the sound of shoes squeaking made my hope rise up, perhaps i wasn't that late after all. i painted a smile on my face, each step made my heart beat faster than before. there was this kind of excitement building up inside me at the thought of seeing him again.

and as my hands reached to pull the door open, the blinding lights of the gym made me squint my eyes. i was unaware of a certain ball coming towards me, only then did i hear the sounds of shouting and kuroo calling my name.

"(l/n)!"

but i was glued to my spot with widen eyes, the impact never came. it never did, once an arm came to my view with the figure quickly blocking and sending the ball away on another direction. i stared in awe at the person looming in front of me, we're so much closer than before.

and i couldn't help but feel flustered at the sight.

i cleared my throat and awkwardly look away, no matter how much i want his eyes to stare at mine, the sound of his breath hitting my face made me malfunction.

"are you okay?!" kuroo shouted from the other side of the court and i can see him jogging towards us.

as the figure in front of me was ready to walk away, i did what i have to do. i reached out and tugged on his shirt, "u-uhm, thank you."

but his lips remained as a line and he walked away once kuroo caught up to me. i watched in disappointment, dread to hear his voice, but it seems like he doesn't want to speak to a stranger after all.

i guess it's weird how you kept on seeing someone you don't even know.

"nice block, tsukki!"

"shut up, yamaguchi."

i wish he spoke to me too.

"i'm fine."

i don't know how many times i've said this to kuroo already, but i assured him with my small smile. they got back to the court and i noticed that nekoma is leading the game. i watched the match at the bench, flinching each time i see the ball coming closer, afraid that i'll get hit this time.

i would clap everytime nekoma scores, but i would also stare in awe at the dynamic duo of the other team and the other members who showed their skills on the court. my eyes stayed glued to the tall blonde boy most of the time, but i didn't want to get noticed so i looked away.

there was even times when he would glance on my way and caught me staring at him, resulting in me awkwardly looking away while feeling my face heating up.

the match ended with nekoma winning, i gave the members water bottles and still congratulated them even though it's only a practice match to them. yamamoto would sulk everytime he sees the gorgeous manager of karasuno, but he would also brag about nekoma having me.

"i'm not your manager—"

"shh!" yamamoto quickly cut me off and kuroo shoved him away from me.

"knock it off, yamamoto." kuroo scolded, smacking the back of his head.

as i was collecting the water bottles, two of the boys from karasuno appeared on my side. i flinched at the sight, but remained silent and awkward as always. i'm not good with interacting with people, unless they talk to me first.

"i refuse to believe that nekoma also has a hot manager!" the buzzed cut dude exclaimed with tears streaming down his face.

"unacceptable! unbelievable!" the short one with spike hair said, almost at the edge of tears.

i smiled awkwardly, scooting a bit away from them, "i-i'm not their manager—"

"oi! what's your deal with our manager, huh?!" yamamoto suddenly stood in front of me with his mocking face facing the two boys.

"she said she's not your manager," the short one pointed at me and i was startled at the attention.

"watch it short boy," yamamoto clicked his tongue, straightening his posture, "she's still nekoma's girl."

"watch it city boy." the buzzed cut one said with his mocking face, stepping closer to yamamoto, "keep your eyes away from our manager."

the short one cheered on him, punching the air and making weird faces at yamamoto. at the corner of my eyes, i saw kuroo glaring at our way and tsukki standing next to him, giving us glances.

kuroo gestured me to come at him and i looked back on the scene in front of me. i decided to just leave, since they're making me uncomfortable and went to kuroo instead.

"yo, (l/n), meet this salty bastard right here." kuroo grinned and glanced at tsukki beside him.

the tall one gave him a glare because of the name he called him. i straightened my posture and bit my bottom lip, too scared to even speak at the situation. i can see in his eyes that he's not interested at knowing me at all, so i just kept my eyes glued to the ground instead.

"tsukishima—" he spoke in a blunt, but a bit quiet tone of voice, "tsukishima kei."

my eyes widened and i looked up to see him avoiding eye contact, "(l/n) (f/n)." i mumbled.

it was a bit awkward for kuroo standing between us, turning his head back and forth, "nice, get to know each other then." he said, directed to me as he patted my shoulder and walked away.

we both stayed silent after, just avoiding eye contact— mostly him, and i tried of thinking a topic to talk about. even if it's just for a second, i wanted to hear his voice again and see his face a bit more.

"about what you did lately... thank you again." i mumbled, glancing at his figure that's once again looming over my short one.

"it's nothing, i'm a middle blocker after all." he said with his face still blank and i wondered how he looks like when he smiles.

and as he saw his team finally gathering up together, he gave me a glance and spoke, "bye then."

i didn't want to see him walking away again, knowing that the chances of seeing him is very small. but i still painted a small smile on my face, despite his back facing me already.

"bye..." my smile dropped, "i hope to see you again."