Picturesque

I was practicing jump serve after jump serve until sweat was rolling down my face. The new school year had just begun and it being my final year of junior high, I was determined to lead my team all the way to nationals.

As my final ball smacked against the other side of the court in victory, I smiled, grabbing my water bottle and downing most of the clear, cool liquid. I could feel a set of eyes burning into me and I glanced over to see my childhood friend standing in the doorway of the gym.

“What are you doing here so early, Oikawa?” Iwaizumi asked me, sitting his bag off to the side before approaching me.

I wiped my face off with my shirt and sighed, “I missed being here. You know I live and breathe volleyball, Iwa-chan.”

A smile spread across my face as I went after one of the balls, shouting, “Go get changed! You're going to practice with me before school, right?” He sighed softly, shaking his head before heading off to the club room without another word as I hummed to myself.

Club activities began just a week ago and we were lucky this year to be presented with such talented first years. My eyes had been locked on one though, the prodigy. The kid had been playing since year two in elementary school and my blood boiled every time I saw him practice. His technique was perfect in every way and I hadn't forgotten about the comment that the coach made the other day when he said the boy would probably play as a setter.

There was something else about the boy that I couldn't put my finger on that bothered me when he got near; just being in the younger male's presence made me antsy and sick to my stomach like I had never been before. It brought out my determination though and I was hellbent on becoming stronger than him to show our coach that I was a better setter and that I was capable of facing the rival that always left us in the dust.

Iwaizumi came back a moment later, changed into a pair of gym shorts and a t-shirt before I called out, “It took you long enough.”

The older male's face turned red and he glanced away before muttering, “Shut up, Shittykawa,” before beginning to stretch.

I couldn't help but hold a smile on my face as I prepared myself day in and day out for the future that this year would hold for the two of us.


My eyes were trained to Tobio-chan, our new prodigy setter. I envied him, being so bright at his young age and I clenched my fists before performing another perfect serve. I watched the boy's dark blue eyes light up in amazement at the sight and I couldn't help but smile.

The younger boy glanced down at his hands and as my eyes trailed down to them, my heart skipped a beat. It was something about how small they were that forced me to lock eyes with them before I looked away, a blush lighting up my cheeks. What had brought me to stare at a first year's hands for what seemed like minutes?

I clutched the front of my shirt, gripping it tightly before I glanced down at the floor. My heart was racing in my chest and I didn't understand why.

Looked up once again, my eyes found Tobio-chan's and I took a deep breath before looking away, muttering to myself, “There's no way that... No...”

“Oikawa! Stop slacking and get back to practicing. You know we have a the tournament in a couple of months and we don't need our captain softening up on us!” The coach yelled and I looked over at him, rubbing the back of my head and smiling softly.

“Sorry, sorry,” I muttered, grabbing another volleyball and trying to ignore the pain that was slowly forming in my chest, “I just got lost up in the clouds.”


I walked down the school halls with a slight limp. My knee had been hurting me quite a bit recently, but I blamed it on the amount of practice I had been putting myself through. I had heard my teammates say that it may have been too much and that I was overexerting myself, but I felt like it was never enough.

As I stood in the hall, a small circle of girls surrounded me gushing about how athletic and attractive I was, but I never paid much attention to them; though they were cute, I just didn't care for relationships.

At the end of the hall, I saw my friend leaning against a window sill, his arms crossed in front of his chest and I sighed softly. Quickly saying my goodbyes to the girls, I waved them off before making my way towards him and prepared myself for a lecture.

A scowl was set deep in his features as I approached him before he pulled his lips into a tight line when I opened my mouth to say something, only to have him cut me off, “The next time I catch you practicing any other time besides club activities, I'm going to have the coach put you on the bench. You may be team captain, but if you keep working the way that you are now, you're going to end up hurting yourself.”

“I'm fine. I just want to make sure that we're prepared for--”

“Bullshit, Oikawa,” he snapped, frowning, “I can see the way you're trying to keep the weight off your knee right now and if you keep up, it's only going to get worse. Do you want to be able to do the thing that you, “live and breathe,” or do you want to be on the sidelines for the rest of your life?”

My heart stopped as my eyes trailed off to look out the window, staring down at the courtyard. Maybe I had been overworking myself. Maybe it was time for me to lay off practicing so much. I mean, how much stronger could I get on my own without the other members of my team?”

“Fine,” I muttered, “I'll stop, but promise me something, Iwa-chan.”

His eyes bore into me as he gestured for me to continue and I chewed at my lip before saying, “Promise me that we'll go to nationals this year, no matter what.”

He sighed, rolling his eyes and muttering, “Don't get sappy on me, Trashykawa.”

I couldn't help but smile at the look on his face.


A couple of weeks passed and I found myself looking over at the first year more and more. My envy turned into something more, something like jealousy, but there were also other emotions that I was nowhere near able to explain... emotions that I was scared of.

As we were in the middle of a practice match with another junior high, my eyes found the younger boy in the corner, standing there, watching the game in fascination.

I scoffed, glancing over at the other team for a moment, meeting the eyes of their captain and smiling. Last year, we had taken out his team with ease in the regional tournament and I was more than prepared to do it once again.

He smirked, staring at me before I stuck out my tongue to tell him that the game was on.

The match was rough to say the least. My mind moved in a million directions as I tried to make sure that each toss meant perfection, but more than once I had caught sight of the look in Tobio-chan's eyes and... my heart stopped when my toss flew past my teammate's hand as he tried to spike it to the other side.

