apotelesma - o. tooru

onze.

Friday, the last day of exams. There are collective sighs of relief that hover in the atmosphere all throughout the day. Just a couple of more hours, and this hell is going to be over soon.

It's been two days since Oikawa asked Mitsuha to be his girlfriend in front of the third year student population of Aoba Johsai, and while it's no longer a topic of gossip amongst her classmates, it's certainly still making the rounds in the lowerclassmen groups. Mitsuha's had at least three groups of heartbroken girls approach her during her lunch breaks, intercepting her while on her way to the library. And while she's had to put up a front of not being disturbed by it one bit, it's irritating after hearing their repeated woes one after the other.

"Just get over it," she mutters, walking away from another group that's made it their duty to burden her with their sadness. "He's not some fucking idol."
Yuki shrugs her shoulders. "You can't blame him; he's quite the celebrity," she replies, her hands stuffed into her blazer pockets. Mitsuha lets out a pained groan. "You kinda signed up for this."

"Yeah, but I didn't expect it to be this bad," she whines, giving her best friend a look. "He's leaving this year anyway; it's not like he's going to remember all of them and write fan mail to them after he's graduated." She shakes her head, trying to get some of her irritation away. "And I don't get why they have to come up to me to complain," Mitsuha continues. "If you have a problem with it, go and complain to him, or someone who's willing to listen. I'm not their emotional support or fucking therapist."

They leave the school building, heading in the direction of the gym. Hajime had informed her this morning that the volleyball club would be playing their last practice match today, against a college team from another town.
Despite the stresses of exams, their coach had made it a point to continue their usual schedules of morning and evening practices, stating that it worked as stress relief. It partially did, because Mitsuha had never seen her cousin so incredibly relaxed the night before their history exam, a subject he loathes.

"If it bothers you so much," Yuki says, once they near the threshold of the gym, "maybe talk to him about it? He could tell them to back off-"
"It's just a couple of more days, and we'll be away from this mess," Mitsuha says dismissively, pushing open the gym door as she does so. The volleyball club is busy with practicing their serves and receives, so none of them notice the two girls enter. "I can manage."

Coach Irihata notices the two of them out of the corner of his eye, and gives them a small smile in welcome. They bow slightly in respect, before taking the stairs to the balcony upstairs. Yuki is trying her best to not burst into a fit of giggles when she spots Kyoutani and Hajime, remembering their maid costumes and red faces from the cultural festival. It's infectious laughter, but Mitsuha doesn't want to catch it any way or form, so she drags her best friend up the stairs, trying not to burst into laughter herself.

They make their way to the right side of the court, and Mitsuha spots some of the girls from before on the opposite side, eagerly whispering and giggling amongst themselves while they look down on Oikawa mingling with his teammates. She's no stranger to jealousy, but this is getting out of hand.
"Don't they have exams?" she hisses, slumping across the railing. "They need to go study. That's what I was doing when I was in second year, studying."

"Jealousy is not one of your nicer looks," Yuki comments, giving her an all-knowing glance. "You sound like my grandmother."
"Yeah well, it's inbuilt."

The college team is huddled in the corner, a couple of them looking at the Seijoh players while they practice. Mitsuha spots the captain, who sports wind-swept blond hair that would make girls swoon. He's attractive in the movie-star sense of attractiveness, but nothing enough for Mitsuha to continue staring.
He seems to have noticed though, and looks up in her direction, giving her a bright smile.