Disclaimers don't do a thing. I think I'll get away with saying HQ's mine (but let's not bet on that).


Ukai Keishin had a girlfriend once.

She was a classmate and they enjoyed hanging out, he supposed. He made her laugh and she made the cheering squad sing him praises especially when he served. She would pout when teased and he would be silent after a bad game. On good days, she smiled a lot with teeth showing and eyes slightly closed (he thought it was cute) and he talked and talked about anything and everything because really, life's amazing!

They were the definition of a happy-go-lucky couple. Nothing too serious. Give some expect some kind of deal, like Valentine's chocolates (which, by the way, were delicious, ranked next to Kenyaku dumplings).

Those were good times. Ultimately, of course, he had to list down his priorities (both of them did). She wasn't surprised if not a little sad. "I understand," she said, still smiling, less teeth and eyes more open. But they remained friends and exchanged a few emails before completely losing touch after graduation.

So he gave his best. Okay, his perceived best, because most probably he could have done better, right? He shaved his head, trained his ass off, ditched holidays and weekends off his calendar to perfect receiving and become more badass in general. He felt inadequate. He felt so high. His heart positively exploded every time he got chosen to play. He could spike through metal wall. He couldn't dig fast enough to save his life. He could receive with the strength of a thousand. He felt as if he helped raise a family from scratch because his team was the bomb and they were awesome like volleyball was (is). The rest of his school days were filled with gwaah and baaaam and smelt of sweat and rubber.

But even then, his team couldn't conquer the Nationals.

So he helped look after the family business, read manga and smoked (and maybe waited for what's next). Then…eventually stuff happened. It was weird, going back. Takeda-sensei heard the truth from him that the place was swarmed with landmines of memories.

The moment he stepped into the familiar territory of Karasuno High School, he had a distant recollection of a girl's tinkling laugh and her puffy hair, then he remembered the scent of the gym early in the morning, the ball snug on his palms upon spiking, the thud of a magnificent receive, the heartrending whistle of a finished game, the promises and moments, Nekoma—

He entered the gym and began the next segment of his career.

Ukai Keishin had a girlfriend once, but his sweetheart is volleyball, always. And he swears volleyball loves him too.

End.


And I'm back. I apologize for my irresponsibility with story updates. School and outside matters eat up a lot of time. I don't know why I wrote about Coach Ukai, it's probably the headband. Haikyuu!'s back for a second season today, hurray! You can think of this as a celebratory piece.

Peace, love and respect out.