"Fuckin' eh! Bodhi! Crushin' it like always mate!" his teammate said, clapping his hand on his shoulder, before he went off to celebrate with the other person he had been paired with. Bodhi really didn't want to participate in this tournament, there wouldn't be anyone of note to test him truly, so he had been taking it easy all day, only trying to improve upon his blocks, the weakest part of his game, his coach had been all up in his face about it.
"Yeah…! I'll see you two at the finals, gonna grab a snack," Bodhi told his teammates, Jonas and Eddie. Two blokes who had been friends for years, or so they had told him when he got paired with them. With a tired sigh, he made his way over to Kahuna's to grab a bite, unaware of the people trailing him. Both of black hair.
"…that'll be $8.50 mate," the cashier said to which Bodhi pulled out a $10 note and told them to keep the change. Waiting patiently for his iced latte and croissant, he sat at an empty table near the pickup counter and proceeded to scroll aimlessly through his phone. He hadn't noticed the two people from earlier sit across from him, one with a mischievous glint, the other glaring holes into Bodhi's soul, the latter of which made him shiver and force him to look away from his phone and at the two people who apparently had nowhere else to sit.
"…Can I help you two?" Bodhi asked, hoping his order would be called to get away from the creepy people.
"Yes, you can Maverick. Mumma needs some action!" the girl, who he would admit, was very beautiful. Standing just over the average height of a woman, her long dark black hair cascaded down her back, stopping just before the middle of it. Her face was framed by side bangs, helping to bring out her deep rich brown eyes. Much to her delight and the ire of the bloke next to her, his eyes drifted downward, to where the swell of her breasts nicely filled in the red two-piece she was wearing. Regrettably, he couldn't see the back, but the ire coming from the bloke only seemed to grow, so Bodhi decided he had leered enough, after all, it is better to look rather than to touch. Since ya know, he was underage and all.
"Look, you're an absolute beauty babes. But I'll have to decline unless you fancy yourself a cradle robber," Bodhi said bluntly, taking the woman out of her musings.
"…Really? What you can't be any younger than me? I'm only 22?" she said, clearly not grasping the reality before her. There was no way this hunk of a man was that young, he was way too jacked for that! Is what was going through Akane's head.
"…I'm 15…and will you cool it with the glaring ya bloody bloke!" Bodhi pointed out, before calling out the bloke that was staring at him with a fire behind his eyes.
"Bodhi! Iced Latte and Croissant ready!" the barista yelled over the hustle and bustle of the busy café.
"Thank fuck, bye for now," Bodhi said, leaving neither of them a chance to respond as he quickly grabbed his order and made his way back to the court. "She was a kooky broad…Fine ass one though."
With that Bodhi made his way back to the court, happily devouring his croissant and savouring his latte. He just wanted this day to be over and done with, his parents had something to tell him tonight, something important they said.
"sigh…Wonder what they'll fight about tonight," Bodhi said to no one in particular, just voicing his thoughts and before he could dwell on them more, the organizer announced the finals would begin in ten minutes, so Bodhi slammed the rest of his latte and made his way to the court, spotting Jonas and Eddie on one side and their opponents on the other, it was here he noticed the bloke form before was standing there. "Ya got to fucking kidding me, this bloke…Fuck…that was totally his sister, wasn't it." Almost as if he heard Bodhi say that right in his ear, even though he was a good twenty feet away, he leered straight at Bodhi, the glare all but promising his death.
A fucking siscon. Goddam it! Bad Bodhi!
"Alright ladies and gentlemen! We have our final two teams! In the blue court, we have Bodhi, Eddie, and Jonas! Facing them in the red court will be Paulie, Link, and…Tattoo? Well, he can be called whatever he wants to be, I won't judge. Not again at least." The organizer announced from the microphone, the last part being whispered and away from the mic. "This is a winner-takes-all final! First to 15 and win by two that is, will win, and the prize is…Eternal bragging rights!... And also free drinks from the Big Kahuna Café and Surf Shop tonight! Red Team call it in the air heads or tails for service!"
