↬ volleyball court.

@⁰¹ hitomi h. "It's nice, but there is an expectation to keep my grades up, so it can be a little hard at times" Zhan admits, sending the ball back "I mean you could also doubt major?"

@⁰¹ hitomi h. Zhan sends an easy spike her way "I've been playing since middle school as well, at first it was just recreational, but then i discovered they gave out scholarships, so thats why I got more serious about it. I'm in fourth year, so I've been playing since I got here" He replies her question easily

@⁰¹ hitomi h. Zhan takes a large gulp out of his water bottle before setting it back down on the bench and heading toward the other side of the net. "Returns it is" He agrees. before grabbing a ball and serving it her way leisurely, "How long have you been on the team?" He asks in between hits.

@⁰¹ hitomi h. "Nice to meet you Tomi. I'm a hitter for the mens team....if that wasnt obvious from the way the ball was pelted at you" Zhan mutters the last part as he picks up the last of the balls. and wheels the carts to one side of the court "How did you want to do this? i could throw you the ball, and you could set it up for a spike? or did you want to work on some returns? then we can just rally the ball? each of us on one side of the net?" He asks, getting down to business. Although Zhan was more nervous meeting new people, when it came to the sport he's been playing for so long he had no problem taking the lead.

@⁰¹ hitomi h. "Uh," Zhan stopped for a second to process what she was saying, "Sure? if you want" He runs back to his empty carts, and starts collecting the stray balls "Um.. you're on the girls volleyball team right?" trying to strike conversation to avoid the awkward silence "I'm Xiao Zhan.. just Zhan is fine though"

@⁰¹ hitomi h. "y-yea, sorry, just a little stressed" Zhan smile sheepishly, he looks back awkwardly at the mess of balls behind him before realizing hes hands were still on her shoulders, "oh- sorry" he mutters, quickly dropping his arms and taking a step back, blushing bright red in embarrassment, "uh... I'm done for the day, so the gym's all yours..." Zhan couldnt help but curse himself in his head for being so awkward.

@⁰¹ hitomi h. It felt like everything was moving in slow motion as the girl lifted her bag just in time to shield herself from the ball. Zhan stood stunned for a second before rushing to the girl "ohmygodimsoingsorryididntseeyouthereareyouokay?!" He says in one breath as he frantically grabbing her shoulders and inspecting her for damage. Any semblance of previous anger now replaced by concern.

@⁰¹ hitomi h. Zhan was effectively exhausted by the time he got to the bottom of the second bin of balls, grabbing the last one, wanting to get in one final good serve before heading back to his dorms. He had yet to notice the additional presence in the gym. He channeled all his remaining anger, hitting the ball as hard as he could. But instead hit it at the wrong striking point, sending the ball flying towards the door where the girl stood. His eyes widened in shock as the ball b-lined for exactly where she stood
"Watch out!" He yells out.

@⁰¹ hitomi h. The sun had risen long ago, and to be frank, Zhan had exactly zero idea how long he'd been in the gym. One of the perks (or maybe in this case a drawback) of being on the schools volleyball team was unlimited access to the court to allow for practice whenever they wished. But in his case, Zhan tended to come out here to let off steam whenever school became too much. As fourth-year engineering major, it was quite often.
Zhan had 2 carts of balls to his side, one already empty, the other had only half the balls left. The opposite side of the gym was littered with discarded balls as the vball player worked on his jump serves. The empty gym echoed each time he angrily smacked the balls, aiming for the back corner of the court.