Much to Daichi's surprise, the rest of the week went by rather quickly. He focused all of his energy on school and volleyball- working impossibly hard to keep thoughts of Suga out of his mind. It was difficult for Daichi to ignore the empty seat in front of him, but he was coping. Nobody had heard from Suga since Tuesday, so it goes without saying they were all a bit worried. Following Tsukishima's advice, Daichi hadn't tried to contact Suga; he just had to trust that Suga would come to him when he was ready. The rest of the team had tried to contact him, but there was never an answer. As concerned as everyone was, they were all still able to focus wholeheartedly on practice. They had beaten Johzenji during the spring tournament, but this practice match was not going to be easy. Johzenji was a team in the middle of an incredible evolution; they were fast learners and weren't afraid to try new things. Compared to Nekoma, Johzenji was a completely different species. Daichi was actually shocked by how many teams were trying to set up practice matches with Karasuno; this definitely wasn't possible a year ago.
"Morning Daichi," Asahi greeted as he reached their normal meeting spot. It was 8:45am on Sunday, the day of the practice match. The match wasn't scheduled to begin until 11am, but Ukai had instructed the team to arrive closer to 9am.
"You ready?" Daichi questioned, poking the ace in the side.
"As ready as I'll ever be," Asahi laughed. They continued their walk in silence, the only sound coming from the various crows flying around.
"Asahi…" Daichi began as they started up the hill. Asahi looked over at him curiously. "Do you think he'll come?"
"No, I don't. I'm sure he wants to support us, but I don't think he's quite ready to come back," Asahi answered.
"Yeah, I guess you're right," Daichi confessed. "How long do you think it will be?"
"Only time will tell. Since we still don't know what's going on, we just have to wait until Suga figures it out," Asahi responded, looking back towards the school.
"Hey Asahi," Daichi blurted, staring at the ground.
"Hmm?" Asahi hummed.
"Do you mind if I come over after the match?" he asked. Although he didn't directly say it, they both knew what that question really meant.
"Of course."
The rest of the walk consisted of silence with the occasional small talk. They both knew what Daichi really wanted to talk about, but that would have to wait until after the match.
"ASAHI!" Noya screamed as the third year duo entered the club room. Asahi blushed slightly and waved, too flustered to respond. The rest of the team laughed, a light mood engulfing the room.
"Is everyone here?" Daichi wondered aloud as he looked around the room.
"Well, everyone who is supposed to be here is," Ennoshita retorted.
Unease filled the room when Ennoshita spoke. Although practices had gone well, there was still that looming feeling of Suga's absence. Daichi felt bad for bringing Suga up before the match, but he really hadn't meant to.
"Let's hurry and set up the gym. Johzenji should be here in about an hour," Daichi instructed. The team nodded in response. Most of them were already done changing, so Ennoshita lead everyone towards the gym, leaving Daichi, Asahi, and Tsukishima alone in the club room.
"Sawamura-san, do you mind if Yamaguchi holds onto my phone during the match? I'm expecting an important call," Tsukishima explained.
"If it's really that important I don't mind, just make sure to check with Coach Ukai," Daichi responded. Tsukishima nodded and walked out, leaving Daichi and Asahi alone.
"What do you think is so important he put it above volleyball?" Asahi wondered as he tied his shoes.
"I'm not sure, but whatever it is must be really important," Daichi agreed. Once the two of them were ready, they left the club room and went to the gym. By the time they got there the rest of the team had already finished setting up.
"Ah, Sawamura, Azumane, come join is," Ukai called. The team was sitting around Ukai, most likely going over the game plan.
"Sorry we're late," Daichi apologized when they joined the team.
"Not at all. Anyway, I'm going to try something a little different today," Ukai stated.
"What do you mean?" Tanaka questioned.
"If our recent games have taught us anything it's that injuries can happen at any time. I want to start with the B team and switch players in and out constantly. So with that being said, our starting lineup will be Ennoshita, Kinoshita, and Yamaguchi as wing spikers, Narita and Tsukishima as middle blockers, and Kageyama as setter. I honestly would have liked Sugawara to play setter, but this will work fine. Oh, and let's use the rotation with Yamaguchi serving first," Ukai finished. The team shifted uncomfortably at the mention of Suga. Sensing the change in atmosphere, Daichi stood up, his teammates following him with their eyes.
"Let's start on warm-ups," Daichi instructed as he headed towards the court, the rest following. They started with basic warm-ups and were working on receives when Daichi heard the heavy gym door screech open.
"Aye, Karasuno, how's it hangin?" Terushima, the Johzenji captain, yelled as he entered the gym.
"Terushima, it's been awhile. We're doing alright, you?" Daichi replied.
"Just swell my dude," Terushima grinned.
"We really appreciate you guys coming," Daichi told him.
"Not a problem, it'll be good practice anyway. We're just glad you had time for us," he quipped.
"We'll always make time for a good practice match. Feel free to go ahead and warm up, we'll start in about 20 minutes," Daichi told their captain.
"Will do my man. Let's go," He informed his team.
"Those guys really are something else," Asahi mumbled as he stretched.
"I'm so excited! This is gonna be such an awesome match!" Hinata cheered.
"Oi, dumbass, quit yelling," Kageyama muttered, a small smile on his face.
"You guys seem to be doing better than before," Yamaguchi pointed out. The two of them looked away, a light blush on their faces.
"Tanaka you owe me 20 bucks," Ennoshita smirked.
"But they haven't admitted anything yet!" Tanaka argued.
"What are you guys going on about?" Daichi inquired, looking between the two second years.
"I bet Tanaka $20 that Kageyama and Hinata would get together before Nationals," Ennoshita explained.
"Wha? What?" Hinata stuttered, his face turning a deep red.
"Dumbass…" Kageyama mumbled.
