08. REAP WHAT YOU SOW

*⋆｡˚𖦹࣪˖ ִֶָ⋆｡°✩

YOU'VE 

always believed in the saying that is, you reap what you sow. You believe that if you work hard for something, one day, you're bound to reap the rewards of your labour. Today, this day where you all won, feeds into your belief of the saying, because you were now surely reaping the rewards of your team's winning.

You sit with your legs crossed on the floor, watching them fight over two whole steaks, jumping around and laughing and talking like they were all old friends, and it feels strangely comforting, even if you sat there, quietly between Isagi and Bachira.

But it seemed one person wouldn't let you mind your own business—Bachira stuck his tongue out at you, chopsticks in hand and a slice of meat between them. He shoves the chopsticks in your face, something which you narrowly dodge, "C'mon, [name]!" He stretched out the last syllable of your name with a singsong voice, "Open wide! Here comes the airplaneeee!"

He pouts out his lips as he keeps trying to shove the chopsticks in your mouth, and you keep maneuvering your head around so he can't reach. You shove his hands away forcefully, eyes narrowed at him, "Stop it."

"But [name], you gotta eat some too! This is our victory dinner!" 

Your eyes squint down even further, and you're about to speak, when he takes you by surprise—using your open mouth as leverage to shove the food in, making you cough and scramble backwards, chewing it regardless.

"You're... disgusting—" You saw between chews, and he looked at you as if he had won a second game, a prideful grin stretched across his lips.

He winks at you, sticking his tongue out and puts up a peace sign with his two fingers cutely, "Gotta make sure our lil' manager is part of the team~"

Your chest tenses up, and you feel your stomach contract. The food you're chewing now suddenly feels bland and you avert your gaze, choosing to look down at the floor.

Kuon comes in, holding a plate of everybody's dish, with a charming smile on his face. You choose to scoot over—not even that hungry, to be fair—and sit closer to Isagi, resting your elbow on your knee and your hand in your face.

Kunigami chews his rice, then looks at Isagi, an amused smile on his face, "So spill. We need to know how you got yourself in that position."

Isagi's eyes widen for a second—maybe taken aback by the sudden question—but he laughs nervously in response, shoving a bit of food into his mouth. Gagamaru—who is choking somebody without a hint of expression—turns to look at Isagi over a tuft of brown hair, "You've got a point. It's like you could read the ball's mind."

"Actually, I didn't know for sure," Isagi looks down at his food like he is thinking about something, "But I did know that I wanted to take a shot. So I guess that where I thought it might land, got there and made the goal."

Bachira leans over you—torso pressing against your lap—and stares up at Isagi, grinning, "Dress it up however you want, but I saw you out there!"

Isagi grins, shaking his head and laughing, "Come on, what about your pass?"

Bachira brings out another fork with a slab of meat stuck on it, and you lean back with a scrunched-up face. He hovers it in front of Isagi, "Here, your reward! Say aaaaah!"

"I can feed myself, thanks," The blue-eyed boy dodges the fork and gives you a nervous look. You look right back and shake your head slowly, eyes devoid of any emotion. Bachira pouts out his lip, but then his smile returns and he speaks.

"Then I'll just have to take the shot!" He falls onto your lap in an attempt to reach for Isagi—leaning over and knocking you both down in the process. 

You scream in surprise, the three of you now toppled over, and your teammates peering down at you three without a care in the world. Is this seriously normal to them?

"Guess Isagi's found his weapon. He's got the ability to smell a goal." Kunigami puts a dumpling into his mouth and chews, still talking with his mouth half full, "We beat them thanks to his last-minute point, and that's a fact."

You dust off your shirt and shuffle away from Bachira and Isagi, back to your original spot. Isagi, who has Bachira hovering on top of him with a fork stuck in his mouth, peers at Kunigami with big confused eyes.

Raichi scoffs, shutting his eyes and leaning his head on his knee, "You guys believe what you want to."

"Well, whatever the case, we did win!" Kuon raises his fist and the others follow, "Team Z survives! We're still in this!"

The rest all cheer in agreement, and you scrunch up your nose, turning your head to the side and looking at Chigiri. He's been sitting to the side ever since you all got back—staring into the distance with his knees balled up to his chest. You stare at him almost longingly, lips slightly parted and swallowing.

"[name]! C'monnnnn!!" Bachira grabs ahold of your wrist and raises it with the others, making you shriek in shock at the sudden jerk. He puffs out his chest in pride, "We won, and that means you did too!"

"Don't just grab me—!!" And with that, the fleeting thought of him was gone, and now, you were just focused on lecturing Bachira (even though everyone but yourself was aware that he would never listen).

