╰─▸ ❝ new on campus

"Ugh, he's so fine for no reason. He smiled at me today- he's so pretty I almost disappeared."

Mika walked into her dorm, those being the first words she heard.

Her roommates stopped talking, seeing the expression on Mika's face.

"Are you okay?" her roommate Ayame Bando said, immediately rushing over to her.

"How did it go in Sendai?" her other roommate Hoshiko Tsuda asked.

"So-so," Mika shrugged. "The coach told me I wasn't wanted there, visited my ex-boyfriend's grave- but I mean I got to eat an amazing dinner."

"Mika," Hoshiko said, sitting her down. "I don't think that's just 'so-so.' Did you want to talk to us about it?"

Mika wavered back and forth.

On one hand, she wasn't in the mood to explain everything. But she also wanted to tell someone.

Though, when she noticed they weren't touching her (they had learned after she told them the first time she arrived back at the dorm upset) it caused her to tell them.

"You already know the basics," she sighed. "There's a newer coach at my old high school; he hates me for whatever reason. I only go since my friends Wakatoshi and Satori..."

"You and Ushijima-san were in the same class all through high school, right?" Shun Nii asked after Mika finished explaining.

"Yeah," Mika said, a small smile on her face. "He just bought a new plant and named it after me- or I guess he named it 'Mika 2.0' after Satori killed the first one."

"So, you two are super close," Ayama said, raising an eyebrow.

Mika snorted in laughter, letting her long brown hair down from the ponytail she had it in.

"Good friends," Mika said. "But yeah."

"Oh- Mika," Shun said. "You heard about how Bokuto Kōtarō finally moved onto campus while you were gone, right?"

Mika blinked at her.

"Who?"

The three of them looked at her as if she was crazy. 

Mika was about 87% sure this was the player she had told Satori, Wakatoshi, and Reon about. But she also was clueless.

"How do you not know?" Shun asked. "We talk about him a lot. Anyways, he transferred over while you were gone."

"It's rumored that he transferred school because of an old boyfriend causing trouble," Hoshiko said, deciding to give Mika a refresher about him. "But a lot of the fangirls- not us- like to imagine the yaoi scenario and assume he's gay. But he hasn't confirmed it."

Mika stared at her roommate. She wasn't sure why they thought she knew or cared about some random guy.

It could have been because they knew Mika loved watching volleyball and knew a lot of people who loved volleyball. But they should have known that she wasn't interested in one who was gaining traction as an idol figure.

"That's beside the point," Hoshiko said quickly. "The point is that he'll be walking around campus now, if you see him- please get us his autograph. Please, Mika."

"I'll do it," Mika sighed. "But why can't you guys do it yourselves."

"Four pairs of eyes on the lookout is a lot better than three," Ayame said, a smile on her face.

Mika nodded, not sure how she would recognize this random guy, not knowing what he looked like.

But she didn't want to ask.

Instead, her excuse would be that she didn't know what he looked like if the two ever ran into each other.

"I'll remember that," Mika said, standing up. "I need to go study in the library, so I'll be back later. Love you guys."

"Bye, Mika!" they chorused as Mika slid her shoes on, grabbed her things, and left once again.

Mika let out a breath, putting her Airpods in as she walked to the library.

She scrolled through her playlists, deciding she was in the mood for "Looking Out For You" by Joy Again.

Mika walked through campus, avoiding talking to others as she made her way to the library. She put her hair up in a bun, as its length was bothering her, despite letting it down only minutes before.

As she made it closer, she thought she was going to make it there undisturbed as she usually did.

Yet, like everything else in her life, she didn't make it undisturbed, as a tall fit guy jogged up to her.

He tapped her on the shoulder, causing her to look up at him.

He had black hair, gray towards the top, not looking like it was from dying it, or from stress; besides that, his hair stood straight up. He had golden-colored eyes that looked cheerful, waiting for her response.

"Can I help you?" Mika asked, taking one of her Airpods out.

"Yeah," he grinned. "I just transferred here recently- but uh that's not why I'm talking to you."

Mika laughed softly. Having someone talking to her energetically right off the bat wasn't something she was used to.

"Sorry," she said quickly. "I wasn't laughing at you."

"It's fine," he smiled. "But my roommates and I are having a debate and I need your opinion.

"What's the best sport?"

"Volleyball, of course," Mika replied immediately, not having to think about it at all.

She hadn't played much volleyball herself, but it was the sport she had watched nonstop for years.

"Really?" the guy asked, looking surprised. "You must really like volleyball. You didn't even think about it."

Mika flushed a little, kicking the ground softly.

"Well, my closest friends in high school all played volleyball," she said. "I would also watch a lot of volleyball with someone I was really closed to."

Mika just smiled, fighting back the sinking feeling.

But memories of watching volleyball late at night with Eita filled her thoughts. He was always super invested in the game, yet if Mika ever had a question, his attention was always on her.

She could remember vividly the time Shiratorizawa was at nationals; Semi was in as a pinch server.

He was visibly nervous, despite that, he sent Mika a heart just before the whistle blew.

Moments like those were what made Mika miss him the most.

"Hello?"

Mika snapped back to reality, the guy waving a hand in front of her face.

"Hi- sorry," she said. "I got lost in thought."

"You're crying," the boy said awkwardly, holding a pack of tissues. "Here."

He handed her a tissue, then another one.

