so much information to him regarding her hobbies, favorite food, likes, dislikes, goals, and even achievements. She also revealed to him that she is a twin, which got him by surprise, and that she has 3 siblings in total: her married older sister, her older twin sister, and her younger brother who's in his last year of middle school. Makoto happens to be really good at singing and dancing that she actually earns money through YouTube by doing covers of well-known songs (he made sure to check on her channel once he got back home). But what actually intrigues Yuu the most was that Makoto is a die-hard Mixer (Little Mix fan) ever since the group toured in Japan a few years ago (as much as he doesn't want to admit it to her, he had been following the group ever since he heard about them winning the X-Factor when he and his parents spent Christmas at the UK).
There are a lot of things that the two had in common, as in, a lot. They both knew that they worshipped volleyball, food, and Karasuno's uniforms, but they had no idea that they shared the same motto: "You only lived once." They were both underestimated when playing, tall people irritate them, they become really happy when they grow taller, they love arcade games (especially shooting games), they read mangas when they can't play volleyball during their free time, they love pranking people, they always fail at DIYs, they have instincts that enables them to do certain actions, and a lot more to add in their list of similarities.
Ever since they left the park until now, throughout their endless conversation, neither of the two had ever raised their voices nor muttered under their breaths. They were just talking like any other normal person, with a normal tone, and with a normal pace; totally different from their usually loud demeanors.
But when Makoto mentioned about her general use of onomatopoeias when she explains certain things, the whole normal conversation skyrocketed into a series of 'gwaah!' and 'pwoosh!', something that you would expect from two hyperactive gibberish people.
Of course, despite all the honest answers here and there, there are obviously some topics that they tend to avoid talking about. This also includes family matters, secrets, embarrassing moments, the reason why Noya-kun fought with the vice-principal, and of course the further explanation regarding the end of Sakime-chan's future volleyball career. Not that the two would mind about it, but it's going to be really strange if they shared too much information to each other when they just met an hour ago.
"I haven't joined a club yet..." Makoto said midway through a topic about how she liked Karasuno so far. She casually put her hands behind her head and blew some of her bangs off of her nose.
Yuu turned to her with a look of surprise. "Really? We have like, dozens of clubs there to join."
The ravenette put her hands down before crossing them. With a light shrug, Makoto replied, "Well, yeah there are. But other than volleyball, singing, dancing and being made out of rubber, I have no other extra talents that can help me into joining a freaking club! There's no Gymnastics club here, there's no club for dancing as well, and joining the school choir would be the last thing I'll do because never have I once sang in a group or two."
"Don't we have a Cheerleading club? Cheerleading is almost like gymnatics but more acrobatic, right?" Yuu asked as he blinked curiously at the ravenette who rolled her eyes.
With a straight face, Makoto answered, "Yes, which is why I was planning to join. But unfortunately, we don't have one, Noya-kun."
"Oh. But what do you mean by not having extra talents, Sakime-chan?" Once again, he asked curiously.
Letting out an uncomfortable groan, Makoto faced the spiky-haired brunette. "It's just like I said, I have no extra talents other than the first four that I mentioned earlier. I can't draw to save my life. I can't be creative enough to write a friggin' story. I can only take pictures using my phone because my hands tremble every time I hold a camera, strangely enough. I could barely strum a guitar. I don't have green hands. I'm too lazy to do some cleaning. I easily get stressed to join an academic club. I also have this amazing tone in my voice that prevents me from joining the Broadcasting club." She listed, counting everything with her fingers.
Yuu looked at her with a very surprised expression. He knew that there are a lot of things that she can't do, but this is bizzare. She's more... hopeless than I thought... He managed to noted that mentally considering that he is currently gaping at her nonstop.
"What about... Cooking club..?" He asked very carefully, his voice shrinking with nervousness at what her answer is going to be. But the moment that Makoto turned her head away from him, everything exploded within him. Like someone directly threw a grenade at his face, waking him up to make him face the harshness of what he called 'reality'.
"YOU CAN'T COOK?!" He exclaimed with a look of horror plastered on his face. Makoto slightly winced at the loud outburst then shakily turned her head back to face him. She chuckled nervously while scratching her nape before she nodded her head in confirmation.
"Y-yeah... Not like that I can't cook. It's more of like... I don't know how to?" Hesitantly, Makoto corrected him with a nervous smile.
Composing himself for the better of his sanity, Yuu took a very deep breath before letting it all out. He turned to look at the ravenette once again, but this time with a much less bothered expression. "Okay then, how do you not know how to cook?"