The bloke answered, while still glaring at Bodhi, "Tails…"
Flipping the coin, it landed in the sand. Tail side up. "Tails it is, will you serve or receive!"
"Serve…" he replied, turning around and catching the ball he had been tossed. He was ready to crush that lecher!
Standing behind the service line, Tatsuki was gripping the ball maybe a little too hard, as his hands were starting to indent the ball, all the while glaring daggers at the blonde on the opposite side.
"Hey Bodhi, did ya fuck his sister or something? He's glaring at ya real hard mate," Jonas said, which only seemed to fuel his hatred more, as a sinister flame rose up from behind him.
"…Shut up ya bloke," Bodhi told him off, getting ready to receive seeing as the guy only had eyes for him.
Tossing the ball high, Tatsuki began his approach and with a resounding smack, it soared through the air at an incredible speed.
Bodhi reset his stance quickly using a split step and bent down low, returning it with minimal effort towards the setter which was Eddie.
"Left!" Jonas called.
A simple set up high saw Jonas approach and leap into the air, and with a quick swing, he met the blocker's arms, as 'Tattoo' as his teammates had called him, stuffed him. Bodhi tried to recover it but was unsuccessful, the ball landing just out of his reach.
"…Guess we may have a game after all…" Bodhi mumbled under his breath.
And a game it was.
Both teams relied heavily on their star players. But it became quickly apparent who the better player was, mainly due to the fact that one of them only had about two hours of experience playing volleyball in the sand. Tatsuki was unfamiliar with the extra strain placed on his legs and just how much more effort you had to put into each extra step or jump. Having an unsteady base sure as hell didn't help him either, normally his receives would be a lot steadier, normally being high in the air and easy to get under. But here, he couldn't rely on his foundation as whenever he tried to stamp his feet into the floor, he was quickly reminded that it was sand and would break his receive stance causing him to miss the receive altogether or receive it poorly, leading to an easy block for The Mavericks team.
Tatsuki had never been more frustrated before, the calm stoicism vanished, and it was replaced with a frenzied look in his eyes. All thoughts involving his sister and the Maverick left, being replaced by a burning desire to beat him.
Is this all I can do against him? Tatsuki thought as his foundation collapsed once more and the spike broke through his base.
"And just like that we have game point, 14-8 in favour of the Blue Team!" the announcer yelled, the crowd roaring in response, most of them were just drunk at this point, seeing as a happy hour had come and gone, and like any drunk crowd they are easily riled up.
"It's alright Tattoo! Let's receive it and counter yea?" Tatsuki's teammate said. Tatsuki only nodded in response, eyes focused on the Maverick serving.
Bodhi doing his pre-serve routine, looked up and found the bloke to be staring right at him, and he could tell he wanted it, wanted to be the one to receive his serve and Bodhi was a gentleman if nothing else, so he obliged, but not before shifting the ball to his left hand, figuring he may as well end it with a bang.
The whistle blew from the ref and Bodhi made his approach, tossing the ball with his left hand something he hadn't done during this match or any of the other ones, deeming none of them worth the extra effort. But seeing Tattoo's eyes, the fire behind them, you could say Bodhi was moved.
*SMACK*
Bodhi's hand made contact with the ball and it all but exploded out of it. Like the sound of a canon going off it rocketed across the net, swiftly making its way to Tattoo, who was waiting for it. Having a chance to set his feet, Tatsuki was sure he would receive this perfectly, but when the ball made contact with his forearms, he was only met with disappointment as it spun off and went out of play.
The whistle went off, signalling the end of the game.
