It's quite the regular day for Karasuno High's Volleyball team. As the classes reach its end all the club members gather at the gym and, while waiting for the rest to get there start on some light warm up exercises. Since coach Ukai goes there from his regular job at the mart, he may be a little late sometimes, so the team sticks to its captain's orders while waiting for him.
-"C'mon, 3 more laps!"- Sawamura shouts while leading the group on its running around the court. -"OSSU!"- echoes on the confined space, sports shoes squealing as they all march together, the 1st years Hinata and Kageyama absurdly competing to overtake eachother until the captain stops on his tracks to scold and knock 'em on the head –"It's not a race, you dumbasses!"-. The action pulling more or less concealed chuckles from the other players, worried/amazed smiles from Azumane and Yamaguchi, a low key but even so perfectly audible –"Stuupid"- from Tsukishima and of course loud laughter from the also foolish 2nd years Tanaka and Nishinoya, who don't waste a second to openly laugh at them.
Few more bumps later they resume the warm ups with dynamic flexibility exercises, despite those being "Such a paaain" in Tanaka's words (add +1bump there, yeah). They're at the forward hand walks when coach Ukai finally enters the gym. –"Sorry guys it took me this long today!.. ¿where were we at?"- he casts a glance upon the team's doing, some hope-filled eyes landing on him, then resumes to let 'em finish the exercise as he shrugs his jacket off and slumps on a chair next to Shimizu and Yachi –"Yo girls, how you doing today?". Them both greet him in return, then proceed to update him on today's practice's progress.
"'Kay, I see Sawamura've done a great job directing the warm ups", the blonde's grin exudes satisfaction when casting a look towards their captain, but it changes into a confused look when locking onto another player. "Ain't Nishinoya quite… stiff today?" he mumbles seeing as the usually agile libero struggles with the hand walks he'd clear as if it's nothing on a normal basis. –"Is he?"- wonders Yachi, cutely knitting her eyebrows together trying to see the difference. –"Yeah, I thought the same, Ukai-san. He won't normally bend his knees that much on that exercise"-, the brunette observes, far more accustomed to each player's individual aptitudes and how-to's, -"He didn't comment anything, though. You think it's that worrisome?"-. Both girls observe as the older man thinks for a moment, before calling for the team -"Gather up!"-. –"OSSU!"-
Water bottles swiftly pass hand to hand as the managers take them outta the portable fridge. The heat sure is rising on the closed gym, even being the room that big. The boys take a minute to refresh, drink and, some of them, even make a quick scape to the drinking fountain outside to wet their already damp hair. Once done, all of them sit or squat on a circle around Ukai waiting for his instructions. –"'Kay guys, good job with the warm up."- mortified looks everywhere, -"We still have time until next match, so today I'd like you to take a breather from the moves we've been practicing those last days. We'll resume its practice next day, but for now I'd want you all to play two against two matches."- a ¿huuuuh? Spread out through the players, who were already counting on keep revamping their individual tricks. –"It's good for each individual to have its own speciality and so, but today there are no setters, no blockers, hitters or libero. I wanna see you taking in all positions now, let's see how you function without a whole team's backup. Squeeze yourselves all out guys so we can totally knock 'em dead later!"-. – OSSU!- came the usual acknowledgment from the group.
They divide on pairs and start on the 2vs2 games, switching adversaries on a tournament-like fashion. Pairs are made so the usual buddy-partners ain't playing on the same team, so the game is quite messy at first: Kageyama won't respond well to Tsukishima's tosses, Hinata has great troubles tossing to Asai and Yamaguchi is so easily stopped each time he manages to hit a ball above the net. The game is obviously more tiresome than usual, since none of them plays on the position they usually would, and so the strain is greater. However, after a while they all start to get into some kinda pace and as they submerge more deeply on the game its own individual lacks start to compensate.
Ukai is ever observant over all of them: the way Sawamura swiftly covers over a less experienced Yamaguchi without pressuring him, how Ennoshita's calm nature cools down Tanaka's fiery one and also how an ever trustworthy Sugawara compensates for Nishinoya's unusual fuck ups. –"Craaap!"- reverberate the shortie's obfuscated yells as he repeatedly won't just perform poorly at the net –on which the coach wasn't expecting different since his usual position is absolutely opposite to that- but also doing a crappy job on his receives. –"Don't sweat it, let's get next point", Sugawara tries to cheer him up, but it's absolutely clear Nishinoya's mood is not getting any better.