"Well, you already know how filthy rich Hatoyama is, right? I was actually living in one of their dorms, a very luxurious one I could say. The bath house has an actual onsen in it, one huge bedroom per student, and the dining hall is just as fancy as one of those from hotels. As a student, all you need to do is to go to your seat and the meal will be serve to you by actual maids; the same goes for dinner and midnight snacks whereas lunch is being taken care of in the cafeteria. I've been a student of Hatoyama for 7 years already, so I didn't necessarily see the point of cooking for myself when food is being served to me the moment I take a seat." Almost as if defending herself, Makoto explained everything carefully with her arms firmly crossed.
"Well, that makes sense. I've seen Hatoyama's facilities just this morning when my Mom told me to go there and I felt like an ant 'cause everything is so HUGE! Definitely not for a mere commoner like me." With arms crossed and eyes closed, Yuu stated while lightly nodding his head.
Makoto also nodded her head in agreement then pointed out, "I managed to study there due to a Volleyball scholarship. Now that I left the team, I have to pay the school's monthly tuition fees that is worth 2 years of my monthly allowances and keep my grades up. But since my mom doesn't want me to get stressed, she transferred me out. You know the rest."
Yuu softly hummed in agreement before slightly opening his eyes. He glanced at the slightly fidgeting ravenette at his right and felt the corners of his mouth twitching. "So..." He started.
Makoto turned to look at him only to notice the smug look he is sporting. She inwardly rolled her eyes at the expression he's making. I guess Bastardo Arrogante is back again to tease me. "What?"
"Do you have any regrets?" Yuu asked, still with his arms crossed.
"Hah?" The ravenette quirked an eyebrow, obviously stunned by his question. "About what?"
The brunette continued, "About not necessarily seeing the point of cooking for yourself now that you don't live in that luxurious mansion of a dorm?"
Makoto then let out a deep groan, slouching a little. "Do you really have to ask that?"
"Well, it's part of our topic in the first place." With a light shrug, Yuu replied straightforwardly.
"Yeah, I do regret it. Which is why I spent my whole spring vacation learning how to cook from my mom before I moved here. I managed to grab the basics really well in that short amount of time but, I still can't cook a single dish on my own." Forming a stern frown, the ravenette explained hastily to him.
Then all of a sudden, Yuu grinned. "But you already know what to do, right? Now that's an achievement!"
Makoto gazed at him shortly, with her mouth slightly opened. Then she felt her lips slowly forming into a small smile, making her lightly blush in the end. This cocky bastard sure knows what to say to make me feel better, huh?
"Come to think of it, have you ever thought of becoming a manager instead?" Yuu questioned, gaining Makoto's full attention to him again.
"Manager? As in... In a volleyball club?"
Yuu happily nodded in reply. "Yeah! That way, you can also play from time to time despite not in the team!"
Smiling, Makoto nodded back at him. "I suppose I could give it a try... Can I join your club then?"
"Eh? But there's already the Girls' Volleyball Club..."
Makoto visibly flinched, shaking her head vigorously in the process. "No no no. Impossible. Delete delete. Put volleyball and girls in one sentence, I'll likely break my promise and join as a player instead."
Yuu just smiled in understanding. "Well then, I'll see you at club activities next month!"
"We go to the same school, duffoos. So it's more like 'See you at school next week!' or something," corrected the ravenette.
All of a sudden, Makoto abruptly stopped from her tracks. "We're here."
"Oh, is that so? Guess I'll see you tomorrow then..." The brunette trailed off, his eyes slowly darted towards the rather large pink house in front of them.
"Thanks for walking me all the way here, I really aprpreciated it! And... what's wrong?" Makoto asked, noticing that her male companion was staring at her house in shock.
Yuu looked between the house and Makoto repeatedly. Shaking his head, he carefully asked. "Sakime-chan, this is where you live?" He pointed at the pink house.
"Well, technically it's my aunt's but I supposed you could say that I live here." The ravenette replied with a nonchalant shrug.
"See that house over there?" Yuu asked, gesturing to the two-storey cream coloured house behind them, right in front of Makoto's home.
"Yeah?"
Chuckling nervously, Yuu scratched his head. "Well, that's where I live."
Makoto only blinked in return, mouth agaped at the same time.
We're neighbours..?
OH MY GOD HOW LONG HAS IT BEEN?! 6 MONTHS!
I am so sorry for the very long hiatus!
Here are the main reasons why I haven't updated for so long:
1) I'm in 11th grade (Accountancy, Business, Management) right now.
-Meaning 5 hours of Math a day, doing research, piled up projects, and my procastinating butt!
2) Very bad wifi, literally.
3) FanFiction app malfunction.
4) Anxiety and Stress.
- This is what 5 hours of Math a day do to you!
5) I nearly lost motivation but thankfully I got it back!
By the way, the title's supposed to be "Encounters" as said in the last chapter. But I moved the title in the next chapter because this one is starting to get too long to get published, so I kinda hurried it up.Hope you like this chapter!
Next chapter: Encounters