"This is so embarrassing," Mika said, wiping her tears away quickly. "I'm so sorry."

"It's fine, don't worry," he reassured her. "I'm Bokuto Kōtarō by the way. He/him."

"Oyama Mika, she/her," Mika said, not registering who he was. "I'm genuinely sorry about that."

"You apologize a lot," Bokuto said. "It's not a bad thing, you just don't have to say it that often."

"Right," Mika said, playing with the sleeves of her sweater. "Anyways, volleyball, that's my answer."

Bokuto nodded, looking like he wanted to say something, but was refraining from saying it.

"I play volleyball," he said finally, looking proud of himself. "I'm playing for the college team right now. Though, soon I'm going to be playing for the MSYB Black Jackals."

It suddenly clicked in Mika's brain.

"Oh wait- you're Bokuto Kōtarō. Can I get your autograph, preferably three times?"

As soon as the words left her mouth, she realized just how embarrassing it sounded, her face heating up.

"Of course," he said, as if it wasn't anything out of the blue, taking the three papers Mika handed to him. "You're not going to sell these online are you?"

Mika stared at him, not sure she heard him right.

"I'm kidding."

"Right," Mika said. "Well, maybe, in that case, you can sign a few more for me."

The two of them laughed.

"I'm joking," she said. "These are for my roommates, they begged me to get your autograph if I saw you."

Bokuto smiled nodding, ripping one of the papers in half (very cleanly), writing a small message then signing it.

"Here's one for you since you're the one who talked to me," he winked. "Oh- you're listening to music- what song?"

Mika checked her phone quickly to see, as she hadn't been really listening to what song was playing.

"'In My Mind' Lyn Lapid," she said, then noticing his Airpod. "What about you?"

"It's called 'tkm' by Boy Pablo," he grinned. "Well, I should let you go study- or do whatever you were going to do. It was nice to meet you- I'll probably see you around campus. Bye, Oyama-chan!"

He then ran off, leaving Mika standing there, not sure what had just happened.

Then out of nowhere, Shun called her.

"Hello-"

"Mika! You talked to Bokuto-kun!" Shun said loudly, causing Mika to quickly turn down the volume.

"Yeah... he stopped me while I was walking," Mika said, then freezing. "Wait- how did you know he was talking to me?"

"Word gets around quickly," Shun said nonchalantly. "There was a post about you on the school forum. We recognize you- but don't worry, the picture is super blurry, no one else will know it's you."

Mika kicked the ground, not sure how she felt about that.

"Well, I got the autographs," Mika said. "But I still haven't made it to the library, so I'll bring them back to the dorm later."

"Sounds good! Thank you so much, Mika!" Shun exclaimed. "Have a good study session."

"Bye, Shun," Mika said, with a small laugh, hanging up.

Mika finally kept walking to the library, looking at the message Bokuto had written on her signature paper.

"You have a pretty smile :)
also, it was really cool to meet someone else on campus who likes volleyball !!"

Under that was his signature.

Mika snorted softly, laughing a bit. His handwriting looked like what she thought it was going to look like. Simple, messy, but surprisingly easy to read.

She then quickly put the signatures away, in case some fangirl decided to steal them from her.

♪─☆彡─♪

Kōtarō strolled back into his dorm, a large boost in his confidence.

"I can proudly say that volleyball is the best sport," he announced to his roommates, a big smile on his face.

"There's no way more than ten people said volleyball when you went out," his roommate Benjiro Domen said, raising an eyebrow. "Plus, it can't be fair, you have a whole section of the school forum dedicated to you."

"The deal was 'ten people or fifteen girls,' 'Jiro," Mako Sunada sighed. "So technically if 'Tarō found fifteen girls to say volleyball, he wins."

Kōtarō nodded fervently.

The prize for winning their deal was free snacks from a week; we wanted- needed those snacks.

"The last girl I talked to answered volleyball immediately... then asked for my autograph- three of them," he said, his face a little pink at the end.

"See, it's what 'Jiro was talking about," Tōma Arita said, rolling his eyes. "She was obviously a fangirl.

Kōtarō frowned, Tōma's argument was fair.

"Wait- no," he said, perking up. "She had no idea who I was until I told her my name, and that I played volleyball that she figured out who I was.

"The autographs were for her roommates, I think... I signed one for her too though. Anyways, her name was Oyama Mika."

"Okay fine, you win," Tōma sighed, Kōtarō's roommates all nodded as well.  "Oyama-san loves volleyball. One time I asked her some questions about what volleyball is, just to test her, and bro, she knows just about everything.

"She's in my department, so I always ask her questions about things- like your last game, Kō."

Kōtarō tilted his head, not sure he remembered seeing her at his game, but quickly shrugged it off. A lot of girls attended the volleyball matches.

"Well, I have won," he said a large smile on his face. "In honor of that, I would like to treat you all out to dinner before you pay for my snacks this upcoming week."

Mako and Benjiro fist-bumped.

"We're so glad you moved into our dorm, 'Tarō," Mako grinned. "Maybe it's better we lost."

"I agree," Tōma grinned.

Kōtarō laughed, grinning.

"Well, I have to keep my roommates happy, don't I?"

"Cheers to that," Benjiro said. "Let's go get dinner, I'm starving."

bee's corner !!

oh to have kōtarō bokuto tell you your smile is pretty