★ the school's star volleyball player is struggling keep her grades up. her friends are kind enough to help her get a tutor.. but it turns out to be her ex boyfriend. what happens when she and yuta cross paths a second time?
your head is pounding as you reread the question in front of you for the fifth time.
the words are blending together, and it's starting to make less sense than it did the first time. what are you even doing again?
something like limits, or.. who even knows anymore?
you drop your pencil back onto the table, dropping your head into your hands. yuta looks up.
he watches you breathe into your palms, and he can hear it in the way you sigh that you're stressed.
"yn?" he calls softly, pushing his laptop out of the way, "you okay?"
"no," you respond immediately, lifting your face to stare back down at the paper. "i think i'm an idiot."
yuta raises his eyebrows. "why's that?"
"i literally can't do this. like, at all. nothing's retaining and now that i'm thinking about it, i've never once passed one of these stupid quizzes. i'm dumb."
you keep reading the question, hoping it'll start connecting, but it never does.
yuta watches you a moment more before suddenly shutting his laptop and gathering his stuff. you look at him in confusion.
"what are you doing? we're done already? i'm that bad of a student?" you question, suddenly feeling hot at the idea of yuta quitting on you.
"no," yuta chuckles, "come on. let's take a break. get your stuff."
he leads you out of the library, and you trail behind him without question. you think you're ridiculous. he could very well be trying to kidnap you right now.
you both hop into his car, and the drive is almost silent. fleetwood mac plays on his speakers, and it drives you insane. he still knows how to get you without meaning to.
you look out the window as he slows, pulling into a park not far from your school. "really?" you ask, turning to him, and you see a smile tug on his lips. "would you rather be doing math right now?"
you look away, and he laughs.
yuta leads you over to a shady spot underneath a tree, and you lean against the trunk of it, sitting on the grass. you look around at the people before speaking. "why here? we could've just stayed in your car and that would've been fine too."
"it's nice to get out every once in a while. i doubt you've been doing that on your own.
you scoff. "whatever. sure, it's nice. very green. the grass is probably fake."
"just relax, yn. get your mind off everything."
for once, you decide to listen, and you bring your knees up to your chest as you look around.
there’s a girl on a walk with her dog, just about to pass you. to her left, there’s a dad and his daughter sharing an ice cream cup on a bench. all the way across you and yuta, there’s another couple, and you see them hug before opening their backpacks, bringing out bags of snacks.
it’s so strange to see everyone in such different stages of life, all in one place.
you hear flapping next to you, and you turn to see two birds landing on the grass. they peck around for a moment before taking off, soaring through the air without anyone to judge them because that’s just what’s normal for them. you watch them a moment longer before noticing more birds.
you keep your eyes on them, watching as they go up and come down and land in trees or on the ground. it’s not a sight worth seeing to anyone else, but you’re entranced by them.
“y’know,” yuta speaks softly, “that expression on your face? that’s exactly how i feel when i watch you play.”
you turn to him with wide eyes, and you realize that while you watched the birds, he watched you this whole time.
“you’re amazed. you didn’t think something so simple could be so interesting, but it is. the way you’re mesmerized by them going up and down, is what i do when i get to see you play.”
“i don’t..” you trail off, your ears getting hot, “what do you mean?”
yuta shifts, sitting upright. “you take my breath away when your devotion is obvious. you make volleyball seem so natural, you’re phenomenal wherever your coach puts you. everyone should be captivated by you on that court and they are. it’s not just me that feels like that, it’s everyone who even has an idea of who you are.”
he leans in, looking at you, and you almost feel compelled to back away. you don’t.
“i know it’s hard to study, and to put so much focus into your grades when you’d much rather be winning championships. but we’re still early on, and you’re doing good for what we have so far. i don’t want you to lose yourself over some pointless equations you’ll have no use for in two years. i just wanted to remind you of this, okay? remember what you’re doing this for. who you’re doing it for.”
he leans back, suddenly very interested in the tree above you both.
his words register in your mind, and you nod. who you’re doing this for. it’s obviously for your friends, for your team.
so why was yuta the first one you thought of?
you shake the thought away, and turn your head back to him. “how’d you know i needed that?”
he shrugs. “lucky guess. you deserve to be appreciated.”
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★ a/n! i was listening to anime songs while writing this. specifically blue lock op1 and fuyunohanashi
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