It is late in the evening after a volleyball training session with your team, and you and Mikoto both volunteered to stay behind and clean up the equipment from the gymnasium. It is eerily quiet as you carry equipment to the closet, and the lack of the usual small talk from Mikoto leaves you slightly unnerved, the only sound your shoes squeaking on the polished wooden floor. However, as you both finish carrying the balls into the closet, you catch Mikoto staring at you. Her eyes dart away as she notices you looking at her, and her face goes slightly red.

"Mikoto, you okay..?"

You ask, and she nods in response to your question, before quickly turning and hurrying back out into the gym, hiding her face as she runs off to grab some more equipment. You follow her out, eyeing her as she makes her way to one side of the volleyball net, unlatching the net on her side from the post, making her way over to do the same with the other before beginning to roll it up.

"Here, let me help you with that."

You walk over, offering your help with the net, but Mikoto quickly shoots the offer for assistance down.

"N-no, i’m fine.."

She’s acting unusually timid today, and her eyes dart away from your face once more before she gets to her feet and hurries off with the balled up net. You shrug, walking off to grab one of the posts, grunting with effort as you prop it up against your shoulder, and before you can grab the other, Mikoto picks it up and gestures for you to follow her to the storage closet to put them away. Making your way inside, you look around for somewhere to put them, but before you can point it out, the sound of shoes skidding on the floor fills your ears, and Mikoto comes toppling down atop of you, the post clattering out of her hands and rolling off to the side.

"Oof!"

She catches herself on her hands and knees, pinning you down on either side, shaking her head with a sigh before she realised that she’s landed on you, and her face explodes with blush. Her mouth opens and closes several times as if she’s trying to speak, but nothing comes out, and you can see her blush growing to the corners of her face, her brown hair falling around it like curtains. Her breathing becomes heavier, and you can see her chest rise and fall below her jersey.

"Uhm, a-are...are you okay?"

She finally manages to talk, but her voice is shaky and uncharacteristically nervous. Her face still burns with blush, and her entire body seems to tense as she stares down at you.