*⋆｡˚𖦹࣪˖ ִֶָ⋆｡°✩

V was winning by a ridiculously large margin. You knew that much—but what you didn't know, was where Kyouka was. You spent the last two days of both breakfast, lunch and dinner without her, which was pretty disappointing. You did ask Chigiri if he wanted to eat with you, and for the first day, he did, but after that, it seemed that he was bothered by something, and you two hadn't talked since then.

You didn't want to pry, so you just left it alone. The second day, you ended up sitting with Kunigami the first two times, surprisingly, and you two had a nice talk. It turned out he had two sisters as well, and you two both talked and related to each other. The last dinner you spent alone, scrolling on your phone and watching some videos about soccer techniques that you could try and get them to do during training.

You looked at the next matchup. It was Team W—a team that lost to V 5 to 1. The only thing you've heard about them was that they had two brothers who were totally in sync with each other, and it seemed to pose a really bad problem.

The only two players who seemed to be slightly in sync were Isagi and Bachira—but the rest had no chemistry with each other whatsoever. This was a problem that needed to be fixed. 

You placed a bite of oatmeal into your mouth, picking up your pen and clicking the top. You write down the date after checking your phone, then jot down a few pointers for today.

— FIX TRAINING REGIMEN
— NEED TO DO LAUNDRY—TOWELS ARE STILL DIRTY
— ASK FOR LIMA BEANS TOMORROW FOR LUNCH

You close your book and slump down at your table, elbows pressing into the hard metal and face falling onto the side of your arm. If you don't win against Team W in the next match, then you'll be forced to win against Team V. And as much as you hate to admit it, you aren't too sure you'll all be able to.

You're pretty sure that, by the process of elimination, the manager for W is the crazy blue chick. She speaks in strange, cryptic language, and enjoys teasing others rather than doing her job. You don't know her or anything about her, other than that she ticks you off and you'd rather not talk to her.

So far, each of the girls has been suited to the team they manage. You place your hands together and start praying that this does not apply to her team.

Your bowl is now empty, so you return it to the kitchen and you start walking back to your room, scrolling on your phone all the while.

But still, you can't help but wonder, where's Kyouka?

*⋆｡˚𖦹࣪˖ ִֶָ⋆｡°✩

You fall to the floor, your phone landing with a hard crash beside you. It feels like you walked straight into a brick wall, with how hard the object felt. You rub your forehead, and you blink, looking up at the perpetrator.

"Huh...?" A boy with shaggy white hair turns around and tilts his head down at you, black-hole eyes drooping downwards. He shrugs, turning back around, back hunching down. A boy with styled purple hair peeks over his shoulder, and his eyes widen.

"Nagi—did she bump into you?" He points down at you, and the boy with white hair steps back, so the purple-haired boy can see you. You meet his eyes, a second before he starts inspecting you up and down, then turns back to his white-haired buddy. "That's one of the manager girls."

He gives you one last downward glance and nudges his head towards the white-haired boy. "Go on, say sorry." Your jaw drops when he says that, and his expression doesn't change when he says, "I don't know why you're looking at me like that."

It's not like you weren't going to apologise—it's just the way he told you to like you were a child, or an animal or something because it sounded so demeaning. You had no idea who these people were—only that this purple-head seemed very demanding from your very first encounter, and his buddy seemed like he wanted nothing to do with whatever was happening.

"Excuse me?" You finally find the words, and not waiting for an outstretched hand, you pick yourself up and stand in front of him. Your expression shows disbelief, and you hope that's something he picks up. 

"You bumped into Nagi. You're the one who should apologise," he explains calmly as if you're dumb, and your expression doesn't change as he keeps going on. 

"No, I know that. It's just that this has nothing to do with you, I don't know why you're talking for him. Does he not have a voice of his own?" You place your hands on your hips, and you feel your breathing even and you now have a nonchalant expression.

"I don't really care. Getting mad is too much of a bother," Nagi is now playing a game on his phone, thumbs moving wildly across the screen. He has his phone—you note—a reward for scoring 3 goals. He must be good.

The purple-haired boy's eyebrows furrow, and he looks annoyed—something you pick up on clearly, you just don't care. You stand up straight, and turn around on your heel, "Okay, well, then. Bye."

"Wh..." You see his Adam's apple bobbing as he swallows thickly, and the purple one is staring at you in disbelief as you walk away, phone in hand and uncaring. He turns to Nagi, "Are you serious?"

The snow-haired boy shrugs, "What? :x"

*⋆｡˚𖦹࣪˖ ִֶָ⋆｡°✩