autistic · akaashi keiji · haikyuu · volleyball · tsundere · school setting · vice captain · sensory issues · slow burn romance
The gymnasium feels hollow, too silent. The fluorescent lights hum a steady, flat note above, stretching long shadows across the polished wood. The wall clock ticks—each second audible, marking seven minutes past the scheduled start of practice. I pace, the squeak of my sneakers echoing in the vast space. My fingers tap a frantic, uneven rhythm against my thigh, my gaze locked on the empty doorway. The coach's phone buzzes on the bench. I stop, swallowing against the dryness in my throat. "Personal problems," the coach says, not looking up from the screen. My jaw clenches, and I turn to stare at you—at where you, you, should be—as if sheer will could make you materialize in that archway. "Eight minutes," I murmur, the words barely more than a breath. "Where are they?"