Bodhi 'The Maverick' Hamada was victorious. With a score of 15-8, the red team stood little to no chance against the Maverick. The only points they managed to score on the blue team came from the errors of his teammates and the one serve that caught Maverick off guard. The Maverick was truly a force to be reckoned with and it was this moment for Tatsuki, this was his moment, the one Bakugo had always preached about to any and everyone, the moment one truly fell in love with volleyball, igniting a drive not seen in the middle blocker before. The one who stoked the flames of rivalry and the sheer need to overcome this obstacle was none other than Bodhi Hamada.
Tatsuki Washio's one true rival. One that had beat him so soundly that it would normally shatter the hopes and dreams of said player. Tatsuki in all of his stubborn glory refused to let that be the case for him. He would return to Japan and get stronger. Strong enough to beat the Maverick.
Standing up from his fallen position, everyone around Tatsuki was unaware of the inner turmoil he was currently going through, all but one. Bodhi could see the budding rivalry start to bloom between the two of them. So walking away from his celebrating teammates he went to the net to shake the other team's hands, stopping at the last person who stood close if not equal to Bodhi's height.
"…Next time I'll win. Oh, my name isn't Tattoo, it's Tatsuki Washio. They couldn't say it properly," he said, shaking Bodhi's hand with a firm grip, almost another competition brewing from it.
"Oh? Are you from Japan then? I was born there! Had to move here due to Dad getting a business promotion or something. And yeah, I'll take you on any time Tatsuki," Bodhi replied, getting both a shocked look from Tatsuki for both knowing he was from Japan and that Bodhi himself was Japanese. "Oh! Sorry about all that stuff with your sister, didn't mean any harm!" Bodhi said, slipping free from his handshake and just like that Tatsuki remembered why he was so pissed in the first place!
"DAMN YOU MAVERICK!" Tatsuki roared and began to chase Bodhi, for looking at his sister indecently. Another promise was said then and there, one Bodhi would not be aware of but could tell pretty easily. Tatsuki Washi vowed that day the Maverick would never lay his hands on his sister!
"Bodhi! I'll wait for you!" Akane yelled, causing both boys to slip in the sand. "It's only seven years! Mumma's got time!"
…
…
…
"…Run…If you want to live…"
"Yeah…I'll do that…"
That night, drinks were shared among all those who participated in the final, Jonas and Eddie the winners offered to share the winnings with the losers being Link and Paulie, neither were all that upset about losing, but it was notable that the two all-stars were nowhere to be found. But they could swear they heard a cry of pain ringing out through the night, nobody knew that for sure though, seeing as how many of them were too far gone to give a damn.
The next day, Bodhi woke up in his bedroom sore. He had to have ran over 10 kilometres last night trying to flee from the crazy siscon of a brother. He had managed to do it, but only because they came to a compromise, being they exchanged phone numbers, seeing as how Tatsuki wanted to keep in touch with his new rival.
*Ping*
Bodhi heard his phone notification and found a new text coming from his self-declared 'Rival'.
Tattoo (Tatsuki Washio): I'll be leaving in a week…Want to practice?
Bodhi: Sure mate…Just don't invite your sister…
Tattoo: That isn't a problem. Meet at Streets Beach?
Bodhi: Yeah 11?
Tattoo: *thumbs up emoji (Don't know how to do it in Word, unless I go into my phone and do it.)
"Ara ara? Are you meeting my future boo? Can I come!" Akane asked, peeking over her brother's shoulder, reading the last text her future boo sent him.
Tatsuki: *Thumbs up emoji
Rival (Bodhi Hamada): *Hang loose emoji
"No, we are going to be practicing. Besides, don't you have that spa package with mother?" He said, recalling a vague conversation about it.
"Dang it! Tell Bodhi-boo I miss him, okay?" Akane begged, her trained to perfection, puppy dog eyes coming in full force, and was arguably Tatsuki's only weakness.
"…Fine"
"Yay!" she said, jumping in the air, almost freezing in place.
Tatsuki watched her leave his bedroom and he proceeded to get ready for practice with Bodhi.
Maybe this trip wouldn't be so much of a loss?