The whistle blew as the other team cheered at their newfound point and I found the coach glaring at me. My teammates grumbled and I felt eyes watching me closely as our coach snapped, “Oikawa, bench. Kageyama, give it a try.”

Slowly, my legs carried me over to the wooden bench, my knee hurting slightly before I sat down. My hands were clenched tightly into fists as Iwaizumi stared me down before returning to the game; worry sat in his eyes, but I didn't notice it.

I was too busy focusing on Tobio-chan, anger running through me. Maybe the coach was going to replace me with the genius first year. Maybe he was going to be putting me on the sidelines for the first time in three years. The boy was a much better player in theory, but I had fought from day one to reach the position that I was in now.

My eyes locked with his blue orbs and quickly I looked away as I felt sick. I needed to stay away from him because there was something wrong with that boy.


Smack!

A volleyball hit the other side of the court as I panted, reaching for another. Practice had been over for a while now and as everyone was heading home, I had decided to stay. I wanted to practice because I needed to get better. I needed to practice to outdo that damn prodigy.

Smack!

Footsteps approached me, but I didn't dare look over. I didn't want anyone to pull me out of the state of mind that I was in; I needed to practice alone. I needed to stay focused on my hands and the ball and nothing more.

Smack!

I tried to catch my breath as I heard a soft voice say, “Oikawa-san, please teach me how to serve.”

I glanced up to meet those blue eyes staring down at me as my heart erupted with an unknown pain that was telling me to keep him as far away as possible. He was poison, something that would potentially ruin my life and I had no idea why... and then suddenly I realized to answer to my question.

Smack!

Iwaizumi was holding my raised hand as it hit me that I had just attempted to slap the younger boy. Fear sat in his eyes and I stood there, dumbfounded, slowly getting lost in them before my childhood friend snapped me out of it:

“Calm down, dumbass!”

I stared at the younger boy blankly, a weak apology leaving my lips before Iwaizumi told him that it was best if he went home. My eyes were glued to the mop of black hair as he quickly gathered his things and left, slamming the gym door behind him before I felt Iwaizumi's gaze on me once more.

I was frozen in my spot, trying to process what had just happened when the older male sighed, “That substitution today was to let you clear your head.” His words passed over me as I thought about the younger male taking my place and my anger, frustration, and confusion began bubbling over once again as if it never left. He sighed softly, shaking his head, “Just take some time and--”

“There's no way I can do that when I can't possibly win again anyone the way that I am now! I want to win and go on to nationals! In order to do that I have to--”

I was cut off as I felt something hard slam into my nose, pain taking over as the older male shouted, “All of that “I, I” shit is annoying!” Blood ran down my face and I saw a dark red spot forming on the center of his forehead as he yelled, “Are you planning to fight by yourself? This isn't a joke, you dumbass! Your results and the team's results are the same! Volleyball has six people on the court for a reason, whether the opponent is some powerhouse school or a genius first--”

“I think I'm in love with him,” my voice cracked as I finally mentioned the thing that plagued my mind before I attempted to hit Kageyama and Iwaizumi's expression changed almost instantly.

“Did I headbutt you too hard, Oikawa? One minute we're talking about you overworking yourself and now you're spouting out that you're in love with Kageyama?” He asked, staring hard as I wiped the crimson away from my nostril.

“That's why I hate him so much... It's because of Mother's words...” I trailed off, talking to myself as he frowned, crossing his arms in front of his chest as he realized the previous topic had been abandoned.

His stare bore into me as he said, “You think that because of something your mother told you when you were young is the reason that you hate that boy? How can you even tell that you're in love with him when you've barely even spoke to him? Are you mistaking love for jealousy?”

I sat down on the gym floor, rubbing my injured knee as I said softly, “Mother always said that you could only love one thing and my choice was volleyball. If I've fallen in love with Tobio-chan, then there's no way I'd be able to keep doing this. You know for a fact that I've only been hurt once while playing, Iwa-chan, and I've trained harder than this before. Besides, I get a bad feeling whenever he is around.” I looked away for a moment and then I heard the older male huff.

“I think you're full of shit following that old saying, but if you really believe it then do what your gut tells you; stay away from him,” He sighed, gaze trained to one of the blue-yellow balls that littered the floor as I shut my eyes.

“I'm trying my best because this sport is the only reason that I wake up every morning; I don't want to lose it.”


We ended up not going to nationals. As always, we were struck down by the same undefeated team on the same stage, but the loss brought something of a change in me. After that battle, I had realized that my team was stronger when we worked together and that only fueled my determination; I wanted to build the exact same thing once I reached high school.

The third years stood in front of the underclassmen, saying our goodbyes and giving out our final wishes as we were leaving the club in their hands when my eyes locked on deep blue orbs. I pulled my lip between my teeth and the faintest of pains shot through my braced knee as I knew that this could have been the last time that I saw the volleyball prodigy...

“Tobio-chan,” my voice said and his attention turned fully to me, Iwaizumi's gaze falling close behind. I puffed up my chest, a cocky tone taking over my voice as I continued, “I don't know how far you'll go after this, but when we battle against each other someday, I'll definitely crush you.”

The young boy stared at me, lips pulled in a straight line without the faintest trace of a smile as he nodded his head and without warning, my heart felt like it was going to explode.

No, it definitely wasn't the last time I was going to see Tobio-chan.