Finally the practice reaches its end and all the players gather up again around their coach for a final talk. –"Fine, how've you felt today?"- the blonde asks, his gaze traveling from one sweaty, sour face to another, -"C'mon, you sure can see how your own shortages really stood out when forced to develop differently from usual."- the usually timid Yamaguchi hesitantly raises his hand, asking for permission to talk –"It was evident the difference gap between my partner and I, Sawamura sure makes it look as if it was nothing, but I'm aware he covered for me big time…"-. –"However"- the captain chimed in –"I can tell during the match you grew more confident and that clearly showed on your actions. Also, you got some great services too!"-. This time it was Kageyama's turn to speak, his brow heavily furrowed with disgust –"I totally couldn't connect with Tsukishima's tosses"-, to which the named blonde, also clearly pissed added –"You weren't paying any attention at all, ¿was it too much for ur highness to rely on a commoner's tosses?". Mood is clearly spiking, so Ukai cuts it before it leads to the WW3 –"Calm down, you two!".- He directs his gaze then to the usually lively libero, who has remained silent and most likely sulking 'till now –"How 'bout Nishinoya? We saw you getting quite struck back there"-. All eyes lock on him, there comes a tense pause before he answers. –"Yeah… dunno, I felt totally off today. Sorry there?"- he directs a totally not puppy-eyed apology to his teammate, who shrugs it with a lopsided smile. Ukai, however, won't drop it that easily –"You looked strange from the very beginning, kiddo. As soon as I got through that door while you were doing the hand walks it was crystal clear there was something, but it's not up to me to come and ask you if everything's fine. 'Kay?"- his gaze travel again over all the teammates, making it clear this scold is not just for the libero but also applicable to each and every of them over the same situation, -"If you are hurting somewhere, if you don't feel well or there's a reason why I mustn't be pushing you I need to know to take in consideration, and decide whether it's fine for you to take part on the practice or if it's better to have some rest"-. The shortie's ears are all red now, being perfectly aware he'd done such nonsense –"Huh.. yeah, sorry. My back was aching since this morning, but I didn't think it'd turn into such a hindrance. It's not that big of a thing, really, that's why I hadn't said anything, but I feel quite… stiff, I guess"-. Now there are all worried gazes landed on him, there're no words as to how he hates this. Sawamura ruffles his hair –"Man, you should've told us, it's no biggie"-, his features exude his usual kindness, but it feels a little as if being pitied, treated like a child. –"That sure is because of your horrible sleeping posture!"- Tanaka chimes in, gently but firmly patting his shoulder. –"¿Is that so?"- both Hinata and Yachi wonder aloud. –"Totally! I've had him sleeping at my place and he'd go to sleep normal and get up with his feet on the pillow and the head under the covers!"- the shaved one laughs, easily passing on the others who follow suit, -"Yeah, he stayed at mine once too and even fell off the bed on the middle of the night…"- Ennoshita adds, causing great laughter from the others, -"You really rolled quite far from your original futon during nighttime on training camp, too…" finishes Sawamura, a smile pulling at the corners of his mouth. HMMPF! Not just his ears are red by now, but his whole face while all his teammates seem to enjoy discussing on his sleeping habits, as if there's something he could do to help it! And in front of beautiful Kiyoko-san! Even when she seems clearly unimpressed by the whole situation… such serene and wonderful beauty! –"'Kay!"- coach Ukai chimes in, definitely cutting through the ruckus, -"In spite of how amazing we all may find Nishinoya-kun's sleeping manners, it's definitely time to call it to an end: it's late and I'm sure we're all hungry already. We've been skipping on the static stretching area quite a lot, mostly because I counted on you doing it by yourselves, but let's consider this as a warning and help it"-. A resigned sigh echoes through the group: static stretching is such a pain in the ass, and that's why, yeah, everyone more or less usually skips it. -"Spread out over the place and properly stretch before hitting the change room, you punks"-.
They all take a spot guarding some distance between them, then start the exercise following Ukai's instructions.
