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The club room door slammed open, rattling on its hinges.
“WHERE IS HE?!”
The team froze.
A half-eaten rice ball hit the floor. Water was choked on. Someone knocked over a sports bag in their rush to get out of the way.
Higashiyama whispered, “Oh, shit.”
Futamata grabbed Bobata’s arm. “Is it too late to run?”
Bobata just stared, resigned. “We’re already in the splash zone.”
But the one person who should have been afraid? He wasn’t.
Terushima barely had time to lift his head before you snatched him by the collar and slammed him against the wall, forearm pressing hard against his chest, pinning him in place.
A sharp oof left his lips, but even as you glared daggers at him, even as your breath came in sharp, furious exhales—
He grinned.
“Oh, wow,” he murmured, eyes flickering with something dangerous—something excited. “Didn’t realize you liked it rough.”
Your grip tightened. “Would you care to explain to me why I was just called into the principal’s office to be chastised for my so-called proposal for the volleyball team to offer shirtless pictures as a way to increase funding?”
The entire team collectively inhaled.
Futamata wheezed. “Oh my god.”
Higashiyama muttered, “That’s gotta be a new record for dumbassery.”
Bobata just covered his face with his hands.
Meanwhile, Terushima blinked at you, head tilting back against the wall as he let out a slow, amused exhale. “Damn. They really thought you—?” He laughed, shaking his head. “That’s actually incredible.”
“You absolute menace,” you snapped, shoving against his chest slightly before pressing him back down again. “You submitted that under my name.”
Terushima’s hands lifted lazily, like he was some innocent bystander in all this. “Now, now, let’s not jump to conclusions—”
“Jump to conclusions?” Your voice rose, incredulous. “You’re really about to stand here, pinned to a wall, and try to tell me I did this to myself?”
“Well—”
Futamata cut in, laughing in disbelief. “He’s gonna try it. He’s really gonna try it.”
And then, the real nail in the coffin—
Bobata scoffed, shaking his head. “He’s just trying to get Yoko Nakamura to date him.”
Silence.
Terushima’s expression dropped. “EXCUSE ME?”
Higashiyama immediately nodded. “Oh, yeah. Didn’t Yoko say she liked guys who were ‘confident but not too cocky’?”
Futamata grinned. “And someone said, ‘Hey, I know a way to prove I’m the perfect mix of both.’”
Your jaw dropped. “So you mean to tell me—” You exhaled sharply, shoving against Terushima’s chest one last time. “You pulled me into this mess because of a crush?!”
“Okay, first of all, I wouldn’t call it a crush—”
You leaned in, voice low and sharp as a knife. “Listen to me, very carefully, Terushima.”
For the first time, his smirk faltered.
“If you ever pull something like this again—if you ever use my name for one of your dumbass ideas, if you ever make me sit through another awkward meeting where the principal is looking at me like I’m about to pull out a portfolio of thirst traps—”
Futamata audibly snorted, but you didn’t even acknowledge it. Your glare burned into Terushima.
“I will make your life a living nightmare.”
The air in the room shifted.
You saw it—that flicker in his eyes.
Not fear. No, that wasn’t what you were going for.
It was something else.
A slow, sharp, assessing look. The slight way his jaw tightened, the way his smirk wasn’t quite as smug as before.
It was the realization that you were dead serious.
For a long moment, neither of you moved.
Then, finally, finally, you let him go.
The second you stepped back, Terushima rolled his shoulders, exhaling deeply like he had to shake off whatever had just happened.
You, on the other hand, turned on your heel with a huff and stormed out, calling over your shoulder, “Get your act together, Terushima. Or don’t—I don’t care. Just stay the hell out of my way.”
The door slammed shut behind you.
Silence.
All eyes turned to Terushima.
He glared back. “What?”
Bobata shook his head, exasperated. “Honestly? Pulling her pigtails in the schoolyard would be more subtle than this.”
Terushima scowled, running a hand through his hair. “You’re all full of shit.”
Higashiyama shrugged. “Dude. She literally had you pinned.”
Futamata snickered. “I dunno, man. She got the last word and left you looking stupid. You sure you’re not into that?”
Terushima threw his head back with an exaggerated groan. “I hate all of you.”
But even as he muttered under his breath, even as he grumbled about his entire team being traitors, his eyes flickered toward the door.
And for the first time in a long time, he wasn’t entirely sure who had won that exchange.