"Am I wrong?" Ennoshita demanded, his arms crossed over his chest.
"We never said that," Hinata muttered quietly.
"So I'm right," Ennoshita stated. When neither Kageyama nor Hinata responded, everyone knew Ennoshita was right.
"Wow, congrats guys! That's awesome!" Daichi praised.
"Damn you…" Tanaka groaned as he went over to get the cash from his bag.
"Gross," Tsukishima complained.
"It's not gross Stingyshima!" Hinata protested.
"It is when it's you. And don't make up weird nicknames for me," Tsukishima grumbled.
"It looks like Johzenji is about ready. Should we start?" Yamaguchi inquired.
"Probably. Bring it in everybody. Karasuno FIGHT!" Daichi roared, the rest of the team following suit. Both teams got into position, competition glinting in their eyes.
"Bring it on Karasuno!" Terushima yelled excitedly. This was going to be a fun game.
"Shimizu-senpai, would you mind holding onto my phone during this set?" Tsukishima asked the third year. Shimizu nodded and took the phone from him, putting it in her pocket. "If it rings pull me out, okay?" Tsukishima instructed. Without waiting for a response, he took his position on the court.
"I really can't think of anything that Tsukishima would willingly leave a game for," Daichi wondered aloud.
"He was acting kinda weird last week," Hinata admitted, his eyes following the ball.
"Like, Suga weird?" Tanaka proposed, looked at Hinata with wide eyes.
"No, more like he's worried about something. He'd never admit it though," Hinata answered, still not looking away from the game.
"Well, whatever it is, I hope it works out," Asahi stated. The others nodded in agreement, turning their attention back to the court. Karasuno had just reached the 20 point mark, an important moment in the game. The match had been pretty back and forth, but Karasuno managed a 25-21 win.
"Kinoshita, you've been holding back on us!" Tanaka yelled as he slapped him on the back. Kinoshita smiled and shrugged, almost falling over when Noya decided to jump on his back.
"Not gonna lie, I'm impressed. Great job out there," Ukai praised. "We're going back to the usual starting lineup for this set, but everybody needs to be ready to go in at any time."
"Good job Kageyama!" Hinata cheered as he smiled up at the taller boy.
"Tch," Tsukishima clicked, a scowl on his face.
"Don't click your tongue!" Hinata shouted at him. Tsukishima ignored him and went over to Shimizu, who handed him his phone.
"Nothing huh?" He muttered, glancing down at the screen.
"Whatcha waitin for Tsukishima?" Hinata pried, forgetting about their previous argument.
"Nothing to concern yourself over," Tsukishima replied shortly.
"Did he say he would call today?" Yamaguchi asked him.
"No, he never said he would call. I don't actually expect him to, I just want to be ready in case he does," Tsukishima admitted.
"Who?" Hinata demanded curiously, bouncing up and down.
"Nobody," Tsukishima answered, clearly not wanted to talk about it.
"Guys, come on, we have another set to play," Daichi scolded.
"Yamaguchi," Tsukishima began, handing Yamaguchi his phone.
"I know," he interrupted, pushing Tsukishima onto the court.
Compared to the last set, this set just seemed unfair. The previous set was awfully close, both teams switching between who was ahead. This set however, was clearly Karasuno's. In what seemed like no time at all the score was already 15-5, Karasuno leading.
Daichi smiled as he went to the back of the court, preparing his serve. Just as he was about to serve, Tsukishima's phone started ringing.
"Hello?" Yamaguchi spoke into the receiver. After a slight pause, he continued. "He's in the middle of a practice match. Can I ask who this is? Tsukki told me to take any calls he got but I forgot to look at the caller ID," Yamaguchi admitted.
"Stupid," Tsukishima muttered, watching Yamaguchi on the sidelines. Although they were supposed to carry on with the match, the entire gym was silent waiting to figure out if this was the important call Tsukishima had been waiting for.
"Sugawara-san? Hold on one second," Yamaguchi urged. The entire atmosphere of the gym changed at the mention of Suga.
'Why is Suga calling Tsukishima?' Daichi wondered, the volleyball forgotten in his hands. Tsukishima ran over and took his phone, quickly putting it up to his ear.
"Sugawara, it's Tsukishima. What's up?" He asked as he tried to catch his breath. He paused for Suga's response before responding himself. "No, it's fine. I've actually been waiting for you to call. I wasn't sure if you would, but I wanted to be available just in case." After a brief moment of silence, Tsukishima moved the phone from his mouth and addressed his team.
"I have to go, good luck," he panted, rushing out of the gym. The moments seemed to stretch as Daichi tried to make sense of the situation.
"Yamaguchi," Daichi started, looking over at the first year. "Was that the call Tsukishima had been waiting for?" Daichi wasn't sure why he asked, he already knew the answer; he supposed it was because part of him wished it wasn't true.
"Yeah, we followed Suga during lunch on Tuesday and they ended up talking, they actually have a lot in common. I'm not exactly sure what they talked about though, I thought it was best to leave them alone," he admitted.
'So he was with Tsukishima on Tuesday?' Daichi thought. He was hurt by the thought that Suga would lean on Tsukishima rather than him, but maybe he was reading the situation wrong.
"Excuse me," a female voice spoke from the doorway. Daichi looked over at the woman. She was average height and had shoulder length, honey colored hair.
"Can I help you?" Ukai asked, walking over to her.
"This is the volleyball club correct?" She inquired, glancing around the room.
"Yes, I'm the coach, Ukai Keishin. What can I do for you?" He responded.
"This isn't easy for me to say, but I need to take my son off of your team." She informed them, her oddly familiar brown eyes glinting sadly
"Can I ask who your son is?" Ukai questioned, although everyone in the room already knew the answer.
"Sugawara Koushi."