-"First let's take care of calves and isquio's. Advance a leg and support yourselves on your bent knee while keeping the other straight. Get slowly lower by bending your knee more and spreading your legs until you feel strain at the back area of your non-bent knee and down to your Achilles tendon"-. Silence is almost tangible as the boys concentrate on the stretching -"Switch"-. Hinata stumbles when changing the support, and there could be heard a chuckle from Tsukishima, the shortie's face color rising to match his own hair's. –"Now, sit down and split. Grab your foot and pull it to your chest while keeping the free leg flat on the floor. Oi! Keep that back straight Tanaka!"- the shaved guy's ears redden a little, too, at being lectured. Static stretches surely do suck! –"Switch…"-, the blond man paces between the teens while controlling the time for each repetition, careful to catch them if trying to cheat. –"Grab both your ankles in front of you and push with your knees towards the floor. Ennoshita, try to push harder. Tanaka, again? Mind your back. You'll get a hump for sure otherwise"-. Concealed giggles from the girls, some laughter from the boys too. "Stretch quadriceps now, c'mon. One leg first… then switch to the other. Fine. Nishinoya you're not sunbathing at the beach you know, it's supposed to hurt a little so make sure it does"-. Fuck, it already did, crappy sadist Ukai… -"Now, open your legs, knees straight and try to grab your foot with both hands. Tsukishima, I said straight knees. I wanna see them touching the floor. Now, let go and slump forward, try to get your belly as close to the floor as possible. Relax your back, you must drop, not push, Kageyama… C'mon don't stare at the floor with such ill intent or you'll totally bore a hole on it"-. The brunette look's totally meaning he don't really understand that one, so he keeps going. –"'Kay, we're at the middle, more or less? Now, there's two options for this one: you can be a facing up frog or a facing down frog. Either way, put your foot together and spread your knees apart, and try to push 'em flat to the floor"-. Nervous glances spread between the teens, trying to decide on what option may look less shameful. They both seem a little too… body conscious? Sawamura, being such a good captain sacrifices himself and takes the lead on the facing up frog. His sacrifice sure is highly appreciated by his teammates, who seeing him laid there with is legs wide open like a frog, as if offering himself or… whatever, immediately decide that's totally NOT happening to them, so instead they switch to the facing down option… that not being much better, as they learn seeing each other's asses raised up on the air, legs bent far apart. No homo, but that is definitely… disturbing. A loud sigh echoes through the room when the coach finally moves to the next position, and so they spend the most horrible 10 minutes of their lives granting each other with a wide range of highly shameful pictures.
There is no more laughter when they get finally discharged, just curt farewells to the coach as they head to the changing room without talking much to each other either, blushed cheeks and ears everywhere. There's not the usual ruckus on the changing room either, no loud chatter even within the 2nd year's duo of big mouthed dummies. Cleaning up is done in silence and the plain white walls seem too interesting to peel their eyes off them while undressing. There are not close enough words to even graze how grateful they all feel right now towards the fact there are no showers for them to use on the changing room. –"S-so… had the stretches helped your back pain?"- Hinata asks to Nishinoya, mostly trying to break the thick ice that'd fallen upon them all, but picking the World's ever worst choice of a question. The libero rigidly turns to him, about to answer, but get cut off by Tsukishima –"Really, Hinata? I mean, I hope you get well asap and all Nishinoya, but I feel like I'm not the only one thinking that back there was quite close to HELL on Earth…"-. –"D'you think we'll be doing this over and over again, each and every day at the end of the practice?"- Yamaguchi asks, fear on his voice. –"T-that wouldn't be the end of the World, u know!"- Sawamura defends, trying to save some of Noya's dignity as it clearly looks like he's being blamed, even though not sounding very confident either –"…we really should put some more effort to the static stretches, that's an important part of the sports routine…"-. Sawamura stops him on his tracks by putting a hand on his shoulder, the contact making him jolt a little –"Daichi… not fooling anyone now, let's be sincere: that was awful. I don't think I wanna see you sprawled like that ever again and, trust me, I'm afraid I'm gonna spend some time starting now worrying over facing up and facing down frogs…"-. Discussion died down on that, the thought troubling enough for them to recall the image and finish changing in record time for the sake of getting the fuck outta there.
Freetalk:
'Kay, so there am I with my first Haikyuu's fanfic ever.
I wanted this to be a single-chaptered story, I got a clear idea on my head and it worked just fine, but when trying to put it into words it just… slipped, I think.
I did my best to revise the text by myself but I also got the impression I may've switched verbal times at some point (?). I start writing on present then before I notice text is all in past form… and the opposite. That's why: I may really need a beta-reader for this one, since I feel like I'm so messy when trying to get the ideas outta my head. Also, I'm doing my best to improve it, but English is not my mother language and it obviously shows. There are times where I'm not absolutely sure it's clear what I'm talking about.
I'm starting this as a Nishinoya centered plot. I wanted to pair him with Azumane but I'm not sure anymore (as I said, this just slipped like, a lot). I excuse myself also because I don't know that much about volleyball… I've googled a lot, but there may be mistakes, too.
Opinions would be highly appreciated, both regarding the chapter and your preferred development!