Chapter Text
生き甲斐 (ikigai) [1/3]
You never really could understand how you ended up being in a relationship with the spoiled and ever-famous captain/setter of the volleyball team of Aobajousai High, Tooru Oikawa.
Unlike your many peers, you were never one to linger on school grounds after classes nor were you one who stood by in complete idolatry of others, even if they do have flourishing careers.
Your main goal was dead set on finishing high school and getting into a top-tier college to get a degree of your choice. One that you always thought of to be a stepping stone in achieving your dreams. You have your life pretty much planned out and you were determined to stay on track no matter what. That is until that childish brunette came into your life...
Your first encounter with him was unwarranted to say the least.
You were on your way to deliver a week-long assignment to your teachers as compensation for a week of absence due to sickness. You're one of the few students who rarely get ill but when you do, it's the absolute worst. Understanding your predicament, your teachers agreed on giving you a special assignment for each class to make up for the classes/quizzes you might have missed. Feeling better and up & about, you were giddy enough to hand in your assignment early in the morning.
Walking through the school grounds with a smile on your face and a light skip from time to time, your day was ruined by the sudden impact of an unknown object that hit the back of your head.
The papers in your hand flew out of grasp due to the sudden strike. Wincing in pain, your hand reached out to the back of your head feeling a bump forming in its wake. You were still for a moment, trying to compose yourself and trying to understand what had happened. Taking a deep breath, you took your hand back to inspect if there was any blood on it. You breathed a sigh of relief when there was none.
"Sorry 'bout that, my bad!" You heard a cry of apology behind you.
You turned to look at the source to see a familiar beaming brunette approaching you while scratching his head with a bit of his tongue out. A child-like mannerism you presumed.
You heard the rustling noise of paper and looked down to see a volley ball rolling with your papers on the ground. You would've dismissed him easily if it weren't for the fact that most of your papers weren't desecrated by water.
The fact that you were physically injured was one thing, but ruining your hard work was another.
"Hey, are you alright? You ---" he said but you immediately cut him off.
"You! Looked at what you've done!" You pointedly scold him.
"I said I was sorry. I ---" he started to explain but you glared back at him.
Crouching down, you tried to save what was left of your work. The brunette, trying to help you out, did the same. Only when your hands meet did you acknowledge him. You slapped his hand away and took the remaining papers in his hand quickly.
"Shouldn't you be off practising indoors anyway?" You remarked, storming off.
It was one of the rare times when the school's volleyball club were practising outdoors. They say it was because of the gym repairs but you never did get the memo due to your absence.
The brunette blinked owlishly at your retreating form before scooting up the volley ball along with a tag with you name on in.
After explaining the mess with your teachers, you head off to the nurse's office. Upon inspection, the nurse handed you an ice pack and advised that you lay down for the meantime.
And you thought you'd be out of bed by now...
You didn't know that you fell asleep until you were awakened by the sound of the sliding door opening.
"Sensei, I was wondering if [Last Name]-San was here?" A male voice inquired
"She's sleeping on the bed behind those curtains. Careful not to wake her up,she's still recovering" the nurse instructed.
You were still a bit out of it when someone opened the curtains making the light pass through. You covered your eyes on instinct not bothering to see who it was.
"Ah, you're awake. Feeling better? You've been out since this morning thought you've already gone home..." The male voice continued until you removed the covers from your head staring at him.
"You must be hungry, here." He handed you sandwich. "That was the only thing I could get, the cafeteria is a battle field at this time of the day"
You took the sandwich and bowed a little in acknowledgement. You realised that he's the captain of the volleyball team, the one that hit you with the ball earlier, but didn't say a word about it.
"Look, I'm really sorry about earlier okay? Sometimes, it's hard to get control of the ball and things like that happen a lot." He explained. "Not that it always happen. Not that I always hit someone with the ball. Well, not that I intentionally try to hit someone I mean. I mean---"
"I get it." Was your simple reply as you sat up from the bed.
"Good. Great! No, not that your in here injured. I mean good that you understand. That you're alright! That---" he kept mumbling on that you had to stop him.
"It's alright, I get it. You don't need to fuss." You responded and he sighed.
"Look, I really am sorry. I didn't meant to injure you on your first day back" he said as he open the package of his own sandwich. You gave him a questioning look. He swallowed down a mouthful facing you.
"What?" He questioned.
"What do you mean...? How did you---" you began.
"You've been out of class for a week, you honestly thought no one would notice?" He asked. "There's a big empty space in the front left corner the class, everyone would notice"
You raised an eyebrow at his statement.
"Well, a pretty lady such as yourself was missing for a week of course I'd notice." He said over-dramatically. You rolled your eyes at his statement whilst taking a bite from your own sandwich.
He smiled contentedly.
You both chatted for a while longer until the school bell rang signaling the end of the lunch break. The nurse gave you an excuse slip as she scolded the volleyball player after hearing that he was the reason for your predicament. She ushered you both out of the clinic and told you take it easy for next few days.
You were walking slower than the norm but the volleyball player didn't seem to mind as he kept his pace inline with yours.
"Thanks" you suddenly said. "For the lunch, I mean. You didn't have to you know"
"It's the least I could do" was his response with his ever present smile.