16 Chapter 15: Nekoma pt.1

(TW: Internalized homophobia)

LI STARED CURIOUSLY AT THE NEKOMA TEAM-noticing all the intriguing characters. His emerald eyes fluttered over to one very short male with blonde-bleached hair and who held a psp of sorts. Li Wei had never played handheld video games before, being denied the luxury because his parents feared that his brain would be destroyed and they would lose their pawn. He felt bitter about that fact for a long time, especially as a child where he was unable to understand why all the other children could have something his parents could buy hundreds of.

The male manager's eyes moved over to an extremely tall male with silver hair and was promptly surprised, recognizing a foreigner or at least, someone of not pure Japanese blood. Since his arrival in Japan, Li Wei has rarely seen any foreigner, making him feel like a bit of an outcast. The urge to go up to the tall male was frighteningly large and Li Wei promised himself that he would make time to do so before leaving.

The last member that caught his attention was another person that their captain told them about, Nekoma's captain. The tall male with black bed hair and a smug smirk was staring directly at him, with neither moving their eyes away. The staring went on for a bit, as Li Wei couldn't force his eyes away, somewhat mesmerized by the male on the other side of the court. Eventually, the smug male winked at him, causing the male manager to blush and turn away, unable to comprehend what he just felt.

Was it nerves? Had the anxiety from the night before that stayed in the background finally catch up to him? Could he be sick?!? Li Wei blanched, unable to deal with getting sick again. Missing another match would have made him feel like an awful team member, as he felt as though he was completely letting his found-family down.

Recently, Li Wei has been introduced to an entirely new world, social media. This morning, Hinata was adamant that he understood the inner workings of many different apps, all revolving around the idea of sharing one's life. Another concept he was introduced to was memes, something that Li Wei struggled to find the humor behind. His friend asked him to read a meme aloud, causing the rest of the team to break out into wheezing laughter. It took some time for Li Wei to actually understand the meaning of certain jokes.

Sighing fondly, Li Wei watches as the Karasuno team gears up for an exciting match against their long-time rivals and his heart is beating wildly. He loves the rush of watching the matches go on and not knowing who will be the victor. It's like gambling, but without the money. His parents often forced him to learn how to gamble whenever they met up with other wealthy politicians and he absolutely dreaded it.

Looking away from Nekoma, Li Wei notices the small interaction between his coach, advisor, and Nekoma's coach. The meeting between the three comes off as very warm and inviting, despite the clear rivalry between the teams. That warmness is rarely seen on the figure skate, as many competitors often kept to themselves in order to put their complete focus on the competition at hand. The only friends Li Wei has made have been one very infuriating silver-haired skater and his easily flustered partner. He has also met their friends, who have some very interesting personalities.

Both teams lined up and bowed to one another, wishing the other a great game. It was time for the match between long-time rivals to begin. Li Wei stood near the coaches, who were insulting one another playfully as they 'betted' on who would win. The bet was that the winner would have the loser buy plenty of beer as a means of celebration.

While Li Wei was focused on the beginning of the match, a member on the Nekoma side was struggling to stay focused. His hazel-colored eyes kept wandering over to the male with beautiful long dark hair and stunning emerald eyes. Kuroo Tetsurou is a man of action and in that moment, he promises to make contact with the beauty on the other side of the court. He'll ask for his hand in marriage! Just as Kuroo is about to delve further into that topic, he feels intensive cat-like eyes lingering on his eyes. Fighting off a full-blown shiver, Kuroo rapidly moves his eyes back to the court, knowing he'll be in for it later.

One of the things Li Wei noted down in his tiny notebook was that teams are usually surprised by Hinata in general, whether it's because of his height or position. It's always a rush to watch the other team get completely caught off guard by Hinata and Kageyama's attack move.

The first few points went to Karasuno, with Kiyoko keeping track of the score. His friend was right in front of him as Li Wei stood behind the bench that included Kiyoko, the coach, and their advisor. It seemed as though Nekoma was creating a game plan rather quickly as their coach called a timeout.

"Kiyoko-san, who do you think will win this practice match?" Li Wei slightly bent down as he whispered those words into Kiyoko's ear, who was slightly caught off guard for a second. His beautiful friend turned towards him and whispered back into his own ear, causing Li Wei to push his long silky hair behind his ear. "I want to root for our team, but that small guy on Nekoma's side, the one with bleached hair, is an amazing strategist. He may have already figured out our quick attack." Li Wei was honestly surprised by the information and rapidly looked towards the male Kiyoko spoke of. The smaller male was kind of..cute?

Li Wei's face became red fairly quickly as he tried to get rid of such a thought. Once again, he could not be anything other than straight, as he was taught it was wrong. However, he recalls the information he received from Kiyoko, who stated that she could care less about gender in itself. His friend didn't seem disgusted, nor was she anything other than normal.

The two had conversed about the topic earlier this morning, where Li Wei couldn't help but stare at some of his teammates. He never had much muscle overall, so it was interesting to see his teammates be much buffer. Kiyoko pulled him aside and asked him about his thoughts on sexuality, which he promptly answered. At first, his friend had been rather upset at his words, as she herself was by no means straight. However, after bluntly explaining that he went to therapy on the matter, she seemed softer around him. Li Wei unfortunately could not understand why, but at least his first female friend wasn't mad at him anymore.

Lost in thought, Li Wei misses the turning point of the game. Suddenly, Nekoma has gotten the upper hand and the male manager wants to knock his head against a wall for getting lost in his own head, which happens more often than not.

Karasuno comes towards the benches, where coach Ukai gives the entire team a bit of a pep talk. With the team hyping up Hinata, Li Wei can't help but join in, something he doesn't do often. "Just do your best Hinata-kun, i'll root for you no matter what." Giving Hinata a gentle smile, Li Wei watches as his friend lights up like a red christmas tree, waving his hands wildly around. "Li-san is our ace in the hole, a true killer!" He hears Tanaka state, before snickering away. The team is sent back to the court for the second match, while Li Wei ponders how he could possibly be a murderer.

The match continues on, with his friend coming to a realization on the court that he can get past the person constantly blocking him. It almost brings a tear to Li Wei's eyes, who feels like a proud mother. It's an odd thought, but Hinata is just so childlike that he can't help himself.

Li Wei sits on the floor, next to Takeda-sensei, who immediately offers his seat up. The male manager is quick to reassure the male that he is fine, thinking back on his teachings about respecting elders. Had Takeda heard that thought, he would have spluttered at the idea of being called an 'elder'.

Excitement thrums through his veins as he continues to watch the match, unable to tear his eyes away. Most of the time, they linger on the other team, which had plenty of amazing members. However, every single time the smug male stares at him, Li Wei can feel the thump of his heart, making him wonder what's going on.